Mega Lucario

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[OVERVIEW]

Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful mixed attacker that is able to deal huge amounts of damage, especially with Close Combat. With its Fighting- and Steel-type STAB attacks, Mega Lucario can make quick work of the two most popular Mega Evolutions in the tier, Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also reaches a great Speed tier that lets it take advantage of its powerful attacks, beating the many base 110 Speed Pokemon as well as max Speed Thundurus. Mega Lucario's movepool is decent, lacking only an accurate, strong physical Steel-type move, which forces it to operate as a mixed attacker and holds it back against the specially defensive Fairy-types in the tier. Sadly, Mega Lucario's already low defenses seem even lower due to the necessity of running a Defense- or Special Defense-lowering nature. This makes Mega Lucario especially susceptible to priority attacks, even if they aren't super effective against it. Those low defenses also make Mega Lucario practically useless if it doesn't have the Speed advantage, as most super effective or strong neutral hits will knock it out.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute / Extreme Speed
move 4: Detect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Naive
evs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Close Combat is Mega Lucario's most reliable STAB attack and hits really hard with the Adaptability boost. Although Close Combat drops Mega Lucario's defenses, the damage output is easily worth it. Flash Cannon has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated and takes on Fairy-types that can stomach a Close Combat. Stone Edge hits Mega Charizard Y as well as Thundurus and Talonflame, all three of which resist Mega Lucario's Steel- and Fighting-type attacks. If carrying Stone Edge, Mega Lucario has the ability to outspeed and OHKO the three most common Mega Pokemon in the tier: Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, and Mega Charizard Y. Substitute can be used instead of Stone Edge to avoid status effects and Intimidate, as both are crippling to Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Once behind a Substitute, Mega Lucario also gains the ability to survive any one hit and can take advantage of the pressure applied by this buffer. Extreme Speed is also a viable alternative, allowing Mega Lucario to get around Sucker Punch or knock out a weakened priority user such as Talonflame or Thundurus. Detect allows Mega Lucario to stall out field conditions or protect itself while its partner deals with a threat. In this case, Detect is used over Protect to avoid Imprison + Protect users trying to cripple Lucario.

Set Details
========

Maximum Speed investment along with a Naive nature is used to let Mega Lucario outrun Mega Diancie and Thundurus and at least tie with opposing Mega Lucario. 244 Attack EVs are used to guarantee that Mega Lucario can OHKO standard Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, even after an Intimidate drop. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack to power up Flash Cannon. A Naive nature is chosen over a Hasty one to help Mega Lucario against common priority attacks, the majority of which are physical. Inner Focus is used to allow Mega Lucario the option to defer Mega Evolution against a predicted Fake Out and subsequently do lots of damage to the Fake Out user. A more specially based spread of 132 Atk / 124 SpA / 252 Spe can be used if not carrying Stone Edge, as this is the minimum Attack investment needed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after an Intimidate drop. The boosted Special Attack investment also grants Mega Lucario a better chance to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Flash Cannon.

