QC: Nayrz / CKW / Minority
GP: marthaa / Fireflame479
[OVERVIEW]
* Arceus-Flying is an excellent Calm Mind sweeper thanks to its Flying typing, which allows it to viably run a mono-attacking Calm Mind + Refresh set that can go one-on-one against a majority of Ubers's bulkier Pokemon, with support Necrozma-DM being one notable example.
* Arceus-Flying is the only Arceus forme that is immune to Ground-type attacks, Spikes, and Sticky Web, which allows more opportunities for it to switch in, and it can be a solid check to hyper offense teams that rely on Sticky Web as well.
* Arceus-Flying is also immune to Toxic Spikes, a trait that bolsters its staying power against teams that rely on them to wear down their foes.
* Arceus-Flying's Calm Mind set is the only viable set it has that enables it to stand out in the Ubers tier, and it does not have the breathing room to effectively run anything else without being outclassed by other Flying-types or Arceus formes.
* While Arceus-Flying has the ability to stallbreak with its Calm Mind set, it has questionable matchups against three stall staples in the form of Toxapex, Chansey, and Blissey, which can stall Arceus-Flying out by using moves that remove Special Attack boosts.
* While it is immune to all of the other entry hazards, Arceus-Flying is still hit hard by Stealth Rock, which hampers its defensive utility. Stealth Rock can be a pain to switch into, especially when Arceus-Flying has taken damage earlier on in the match, where it is then forced to use Recover and forfeit momentum in the process.
* With Mega Salamence, Ho-Oh, and Yveltal being common Flying-type threats in Ubers, most competent teams will already have checks to Arceus-Flying by proxy, which also means that it has to compete with these Pokemon for a team slot, since they offer more defensive utility and have more immediate power than Arceus-Flying does.
* Arceus-Flying is hit neutrally by plenty of Pokemon in Ubers and only has a small number of resistances, two of which are against uncommon types, and has common weaknesses to Rock-, Electric-, and Ice-type attacks, all of which undermine Arceus-Flying's defensive prowess.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Refresh
move 3: Recover
move 4: Judgment
item: Sky Plate
ability: Multitype
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Calm Mind boosts Arceus-Flying's Special Attack and Special Defense, enabling it to muscle past bulkier Pokemon and stomach opposing special attacks more easily.
* Refresh rids Arceus-Flying of any status conditions, which bolsters its staying power against the many Toxic users in Ubers such as Necrozma-DM, opposing Arceus formes, Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Chansey.
* Recover helps Arceus-Flying regain its HP when it has been chipped away at by opposing attacks, Stealth Rock, and status ailments such as poison or burn.
* Judgment is a powerful Flying-type STAB move with no drawbacks.
Set Details
========
* Sky Plate is required to turn Arceus into Arceus-Flying and Judgment into a Flying-type STAB move.
* 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature enable Arceus-Flying to Speed tie with opposing Arceus formes and Mega Salamence and outspeed everything slower such as Mega Lucario, Mega Diancie, and Rayquaza.
* 248 HP EVs allow Arceus-Flying to be as bulky as possible while hitting an odd number of HP to allow an extra switch into Stealth Rock, and it ensures that Primal Groudon's Stone Edge never OHKOes Arceus-Flying after Stealth Rock, and Necrozma-DM's Searing Sunraze Smash can't OHKO from full HP.
Usage Tips
========
* Arceus-Flying makes for a good lead thanks to its Judgment not having any immunities, and Arceus-Flying's natural Speed and Special Attack are quite respectable right off the bat. Not many Pokemon that are hit neutrally by Flying-type attacks appreciate taking Arceus-Flying's Judgment, even when it's unboosted, so don't be afraid to play aggressively when the opposing team can't stomach Arceus-Flying's attacks very well.
* Arceus-Flying can comfortably switch in versus passive Pokemon that can't effectively break it, such as support Necrozma-DM, support Arceus formes, Mega Sableye, and support Primal Groudon variants that lack a Rock-type move, and proceed to use them as setup fodder. It can also come in on predicted Ground-type attacks from the likes of Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground.
* Use Refresh whenever Arceus-Flying is afflicted with a status condition to bolster its staying power against status users to prevent having to use Recover sooner than necessary, which can forfeit momentum. Refresh also allows Arceus-Flying to act as a status absorber for its teammates.
