Every year, since rotations were first announced in Pokémon, I spend about a week mourning all the lost cards. This year, I mourned Claydol, Night Maintenance, Unown G and all of the other cards that were lost to rotation.
After that week, the gears in my head start to turn, thinking of all the possible combos that could thrive in the new format, what decks will dominate and what which will crumble to the rotation. Since the format was announced (back in early June), I have been working to come up with new deck ideas and strategies that can have a shot of glory that year.
pokebeach.comLike a lot of tech and rogue deck builders, I try to take a known deck and make something out of it or take two good, rarely played together cards and make them into an amazing deck, which I have been doing so as long as I can remember. I was one of the first players to try LuxPhan and LuxChompPhan, which are both prime examples of the decks I try to play. But enough about me, let’s get on to the deck.
One deck that I’ve heard about since it’s release is Arceus. When Platinum: Arceus was released, there were a lot of players who tried Arceus, thinking they could make the deck work. However, after a short time, most players gave up on Arceus going back to the typical LuxChomp, Jumpluff, etc.
A few players say that Arceus is a deck that has huge potential and continued to play it. Some of those players have actually had a reasonable amount of success with the deck. Lately, I have heard a little bit more about the deck, with some people saying that Arceus has a chance in this format. I am inclined to agree with them.
Arceus is a deck that is very hard to have success with. First of all, your list must be perfect, even having one to many Bebe’s can ruin the deck. Second of all, you must have a monstrous amount of practice with the deck, mastering every possible match up. However, if you can do all of that, I believe that you’ll have quite a bit of success with Arceus.
I am not a perfect Arceus player and this is not a perfect list, but here is what I have been currently playing with:
|
Pokémon: 19
4 Arceus (Colorless) |
T/S/S: 22
2 Bebe’s Search |
Energy: 19 |
First thing’s first, here’s a breakdown of the Pokémon:
pokebeach.comArceus (Colorless)
This is the Arceus that makes the deck viable. If you have 6 different colored Arceus in play, you can search your deck for 6 basic energy and attach one to each Arceus you have in play. This is the ideal starter of the deck, allowing the deck to get powered up. It also has a very potent attack, “Sky Spear,” which allows you to snipe any Pokémon for 80 damage. However, you must send all energies attached to it to your Lost Zone. This attack is a lot like Garchomp C LV.X’s “Dragon Rush.” “Sky Spear” is great for disrupting your opponent’s set up.
Arceus (Darkness)
This Arceus is very useful in the deck. First of all, it allows you to do 20 damage for DC. However, if you are behind in prizes, it does 80 damage, which is very nice for its cost. Its second purpose is a Gengar SF counter. Due to Gengar’s +30 weakness, it can 1HKO it as long as you are behind on prizes.
Arceus (Fighting)
The fighting Arceus is in the deck to be able to hit Luxray GL LV.X and Tyranitar Prime for weakness. Its attack, “Break Ground,” for FCC does 60, but does 10 to each of your benched Pokémon.
pokebeach.comArceus (Grass)
This is probably the weakest out of all the Arceus. It is only in the deck to help the deck set up 6 Arceus to use “Ripple Swell”.
Arceus (Lightning)
I added the Lightning Arceus into the deck to help do increased damage to Gyarados, Kingdra LA, and Kingdra Prime. Its attack for LC does 30 damage and switches it with benched Pokémon. While this isn’t a terrible attack, it won’t be used that often.
Arceus (Metal)
This Arceus has an attack for MCC, which does 40 damage and prevents damage to it from your opponent’s LV.X Pokémon. This attack can be pretty useful against LuxChomp and DialgaChomp because it can stall them off for 1-2+ turns if they don’t have a Non-LV.X attacker in play and/or powered up.
Arceus (Psychic)
This is probably one of the weaker Arceus again. Its attack is nothing special; for PCC it hits for 40 and confuses the Defending Pokémon. It is mainly used to be leveled up and hit for Psychic weakness using a different Arceus’ attack. This is a very important Arceus, due to it’s ability to hit Machamp for Weakness and it’s role as a Mewtwo LV.X counter
pokebeach.comArceus (Fire)
This, along with the Darkness type are the hardest hitting Arceus. Its attack, “Bright Flame,” for RCC does 80 damage. However, you must flip a coin. If the result is tails, you discard 2 energy attached to Arceus. I included 2-of this Arceus for two reasons, the first is that it is one of the hardest hitting Arceus. The second is that it can 1HKO Dialga G LV.X even with 4 Special Metals attached to it.
