Hyper-offensive Lucario

[Seb125]

INTRODUCTION
A while back I made a team with Lucario as the main sweeper. With the changing metagame the balance of stall and offense was no longer working out for me in the full on offensive metagame. So I decided to rework the team completely to become a full offensive team that has gotten me quite some success. Although I really like how this team has worked out for me so far, I know there can still be room for improvement which is why I am asking for advice here.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
I never got to try out Deoxys-D before his banning but since I was running a hyper-offensive team, I needed a lead Pokemon that can set up rock and still threaten other Pokemon that wanted to set up hazards. Terrakion has filled this role very well. Its scary attack scares out many Pokemon allowing for easy set up. Its speed allows it to taunt any Pokemon who tries to come in to set hazards while setting up rocks himself. Its fighting and rock STAB give it good coverage that make him a useful offensive Pokemon after he has set up. Close Combat hits hard to anything that doesn't resist it or is a dedicated physical wall as well as doing a significant amount of damage to Ferrothorn and Jirachi. I run focus sash because it allows me to not be punished as hard for over predicting. If I am up against a Gliscor or Landorus-T who wants to scare me out and set up rocks, I can taunt them and then switch predicting them to go for a non damaging move. This in many cases has helped me steal momentum. However if they decide to go for a damage move, the sash allows me to save Terrakion for later or sack him and still get up my rocks.

Hydreigon (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Earthquake
Hydreigon is my favorite Pokemon and in most cases the MVP of this team. Its mixed attacking set is just too good and with prediction nets me a good amount of kills each match. Draco Meteor is its main STAB, hitting hard to anything that isn't steel or named Blissey or Chansey. Fire Blasts hits steels as well as providing good coverage. On the physical side it has Superpower to hit the likes of unsuspecting Blisseys and Chanseys. Earthquake is the last coverage move and although redundant with Superpower is definitely a good choice as it can hit Jirachi in the rain harder than Fire Blast which is a huge threat to many teams as it is really hard to take down. What I like most about this set is its ability to catch people off guard and net some sneaky KO's. Blissey and Chansey wanna switch into Draco Meteor? How about a super effective Superpower. Specially Defensive T-Tar want to tank my hits? How do you like that 4X super effective Superpower. This comes into play most in its ability to counter Heatran completely. This is where Earthquake makes the big deal. If Heatran wants to come in to a Draco, he will die next turn to the unsuspecting Earthquake. If he wants to get a Flash Fire buff, he again will die to the unsuspecting Earthquake. Hydreigon has definitely cemented his place on this team and is here to stay.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
Starmie is here because it provides two things, heavy hits with good coverage and Rapid Spin support. In cases where my opponent is able to set up hazards, Starmie can always find the opportunity to come in, scare something out, and spin away those hazards. It also comes in handy when dealing with dragons and rain threats, not to mention benefiting from the rain as well. Starmies place on this team is fine at the moment, although it has faced competition with Offensive Celebi.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Scizor has always been one of the most useful Pokemon ever since I got back into playing. Priority Bullet Punch hits hard taking out threats such as Mamoswine, Terrakion, Gengar, and several Scarf users that don't resist it. It acts as a heavy hitter and revenge killer to pave the wave for late game sweeps for my other Pokemon or even himself. Superpower hits Ferrothorns who want to switch into Bullet Punch hard as well as providing great coverage. Pursuit has always been a good move for me, but lately it has found little use since many Pokemon that can be hit by hit carry the HP Fire or any other Fire move. However I still think its a better option to Quick Attack as it comes in handy against those who don't. Lastly U-turn allows me to have another STAB move that allows me to steal momentum. Its ability to hit hard and end the sweeps of faster threats make him very useful to this team.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
Salamence is here because he can both revenge kill and sweep. As long as there are no Scarf Latios's or Garchomp's Salamence is also my answer to faster Dragons. Outrage is the main STAB choice I use to sweep while Dragon Claw allows me a revenge killing choice that wont lock me into battle. Earthquake provides good coverage as well as dealing with Jirachi in the rain and Fire Blast threatens steels. Rack up a few Moxie buffs and you got yourself a very scary Pokemon capable of completely devastating any team once its checks and counters have been eliminated.

