Quality Control Arcanine (QC: 0/2)

Scholar

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[OVERVIEW]

Arcanine has a niche from being one of the of the few Fire-types that can effectually check Melmetal It also has a good Speed stat that makes it able to outpace Mega Gyarados and non Speed nature Mew. Arcanine also has good coverage options in Crunch and Play Rough that allows it to check Mew and Mega Gyrarados respectfully. It can also use Will-O-Wisp to hinder physical attackers such as Rhydon, Poliwarth, and Nidoqueen. However, Arcanine is hindered by Stealth Rock, because this forces it to lose a quarter of HP each time it switches in, and lacks recovery moves. It is also outclassed by Mega Charizard X, as it has a better Special Attack, access to Roost to keep itself healthy, and a Dragon-typing that allows it to take neutral damage from Water-type attacks.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Play Rough / Flare Blitz
item: No item
nature: Hasty

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Information
========

Will-O-Wisp is aimed to burn physical attackers such as Poliwrath, Mega Gyarados, Alolan Dugtrio, and Dragonite. Fire Blast allows Arcanine to OHKO Melmetal after chip damage and take care of Alolan Sandslash and Mega Venusaur as well as do decent damage against any Pokeon that does not ressit its attack. Crunch allows Arcanine to 3HKO Mew while Play Rough can hit Mega Gyarados, Poliwrath, and Dragonite for super-effective damage. Flare Blitz is an option over Play Rough to be able to grab momentum for the team by OHKOing itself once its low on HP. A Hasty nature is used to outpace Mega Gyarados and non-Speed boosting nature Mew.

Usage Tips
========

Arcanine should be used early-game to spread status with Will-O-Wisp and use Play Rough to 2HKO Mega Gyarados and Poliwrath. However, Arcanine needs to be careful if the opponent has a Snorlax or Mega Kangaskhan on their team, as it will come in on Will-O-Wisp to turn Facade into a powerful attack that is hard to switch into. Arcanine can also be used midgame to take care of a weaken non-Speed boosting nature Mew and threaten physical attackers with Fire Blast or Will-O-Wisp and can also be kept to OHKO Melmetal with Fire Blast. Flare Blitz can be used when Arcanine is low on health to grab momentum for the team from it fainting while dealing major damage to any Pokemon that does not resist its attack.

Team Options
========

Mega Gyarados is a great partner for Arcanine as it can take care of Pokemon that threaten Arcanine such as Mega Aerodactyl, Rhydon, and Starmie. In return, Arcanine can burn physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp that it has trouble with such as Melmetal, Mega Beedrill, and Poliwrath or use Fire Blast to take care of Mega Venusaur. Pivots such as Mew and Zapdos can safely bring Arcanine in, which saves it HP since it cannot directly switch into many attacks due to Stealth Rock. Mew can also get up Stealth Rock to help wear down Pokemon like Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Alakazam, use Scald to take care of Rhydon and threaten a 2HKO on Nidoqueen and Alolan Dugtrio A Nasty Plot set is another option in order to check Zapdos and Starmie more effectively. Melmetal is also a mandatory partner for Arcanine as it can check many Pokemon that care take care of it such as Alolan Dugtrio and Mega Aerotactyl.


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

Roar can be useful to phaze out Pokemon to give them chip damage or get rid of setup boosts from Mew, however, it is hard to jusify as Arcanine's typing and weakness to Stealth Rock makes it easy to take care of. Toxic can be used over a coverage move or over Will-O-Wisp to wear down Zapdos, Mega Blastoise, Starmie better, however, Arcanine can no longer burn physical attackers that often come in on its attacks like Rhydon and Nidoqueen. Agility can be a niche option over Play Rough for Arcanine to outspeed Starmie, +Speed nature Mew, Gengar, and Zapdos, however, it will have a hard time finding a time to setup due to prevalent Pokemon such as Alolan Dugtrio, Mega Aercodactyl, and Starmie being able to stop it in its tracks and can easily get worn down when switching into Stealth Rock, making it easily for Arcanine to being 2HKOed or OHKOed from an opposing attack when coming in when Stealth Rock is up.

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

**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock hinders Arcanine from coming onto the field, as it takes 25% of its health and can be easily worn down and taken care of.

**Ground-type attacks**: Earthquake from Alolan Dugtrio and Mega Aerodactyl can OHKO Arcanine due to these outpacing it.

**Water-types**: Water-types such as Starmie and Cloyster can OHKO Arcanine with their special Water-type attacks.

**Fast Revenge Killers**: A Speed boosting nature Mew, Gengar, and Mega Alakazam can easily KO an Arcanine after Stealth Rock damage.

[CREDITS]
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Last edited:

Eve

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This should probably be reworked into a pseudo-analysis, as Arcanine isn't really considered viable anymore despite being tiered in OU. I'd prefer to see this set:

move 1: Will-O-Wisp
move 2: Flare Blitz / Fire Blast
move 3: Crunch / Play Rough
move 4: Agility
item: No Item
nature: Adamant / Rash

With this formatting. Make it clear that while arcanine has a good offensive typing and decent stats, its rocks weakness, common weakness to eq and water moves, and ehhhh offensive presence outside of threatening melmetal (which also slaps it with EQ on switchin, so barely a check) make it hard to use effectively compared to other well-rounded mons like poliwrath. If someone really wants a bulky fire-type (not sure why they would but sure) they should use zard x and if they want an offensive fire type they should still use zard x or rapidash, or maybe even the super niche moltres. all arcanine can really do is hit decently hard and maybe act as a wincon with agility / spread wisp to its counters? even then it still competes with dragonite and kingler who are better at actually sweeping.

No rush ofc, nobody's massively anticipating an Arcanine analysis.
 
bump on the rework Yami , once it's written per eve's guidelines ill quickly take a look and we can get this done so we can move onto other mons
 

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