Arceus (Water)
This card is included for two reasons. The first is that it can hit Donphan for Weakness and the second is a Mewtwo LV.X counter. You can 1HKO Mewtwo LV.X by leveling up the Psychic Arceus and using the Water Arceus attack, “Fastwave,” along with a PlusPower. (50 + 10) x 2 = 120 = 1HKO
Arceus LV.X (Omniscient)
This card is one of the most powerful cards in the deck. First of all, it allows you to retain the previous level’s type, allowing you to continue to hit for weakness. It also erases the previous level’s weakness and boosts it’s HP to 120. However, the one downside is that it looses the resistance from it as well.
Arceus LV.X (Psychic Bolt)
I use one of this card as a tech in the deck. For LPC, you can hit for 100 damage, not counting weakness as the cost of discarding a L and P energy. This card can be used to 1HKO nearly any Pokémon in the game when factoring weakness.
pokebeach.comUnown Q
This card is in the deck to help save energy. It’s kind of situational in this deck, but it has it’s uses and I feel warrants one spot in the deck. It also doesn’t mess up “Ripple Swell” at all, so it works quite well.
The rest of the deck is pretty understandable, but there may be a few things you’re wondering about, so here’s my Trainer/Supporter/Stadium line and Analysis.
Bebe’s Search
I run two of this card as it is a guaranteed way to fish out an Arceus LV.X out of my deck and helps against trainer lock.
Beginning Door
This card is pretty sweet in this deck because it’s like a Luxury Ball, but you can use more than one.
Luxury Ball
I hope I don’t have to explain this.
Palmer’s Contribution
I play 2-of this card to help with recovery and to get the needed Arceus back.
PlusPower
This card is like a Crobat G in this deck, but more effective because it doesn’t take a bench spot and is more effective because it applies the damage before Weakness.
Pokémon Collector
I maxed out this card to ensure a quick Arceus start. Some players say that 2-3 is fine, but I find 4 to work well.
Professor Oak’s New Theory
This card is godly in this deck, it helps get rid of a bad start and helps get those needed Ultimate Zones and Double Colorless Energies.
pokebeach.comUltimate Zone
Another godly card, it’s a counter stadium to get rid of those BTS and to move around the energies that I need to make sure I can always attack.
Call Energy
4-of this card is a must, allowing you to get the Arceus you need. Also, all the Arceus can use Call Energy because they all have 1-2 Colorless in their attack cost.
Darkness, Fighting, Fire, Lightning, Metal, Psychic, Water (12)
These are there to be drawn out with “Ripple Swell” and to get the deck going. I play a lot of different types to allow as many of them to attack as possible.
Double Colorless Energy
This card is amazing in this deck and really helps power up my Pokémon, especially the colorless Arceus “Sky Spear” and the Fire’s “Bright Flame”.
There are probably some cards that you’re thinking “why isn’t it in the deck!?” or “what the heck is that doing there”, so here’s some other changes/notes about the deck and my reasoning.
4 Double Colorless
I only play 3 of these right now, but I would like to 4 of them and I am working on getting it in the deck, but would like to do more testing before I take something out for this card.
1 Premier Ball
I may add in a Premier Ball for it’s ability to retrieve LV.X’s out of the discard pile.
3 Pokémon Collector
Some people seem to swear on 2-3 Pokémon Collector’s, but I typically favor 4 in an Arceus deck, but I will see with more testing.
pokebeach.com2 Arceus (Metal)
Because of it’s usefulness against SP, I may add in a second Metal Arceus. I’d probably take out the Grass Arceus for this card.
Matchups
Thanks for sticking with me this long, we’re almost done now. Here will be the approx matchups for the deck. The odds will be judged on a mix of how well this list does against the deck AND how well Arceus in general holds up.
VileGar: 50/50
This match up seems to be decided on one factor: Do they get a Spiritomb active turn 1? If they are able to get a Spiritomb start with a Call Energy and some other good cards, I will have a much harder match up. However, if they can’t, I can usually get the upper hand and break the lock.
DialgaChomp: 50/50
This match, like VileGar, can go either way. DialgaChomp has the advantage that Dialga G LV.X can shut off Arceus LV.X’s Poké-Body. In addition, Garchomp C LV.X can snipe nearly anything in the deck. However, the advantage that Arceus has is it can 1HKO Dialga G LV.X even with 4 Special Metals attached to it. In addition, Arceus (Colorless) can snipe Garchomp C on the bench and 1HKO an active Garchomp C LV.X via “Sky Spear”. Arceus does have a tough time, though if you are put in a “Deafen” lock for a long time and you get a very slow start.
