Gen 1 Arcanine [GP: 1/1]

[Gangsta Spongebob]

[OVERVIEW]

Despite sporting the second highest BST in PU, Arcanine is largely outclassed by Rapidash, as its ability to outspeed Fearow and access to Fire Spin generally outshine Arcanine's higher bulk. However, using both at the same time is very viable, especially since Porygon walls the duo's sole true counter in Omanyte. With huge bulk, solid offensive stats, and still-excellent Speed that outpaces fast foes like Pinsir and Abra, Arcanine is a formidable progress maker. It notably has a fantastic matchup against Rapidash and Magmar, letting players build Fire-weak teams without having to rely on Omanyte. With Reflect, Arcanine's sheer bulk makes it difficult for common threats like Rapidash and even Nidoqueen to take down. With Reflect and Rest, Arcanine walls Porygon, which otherwise could almost always KO or paralyze a key piece of the opposing team. These traits are sometimes good enough to sometimes justify using Arcanine on its own, but most of the time it should still be used with Rapidash. Even as a team's secondary Fire-type, Arcanine has competition in Magmar, which has the moves to make progress against Omanyte and thus functions with less support. However, Arcanine's much higher bulk lets it fulfill a distinct and generally more useful niche in beating opposing Fire-types and Porygon. Despite its plethora of excellent traits, players should weigh their options when considering Arcanine, though most of the time it will prove itself to be a worthwhile addition to its team.

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam / Rest
move 4: Reflect

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Fire Blast is Arcanine's strongest attack against most of the tier, and its burn chance potentially ruins checks like Nidoqueen and Machamp. Fire Blast also 3HKOes Porygon, giving Arcanine solid odds to break through it thanks to Arcanine's high critical hit rate. Body Slam lets Arcanine spread paralysis, notably threatening Fire-resistant Pokemon like Staryu, Rapidash, and Dragonair. Hyper Beam is used as a powerful finisher to KO physically frail threats such as Staryu and Drowzee much earlier than Fire Blast can. It also OHKOes Abra, and the extra damage lets it beat the rare Slowpoke one-on-one. Alternatively, Rest combined with Reflect lets Arcanine wall some threats, notably including Rapidash, Porygon, and opposing Arcanine. However, Rest is risky to use, as it invites foes that would otherwise struggle to switch into Arcanine, like Staryu and Nidoqueen. Reflect is solid on its own, as it still improves Arcanine's matchups against foes like Rapidash and Nidoqueen.

Teams that use Arcanine must either pair it with Rapidash as a secondary Fire-type or focus on its bulk. Omanyte stonewalls Rapidash and Arcanine, making Porygon an essential partner, especially when using multiple Fire-types. Porygon also checks Nidoqueen, another troublesome foe. Checks to Water-types, like Drowzee and Staryu, also make great partners, especially if Arcanine is using Rest and thus not always able to threaten the opposing team. Fearow forms an effective offenisve core with Rapidash and Arcanine, weakening shared checks like Nidoqueen, Omanyte, and Graveler. If Arcanine isn't being used with Rapidash, it should usually use Rest to wall opposing Porygon, Rapidash, and Arcanine for its team. Arcanine can reliably beat other Fire-types, which notably helps Pinsir, and it also has a better matchup against Drowzee, which assists partners like Abra and Staryu.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Agility can be used to negate the Speed drop from paralysis, which is especially useful if Arcanine is used as a lead. It can also let Arcanine act as a cleaner, though in the role of a fast Fire-type it's outclassed by Rapidash. Toxic initially seems like a good option to break through Omanyte, but without a partial trapping move Arcanine has no effective means to rack up damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Rock-types**: Omanyte stonewalls Arcanine and doesn't mind burn of paralysis that much, while it can 2HKO Arcanine back with Surf. Graveler is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast and 2HKOes back with Earthquake, though it must watch out for burn.

**Water-types**: Seaking doesn't mind Arcanine's attacks too much and can 2HKO it with Surf. Without Hyper Beam, Arcanine can at best 4HKO Slowpoke, while its unboosted Surf 3HKOes back.

