Lucario

[Improbable]

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Status: WIP
Sets:
- Swords Dance
- Agility
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute

Reluctant to add any Choice sets since they're all set up bait for Chandelure(CC/ Aura Sphere and Extreme Speed)... Ideas?
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[Overview]
<p>

Lucario is one of the best sweepers in the DW tier functioning off its base 110 Attack and 115 Special Attack. Playing against Lucario is difficult since the number of sets it can run are numerous but also due to the fact that it resists Stealth Rocks and is immune to Toxic Spikes. It also receives two of the best stat up moves in Nasty Plot and Swords Dance, both which turn it into an extremely devastating sweeper. However, Lucario is checked by the strong priority in the tier, most notably Breloom and Conkeldurr, and faster scarf users such as Landorous and Terrakion. Lucario itself has plenty of priority in its own arsenal including Extremespeed, Bullet Punch and Vaccum Wave. Lucario acts as a strong late game sweeper with its variety and its raw power.

</p>

[SET]

name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: ExtremeSpeed
move 4: Crunch / Bullet Punch / Ice Punch
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
<p>

- Swords Dance makes Lucario powerful enough to take on the most bulky of physical walls since it doubles Lucario’s already high attack stat.
- Close Combat is Lucario’s best STAB move and it can rip holes in teams after a single Swords Dance.
- Extremespeed’s +2 priority allows Lucario to strike before other priority moves and it is a strong to hit faster threats.
- Crunch gives Lucario an option against Jellicent and Chandelure who wall this set otherwise.
- Bullet Punch can be used, however, since it can OHKO Gengar and Terrakion after a Swords Dance where otherwise, they would kill Lucario first.
- Ice Punch allows Lucario to mainly kill dragons but most of them can be dealt with after Stealth Rocks and a +2 Extremespeed.

</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>
- Having an Adamant nature allows Lucario to get OHKO’s on physical walls with the combination of Life Orb and Stealth Rocks.
- Jolly can be used, however, to outspeed Jolly Mamoswine and Impish Gliscor and hit back with Close Combat and Ice Punch respectively.
- Life Orb is the preferred item since the boost in power it offers is extremely beneficial to Lucario. Due to Lucario’s general frailty, Leftovers shouldn’t be considered at all.

</p>
[SET]

name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Ice Punch
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>
- Agility allows Lucario to outspeed common scarfed pokemon such as Landorous ,Terrakion and Chandelure who would otherwise stop the previous sets.
- Close Combat is once again the preferred STAB move and although the power of the SD set is missing, it is still extremely powerful.
- Crunch allows Lucario to finish off Chandelure easily.
- Ice Punch hits common dragon type Pokemon and Landorous.

</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>
- Adamant nature somewhat makes up for the lack of power. Due to Agility, Adamant is the preferred option.
- Life Orb is again necessary once again because of the lack of sheer power from the Swords Dance set.

</p>

name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Aura Sphere
move 3: Dark Pulse
move 4: Vaccum Wave / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>
- Nasty Plot is another one of Lucario’s stat boosting moves and it allows Lucario to strike from its greater base 115 SpAtk stat.
- Aura Sphere is Lucario’s preferred STAB option on the special side due to its power.
- Dark Pulse allows Lucario to hit Jellicent and Chandelure.
- Vaccum Wave allows Lucario to kill Terrakion after the Nasty Plot boost.
- Hidden Power Ice can be used to hit the dragons and Landorous, both which cause problems for this set.

</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>
- Modest nature is preferred because of the SpAtk boost it provides.
- Timid can be used, however, to outspeed and surprise Jolly Mamoswine and Impish Gliscor and hit back with Aura Sphere and Hidden Power Ice respectively. The ability to surprise and destroy Gliscor can be used by other team mates.
- Again, Life Orb is the preferred item since the boost in power it offers is extremely beneficial to any Lucario set. Due to Lucario’s general frailty, Leftovers shouldn’t be considered at all.
</p>

[SET]

name: Substitute
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Ice Punch / Extremespeed
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]

<p>
- Substitute allows Lucario to scout which helps it tremendously due to the fact that this Lucario can scare away many common switch ins.
- Close Combat is an amazing STAB move and behind a substitute, Lucario can use this move better.
- Crunch allows Lucario to strike Chandelure and Jellicent.
- Ice Punch is preferred over Extremespeed in this set due to the fact that behind a Substitute, Lucario can fend off Landorous, Dragonite and Salamence.