Sablelock: 60/40
Well, this match up can vary a lot, just like VileGar. If they’re able to completely trash your hand, they’ll typically win. However, if they can’t, you can pull off the win. Overall, though, the odds aren’t bad at getting a win here.
LuxChomp: 60/40
If you are able to snipe most of their Garchomp C and Luxray GL and really abuse their weaknesses, you’ll be able to win.
I’m sure that some people will completely disagree with my match ups, but this is what I have found through my research and testing.
If you want to get good at Arceus, perfect your list, master your matchups and in-play strategy and you’ll be able to go far with Arceus. Good Luck and Have fun!
Great List, Great article.
I’ve been running Arceus for a while now, however my list varies a bit from yours, I’ve noticed that it is definitely a deck that depends on the player, you can’t netdeck this at all or you will fail.
I for instance run Expert Belts instead of Plus Powers. I also run the Meteor Blast Arceus instead of the Psychic Bolt one.
Have you thought about Rainbow Energy in the deck at all? I run 3 over Call Energy’s and I replace the last one with a 4th DCE.
Also, I know it will sound crazy, but have you thought of lowering the count of Ripple Swell Arceus? I only run 2 and it is surprisingly consistent.
I do however, give you props for Unown Q being in the deck, I really realllly like that tech.
9.5/10 :D
Yeah, Arceus is 40% list, 60% player. I think Expert belt may be good, make it 1 Expert Belt and 1 Pluspower.
I don’t really like Rainbow in this list, the room is very tight. If I decide to add more energy to the deck, I’d probably add a 4th DCE before trying to fit Rainbow in.
I can try the lower Ripple Swell Arceus to 2-3, but It makes me wary.
Glad you like the Unown Q tech, it’s really good here. Other cards that may work is Unown R (Believe that’s the draw one) or any other card that can be removed from play. I know Power Spray can be an issue, but rarely is.
Yeah, Arceus is 40% list, 60% player. I think Expert belt may be good, make it 1 Expert Belt and 1 Pluspower.
I don’t really like Rainbow in this list, the room is very tight. If I decide to add more energy to the deck, I’d probably add a 4th DCE before trying to fit Rainbow in.
I can try the lower Ripple Swell Arceus to 2-3, but It makes me wary.
Glad you like the Unown Q tech, it’s really good here. Other cards that may work is Unown R (Believe that’s the draw one) or any other card that can be removed from play. I know Power Spray can be an issue, but rarely is.
I was thinking about Unown R’s just for the extra draw, but ended up deciding against them
Unown Q is interesting. I wouldn’t run it. If it get’s sprayed you can’t ripple swell. Also calls? If you can’t turn 1 ripple swell your deck fails. Definantly need 4 DCE and 3 or 4 Rainbow energies. I have a pretty consistent Arceus build and I am trying to stick in Energy Exchanger because sometimes it’s hard to draw into the DCE or a Rainbow. Also 3 Beginning Door? ish 4 is a must.
No offence, but if your deck fails because of missing a turn 1 Ripple Swell there is something wrong. You should be able to find ways to get around it, thats one of the things that makes Arceus so great
My deck will 85% of the time get a turn 1 ripple swell. There are factors that can negate that whether its trainer lock or if I go first but I have destroyed most common tier 1 decks by getting turn 1 ripple swell. One main problem with Arceus is Machamp is an auto loss. You can’t hit hard enough and fast enough to avoid the take out. Sure you can try and use the psychic arceus but thats only one (atleast in this deck I run 2 I believe). Also, if Dialga x gets on the bench you are pretty much f’ed unless you want to waste the energies and sky spear him.
yes absolutely, i play a Arceus deck and if you don’t Ripple swell turn 1 your going to have a hard time, and against most decks nowadays if you go first its gg, there are factors to get threw this *they have bad hand* but in all i agree with you, 100% focus on getting Ripple swell turn 1 or die trying
That’s not entirely true.
The Deck can survive without a Turn 1 Ripple Swell. There have been times when I’ve forgone a Turn 1 Ripple Swell in favor of Sniping a potential threat on the bench. Now if your really set on getting that Ripple Swell off, do it within the first few turns and you’ll be fine.
As for going first, that’s why you play Call energy. It gives you something to do turn 1 and prevents possible “Donks”. Not to mention, sets you up for a Ripple Swell the following turn.
I know Unown Q can be sprayed, but it helps with saving energy instead of having to use them to retreat. If I added in Rainbow energies, that would be less room for the basic energies, so Ripple Swell will be less effectiveI didn’t run 4 beginning Door because it can be trainer locked. Even though Energy Exchanger can be trainer locked as well, it may be a good add.
