Are you a fan of the Super Smash Bros. veteran? Have you wanted to use this badass jackal, but had no idea what to do with it? Well, look no further, I've got a fun little set for you down below.
Lucario has had an interesting run since its debut in Diamond and Pearl. Back then, Lucario had quickly cemented itself as one of the game's most deadly sweepers thanks to its typing, wide movepool, and high offenses. This allowed it to play a variety of roles, from a straight forward physical sweeper that had access to fun toys like Close Combat and the coveted Extreme Speed while also being able to play a dedicated special sweeper with tools like Aura Sphere and Vacuum wave, to even a specialized mixed sweeper that could run a number of moves. In Sun and Moon, things really haven't changed too much for the Aura Pokemon. However, there's a few things that's preventing Lucario from really being one of the game's premier sweepers. While back in the D/P/PT days, Lucario's offensive stats were brilliant, there was little one could do to counter it, but with the massive power creeps that kept coming with each new generation, it had a hard time keeping up given its average speed, meaning it's often outsped by bigger threats like Volcarona, Terrakion, among many others. While its typing providing nifty resistances to Stealth Rock, Toxic, Rock-types, Steel-types, Grass-types, Ice-types, Bug-types, Dragon-types, and Dark-types, it also brought it major, and easily exploitable weaknesses to common types like Ground-, Fire-, and Fighting-. While the resistances it has are useful, it's terrible 70/70/70 bulk made it hard to really take advantage of them.
While it's offenses are by no means bad, it can often fall short of many important KOs and while such a wide movepool is nice, it can often leave you wishing for more moveslots. You'll need your STABs like Close Combat, Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, Aura Sphere, Flash Cannon, and Iron Tail, but you'll also need some important coverage like Ice Punch, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Rock Slide, Dragon Pulse, or Blaze Kick. Moves like Swords Dance and Nasty Plot are tempting options as well, so more often than not, you'll find yourself stuck when trying to come up with a decent moveset given all the options you have, regardless of whether you're running a physical, special, or mixed sweeper. You'll need to be careful of Pokemon that check and wall Lucario. The physical set will often find itself at the mercy of physically defensive Pokemon like Toxapex, Venusaur, and Aegislash, while the special set will often find itself struggling with specially defensive Pokemon like Chansey, Toxapex, and Blissey.
Not all is bad for Lucario, its wide movepool makes it an unpredictable Pokemon, being able to hit many of its checks and counters super-effectively. Useful priority in moves like Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, and the coveted Extreme Speed makes Lucario a dangerous revenge killer, being able to pick off weakened Pokemon or giving it a last hurrah before falling. Mixed 110/115 offenses allow it to hit fairly hard, and while a base 90 Speed isn't good, it's still enough to outspeed certain threats like Tyranitar, opposing Lucario, and Porygon2. X&Y brought Lucario a beautiful blessing in the form of a Mega Evolution. With a big increase in Speed, Attack, and Special Attack along with a slight increase in Defense has managed to give Lucario a new breath of life in the competitive scene. Coupled with the stat boosts, a nifty ability in Adaptability allows Lucario to hit hard, breaking down opposing walls by virtue of its STABs. Lucario may not have been the offensive juggernaut it was back in Diamond and Pearl, but taking it lightly would be a bad idea.
Here's a few sets that could prove useful on your Lucario.
Physical Setup Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (-SpA, +Spe)
Ability: Justified (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash/Bullet Punch/Earthquake/Ice Punch
With this set, Lucario is able to take advantages of its decent 110 Attack and can use it to extreme levels thanks to Swords Dance. Close Combat is a powerful STAB move and after a Swords Dance, even resisted targets will take heavy amounts of damage. Extreme Speed is the strongest form of priority in the game, giving Lucario a powerful cleanup option, and allowing it to revenge kill the opposing Pokemon. Meteor Mash is another strong, albeit inaccurate STAB move that occasionally raises the Attack stat. You can use Bullet Punch over it if you'd prefer extra priority, but the lower base power often isn't worth it and it can come short of important KOs. Earthquake is another option that can nail opposing Poison-types, but outside of this, it doesn't have much use. Ice Punch is useful in hitting Ground- and Dragon-types, but often enough its STAB moves will do more than enough damage. Its Mega Stone is an obvious choice for the item, however if you're playing in a format where the Mega Stone is banned, a Life Orb is preferred thanks to the boost in power. The given nature and EVs allows it to be as fast as possible while also dealing as much damage as possible.
