Arghonaut [QC 1/3]

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[OVERVIEW]

-Arghonaut is an excellent wall, with its typing and good bulk, Arghonaut can stand up to some of the best special attacks in the tier such as Specs Volkraken, Specs
Ash-Greninja(Non Extrasensory variants), LO Sylcant, and Specs Blacephalon(depending on Arghonaut’s moveset).
-Arghonaut’s access to Unaware makes it a reliable counter to set up sweepers. Arghonaut hard stops set up Pokemon like Zygarde, Landorus-Therian (Non-Flyinium Z Strike), Bisharp; as well as a majority of the Megas such Mega Scizor, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Gyarados that all have the potential to sweep teams.
-It access to Unaware also allows it to phase out a variety of Pokemon also just as Cawmodore, Aurumoth, and Mega Mawile to name a few. Unaware also allows Arghonaut to phase out the majority of calm minders like Suicune and Naviathan.
-Arghonaut has access to a wide array of utility moves, such as Spikes, Circle Throw, and Recover making it more than a simple wall, but also reliable utility Pokemon as well.
-Arghonaut isn’t without flaw though, it typing also acts as a double-edged sword, namely its Fighting typing. Being part fighting gives Arghonaut a very common weakness to both Psychic and Flying-types, which are huge metagame thanks to Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Tomohawk, and Mega Medicham to name a few. Arghonaut also has a fairy weakness make it struggle against Pokemon like Mega Mawile, Tape Fini, and Clefable.
-Because of this common weakness and a relatively slow speed tier, Arghonaut’s absurdly large offensive movepool cannot be used very effectively, resulting in its current somewhat passive utility role in the meta.

[SET]

name: Utility
move 1: Circle Throw
move 2: Spikes / Knock Off / Toxic
move 3: Scald / Knock Off / Earthquake
move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

-Circle throw is used as Arghonaut’s predominant phazing move and is pretty self-explanatory, it used to phaze out boosted threats and nab chip damage, which works pretty well with spikes. Alternative Roar allows Arghonaut to phaze out things not hit by circle throw (ghost typing), as well as allowing Arghonaut to phaze Pokemon behind substitutes like SubSD Kartana out easier.
-Spikes work well on Arghonaut, as its decent bulk and typing allow it many opportunities to set them up, and they help a significant amount when it comes to wearing down various grounded Pokemon.
-Toxic, if needed can be used over Circle Throw or Spikes. Toxic can be used to immediately cripple levitating Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Tomohawk, and Latios that might come in on Arghonaut.
-Knock off is a great move for crippling Pokemon that may try to pivot into Arghonaut, such as leftovers Ferrothorn and choice specs Tapu Koko. Knock off is also a way of harassing ghosts types Like Gengar, Pajantom, and Blacephaleon that aren’t affected by circle throw.
-Scald is a reliable stab move with a decent chance to burn, that helps decrease the passiveness of Arghonaut. It’s ability to hit common Arghonaut switch-ins such as Tapu Bulu Kartana, and Mega Pinsir and potentially cripple them with a burn makes opponents think twice about bringing checks in so carefree. Not to mention on top of that, scald punishes Landorus-Therian for trying to set up rocks against Arghonaut.
-Earthquake can be used to hit mons that would check Arghonaut or presumably switch in for free against it such as Tapu Koko, Volkraken, Magearna, Mollux.
-Recover is good for Arghonaut’s longevity, giving it a reliable way to regain lost HP, all while letting it outlast the Pokemon it is supposed to check.

Set Details
========

-Max HP and Special Defense investment allow Arghonaut to reliably switch in on some of the best special attackers in the tier, such as Ash-Greninja, Specs Volkraken, Syclant, and Keldeo.
-A Mixed spread consisting of 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD with a Careful nature can also be used alternatively. This spread allows Arghonaut to hit a few benchmarks. Max Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows is a guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery.
-Leftovers act as the most reliable and standard item to run on Arghonaut, allowing Arghonaut to gradually gain back health over time.
-Alternatively, Rocky Helmet can also be used as an option, to wear down physical attackers, notably punishing Pokemon that use U-turn like Mega Scizor, Syclant, and Ash-Greninja.

Usage Tips
========

-Arghonaut can switch in on Pokemon that get walled by it, then respond by either setting up a spike or recovering back that HP. Always try to keep Arghonaut at a responsible amount of health using recover so that it can always be an effective check to the Pokemon it is supposed to be.
-Circle Throw can shuffle the opponent's team and rack up chip damage.
-While doing this watch out for Ghost-types looking to come in freely on their Fighting-type immunity, allowing them to damage you in return, or grab momentum because of Arghonaut’s passiveness.
-If you can successfully predict the opponent to switch, using Circle Throw can phaze out the switch-in and rack up chip damage.
-How you play Arghonaut generally depends on the situation. While it is a great wall, if there is nothing to wall, Arghonaut should first intentionally be used to get up spikes. After getting up spikes Arghonaut should be kept in the back of your team for late game phazing to break a potential sweep. Only really needing to come in other than that to tank special and reset hazards the battlefield if they have been removed by your opponent.
-Also with Arghonaut being a pretty reactive Pokemon, it can forces a lot of switches early on in the game, this switches are usually the best times to uses your utility moves such as spikes and knock off so that they can have a more lasting impact on the battle. After doing so this is when you will find yourself spamming scald and circle throw for chip damage, only really recovering when deemed necessary.
-Arghonaut’s access to Unaware makes it a very important impact Pokemon in some games. While defensive Pokemon aren’t often considered high risk/cost Pokemon Arghonaut definitely isn’t one. Depending on how you play your Arghonaut can’t dramatically impact a game because of the multiple functions it has. If you say hypothetically switch in your Arghonaut to tank a special attack hit, and don’t heal it up, and later your opponent starts to set up a sweep, your Arghonaut might no be able to phase it out with low HP causing you to lose the battle.
-Because of situations like this Arghonaut can be described as a risk/cost Pokemon, meaning that in certain scenarios s a player must judge whether or not sacrificing Arghonaut is worth it and the impact it has on the long run of the game.