Focus on just one or two main attacks from Arceus (Fire and Water). so many different energy cards totally takes away any synergy this deck needs. 4 DCE and 4 Rainbow are a must. There are a ton of trainer lock decks out now with Tomb being a League Promo card now, so twice as many people will start with it now as opposed to last year when it was more scarce. This is such a hard deck to perfect. I’ve been trying since it first came out, and tier 1 decks tear it to shreds. I wish you luck, and if you perfect it, let me know, I love the potential of this deck.
Sure, you can try to focus a bit on one or two, but in order for Arceus to work, you need to be hitting for weakness nearly every turn, so you need a wide variety or basic energy.
Probably the ones I focus on a bit, though, would be the Colorless and Fire due to them being great in the DialgaChomp match.
Sure, you can try to focus a bit on one or two, but in order for Arceus to work, you need to be hitting for weakness nearly every turn, so you need a wide variety or basic energy.
Probably the ones I focus on a bit, though, would be the Colorless and Fire due to them being great in the DialgaChomp match.
Very cool article! I love seeing arceus being played and really hope it continues to do well for you.
How does it do against machamp? That seems like a tough matchup
Machamp will vary a bit on how think of a line they’re running. If they’re running 4-4-4 with a lot of energy with the sole purpose of beating SP and nothing else, then you’re in trouble. However, it seems the problem with Machamp is that it’s a tad slow after the first Machamp dies, so if you can KO it fast, you got a shot. It is the decks toughest match, though.
Machamp can be worked around. The psychic Arceus will do “weakness” damage to Machamp. Plus, even if the psychic Arceus is stuck on the bench, its attack confuses the defending pokemon. That will give you an opportunity against Machamp as well.
I also like that arceus seems to do well against donk decks. They have high hp for basics and it’s likely you will start with more than 1 when setting up. Is your experience that it does well against t1 and t2 donk decks
Nothing is more frustrating in the current format than the u2 donk.
Yeah, I’ve found that this deck is probably the best deck in the format to counter donk decks that aren’t Machamp. If they’re Machamp, you still will rarely get donked, so you’re in great shape for that.
My honest take on the Arceus line is that you want one Arceus of each, with one energy of each, plus any additions to strengthen your consistency against the metagame. First off, look at what’s on top. Dialga G will obviously warrant another Fire Arceus and Fire Energy. Water Arceus is good not just for the Mewtwo threat, but the Blaziken threat, and more importantly, the Donphan threat, which can wall a little better because of its body, so add one of each for Water. Dark is good for the highly popular Gengar decks. Two Fighting Arceus, with two fighting energy of each, is probably the best option for the Luxray matchup. DCE and CArceus should probably be at four since Garchomp’s the most popular card in the metagame, and you want a turn one swell. Two Psychic Arceus and two Psychic energy are nearly REQUIRED in order to face the Machamp matchup, probably your biggest problem. When Triumphant comes out and Gyarados gets stronger, I’d add another Lightning Energy or Lightning Arceus to counter that. The big thing you’re missing is Lucario GL in order to hit EVERYTHING for 2X weakness, which is nearly required for Arceus to hit as hard as it can against the few decks that aren’t x2.
One problem with Lucario. If you start with it, you instantly loose hope to be able to use Ripple Swell that game. I just don’t like that it takes your bench, just a lot of problems with that.
i think you should run 2 water arceus the reason being is you want to be able to do some damage to the mewtwo wall, if you cant get the psychic+lv x+water+ plus power combo up quick enough… also Call is very necessary for a consistant T1 or T2 swell. I do agree with your q and i think you should run 2 because its so useful. Also i think you should run a few duall balls because they are awesome in this deck
