Ubers Spotlight: Lunala

By DeathByWobbuffet.
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Art by Pyritie

Art by Pyritie.

Introduction

Ever since it was introduced at the beginning of SM, Lunala has been a popular choice in the Ubers metagame, and it's not hard to see why. Lunala's high Special Attack stat of base 137 combined with its great offensive typing, which gives it perfect coverage with its STAB moves outside of Dark-types, makes it an offensive behemoth in Ubers. This is further backed up by its decent Speed stat of base 97, which allows it to outpace threats such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, Dialga, Primal Kyogre, and Rayquaza, as well as its signature move, Moongeist Beam, a 100 Base Power special Ghost-type move that also ignores opposing abilities. Lunala has access to a number of powerful coverage moves, such as Focus Blast, Ice Beam, and Moonblast, which round off its coverage in combination with its STAB moves. To top it all off, Lunala has relatively good mixed bulk and a useful ability in Shadow Shield, which halves the damage taken from all incoming attacks when it's at full HP, ensuring that Lunala is no slouch defensively either. These qualities make Lunala a common pick on balanced and offensive teams alike.

Sets

Lunala

This is Lunala's most common set in the Ubers metagame. When equipped with a Choice Scarf, Lunala is capable of putting in a lot of work against offensively oriented teams. Choice Scarf notably allows it to check powerful offensive threats such as Extreme Killer Arceus, Mega Gengar, and Mega Lucario. Moongeist Beam is a powerful STAB Ghost-type move that hits most of the Ubers metagame hard. Psyshock completes Lunala's STAB combination and allows it to better take on specially defensive Pokémon, such as Blissey and Ho-Oh. Focus Blast rounds out Lunala's coverage, hitting Arceus-Dark super effectively and allowing it to revenge kill weakened Extreme Killer Arceus thanks to its immunity to Extreme Speed. The final slot is reasonably customizable. Ice Beam is the most common option due to its ability to deal decent damage to Yveltal, one of the most common Lunala checks. It also hits Mega Salamence and Zygarde-C 4x super effectively. Moonblast, on the other hand, retains the same ability to take on Yveltal while also preventing Lunala from having to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast to break through Arceus-Dark. It's also Lunala's best option for Mega Sableye. However, it loses out on the ability to OHKO Mega Salamence and Zygarde-C.

Lunala

Lunala can run a Calm Mind set decently thanks to its good bulk, high Special Attack stat, and ability that gives it more opportunities to set up. At +1, Lunala becomes a powerful threat, able to achieve feats like potentially OHKOing offensive Yveltal and offensive Primal Groudon after Stealth Rock damage with Focus Blast and Moongeist Beam, respectively. Psychium Z allows Lunala to use Z-Hypnosis, which not only puts a foe to sleep but also increases Lunala'sm Speed stat by one stage. Calm Mind allows Lunala to slowly increase its overall power while also boosting its Special Defense stat, which makes it less prone to being revenge killed with special attacks. Moongeist Beam is Lunala's most reliable STAB option, as it hits most of the tier for good damage. Focus Blast is selected over Psyshock in the last slot in order to prevent Lunala from being completely walled by Dark-types such as Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, which could otherwise easily stop a Lunala sweep.

Lunala

Choice Specs is a relatively rare and often underprepared-for set. Lunala's high base 137 Special Attack stat, which is further boosted by Choice Specs, and its perfect coverage between its first three moves make it a powerful wallbreaker. Moongeist Beam is Lunala's primary STAB move and the move that will be selected the majority of the time because of its high Base Power and good offensive typing. Choice Specs-boosted Moongeist Beam is able to hit ridiculously hard, 2HKOing defensive Primal Kyogre and standard Arceus-Water after Stealth Rock damage most of the time. Psyshock is mostly for specially bulky Pokémon; it notably hits Ho-Oh harder than any other one of Lunala's moves barring Thunder. Focus Blast can be used to catch Dark-types like Arceus-Dark and Tyranitar on the switch. It also allows Lunala to act as an emergency check to Extreme Killer Arceus, although this Lunala set doesn't outspeed it and so loses to Arceus if it carries Shadow Claw. Ice Beam allows Lunala to make short work of Zygarde-C, Mega Salamence, and Rayquaza. It also hits Yveltal super effectively. Thunder is also an option if Lunala's team is particularly weak to Primal Kyogre or Ho-Oh.

Not sets

Life Orb may seem like a tempting option on the Calm Mind set for an extra boost in power. However, the recoil from Life Orb breaks Lunala's Shadow Shield, decreasing its longevity and making it more prone to revenge killing once it has set up. The lack of Z-Hypnosis also means that Lunala has no way of boosting its Speed, leaving it with a poor matchup against offensively-oriented teams, which will always have multiple Pokémon capable of outpacing an unboosted Lunala. Additionally, once Lunala's Special Attack has been boosted to a high enough level, Psyshock does not hit anything significant that Moongeist Beam and Focus Blast do not, making the extra coverage not necessary for it to sweep.

A defensive Lunala set utilizing Will-O-Wisp is capable of surprising certain physical attackers and taking on a significant portion of the metagame thanks to Lunala's above-average bulk when invested, its great defensive ability in Shadow Shield, and its access to useful utility moves like Roost to stay healthy and Roar to prevent itself from turning into setup fodder. However, such a set is almost completely outclassed by the likes of Lugia and support Arceus formes, which are able to play such a role better due to their better bulk and defensive typings. Being left with Moongeist Beam as its only way of dealing direct damage is also not ideal for Lunala, as it no longer has any way of punishing a number of its common switch-ins, notably Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, which are let in for free by such a set.

Good cores

Lunala
Lucario-Mega

This is a simple core that focuses on Mega Lucario's ability to wallbreak for a potential Lunala clean in the late-game. Lunala is capable of revenge killing a number of common Mega Lucario answers, namely Arceus-Ghost, Giratina-O, Zygarde-C, and Deoxys-A, which can all beat a +2 Mega Lucario either by naturally outpacing it or by having the bulk to tank a hit. In return, Mega Lucario is capable of breaking through many of the Dark-types that trouble Lunala and resist its dual STAB combination such as Arceus-Dark. It can use Pursuit trappers such as Alolan Muk and Tyranitar as setup fodder so as to punish them for trapping Lunala, and it is also able to prevent Yveltal from spamming Dark Pulse due to its pre-Mega Evolution ability Justified. Although this core has excellent offensive synergy, it has a notable weakness to Ho-Oh, so a check to it such as Arceus-Rock, Stone Edge Primal Groudon, or Zygarde is required.

Lunala
Smeargle

Without a Choice Scarf, Lunala tends to struggle a lot against faster teams, as its Speed tier of base 97, while good, still leaves it outpaced by a number of common offensive threats, such as Yveltal, Xerneas, Mega Salamence, Mega Gengar, and fast Arceus formes. Thus, Smeargle makes for a great Lunala partner for its ability to set up Sticky Web and slow down all grounded Pokémon on the opposing team. Lunala can utilize a Z-Move set with Calm Mind and Psychium Z or Ghostium Z that can take advantage of Sticky Web very well. With support from Smeargle, Lunala's Speed tier is a lot more useful, and can take advantage of a powerful Never-Ending Nightmare to blow past many of its traditional checks, such as Ho-Oh and Primal Kyogre, at +1 with a bit of chip damage.

Get Out There!

Thanks to the large number of sets it can run, its powerful coverage options, and its great bulk for an offensive Pokémon, Lunala is a versatile threat in the Ubers metagame. Be sure to try it out!

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