Lures are pokemon that are specifically designed to draw in their usual checks and counters, and then cripple or KO them in order to benefit another sweeper on your team. While lures are not particularly common on the ladder, due to the fact you can face an opponent multiple times in a short period of time, they are very common in tournament matches. Oftentimes in tournaments you only face an opponent once. So the effectiveness of the lure is not compromised in reaching your end goal (i.e. one win, vs multiple, consistent wins on the ladder). This isn't to say that lures aren't effective on the ladder, as the lures you should be using should still be consistent enough to win multiple games (more on this latter).
What discourages most people from using lures is how they are the most difficult sets to play with in pokemon. Using a lure obligates you to play a certain way during a match. In addition, it is hard to judge when to break from that playstyle or when to strike against the pokemon you are luring in. Lures are also difficult sets to design. First, you have to make sure the lure will play similar enough to draw your target pokemon. Second, you have to make sure the lure will play consistently enough that if the target Pokemon is not on your opponent's team, your lure will still be able to pull its own weight. Here you can find some effective lures in OU, effective partners to those lures, and an ideas to help you design your own lure in the future.
While lures can be hard to use, they are some of the most fun sets to use if you can pull them effectively. So let's get started!
What makes a bad lure?
A bad lure is one that is either overly specialized and / or lessens the amount of targets it can hit effectively in exchange for hitting a single target effectively. If you specialize your lure too much, it becomes a non threat to a larger amount of pokemon and only to the pokemon you are targeting. It will only be effective if the pokemon you are targeting is in the match, which is less likely to happen when you consider you might be going into a single battle for a tournament. Here is an example of a bad lure:
Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
Gyarados with Fire Blast sounds pretty swell, since it now has the ability to 2HKO Skarmory and Ferrothorn, two of its biggest counters. On closer inspection, however, you can see that Fire Blast Gyarados has severe problems. First, just about any Water-type in OU can easily check or counter Gyarados without a more reliable STAB in Bounce or a more consistent Earthquke. The same situation occurs with grass-types that are not overtly weak to Fire Blast (ex. Trevnant, Celebi) or Dragons not weak to Stone Edge (Latios, Latias, Hydreigon). Second, you can achieve a 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Bounce with some prior damage and Skarmory with Waterfall with some prior damage at +1.
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Gyarados Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 153-183 (45.8 - 54.79%) -- 98.05% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Gyarados Bounce vs. 252 HP / 48+ Def Ferrothorn: 200-238 (56.81 - 67.61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*needs Spikes for Ferrothorn accounting for Lefties on two turns attack but you get the point
The only way to OHKO either with Fire Blast with SR is to have max special attack with a positive nature. But at that point, you compromised the effectiveness of your physical moves to sweep with DD way too much. Overall your "power output" for Fire Blast of your physical moves will be too small.
Here, you sacrificed too much overall effectiveness for the sake of hitting two targets while specialized. In addition, your "lure" could have worn down the same counters just as well without a luring move in Fire Blast. You also lost some bulk in the process by choosing to go with a nature that decreases sp. def in order to preserve Fire Blast's power. To sum up, you just have a less effective Pokemon.
Lures in OU:
Essentially, there are two types of lures in OU. The first type are those that carry unexpected moves to cripple or KO a typical counter. The second are those that bluff a choice item, and then KO an opposing pokemon when it thinks it is safe because the bluffer is "choice locked."
Physical Dragons with Draco Meteor / Fire Blast
Mega Garchomp (M) @ Garchompite
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 100 Atk / 156 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Physical Dragon-types with Draco Meteor are a classic lure. Unlike most lures, the force behind their "luring move", Draco Meteor, still packs quite a punch even if you mispredict against your target staying in. In other words they keep good "power output." One of the new and effective entries into this category is Mega-Garchomp. Draco Meteor smashes through bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon that otherwise check Garchomp. Same goes for Fire Blast against Steel-types. Earthquake and Stone Edge round off the set by providing providing strong, neutral physical attacking options against other steel-types and fairies. Mega-Garchomp can retain great power output with Earthquake and Strone Edge while sandstorm is in play. The EV's are designed to always 2HKO max HP Landorus-T with Draco Meteor after SR. Max speed to outrun Heatran, and the rest into attack.
Mega Garchomp isn't the only physical dragon who can pull off this set. If you don't want to waste your Mega-slot, Life Orb Draco Meteor Garchomp; Moxie MixMence, and MixNite (which TBH is not that great this gen) can pull off similar sets.
