Overview
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Lucario is a frightening offensive threat; when Mega-Evolved, it sports 145/140 base offenses, as well as a very good base 112 Speed. But perhaps most deadly of all, it has one of the best offensive abilities in the game: Adaptability. This, combined with an excellent offensive movepool and multiple high-powered STAB moves, allows it to tear through any teams that are unprepared to handle it — so much so that its Mega Stone has been banned from OU. However, Lucario is far from perfect. It is very frail, being unable to take many hits, and as such, it has difficulty switching and staying in. Additionally, it has base 90 Speed, subpar offenses, and less useful abilities before Mega Evolving, allowing it to be easily taken down before it can do much. As such, the Mega Stone is practically a necessity. Despite these weaknesses, Lucario can still be an extremely destructive offensive force if played well and to its strengths.
All-Out Physical Attacker
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name: All-Out Physical Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Iron Tail
move 3: Bullet Punch
move 4: Stone Edge / Swords Dance / Ice Punch
ability: Justified
item: Lucarionite
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves
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Lucario's power partly comes from its access to Close Combat, a very powerful move. Coupled with its impressive offenses, as well as the Adaptability boost, Close Combat can easily OHKO or 2HKO almost anything that doesn't resist it and still do respectable amounts of damage to anything that does. Iron Tail, despite its fairly unreliable accuracy, is a necessity on Lucario's moveset. Without it, Lucario struggles to take out bulkier Fairy-types, like Fairy Arceus and Xerneas, that can stomach Bullet Punch; Iron Tail also deals major damage to the Fighting-immune Ghost-types, as well as Flying-, Psychic- or Bug-types that resist Close Combat. Bullet Punch is Lucario's best bet for a priority move; the Adaptability boost allows it to revenge kill important threats like weakened Geomancy Xerneas and finish off any Pokemon that might outspeed it. The last slot is used for any extra coverage that Lucario may need. Stone Edge hits Ho-Oh, OHKOing all but the most defensive of sets. Swords Dance boosts Lucario's offensive capabilities sky-high, allowing it to sweep and break walls much easier while tearing through Pokemon that might resist its STABs. However, keep in mind that Swords Dance is extremely hard to set up due to Lucario's severe lack of bulk. The last option, Ice Punch, hits Gliscor and Landorus-T for 4x effectiveness, both of which resist Close Combat; it also accurately hits Pokemon like Giratina, Giratina-O, and Lugia for super effective damage.
Set Details
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The EVs maximize offensive power and Speed, as Lucario is a glass cannon that cannot take many hits. A Jolly nature is almost always preferred, as outspeeding all Pokemon is crucial, but an Adamant nature is usable on teams with Sticky Web support. Keep in mind, however, that Yveltal is unaffected by Sticky Web and outspeeds Adamant Lucario when running maximum Speed and a boosting nature. Finally, Lucario must use Lucarionite to maximize its otherwise lackluster Speed and offensive power. For the pre-Mega ability, choose Justified, as it allows Lucario to take a resisted Dark-type hit and further boost its attack, giving it even more offensive power.
Usage Tips
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Lucario functions best as a wallbreaker and late-game cleaner. Its phenomenal offenses allow it to easily break through many walls, like Fairy Arceus or Blissey, both of which are generally OHKOed by its super effective STAB moves. Keep in mind, however, that 252 HP Fairy Arceus takes a minimum of only about 90% from Iron Tail. Lucario can also take out Extreme Killer Arceus with Close Combat, unless Arceus is already at +4 Attack, at which point it could use Extreme Speed for the OHKO; this is excellent if the Arceus is a bulkier, slower set, or if you have Sticky Web up, since Arceus can no longer outspeed and KO Lucario with Earthquake or Overheat. Additionally, it is an excellent Pokemon for offensively pressuring Defoggers, most of which will take massive damage if they use Defog on Lucario. However, Lucario cannot take many hits. You must take care in using it, as most super effective or even strong neutral moves will most likely take down Lucario. Additionally, Lucario detests status. Its Steel typing means it is immune to Toxic, but burns and paralysis both cripple its offensive presence. Its frailty means that it has difficulty switching into battle in the first place. As such, Lucario will typically only come in if given a free switch-in. Otherwise, it may end up taking a large amount of damage or getting statused, rendering Lucario nearly useless.
