Arcanine
Welcome to my first custom-set-analysis-thing ... anyways, about a week ago, I was thinking of new ideas to use on the UU ladder and apparently i was looking at Arcanine's movepool and Agility was right in my face. I said why not? So I made a set based around Agility with a team soon after and started to test it. Its simply amazing ... countless times Sceptile, Dugtrio and the sort switched in to stop Arcanine's sweep and got KO'd very quickly ... anyways read on for more details.
[Set]
name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Flare Blitz
move 3: Morning Sun
move 4: Extremespeed
item: Life Orb
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 118 Spe
[Why this Set Deserves to be On Site]
- This set effectively defeats many of the Pokemon who are seen to switch in to Arcanine trying to check or counter it (mostly Pokemon who outpace it)
- It needs minimal support which can often be found in only a couple of Pokemon which also share decent synergy with Arcanine
- Although this set emphasizes the offensive potential of Arcanine, it also make the potent threat quite bulky so it’s able to maximize the longevity of it’s sweep
[Additional Comments]
- 188 Speed EV’s allow Arcanine to outpace all Pokemon in the UU (After an Agility) who do not carry a Choice Scarf and it can also outspeed Base 115’s or below who do carry a choice scarf (most notably Scarf Mismagius)
- Maximum attack investment is quite obviously for maximum damage output, and after those investments in Attack and speed, the rest are put into Hp for bulk
- Although this may seem as though its an inferior version of an offensive variant of Arcanine but with an extra moveslot taken by Agility, this set does a bit more than that; its true that the common checks to Arcanine still remain so, but with Agility, Arcanine is now able to fight back against Pokemon like Swellow, Sceptile, Miltank, Mismagius, and Alakazam who would normally end Arcanine’s sweep due to their much greater speed stat
- As you have probably noticed, LO + Flare Blitz Recoil is going to deplete Arcanine’s Hp fast and that is why I’ve included Morning Sun; with Arcanine’s natural defenses and a significant HP investment, Arcanine will often be presented with the opportunity of using morning Sun to restore its HP and continue its sweep
- Here are some calcs to justify my words (all of these calcs are against Pokemon Arcanine would not have been able to outpace (or have speed tied with) or even considerably damaged without the use of Agility):
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS Guts Activation Swellow: 144.1% - 170.1% (OHKO)
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS SubSeed Sceptile: 211.3% - 249% (OHKO)
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS Bulky Ghost Mismagius: 116% - 137% (OHKO)
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS Utility Miltank: 45.2% - 53.3% (Chance of 2HKO)
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS Defensive Drapion: 48.8% - 57.6% (Guaranteed 2HKO with SR)
Agility Arcanine’s Flare Blitz VS Sweeper Scyther: 213.5% - 252% (OHKO)
(This next one doesn’t really count since it’s using Extremespeed, but I’ll still post it for reference)
Agility Arcanine’s ExtremeSpeed VS Nasty Plot Houndoom: 65.8% - 77.4% (2HKO)
[Team Options and Counters]
- Although Agility helps Arcanine with many of its normal checks and counters, it is still perfectly checked by bulky water like Milotic and Slowbro so its great to pair Agility Arcanine with Venusaur who counters Milotic and other bulky waters very nicely
- Aside from bulky waters, Pokemon like Hariyama and Miltank are also counters to Arcanine especially if they run the Thick Fat ability which halves Arcanine’s STAB attack. So packing a Pokemon like Spiritomb on your which can check both of the aforementioned Pokemon with its decent bulk, and access to Will-O-Wisp which can severely cripple both Hariyama and Miltank (if it doesn’t carry Aromatherapy in its arsenal)