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- ExtremeSpeed
- Ice Punch/Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
Lucario is my favorite set up sweeper and is the main sweeper of this team. The rest of the Pokemon on this team serve as a way for him to come in and finish up. After just one Swords Dance, he becomes scary, hitting even walls hard with STAB Close Combat and stopping any revenge killers with Extremespeed. The last move has been hard for me to pick between. Ice Punch gives me good coverage against Landorus-T and Dragonite but that's about it. It use to be helpful against Gliscor but some have lately been running an EV spread of HP252/DEF4/SPE252 allowing them to KO my Lucario and Landorus naturally out speeds him. Bullet Punch however provides good coverage against Gengar and allows me to get past Terrakion but that's where its usage options usually end.

POKEMON THAT USE TO BE ON THIS TEAM

Azelf @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast/Zen Headbutt
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Azelf use to be taking Terrakions place as my rocks setter. It could hit steels with fire blast and U-turn out against threats as well as secure one kill in most cases but not all with Explosion. I found Terrakion providing greater use in the long run but Azelf does have the advantage or being faster and can also run Zen Headbutt over Fire Blast to beat Terrakion.

Celebi @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Mild Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Earth Power/HP Fire
- U-turn
- Recover
Celebi as I said still gives Starmie competition. It can also counter many rain threats as well as Breloom which Starmie cannot switch into from fear of a grass STAB in most cases. Earth Power gives it great coverage while HP Fire takes out its checks. U-turn gives it the ability to steal momentum which syncs well with Scizor. Lastly Recover increases its ability to stay alive longer. However Celebi does not have the rapid spin support that Starmie brings or the speed to revenge kill many threats. It also cant make as much use with HP Ice than Starmie can make with Ice Beam due to its slower speed. It is also worth noting that when running Celebi, I gave a try to running HP Ice on Salamence over Dragon Claw as it did come in handy when dealing with Landorus, Landorus-T, and Gliscor. However the loss of Dragon Claw did force me to rely on Earthquake more if I didn't want to get locked in with Outrage.

CONCLUSION
This team has quickly risen to one of my favorites to use. It is a definite improvement from my first Lucario Sweep team which had too much of an abundance of Steel types. One problem that I have noticed is that there are no real walls on this team. If I am not taking a resisted hit, it is hard to switch my Pokemon in and out. However with great coverage options, this has not been too big of an issue. Still, it is far from perfect and I look forward to seeing any advice that can help me improve this team. Thanks in advance.

 

[Episode36]

Imo, this team would benefit greatly from dual screens. I'd replace Starmie with Dual Screen Espeon. In fact, I believe the definition of hyper offense is using dual screens + sweepers as you are doing. You won't really need a spinner since most of your Pokemon are resistant to SR/Spikes/TSpikes, and Espeon will help prevent the laying down of hazards. Then, once screens are up, someone would be insane to use hazards against something like Lucario. They will want to kill it ASAP, further preventing hazards. Screens also help prevent your extremely frail/Life Orb Pokemon from dying too quickly to counters/scarf/priority users etc. Otherwise, looks like a pretty decent offensive team. Hope I helped. Good luck. :)

Edit: In fact, if it were me, I'd ditch the physical Lucario set. It's walled too easily by whatever move choice you have. I'd use either a special Agility + Life Orb set, Modest nature, with Aura Sphere, Dark Pulse, and HP Ice, or an Agility + Nasty Plot set with Aura Sphere and Dark Pulse, which hits everything in the game (except maybe a couple Pokemon) at least neutrally. Most everyone expects Lucario to be physical as well, so when they send in their Gliscor/Jellicent/whatever, you'll have an Agility or Nasty Plot up, hopefully behind dual screens. If it is behind dual screens, you can probably boost even more. Double Dancers are extremely hard to counter, especially with the protection of screens.