**Ground-types**: Nidoqueen is only 3HKOed by Fire Blast, and Sandslash is only 2HKOed 32.8% of the time; they both can 2HKO Arcanine with Earthquake, and Sandslash OHKOes it after a Swords Dance. However, both Ground-types lose the one-on-one if Arcanine is able to get up Reflect at full health, and they also must be wary of a burn.

**Paralysis**: Arcanine is reliant on its Speed to defeat foes such as Staryu and Drowzee, and thus it usually loses once it's paralyzed. Arcanine normally can still deal significant damage to checks like Nidoqueen and Seaking, but this is denied to it when it's outsped. However, Arcanine is less fearful of paralysis if it has Agility.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Sabelette]

QC 1/2

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Despite sporting the second-highest BST in all of PU, Arcanine is largely outclassed by Rapidash, as in a game-to-game basis Rapidash's access to Fire Spin and ability to outspeed Fearow outclass Arcanine's higher bulk. However, using both at the same time is very viable, especially when Porygon walls the duo's sole true counter in Omanyte. With huge bulk, solid offensive stats, and still excellent Speed that outpaces fast foes like Pinsir and Abra, Arcanine is a formidable progress maker. With Reflect, Arcanine is a nightmare for common threats like Rapidash and even Nidoqueen to take down. And with Reflect and Rest, Arcanine walls Porygon, a Pokemon who can otherwise massive pain for teams to handle. Arcanine isn't perfect, as players can generally only justify using it alongside Rapidash, but even then, it's a great Pokemon in its own right.

(discuss Magmar as well and mention that it's bulky enough to fight things like Fearow; also please check over your spelling and grammar, things like starting sentences with "and" isn't good. You're starting to rush these more, slow down and double check.)

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam / Rest
move 4: Reflect

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Fire Blast serves as a powerful STAB attack. (if there's nothing else to say but "it's STAB" just remove it but there's a lot to say here about crit ranges on Pory, burn utility vs things like Queen/Machamp/Fearow, etc) Body Slam lets Arcanine spread paralysis, notably threatening Pokemon with Fire-type resistances like Staryu, Rapidash, and Dragonair. Hyper Beam is used as a powerful finisher, with the ability to KO physically frail threats such as Staryu and Drowzee much earlier than Fire Blast. It also OHKOes Abra, and the extra damage lets it beat the rare Slowpoke one-on-one. Alternatively, Rest combined with Reflect lets Arcanine wall certain threats like Rapidash and Porygon. However, while sleeping Arcanine is very passive and is quite easy to break through using Pokemon such Fearow and Staryu. Reflect is also solid on its own, improving Arcanine's matchups against foes like Nidoqueen.

Arcanine should be used with Rapidash, as if teams have to choose between the two, Rapidash is almost always preferred. (disagree, a team may want its bulk more in some cases) Porygon is also essential, as using Arcanine and Rapidash leaves a whole one third of one's team walled by Omanyte and checked by Graveler. (good) Checks to Water-types like Drowzee and Staryu make great partners, especially if Arcanine is using Rest and thus not able to always threaten the opposing team. Fearow forms an effective offenisve core with Rapidash and Arcanine, weakening each other's shared checks like Nidoqueen.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Arcanine could use Agility to act as a cleaner, though in the role of a fast Fire-type it's outclassed by Rapidash, who (please catch these more, it's always "which," never "who") is the fastest relevant Pokemon in the tier. Toxic initially seems like a good option to break through Omanyte, but without a partial-trapping move Arcanine has no effective means to rack up damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Rock-types**: Due to its typing Omanyte stonewalls Arcanine, who simply cannot make any meaningful progress against it. Graveler is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast while 2HKOing back with Earthquake, though it must watch out for burns from Fire Blast.

**Water-types**: Seaking doesn't mind Arcanine's attacks too much and can 2HKO it with Surf. Without Hyper Beam, Arcanine can at best 4HKO Slowpoke, who's unboosted Surf 3HKOes back.