Special Setup Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Timid (-Atk, +Spe)
Ability: Inner Focus (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere/Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave/Dragon Pulse/Dark Pulse
Like the physical set, this one allows Lucario to take advantage of its high base 115 Special Attack and its wide special movepool. Nasty Plot allows Lucario to increase its Special Attack to dangerous levels, making it a dangerous threat to even Blissey. Aura Sphere is the preferred STAB due to its nice power and perfect accuracy, however Focus Blast can be used over it for the increased power, but its shaky accuracy is a problem. Flash Cannon is Lucario's only Steel-type special STAB and it's useful for hitting opposing Fairy-types super effectively. Vacuum Wave is a useful priority move that can allow Lucario to fulfill its role as a revenge killer. Dragon Pulse can be used over it if you're worried about opposing Dragon-types, but has little use otherwise. Dark Pulse can also be used over it to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types that would otherwise be able to wall Lucario, Cresselia being the most notable of these Pokemon. If you're playing in a format where Mega Stones are banned, the Life Orb is preferred thanks to power boost it grants Lucario. The EVs play a similar role to the physical set; you want to hit as hard as possible and as quickly as possible.
Dedicated Mixed Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Naive (-SpD, +Spe)
Ability: Inner Focus (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 200 Atk / 110 Spe / 200 SpA
Moves:
- Aura Sphere/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed/Bullet Punch/Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon/Meteor Mash
- Dark Pulse/Dragon Pulse/Ice Punch/Blaze Kick
Now, this set allows Lucario to take advantage of its wide movepool and nice mixed offenses. Aura Sphere is a wonderful move that has perfect accuracy and decent power, but Close Combat could be used over it if you're wanting a bit more power, or if you're wanting to have a more physically powerful Pokemon. Extreme Speed is the preferred priority move thanks to its greater base power, but Bullet Punch or Vacuum Wave could be used instead if you want a STAB priority move. Flash Cannon is a useful STAB move that is very useful against opposing Fairy-types, Meteor Mash is a viable option as well. The last move slot is generally used for coverage. Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Psychic all have their uses against various Pokemon. Earthquake, Blaze Kick, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch have similar uses, it's comes down to what you're preference is and what you're worried about facing. If you're nervous about some Poison-types, go for Psychic or Earthquake, you could also use Zen Headbutt. If Water- or Flying-types are a problem, go for Ice Punch or Thunder Punch. Blaze Kick is useful against Bug-and Grass-types, while Dragon Pulse is used against Dragon-types.
With all of these sets, a Pokemon that could clear away entry hazards are appreciated. While Lucario's immune to Toxic Spikes and is resistant towards Stealth Rock, standard Spikes and Sticky Web still present a problem. A cleric that could heal burns and paralysis are greatly appreciated as well, since either of these could cut Lucario's sweep early. Clearing away bulky walls for Lucario is also appreciated, giving it more room to sweep. Lastly, Baton Pass support is appreciated as well, passing stats and Substitutes can easily turn Lucario into an immediate threat without having to waist turns to set up. Team support is arguably the easiest way to turn Lucario into a threat, so remember that when building him. Pokemon like Forretress, Tentacruel, or Ferrothorn can set down their own entry hazards and in the case of the former two, they can clear them away as well. This'll give Lucario a nice cushion when switching in. Pokemon that can set up Light Screen, Reflect, or Safeguard are also greatly appreciated, since they give Lucario a defensive cushion and protection against status, Cresselia, Florges, and Umbreon are great partners for this. Lastly, Pokemon like Metagross, Gyarados, and Salamence can clear away bulky walls, giving Lucario room to sweep.
Defensive Pokemon: While Lucario's offenses are nice, they can often fall short of important KOs, and Pokemon like Cresselia, defensive variants of Metagross, and Florges can easily take advantage of this and either set up, or KO Lucario. Metagross is especially dangerous thanks to its movepool.
Faster Pokemon: Pokemon that can outspeed Lucario have a great chance of KOing it immediately, Garchomp, Volcarona, Terrakion, and Dugtrio are great examples of this. They can outspeed and easily KO Lucario with a STAB move.
Status: Burns, sleep, freeze, and paralysis can cut a Lucario sweep short and they will put it on a timer, meaning cleric support is almost necessary on any team using Lucario.
