Competitive Information for Archen [Sun/Moon]
Rock / Flying
Abilities:
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Archen? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sun/Moon Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Sun/Moon generation metagame.
Archen is a remarkable Rock and Flying-typed Pokemon. Archen is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Archen can be quite a contender in the LC tier (Little Cup). Archen is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Water-typed attacks.
Item: Waterium Z / Life Orb
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Aqua Tail / Return
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
Physical Sweeper Archen
Archen is a fabulous Physical Sweeper. It is primarily designed to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Archen's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. atk are halved. Aqua Tail was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Return is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at maximum happiness).
♦ Rock Slide is a physical STAB-boosted 75-base power Rock-type move (30% chance to flinch the foes).
♦ Rock Tomb is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Rock-type move (100% chance to lower the target's speed by 1 stage).
♦ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
♦ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs10a236
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Stealth Rock
- Tailwind / Taunt
- Endeavor
- Quick Attack / Knock Off
Archen Support (Big Bird)
Archen is an outstanding Support. Focus Sash helps protect Archen from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. atk are halved. An attack stat more dangerous than life orb abra or even flygon? That is OP for LC. The ability doesn't help much, though. This set is to be used for early set up. I saw it done with an archeop, so why not?
♦ Tailwind is a status move (for 4 turns, allies' speed is doubled).
♦ Taunt is a status move (target can't use status moves its next 3 turns).
♦ Endeavor is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (lowers the target's hp to your Archen's hp).
♦ Quick Attack is a physical priority-increased 40-base power Normal-type move (usually goes first).
♦ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hs11a236
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Archen? These builds have been optimized for Sun/Moon Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Sun/Moon generation metagame.
Item: Rockium Z / Life Orb
Ability: Defeatist
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Earthquake / Bulldoze
- Aqua Tail / Return
- Knock Off
Doubles Physical Sweeper Archen
Archen is a spectacular Physical Sweeper. It's purpose is to take down the opponent's team with brute physical power. Life Orb boosts the power of Archen's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Defeatist, while Archen has 1/2 or less of its max hp its attack and sp. atk are halved. Aqua Tail was added to provide additional threat coverage.
♦ Rock Tomb is a physical STAB-boosted 60-base power Rock-type move (100% chance to lower the target's speed by 1 stage).
♦ Earthquake is a physical 100-base power Ground-type move (hits adjacent pokemon).
♦ Bulldoze is a physical 60-base power Ground-type move (100% chance lower adjacent pkmn speed by 1 stage).
♦ Aqua Tail is a physical 90-base power Water-type move that deals a nice amount of damage.
♦ Return is a physical 0-base power Normal-type move (max 102 power at maximum happiness).
♦ Knock Off is a physical 65-base power Dark-type move (1.5x damage if foe holds an item; Note: This will also remove that item).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/hd10a236
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Archen learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Archen can perform in Sun/Moon. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive SM Move and Ability Combos for Archen
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Move: Endeavor + Item: Focus Sash
- Move: Acrobatics + Item: Red Card
- Move: Acrobatics + Item: Flying Gem
- Moves with Priority: Ally Switch, Protect, Quick Guard, Quick Attack
- Moves that Break Screens: Defog
- Moves that inflict status: Toxic
Moves that boost Archen's stats
- Agility
- Ancient Power
- Hone Claws
- Iron Defense
- Rock Polish
- Steel Wing
Most notable and possible best moves for Archen
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
- Hidden Power
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Rest
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Toxic
- U-turn
Common Effort Values for Archen in Sun and Moon
- Nature ( )
- Nature ( )
- Optimize Archen's EV spread for Pokemon Sun and Moon
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Archen. Top rated Archen Sun/Moon movesets. You can find Archen builds Sun/Moon. Archen movesets Sun/Moon are listed here. VGC Archen Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Archen in Sun/Moon along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for Archeops evolution