Usage Tips
========

Mega Lucario works fairly well during any stage of the game, hitting threats hard until it eventually falls. Against a predicted Fake Out, Mega Evolution should be postponed in favor of getting to move that turn, as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat and will at least Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan should it choose to not use Fake Out. Otherwise, Mega Lucario commonly needs to use Detect on its first turn out in order to get the Speed boost from Mega Evolving, as it will otherwise be outsped by a large number of common Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Thundurus works quite well as an offensive partner for Mega Lucario, removing threatening Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Bulky Thundurus sets can also prevent status and Trick Room, which could otherwise reduce Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Togekiss or Amoonguss can operate as a redirector to allow Mega Lucario to set up a Substitute should it be running the move. Togekiss also beats the Fighting-types that Mega Lucario fears as well as opposing Amoonguss, which is one of the best answers to non-Substitute Mega Lucario. Dark-types such as Darkrai, Hydreigon, and Hoopa-U can take on Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent, many of which wall Mega Lucario. Since Landorus-T threatens Mega Lucario so much, teammates that beat it such as Gyarados and Suicune come in handy. Wide Guard support from teammates such as Aegislash is appreciated, protecting Mega Lucario from Earthquakes and Heat Waves that would otherwise take it out. Quick Guard support from Keldeo or Scrafty can also come in handy, as Mega Lucario is so frail that many priority attacks will knock it out in one hit. Quick Guard also protects from Thundurus's priority Thunder Wave. Talonflame works quite well with Mega Lucario, scaring out the Fighting-types that it hates and also removing many priority attackers and fast Pokemon. Talonflame also handles Amoonguss and Aegislash, which would otherwise wall Mega Lucario.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Iron Tail can be used over Flash Cannon in order to OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, but its shaky accuracy and the fact that it's weakened by Intimidate makes it a risky pick. Crunch or Dark Pulse can be used so that Ghost- and Psychic-types cannot wall Mega Lucario, but neither hits very hard without the Adaptability boost applied to many of Mega Lucario's other moves. Bullet Punch grants Mega Lucario a different priority option from Extreme Speed and gets the Adaptability boost. However, the main targets of Bullet Punch are typically better covered by the moves found in the main set. Ice Punch can catch Landorus-T on the switch in and hit Latios harder than any of Mega Lucario's other options. Feint allows Mega Lucario to break Protect, Quick Guard, or Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom and outprioritize priority users such as Talonflame.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fighting-Type Pokemon**: Keldeo and Conkeldurr, among others, can all take any one hit from Mega Lucario and OHKO it in return with their own STAB Fighting-type moves. Conkeldurr even has Mach Punch to potentially OHKO Mega Lucario before it has a change to attack.

**Fire-Type Pokemon**: Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona take very little damage from Mega Lucario's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively in return, but they must be wary of Stone Edge. Volcarona even has a chance to burn Mega Lucario that target it with Close Combat due to Flame Body.

**Fairy-Type Pokemon**: Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir have enough special bulk to survive one Flash Cannon and OHKO Mega Lucario in return with Hyper Voice, even if Mega Lucario is behind a Substitute. Azumarill also takes any of Mega Lucario's attacks handily, and may even set up a Belly Drum, followed by an easy OHKO Mega Lucario with a +6 Aqua Jet.

**Flying-Type Pokemon**: Most viable Flying-types resist Mega Lucario's STAB moves, though a Stone Edge will hurt. Talonflame is especially troublesome for Mega Lucario to face, as its Gale Wings ability allows it to move before Mega Lucario can attack, even if it carries Stone Edge.

**Bulky Poison-, Psychic-, and Ghost-Type Pokemon**: Many bulky Pokemon that aren't hit super effectively by Mega Lucario's moves, such as Amoonguss, Cresselia, and Aegislash, can easily take anything Mega Lucario throws at them and retaliate with status effects, Speed control, or a decently strong attack.

**Intimidate and Burns**: As Mega Lucario carries primarily physical attacks, Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Landorus-T cripple it. Burns from Will-O-Wisp users such as Gengar and Rotom-W have a similar but more permanent and damaging effect. Although Mega Lucario still hits decently hard at -1 Attack, it is nowhere near as threatening.

**Faster Pokemon**: As a frail Pokemon, Mega Lucario is susceptible to faster opponents such as Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Blaziken with Speed boosts, all of which outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Lucario is also threatened by priority users such as Talonflame and Conkeldurr.

**Paralysis, Tailwind, and Trick Room**: Any form of Speed control, be it Thunder Wave from Thundurus or Gyarados, Tailwind from Talonflame or Suicune, or Trick Room from Jellicent or Cresselia, takes away the Speed advantage that, due to its frailty, Mega Lucario absolutely needs in order to function.
 
Last edited:
turns out a bit means like 2 weeks lmao


  • (Overview) Remove the part about 'mons that EV for 110s under TW because that's usually just Aegislash which you get dunked by anyways
  • (Moves) Lucario's CC is just powerful enough to KO Naive MDiancie with those EVs anyways so saying Flash Cannon is for Diancie is a bit misleading (ish). I'd give other examples of Fairies, also mention Flash Cannon gets around Intimidate
  • (Moves) Sub dodges intimidate too which is like the main reason to use it tbh
  • (Team Options) Hoopa under Dark-types for sure
  • (Team Options) I would really remove this because a Fake Out team options section w/o Kang seems criminal. like you're resorting to raichu for your most viable option and at that point I'd rather have it cut lmao
  • (Checks and Counters) Amoong needs to be here, avoids the 2hko from Flash Cannon blah blah blah

good stuff, 1/3 when done
 
i-it's not like I want you to implement this or anything,,,
looks p solid tbh
kinda went deep on some of the phrasing

