Wonder Guard Sweeper Arceus

One of, if not the best Wonder Guard sweepers in the metagame. With its great typing and bulk, it provides useful defensive utility while also being a potentially very scary setup sweeper if its checks are taken care of. While it is potent, it does have its flaws, like being hazard reliant and having notable power issues.

Most of the time you want to pair Arceus with some sort of hazard setter, preferably Spikes or Toxic Spikes, as it usually barely misses out on crucial KOs without said hazard chip damage (most importantly Mega Mewtwos), and Toxic Spikes helps you wear down Moongeist Beam walls that otherwise you're unable to break through.

This set can be fit on most styles of offense, even hyper offense appreciates the defensive utility this Pokemon provides. Usually it isn't too difficult to fit onto teams, as even offense appreciates a two Wonder Guard core and the ability to switch into Moongeist Beam is valuable vs opposing Mega Gengar. No Guard hazard Mega Gengar is a great teammate for Arceus, as it can set hazards for Arceus meanwhile Arceus Imposter-proofs Gengar.

• Magic Coat Wonder Guard: Specifically Normal type Wonder Guard Pokemon, as Arceus can't touch them and they have Magic Coat in order to bounce back Taunt. Generally you should try to Taunt these Pokemon as they switch in, if that isn't an option then you might have to resort to PP stalling.

• Mega Rayquaza: Difficult for Arceus to break through with its good natural bulk and immunity to the hazards Arceus likes being paired with. Since most Rayquaza sets don't typically run moves that can hit Arceus, you can break through Rayquaza, though this is somewhat risky if it runs a move that can hit Arceus or a move to annoy Arceus such as Spore.

• Circle Throw Wonder Guard: Similar to Magic Coat Wonder Guard Pokemon, but even worse for Arceus as it does chip damage to it (and potentially another team member if hazards are up), forces it out, and can't even be blocked by Taunt. On top of this, more Pokemon can reliably run Circle Throw to check Arceus as Arceus can't simply boost and break through them. You'll have to just switch to another team member if you're facing a Pokemon with Circle Throw.

• Magic Bounce Zygarde-Complete: It simply tanks all of Arceus's attacks and blocks Taunt so Arceus can't break through. Both Toxic and Haze variants of Magic Bounce Zygarde are annoying for Arceus, as Toxic puts Arceus on a timer and Haze leaves Arceus with no hope of breaking through. If you want to beat Zygarde you'll simply have to resort to help from a teammate.

Written by PenultimateToast