old thread, stolen from snobalt
iron dog of great hair
[OVERVIEW]
When Mega-Evolved, Lucario becomes a rather potent wallbreaker with the ability to dismantle most bulky offense teams with relative ease thanks to Adaptability and its variety of movepool options, from STAB attacks to coverage moves. Furthermore, Mega Lucario's Speed tier allows it to outspeed the crucial base 110 Speed tier, where many relevant threats reside. However, Mega Lucario notably faces stiff competition as a Fighting-type from Keldeo and Terrakion. All these Pokemon have a niche in being able to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan, but Keldeo's and Terrakion's access to Quick Guard, non-Mega status, and generally better typing prove to be more useful over Mega Lucario's attributes most of the time. Mega Lucario's advantages over Keldeo and Terrakion, however, are its higher Speed and access to priority. Mega Lucario is also vulnerable to speed control, which renders its good base Speed useless. Furthermore, Mega Lucario's low bulk leaves it rather vulnerable to offensive pressure from faster threats such as Shaymin-S, Mega Gengar, and Deoxys-A. Although Mega Lucario possesses a fairly good variety of coverage options, its power can be easily neutered by an Intimidate user such as Landorus-T or by a physically defensive wall such as Cresselia.
[SET]
name: Substitute Attacker
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Iron Tail / Flash Cannon
move 4: Protect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Mega Lucario enjoys a Substitute's safety net to survive powerful attacks, protect itself from status moves and Intimidate, and freely use Close Combat without worrying about the defense drops. Close Combat is Lucario's strongest STAB move and gets even stronger when boosted by Adaptability. Iron Tail is the preferred choice for Lucario's Steel-type STAB move, but Flash Cannon can also be used if Iron Tail's chance to miss is undesirable. However, this comes at the expense of not being able to OHKO certain Pokemon, such as Sylveon. Protect is needed to let Lucario Mega Evolve safely or preserve its Substitute if it needs to.
Set Details
========
With maximum Speed investment, Mega Lucario can outspeed the entire base 110 Speed tier, which includes Pokemon such as Mega Diancie and Latios. Furthermore, it can also outspeed offensive Thundurus and Adamant Talonflame. It also needs as many Attack EVs as possible to take full advantage of its STAB moves. A Naive nature should only be used when using Flash Cannon over Iron Tail. Otherwise, Lucario should be running a Jolly nature. Inner Focus can let non-Mega Lucario set up a Substitute when predicting an oncoming Fake Out.
Usage Tips
========
Lucario should Mega Evolve as soon as possible in order to take advantage of its boosted Speed. Furthermore, it should almost always use Protect in order to Mega Evolve safely. It's also usually a good idea to set up a Substitute on foes that Lucario can force out, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-B, and Heatran. Substitute can also be set up in the face of common status spreaders such as Rotom-W and Amoonguss. Amoonguss in particular can't do anything to break Mega Lucario's Substitute. Lucario can also use Substitute against an enemy Landorus-T if it is locked into Rock Slide. Although Lucario normally has no business staying in against Thundurus or Talonflame, Mega Lucario can use Substitute with Quick Guard support when predicting a Thunder Wave from Thundurus or a Brave Bird from Talonflame.
Team Options
========
Dark-types such as Hydreigon, Bisharp, and Darkrai can beat Aegislash, Jellicent, and Cresselia, which wall this set. Redirection support can benefit Mega Lucario by letting it set up a Substitute easily. Togekiss is an excellent option because it has great defensive synergy with Mega Lucario. Amoonguss can also redirect moves as well as put foes to sleep, furthering Mega Lucario's setup opportunities. Certain Choice Scarf users such as Genesect and Kyurem-B can beat threats that outspeed Mega Lucario, particularly Deoxys-A and Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Keldeo and Terrakion can benefit Mega Lucario with Quick Guard support and prevent it from getting hit by priority moves, letting it use Substitute in the right situations. Offensively, Mega Lucario has good synergy with Thundurus, which beats Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Thundurus can also paralyze certain faster foes so that Mega Lucario can outspeed them the next turn.
