Arceus Through The Ages
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Art by Daylight.
Introduction
As one might expect from the God of Pokémon, Arceus is a staple of every Ubers metagame in which it is available. Base 120 stats across the board give Arceus great bulk, power, and Speed, while a very wide movepool containing excellent utility and coverage options coupled with the ability to hold a Plate to alter its typing for your team's needs makes it a Pokémon that can fulfill almost any role. An Arceus forme of your choosing is almost too good to pass up for the vast majority of BW, ORAS, and SM Ubers teams, while in DPP Ubers, Arceus was deemed so metagame warping that it was eventually banned. With each generation, however, the most prominent and best Arceus formes have varied to suit the metagame of the day. This article will be taking a look at how Arceus has fit into each Ubers generation from DPP to SM by reviewing some examples of formes and sets that work well and why. It will also try to give you an idea of what more niche formes have been able to achieve at different points in time, as well as why certain Arceus formes have struggled to make much of a mark at all.
DPP
DPP Ubers was an unusual playing field for Arceus. First, Arceus had a unique limitation: as it was only legally available at level 100, the EV mechanics in DPP meant that Arceus could only invest 100 EVs in each stat. The biggest issue this presented Arceus with was that it could not make use of its excellent Speed tier, leaving it outsped by otherwise-slower Pokémon such as Garchomp, Latias, and Latios. The other unusual aspect of DPP Ubers was that the metagame seen in most Ubers tournaments didn't include Arceus at all for many years. This was because Arceus was never properly implemented on Shoddy Battle, the simulator used when DPP was the current generation. Even after Smogon's move to other simulators, Arceus remained excluded from the metagame until it was finally given a chance in December 2019.
The new metagame featuring this specific incarnation of Arceus capped at 100 EVs per stat became known as the Farceus metagame. Upon being made available, Arceus immediately made its mark: Extreme Killer Arceus and Arceus-Fighting in particular became dominant forces in the metagame. Extreme Killer Arceus, the term given to Normal-type Swords Dance Arceus sets that take advantage of its powerful STAB Extreme Speed, acted as an excellent countermeasure to offensive teams. While no Team Preview meant Extreme Killer Arceus users could not immediately discern which of its checks were on teams, it also meant Extreme Killer Arceus could be kept hidden and catch opponents unawares, making it even more dangerous late-game. Meanwhile, Arceus-Fighting served as a great check to Extreme Killer Arceus, Darkrai, and Dialga and had a useful defensive typing with few weaknesses, limited mostly to a vulnerability to Ho-Oh's Brave Bird. Arceus-Steel also saw decent use, as it was the only Arceus forme that resisted commonly spammed Dragon-type attacks. Arceus was eventually banned in a close and still-contentious vote in November 2020, a testament to how much its belated introduction ended up influencing DPP Ubers.
BW
Arceus is much more versatile in BW Ubers due to the removal of the EV cap, allowing its EV spreads to be specialized to fully realize whatever role one wants it to fulfill. Permanent weather, Kyogre, Choice Scarf Genesect, and entry hazards define BW Ubers, so the best Arceus formes can account for one or more of these things. Arceus-Ghost is the most versatile Arceus forme in the tier: it can fill the role of a lead, Calm Mind user, or Swords Dance user while also blocking Rapid Spin with its Ghost typing, which is vital for keeping entry hazards up, and offering a resistance to the common Choice Scarf Genesect's U-turn. Another big draw of Arceus-Ghost is its claim to perfect coverage; Calm Mind Arceus-Ghost has access to STAB Judgment and the powerful, if inaccurate, Focus Blast, while Swords Dance Arceus-Ghost also has a strong STAB attack in Shadow Force with slightly weaker coverage in Brick Break.
Extreme Killer Arceus is another tier staple, as it can take advantage of offensive teams with Swords Dance and a great priority move in STAB Extreme Speed to become an almost-unmatched late-game cleaner. Unlike most Swords Dance Arceus formes, Extreme Killer Arceus can afford to invest in bulk due to Extreme Speed usually allowing it to hit first, meaning it gets the best of both worlds in power and durability. Arceus-Fighting is a defensive stalwart, checking Pokémon such as Extreme Killer Arceus, Genesect, Darkrai, and Dialga while offering an excellent defensive typing. It can function as a useful support Arceus forme, generally running Toxic and Recover with Judgment and one of Ice Beam and Stone Edge, or as a Calm Mind Arceus forme, as Fighting-type STAB paired with Ice-type coverage is a potent offensive combination in BW Ubers. Arceus-Steel offers teams a resistance to Dragon-type moves, benefits from permanent rain removing its Fire-type weakness, and is an effective Calm Mind user due to its immunity to poison and the fact nothing is immune to Steel. It is also versatile; Substitute can be employed to completely wall Ferrothorn, Thunder can be used to beat specially defensive Kyogre, and Roar can be used to beat slower phazers such as Giratina-O, Giratina, and Dialga at their own games.
