Daily Red Arcanine set and strategy
Arcanine is D-tier on our Daily Red tier list (#27 of 30) — one of the hardest Pokémon to use against Red. On paper it wins 2 of 6 one-on-one matchups against Red (Pikachu, Venusaur). Play Daily Red ↗
The Arcanine set in Daily Red
Arcanine
- Fire Flamethrower Special · 95
- Normal Extreme Speed Physical · 80
- Dark Crunch Special · 80
- Steel Iron Tail Physical · 100
Every player gets this exact set when Arcanine is in the daily six: level 100, Serious nature, perfect IVs, holding Charcoal with Intimidate. The set never changes from day to day.
Arcanine vs each of Red's Pokémon
Estimated damage at level 100 with these exact stats (Gen 3 formula, no crits, no boosts). “Wins” means it should take the one-on-one trade, counting who moves first.
| Red's Pokémon | Arcanine's best hit | Red's best hit back | Moves first | 1v1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pikachu |
Flamethrower 107–126% | Thunderbolt 65–76% | Arcanine | ✅ wins |
 Espeon |
Crunch 45–53% (super effective) | Psychic 55–65% | Espeon | ❌ loses |
 Snorlax |
Extreme Speed 21–25% | Earthquake 73–86% (super effective) | Arcanine | ❌ loses |
 Venusaur |
Flamethrower 62–73% (super effective) | Earthquake 46–54% (super effective) | Arcanine | ✅ wins |
 Charizard |
Extreme Speed 32–38% | Earthquake 47–55% (super effective) | Charizard | ❌ loses |
 Blastoise |
Extreme Speed 22–25% | Surf 95–112% (super effective) | Arcanine | ❌ loses |
How to use Arcanine against Red
- Save Arcanine for Pikachu, Venusaur — those are the one-on-one trades it wins on paper.
- Avoid leaving it in against Espeon, Snorlax, Charizard, Blastoise; switch to a teammate that covers them (see below).
- Snorlax's Earthquake is super effective on Arcanine (73–86%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Venusaur's Earthquake is super effective on Arcanine (46–54%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Charizard's Earthquake is super effective on Arcanine (47–55%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- Blastoise's Surf is super effective on Arcanine (95–112%), so don't switch it in on that attack.
- It beats Red's Pikachu lead: Flamethrower does 107–126% and it moves first.
Best partners for Arcanine
If these show up on the same day, they cover the matchups Arcanine loses:
How often Arcanine shows up
Each day's six are drawn from a fixed pool of 30 sets, so any one set appears on about 1 in 5 days. Over the first 365 days, Arcanine is in the team on 56 days (15%), and it is our suggested lead on 0 of those (0%). Its most common job in our counter plans is handling Venusaur.
It hasn't been in a daily team yet. Check today's Daily Red team.
Other Daily Red Pokémon
Gyarados · Jolteon · Flygon · Breloom · Slowbro · Houndoom · Alakazam · Machamp · Gengar · Rhydon · Starmie · Scizor · Heracross · Kingdra · Donphan · Tyranitar · Sceptile · Blaziken · Swampert · Ludicolo · Shiftry · Gardevoir · Aggron · Medicham · Manectric · Camerupt · Milotic · Salamence · Metagross