Lucario
[QC:3/3]
[GP:1/1]
[OVERVIEW]
* With good offensive stats, access to Swords Dance and Nasty Plot, and a wide movepool, Lucario is a menacing and unpredictable asset to offensive teams.
* It also has a good defensive typing with nifty resistances to Bug, Rock, Dark, and Steel, as well as an immunity to Poison that can aid in its setup.
*However, Lucario is quite frail, meaning that it has to rely on forced switches and its resistances for setup opportunities.
* It also has a middling Speed stat that, while somewhat circumvented by its access to priority, leaves it vulnerable to faster threats that can take a hit.
* Lastly, Lucario faces heavy competition from the tier's plethora of other Fighting types as it struggles to stand out from the likes of Keldeo, Infernape, Cobalion, and Mienshao.
* But if you can play it to its strengths – that is, its power and priority – then you'll have a monster that not much can stop.
[SET]
Name: Swords Dance
Move 1: Swords Dance
Move 2: Close Combat
Move 3: Extreme Speed
Move 4: Iron Tail / Bullet Punch / Ice Punch
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Nature: Jolly / Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Swords Dance is needed to boost Lucario's Attack and set up for a sweep.
* Close Combat is Lucario's strongest, most reliable STAB move.
* Extreme Speed, with 80 Base Power and +2 priority, is one of this set's biggest selling points since it nearly always goes first.
* Bullet Punch is a STAB priority move that allows it to get around Mega Aerodactyl since it resists Extreme Speed, as well as hit Fairy-types for super effective damage.
* Iron Tail is a very powerful but inaccurate secondary STAB that can break through slower Pokemon that can take a Close Combat or Bullet Punch, such as Mew, Amoonguss, Togekiss, and Unaware Clefable.
* Ice Punch destroys Gliscor, Nidoqueen, and Amoonguss.
* Crunch hits Ghost-types as well as Slowbro.
* Earthquake hits Nidoqueen, Tentacruel, Chandelure, and Doublade.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Attack and max Speed ensures that Lucario hits as fast and as hard as it can.
* Justified capitalizes on Lucario's resistance to Dark, allowing it to gain an Attack boost from moves such as Bisharp's Knock Off.
* A Jolly nature allows you to outspeed the likes of Chandelure, Jolly Feraligatr, and Heracross.
* An Adamant nature can be used if you're not worried about hitting the aforementioned threats, as it nets important OHKOes and 2HKOes; for example, Adamant Close Combat 2HKOes Unaware Quagsire after Stealth Rock.
* Life Orb provides a significant boost to all of Lucario's moves with relatively little drawbacks.
* If Lucario doesn't OHKO what's in front of it, it'll often get KOed in return, which means that Life Orb is the best overall option due to the recoil having little significant effect on Lucario's longevity.
Usage Tips
========
* Lucario should only be brought in after something on your team has been KOed as it is frail and needs all the HP it can get in order to properly sweep.
* Ideally, you should wait until its checks such as Hippowdon and Slowbro have been weakened or eliminated before setting up.
* However, you can use Lucario as an early-game wallbreaker to set the stage for a teammate as well.
* Set up on Pokemon that Lucario can threaten, such as Bisharp, Blissey, and Choice-locked Hydreigon.
* Setup isn't always necessary, however, as Lucario is pressured to get off as much damage as possible and is quite powerful even without a boost.
* If your opponent sends out a Pokemon that resists Fighting to stop Lucario, it is worth noting that resisted STAB Close Combat does more damage than a neutral Extreme Speed, so don't be afraid to use Close Combat when in doubt.
Team Options
========
* Lucario shines best on offensive teams that require a late-game win condition or an early-game wallbreaker.
* Additional Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Infernape appreciate Lucario's ability to apply heavy pressure on traditional checks such as Latias and Cresselia.
* Users of Volt Switch and U-turn such as Raikou, Tsareena, and Hydreigon can all bring in Lucario safely so that it's less likely to take a hit before setting up.
* Pursuit trappers such as Krookodile and Bisharp can eliminate bulky Ghost- and Psychic-types.
* Nasty Plot Celebi can threaten bulky Water-types that can take a hit from a boosted Lucario, such as Slowbro and Swampert, and also appreciates Lucario's ability to deal with the likes of Scizor and Bisharp and check Mega Aerodactyl.
* They also have decent defensive synergy with Celebi resisting Water, Ground, and Fighting, and Lucario resisting Bug and Dark.
