Arcanine is yet another Pokemon we have mostly ignored until the physical/special split allowed it some firepower *cough* from its high Attack stat. Now, this Chinese-fire-tiger-dog finally has its time to shine. It always had good stats; it's the Pokemon with the highest base stat total aside from legendaries and the 600-total pseudo-legendaries. And, its Special Attack is nothing to scoff at, so special and mixed movesets are still an option. It has two great abilities, too. Its moveset grew quite a bit, and it's still a great user of ExtremeSpeed, which it was the first Pokemon to get way back in Gold and Silver. Overall, it's a great Pokemon worth using.
Training
Once Growlithe evolves into Arcanine, there is no turning back, so make sure Growlithe has learned everything it needs to know before using the Fire Stone. Some possible markers include: Flamethrower at Lv. 34, Crunch at Lv. 42, Heat Wave at Lv. 45, and Flare Blitz at Lv. 48.
Stats
90 HP, 110 Atk, 80 Def, 100 SpA, 80 SpD, 95 Spe
These stats are great. Solid power and solid bulk allow Arcanine to function both as a straight-up sweeper and as a bulky sweeper.
Abilities
Arcanine has two great abilities to choose from. Flash Fire is always fun: it gives Arcanine a Fire immunity, and if you get the switch, you can then proceed to tear through the opponents with your attacks. It's great for sweeper variants.
On the other hand, Intimidate is one of the best abilities, period. Being
able to drop the opponent's Attack power instantly is amazing, and works well
with Arcanine's decent bulk; in particular, bulky variants of Arcanine will want
this ability.
Moves
Starting with Arcanine's Fire attacks, its new Flare Blitz will be
the strongest attack it has against foes. It does come with that 1/3-damage
recoil, though, so watch out. Arcanine has decent enough Special Attack to make
use of the standard Special options, Flamethrower, Fire Blast,
Heat Wave, and Overheat.
For other physical options, let's start with Arcanine's previous signature
move of old times, ExtremeSpeed. The move is still great as (tied for)
the strongest priority move in the game, and easily picks off weakened foes.
Other physical options for coverage are Thunder Fang, Iron Head, and
Crunch.
Other Special options are typically limited to Dragon Pulse (which
actually works well with Arcanine's fire attacks, only having trouble with
Heatran) and Hidden Power. SolarBeam is a specific option open to
Arcanine on Sunny Day teams. Arcanine has a fair amount of bulk as he is, which means the fact that he
can heal himself with Morning Sun can make him even harder to take
down.
Status is something else Arcanine can do, and he does it with
Will-o-Wisp and Toxic. When looking to shuffle things around, Roar is readily available for
Arcanine's use. Arcanine can either expect Sunny Day support, or set it up himself.
Sunny Day also works in increasing the healing from Morning Sun.
Effective Movesets
1. Morning Glory
- Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Will-o-Wisp/Toxic/SolarBeam
Ability: Intimidate
Notes: This bulkier Arcanine dishes out damage and can take it, too. Use
with sunlight support for maximum effect.
2. Physical Choice
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Thunder Fang
- Iron Head/Crunch
Item: Choice Band/Choice Scarf
3. Special Choice
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Overheat
- ExtremeSpeed
Item: Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
4. Bulky Special Status Shuffler
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Will-o-Wisp
- Roar
Ability: Intimidate
5. Sunny Day
- Sunny Day
- Flamethrower/Flare Blitz
- SolarBeam
- Morning Sun
Item: Heat Rock
Note: Arcanine can either abuse Sunny Day himself or provide it as support
to teammates. If the latter, Heat Rock works well in tandem with Intimidate,
which allows it to switch in more often to wreak its havoc. Flash Fire, on the
other hand, gives a ridiculous x3.375 power boost to Fire-type moves with STAB,
the Sunny Day boost, and the Flash Fire boost, making it a good option for a
stand-alone Sunny Day abuser.
With great all-around stats and (finally) access to powerful moves on both
physical and special accounts, Arcanine is now quite a threat to deal with. Have
fun with the canine of legend.
This is the most informative article i have ever read in my life holy crapp
ReplyDeleteThat is our goal for Poke-Focus. Happy you are enjoying the series!
Delete@Cullination You really know what youre talking about don't you damn
ReplyDeleteWe do our best :D
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