Team Options
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Lucario loves Sticky Web. When Sticky Web is up on the other side of the field, Lucario is able to more comfortably outspeed essentially everything, including Mewtwo, Darkrai, and Choice Scarf users such as Kyogre and Zekrom, allowing it to stay in and dish out huge damage to a wider variety of Pokemon. In addition, the Speed drop on the opponent allows Lucario to check a variety of offensive threats like Extreme Killer Arceus and Choice Scarf Xerneas, both of which would otherwise outspeed and easily OHKO Lucario. Stealth Rock is also very helpful as it does huge damage to Ho-Oh, which is extremely helpful if Lucario is not running Stone Edge; it also breaks Focus Sashes and punishing the inevitable switches that Lucario forces. Shuckle is an excellent teammate, as it is practically guaranteed to get off a Sticky Web at the beginning of the match, while also being able to use Stealth Rock. Landorus-T can set up Stealth Rock as well; it also has excellent type synergy with Lucario and can help it switch in safely with U-turn. Additionally, Lucario is an excellent Pokemon at keeping hazards up — it provides huge amounts of offensive pressure against Defoggers such as Arceus without Will-O-Wisp, forcing the opponent to either take huge amounts of damage while Defogging, or to not use Defog at all.
Bulky Fairy-types also provide good synergy with Lucario, as they can remove many of their checks. Xerneas in particular, is an excellent partner — Lucario is immune to Poison and resists Steel, while Xerneas also resists Lucario's Fighting-type weakness, and can thus switch into many Pokemon that threaten Lucario. Sylveon serves a similar role while also filling the role of a Wish passer, but with less physical bulk. Both of these Pokemon also have the added bonus of having access to Aromatherapy and Heal Bell respectively, helping Lucario shrug off any burns or paralysis.
Good switch-ins to Pokemon that can threaten Lucario are also very useful, such a Flying-type Pokemon to take Ground-type attacks. Specifically, Yveltal is an excellent teammate: it can come in on Ground-types and dish out huge damage to them with Dark Pulse, while also easily taking care of Lugia and Giratina, both of which wall Lucario. Furthermore, Lucario 4x resists Yveltal's Rock-type weakness, and offensively pressures Fairy-type Pokemon that would otherwise threaten Yveltal. Landorus-T is once again an excellent partner, resisting Fighting-type moves, being immune to Ground-type moves, and also reducing the damage of physical attackers (with Intimidate) that might otherwise pose a danger to Lucario.
Grass Arceus is another excellent teammate, sporting the bulk and typing to take on any
Ground-type moves that may threaten Lucario; in particular, it can check Groudon, which easily sponges unboosted hits from Mega Lucario and KOes back with Earthquake. Grass Arceus can also switch into Choice Scarf Kyogre, which can outspeed and OHKO Lucario, while at the same time forcing out these threats with a Grass Knot or Judgment. Giratina-O can easily take any Ground- or Fire-type attacks aimed at Lucario with its decent bulk, while also providing a great deal of offensive pressure.
Gothitelle (and to a lesser extent, Wobbuffet) can trap with Shadow Tag and take out some Pokemon that would otherwise give Lucario some trouble, like support Arceus formes with Will-O-Wisp. It also does very well on a Sticky Web team, where it can outspeed most support Arceus sets, and take them out with almost 100% success, bar Ghost and Dark Arceus.