</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>
- Adamant is used to make up for the lack of power and due to the fact that this Lucario can effectively scout which lessens the need for a Jolly nature.
- Leftovers is the preferred option here due to the fact that it helps Lucario regain the health lost from the Substitute. This set can cause many switches which further increases Leftover’s usefulness.
- Life Orb can again be considered for the increase in power but the combination of Substitue, entry hazards and Life Orb can quickly deplete Lucario’s health.

</p>

[Other Options]
<p>

- Air Balloon
</p>

<p>

- Thunder Punch

- Stone Edge

- Justified and its uses
</p>

[Checks and Counters]
- Breloom , Conkelldurr
- Chandelure
- Skarmory
- Hippowdon
- Landorous , Terrakion
- Gliscor

- Intimidate

- Scarf users

[Improbable]

Posted sets and stuffs. Ideas on what choice sets to run? Due to Chandelure roaming around, being locked into fighting/normal type moves just makes Lucario set up bait for Chandy.

Also the Scarf / Band sets seem to be outclassed by Terrakion.

[Improbable]

Still fleshing out the skeleton and writing up parts but the material is about ready for checks.

Suggestions?

[Tobes]

Analyses can't be approved until they are fully written.

On SD slash Ice Punch before Bullet Punch.

I'm really iffy on Nasty Plot. In a metagame with Breloom and Keldeo I'm having a hard time justifying it. Also, Shadow Ball, not Dark Pulse.

[shrang]

Nah, Dark Pulse is generally better on the NP set since Lucario generally won't be able to live long enough to take advantage of SpD drops. Dark Pulse, on the other hand, may get you out of a pinch if you get a successful flinch. You don't drop all that much coverage, it's only what, Heracross and Toxicroak that you miss.

[ala]

You should slash in Air Balloon on the main SD set, which can help you set up and counter Excadrill, which is always relevant. Yes, the loss in power is noticeable, but if you have a team that uses Luke to kinda clean up at the end, it shouldn't matter.

Edit: Agreeing with Omicron, it's a great way to set up Nasty Plots.

[Omicron]

Adding to what Ala said, Air Balloon might be worth a slash on the Nasty Plot set as well.

[NixHex]

I'm tempted to say Jolly on the Agility set because you will fuck up any Excadrill every time, but it's just so weak. Keep that in mind though, because it can definitely come in handy.

[Darkmalice]

Justified should be mentioned as the ability of choice on all the sets except Nasty Plot, as it's better than Inner Focus and Steadfast. Lucario's typing is perfect for taking advantage of Dark-type attacks, where as the likelihood of being flinched is very rare compared to fighting an opponent with a Dark-type attack, particularly when Lucario has priority or Agility.

Nasty Plot set should have Inner Focus as the ability of choice.

[SJCrew]

Remove the part about strong priority, since both Nasty Plot and Swords Dance beat Breloom at +2, and Conkeldurr is not common.

EDIT: Better idea: take the priority bit out of the overview and transfer it to checks and counters. And don't generalize it as 'priority', be specific and say something like 'a strong Mach Punch from Conkeldurr or Breloom helps keep it in check'.

The overview in general needs some fine tuning. You say 'faster Scarf users' which he can sweep through for the most part. Mention his mediocre speed forcing him to rely on his priority attacks and bad defenses that make any strong neutral or super effective attack potentially lethal. Don't forget about his resistances making setup pretty easy.

[V0x]

Op hasn't been updated in ~a month, Improbable hasn't been on since the 14th. We'll see how things go in a day or two, likely to go up for grabs.

[Omicron]

Inactive, moving.