**Ground-types**: Nidoqueen is only 3HKOed by Fire Blast, and Sandslash is only 2HKOed 32.8% of the time, and they both can 2HKO Arcanine with Earthquake. Sandslash can even OHKO Arcanine after a Swords Dance. However, both Ground-types lost the one-on-one if Arcanine is able to get up a Reflect while remaining at full healthy, and they also be wary of burns from Fire Blast.

(paralysis should be mentioned, being outsped by Queen/Machamp/Staryu/Seaking is rough and even Drowzee and Gastly can beat up on it if it's para'd)

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

Grammar checked by:

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

Implemented and ready for QC 2!

 

[gastlies]

hey

dog

[OVERVIEW]

Despite sporting the second-highest BST in all of PU, Arcanine is largely outclassed by Rapidash. In general, Rapidash's ability to outspeed Fearow and access to Fire Spin and ability to outspeed Fearow outclass Arcanine's higher bulk. A little nitpicky here but I feel outspeeding fearow is more important than Fire Spin, so I just made sure that was stated first. However, using both at the same time is very viable, especially when Porygon walls the duo's sole true counter in Omanyte. With huge bulk, solid offensive stats, and still excellent Speed that outpaces fast foes like Pinsir and Abra, Arcanine is a formidable progress maker. With Reflect, Arcanine's sheer bulk makes it difficult for common threats like Rapidash and even Nidoqueen to take down. With Reflect and Rest, Arcanine notably walls Porygon, which otherwise would almost always manage to get a KO or paralyze a key piece of the opposing team. These traits are sometimes good enough to sometimes justify using Arcanine on its own, though most of the time it should still be used with Rapidash. However, even as a team's secondary Fire-type, Arcanine has competition in Magmar, which has the moves to make progress against Omanyte, and thus it does not need much of the support Arcanine relies on. However, Arcanine has much higher bulk, letting it fulfil a distinct niche that's generally more useful. Despite its plethora of excellent traits, players should weigh their options when considering Arcanine, though most of the time it will prove itself to be a worthwhile addition to its team. Maybe somewhere in this paragraph you can mention that Arcanine is the best Fire-type against other Fire-types, so if you have a fire-weak team but don't want to run oma arc is another excellent option.

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam / Rest
move 4: Reflect

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Fire Blast serves as a powerful STAB attack, with it providing additional utility for its ability to spread burns, potentially ruining checks like Nidoqueen and Machamp. Fire Blast also 3HKOes Porygon, meaning that it will eventually be broken through due to Arcanine's high critical hit rate. Body Slam lets Arcanine spread paralysis, notably threatening Pokemon with Fire-type resistances like Staryu, Rapidash, and Dragonair. Hyper Beam is used as a powerful finisher, with the ability to KO physically frail threats such as Staryu and Drowzee much earlier than Fire Blast. It also OHKOes Abra, and the extra damage lets it beat the rare Slowpoke one-on-one. Alternatively, Rest combined with Reflect lets Arcanine wall some threats, notably Rapidash, Porygon, and opposing Arcanine. Maybe add a sentence or two on the downside of Rest: Stuff that normally can't switch into Arc well like Nidoqueen and Staryu can switch in when its resting and force it out. Reflect is also solid on its own, as it still improves Arcanine's matchups against foes like Rapidash and Nidoqueen.