[SET]
name: All-Out Physical Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Bullet Punch / Extreme Speed
move 3: Stone Edge / Iron Tail
move 4: Protect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Close Combat, when backed up by STAB and Adaptability, wrecks everything that doesn't resist it. Bullet Punch gives Mega Lucario a decently strong priority attack, allowing it to pick off weakened Pokemon and OHKO Mega Diancie. Extreme Speed can be used instead for neutral coverage against the likes of Talonflame and should be used if running Iron Tail instead of Stone Edge. Stone Edge prevents Mega Lucario from being circumvented by many offensive threats that would otherwise get rid of it instantly. With Stone Edge, Mega Lucario can OHKO or put decent offensive pressure on threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Talonflame, Thundurus, Victini, and Gyarados. It should be noted that while Mega Lucario can also use Rock Slide, it's not able to OHKO bulky Mega Charizard Y, which is the most common Charizard spread. Iron Tail can be used instead for another strong STAB move that is able to OHKO Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Togekiss. Protect is required in order to safely Mega Evolve Lucario.
Set Details
========
Maximum investment in Attack and Speed allows Mega Lucario to hit as hard and as quickly as possible. Maximum investment is also needed to let Mega Lucario outspeed opposing base 110 Speed threats, Adamant Talonflame, and offensive Thundurus. While none of Lucario's non-Mega abilities are particularly useful, Inner Focus is the best option, as it lets Lucario predict a Fake Out and then deal big damage to the Fake Out user on the same turn.
Usage Tips
========
Lucario is very frail and cannot be switched in easily. Accordingly, the best time to bring in Lucario is typically when another ally has fainted or at the start of the battle. Otherwise, Lucario can also switch into a Choice-locked Landorus-T's Rock Slide. Thanks to Inner Focus, you can play mindgames with opposing Fake Out users by not Mega Evolving and then attacking them on the same turn. This can work really well against Mega Kangaskhan, which can't OHKO Lucario with any of its other moves if it's Jolly and doesn't outspeed Lucario the turn that it Mega Evolves if it's Adamant. However, this is rather situational, as not Mega Evolving Lucario is generally a bad idea. That being said, you should usually use Protect on the turn that Lucario Mega Evolves so that it can safely get the boost to its Speed.
Team Options
========
Fire-types such as Talonflame and Rotom-H greatly appreciate Mega Lucario's ability to OHKO Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also appreciates strong attackers that match up well against Landorus-T, including Keldeo and Kyurem-B. Bisharp takes advantage of Intimidate and Icy Wind thanks to Defiant. It also forces out the Ghost- and Psychic-types that wall Mega Lucario and discourages Intimidate users from switching in. However, Bisharp stacks weaknesses with Mega Lucario, so the two are hard to fit on a team together. Thundurus can cripple Pokemon that are faster than Mega Lucario, such as Deoxys-A and Darkrai, as well as check Landorus-T and most Flying-types. In return, Mega Lucario handles the Rock- and Ice-types that check Thundurus, such as Diancie and Kyurem-B. Terrakion and Landorus-T are good options when Lucario isn't running Stone Edge, as they both help check Flying-types. Rotom-H and Rotom-W can support Lucario with their Electric-type STAB moves as well as Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave. Defensively, Rotom-H can switch into Earthquake for Lucario, while Lucario can switch into Rock Slide for Rotom-H. Rotom-H can also handle Aegislash and Ferrothorn. Furthermore, Rotom-W beats Ground-types, particularly Landorus-T, for Mega Lucario. As Mega Lucario generally fits well on hyper offense teams, other fast, powerful threats such as Deoxys-A can support it well. This is because Deoxys-A can beat Landorus-T, Shaymin-S, and other faster threats that Mega Lucario can't beat easily.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Justified can be used over Inner Focus to switch in on Dark-type attacks and get an Attack boost. However, this is not really a good idea in practice due to the fact that the only Dark-type that Lucario can safely switch into is Bisharp, and non-Mega Lucario can't even tank most resisted attacks. A specially offensive set with Aura Sphere can work if your team is very weak to Intimidate, but even a -1 Close Combat hits harder than a fully invested Aura Sphere in most cases. Crunch can be used to deal with Aegislash and Cresselia more easily, but Lucario prefers the ability to hit Flying-types hard. Lucario has access to various support options such as Follow Me and even Heal Pulse, but it is too frail to make good use of these. Rock Slide deals spread damage and has better accuracy than Stone Edge. However, when factoring in spread damage reduction, Rock Slide does only almost half the damage that Stone Edge does and notably doesn't OHKO bulky Mega Charizard Y. Ice Punch is a niche option to reliably hit Landorus-T and Shaymin-S, but it should really only be considered on teams that have Tailwind support.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Intimidate and Burns**: While Mega Lucario can avoid these if it has a Substitute up, it gets ruined by Intimidate and burns without a Substitute. Landorus-T and Gyarados are common Intimidate users that can wall Mega Lucario. Additionally, a fast Will-O-Wisp from Mega Gengar or Prankster Sableye stops Mega Lucario's sweep almost immediately.
