So I didn't know whether to post this in the Uber Lead thread or not, but I know I can definitely post it here.
Lead Arceus:
Arceus @ Life Orb
EVs: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 52 Def / 56 Spd / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef
Hasty/Naive
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- ExtremeSpeed
- Brick Break
So I was browsing Arceus' moveset and I noticed he had all the same moves as Lead Rayquaza and wondered if a comparable set could be made. This is my attempt at an Arceus anti-lead and it is EXTREMELY rough right now.
The EVs are pretty obvious...Arceus can't have more than 100 in any stat. A +Spe nature seems pointless but the reason why it is used is to beat out other Arceus. Higher speed means that he will never lose a priority battle with other Arceus and the current spread means that he will also outspeed lead Rayquaza as well as non-scarfed +nature max speed base 90s and neutral nature max speed base 100s.
There are obviously lots of attacking options on this set. I chose this specific build because I feel it deals with the broadest range of Uber leads. Other possibilities like Earthquake, Shadow Claw, Punishment, etc. can be run on it.
You're probably wondering why you would choose lead Arceus over lead Rayquaza, and honestly there aren't many good reasons to do so. The main reasons are the added bulk and speed, but what you sacrifice to get it is a good deal of power. STAB Extremespeed is generally more useful than STAB Draco Meteor due to the fact that it's physical and priority, but other than that Arceus loses the brute force that Rayquaza has. I guess if you could make a distinction between the two, you could say that Rayquaza is for heavy offensive teams whereas Arceus is for bulky offensive teams (although there is very little difference).
The moveset is the exact same as lead Rayquaza and it's been working solidly so far. There are a ton of other options though.
Item choice is also a concern and in Arceus' case this means choosing between attack power and typing. I'll just go over the notable types briefly:
Dragon
Pros: Boosts Draco Meteor, resistance to fire, water, thunder.
Cons: One of the most common types in Ubers, everyone will be perpared for it.
Fire
Pros: Boosts Fire Blast, immune to burn, resistant to ice and steel.
Cons: Weak to the most common pokemon in Ubers, Kyogre.
Fighting
Pros: Boosts Brick Break, resistant to dark, psychic is a non-weakness since few psychic types in Ubers actually use psychic attacks.
Cons: Brick Break is ineffective against many things in Ubers.
Dark
Pros: Immune to psychic, boosts power of Punishment if you choose to run it.
Cons: Weak to fighting and bug.
Ghost
Pros: Immune to fighting and normal, boosts power of Shadow Claw/Force if you choose to run it.
Cons: Common weaknesses.
Ground
Pros: Immune to Thunder Wave, boosts Earthquake if you choose to run it.
Cons: Doesn't boost anything, common weaknesses.
Flying
Pros: Immune to ground.
Cons: Doesn't boost anything, common weaknesses.
Steel
Pros: Immune to poison, lots of resistances.
Cons: Doesn't boost anything, common weaknesses.
Poison
Pros: Immune to Toxic, absorbs Toxic Spikes, resists fighting which is commonly used against Arceus.
Cons: Doesn't boost anything, weak to ground.
I'm experimenting with the types, but for now Life Orb actually seems like the best item. Focus Sash is an option but Arceus is so bulky that there's nothing that can really OHKO it. Lum/Chesto Berry isn't very necessary due to Extremespeed hurting Darkrai a lot.
A quick rundown against other Ubers leads:
Deoxys-S - Double Extremespeed actually does not go all the way but Draco Meteor and Extremespeed do. They still set up rocks though unless they Taunt like idiots.
Deoxys and Deoxys-A - Double Extremespeed all the way across the sky.
Kyogre - This needs to be approached with care. Generally I Extremespeed first to reduce the power of Water Spout, a commonly used move on LeadOgres. If I see that it's choiced (at least if I think it is) after it uses its first move, I can switch to something that resists it.
Dialga - Double Brick Break usually gets there.
Darkrai - Extremespeed then react to what they do. If they Dark Void me I have Arceus take the sleep and switch to something else. If they try to Trick me it won't work so I just predict a switch and use Draco Meteor.
Groudon - Draco Meteor, then Extremespeed. It depends on the spread, so this doesn't always work but in general it's a good strategy.
Forretress - They almost always switch out so I just use Draco Meteor. If they don't, Fire Blast will still OHKO even with -2 SpA.
Rayquaza - See what I said earlier about the EVs.
Mew - Depends on the specific build but generally Draco Meteor into Extremespeed works.
Tyranitar - Brick Break will take care of him.
Mewtwo - Generally I switch out since they can hit really hard with Aura Sphere. I Extremespeed first though to check for recoil or lefties.
Shaymin-S - Fire Blast. Flinchax can be stupid though. Extremespeed 2HKOs if you don't wanna deal with all that nonsense.
Giratina-O - Draco Meteor. Immunity to G-O's priority move is another good point about running a normal type Arceus.
Wobbuffet - I roll over and die. Wynaut is slightly less of a brutal raping.
Magikarp - I tell those French hippies to go back to drinking wine and eating cheese.
jk, j'adore les francais, n'est pas homo
Thoughts?