Team Options
========

-Due to Arghonaut’s movement towards a more passive support role, a transition that makes it weak to specific sets, Arghonaut fits best on bulky offensive or balance teams, with both archetypes providing ways to make up for its weakness.
-Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu both make for good partners thanks to their typing. Allowing them to cover Tapu Koko and non-Supersky strike Landorus Therian. Arghonaut especially appreciates the slight HP regeneration from Tapu Bulu’s Grassy Terrain, that paired with leftovers can work wonders on the battlefield, however, Arghonaut then needs to be careful of opposing Grass-type moves. Celesteela and Ferrothorn can hard and soft check Tapu Lele and counter the majority of all other psychic types respectively. While on the more offensive side of things Pursuit Colossoil and Tyranitar can trap for psychic types, even sometimes using Arghonaut as a lure. And last but not least Mega Scizor can be used as a pivot and as a means for providing a soft check for Mega Alakazam and Latios. Mega Scizor also forms a nice synergy with Arghonaut because Scizor can slow U-turn allowing Arghonaut to come in cleaning to set up hazards or phaze something out, all while acting as a cover for Mega Scizor’s weakness to Fire-type moves.Overall the main team options you are lacking are Pokemon that Deal with Flying-types, particularly Tomohawk. In this respect, Electric-types such as Zapdos and Krilowatt can prove to be helpful while also providing volt switch support to give opportunities for Arghonaut to come in safely.

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

-Gunk Shot is also an option as a coverage move on Arghonaut seeing has Arghonaut often prompts fairies to switch in, more specifically Tapu Lele.
-Payapa Berry can be used to allow to take super effect psychic hits better. Giving you more room for error if you switch it on a Pokemon and they unexpected have psychic coverage, or when phasing out a boosted psychic-type. This could be especially useful for Pokemon like Calm Mild Tapu Lele and Quiver Dance Aurumoth that still do heavy chunks of damage unboosted.
-Iapapa Berry is an option for those looking to use another one of Arghonaut's utility moves instead of Recover. Doing this while running Iapapa Berry allows Arghonaut some form of recovery. Alternatively, Iapapa can also be subbed out for leftovers on the defensive set, if you prefer burst recovery, helping with Arghonaut's passiveness on more offensive teams.
-If the threats mention above aren’t a major issue or your team isn’t in need of a Special Defensive wall, an alternative spread of Max HP and Defensive with bold nature can be used to give Arghonaut more physical bulk to take on the likes of Colossoil, Mega Lopunny, Zygarde. With a max HP and Def EVs, a Guts Max Attack Adamant Colossoil only has an 8% chance of 2HKO Arghonaut showing just how physically bulky it truly can be.
-An Offensive Technician set with Close Combat, Gunk Shot/Recover, Earthquake/Power-Up Punch, and Aqua Set is plausible for a surprise factor but is generally outclassed by other physical attackers with similar characteristics, namely Scizor.
-Bulk Up lets Arghonaut take advantage of switches in a different way, allowing it to boost itself. However, the time it takes for Arghonaut to set up is usually better spent stacking Spikes and Bulk up Arghonaut, in general, lacks the available moveslots to take on many threats and is particularly vulnerable to Toxic and utterly stopped by Tomohawk.

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

**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Tomohawk, Pelipper, Tornadus-Therian Mega Pinsir, and Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian all threaten Arghonaut with their flying stab moves. Mega Pinsir can annoy Arghonaut especially because of its ability to set up on your switch out and potentially sweep your team. Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian is also a nuisance because of the variety of sets it runs, often forcing Arghonaut to scout what it is, allowing Landorus-Therian more than less to get up hazards. Tomohawk also has the ability to stop Arghonaut’s hazard stacking with either Taunt or Rapid Spin.

**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Cyclohm, Zapdos, Krilowatt, Plasmanta, and all threaten Arghonaut with their electric stab moves. Zapdos is particularly pesky for Arghonaut to deal with because of its access to Defog. Zapdos is also impossible for Arghonaut to significantly cripple unlike the other electric types listed because of its ground immunity unless Arghonaut is running Toxic.

**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham, Latios, and Aurumoth all are capable of doing major damage to or OHKO Arghonaut under the correct circumstances, though most of them don’t appreciate being worn down by Arghonaut’s Spikes or a potential burn or Knock Off. Reuniclus while no longer commonly seen gets a special mention thanks to magic guard preventing it from getting worn down by either of those two things.

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Magearna, Mega Diancie, Mega Mawile, and Mimikyu can all pressure Arghonaut, and are all capable of doing a major amount of damage or OHKOing it. Mimikyu, in particular, is pesky for Arghonaut because if not running Roar, Arghonaut can’t phase it out. Clefable can also be a nuisance because its stab Moonblast can deal a nice chunky to Arghonaut, often forcing the Arghonaut to switch out allowing the Clefable to get up hazards if it has them.

**Grass-Types and Pokemon with Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Venusaur, Kartana, and Tangrowth all take relatively no damage from any of Arghonaut’s stab attacks or coverage moves, and can easily set up on, deal major damage to, or even in some causes OHKO. While Pokemon that carry Grass-type coverage can almost always 2HKO Arghonaut. Heatran or Volcanion can still run Doom Bloom, which can do large amounts of damage to Arghonaut. With Mega Crucibelle Wood hammer also does a decent chunk of damage to Arghonaut, but it needs to be wary of Scald and Earthquake.

**Status**: Burn and more specifically Toxic can cripple Arghonaut’s longevity, drastically reducing its ability to wall.
 
Last edited:

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
[OVERVIEW]

-Arghonaut is one of the premier tanks in USUMO Cap at the moment. rather than say that it's a premier tank, name off what it walls - walling Specs Volkraken (without getting smacked by HP Grass), Specs Ash-Gren (aside from Extrasensory but...), LO Syclant, and Specs Blacephalon (to a degree) is very impressive and should definitely be part of the overview. something like "Arghonaut is an excellent wall that can stand up to..."
-With its relatively good bulk and decent typing Arghonaut as carving out a role for itself not just a tank, move the bit about typing and good bulk to the first statement - that's why it can wall these mons well.

but as hazard setter/phazing also. this should be your second statement, about how it provides utility to a team in these ways (as opposed to say, Goodra, which can wall things but doesn't do anything else)
-Arghonaut’s new access to spikes this generation makes it one of the most reliable spikers in the game
-Arghonaut’s new expanded moveset also allows it to improve on its phazing aspect of its playstyle, giving it a new damaging phazing move in circle throw.

I would avoid talking about "new" things

the overview usually lists off positives and then goes down into the negatives - unfortunately Arghonaut has a good few, namely that it's Fighting-typing gives it very common weaknesses to Psychic and Flying, which are huge in the metagame thanks to youknowwho, it's absurdly large offensive movepool that it cannot use very effectively, and it's somewhat passivity (though offset by its utility)

[SET]
name: Utility Tank
move 1: Spikes/ Toxic
move 2: Recover
move 3: Scald/ Earthquake
move 4: Roar/ Circle Throw
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe

I know there's been a good bit of discussion on what the best Argho set is, and honestly Argho looks really customizable as a defensive pivot / wall. This set looks like it accommodates what everyone runs:

name: Utility
move 1: Circle Throw / Toxic
move 2: Knock Off / Earthquake
move 3: Spikes / Toxic
move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe


Mention Roar and Scald

Roar is good because it doesn't hit Ghost-types, but Knock Off is such a good countermeasure to Blace, Pajantom, and other Ghost-types that I'd just mention Roar. It doesn't go to OO; it just sits below all of the listed moves. If it's mostly to phaze Mimikyu and SubSD Kartana, you're taking a lot from them anyway and then you might not be able to recover for the next turn, so honestly Argho should just have a teammate that can tackle those mons. Scald should be a mention too imo. On a specially-defensively oriented mon, nabbing burns on stuff like Mega Pinsir sounds really great, but then you're losing out on a lot of utility or a damaging move. It's not useless, but it comes with a very stiff opportunity cost.

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

when you reorder the set, make sure to reorder the moves here too

-Spikes work well on Arghonaut, as its decent bulk and typing allow it many opportunities to set them up, and they help a significant amount when it comes to wearing down various grounded Pokemon.
-Recover is good for Arghonaut’s longevity, giving it a reliable way to regain lost HP, all while letting it outlast the Pokemon it is supposed to check.
-Scald is a reliable stab move with a decent chance to burn, that helps decrease the passiveness of Arghonaut. wouldn't advertise this as "reliable" - you're using this for the burning effect mostly. go with "weak" tbh
-Circle throw is used as Arghonaut’s predominant phazing move pretty self-explanatory, listed ahead of roar because it actually does damage. talk about how Circle Throw phazes out boosted threats and nabs chip damage, which works pretty well with spikes
-Earthquake can be used to hit mons that would check Arghonaut or presumably switch in for free against it such as Toxapex, Tapu Koko, Volkraken, Magearna, Heatran and etc. "etc." isn't something that should be included when the analysis gets written up. Also Toxapex doesn't care about Earthquake at all, I'd remove that
-Roar allows Arghonaut to phaze out things not hit by circle throw (ghost typing), as well as allowing Arghonaut to phaze Pokemon behind substitutes out easier.
-Knock off is also a viable move, much picking a move to substitute it for can be difficult. get rid of this first sentence Knock off anyways is a great move for crippling Pokemon that may try to pivot into Arghonaut, such as leftovers Ferrothorn and choice specs Tapu Koko. talk about how this harasses a bunch of Ghost-types that don't care about Circle Throw
-Toxic is also a rarely seen alternative, but that doesn't downplay its effectiveness. remove this sentence too Toxic can be used to immediately cripple levitating Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Tomohawk, and Latios that might come in on Arghonaut.

Set Details
========

-Max HP and Special Defense investment allow Arghonaut to reliably switch in on some of the best special attackers in the tier, such as Greninja, Syclant, Keldeo and etc. most Volcarona, Ash-Greninja, Specs Volk, Specs Blace
-If the threats mention above aren’t a major issue or your team isn’t in need of a Special Defensive wall, an alternative spread of Max HP and Defensive with bold nature can be used to give Arghonaut more physical bulk to take on the likes of Colossoil, Mega Lopunny, Zygarde and etc. better.
-Leftovers acts as the most reliable and standard item to run on Arghonaut, allowing Arghonaut to gradually gain back health over time.
-Alternatively, Rocky Helmet can also be used as an option, to wear down physical attackers, notably punishing Pokemon that use U-turn like Mega Scizor, Syclant, and Ash-Greninja.

Usage Tips
========

-Arghonaut is one of the more straightforward CAP’s to use- can switch it in on Pokemon that get walled by it, then respond by either setting up a spike or recovering back that HP. -Always try to keep Arghonaut at a responsible amount of health using recover so that it can always be an effective check to the Pokemon it is supposed to be.
-Another reason keeping Arghonaut at full health is its important for phazing. There are two types of phazing the Arghonaut can execute. I like the
terms, but for an analysis I'd rather you just describe these two differently - say that Circle Throw is generally a safe move to throw around unless there's a ghost-type because.... if there's a ghost-type don't spam it as much because.... if they set up and it's scary then use circle throw...


-First is the mindless phaze, which is when essentially when you already have some form of hazards up be it a combination of rocks and spikes, or just spikes provided by Arghonaut, and your in on a Pokemon, and for whatever reason you know your opponent is going to switch, so you go for one of your phazing moves just to get extra chip damage and mess up his initial switch in.
-The second which is the more important of the two is when your opponent has actually started to or is set up already and you need to phaze that Pokemon out for whatever reason, having your Arghonaut at full health for that or near it will make that whole process a lot easier.

early game generally what will Argho do? mid-game? late-game?

Team Options
========

-Due to Arghonaut’s movement towards a more passive support role this generation avoid "this generation", a transition that makes it weak to specific sets, Arghonaut fits best on bulky offensive or balance teams, with both archetypes providing ways to make up for its weakness.
-Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu both make for good partners thanks to their typing. Allowing them to cover Tapu Koko and non-Supersky strike Landorus Therian. Arghonaut especially appreciates the slight HP regen from Tapu Bulu’s Grassy Terrain, that paired with leftovers can work wonders on the battlefield. Celesteela and Ferrothorn can hard and soft check Tapu Lele and counter the majority of all other psychic types respectively. While on the more offensive side of things Pursuit Colossoil and Tyranitar can trap for psychic types, even sometimes using Arghonaut as a lure. And last but not least Mega Scizor can be used as a pivot and as a means for providing a soft check for Mega Alakazam and Latios.

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

OO should be Gunk Shot, Iapapa Berry, and Payapa - not sure how Taunt would be but Taunt's always a cool move to have
-You could mess around with like Payapa Berry and gunk shot coverage as a lure for fairies, more specifically Tapu Lele, but haven’t given that much testing as of yet. You could also run Toxic as your 4th move to hit things like Tomohawk, Zapdos, and Landorus-Therian that might switch in on an Arghonaut.

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

**Faster Pokemon**: With a relatively slow base speed of 75 and no usual investment, Arghonaut can sometimes find itself pressured out by a faster user such as Tapu Koko, Medicham, Tomohawk, Tapu Lele to name a few. generally this is a section for more offensive mons, move these to they're respective sections

**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Cyclohm, Zapdos, Krilowatt, Plasmanta, and Mega Manectric all threaten Arghonaut with their electric stab moves. Zapdos is particularly pesky for Arghonaut to deal with because of its access to Defog. Zapdos is also impossible for Toxapex to significantly cripple unlike the other electric types listed because of its ground immunity.

**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele, Latios, Aurumoth, Mega Gallade, and Mega Alakazam all are capable of doing major damage to or OHKO Arghonaut under the correct circumstances, though none of them appreciate being worn down by Arghonaut’s spikes or a potential burn. Reuniclus while no longer commonly seen gets a special mention thanks to magic guard preventing it from getting worn down by either of those two things. add mmedi here

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as the Tapus, Magearna, Mega Diance, Mega Mawile, and Mimikyu can all pressure Arghonaut, and are all capable of doing a major amount of damage or OHKOing it. Mimikyu, in particular, is pesky for Arghonaut because if not running roar, Arghonaut can’t phaze it out. Clefable can also be a nuisance because it pressures with moonblast, but can bluff that can get up hazards instead. what's bluffing here? this sentences is pretty unclear

**Grass-Types and Pokemon with Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Serperior, Mega Venusaur, Kartana, Tangrowth, and the rare Amoonguss all take relatively no damage from any of Arghonaut’s stab attacks or coverage moves, and can easily set up on, deal major damage to, or even in some causes OHKO. While Pokemon that carry Grass-type coverage can almost always 2HKO or OHKO Arghonaut. Heatran or Volcanion can run Doom Bloom Doom (nailed it), which swiftly dispatches of Arghonaut this makes it sounds like they're OHKOing Argho, but they aren't with the standard spread - also i'm not sure how common these sets are. With Mega Crucibelle Wood hammer also don't does? a decent chunk of damage to Arghonaut.

**Taunt**: While often not thought of as a good way to shut up down Arghonaut it is. After being taunted Arghonaut usually only has scald left to spread burns. revise this sentence to reflect the set, you've got circle throw, knock off, eq...mostly the problem "i can't use spikes / toxic / recover to do my job :(" Taunt Tapu Fini is especially bothersome because it pressures Arghonaut out with moonblast, can defog away spikes, and can heavily chip away at teams with nature madness. Other taunt users just as Tomohawk, Tapu Bulu, and Gyarados are also effective means of shutting down Arghonaut and taking advantage of its passiveness.

Add a Flying-type section with LO Tomohawk, Mega Pinsir, and Flyinium Z Landorus-T
For a first analysis this is looking pretty solid! I'd like to look at this again before I stamp it though.
 
For a first analysis this is looking pretty solid! I'd like to look at this again before I stamp it though.
Thank you. Updated changes to Arghonaut's set and added what you said to make. Hopefully, everything is to your liking now :).
 
Last edited:

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
[OVERVIEW]

-Arghonaut is an excellent wall, with its typing and good bulk, Arghonaut can stand up to some of the best special attacks in the tier such as Specs Volkraken, Specs Ash-Greninja(Non Extrasensory variants), LO Sylcant, and Specs Blacephalon(depending on Arghonaut’s moveset).
-Arghonaut has access a wide array of utility moves, such as spikes, roar, and recover making it more than a simple wall as opposed to a Pokemon like Goodra; but also reliable hazard setter/phazer. err...didn't mean for you to actually put in Goodra as an example ;; just say it has actual utility outside of walling these attackers
-Arghonaut isn’t without flaw though, it typing also acts as a double-edged sword, namely its Fighting typing. Being part fighting gives Arghonaut a very common weakness to both Psychic and Flying-types, which are huge metagame thanks to Pokemon like Tapu Lele, LO Tomohawk, and Mega Medicham to name a few.
-Because of this common weakness and a relatively slow speed tier, Arghonaut’s absurdly large offensive movepool cannot be used very effectively, resulting in its current somewhat passive utility role in the meta.

[SET]

name: Utility
move 1: Circle Throw/ Toxic
move 2: Scald/ Knock Off / Earthquake
move 3: Spikes / Toxic
move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe

name: Utility
move 1: Circle Throw / Toxic
move 2: Spikes / Toxic
move 3: Scald / Knock Off / Earthquake
move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe


Reordered the moveslots to make the explanation flow a lot better
Slashes should have a space on both sides: like / this


[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

-Circle throw is used as Arghonaut’s predominant phazing move and is pretty self-explanatory, it used to phaze out boosted threats and nab chip damage, which works pretty well with spikes. Alternative Roar allows Arghonaut to phaze out things not hit by circle throw (ghost typing), as well as allowing Arghonaut to phaze Pokemon behind substitutes like SubSD Kartana out easier.
-Knock off is a great move for crippling Pokemon that may try to pivot into Arghonaut, such as leftovers Ferrothorn and choice specs Tapu Koko. Knock off is also a way of harassing ghosts types Like Gengar, Pajantom, and Blacephaleon that aren’t affected by circle throw.
-Scald is a reliable stab move with a decent chance to burn, that helps decrease the passiveness of Arghonaut. mention that it hits Bulu, Kartana, and Mega Pinsir, common switch-ins trying to bust past it - also talk about how it punishes Landorus-T for setting up Rocks against it
-Spikes work well on Arghonaut, as its decent bulk and typing allow it many opportunities to set them up, and they help a significant amount when it comes to wearing down various grounded Pokemon.
-Toxic is also a rarely seen alternative, but that doesn't downplay its effectiveness. remove this sentence too Toxic can be used to immediately cripple levitating Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Tomohawk, and Latios that might come in on Arghonaut.
-Recover is good for Arghonaut’s longevity, giving it a reliable way to regain lost HP, all while letting it outlast the Pokemon it is supposed to check.
-Earthquake can be used to hit mons that would check Arghonaut or presumably switch in for free against it such as Tapu Koko, Volkraken, Magearna, Heatran.

The moves need to be explained in this order: circle throw -> spikes -> toxic -> scald -> knock off -> earthquake -> recover. Generally you go down the set to explain, but since Toxic can go over either Circle Throw or Spikes, it makes sense to say "if needed, Toxic can be used over Circle Throw or Spikes"

Set Details
========

-Max HP and Special Defense investment allow Arghonaut to reliably switch in on some of the best special attackers in the tier, such as Ash-Greninja, Volcarona, Specs Volkraken, Syclant, and Keldeo to name a few. from a GP standpoint, pick between "such as" and "to name a few"
-If the threats mention above aren’t a major issue or your team isn’t in need of a Special Defensive wall, an alternative spread of Max HP and Defensive with bold nature can be used to give Arghonaut more physical bulk to take on the likes of Colossoil, Mega Lopunny, Zygarde and etc. better.
-Leftovers act as the most reliable and standard item to run on Arghonaut, allowing Arghonaut to gradually gain back health over time.
-Alternatively, Rocky Helmet can also be used as an option, to wear down physical attackers, notably punishing Pokemon that use U-turn like Mega Scizor, Syclant, and Ash-Greninja.