**Typing Advantage**: Mega Lucario has few completely reliable counters because most Pokemon that resist its STAB attacks cannot safely switch into it. Nonetheless, if Mega Lucario cannot OHKO its target, it is very vulnerable to being KOed back in the same turn. Offensive checks include Deoxys-A, Thundurus, Shaymin-S, Mega Charizard Y, and Talonflame. Fortunately for Mega Lucario, most of its offensive checks are weak to Stone Edge. Defensively, Cresselia and bulky Ghost-types such as Aegislash and Jellicent can tank all of Mega Lucario's STAB and coverage moves very easily.
**Speed**: Though base 112 Speed is undeniably fast, Mega Lucario still falls short of outspeeding Deoxys-A, Darkrai, and Shaymin-S. Bullet Punch helps somewhat, but Deoxys-A's Focus Sash allow it to survive the move, while the other three can survive it easily. Choice Scarf users such as Genesect and Landorus-T, as well as weather sweepers such as Excadrill and Ludicolo, also outspeed Mega Lucario and threaten it greatly.
**Speed Control**: All forms of opposing speed control render Mega Lucario's high Speed useless. Moreover, Mega Lucario lacks the bulk to take repeated hits and retaliate.
iron dog of great hair
[OVERVIEW]
When Mega-Evolved, Lucario becomes a rather potent wallbreaker with the ability to dismantle most bulky offense teams with relative ease thanks to Adaptability and its variety of movepool options, from STAB attacks to coverage moves. Furthermore, Mega Lucario's Speed tier allows it to outspeed the crucial base 110 Speed tier, where many relevant threats reside. However, Mega Lucario notably faces stiff competition as a Fighting-type from Keldeo and Terrakion. All these Pokemon have a niche in being able to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan, but Keldeo's and Terrakion's access to Quick Guard, non-Mega status, and generally better typing prove to be more useful over Mega Lucario's attributes most of the time. Mega Lucario's advantages over Keldeo and Terrakion, however, are its higher Speed and access to priority. Mega Lucario is also vulnerable to speed control, which renders its good base Speed useless. Furthermore, Mega Lucario's low bulk leaves it rather vulnerable to offensive pressure from faster threats such as Shaymin-S, Mega Gengar, and Deoxys-A. Although Mega Lucario possesses a fairly good variety of coverage options, its power can be easily neutered by an Intimidate user such as Landorus-T or by a physically defensive wall such as Cresselia.
[SET]
name: Substitute Attacker
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Iron Tail / Flash Cannon
move 4: Protect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Mega Lucario enjoys a Substitute's safety net to survive powerful attacks, protect itself from status moves and Intimidate, and freely use Close Combat without worrying about the defense drops. Close Combat is Lucario's strongest STAB move and gets even stronger when boosted by Adaptability. Iron Tail is the preferred choice for Lucario's Steel-type STAB move, but Flash Cannon can also be used if Iron Tail's chance to miss is undesirable. However, this comes at the expense of not being able to OHKO certain Pokemon, such as Sylveon. Protect is needed to let Lucario Mega Evolve safely or preserve its Substitute if it needs to.