* Arceus-Flying will have trouble switching in versus offensive teams due to its weakness to Stealth Rock and access to only a handful of resistances, so avoid directly switching into most attacks unless Arceus-Flying resists them, takes little neutral damage, or is immune to whatever is being used.
Team Options
========
* Due to its limited defensive utility, Arceus-Flying is used to its fullest potential on offensive archetypes such as hyper offense and bulky offense teams where defensive synergy isn't as crucial as it would be on a bulkier team build. Because of this, Arceus-Flying pairs well with other offensive Pokemon that take out many of Arceus-Flying's checks and counters. Pokemon such as offensive Necrozma-DM, Ultra Necrozma, offensive Primal Groudon, Marshadow, Primal Kyogre, and Mega Lucario offensively synergize well with Arceus-Flying, as they're able to knock out the Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon that give Arceus-Flying trouble. Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Ultra Necrozma, in particular, are also able to remove Toxapex from play. In return, Arceus-Flying is able to render many of the threats that give these Pokemon trouble as setup fodder. For example, Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, and Mega Lucario appreciate Arceus-Flying's ability to beat support Arceus-Ground in a one-on-one battle.
* Defog users such as Giratina-O, Xerneas, and Mega Latias are crucial partners for Arceus-Flying, as they get rid of Stealth Rock. All three of these Pokemon are not weak to Stealth Rock, which means that a Stealth Rock weakness isn't stacked when using them alongside Arceus-Flying. Mega Latias, in particular, also has access to Healing Wish, a move that allows Arceus-Flying to play more aggressively earlier on in the match and not care about the damage and status conditions it will take, and it allows Arceus-Flying to switch in without taking any damage from attacks when Healing Wish is used by Mega Latias.
* Arceus-Flying appreciates entry hazard setters that help it wear down opposing threats to make sweeping easier later in the game. Stealth Rock setters such as Primal Groudon, Necrozma-DM, Excadrill, and Dialga pair well with Arceus-Flying due to their good matchups against Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon, while Deoxys-S and Cloyster can set Spikes on hyper offense teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Arceus-Flying doesn't have the room to viably run other moves unless it wants to be outclassed by other Arceus formes.
* Earth Power and Fire Blast can be used over Refresh on the Calm Mind set to provide more coverage. Earth Power allows Arceus-Flying to hit grounded Rock- and Steel-type Pokemon, as well as Primal Groudon and Toxapex, for more damage. Fire Blast hurts airborne Steel-types such as Celesteela and Skarmory, and it can seriously hurt both Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor due to their 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks, meaning Arceus-Flying won't have to wait a turn to set up Calm Mind before attacking. However, giving up Refresh severely hurts its matchup against defensive teams when it doesn't have the ability to remove status conditions. At this point, Arceus-Fairy and Arceus-Dark will outclass Arceus-Flying as a Calm Mind Arceus forme due to their superior defensive typings.
* A support set with Toxic, Recover, Judgment, and a choice between Defog, Earth Power, or Fire Blast could be used, but with a Stealth Rock weakness, a typing that baits in Necrozma-DM, and not a lot of resistances under Arceus-Flying's belt, its usefulness is borderline nonexistent.
* A Swords Dance set with Fly, Earthquake, and either Extreme Speed or Stone Edge with Flyinium Z equipped could be used to catch some of its specially defensive checks off guard, but Arceus-Flying is outclassed as a Flying-type physical sweeper by Mega Salamence and Rayquaza.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Stealth Rock**: Upon switching into Stealth Rock, Arceus-Flying loses 25% of its health, which, combined with its typing offering very few resistances, undermines its defensive prowess and forces Arceus-Flying to have to use Recover more often, which can forfeit momentum. Stealth Rock also puts it dangerously close to being in range of Mega Lucario's combination of Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch, a Pokemon that Arceus-Flying can typically check.
**Rock-types**: Tyranitar, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Diancie, and Arceus-Rock resist Arceus-Flying's Judgment and retaliate with super effective Rock-type attacks. Both Tyranitar and Mega Tyranitar receive a Special Defense boost when Sand Stream is active, which makes Judgment do very little damage against them. Choice Band Tyranitar has a high chance to OHKO Arceus-Flying from full HP with Stone Edge, and Mega Tyranitar uses Arceus-Flying as setup fodder. Mega Diancie is not 2HKOed by Arceus-Flying's unboosted Judgment and can 2HKO back with Diamond Storm, and Arceus-Rock wins the Calm Mind war against Arceus-Flying.