Usage Tips
========

-Arghonaut can switch in on Pokemon that get walled by it, then respond by either setting up a spike or recovering back that HP. Always try to keep Arghonaut at a responsible amount of health using recover so that it can always be an effective check to the Pokemon it is supposed to be.
-Another reason keeping Arghonaut at full health is its important for phazing why is this?. There are two types of phazing the Arghonaut can execute. I'd rather you make this more succinct and just say that Circle Throw can shuffle the opponent's team and rack up chip damage / watch out for ghost-types and then use Circle Throw to phaze out set up sweepers.
-First is with Circle Throw, and your in on a Pokemon, and for whatever reason you know your opponent is going to switch, so you go for one of your Circle Throw just to get extra chip damage and mess up his initial switch in, causing the Pokemon switching in to take chip damage from entry hazards and Circle Throw as well.

"if you predict the opponent to switch, using Circle Throw can phaze out the switch-in and rack up chip damage" - that's sufficient

Beware this tactic if your opponent has a ghost type, as it can allow them to switch in freely and do damage to you in return, or allow them to grab momentum because of Arghonaut’s passiveness.
-The second is also with Circle Throw but can use Roar respectively. And is when your opponent attempting to or is set up already and you need to phaze that Pokemon out for whatever reason, having your Arghonaut at full health for that or near it will make that whole process a lot easier.
-How you play Arghonaut generally depends on the situation. While it is a great wall, if there is nothing to wall, Arghonaut should first intentionally be used to get up spikes. After getting up spikes Arghonaut should be kept in the back of your team for late game phazing to break a potential sweep. Only really needing to come in other than that to tank special and reset hazards the battlefield if they have been removed by your opponent.

Since argho is a pretty reactive pokemon and honestly surprises a lot of offensive pokemon on the switch in, mention when is best to use scald - when there are physical attackers that can break past argho, when to use knock off - usually early-game. obvious tips, but good to drop in on an analysis

Team Options
========

-Due to Arghonaut’s movement towards a more passive support role, a transition that makes it weak to specific sets, Arghonaut fits best on bulky offensive or balance teams, with both archetypes providing ways to make up for its weakness.
-Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu both make for good partners thanks to their typing. Allowing them to cover Tapu Koko and non-Supersky strike Landorus Therian. Arghonaut especially appreciates the slight HP regen from Tapu Bulu’s Grassy Terrain, that paired with leftovers can work wonders on the battlefield. Celesteela and Ferrothorn can hard and soft check Tapu Lele and counter the majority of all other psychic types respectively. While on the more offensive side of things Pursuit Colossoil and Tyranitar can trap for psychic types, even sometimes using Arghonaut as a lure. And last but not least Mega Scizor can be used as a pivot and as a means for providing a soft check for Mega Alakazam and Latios.

this needs to be expanded some...mention what argho does specifically for these Pokemon. For example, Argho covers Mega Scizor's weakness to Fire-type moves

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

-Gunk Shot is also an option as a coverage move on Arghonaut seeing has Arghonaut often prompts fairies to switch in, more specifically Tapu Lele.
-Payapa Berry can be used to allow to take super effect psychic hits better. Giving you more room for error if you switch it on a Pokemon and they unexpected have psychic coverage, or when phazing out a boosted psychic-type. against what mons would this be useful?
-Iapapa Berry is an option for those looking to move towards a more offensive Arghonaut that doesn’t use Recover, while still allowing them some form of recovery. Also, it can be simply used in tandem with Recover if you want an extra cushion of health without always having to spam recover. iapapa can really be subbed out for leftovers in the defensive set, it's just if you prefer burst recovery on a more offensive team, rather than a more offensive argho set

Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as LO Tomohawk, Tornadus-Therian Mega Pinsir, and Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian all threaten Arghonaut with their flying stab moves. Mega Pinsir can annoy Arghonaut especially because of its ability to set up on your switch out and potentially sweep your team. Landorus-Therian is also a nuisance because of the variety of sets it runs, often forcing Arghonaut to scout what it is, allowing Landorus-Therian more than less to get up hazards. mention that it's just flyinium lando-t and mention pelipper

**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Cyclohm, Zapdos, Krilowatt, Plasmanta, and Mega Manectric all threaten Arghonaut with their electric stab moves. Zapdos is particularly pesky for Arghonaut to deal with because of its access to Defog. Zapdos is also impossible for Arghonaut to significantly cripple unlike the other electric types listed because of its ground immunity. mega manectric isn't all that relevant, I'd remove this one

**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham, Latios, Aurumoth, Mega Gallade, and Mega Alakazam all are capable of doing major damage to or OHKO Arghonaut under the correct circumstances, though none of them appreciate being worn down by Arghonaut’s spikes or a potential burn. Reuniclus while no longer commonly seen gets a special mention thanks to magic guard preventing it from getting worn down by either of those two things. mega gallade and megazam aren't that relevant either

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as the Tapus you've already mentioned the ones that actually use Fairy-type STAB and aren't Tapu Fini, which you mention in the Taunt section, so I'd just drop the Tapus, Magearna, Mega Diance, Mega Mawile, and Mimikyu can all pressure Arghonaut, and are all capable of doing a major amount of damage or OHKOing it. Mimikyu, in particular, is pesky for Arghonaut because if not running roar, Arghonaut can’t phaze it out. Clefable can also be a nuisance because it stab moonblast can deal a nice chunky to Arghonaut, often forcing the Arghonaut to switch out allowing the Clefable to get up hazards if it has them.

**Grass-Types and Pokemon with Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Serperior, Mega Venusaur, Kartana, Tangrowth, and the rare Amoonguss all take relatively no damage from any of Arghonaut’s stab attacks or coverage moves, and can easily set up on, deal major damage to, or even in some causes OHKO. While Pokemon that carry Grass-type coverage can almost always 2HKO Arghonaut. Heatran or Volcanion can still run Doom Bloom, which can do large amounts of damage to Arghonaut. With Mega Crucibelle Wood hammer also does a decent chunk of damage to Arghonaut. Serperior and Amoonguss aren't that common either

**Taunt**: While often not thought of as a good way to shut up down Arghonaut it is. After being taunted Arghonaut can’t use the majority of its utility moves hindering Arghonaut effectiveness greatly. Taunt Tapu Fini is especially bothersome because it pressures Arghonaut out with moonblast, can defog away spikes, and can heavily chip away at teams with nature madness. Other taunt users just as Tomohawk, Tapu Bulu, and Gyarados are also effective means of shutting down Arghonaut and taking advantage of its passiveness.
Implement my comments and then you get QC 1/3
 

snake

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Read over and noticed a couple things

Mixed EV spread still runs Careful

Iapapa isn’t calling for a more offensive set, make this a little more clear
 

Drapionswing

Eating it up, YUMMY!
is a CAP Contributor Alumnus
I don't support Toxic > Spikes on Argho... Argho was literally shit before Spikes and had very little utility outside of Spikes. Now we're trying to encourage people not to use the change that was literally made to make Argho good. Toxic > Spikes is a god awful decision.
 
I don't support Toxic > Spikes on Argho... Argho was literally shit before Spikes and had very little utility outside of Spikes. Now we're trying to encourage people not to use the change that was literally made to make Argho good. Toxic > Spikes is a god awful decision.
Toxic isn't over Spikes on Argho is it merely a slash, people used Arghonaut as a tank now simply, spikes is merely what catapulted it to higher usage. It's great typing and natural bulk and role is a great glue/ utility mon is why it stayed with such high usage.

Edit: What are you actually even arguing spikes is the predominant move for move slot #2??
 
Last edited:

snake

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I’m no expert on Arghonaut...trust me I’ve tried to make it work on hyper offensive teams and it just doesn’t. But some people just want Argho to wall stuff and their team finds it needs 4 moves other than Spikes. Spikes is a huge reason to justify it on a team but not the only one. That’s why it’s called Utility - it glues teams together but filling in a void. Hazard setting is a good niche to fill, especially considering that the mons Arghonaut walls just floor most other hazard setters. However, if you don’t need that setter but need the wall, then Toxic is totally fine - it makes up for Argho’s pretty wimpy damage output. Sucks having to swap in Lele and get hit by Toxic.

Frankly the shift to mons Line Ash-Gren and Volkraken is what makes Arghonaut so popular - there’s a lot going on behind the scenes rather aside from the new moves it got. Though, Spikes and Circle Throw make it much easier to justify on a team than before.

Maybe the slash should be Spikes / Knock Off / Toxic? Or maybe a hard mention that if you don’t need Spikes, then you can still justify Arghonaut on a team with some other utility it can bring to the table.
 
I’m no expert on Arghonaut...trust me I’ve tried to make it work on hyper offensive teams and it just doesn’t. But some people just want Argho to wall stuff and their team finds it needs 4 moves other than Spikes. Spikes is a huge reason to justify it on a team but not the only one. That’s why it’s called Utility - it glues teams together but filling in a void. Hazard setting is a good niche to fill, especially considering that the mons Arghonaut walls just floor most other hazard setters. However, if you don’t need that setter but need the wall, then Toxic is totally fine - it makes up for Argho’s pretty wimpy damage output. Sucks having to swap in Lele and get hit by Toxic.

Frankly the shift to mons Line Ash-Gren and Volkraken is what makes Arghonaut so popular - there’s a lot going on behind the scenes rather aside from the new moves it got. Though, Spikes and Circle Throw make it much easier to justify on a team than before.

Maybe the slash should be Spikes / Knock Off / Toxic? Or maybe a hard mention that if you don’t need Spikes, then you can still justify Arghonaut on a team with some other utility it can bring to the table.
I feel like that is fair compromise considering the lesser extent that toxic is used but yeah it still can be decent, saying that no Arghonaut should ever run it is pushing it.
 

HeaLnDeaL

Let's Keep Fighting
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[OVERVIEW]

-Arghonaut is an excellent wall, with its typing and good bulk, Arghonaut can stand up to some of the best special attacks in the tier such as Specs Volkraken, Specs Ash-Greninja(Non Extrasensory variants), LO Sylcant, and Specs Blacephalon(depending on Arghonaut’s moveset).
-Arghonaut has access to a wide array of utility moves, such as spikes, roar Circle Throw, and recover making it more than a simple wall, but also reliable utility Pokemon as well.
-Arghonaut isn’t without flaw though, it typing also acts as a double-edged sword, namely its Fighting typing. Being part fighting gives Arghonaut a very common weakness to both Psychic and Flying-types, which are huge metagame thanks to Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Tomohawk, and Mega Medicham to name a few. Fairy weakness hurts as well (Mega Mawile, Tapu Fini, etc)
-Because of this common weakness and a relatively slow speed tier, Arghonaut’s absurdly large offensive movepool cannot be used very effectively, resulting in its current somewhat passive utility role in the meta.

You 100% need to mention Unaware and its benefits in the Overview. If it weren't for Unaware, Argho wouldn't be Argho. Mention a few set uppers it hard stops and a few that Unaware lets Argho phase out (list for the later is quite long, such as Cawmodore, Aurumoth, most calm minders, etc).

[SET]

name: Utility
move 1: Circle Throw
move 2: Spikes / Knock Off / Toxic
move 3: Scald / Knock Off / Earthquake
move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Nature: Careful Nature
Evs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Moves
========

-Circle throw is used as Arghonaut’s predominant phazing move and is pretty self-explanatory, it used to phaze out boosted threats and nab chip damage, which works pretty well with spikes. Alternative Roar allows Arghonaut to phaze out things not hit by circle throw (ghost typing), as well as allowing Arghonaut to phaze Pokemon behind substitutes like SubSD Kartana out easier.
-Spikes work well on Arghonaut, as its decent bulk and typing allow it many opportunities to set them up, and they help a significant amount when it comes to wearing down various grounded Pokemon.
-Toxic, if needed can be used over Circle Throw or Spikes. Toxic can be used to immediately cripple levitating Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Tomohawk, and Latios that might come in on Arghonaut.
-Knock off is a great move for crippling Pokemon that may try to pivot into Arghonaut, such as leftovers Ferrothorn and choice specs Tapu Koko. Knock off is also a way of harassing ghosts types Like Gengar, Pajantom, and Blacephaleon that aren’t affected by circle throw.
-Scald is a reliable stab move with a decent chance to burn, that helps decrease the passiveness of Arghonaut. It’s ability to hit common Arghonaut switch-ins such as Tapu Bulu Kartana, and Mega Pinsir and potentially cripple them with a burn makes opponents think twice about bringing checks in so carefree. Not to mention on top of that, scald punishes Landorus-Therian for trying to set up rocks against Arghonaut.
-Earthquake can be used to hit mons that would check Arghonaut or presumably switch in for free against it such as Tapu Koko, Volkraken, Magearna, Heatran. Heatran is NOT going to be switching in for free against Arghonaut since it is weak to both of Argho's STABs and utterly lacks anyway of dealing with Argho other than bloom doom. Omit Heatran and list Mollux instead.
-Recover is good for Arghonaut’s longevity, giving it a reliable way to regain lost HP, all while letting it outlast the Pokemon it is supposed to check.

Set Details
========

-Max HP and Special Defense investment allow Arghonaut to reliably switch in on some of the best special attackers in the tier, such as Ash-Greninja, Volcarona, Specs Volkraken, Syclant, and Keldeo. Omit Volcarona since it's really not one of the "best special attackers in the tier" and it commonly runs Giga Drain and sometimes even Z Grass that make it a bit risky for Argho to switch into.
-A Mixed spread consisting of 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD with an Careful nature can also be used alternatively. This spread allows Arghonaut to hit a bunch of cool benchmarks a few benchmarks. Max SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro pump is a 4HKO after leftovers recovery, Max SpA Choice Specs Analytic Volkraken Hydro Pump is a guaranteed 3HKO after leftovers recovery, Max Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows is a guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery. List another physical benchmark, omit the special benchmarks. The main EVs attain the special benchmarks already so for you to sell the alt spread you need to sell us on what the defense EVs do for Argho.
-If the threats mention above aren’t a major issue or your team isn’t in need of a Special Defensive wall, an alternative spread of Max HP and Defensive with bold nature can be used to give Arghonaut more physical bulk to take on the likes of Colossoil, Mega Lopunny, Zygarde. With a max HP and Def EVs, a Guts Max Attack Adamant Colossoil only has an 8% chance of 2HKO Arghonaut showing just how physically bulky it truly can be.Move physical set to OO.
-Leftovers act as the most reliable and standard item to run on Arghonaut, allowing Arghonaut to gradually gain back health over time.
-Alternatively, Rocky Helmet can also be used as an option, to wear down physical attackers, notably punishing Pokemon that use U-turn like Mega Scizor, Syclant, and Ash-Greninja.

Usage Tips
========

-Arghonaut can switch in on Pokemon that get walled by it, then respond by either setting up a spike or recovering back that HP. Always try to keep Arghonaut at a responsible amount of health using recover so that it can always be an effective check to the Pokemon it is supposed to be.
-Circle Throw can shuffle the opponent's team and rack up chip damage.
-While doing this watch out for Ghost-types looking to come in freely on their Fighting-type immunity, allowing them to damage you in return, or grab momentum because of Arghonaut’s passiveness.
-If you can successfully predict the opponent to switch, using Circle Throw can phaze out the switch-in and rack up chip damage.
-How you play Arghonaut generally depends on the situation. While it is a great wall, if there is nothing to wall, Arghonaut should first intentionally be used to get up spikes. After getting up spikes Arghonaut should be kept in the back of your team for late game phazing to break a potential sweep. Only really needing to come in other than that to tank special and reset hazards the battlefield if they have been removed by your opponent.
-Also with Arghonaut being a pretty reactive Pokemon, it can forces a lot of switches early on in the game, this switches are usually the best times to uses your utility moves such as spikes and knock off so that they can have a more lasting impact on the battle. After doing so this is when you will find yourself spamming scald and circle throw for chip damage, only really recovering when deemed necessary.
-Need to mention/elaborate upon how Arghonaut can stop set up sweepers, which ones, and how Argho needs to play in order to respond to specific ones. Mention the risks/costs of stopping Caw/Auru, meaning in certain situations a player must judge whether or not sacrificing Arghonaut is worth it or whatever.

Team Options
========

-Due to Arghonaut’s movement towards a more passive support role, a transition that makes it weak to specific sets, Arghonaut fits best on bulky offensive or balance teams, with both archetypes providing ways to make up for its weakness.
-Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu both make for good partners thanks to their typing. Allowing them to cover Tapu Koko and non-Supersky strike Landorus Therian. Arghonaut especially appreciates the slight HP regeneration from Tapu Bulu’s Grassy Terrain, that paired with leftovers can work wonders on the battlefield however Arghonaut then needs to be careful of opposing Grass-type moves. Celesteela and Ferrothorn can hard and soft check Tapu Lele and counter the majority of all other psychic types respectively. While on the more offensive side of things Pursuit Colossoil and Tyranitar can trap for psychic types, even sometimes using Arghonaut as a lure. And last but not least Mega Scizor can be used as a pivot and as a means for providing a soft check for Mega Alakazam and Latios. Mega Scizor also forms a nice synergy with Arghonaut because Scizor can slow U-turn allowing Arghonaut to come in cleaning to set up hazards or phaze something out, all while acting as a cover for Mega Scizor’s weakness to Fire-type moves. Overall the main team options you are lacking are mons that deal with Flying types, particularly Tomohawk. In this respect, Electric-types such as Zapdos and Krilowatt can prove to be helpful while also providing volt switch support to give opportunities for Argho to come in safely.

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

-Gunk Shot is also an option as a coverage move on Arghonaut seeing has Arghonaut often prompts fairies to switch in, more specifically Tapu Lele.
-Payapa Berry can be used to allow to take super effect psychic hits better. Giving you more room for error if you switch it on a Pokemon and they unexpected have psychic coverage, or when phazing out a boosted psychic-type. This could be especially useful for Pokemon like Calm Mild Tapu Lele and Quiver Dance Aurumoth that still do heavy chunks of damage unboosted.
-Iapapa Berry is an option for those looking to use another one of Arghonaut's utility moves instead of Recover. Doing this while running Iapapa Berry allows Arghonaut some form of recovery. Alternatively, Iapapa can also be subbed out for leftovers on the defensive set, if you prefer burst recovery, helping with Arghonaut's passiveness on more offensive teams.Omit this line since it's already implied.
-Move physical set EVs from above down to here. Also, @cbrevan has been using Bold 164 def 88 sp def for his physical EVs, so I'm tagging him to make sure he comments on this (I've been using the set quite extensively over the past few weeks and it works for me but cbrevan designed the team so he should know the details on the EVs).


-Mention a few mediocre sets more of just a recognition not to use them?:
-Offensive Technician set with Close Combat, Gunk Shot/Recover, Earthquake/Power Up Punch, and Aqua Jet is plausible for a surprise factor but is in general outclassed by other physical attackers with similar characteristics, namely Scizor.
-Bulk Up lets Arghonaut take advantages of switches in a different way, allowing it to boost itself. However, the time it takes for Arghonaut to set up is usually better stacking spikes and Bulk Up Arghonaut in general lacks the available moveslots to take on many threats and is particularly vulnerable to Toxic and utterly stopped by Tomohawk.


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

**Flying-types**: Flying-types such as Tomohawk, Pelipper, Tornadus-Therian Mega Pinsir, and Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian all threaten Arghonaut with their flying stab moves. Mega Pinsir can annoy Arghonaut especially because of its ability to set up on your switch out and potentially sweep your team. Flyinium Z Landorus-Therian is also a nuisance because of the variety of sets it runs, often forcing Arghonaut to scout what it is, allowing Landorus-Therian more than less to get up hazards. Tomohawk also has the ability to stop Arghonaut's hazard stacking with either Taunt or Rapid Spin.