ORAS
Compared to BW Ubers, Arceus's use cases in ORAS Ubers are instead influenced by the presence of huge threats such as Xerneas, Yveltal, Mega Salamence, and, in particular, Primal Groudon. The buff to Defog is another game-changer for Arceus, as it makes support Arceus formes even more adept role compressors by offering them the ability to remove entry hazards from the user's side of the field. Defog Arceus formes are so common and useful that Mega Gengar is frequently employed to trap them with Shadow Tag and force trades. Extreme Killer Arceus continues to thrive due to the highly offensive nature of ORAS Ubers, despite the presence of checks such as Mega Gengar and Mega Salamence. Arceus-Ground's good typing, the fall of Kyogre, and its ability to check Primal Groudon make it the jack-of-all-trades of ORAS Ubers, as it is able to viably run Swords Dance, Calm Mind, and defensive sets. Arceus-Dragon and, to a lesser extent, Arceus-Water are great checks to Mega Salamence and Primal Groudon and good Defog users. Arceus-Rock also sees consistent use thanks to it acting as a solid check to Flying-types such as Ho-Oh and Mega Salamence that brings with it an effective offensive typing and a useful resistance to Extreme Speed.
Conversely, several Arceus formes that were dominant in BW Ubers are much less useful. Arceus-Ghost is viable as a Swords Dance user that can avoid being copied by Ditto's Imposter due to Shadow Force, but it struggles to perform other roles due to Yveltal's presence. Spinblocking is also not as useful in ORAS Ubers due to the ubiquity of Defog users. Arceus-Steel and Arceus-Fighting are niche and completely unviable in ORAS Ubers, respectively; Arceus-Steel suffers from the ubiquity of Primal Groudon, the loss of its Ghost and Dark resistances, and Xerneas commonly carrying Fighting-type coverage, while Arceus-Fighting offers teams far less offensive and defensive utility due to the dominance of Xerneas and Mega Salamence.
SM
While not as drastic a transition as between BW and ORAS Ubers, SM Ubers still gives Arceus a very different environment to work with. Arceus has access to Z-Crystals in SM Ubers, which trade the ability to use STAB Judgment and the general 1.2x boost to STAB moves for one-time access to a very powerful STAB move. Darkrai is also non-existent in this metagame due to the Dark Void nerf, meaning that Arceus need not worry about being put to sleep by a powerful offensive Pokémon faster than it. However, newcomers to this generation such as Marshadow, Necrozma-DM, and Ultra Necrozma really alter Arceus usage in a big way from ORAS.
Marshadow is the Swords Dance Arceus forme's worst nightmare, as it outspeeds Arceus, is immune to Extreme Speed, and has access to Spectral Thief to steal Swords Dance boosts. Extreme Killer Arceus is the lone exception to this, as it is immune to Spectral Thief, but it often has to run Chople Berry in SM Ubers because of its weakness to Close Combat; it is simply not as useful as it used to be. Meanwhile, Necrozma-DM presents issues for support Arceus formes not named Arceus-Ground and Arceus-Dark, while Ultra Necrozma outspeeds offensive Arceus formes and can do serious damage to offensive and support formes alike with its Z-Move. This means that Arceus formes viable on bulky offense teams, rather than hyper offense and balance, are the ones that shine in the generation. All of these factors are why support Arceus-Ground is probably the most useful Arceus forme in the tier, as it retains its perks from ORAS while being able to deal with these newly introduced threats. Arceus-Dark is also at its best in SM Ubers; it can deal with Necrozma-DM and Ultra Necrozma while also being able to beat another new Pokémon in Lunala and the much-improved Mega Mewtwo Y. On the other hand, while it struggles with Necrozma-DM, Arceus-Fairy is a common sight in SM Ubers due to its ability to beat an array of other Pokémon, such as Marshadow, Dark-types, and Dragon-types, and its capacity to serve as either a Stealth Rock or Calm Mind user.