Volt Switch and U-turn users are also excellent at safely bringing in Lucario, giving it more chances to come into battle and dish out damage, which it has trouble doing otherwise with its lack of bulk. Scizor in particular is a good candidate for this job, as it possesses a slow U-turn, allowing Lucario to come in after the opponent has moved. Furthermore, Lucario can threaten the Steel-type Pokemon that Scizor would otherwise usually have trouble with (except for Aegislash). Landorus-T also fits the role of U-turn user well, forcing a number of switches with its Intimidate ability and various immunities.
Other Options
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Extreme Speed can be used over Bullet Punch as a priority move, as it does the same damage but hits different targets, as well as having a higher priority. Bullet Punch is necessary for hitting Mega Gengar and finishing off other Ghost-types, whereas Extreme Speed can more easily finish off those that resist Steel-type attacks, such as Choice Scarf Kyogre or Zekrom. A specially oriented set is also possible, using Lucario's very good special movepool (with moves like Aura Sphere, Flash Cannon, Vacuum Wave, and Nasty Plot), but this is generally much weaker than its physical set, as its special moves generally do less damage (e.g. Aura Sphere has 80 Base Power vs. Close Combat's 120, and Flash Cannon has 80 Base Power vs. Iron Tail's 100). Crunch is usable in Lucario's last moveslot, as it is the best way to hit Aegislash, and it is also a more accurate move to hit Ghost-types. However, be wary of using Crunch on Aegislash, as it can use King's Shield, halving Lucario's Attack. Finally, Agility can be used in the late-game when all Lucario's checks or counters are down, allowing it to outspeed basically anything in the metagame, including Choice Scarf users — at +2 speed, nothing outspeeds it unboosted. In addition, it resists all common forms of priority (Bullet Punch, Extreme Speed and Sucker Punch). This, coupled with its incredible offensive power, allows Lucario to clean very well after a single Agility boost.
Checks & Counters
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**Support Arceus**: Any Arceus formes that aren't weak to Fighting- or Steel-type attacks (that also carry Will-O-Wisp) can check Lucario by burning it, and these can also heal off any damage with Recover. Ghost Arceus is immune to Lucario's main STAB move, forcing it to use its weaker and less accurate Iron Tail. However, since most support Arceus sets do not run maximum Speed, Lucario often outspeeds them, meaning they usually cannot switch in.
**Giratina**: Giratina can survive any unboosted hit from Lucario and burn it with Will-O-Wisp or simply phaze it out with Roar or Dragon Tail.
**Lugia**: Even without Multiscale, Lugia can survive any unboosted hit from Lucario, Roost / Recover off any damage taken, and phaze Lucario out with Whirlwind or Dragon Tail. It also 2HKOes Lucario most of the time with Aeroblast or Psychic and can possibly even OHKO Lucario after it has used Close Combat a few times.
**Bulky Ground-types**: Groudon, Landorus-T, and other bulky Ground-types can survive any unboosted attack, including Ice Punch, and OHKO Lucario back with a STAB Ground-type move. Landorus-T in particular can ruin Lucario's day by dropping its Attack on the switch-in with Intimidate, while resisting its main STAB move, Close Combat.
**Revenge killers**: Many revenge killers that can outspeed Lucario and survive a Bullet Punch can easily OHKO it if given a free switch-in. These include Choice Scarf Kyogre, Palkia, and Zekrom, Blaziken with Protect, and Mega Mewtwo X.
**Ho-Oh**: If Stealth Rock is not up and Ho-Oh is not weakened, Lucario cannot kill Ho-Oh without the aid of Attack boosts or Stone Edge, whereas Ho-oh can easily OHKO it with Sacred Fire.
**Aegislash**: Aegislash is immune to Close Combat and resists Lucario's Steel-type STAB moves as well as many of its other usual coverage options, effectively walling any Lucario lacking Crunch. However, without Shadow Ball, the standard Ubers Aegislash cannot do much back, as using Shadow Sneak puts it into its vulnerable Blade forme before Lucario attacks.
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