Type: Water / Bug
Stats: 68 HP / 70 Atk / 92 Def / 50 SpA / 132 SpD / 42 Spe
Abilities: Water Bubble / Water Absorb (H)
Notable Moves:
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Mirror Coat
- Lunge
- Icy Wind
- Hydro Pump
- Crunch
- Soak
- Trailblaze
- It learns Sticky Web and is faster than Spidops.
- Araquanid's bulk is surprisingly good, especially on the special side. It can take a few hits as needed.
- Water Bubble remains one of the most hilariously overloaded abilities in the franchise's history even by Gen 9 standards and completely carries what would otherwise be a terrible Pokemon. Water Bubble grants Araquanid a full Burn immunity, halves all damage taken by Fire-type attacks, and doubles the power of its Water-type attacks all at once; it's basically Heatproof plus Water Veil plus a pseudo-Huge Power buff to every single Water-type attack all at once. Water Bubble ensures that Araquanid is far from passive despite its pathetic offensive stats, as a STAB and Water Bubble-boosted Liquidation will yield some hilariously absurd calcs.
- Araquanid has a surprisingly great defensive typing with some unique resistances to Steel, Ground, Ice, Fighting, and Water-type attacks in addition to a pseudo-resistance to Fire thanks to Water Bubble. Though it's very slow and can be pressured easily, this typing is quite fantastic into threats like Heatran and Great Tusk, which it of course obliterates with Liquidation.
Cons:
- Araquanid is one of the slowest fully-evolved hazard setters in the game which can give it a very difficult time getting its Sticky Web up against faster Taunt users.
- Araquanid's movepool is extremely shallow beyond Sticky Web and Liquidation, and it lost some valuable options like Toxic and Scald that could've been very helpful this generation, and it didn't get anything particularly amazing from this generation's new moves either. There's another timeline where GameFreak gave this thing Wave Crash and that would've been spicy.
- Araquanid's biggest loss is that of Magic Coat, which would've been amazing in such a hazard-centric metagame as it would bounce back opposing hazards, status effects, and Taunt attempts all the same. Araquanid probably would've been quite good if it kept this move.
- Araquanid's damage output is extremely lackluster when it isn't using Water-type attacks, so it will seldom utilize its secondary STAB or Crunch in the first place.
- Araquanid's typing is quite unique, but it isn't perfect. It has weaknesses to very common Electric-, Flying-, and Rock-type attacks (and, thus, Stealth Rock).
Sticky Web
Araquanid @ Focus Sash / Mental Herb
Ability: Water Bubble
Tera Type: Ghost / Steel
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Mirror Coat
- Leech Life
Set up webs if you don't get Taunted by literally anything faster, and then if you're somehow in good enough shape to live a hit or two you can start hitting stuff very with Liquidation. Ghost or Steel is chosen to let it choose between spinblocking Rapid Spinners like Great Tusk or spinblocking against Mortal Spin Glimmora. Speed is for bulky Kingambit, which aims to barely outspeed min-Speed Corviknight.
Dollar Store Dracovish
Araquanid @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Bubble
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Crunch
- Sticky Web
252+ Atk Choice Band Water Bubble Tera Water Araquanid Liquidation vs. 12 HP / 0 Def Walking Wake in Rain: 164-194 (47.9 - 56.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Don't actually run this, but in the event that you do want to run this, slap Choice Band Araquanid on a Rain team and blow your Tera on it and maybe you'll find some heinous calc that'll get endlessly reposted on r/stunfisk a-la Chi-Yu's Choice Specs Sun-boosted Tera Fire Beads of Ruin Overheat. Araquanid's damage output when the stars align is downright obscene.
Conclusion and Overall Impressions:
Unfortunately, this isn't a very good mon anymore. If it kept Magic Coat it really could've gone somewhere this gen, but as it stands Araquanid is either a lower-tier Webs setter that is currently living in Ribombee's shadow or a meme that's sometimes capable of pretending it's Dracovish. It's not objectively total garbage; it has some genuinely nice qualities like a good defensive typing, good bulk, and an insanely broken ability, but it just isn't OU material (or even close).