Set Details
========
With maximum Speed investment, Mega Lucario can outspeed the entire base 110 Speed tier, which includes Pokemon such as Mega Diancie and Latios. Furthermore, it can also outspeed offensive Thundurus and Adamant Talonflame. It also needs as many Attack EVs as possible to take full advantage of its STAB moves. A Naive nature should only be used when using Flash Cannon over Iron Tail. Otherwise, Lucario should be running a Jolly nature. Inner Focus can let non-Mega Lucario set up a Substitute when predicting an oncoming Fake Out.
Usage Tips
========
Lucario should Mega Evolve as soon as possible in order to take advantage of its boosted Speed. Furthermore, it should almost always use Protect in order to Mega Evolve safely. It's also usually a good idea to set up a Substitute on foes that Lucario can force out, such as Mega Kangaskhan, Kyurem-B, and Heatran. Substitute can also be set up in the face of common status spreaders such as Rotom-W and Amoonguss. Amoonguss in particular can't do anything to break Mega Lucario's Substitute. Lucario can also use Substitute against an enemy Landorus-T if it is locked into Rock Slide. Although Lucario normally has no business staying in against Thundurus or Talonflame, Mega Lucario can use Substitute with Quick Guard support when predicting a Thunder Wave from Thundurus or a Brave Bird from Talonflame.
Team Options
========
Dark-types such as Hydreigon, Bisharp, and Darkrai can beat Aegislash, Jellicent, and Cresselia, which wall this set. Redirection support can benefit Mega Lucario by letting it set up a Substitute easily. Togekiss is an excellent option because it has great defensive synergy with Mega Lucario. Amoonguss can also redirect moves as well as put foes to sleep, furthering Mega Lucario's setup opportunities. Certain Choice Scarf users such as Genesect and Kyurem-B can beat threats that outspeed Mega Lucario, particularly Deoxys-A and Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Keldeo and Terrakion can benefit Mega Lucario with Quick Guard support and prevent it from getting hit by priority moves, letting it use Substitute in the right situations. Offensively, Mega Lucario has good synergy with Thundurus, which beats Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Thundurus can also paralyze certain faster foes so that Mega Lucario can outspeed them the next turn.
[SET]
name: All-Out Physical Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Bullet Punch / Extreme Speed
move 3: Stone Edge / Iron Tail
move 4: Protect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Close Combat, when backed up by STAB and Adaptability, wrecks everything that doesn't resist it. Bullet Punch gives Mega Lucario a decently strong priority attack, allowing it to pick off weakened Pokemon and OHKO Mega Diancie. Extreme Speed can be used instead for neutral coverage against the likes of Talonflame and should be used if running Iron Tail instead of Stone Edge. Stone Edge prevents Mega Lucario from being circumvented by many offensive threats that would otherwise get rid of it instantly. With Stone Edge, Mega Lucario can OHKO or put decent offensive pressure on threats such as Mega Charizard Y, Talonflame, Thundurus, Victini, and Gyarados. It should be noted that while Mega Lucario can also use Rock Slide, it's not able to OHKO bulky Mega Charizard Y, which is the most common Charizard spread. Iron Tail can be used instead for another strong STAB move that is able to OHKO Fairy-types such as Sylveon and Togekiss. Protect is required in order to safely Mega Evolve Lucario.
Set Details
========
Maximum investment in Attack and Speed allows Mega Lucario to hit as hard and as quickly as possible. Maximum investment is also needed to let Mega Lucario outspeed opposing base 110 Speed threats, Adamant Talonflame, and offensive Thundurus. While none of Lucario's non-Mega abilities are particularly useful, Inner Focus is the best option, as it lets Lucario predict a Fake Out and then deal big damage to the Fake Out user on the same turn.
Usage Tips
========
Lucario is very frail and cannot be switched in easily. Accordingly, the best time to bring in Lucario is typically when another ally has fainted or at the start of the battle. Otherwise, Lucario can also switch into a Choice-locked Landorus-T's Rock Slide. Thanks to Inner Focus, you can play mindgames with opposing Fake Out users by not Mega Evolving and then attacking them on the same turn. This can work really well against Mega Kangaskhan, which can't OHKO Lucario with any of its other moves if it's Jolly and doesn't outspeed Lucario the turn that it Mega Evolves if it's Adamant. However, this is rather situational, as not Mega Evolving Lucario is generally a bad idea. That being said, you should usually use Protect on the turn that Lucario Mega Evolves so that it can safely get the boost to its Speed.
