mosers15
10-24-2008, 04:26 AM
http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp11/sshino_pic/POKEMON/Poke_mon%20Kanto%20region/8640bf8bed20b1669f2fb435.jpg
A typical conversation regarding Arcanine
Trainer 1-Lolwut?! There's a 4th legendary Dog/Cat thing?
Trainer 2-Yup thats right. Arcanine is the legendary pokemon who IS NOT legendary.
Trainer 1-What the .
Trainer 2-Yeah. Whats funny is Arcanine is BETTER than Entei in almost every category.
Trainer 1-Really? =/
Trainer 2-Arcanines got some underrated skillz.
Trainer 1-What Tier?
Trainer 2-Bl
Trainer 1- Is it viable in OU?
Trainer 2- Better believe it. With the exception of Heatran, Arcanine can hit every pokemon for neutral with good power and speed to back it up. Great abilities too! Intimidate can help survivability while Flash Fire boosts its fire attacks and gives it an immunity.
Trainer 1- Awesome!
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Movesets
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Choice Band
Arcanine @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant/Jolly 252 ATK / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Flare Blitz
ThunderFang
ExtremeSpeed
Body Slam / Crunch
Pretty straightforward. FBlitz is the primary attack...doing A LOT after STAB and CB....basically, ALMOST as strong as a SpecsMence Draco Meteor, but without the diminishing power.
Thunder Fang for Waters.
Extremespeed is like an "Ace in the hole".
Body Slam is for the Band set as Paralysis can help make up for that Base 95 Speed/Adamant Nature; while Crunch provides more coverage with Scarf in the event your HP is too low to use FBlitz again.
Triple Coverage
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Modest 252 Sp.ATK / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Will-O-Wisp
Flamethrower / Fire Blast
Dragon Pulse
Substitute/ Hp ground
I felt this was an obligatory mention seeing as how Dragon + Fire attacks have no resistances (except Heatran). Anyways, WoW + Intimidate cover him on the physical front, so it's better than nothing. Flamethrower/Fire Blast + Dragon Pulse provide a fair attack range.
Hp Ground for complete coverage equivalent of ghost + fighting. Sub for scouting and some defense.
Special Arcanine
Arcanine @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Timid/Modest 252 SpAtk/252 Speed
Fire Blast
Hp Grass OR Hp Ice
Dragon Pulse
Overheat/Solar Beam
A little more versatile..yet the same concept. Use timid nature with specs and modest with scarf. Typically you should run hp grass + overheat BUT it might be more beneficial to run hp ice +Sunny Day if and only if you have sun support.
MixedNine-credits to Smogon
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Naïve 228 Atk / 92 SpA / 188 Spe
Flare Blitz
Overheat
ExtremeSpeed / Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ground
This set serves as a wall breaker, because of its ability to hit from both ends of the spectrum lets it hit the common walls on their weaker defense stat. A Flash Fire boosted Overheat from this spread will severely hurt Hippowdon and Donphan, and OHKO Gliscor. It even does considerable damage to physical walls that resist it, such as Slowbro and Swampert, who each take about 50% HP if they have max HP and no Special Defense EVs. Flare Blitz functions as a means to eliminate special walls, specifically Blissey. With the Flash Fire boost, it becomes a 6/13 shot to OHKO a max HP and Defense Blissey, but those that invest some EVs into Special Attack / Special Defense are surely one-shotted.
Of course, things that resist Fire can slow it down, which is why Hidden Power becomes very important. You can use Hidden Power Grass or Hidden Power Electric to cover Water-types. Electric stops Gyarados, but Grass lets you take on Swampert and Rhyperior. Arcanine can use Hidden Power Fighting to cover the Rock-types, specifically Tyranitar. Hidden Power Ground also hits the Rock-types like Hidden Power Fighting does, but it hits Heatran x4 instead of x2 at the cost of less power against Tyranitar, and covers Tentacruel a bit better. As usual, you can choose between Hidden Power Ice and Dragon Pulse.
Bulky Arcanine- Credits to Smogon
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Bold 240 HP / 168 Def / 28 SpA / 72 Spe
Will-O-Wisp
Hidden Power Ground
Flamethrower / Fire Blast
Roar
Bulky Arcanine is not something to laugh at since it can counter a lot of the major physical threats in the OU metagame thanks to Intimidate. The EVs above ensure that you survive a variety of physical attacks from Pokémon like Choice Band Jolly Dugtrio, and Jolly Garchomp. A Jolly Garchomp can not even OHKO Arcanine with Earthquake. The Speed EVs ensure you outspeed Jolly Tyranitar and other Pokémon who EV to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by one point.
Will-O-Wisp is probably the most important move here, since the ability to cut the opponents Attack in half is key to this set. Using this move on a wall also limits the durability they have, which will be needed sooner or later. Hidden Power Ground is needed to combat and 2HKO Fire-type threats that are immune to Will-o-Wisp such as Heatran and Infernape. The Fire-type move is your choice. Flamethrower is for reliability, while Fire Blast may be used for the extra kick. Roar is used to scout, cause some damage from Spikes or Stealth Rock if you set them up, and abuse Leftovers.