* Spikes users such as Klefki are extremely helpful as they can wear down particularly bulky checks over the course of the game.
[SET]
Name: Nasty Plot
Move 1: Nasty Plot
Move 2: Aura Sphere / Focus Blast
Move 3: Flash Cannon
Move 4: Vacuum Wave / Dark Pulse
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves
========
* Nasty Plot boosts Lucario's Special Attack by two stages which makes it extremely deadly within a single turn.
* Aura Sphere is a drawback-free STAB move with decent power.
* Focus Blast is a very viable alternative, as after a Nasty Plot Boost, it can OHKO many bulky Pokemon that Aura Sphere cannot such as Blissey, Suicune, Hippowdon, Swampert, specially defensive Bronzong, and Mega Blastoise, and it can also 2HKO Tentacruel. However, it comes with the nasty drawback of extremely shaky accuracy, meaning that you can be punished severely if it doesn't connect.
* Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB move and allows Lucario to hit Fairy types.
* Vacuum Wave gives Lucario a form of priority, which means that it won't immediately fold to any faster attacker, such as Krookodile, Mega Aerodactyl, Keldeo, and Hydreigon.
* Dark pulse is an option to hit Ghost types and Slowbro.
Set Details
========
* Special Attack and Speed are fully invested in as Lucario doesn't need any other stat to do its job.
* Life Orb gives the most power possible with the fewest drawbacks.
* Inner Focus, while situational, is better than Steadfast, since it stops the occasional Fake Out user from getting free chip damage on Lucario. It also stops other Pokemon such as Mega Sharpedo, Choice Scarf Togekiss, and Hydreigon locked into Dark Pulse from being able to flinch Lucario down and stop its sweep.
Usage Tips
========
* This set is more of a wallbreaker than a flat-out sweeper.
* Special Lucario does best versus balanced and stall teams, although it still has an edge versus some offensive builds.
* Set up on something on something that can't touch it such as Blissey, Bisharp, and Amoonguss, provided something has already been put to sleep in the case of the latter.
* Fast threats like Mega Aerodactyl and Keldeo must be weakened considerably to be OHKOed by +2 Vacuum Wave.
* If carrying Dark Pulse surefire checks to the aforementioned Pokemon such as Hippowdon and Latias are highly recommended.
* Dark Pulse gives Lucario a much easier time versus defensive teams that rely on Ghost-types to check Fighting-types.
Team Options
========
* Nasty Plot Lucario appreciates much of the same support as its Swords Dance set but there are differences.
* Pursuit users can trap and eliminate a large number of Lucario's checks such as Jellicent, Doublade, Chandelure, and Slowbro.
* Spikes users can whittle checks down even further, putting them into KO range of a boosted attack.
* Volt Switch and U-turn users allow Lucario to come in for free, making its job much easier.
* As a wallbreaker, Nasty Plot Lucario's best teammates are Pokemon that appreciate weakened walls and alleviate offensive pressure, such as Mega Aerodactyl, Alakazam, and Choice Scarf Hydreigon.
* Bulky pivots such as Doublade, Amoonguss, Slowbro, and Clefable can hold their own versus offensive threats like Mega Aerodactyl, Infernape, and Latias, who would otherwise prevent Lucario from boosting or shrug off a hit and KO it.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
* High Jump Kick with an Adamant nature OHKOes 84 Defense Impish Hippowdon after Stealth Rock, while netting a guaranteed OHKO on Swampert. Unfortunately, it comes with the nasty drawback of losing 50% of Lucario's health if it misses, is used against a Ghost-type, or is used against a Pokemon using Protect.
Checks and Counters
========
**Offensive Pressure**: Though Lucario is still strong without a boost it is still outsped and eliminated by a plethora of faster threats before it can get an attack off. Cobalion gets special mention, since it can revenge kill the Swords Dance set effortlessly thanks to its high Defense and resistance to Extreme Speed and Bullet Punch.
**Ghost-types**: Bulky Ghost types such as Jellicent and Doublade, wall most Lucario variants with ease, but they must watch out for Dark-type coverage. Faster Ghost-types such as Gengar and Choice Scarf Chandelure are particularly good at this, although the former is OHKOed by boosted Bullet Punch after Stealth Rock.
**Bulky Pokemon That Resist Fighting**: Pokemon such as Slowbro, Jellicent, Mantine, Gliscor, and Amoonguss can check Lucario quite convincingly, although they can either be taken out by the appropriate coverage move or be easily worn down by boosted attacks.
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