Lucario has had an interesting run since its debut in Diamond and Pearl. Back then, Lucario had quickly cemented itself as one of the game's most deadly sweepers thanks to its typing, wide movepool, and high offenses. This allowed it to play a variety of roles, from a straight forward physical sweeper that had access to fun toys like Close Combat and the coveted Extreme Speed while also being able to play a dedicated special sweeper with tools like Aura Sphere and Vacuum wave, to even a specialized mixed sweeper that could run a number of moves. In Sun and Moon, things really haven't changed too much for the Aura Pokemon. However, there's a few things that's preventing Lucario from really being one of the game's premier sweepers. While back in the D/P/PT days, Lucario's offensive stats were brilliant, there was little one could do to counter it, but with the massive power creeps that kept coming with each new generation, it had a hard time keeping up given its average speed, meaning it's often outsped by bigger threats like Volcarona, Terrakion, among many others. While its typing providing nifty resistances to Stealth Rock, Toxic, Rock-types, Steel-types, Grass-types, Ice-types, Bug-types, Dragon-types, and Dark-types, it also brought it major, and easily exploitable weaknesses to common types like Ground-, Fire-, and Fighting-. While the resistances it has are useful, it's terrible 70/70/70 bulk made it hard to really take advantage of them.
While it's offenses are by no means bad, it can often fall short of many important KOs and while such a wide movepool is nice, it can often leave you wishing for more moveslots. You'll need your STABs like Close Combat, Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, Aura Sphere, Flash Cannon, and Iron Tail, but you'll also need some important coverage like Ice Punch, Earthquake, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Rock Slide, Dragon Pulse, or Blaze Kick. Moves like Swords Dance and Nasty Plot are tempting options as well, so more often than not, you'll find yourself stuck when trying to come up with a decent moveset given all the options you have, regardless of whether you're running a physical, special, or mixed sweeper. You'll need to be careful of Pokemon that check and wall Lucario. The physical set will often find itself at the mercy of physically defensive Pokemon like Toxapex, Venusaur, and Aegislash, while the special set will often find itself struggling with specially defensive Pokemon like Chansey, Toxapex, and Blissey.
Not all is bad for Lucario, its wide movepool makes it an unpredictable Pokemon, being able to hit many of its checks and counters super-effectively. Useful priority in moves like Bullet Punch, Vacuum Wave, and the coveted Extreme Speed makes Lucario a dangerous revenge killer, being able to pick off weakened Pokemon or giving it a last hurrah before falling. Mixed 110/115 offenses allow it to hit fairly hard, and while a base 90 Speed isn't good, it's still enough to outspeed certain threats like Tyranitar, opposing Lucario, and Porygon2. X&Y brought Lucario a beautiful blessing in the form of a Mega Evolution. With a big increase in Speed, Attack, and Special Attack along with a slight increase in Defense has managed to give Lucario a new breath of life in the competitive scene. Coupled with the stat boosts, a nifty ability in Adaptability allows Lucario to hit hard, breaking down opposing walls by virtue of its STABs. Lucario may not have been the offensive juggernaut it was back in Diamond and Pearl, but taking it lightly would be a bad idea.
Here's a few sets that could prove useful on your Lucario.
Physical Setup Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (-SpA, +Spe)
Ability: Justified (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash/Bullet Punch/Earthquake/Ice Punch
With this set, Lucario is able to take advantages of its decent 110 Attack and can use it to extreme levels thanks to Swords Dance. Close Combat is a powerful STAB move and after a Swords Dance, even resisted targets will take heavy amounts of damage. Extreme Speed is the strongest form of priority in the game, giving Lucario a powerful cleanup option, and allowing it to revenge kill the opposing Pokemon. Meteor Mash is another strong, albeit inaccurate STAB move that occasionally raises the Attack stat. You can use Bullet Punch over it if you'd prefer extra priority, but the lower base power often isn't worth it and it can come short of important KOs. Earthquake is another option that can nail opposing Poison-types, but outside of this, it doesn't have much use. Ice Punch is useful in hitting Ground- and Dragon-types, but often enough its STAB moves will do more than enough damage. Its Mega Stone is an obvious choice for the item, however if you're playing in a format where the Mega Stone is banned, a Life Orb is preferred thanks to the boost in power. The given nature and EVs allows it to be as fast as possible while also dealing as much damage as possible.