2 Water could work, but I don’t know if I will due to the fact that Mewtwo is the only card it’s attack is good against.
Beginning Door is better than Dual Ball, because it guarantees 1 Arceus instead of a flip for 0-2
i know i run both dual ball and beginning door.. they are both good
You may want to try Meteor Blast Arceus X instead of Psychic Bolt X. The attck either does 100 or 200 damage (depending on coin flip)(assuming you are hitting for weakness like a good Arceus deck would). Plus, you don’t have a discard, helping conserve energies for later attacks. Just my opinon, but I would try it out
You may want to try Meteor Blast Arceus X instead of Psychic Bolt X. The attck either does 100 or 200 damage (depending on coin flip)(assuming you are hitting for weakness like a good Arceus deck would). Plus, you don’t have a discard, helping conserve energies for later attacks. Just my opinon, but I would try it out
First off, congrats on trying out Arceus. Ive been using it for a while now, and have had success with it. There was just 1 thing wrong with the Article…Your list. Honestly, the list is terrible. You say you dont have to explain why Luxury Ball is in here….You only have 3 Beginning Door, and you say that those are just like Luxury Ball, but better. Then why not take out the Luxury Ball and max Beginning Door? Also, you need to run 2 of each type except for Lightning, Grass, and never run the Steel. Also, Lucario is a major need in here. Its what keeps your Machamp matchup from being a 100% autoloss. Your energy count is also really wacky. You only run 1 Water when the Water Arceus’ attack is one of your most important. Its what lets you ohko Mewtwo, Steelix, Scizor, Donphan, ect…Also, you run 2 Metal energy….That is probably the most useless attack you could use…Drop both of them immediately for your fourth DCE(4 is a must) and another Water. Drop all 4 calls, your fighting, both Lightning for 2 more water, a grass, and 2 Rainbow. Then also add in atleast 3 Great Balls. Theyre so broken in this deck. I know im really sounding like a jerk riping your list apart, Ive just ran Arceus for a while now, and couldnt stand seeing this.
Mine runs max great ball, max door, max collector, max PONT and max Judge. And yeah, great ball is awesome :D
Which Arceus’ you run though depends entirely on what decks you’ll be facing where you play.
Just one issue… how is it that you recommend taking out Luxury Ball and adding Great Ball when Luxury Ball is strictly better (although in this case basically identical)?
No, I said to take out Luxury Ball for the fourth Beginning Door. And Great Ball puts the pokemon directly onto your bench, and you can use multiple Great Balls, but you can only use 1 Luxury Ball. Please read posts correctly before posting.
Please consider whether or not you will sound like a prick before posting. :/
It still stands that you recommended removing Luxury Ball and proceeded to recommend adding in 3 Great Ball in the same post, which means that you either failed to mention that he should actually add 1 Luxury Ball and 2 Great Ball, or you actually believe that Great Ball is a superior play. Either way I thought it worth mentioning.
Yes Great Ball puts it directly on your bench. This is strictly worse in the sense that it provides you with strictly fewer options. and therefore there is absolutely no reason one should ever play Great Balls without first adding a single Luxury Ball (barring the possibility that there is Skarmory FB in your meta :p) But like I said, in the case of Arceus, they’re practically equivalent, since you probably don’t use any ‘coming into play’ powers.
Regardless, I felt compelled to reexplain what I thought was implied in my previous post based simply on the crass arrogance displayed in your response.
I’ve been playing around with Arceus for a while with… some success lets say; and I have to say my list looks nothing like this one. In fact apart from having the name Arceus in it, there’s very little similar.
The trainer line looks nothing like mine (excluding collector and U-Zone) though I think the biggest difference I think is you use 3DCE whereas I use 4 Rainbow.
Also I think you underestimate the Grass Arceus. Believe it or not i use Leaf Refresh more often than any other attack. Having multiple Omniscients on the field, when one gets damaged you simply switch it to another one and hit for 60 (with weakness of course) and remove a load of damage.
This kills most things in 2 hits and also heals everything on your bench increasing your survivability. However… it does only work if you get setup pretty sharpish
Hmmm, I’ll try it and see what happens.
I’m shocked at your comments on Grass Arceus! Grass is the Arceus that allows your pokemon to keep healing and regenerating! And the Lightning Arceus is used to move damaged Arceus to the bench for healing.
The trick with Arceus is to get a Grass, Lightning, and Colorless Arceus on the Bench while drawing out Arcues that match the weaknesses of your opponent. Adding 1-2 Expert Belts increases the “Weakness” damage and increases your OHKO ratio!
I don’t even use either of the other Arceus Lv Xs because they are not really necessary.
Unfortunately Arceus will never dominate the format, because if it ever gains any traction, there’s a card called Ditto in the next set that they can grab off their first Collector that says you’ll never user Ripple Swell the entire game.
Good Point.If only Arceus had someway of sniping it on the Bench so it wouldn’t be a problem.Oh,wait…it does.
Oh come now. Of course you can snipe it. But are you trying to say that having no energy in play on turn 4 because you spent 3 turns setting up to snipe Ditto will be good for your game?
If only there was a magical card that gives you 2 colorless energy when you use it….oh wait…there is.
If only there was a magical card that gives you 2 colorless energy when you use it….oh wait…there is.