[OVERVIEW]
  • comment on its coverage: what it lets you hit, what it gets walled by, or talk about that in broad terms (ie "Lucario's coverage is invaluable for hitting x,y,z type of threats but tends to be lacking when it comes to x,y,z")
like, the typing advantage checks&counters section is just so long that SOMETHING in it has to be mentioned / prequel'd here in some way

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
  • "...Mega Lucario has the ability to ..." idk if this is exactly the right place to put this, it sounds a little awkward, maybe you could overview it and say "if you run stone edge you kill 3/3 top megas" isntead of putting here where there is wording confusion on is it stone edge that lets me kill kang? Or clarify wording to "now you get to KO the third of the top 3 megas" BASICALLY I want this to be clear that Stone Edge is specific to Char Y I'm sure there's a very easy wording fix that you can do here to the wording
  • "Substitute can..." Something about sub is that it both punishes protects AND lets you have a blanket-move for when you're faster: at worst you lose an insignificant 25% at best they try to switchin on your move or protect and you get a sub

Usage Tips
========
  • "as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan." is this really a roll? iirc it was a guaranteed KO but I'm not sure anymore so yeah
  • maybe elaborate this section somehow idk how maybe talking about positioning / protecting field conditions / avoiding x, y, z checks to mega luke / cookie cutter "this is how you play doubles" but like more specific to luke I guess

Team Options
========
  • "...Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent include Jirachi.."

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
  • "Iron Tail can be used ..."mention how it lets you also run a 252 atk without naive spread, which gives you a little damage on cc as well?
  • Ice Punch wouldn't just be for hitting landot on the switch or latios: it also hits non-scarf (le gasp!) landot as well as landorus, while also letting you not have to slow down if you have offensive initiative with, say, tailwind, and someone brings in landot
  • maybe don't undersell vacuum/bullet punch so much. can't really think of examples atm but like priority is always good as fuck in doubles so these two moves have decent reasons to run them.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: "...muh jirachi ,,, can take anything Mega Lucario wants to throw.."

**Speed Control**: are these examples neccessary? feels like a long list + not really relevant to someone who's thinking "o I need to worry about speed control"? idk, just feels very long
 
One of my favourite mons, 2/3 lgi! Also good job btw! "exclamations make me excited!" :B

Moves
  • I would mention avoiding sleep for Substitute, as Amoonguss is Sub bait.
  • When talking about Extreme Speed mention that you're going before Talonflame and Thundurus's priority moves.
  • I really honestly think Extreme Speed should be slashed before Sub, Mega Luke is way too frail to find Substitute opportunites the vast majority of the time, and Espeed for Talon and Thundurus is soooooo useful, as well as just picking off weakened foes in general.
Set Details
  • I also really believe the main spread should be the currently alternate one, other than hitting a useful benchmark, Close Combat is defiitely the main attack you are going to be using, and in particular this helps with the roll on Keldeo.
Usage Tips
  • Mention in your point about Fake Out that it's worth noting that if Lucario and Kangaskhan both mega evolve the same turn, Luke will definitely go first.
Team Options
  • Mention that Thundurus can also help Mega Lucario against Amoonguss and Trick Room through Taunt, as well as dealing with Suicune.
  • Mention that Togekiss can handle with Amoonguss and can provide speed control.
  • Mention that Swampert also helps deal with Landorus-T and Thundurus.
  • Mention that Quick Guard also protects Luke from priority T-wave.
  • Mention that Talonflame helps deal with Amoonguss and Aegislash as well for Luke.
  • Mention Fire-types, with examples, to deal with Amoonguss and Aegislash.
Other Options
  • Remove mention Vacuum Wave tbh, I really can't think of any reason why you would ever run it, even Bullet Punch is extremely niche.
  • Mention that Feint is far weaker than Extreme Speed.
Checks and Counters
  • Close Combat is a roll on Keldeo, and always OHKOes Infernape (unless you're on about sash which is a terrible set) so I wouldn't consider them taking a hit :P.
  • Remove Heat Wave from the burns section, since Mega Luke just dies to it before it gets the chance to be burned.
  • Mention at the end of the last point just briefly again how it needs the speed advantage due to its frailty.
 