The EVs are very specific on this type of Arcanine, as the HP and Defense EVs will maximize defensive capabilities while still 2HKOing Heatran and Infernape and being able to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar plus those that aim to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by a single point. This is very important as you will be able to further diminish Tyranitar's Attack with Will-o-Wisp before it can hit you with an Earthquake, which (with the suggested HP and Defense EVs) won't KO anyways.
Howl
Arcanine @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 attack/252 speed/6 Hp OR 252 Attack/76 HP/180 Speed
Howl
Extremespeed
Flare Blitz
Thunder Fang/Iron Tail/Crunch
Arcanines lack of offensive boosting moves leaves it with howl. Use howl to boost attack after switching into something thats crippled by intimidate. Procede to get a few howls in and sweep primarily with flare blitz and extreme speed. Being walled by rock types leaves iron tail which has power but slightly unreliable accuracy. You can opt to use thunder fang to hit bulky waters who want to wall you like Gyarados.
AgilityNine-Physical Version
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 Atk/108 speed/150 Hp
Agility
Flare Blitz
Thunder Fang
Crunch/Iron tail
Ever think Arcanine needed a BIT more speed? Well heres your chance. Use intimidate to send in Arcanine and set up an agility. From there proceed to sweep with 455 attack and 506 speed. The evs given allow it to outrun max speed deoxys-e after one agility.
AgilityNine-Special Version
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 Spatk/108 speed/150 Hp
Agility
Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Dragon pulse
Hp Grass/Hp ground
Same concept as the aforementioned agility set but on the Special side. Fire Blast is preferable because of the extra power. Dragon Pulse to hit Salamence and other dragons pretty hard. Hp grass to get rid of Rhyperiors and Swamperts who love to wall you. Hp Ground to hit Heatran and others for some SE damage. *NOTE Fire blast does more damage then a 2x SE hp ground if not resisted*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Counters- Arcanine has many counters in the form of bulky waters. Most bulky waters such as Suicune, Gyarados, and Swampert can take Arcanine on depending on the set and hidden power. Rhyperior and Swampert quickly come to mind if the set does not include Hidden Power Grass. Even with the move, both are likely to survive if at full health and will easily OHKO with Earthquake. Bulky Waters will always limit Arcanines effectiveness, but Thunder Fang at least gives the pooch a chance to fight back, especially against Gyarados. Additionally, Flash Fire users, particularly Heatran, can pose a problem, as, unless Arcanine carries Hidden Power Ground, it does not have anything to deal considerable damage to them should they switch in on a fire move.
A typical conversation regarding Arcanine
Trainer 1-Lolwut?! There's a 4th legendary Dog/Cat thing?
Trainer 2-Yup thats right. Arcanine is the legendary pokemon who IS NOT legendary.
Trainer 1-What the .
Trainer 2-Yeah. Whats funny is Arcanine is BETTER than Entei in almost every category.
Trainer 1-Really? =/
Trainer 2-Arcanines got some underrated skillz.
Trainer 1-What Tier?
Trainer 2-Bl
Trainer 1- Is it viable in OU?
Trainer 2- Better believe it. With the exception of Heatran, Arcanine can hit every pokemon for neutral with good power and speed to back it up. Great abilities too! Intimidate can help survivability while Flash Fire boosts its fire attacks and gives it an immunity.
Trainer 1- Awesome!
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Movesets
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________
Choice Band
Arcanine @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant/Jolly 252 ATK / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Flare Blitz
ThunderFang
ExtremeSpeed
Body Slam / Crunch
Pretty straightforward. FBlitz is the primary attack...doing A LOT after STAB and CB....basically, ALMOST as strong as a SpecsMence Draco Meteor, but without the diminishing power.
Thunder Fang for Waters.
Extremespeed is like an "Ace in the hole".
Body Slam is for the Band set as Paralysis can help make up for that Base 95 Speed/Adamant Nature; while Crunch provides more coverage with Scarf in the event your HP is too low to use FBlitz again.
Triple Coverage
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Modest 252 Sp.ATK / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Will-O-Wisp
Flamethrower / Fire Blast
Dragon Pulse
Substitute/ Hp ground
I felt this was an obligatory mention seeing as how Dragon + Fire attacks have no resistances (except Heatran). Anyways, WoW + Intimidate cover him on the physical front, so it's better than nothing. Flamethrower/Fire Blast + Dragon Pulse provide a fair attack range.
Hp Ground for complete coverage equivalent of ghost + fighting. Sub for scouting and some defense.
Special Arcanine
Arcanine @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Timid/Modest 252 SpAtk/252 Speed
Fire Blast
Hp Grass OR Hp Ice
Dragon Pulse
Overheat/Solar Beam
A little more versatile..yet the same concept. Use timid nature with specs and modest with scarf. Typically you should run hp grass + overheat BUT it might be more beneficial to run hp ice +Sunny Day if and only if you have sun support.
