Corporal Levi and I wrote this. It's kind of my first submission and this is just a skeleton, if this gets approved we'll obviously add more stuff as this is, like I said, just a skeleton:
Archen's Beginning
-When Archen was introduced in the last generation as one of the two fossil Pokemon in Unova, it managed to maintain a decent niche with its high Attack, decent Speed and a type combination that is unique in Little Cup.
-It also had nearly perfect coverage with its enormous physical movepool containing moves like Stone Edge, Earthquake, and an often Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics.
- It was commonly used on offensive Sandstorm teams because as a Rock-type, its Special Defense gets boosted by 50%.
-However, Archen's ability Defeatist halved its Attack and Special Attack when its HP was less than half, which quickly rendered it nearly useless; although Oran Berry helped it deal with this problem to an extent, it couldn't use Acrobatics effectively until it consumed its item.
-Archen also disliked Stealth Rock and priority, which forced it into Defeatist range easily.
Archen in XY
-In XY, Archen retained its weaknesses but benefited immensely from various mechanics changes.
-The most notable one is the buff to Defog, which went from a useless move into one of the most common ways to remove hazards from the both sides of the battlefield. This Defog buff allows Archen to act as a fast offensive support thanks to its access to Stealth Rock too.
-Berry Juice's unban allows Archen to rely on it for recovery instead of Oran Berry; because Flying Gem isn't released, it has become Archen's primary item.
-The Knock Off buff also lets Archen to deal with Ghost-types and remove items to get KOs easily or support its teammates.
-All these buffs have helped Archen rise into one of the most feared threats in the metagame that can serve different purposes.
Playing With Archen
- Because Archen is mostly a support Pokemon, whether through hazard control with its support and defensive sets or wallbreaking with its offensive set, its teammates primarily consist of Pokemon that appreciate its presence. On an offensive team, examples of these include Croagunk and Cottonee, both of whom thoroughly dislike Fletchling, and will be able to take advantage of Stealth Rock with the switches they force. On a defensive team, examples of these include Foongus and Larvesta, who enjoy having Fletchling taken care of and being able to switch around more freely without being impeded by hazards.
- Archen also makes for a particularly effective member of various weather teams; Sun teams love having Stealth Rock off the field for Fire-types to come in more safely, as well as a check to Fletchling and an overall strong offensive Pokemon, while Archen covers various threats for Sand teams as well, once again including Fletchling, and benefits from the Sand boosting its Special Defense
- Archen's diverse movepool isn't just limited to Rock Slide, Acrobatics, Earthquake, Defog, Stealth Rock, and Knock Off; Roost is almost mandatory for defensive Eviolite sets, U-Turn is useful for momentum, Rock Tomb can ease prediction to make certain switch-ins easier to deal with, Stone Edge and Head Smash are useful if raw power is necessary, and Archen can even try pulling off a sweep with Agility.
Playing Against Archen
- Archen can be difficult to switch into due to its enormous Attack stat and excellent offensive movepool.
- Luckily, it is only limited to four moves, and more often than not, at least one of these moveslots will be dedicated to support options, so Archen will not be able to cover everything at once.
- Sets lacking Knock Off can be dealt with by physical walls that can hit it super-effectively, such as Slowpoke, Ice Beam Porygon, and Rock Slide Hippopotas.
- Sets that do not have Earthquake are far more easily beaten, being taken out by Pawniard, Chinchou, Tirtouga, Trubbish, Omanyte, and Magnemite.
- Sets without Acrobatics will have trouble against Mienfoo, Timburr and Foongus.
- The easiest way to deal with Archen often is to simply bring it down into Defeatist range, which will render its offensive presence much more manageable, but Berry Juice can sometimes be problematic.
Summary
- Archen's combination of typing, stats, and movepool, both offensive and supportive, have allowed it to cement itself as a top tier Pokemon in the current metagame.
Archen's Beginning
-When Archen was introduced in the last generation as one of the two fossil Pokemon in Unova, it managed to maintain a decent niche with its high Attack, decent Speed and a type combination that is unique in Little Cup.
-It also had nearly perfect coverage with its enormous physical movepool containing moves like Stone Edge, Earthquake, and an often Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics.
- It was commonly used on offensive Sandstorm teams because as a Rock-type, its Special Defense gets boosted by 50%.
-However, Archen's ability Defeatist halved its Attack and Special Attack when its HP was less than half, which quickly rendered it nearly useless; although Oran Berry helped it deal with this problem to an extent, it couldn't use Acrobatics effectively until it consumed its item.
-Archen also disliked Stealth Rock and priority, which forced it into Defeatist range easily.
Archen in XY
-In XY, Archen retained its weaknesses but benefited immensely from various mechanics changes.
-The most notable one is the buff to Defog, which went from a useless move into one of the most common ways to remove hazards from the both sides of the battlefield. This Defog buff allows Archen to act as a fast offensive support thanks to its access to Stealth Rock too.
-Berry Juice's unban allows Archen to rely on it for recovery instead of Oran Berry; because Flying Gem isn't released, it has become Archen's primary item.
-The Knock Off buff also lets Archen to deal with Ghost-types and remove items to get KOs easily or support its teammates.
-All these buffs have helped Archen rise into one of the most feared threats in the metagame that can serve different purposes.
Playing With Archen
- Because Archen is mostly a support Pokemon, whether through hazard control with its support and defensive sets or wallbreaking with its offensive set, its teammates primarily consist of Pokemon that appreciate its presence. On an offensive team, examples of these include Croagunk and Cottonee, both of whom thoroughly dislike Fletchling, and will be able to take advantage of Stealth Rock with the switches they force. On a defensive team, examples of these include Foongus and Larvesta, who enjoy having Fletchling taken care of and being able to switch around more freely without being impeded by hazards.
- Archen also makes for a particularly effective member of various weather teams; Sun teams love having Stealth Rock off the field for Fire-types to come in more safely, as well as a check to Fletchling and an overall strong offensive Pokemon, while Archen covers various threats for Sand teams as well, once again including Fletchling, and benefits from the Sand boosting its Special Defense
- Archen's diverse movepool isn't just limited to Rock Slide, Acrobatics, Earthquake, Defog, Stealth Rock, and Knock Off; Roost is almost mandatory for defensive Eviolite sets, U-Turn is useful for momentum, Rock Tomb can ease prediction to make certain switch-ins easier to deal with, Stone Edge and Head Smash are useful if raw power is necessary, and Archen can even try pulling off a sweep with Agility.
Playing Against Archen
- Archen can be difficult to switch into due to its enormous Attack stat and excellent offensive movepool.
- Luckily, it is only limited to four moves, and more often than not, at least one of these moveslots will be dedicated to support options, so Archen will not be able to cover everything at once.
- Sets lacking Knock Off can be dealt with by physical walls that can hit it super-effectively, such as Slowpoke, Ice Beam Porygon, and Rock Slide Hippopotas.
- Sets that do not have Earthquake are far more easily beaten, being taken out by Pawniard, Chinchou, Tirtouga, Trubbish, Omanyte, and Magnemite.
- Sets without Acrobatics will have trouble against Mienfoo, Timburr and Foongus.
- The easiest way to deal with Archen often is to simply bring it down into Defeatist range, which will render its offensive presence much more manageable, but Berry Juice can sometimes be problematic.
Summary
- Archen's combination of typing, stats, and movepool, both offensive and supportive, have allowed it to cement itself as a top tier Pokemon in the current metagame.