Sweeping Partner:
(Mega) Lucario, Terrakion, Tyranitar, Mega Mawile, Landorus-T, Talonflame
Explosion Landorus-I / Landorus - T
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SpA) / Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock / Hidden Power [Ice]
Something I came up with. Explosion may have fallen out of favor since Gen 5, but it is still a surprisingly excellent option on Landorus-I. Landorus-I has the second hardest hitting Explosion in the game, while Landorus-T has the absolute strongest. When backed up by Life Orb, Explosion has so much power it can straight up OHKO defensive Rotom-W. The moveset is simple. Earthquake and Stone Edge provide strong coverage while simultaneous keeping high power output with Sandstorm in play. Explosion provides you with a way to cleanly OHKO Rotom-W. In the last slot, you can choose HP Ice to lure in or make sure you don't get pushed around by opposing Landorus-T or Gliscor. On the other hand, Landorus-T can make excellent use of SR in tandeem with Explosion. When no target is present on the field, Defog and Rapid Spin does not hit anything. Therefore, Stealth Rock stays in play.
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 243-287 (80.19 - 94.71%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus-T Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 272-320 (89.76 - 105.61%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 247-291 (58.39 - 68.79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*At this point you've done 83% to Mandibuzz, which means it can not come in again on SR if you send something in that can kill it)
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Air Balloon Excadrill: 260-305 (71.82 - 84.25%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (if absolutely needed to keep SR down)
Partners: Mega Pinsir, Talonflame
Freeze-Dry Mamoswine
Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Freeze-Dry
Mamoswine this gen seemingly is countered by Rotom-W. Freeze-Dry Mamoswine can actually just get by physically defensive Rotom-W with a small amount of investment in special attack. Since Freeze-Dry is super-effective against Water-types, Rotom-W is hit harder than any other move in Mamoswine's movepool. Freeze-Dry is a 2HKO on Rotom-W after SR. Since you are only using a small amount of special attack investment, you don't detract away much from Mamoswine's overall power output. This Mamoswine really gets through teams that rely on the Rotom-W + Landorus-T combo to act as pivots.
Partners: Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Mega-Charizard X
Psychic-move using Water-types
Greninja (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
Many defensive teams rely upon Mega Venasaur as one of their stops to offensive water-types. Certain offensive water-types can use Psychic-type coverage effectively to do away with Mega-Venusaur. Extrasensory Greneninja is one of them. You do not need to take away from the power of Greninja's other moves when using Extrasensory because Protean gives Greninja enough power to bust through Mega-Venusaur. Extrasensory is a clean 2HKO on Mega-Venusaur. Another water-type that can use this combo effectively is Tail Glow Manaphy with Psychic. Manaphy can still hit Rotom-W hard with Psychic, and exchanges the super-effective coverage against Water-types to most Grass-types. Pair up with Pokemon that have trouble with Mega-Venuasaur. Psyshock Starmie is another Water-type that can pull off similar shenanigans (though more expected).
Partners: Mega-Mawile, Breloom, Terrakion, Azumarill
________________________________________________
I'll add more to the list in the future. Discuss how to use lures and some of them posted here. If you have an effective one, please share!
What discourages most people from using lures is how they are the most difficult sets to play with in pokemon. Using a lure obligates you to play a certain way during a match. In addition, it is hard to judge when to break from that playstyle or when to strike against the pokemon you are luring in. Lures are also difficult sets to design. First, you have to make sure the lure will play similar enough to draw your target pokemon. Second, you have to make sure the lure will play consistently enough that if the target Pokemon is not on your opponent's team, your lure will still be able to pull its own weight. Here you can find some effective lures in OU, effective partners to those lures, and an ideas to help you design your own lure in the future.
While lures can be hard to use, they are some of the most fun sets to use if you can pull them effectively. So let's get started!
What makes a bad lure?
A bad lure is one that is either overly specialized and / or lessens the amount of targets it can hit effectively in exchange for hitting a single target effectively. If you specialize your lure too much, it becomes a non threat to a larger amount of pokemon and only to the pokemon you are targeting. It will only be effective if the pokemon you are targeting is in the match, which is less likely to happen when you consider you might be going into a single battle for a tournament. Here is an example of a bad lure:
Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
Gyarados with Fire Blast sounds pretty swell, since it now has the ability to 2HKO Skarmory and Ferrothorn, two of its biggest counters. On closer inspection, however, you can see that Fire Blast Gyarados has severe problems. First, just about any Water-type in OU can easily check or counter Gyarados without a more reliable STAB in Bounce or a more consistent Earthquke. The same situation occurs with grass-types that are not overtly weak to Fire Blast (ex. Trevnant, Celebi) or Dragons not weak to Stone Edge (Latios, Latias, Hydreigon). Second, you can achieve a 2HKO on Ferrothorn with Bounce with some prior damage and Skarmory with Waterfall with some prior damage at +1.
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Gyarados Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 153-183 (45.8 - 54.79%) -- 98.05% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Gyarados Bounce vs. 252 HP / 48+ Def Ferrothorn: 200-238 (56.81 - 67.61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*needs Spikes for Ferrothorn accounting for Lefties on two turns attack but you get the point
The only way to OHKO either with Fire Blast with SR is to have max special attack with a positive nature. But at that point, you compromised the effectiveness of your physical moves to sweep with DD way too much. Overall your "power output" for Fire Blast of your physical moves will be too small.