Team Options
========
Fire-types such as Talonflame and Rotom-H greatly appreciate Mega Lucario's ability to OHKO Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also appreciates strong attackers that match up well against Landorus-T, including Keldeo and Kyurem-B. Bisharp takes advantage of Intimidate and Icy Wind thanks to Defiant. It also forces out the Ghost- and Psychic-types that wall Mega Lucario and discourages Intimidate users from switching in. However, Bisharp stacks weaknesses with Mega Lucario, so the two are hard to fit on a team together. Thundurus can cripple Pokemon that are faster than Mega Lucario, such as Deoxys-A and Darkrai, as well as check Landorus-T and most Flying-types. In return, Mega Lucario handles the Rock- and Ice-types that check Thundurus, such as Diancie and Kyurem-B. Terrakion and Landorus-T are good options when Lucario isn't running Stone Edge, as they both help check Flying-types. Rotom-H and Rotom-W can support Lucario with their Electric-type STAB moves as well as Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave. Defensively, Rotom-H can switch into Earthquake for Lucario, while Lucario can switch into Rock Slide for Rotom-H. Rotom-H can also handle Aegislash and Ferrothorn. Furthermore, Rotom-W beats Ground-types, particularly Landorus-T, for Mega Lucario. As Mega Lucario generally fits well on hyper offense teams, other fast, powerful threats such as Deoxys-A can support it well. This is because Deoxys-A can beat Landorus-T, Shaymin-S, and other faster threats that Mega Lucario can't beat easily.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Justified can be used over Inner Focus to switch in on Dark-type attacks and get an Attack boost. However, this is not really a good idea in practice due to the fact that the only Dark-type that Lucario can safely switch into is Bisharp, and non-Mega Lucario can't even tank most resisted attacks. A specially offensive set with Aura Sphere can work if your team is very weak to Intimidate, but even a -1 Close Combat hits harder than a fully invested Aura Sphere in most cases. Crunch can be used to deal with Aegislash and Cresselia more easily, but Lucario prefers the ability to hit Flying-types hard. Lucario has access to various support options such as Follow Me and even Heal Pulse, but it is too frail to make good use of these. Rock Slide deals spread damage and has better accuracy than Stone Edge. However, when factoring in spread damage reduction, Rock Slide does only almost half the damage that Stone Edge does and notably doesn't OHKO bulky Mega Charizard Y. Ice Punch is a niche option to reliably hit Landorus-T and Shaymin-S, but it should really only be considered on teams that have Tailwind support.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Intimidate and Burns**: While Mega Lucario can avoid these if it has a Substitute up, it gets ruined by Intimidate and burns without a Substitute. Landorus-T and Gyarados are common Intimidate users that can wall Mega Lucario. Additionally, a fast Will-O-Wisp from Mega Gengar or Prankster Sableye stops Mega Lucario's sweep almost immediately.
**Typing Advantage**: Mega Lucario has few completely reliable counters because most Pokemon that resist its STAB attacks cannot safely switch into it. Nonetheless, if Mega Lucario cannot OHKO its target, it is very vulnerable to being KOed back in the same turn. Offensive checks include Deoxys-A, Thundurus, Shaymin-S, Mega Charizard Y, and Talonflame. Fortunately for Mega Lucario, most of its offensive checks are weak to Stone Edge. Defensively, Cresselia and bulky Ghost-types such as Aegislash and Jellicent can tank all of Mega Lucario's STAB and coverage moves very easily.
**Speed**: Though base 112 Speed is undeniably fast, Mega Lucario still falls short of outspeeding Deoxys-A, Darkrai, and Shaymin-S. Bullet Punch helps somewhat, but Deoxys-A's Focus Sash allow it to survive the move, while the other three can survive it easily. Choice Scarf users such as Genesect and Landorus-T, as well as weather sweepers such as Excadrill and Ludicolo, also outspeed Mega Lucario and threaten it greatly.
**Speed Control**: All forms of opposing speed control render Mega Lucario's high Speed useless. Moreover, Mega Lucario lacks the bulk to take repeated hits and retaliate.
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