**Ho-Oh**: Thanks to a titanic Special Defense stat and access to both Recover and Regenerator, Ho-Oh can stomach Arceus-Flying's Judgment and heal off the damage fairly easily. Offensive sets are able to 2HKO Arceus-Flying with Brave Bird, and +1 Supersonic Skystrike from the Curse set has a very high chance to OHKO Arceus-Flying from full. Defensive sets are not 2HKOed by +1 Judgment and can pressure Arceus-Flying into using Refresh or Recover by using Sacred Fire and Toxic. However, if Stealth Rock is up on Ho-Oh's side of the field, it will have a much harder time in walling Arceus-Flying.
**Toxapex**: Toxapex can stall Arceus-Flying out by using Haze to remove Special Attack boosts gained from Calm Mind, as well as utilizing its Regenerator ability. Toxapex also has great special bulk, which allows it to eat up Arceus-Flying's Judgment with little trouble, especially after declawing it with Haze, and it can use a combination of Recover and its Regenerator ability to heal itself after being attacked by Arceus-Flying.
**Lugia**: Thanks to Lugia's massive bulk and access to Multiscale, it has the ability to shrug off any attacks that Arceus-Flying can throw at it, heal off the damage with Recover, and phaze it out with Whirlwind. Lugia can also use Toxic and Ice Beam to pressure Arceus-Flying into using Refresh and Recover. However, should Arceus-Flying be the last Pokemon on its team that is able to battle, Lugia will lose one-on-one to it, since Whirlwind will no longer work in this scenario.
**Steel-types**: Necrozma-DM, Magearna, Celesteela, and Dialga can wall Arceus-Flying. Magearna has the bulk to stomach boosted attacks and can use Heart Swap to steal Calm Mind boosts. An unboosted Searing Sunraze Smash from offensive variants of Necrozma-DM can knock Arceus-Flying out with a combination of Stealth Rock and a small amount of chip damage, and thanks to its solid natural bulk, Necrozma-DM can use Arceus-Flying as setup fodder. However, support variants of Necrozma-DM lose to a healthy Arceus-Flying thanks to low PP on Sunsteel Strike as well as Refresh getting rid of poison from Necrozma-DM's Toxic. Celesteela pressures Arceus-Flying to use Recover and Refresh fairly often thanks to the combination of Leech Seed and Toxic, and it has the bulk to take several boosted attacks from Judgment. Dialga can set up Stealth Rock in front of Arceus-Flying with little fear and can use Roar to phaze it out, removing Calm Mind boosts and potentially forcing Arceus-Flying to switch into Stealth Rock later on.
**Electric-types**: Zekrom and Arceus-Electric resist Arceus-Flying's Judgment and fire back with super effective Electric-type attacks. Zekrom's Bolt Strike OHKOes Arceus-Flying from full HP, and Arceus-Electric wins the Calm Mind war.
**Blissey and Chansey**: With the help of Confide, both Blissey and Chansey are able to strip Arceus-Flying of its Special Attack boosts from Calm Mind and proceed to stall it out. However, variants that don't use Confide will lose to Arceus-Flying.
**Ice-types**: Kyurem-W and Arceus-Ice cannot switch into Arceus-Flying, especially when Stealth Rock is up on their side of the field, but they can offensively pressure it with their super effective Ice-type STAB moves. Choice Specs Kyurem-W's Ice Beam OHKOes an unboosted Arceus-Flying from full HP, and Arceus-Ice comes out on top in the Calm Mind war.
**Ultra Necrozma**: Ultra Necrozma has the ability to use Arceus-Flying as setup fodder by staying as Necrozma-DM to resist and stomach a boosted Judgment to raise its Attack with Swords Dance. After Ultra Burst, +2 Stone Edge OHKOes Arceus-Flying from full HP, and +2 Photon Geyser and an unboosted Light That Burns the Sky can OHKO Arceus-Flying after Stealth Rock. However, Ultra Necrozma can't switch into Arceus-Flying very well after Ultra Burst due to losing Necrozma-DM's Steel typing.
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