Here, you sacrificed too much overall effectiveness for the sake of hitting two targets while specialized. In addition, your "lure" could have worn down the same counters just as well without a luring move in Fire Blast. You also lost some bulk in the process by choosing to go with a nature that decreases sp. def in order to preserve Fire Blast's power. To sum up, you just have a less effective Pokemon.
Lures in OU:
Essentially, there are two types of lures in OU. The first type are those that carry unexpected moves to cripple or KO a typical counter. The second are those that bluff a choice item, and then KO an opposing pokemon when it thinks it is safe because the bluffer is "choice locked."
Physical Dragons with Draco Meteor / Fire Blast
Mega Garchomp (M) @ Garchompite
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 100 Atk / 156 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Physical Dragon-types with Draco Meteor are a classic lure. Unlike most lures, the force behind their "luring move", Draco Meteor, still packs quite a punch even if you mispredict against your target staying in. In other words they keep good "power output." One of the new and effective entries into this category is Mega-Garchomp. Draco Meteor smashes through bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon that otherwise check Garchomp. Same goes for Fire Blast against Steel-types. Earthquake and Stone Edge round off the set by providing providing strong, neutral physical attacking options against other steel-types and fairies. Mega-Garchomp can retain great power output with Earthquake and Strone Edge while sandstorm is in play. The EV's are designed to always 2HKO max HP Landorus-T with Draco Meteor after SR. Max speed to outrun Heatran, and the rest into attack.
Mega Garchomp isn't the only physical dragon who can pull off this set. If you don't want to waste your Mega-slot, Life Orb Draco Meteor Garchomp; Moxie MixMence, and MixNite (which TBH is not that great this gen) can pull off similar sets.
Sweeping Partner:
(Mega) Lucario, Terrakion, Tyranitar, Mega Mawile, Landorus-T, Talonflame
Explosion Landorus-I / Landorus - T
Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SpA) / Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock / Hidden Power [Ice]
Something I came up with. Explosion may have fallen out of favor since Gen 5, but it is still a surprisingly excellent option on Landorus-I. Landorus-I has the second hardest hitting Explosion in the game, while Landorus-T has the absolute strongest. When backed up by Life Orb, Explosion has so much power it can straight up OHKO defensive Rotom-W. The moveset is simple. Earthquake and Stone Edge provide strong coverage while simultaneous keeping high power output with Sandstorm in play. Explosion provides you with a way to cleanly OHKO Rotom-W. In the last slot, you can choose HP Ice to lure in or make sure you don't get pushed around by opposing Landorus-T or Gliscor. On the other hand, Landorus-T can make excellent use of SR in tandeem with Explosion. When no target is present on the field, Defog and Rapid Spin does not hit anything. Therefore, Stealth Rock stays in play.
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 243-287 (80.19 - 94.71%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus-T Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 272-320 (89.76 - 105.61%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Mandibuzz: 247-291 (58.39 - 68.79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*At this point you've done 83% to Mandibuzz, which means it can not come in again on SR if you send something in that can kill it)
252 Atk Life Orb Landorus Explosion vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Air Balloon Excadrill: 260-305 (71.82 - 84.25%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (if absolutely needed to keep SR down)
Partners: Mega Pinsir, Talonflame
Freeze-Dry Mamoswine
Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Freeze-Dry
Mamoswine this gen seemingly is countered by Rotom-W. Freeze-Dry Mamoswine can actually just get by physically defensive Rotom-W with a small amount of investment in special attack. Since Freeze-Dry is super-effective against Water-types, Rotom-W is hit harder than any other move in Mamoswine's movepool. Freeze-Dry is a 2HKO on Rotom-W after SR. Since you are only using a small amount of special attack investment, you don't detract away much from Mamoswine's overall power output. This Mamoswine really gets through teams that rely on the Rotom-W + Landorus-T combo to act as pivots.
Partners: Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Mega-Charizard X
Psychic-move using Water-types
Greninja (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Protean
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
Many defensive teams rely upon Mega Venasaur as one of their stops to offensive water-types. Certain offensive water-types can use Psychic-type coverage effectively to do away with Mega-Venusaur. Extrasensory Greneninja is one of them. You do not need to take away from the power of Greninja's other moves when using Extrasensory because Protean gives Greninja enough power to bust through Mega-Venusaur. Extrasensory is a clean 2HKO on Mega-Venusaur. Another water-type that can use this combo effectively is Tail Glow Manaphy with Psychic. Manaphy can still hit Rotom-W hard with Psychic, and exchanges the super-effective coverage against Water-types to most Grass-types. Pair up with Pokemon that have trouble with Mega-Venuasaur. Psyshock Starmie is another Water-type that can pull off similar shenanigans (though more expected).
Partners: Mega-Mawile, Breloom, Terrakion, Azumarill
________________________________________________
I'll add more to the list in the future. Discuss how to use lures and some of them posted here. If you have an effective one, please share!
Last edited by a moderator:
