LC Spotlight: Archen
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Archen's Beginning
When Archen was introduced in the fifth generation as one of the two fossil Pokémon of Unova, it managed to maintain a decent niche with its high Attack, decent Speed, and a type combination that is unique in Little Cup. It also had nearly perfect coverage with its enormous physical movepool containing moves like Stone Edge, Earthquake, and an often Flying Gem-boosted Acrobatics. Archen was sometimes seen on offensive sand teams because, as a Rock-type, its Special Defense gets boosted by 50% in the sand. However, despite all of its strengths, it possessed an enormous weakness that prevented it from becoming a top-tier threat. Archen's ability, Defeatist, halved its Attack and Special Attack when its HP was less than half, which quickly rendered it nearly useless as an offensive threat; although Oran Berry helped it deal with this problem to an extent, it couldn't use Acrobatics effectively until it consumed its item, meaning Oran Berry wasn't always the best option. It didn't help that Archen also disliked Stealth Rock and many common priority attacks, which forced it into Defeatist range easily.
Archen in XY
Upon the arrival of the sixth generation, Archen has retained its weaknesses; however, it has also benefited immensely from various mechanics changes. The most notable buff is the buff to Defog, which went from lowering evasion to removing hazards from both sides of the battlefield (in addition to still lowering evasion). This Defog buff lets Archen act as a fast offensive support Pokémon, thanks to its access to Stealth Rock, allowing it to choose how it wants to support its team depending on the situation. It also gives Archen a solid niche as an invaluable teammate to numerous Stealth Rock-weak Pokémon, such as Larvesta, because its resistances grant it numerous opportunities to fire off an unblockable Defog. The unbanning of Berry Juice allows Archen to rely on it for recovery instead of Oran Berry, greatly increasing its longevity; because Flying Gem isn't released, Berry Juice is generally considered Archen's primary item. The Knock Off buff gives Archen an option to deal with Ghost-types and further support offensively inclined teammates by permanently crippling walls. With these important changes, Archen has risen to become one of the most versatile and effective threats in the metagame, a Pokémon that can fit onto almost any kind of team.
Playing With Archen
Because Archen is mostly a support Pokémon, whether through hazard control with its support and defensive sets or wallbreaking with its offensive set, its teammates primarily consist of Pokémon that appreciate its presence. On an offensive team, examples of these include Croagunk and Cottonee, both of which thoroughly dislike Fletchling and will be able to take advantage of Stealth Rock with the switches they force. On a defensive team, examples of these include Foongus and Larvesta, which enjoy having Fletchling taken care of and being able to switch around more freely without being impeded by entry hazards. Archen also makes for a particularly effective member of various weather teams; sun teams love having Stealth Rock off the field for Fire-types to come in more safely, as well as a check to Fletchling and an overall strong offensive Pokémon, and Archen covers various threats for sand teams as well, once again including Fletchling, and benefits from the sand boosting its Special Defense.
Archen's diverse movepool isn't just limited to Rock Slide, Acrobatics, Earthquake, Defog, Stealth Rock, and Knock Off: Roost is almost mandatory for defensive Eviolite sets, U-turn is useful for creating momentum, Rock Tomb can ease prediction by making certain switch-ins easier to deal with, and Stone Edge and Head Smash are useful if raw power is necessary, although the latter's recoil makes Archen hit the Defeatist range quickly. Archen can even try pulling off a sweep with Agility.
Playing Against Archen
Archen can be difficult to switch into due to its enormous Attack stat and dangerously wide offensive movepool. Luckily, it is only limited to four moves, and more often than not, at least one of these moveslots will be dedicated to support options such as Stealth Rock or Defog, so Archen will not be able to cover everything at once. For example, sets lacking Knock Off can be dealt with by physical walls that can hit it super effectively, such as Slowpoke, Ice Beam Porygon, and Rock Slide Hippopotas; sets that do not have Earthquake are far more easily beaten, being taken out by Pawniard, Chinchou, Tirtouga, Trubbish, Omanyte, and Magnemite; sets without Acrobatics will have trouble with Mienfoo, Timburr, and Foongus.
The easiest way to deal with Archen is to simply bring it down into Defeatist range, which will render its offensive presence much more manageable, but Berry Juice can sometimes be problematic.
Summary
Archen's good typing, overwhelming stats, and wide movepool, both offensive and supportive, have allowed it to cement itself as a top-tier Pokémon in the current metagame that every team should be ready to face.
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