The Lesser Gods
While some Arceus formes have never been tier defining, they have certainly seen some prominence over time through filling niche roles in metagames that suit them. In Farceus Ubers, Arceus-Electric can be quite effective thanks to its excellent Electric- and Ice-type coverage, something only specially defensive Dialga is truly a match for. It can check both Flying-types, such as Skarmory and Ho-Oh, and Kyogre, which no other Arceus forme can do. It can even survive an Earthquake from Garchomp and OHKO it back with Ice Beam. Unfortunately, being unable to hit Ground-types at all with its STAB move has always been a serious issue for it, especially in ORAS and SM Ubers, where Primal Groudon is omnipresent and only takes neutral damage from Ice Beam. Arceus-Grass is at its best in Farceus and BW Ubers as a check to both Groudon and Kyogre that can act as either a utility Pokémon or a Calm Mind sweeper with its useful typing. It can still act as an offensive Arceus-Ground and Primal Kyogre check in later generations, but the presence of Pokémon such as Mega Gengar as well as Primal Groudon's Fire typing makes it less useful. Arceus-Ice is surprisingly dangerous in ORAS Ubers as a Calm Mind sweeper due to its excellent offensive typing, but it suffers much more from the prominence of Steel-types and its poor defensive typing in other generations. Arceus-Poison has a niche as the only Poison-type with significant staying power in Farceus Ubers, making it a longer-lasting countermeasure against Toxic Spikes than Tentacruel and Qwilfish; however, it can only really fit on stall teams. It is also a good, albeit niche, check to both Xerneas and Marshadow in SM Ubers, but it is seldom seen in BW Ubers, where Tentacruel is easier to fit due to its access to Rain Dish and entry hazard removal, and ORAS Ubers, where its ability to beat Xerneas is not enough to justify its weakness to Primal Groudon and opportunity cost over other Arceus formes. While it is mediocre elsewhere, Arceus-Flying shines in SM Ubers as a Calm Mind user that can fit Refresh in its moveset due to no foes being immune to Flying, in a similar vein to Arceus-Dark; however, unlike Arceus-Dark, Arceus-Flying can beat Marshadow and, while weak to Stealth Rock, is immune to all other entry hazards.
The False Gods
Unfortunately, there are some Arceus formes that almost always either occupy too small a niche to be worth considering or are simply completely outclassed at wherever they try to do. Arceus-Bug stands out as arguably the worst Arceus forme overall. Its typing makes it a detriment to teams, as it is subpar both offensively and defensively and renders Arceus-Bug weak to Stealth Rock. It can set up Stealth Rock on Gothitelle in SM Ubers, but this niche is almost never worth considering. Arceus-Psychic is a somewhat capable check to Psychic-types in BW Ubers, but it is almost totally outclassed by other Arceus formes, such as Arceus-Dark, in other generations. Even in BW Ubers, it is bait for dangerous Dark- and Steel-types, especially if it is not running Fire Blast, which makes it difficult to justify on teams. Arceus-Fire, probably the "best" forme overall out of anything listed here, is barely considerable as a Calm Mind user on a few sun teams in BW Ubers, as it has a surprisingly good matchup against hyper offensive sun teams. However, it is generally not worth the effort needed to make it work in that metagame. Meanwhile, there is little reason to use it over Primal Groudon in ORAS and SM Ubers, which offers far more from a defensive standpoint. It also has similar issues to Arceus-Bug in that it is very vulnerable to entry hazards, which tends to make it a defensive liability wherever you try to use it. Please do not make the same mistake I did many years ago in adopting Arceus-Fire as your favorite Pokémon.
Final Thoughts
Whether Arceus will return to another mainline competitive metagame remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Arceus has demonstrably had a considerable impact wherever it is usable. Although the guises in which Arceus is viable have changed across generations, it has always been able to make its mark as one of the most useful Pokémon in Ubers. It is a testament to how strong Arceus is as a Pokémon that even most of the traditionally lesser-seen Arceus formes have had their time in the sun, with a legitimate use being found at some point for almost every Arceus typing. Perhaps you could be the one who finds a groundbreaking new use or niche for a more uncommon forme and contributes another chapter to the story of Arceus throughout the ages...
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