Last edited:
checkmate

OV
  • Make sure to note that its high attacking stats and Adaptability also make it a fine mixed attacker. Also mention that CC is ridiculously powerful.
  • "Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful threat to common pokemon, such as Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie." Adapatability coupled with blablabla makes Mega Lucario a goddamn nuclear bomb to anything in the meta, not just to Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. I assume you wanted to mention the two along with a point of its offensive typing, in which case make another sentence for it or whatever.
  • "beating the many base 100-110 Pokemon as well as max speed Thundurus" I'd change the wording here to say like "outruns evens base 110s"
  • "especially in STAB moves that can be used to take advantage of Adaptability" isn't really essential to the sentence it was taken from and doesn't really tell anything of value so axe that. Also in the same sentence mention that the lack of an accurate physical steel move forces it to run mixed coverage
Moves
  • "Mega Lucario won't be taking attacks well regardless, so the defense drops that come with Close Combat don't hurt it too badly." - fluff. If anything, just mention CC has drops
  • "Flash Cannon acts as a secondary STAB Attack, primarily for Fairy-types such as Mega Gardevoir or targets that resist Close Combat. It also has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated." - The second sentence I quoted is the real primary reason bro, or at least the bigger reason
  • Say that Sub also takes advantage of the pressure it applies
  • You don't have to say Detect is like Protect as that's obvious.
SD
  • Remove the bit about Justified. You don't and shouldn't have to dedicate a sentence to say something is bad.
TO
  • Remove Pert as an example for Wide Guard. Having only Aegi there is fine.
  • Mentioning Toge but not Amoong is such a crime lol.
  • Add things that can beat Lando-T bc Lando-T a (BAN ME PLEASE)
OO
  • "Feint allows Mega Lucario to outprioritize Sucker Punch or Talonflame's Brave Bird, also breaking Protect or Quick/Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom." - make the breaking Tects the bigger reason on this statement.
C&C
  • TA: "Should Mega Lucario carry Iron Tail, however, they can no longer check it" - this takes into account something in OO, which is a nono.
  • TA: Change the statement of Flying-types to "most viable Flying-types"
  • I&B: Scald isn't relevant
address the above and 3/3

s1WqUjN.gif
 
1/2 :)

add remove (comments)

[OVERVIEW]

Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful mixed attacker that is able to deal huge amounts of damage, especially with Close Combat. With its Fighting- and Steel-type STAB attacks, Mega Lucario can make quick work of the two most popular Mega Evolutions in the tier, Pokemon in Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also reaches a great Speed tier that lets it to take advantage of its powerful attacks, beating the many base 110 Speed Pokemon crowded 110s as well as max speed Thundurus. Mega Lucario's movepool is decent, lacking only an accurate, strong physical Steel-type move, which forces it to operate as a mixed attacker and holds it back against the specially defensive Fairy-types in the tier. Sadly, Mega Lucario's already low defenses seem even lower due to the necessity of running a Defense- or Special Defense-lowering either a -Def or -SpD nature. This makes Mega Lucario especially susceptible to priority attacks, even if they aren't super effective against it. Those low defenses also make Mega Lucario practically useless if it doesn't have the Speed advantage, as most super effective hits as well as most or strong neutral hits will knock it out.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute / Extreme Speed
move 4: Detect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Naive
evs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Close Combat is Mega Lucario's most reliable STAB attack, (remove comma) and hits really hard with the Adaptability boost. Although Close Combat drops Mega Lucario's defenses, the damage output is easily worth it. Flash Cannon has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated, (remove comma) and takes on Fairy-types that could stomach a Close Combat. Stone Edge hits Mega Charizard Y as well as Thundurus and Talonflame, all three of which resist Mega Lucario's Steel- and Fighting-type attacks. If carrying Stone Edge, Mega Lucario has the ability to outspeed and OHKO the three most common Mega Pokemon in the tier: Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, and Mega Charizard Y. Substitute can be used instead of Stone Edge to avoid status effects and Intimidate, as both are crippling to its Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Once behind a Substitute, Mega Lucario also gains the ability to live survive any one hit and takes can take advantage of the pressure applied by obtaining this buffer. Extreme Speed is also a viable alternative, allowing Mega Lucario to get around Sucker Punch or knock out a weakened priority user such as Talonflame or Thundurus. Detect allows Mega Lucario to stall out field conditions or protect itself while its partner deals with a threat. In this case, Detect is used over Protect to avoid Imprison + Protect users trying to cripple Lucario. it.