MixedNine-credits to Smogon
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Naïve 228 Atk / 92 SpA / 188 Spe
Flare Blitz
Overheat
ExtremeSpeed / Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Electric / Hidden Power Ground
This set serves as a wall breaker, because of its ability to hit from both ends of the spectrum lets it hit the common walls on their weaker defense stat. A Flash Fire boosted Overheat from this spread will severely hurt Hippowdon and Donphan, and OHKO Gliscor. It even does considerable damage to physical walls that resist it, such as Slowbro and Swampert, who each take about 50% HP if they have max HP and no Special Defense EVs. Flare Blitz functions as a means to eliminate special walls, specifically Blissey. With the Flash Fire boost, it becomes a 6/13 shot to OHKO a max HP and Defense Blissey, but those that invest some EVs into Special Attack / Special Defense are surely one-shotted.
Of course, things that resist Fire can slow it down, which is why Hidden Power becomes very important. You can use Hidden Power Grass or Hidden Power Electric to cover Water-types. Electric stops Gyarados, but Grass lets you take on Swampert and Rhyperior. Arcanine can use Hidden Power Fighting to cover the Rock-types, specifically Tyranitar. Hidden Power Ground also hits the Rock-types like Hidden Power Fighting does, but it hits Heatran x4 instead of x2 at the cost of less power against Tyranitar, and covers Tentacruel a bit better. As usual, you can choose between Hidden Power Ice and Dragon Pulse.
Bulky Arcanine- Credits to Smogon
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Bold 240 HP / 168 Def / 28 SpA / 72 Spe
Will-O-Wisp
Hidden Power Ground
Flamethrower / Fire Blast
Roar
Bulky Arcanine is not something to laugh at since it can counter a lot of the major physical threats in the OU metagame thanks to Intimidate. The EVs above ensure that you survive a variety of physical attacks from Pokémon like Choice Band Jolly Dugtrio, and Jolly Garchomp. A Jolly Garchomp can not even OHKO Arcanine with Earthquake. The Speed EVs ensure you outspeed Jolly Tyranitar and other Pokémon who EV to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by one point.
Will-O-Wisp is probably the most important move here, since the ability to cut the opponents Attack in half is key to this set. Using this move on a wall also limits the durability they have, which will be needed sooner or later. Hidden Power Ground is needed to combat and 2HKO Fire-type threats that are immune to Will-o-Wisp such as Heatran and Infernape. The Fire-type move is your choice. Flamethrower is for reliability, while Fire Blast may be used for the extra kick. Roar is used to scout, cause some damage from Spikes or Stealth Rock if you set them up, and abuse Leftovers.
The EVs are very specific on this type of Arcanine, as the HP and Defense EVs will maximize defensive capabilities while still 2HKOing Heatran and Infernape and being able to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar plus those that aim to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by a single point. This is very important as you will be able to further diminish Tyranitar's Attack with Will-o-Wisp before it can hit you with an Earthquake, which (with the suggested HP and Defense EVs) won't KO anyways.
Howl
Arcanine @ Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 attack/252 speed/6 Hp OR 252 Attack/76 HP/180 Speed
Howl
Extremespeed
Flare Blitz
Thunder Fang/Iron Tail/Crunch
Arcanines lack of offensive boosting moves leaves it with howl. Use howl to boost attack after switching into something thats crippled by intimidate. Procede to get a few howls in and sweep primarily with flare blitz and extreme speed. Being walled by rock types leaves iron tail which has power but slightly unreliable accuracy. You can opt to use thunder fang to hit bulky waters who want to wall you like Gyarados.
AgilityNine-Physical Version
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 Atk/108 speed/150 Hp
Agility
Flare Blitz
Thunder Fang
Crunch/Iron tail
Ever think Arcanine needed a BIT more speed? Well heres your chance. Use intimidate to send in Arcanine and set up an agility. From there proceed to sweep with 455 attack and 506 speed. The evs given allow it to outrun max speed deoxys-e after one agility.
AgilityNine-Special Version
Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant 252 Spatk/108 speed/150 Hp
Agility
Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Dragon pulse
Hp Grass/Hp ground
Same concept as the aforementioned agility set but on the Special side. Fire Blast is preferable because of the extra power. Dragon Pulse to hit Salamence and other dragons pretty hard. Hp grass to get rid of Rhyperiors and Swamperts who love to wall you. Hp Ground to hit Heatran and others for some SE damage. *NOTE Fire blast does more damage then a 2x SE hp ground if not resisted*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Counters- Arcanine has many counters in the form of bulky waters. Most bulky waters such as Suicune, Gyarados, and Swampert can take Arcanine on depending on the set and hidden power. Rhyperior and Swampert quickly come to mind if the set does not include Hidden Power Grass. Even with the move, both are likely to survive if at full health and will easily OHKO with Earthquake. Bulky Waters will always limit Arcanines effectiveness, but Thunder Fang at least gives the pooch a chance to fight back, especially against Gyarados. Additionally, Flash Fire users, particularly Heatran, can pose a problem, as, unless Arcanine carries Hidden Power Ground, it does not have anything to deal considerable damage to them should they switch in on a fire move.