**Electric-types**: Electric-types such as Tapu Koko, Cyclohm, Zapdos, Krilowatt, Plasmanta, and all threaten Arghonaut with their electric stab moves. Zapdos is particularly pesky for Arghonaut to deal with because of its access to Defog. Zapdos is also impossible for Arghonaut to significantly cripple unlike the other electric types listed because of its ground immunity, unless Arghonaut is running Toxic.

**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele, Mega Medicham, Latios, and Aurumoth all are capable of doing major damage to or OHKO Arghonaut under the correct circumstances, though none most of them don't appreciate being worn down by Arghonaut’s spikes or a potential burn or Knock Off . Reuniclus while no longer commonly seen gets a special mention thanks to magic guard preventing it from getting worn down by either of those two things.

**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types such as Magearna, Mega Diance, Mega Mawile, and Mimikyu can all pressure Arghonaut, and are all capable of doing a major amount of damage or OHKOing it. Mimikyu, in particular, is pesky for Arghonaut because if not running roar, Arghonaut can’t phaze it out. Clefable can also be a nuisance because it stab moonblast can deal a nice chunky to Arghonaut, often forcing the Arghonaut to switch out allowing the Clefable to get up hazards if it has them.

**Grass-Types and Pokemon with Grass-type Coverage**: Grass-types such as Tapu Bulu, Mega Venusaur, Kartana, and Tangrowth all take relatively no damage from any of Arghonaut’s stab attacks or coverage moves, and can easily set up on, deal major damage to, or even in some causes OHKO. While Pokemon that carry Grass-type coverage can almost always 2HKO Arghonaut. Heatran or Volcanion can still run Doom Bloom, which can do large amounts of damage to Arghonaut. With Mega Crucibelle Wood hammer also does a decent chunk of damage to Arghonaut, but it needs to be wary of Scald and Earthquake.

**Status**: Burn and more specifically Toxic can cripple Arghonaut's longevity, drastically reducing its ability to wall.
Implement the above and wait for cbrevan (cbro, look in OO) to give his speel on the physical defensive EVs and then I'll look over it again to stamp.
 

snake

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Fratty and I worked on the mixed Defense spread...

252 Atk Kartana Leaf Blade vs. 248 HP / 124 Def Arghonaut: 348-410 (84.2 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I thought I saw the point about Kartana in the analysis body, but I must have been reading too fast. This was the main calc for the alternative spread that we found before finding the 3HKO with CB Zygarde. Also, I think it's worth mentioning that with the mixed spread you don't lose out too much against some of the special attackers by shifting some EVs over. Nonetheless, I think this should be the other listed benchmark because being able to stop a Kartana sweep with Argho is impressive.
 

HeaLnDeaL

Let's Keep Fighting
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My slight apprehension with the above calc is that it seems unlikely Kartana will be coming in against a 100% healthy Argho, as I would guess Kartana would come in 1) after Kart's teammate hit Argh but was phazed out or 2) after Kart's teammate u-turned out of Argh to Kart or 3) after Kart's teammate died while still doing some sort of chip damange to Argho. The way that Argho plays is that he usually gets chip damage and recovers, but since he doesn't often run Toxic he can't really defeat the opponent and end with 100% HP very often. And Kartana is very often a bad lead choice so expecting a Kart vs Argh t1 is not realistic either. The counter argument of Kartana being on the field and Argho in the back coming in at 100% to revenge it seems more likely I will admit and has some niche revenge value but that truth is many of Argho's likely teammates stop Kartana better than it does. The analyses itself already lists Tangrowth, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor, all of which stop a choiced leaf blade Kartana and most of which fare decently against swords dance sets. These teammates usually don't lose as much HP trying to stop Kartana as Arghonaut does.

So yeah, it's a cool calc, but not sure how relevant it is.
 

snake

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My slight apprehension with the above calc is that it seems unlikely Kartana will be coming in against a 100% healthy Argho, as I would guess Kartana would come in 1) after Kart's teammate hit Argh but was phazed out or 2) after Kart's teammate u-turned out of Argh to Kart or 3) after Kart's teammate died while still doing some sort of chip damange to Argho. The way that Argho plays is that he usually gets chip damage and recovers, but since he doesn't often run Toxic he can't really defeat the opponent and end with 100% HP very often. And Kartana is very often a bad lead choice so expecting a Kart vs Argh t1 is not realistic either. The counter argument of Kartana being on the field and Argho in the back coming in at 100% to revenge it seems more likely I will admit and has some niche revenge value but that truth is many of Argho's likely teammates stop Kartana better than it does. The analyses itself already lists Tangrowth, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor, all of which stop a choiced leaf blade Kartana and most of which fare decently against swords dance sets. These teammates usually don't lose as much HP trying to stop Kartana as Arghonaut does.

So yeah, it's a cool calc, but not sure how relevant it is.
If it's Choice Scarf-locked then that's fair - it works in an emergency. Choice Banded then you're screwed no matter how much Defense you run. However...if it's and SD Fightinium Z Kartana, some of those Pokemon have a hard time standing up to it. I know that it's quite unlikely that Argho will ever find itself in that position where it's very near full health when Kartana is starting up its sweep, but that's why it's the alternate spread. Still stands up strong to special attackers, lives some better physical hits.

+2 252 Atk Kartana All-Out Pummeling (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 394-464 (97.5 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana All-Out Pummeling (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 382-450 (95.9 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 340-400 (96.5 - 113.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana All-Out Pummeling (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Scizor: 354-417 (103.2 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Basically, even in the worst case scenarios, Arghonaut is able to at least revenge Kartana - this could be helpful when the opponent is counting on just downing Arghonaut's Choice Scarfed teammate.

Alternatively...

252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Arghonaut: 204-240 (49.3 - 58.1%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 124 Def Arghonaut: 178-211 (43 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Arghonaut: 366-432 (88.6 - 104.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 248 HP / 124 Def Arghonaut: 320-380 (77.4 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Yeah Z-Fly will KO, but at least you aren't sometimes OHKOed by Fly after Landorus-T has used up its Z-move, and Earthquake doesn't force you to recover every single turn
 

HeaLnDeaL

Let's Keep Fighting
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There's also the decent chance of hazards being on the field when Argho comes in on Kartana, and leftovers won't heal that damage first turn, making it so Kartana does have a small but decent shot of OHKOing, weakening Argho as being any sort of ideal Kartana answer with those EVs. If you REALLY want Argho to check non-band Kartana then I don't understand why you're not full defense to minimize prior damage and hazards from screwing Argho. The number of situations where the specialized EVs does what it needs to do is so slim that I don't think it's worth being mentioned as an alternative set. Surviving Lando Fly is also not impressive because Argho can't KO Lando back in return.
 
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