Set Details
========

Maximum Speed investment along with a Naive nature is used to let Mega Lucario outrun Mega Diancie and Thundurus, (remove comma) and at least tie with opposing Mega Lucario. 244 Attack EVs are used to guarantee that Mega Lucario can OHKO either standard Mega Charizard Y or and Mega Kangaskhan, (don't see the reasoning behind using either/or here) even after an Intimidate drop. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack to power up Flash Cannon. A Naive nature is chosen over a Hasty one to help Mega Lucario against common priority attacks, the majority of which are physical. Inner Focus is used to allow Mega Lucario the option to defer Mega Evolution stay non-Mega against a predicted Fake Out and subsequently do lots of damage to the Fake Out user. A more specially based spread using of 132 Atk / 124 SpA / 252 Spe can be used if not carrying Stone Edge, as this is the minimum Attack investment needed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after an Intimidate drop. The boosted Special Attack investment also grants Mega Lucario a better chance to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Flash Cannon.

Usage Tips
========

Mega Lucario works fairly well during any stage of the game, hitting threats hard until it eventually falls. Against a predicted Fake Out, Mega Evolution should be postponed in favor of getting to move that turn, as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat, (remove comma) and will at least Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan should it Mega Kangaskhan choose to not use Fake Out. Otherwise, Mega Lucario commonly needs to use Detect Protect its first turn out in order to reach its full Speed attained from Mega Evolution, as it will otherwise be outsped by anything between 306 and 355 speed, which includes a large number of common Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Thundurus works quite well as an offensive partner for Mega Lucario, removing threatening Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Bulky Thundurus sets can also prevent status or and Trick Room, which that could otherwise reduce Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Togekiss or Amoonguss can operate as a redirector to allow Mega Lucario to set up a Substitute, (remove comma) should it be running the move. Togekiss also beats the Fighting-types that Mega Lucario fears, (remove comma) as well as opposing Amoonguss, which is one of the best answers to non-Substitute Mega Lucario. Dark-types such as Darkrai, Hydreigon, and Hoopa-U can take on Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent, many of which wall Mega Lucario. Since Landorus-T threatens Mega Lucario so much, teammates that beat it such as Gyarados and Suicune come in handy. Wide Guard support is appreciated from teammates such as Aegislash, protecting Mega Lucario from Earthquakes and Heat Waves that would otherwise take it out. Quick Guard support from Keldeo or Scrafty can also come in handy, as Mega Lucario is so frail that many priority attacks will knock it out. Quick Guard also protects from priority Thunder Wave coming from Thundurus. Talonflame works quite well with Mega Lucario, scaring out the Fighting-types that it hates and also removing many priority attackers and or otherwise fast Pokemon. It Talonflame also handles Amoonguss and Aegislash, which would otherwise wall Mega Lucario.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Iron Tail can be used over Flash Cannon in order to OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, but its shaky accuracy and weakness vulnerability to Intimidate makes it a risky pick. Crunch or Dark Pulse can be used so that the Ghost- and Psychic-types cannot wall Mega Lucario, but neither one will hits very hard without the Adaptability boost applied to Mega Lucario gets from many of its Mega Lucario's other moves. Bullet Punch grants Mega Lucario a different priority option from Extreme Speed, (remove comma) and gets the Adaptability boost. However, the main targets of Bullet Punch are typically better covered by the moves found in the main set. Ice Punch can catch Landorus-T on the switch in, (two words, remove comma) as well as hitting and hit Latios harder than any of Mega Lucario's other options. Feint allows Mega Lucario to break Protect, Quick Guard, or Quick/Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom, also outspeeding and outprioritize priority users such as Talonflame.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Conkeldurr can all take any one hit from Mega Lucario and OHKO it in return. Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Victini take very little damage from Mega Lucario's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively in return, but they must be wary of Stone Edge. Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir have enough special bulk to survive one Flash Cannon and OHKO Mega Lucario in return with Hyper Voice, even if Mega Lucario is behind a Substitute. Ground-types such as both Landorus formes and Swampert either outspeed and KO Mega Lucario, (remove comma) or avoid the OHKO from it themselves and hit it back with an Earth Power. Most viable Flying-types resist Mega Lucario's STAB moves, though a Stone Edge will hurt. Generally bulky Pokemon that aren't hit super effectively by Mega Lucario's moves, (comma) such as Amoonguss, Cresselia, and Aegislash, (comma) can easily take anything Mega Lucario wants to throws at them with ease and retaliate with status effects, speed control, or a decently strong attack.