Teams that use Arcanine must either pair it with Rapidash as a secondary Fire-type or focus on its bulk. Omanyte stonewalls Rapidash and Arcanine, making Porygon an essential partner, especially in the former option. Porygon also checks another troublesome foe, Nidoqueen. Checks to Water-types like Drowzee and Staryu also make great partners, especially if Arcanine is using Rest and thus not able to always threaten the opposing team. Fearow forms an effective offenisve core with Rapidash and Arcanine, weakening each other's shared checks like Nidoqueen, Omanyte and Graveler. If Arcanine isn't being used with Rapidash, it should usually use Rest to wall opposing Porygon, Rapidash, and Arcanine for its team. Additionally, some teams may also prefer Arcanine for its better matchup against select foes like Drowzee. This section was written really well. Good job. You could add pinsir as a good teammate since arc is able to switch into opposing fire-types and force them out, but up to you really.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Arcanine could use Agility to act as a cleaner, though in the role of a fast Fire-type it's outclassed by Rapidash, which is the fastest relevant Pokemon in the tier. I generally like to use agility in the lead slot since the lead usually ends up getting paralyzed, so agility is a good way to negate the speed drop. Maybe a sentence like "Agility is also a good option if you choose to lead Arcanine to negate the speed drop from Paralysis from opposing leads." Toxic initially seems like a good option to break through Omanyte, but without a partial-trapping move Arcanine has no effective means to rack up damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Rock-types**: Due to its typing Omanyte stonewalls Arcanine, which simply cannot make any meaningful progress against it. Graveler is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast while 2HKOing back with Earthquake, though it must watch out for burns from Fire Blast.

**Water-types**: Seaking doesn't mind Arcanine's attacks too much and can 2HKO it with Surf. Without Hyper Beam, Arcanine can at best 4HKO Slowpoke, while its unboosted Surf 3HKOes back.

**Ground-types**: Nidoqueen is only 3HKOed by Fire Blast, and Sandslash is only 2HKOed 32.8% of the time, and they both can 2HKO Arcanine with Earthquake. Sandslash can even OHKO Arcanine after a Swords Dance. However, both Ground-types lose the one-on-one if Arcanine is able to get up a Reflect while remaining at full healthy, and they also be wary of burns from Fire Blast.

**Paralysis**: Arcanine is reliant on its Speed to defeat foes such as Staryu and Drowzee, and thus usually loses once its paralyzed. Additionally, even when checked by something like Nidoqueen or Seaking, Arcanine can still often deal significant damage to them, something denied to it when its outsped. When using Agility though, Arcanine is less fearful of paralysis.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/

Grammar checked by:

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

Implemented! GP Team

 

[Sabelette]

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Despite sporting the second-highest (RH) BST in all of PU, Arcanine is largely outclassed by Rapidash, (AC) as its . In general, Rapidash's ability to outspeed Fearow and access to Fire Spin generally outclass Arcanine's higher bulk. However, using both at the same time is very viable, especially when since Porygon walls the duo's sole true counter in Omanyte. With huge bulk, solid offensive stats, and still-excellent (AH) Speed that outpaces fast foes like Pinsir and Abra, Arcanine is a formidable progress maker. It notably has a fantastic matchup against other Fire-types like Rapidash and Magmar, letting players build Fire-weak teams without having to rely on Omanyte. With Reflect, Arcanine's sheer bulk makes it difficult for common threats like Rapidash and even Nidoqueen to take down. With Reflect and Rest, Arcanine walls Porygon, which otherwise could almost always KO or paralyze a key piece of the opposing team. These traits are sometimes good enough to sometimes justify using Arcanine on its own, though but most of the time it should still be used with Rapidash. However, even Even as a team's secondary Fire-type, Arcanine has competition in Magmar, which has the moves to make progress against Omanyte, (RC) and thus functions with less support it does not need much of the support Arcanine relies on. However, Arcanine's much higher bulk lets it fulfill (missed a letter) a distinct and generally more useful niche that's generally more useful. (elaborate slightly, like "useful niche of checking Fire-types and trading hits with XYZ" or something) Despite its plethora of excellent traits, players should weigh their options when considering Arcanine, though most of the time it will prove itself to be a worthwhile addition to its team.