Special Setup Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Timid (-Atk, +Spe)
Ability: Inner Focus (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere/Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave/Dragon Pulse/Dark Pulse
Like the physical set, this one allows Lucario to take advantage of its high base 115 Special Attack and its wide special movepool. Nasty Plot allows Lucario to increase its Special Attack to dangerous levels, making it a dangerous threat to even Blissey. Aura Sphere is the preferred STAB due to its nice power and perfect accuracy, however Focus Blast can be used over it for the increased power, but its shaky accuracy is a problem. Flash Cannon is Lucario's only Steel-type special STAB and it's useful for hitting opposing Fairy-types super effectively. Vacuum Wave is a useful priority move that can allow Lucario to fulfill its role as a revenge killer. Dragon Pulse can be used over it if you're worried about opposing Dragon-types, but has little use otherwise. Dark Pulse can also be used over it to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types that would otherwise be able to wall Lucario, Cresselia being the most notable of these Pokemon. If you're playing in a format where Mega Stones are banned, the Life Orb is preferred thanks to power boost it grants Lucario. The EVs play a similar role to the physical set; you want to hit as hard as possible and as quickly as possible.
Dedicated Mixed Sweeper:
Item: Lucarionite/Life Orb
Nature: Naive (-SpD, +Spe)
Ability: Inner Focus (Will be Adaptability upon Mega Evolving)
EVs: 200 Atk / 110 Spe / 200 SpA
Moves:
- Aura Sphere/Close Combat
- Extreme Speed/Bullet Punch/Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon/Meteor Mash
- Dark Pulse/Dragon Pulse/Ice Punch/Blaze Kick
Now, this set allows Lucario to take advantage of its wide movepool and nice mixed offenses. Aura Sphere is a wonderful move that has perfect accuracy and decent power, but Close Combat could be used over it if you're wanting a bit more power, or if you're wanting to have a more physically powerful Pokemon. Extreme Speed is the preferred priority move thanks to its greater base power, but Bullet Punch or Vacuum Wave could be used instead if you want a STAB priority move. Flash Cannon is a useful STAB move that is very useful against opposing Fairy-types, Meteor Mash is a viable option as well. The last move slot is generally used for coverage. Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Psychic all have their uses against various Pokemon. Earthquake, Blaze Kick, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch have similar uses, it's comes down to what you're preference is and what you're worried about facing. If you're nervous about some Poison-types, go for Psychic or Earthquake, you could also use Zen Headbutt. If Water- or Flying-types are a problem, go for Ice Punch or Thunder Punch. Blaze Kick is useful against Bug-and Grass-types, while Dragon Pulse is used against Dragon-types.
With all of these sets, a Pokemon that could clear away entry hazards are appreciated. While Lucario's immune to Toxic Spikes and is resistant towards Stealth Rock, standard Spikes and Sticky Web still present a problem. A cleric that could heal burns and paralysis are greatly appreciated as well, since either of these could cut Lucario's sweep early. Clearing away bulky walls for Lucario is also appreciated, giving it more room to sweep. Lastly, Baton Pass support is appreciated as well, passing stats and Substitutes can easily turn Lucario into an immediate threat without having to waist turns to set up. Team support is arguably the easiest way to turn Lucario into a threat, so remember that when building him. Pokemon like Forretress, Tentacruel, or Ferrothorn can set down their own entry hazards and in the case of the former two, they can clear them away as well. This'll give Lucario a nice cushion when switching in. Pokemon that can set up Light Screen, Reflect, or Safeguard are also greatly appreciated, since they give Lucario a defensive cushion and protection against status, Cresselia, Florges, and Umbreon are great partners for this. Lastly, Pokemon like Metagross, Gyarados, and Salamence can clear away bulky walls, giving Lucario room to sweep.
CHECKS AND COUNTERS
Defensive Pokemon: While Lucario's offenses are nice, they can often fall short of important KOs, and Pokemon like Cresselia, defensive variants of Metagross, and Florges can easily take advantage of this and either set up, or KO Lucario. Metagross is especially dangerous thanks to its movepool.
Faster Pokemon: Pokemon that can outspeed Lucario have a great chance of KOing it immediately, Garchomp, Volcarona, Terrakion, and Dugtrio are great examples of this. They can outspeed and easily KO Lucario with a STAB move.
Status: Burns, sleep, freeze, and paralysis can cut a Lucario sweep short and they will put it on a timer, meaning cleric support is almost necessary on any team using Lucario.
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