**Intimidate and Burns**: As Mega Lucario carries primarily physical attacks, Intimidate users such as Gyarados or and Landorus-T will cripple it. Burns from Will-O-Wisp users such as Gengar and Rotom-W have a similar, (remove comma) but more permanent and damaging effect. Although Mega Lucario it still hits decently hard at -1 Attack, Mega Lucario it is nowhere near as threatening.

**Speed**: As a quite frail Pokemon, Mega Lucario is susceptible to faster opponents such as Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Speed Boosted Blaziken with Speed boosts, all of which outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Lucario is also threatened by priority users such as Talonflame and Conkeldurr.

**Speed Control**: Any form of speed control, be it Thunder Wave from Thundurus or Gyarados, Icy Wind from Jirachi or Gengar, Trick Room from Jellicent or Cresselia, or Tailwind from Talonflame or Suicune, takes away the Speed advantage that Mega Lucario absolutely needs in order to function well. The speed advantage is especially necessary for Mega Lucario due to its frailty.
 
[OVERVIEW]

Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful mixed attacker that is able to deal huge amounts of damage, especially with Close Combat. With its Fighting- and Steel-type STAB attacks, Mega Lucario can make quick work of the two most popular Mega Evolutions in the tier, Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also reaches a great Speed tier that lets it take advantage of its powerful attacks, beating the many base 110 Speed Pokemon as well as max Speed Thundurus. Mega Lucario's movepool is decent, lacking only an accurate, strong physical Steel-type move, which forces it to operate as a mixed attacker and holds it back against the specially defensive Fairy-types in the tier. Sadly, Mega Lucario's already low defenses seem even lower due to the necessity of running a Defense- or Special Defense-lowering nature. This makes Mega Lucario especially susceptible to priority attacks, even if they aren't super effective against it. Those low defenses also make Mega Lucario practically useless if it doesn't have the Speed advantage, as most super effective or strong neutral hits will knock it out.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute / Extreme Speed
move 4: Detect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Naive
evs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Close Combat is Mega Lucario's most reliable STAB attack and hits really hard with the Adaptability boost. Although Close Combat drops Mega Lucario's defenses, the damage output is easily worth it. Flash Cannon has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated and takes on Fairy-types that could can stomach a Close Combat. Stone Edge hits Mega Charizard Y as well as Thundurus and Talonflame, all three of which resist Mega Lucario's Steel- and Fighting-type attacks. If carrying Stone Edge, Mega Lucario has the ability to outspeed and OHKO the three most common Mega Pokemon in the tier: Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, and Mega Charizard Y. Substitute can be used instead of Stone Edge to avoid status effects and Intimidate, as both are crippling to Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Once behind a Substitute, Mega Lucario also gains the ability to survive any one hit and can take advantage of the pressure applied by this buffer. Extreme Speed is also a viable alternative, allowing Mega Lucario to get around Sucker Punch or knock out a weakened priority user such as Talonflame or Thundurus. Detect allows Mega Lucario to stall out field conditions or protect itself while its partner deals with a threat. In this case, Detect is used over Protect to avoid Imprison + Protect users trying to cripple Lucario.

Set Details
========

Maximum Speed investment along with a Naive nature is used to let Mega Lucario outrun Mega Diancie and Thundurus and at least tie with opposing Mega Lucario. 244 Attack EVs are used to guarantee that Mega Lucario can OHKO standard Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, even after an Intimidate drop. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack to power up Flash Cannon. A Naive nature is chosen over a Hasty one to help Mega Lucario against common priority attacks, the majority of which are physical. Inner Focus is used to allow Mega Lucario the option to defer Mega Evolution against a predicted Fake Out and subsequently do lots of damage to the Fake Out user. A more specially based spread of 132 Atk / 124 SpA / 252 Spe can be used if not carrying Stone Edge, as this is the minimum Attack investment needed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after an Intimidate drop. The boosted Special Attack investment also grants Mega Lucario a better chance to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Flash Cannon.