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Body Slam
move 3: Hyper Beam / Rest
move 4: Reflect

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Fire Blast is Arcanine's strongest attack against most of the tier, and its burn chance potentially ruins with it providing additional utility for its ability to spread burns, potentially ruining checks like Nidoqueen and Machamp. Fire Blast also 3HKOes Porygon, meaning that it will eventually be broken through due to Arcanine's high critical hit rate (rephrase this, the move has 8 PP so its far from guaranteed). Body Slam lets Arcanine spread paralysis, notably threatening Fire-resistant Pokemon with Fire-type resistances like Staryu, Rapidash, and Dragonair. Hyper Beam is used as a powerful finisher, (RC) with the ability to KO physically frail threats such as Staryu and Drowzee much earlier than Fire Blast can. It also OHKOes Abra, and the extra damage lets it beat the rare Slowpoke one-on-one. Alternatively, Rest combined with Reflect lets Arcanine wall some threats, notably including Rapidash, Porygon, and opposing Arcanine. However, Rest is risky to use, as it invites foes that would otherwise struggle to switch into Arcanine, like Staryu and Nidoqueen. Reflect is solid on its own, as it still improves Arcanine's matchups against foes like Rapidash and Nidoqueen.

Teams that use Arcanine must either pair it with Rapidash as a secondary Fire-type or focus on its bulk. Omanyte stonewalls Rapidash and Arcanine, making Porygon an essential partner, especially in the former option when using multiple Fire-types. Porygon also checks Nidoqueen, (AC) another troublesome foe, (RC) Nidoqueen. Checks to Water-types, (AC) like Drowzee and Staryu, (AC) also make great partners, especially if Arcanine is using Rest and thus not always able to threaten the opposing team. Fearow forms an effective offenisve core with Rapidash and Arcanine, weakening each other's shared checks like Nidoqueen, Omanyte, and Graveler. If Arcanine isn't being used with Rapidash, it should usually use Rest to wall opposing Porygon, Rapidash, and Arcanine for its team. Additionally, some teams may also prefer Arcanine for its better matchup against certain foes. (either specify or cut; if you specify make sure to remove the "additionally" since its redundant) Arcanine can reliably beat other Fire-types, which notably helps Pinsir, and it also has a better matchup against Drowzee, which assists partners like Abra and Staryu.


[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Agility can be used to negate the Speed drop from paralysis, which is especially useful if Arcanine is used as a lead. Agility It can also let Arcanine act as a cleaner, though in the role of a fast Fire-type it's outclassed by Rapidash, which is the fastest relevant Pokemon in the tier. Toxic initially seems like a good option to break through Omanyte, but without a partial-trapping (RH) move Arcanine has no effective means to rack up damage.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Rock-types**: Due to its typing, Omanyte stonewalls Arcanine, which simply cannot make any meaningful progress against it. (this is redundant, say something like "(comma) which doesn't mind burn or paralysis either and can 2HKO it" or something) Graveler is only 4HKOed by Fire Blast while 2HKOing and 2HKOes back with Earthquake, though it must watch out for burns from Fire Blast.

**Water-types**: Seaking doesn't mind Arcanine's attacks too much and can 2HKO it with Surf. Without Hyper Beam, Arcanine can at best 4HKO Slowpoke, while its unboosted Surf 3HKOes back.

**Ground-types**: Nidoqueen is only 3HKOed by Fire Blast, and Sandslash is only 2HKOed 32.8% of the time; (semicolon) , and they both can 2HKO Arcanine with Earthquake, (AC) and . (RP) Sandslash can even OHKOes it Arcanine after a Swords Dance. However, both Ground-types lose the one-on-one if Arcanine is able to get up a Reflect while remaining at full health, and they also must be wary of a burns from Fire Blast.

**Paralysis**: Arcanine is reliant on its Speed to defeat foes such as Staryu and Drowzee, and thus it usually loses once its paralyzed. Additionally, even when checked by something like Nidoqueen or Seaking, Arcanine normally can still deal significant damage to checks like Nidoqueen and Seaking them, something but this is denied to it when it's (apostrophe) outsped. However, Arcanine is less fearful of paralysis when it uses Agility. (I think you mean when it has agility? using it before para won't work)

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gangsta-spongebob.535530/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Sabelette]

oops GP 1/1 GP Team done