Usage Tips
========

Mega Lucario works fairly well during any stage of the game, hitting threats hard until it eventually falls. Against a predicted Fake Out, Mega Evolution should be postponed in favor of getting to move that turn, as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat and will at least Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan should it choose to not use Fake Out. Otherwise, Mega Lucario commonly needs to use Detect on its first turn out in order to reach its full get the Speed boost from Mega Evolution Evolving, as it will otherwise be outsped by a large number of common Pokemon.

Team Options
========

Thundurus works quite well as an offensive partner for Mega Lucario, removing threatening Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Bulky Thundurus sets can also prevent status and Trick Room, which could otherwise reduce Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Togekiss or Amoonguss can operate as a redirector to allow Mega Lucario to set up a Substitute should it be running the move. Togekiss also beats the Fighting-types that Mega Lucario fears as well as opposing Amoonguss, which is one of the best answers to non-Substitute Mega Lucario. Dark-types such as Darkrai, Hydreigon, and Hoopa-U can take on Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent, many of which wall Mega Lucario. Since Landorus-T threatens Mega Lucario so much, teammates that beat it such as Gyarados and Suicune come in handy. Wide Guard support is appreciated from teammates such as Aegislash is appreciated, protecting Mega Lucario from Earthquakes and Heat Waves that would otherwise take it out. Quick Guard support from Keldeo or Scrafty can also come in handy, as Mega Lucario is so frail that many priority attacks will knock it out in one hit. Quick Guard also protects from Thundurus's priority Thunder Wave from Thundurus. Talonflame works quite well with Mega Lucario, scaring out the Fighting-types that it hates and also removing many priority attackers and fast Pokemon. Talonflame also handles Amoonguss and Aegislash, which would otherwise wall Mega Lucario.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Iron Tail can be used over Flash Cannon in order to OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, but its shaky accuracy and vulnerability to the fact that it's weakened by Intimidate makes it a risky pick. Crunch or Dark Pulse can be used so that Ghost- and Psychic-types cannot wall Mega Lucario, but neither hits very hard without the Adaptability boost applied to many of Mega Lucario's other moves. Bullet Punch grants Mega Lucario a different priority option from Extreme Speed and gets the Adaptability boost. However, the main targets of Bullet Punch are typically better covered by the moves found in the main set. Ice Punch can catch Landorus-T on the switch in and hit Latios harder than any of Mega Lucario's other options. Feint allows Mega Lucario to break Protect, Quick Guard, or Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom and outprioritize priority users such as Talonflame.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Typing Advantage**: Fighting-types such as Keldeo and Conkeldurr can all take any one hit from Mega Lucario and OHKO it in return. Fire-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Victini take very little damage from Mega Lucario's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively in return, but they must be wary of Stone Edge. Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir have enough special bulk to survive one Flash Cannon and OHKO Mega Lucario in return with Hyper Voice, even if Mega Lucario is behind a Substitute. Ground-types such as both Landorus formes and Swampert either outspeed and KO Mega Lucario or avoid the OHKO from it and hit it back with an Earth Power. Most viable Flying-types resist Mega Lucario's STAB moves, though a Stone Edge will hurt. Generally bulky Pokemon that aren't hit super effectively by Mega Lucario's moves, such as Amoonguss, Cresselia, and Aegislash, can easily take anything Mega Lucario throws at them and retaliate with status effects, Speed control, or a decently strong attack.

**Intimidate and Burns**: As Mega Lucario carries primarily physical attacks, Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Landorus-T cripple it. Burns from Will-O-Wisp users such as Gengar and Rotom-W have a similar but more permanent and damaging effect. Although Mega Lucario still hits decently hard at -1 Attack, it is nowhere near as threatening.

**Faster Pokemon**: As a quite frail Pokemon, Mega Lucario is susceptible to faster opponents such as Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Blaziken with Speed boosts, all of which outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Lucario is also threatened by priority users such as Talonflame and Conkeldurr.

**Paralysis, Tailwind, and Trick Room**: Any form of Speed control, be it Thunder Wave from Thundurus or Gyarados, Tailwind from Talonflame or Suicune, or Trick Room from Jellicent or Cresselia, takes away the Speed advantage that, due to its frailty, Mega Lucario absolutely needs in order to function.

GP 2/2

:^)
 
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