 

[Seb125]

Imo, this team would benefit greatly from dual screens. I'd replace Starmie with Dual Screen Espeon. In fact, I believe the definition of hyper offense is using dual screens + sweepers as you are doing. You won't really need a spinner since most of your Pokemon are resistant to SR/Spikes/TSpikes, and Espeon will help prevent the laying down of hazards. Then, once screens are up, someone would be insane to use hazards against something like Lucario. They will want to kill it ASAP, further preventing hazards. Screens also help prevent your extremely frail/Life Orb Pokemon from dying too quickly to counters/scarf/priority users etc. Otherwise, looks like a pretty decent offensive team. Hope I helped. Good luck. :)

Edit: In fact, if it were me, I'd ditch the physical Lucario set. It's walled too easily by whatever move choice you have. I'd use either a special Agility + Life Orb set, Modest nature, with Aura Sphere, Dark Pulse, and HP Ice, or an Agility + Nasty Plot set with Aura Sphere and Dark Pulse, which hits everything in the game (except maybe a couple Pokemon) at least neutrally. Most everyone expects Lucario to be physical as well, so when they send in their Gliscor/Jellicent/whatever, you'll have an Agility or Nasty Plot up, hopefully behind dual screens. If it is behind dual screens, you can probably boost even more. Double Dancers are extremely hard to counter, especially with the protection of screens.

Im liking your dual screen suggestion, it never crossed my mind. Also the main reason for me to use Lucario was becuase its Physical Power stood out but Ill give the special one a try. Ill definately start other considering double dancers too since Lucario has been countered more often lately by the likes of pokemon like Breloom and Keldeo.

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

This is quite a nice team, however I think that it could be improved. While Hydreigon surely is a nice wallbreaking, the majority of the thing it will break are Special walls, while your two main sweepers, Salamence and Lucario, are Physical sweepers. Lucario can easily set up on things that Hydreigon is able to break, such as Blissey, while things that Lucario have issues with, like Physically Defensive Hippowdon, will not be tempted to switch into Hydreigon. I think that results in a bad offensive synergy between all of your Pokemon, and will not help your team a lot. One thing that I think would help your team a lot more over Hydreigon would be a Swords Dance Garchomp. SD Garchomp is a fantastic wallbreaker which is capable of breaking through many physical walls, which means that Lucario and Salamence will have a much easier time sweeping late game. Garchomp has very, very few counters after a Swords Dance, which makes it such an effective wallbreaker.

While Scizor is a great Pokemon for an offensive team such as yours, I think that you should use a different set. Being locked into one move really sucks, especially when the rest of your team is made of frail sweepers, because you'll be letting the opposing Pokemon free turns to set up, which will mean that your team is going to take a lot of damage. I think that you could try a Swords Dance pivot set instead. With that set, Scizor can be a good boosting sweeper, provides priority with Bullet Punch, and scouting with U-turn. While Swords Dance + U-turn might seem weird, both moves are actually used in very different situations. U-turn allows Scizor to scout early game, which is pretty cool, while Swords Dance an give it a way to sweep late game.

Here are the sets you should use:

Garchomp and Scizor

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Rough Skin
Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Outrage
~Earthquake
~Fire Blast
~Swords Dance

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Technician
Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SpD
~Bullet Punch
~U-turn
~Swords Dance
~Roost

Good luck!

 

[Seb125]

Hi

This is quite a nice team, however I think that it could be improved. While Hydreigon surely is a nice wallbreaking, the majority of the thing it will break are Special walls, while your two main sweepers, Salamence and Lucario, are Physical sweepers. Lucario can easily set up on things that Hydreigon is able to break, such as Blissey, while things that Lucario have issues with, like Physically Defensive Hippowdon, will not be tempted to switch into Hydreigon. I think that results in a bad offensive synergy between all of your Pokemon, and will not help your team a lot. One thing that I think would help your team a lot more over Hydreigon would be a Swords Dance Garchomp. SD Garchomp is a fantastic wallbreaker which is capable of breaking through many physical walls, which means that Lucario and Salamence will have a much easier time sweeping late game. Garchomp has very, very few counters after a Swords Dance, which makes it such an effective wallbreaker.

While Scizor is a great Pokemon for an offensive team such as yours, I think that you should use a different set. Being locked into one move really sucks, especially when the rest of your team is made of frail sweepers, because you'll be letting the opposing Pokemon free turns to set up, which will mean that your team is going to take a lot of damage. I think that you could try a Swords Dance pivot set instead. With that set, Scizor can be a good boosting sweeper, provides priority with Bullet Punch, and scouting with U-turn. While Swords Dance + U-turn might seem weird, both moves are actually used in very different situations. U-turn allows Scizor to scout early game, which is pretty cool, while Swords Dance an give it a way to sweep late game.

Here are the sets you should use:

Garchomp and Scizor

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Rough Skin
Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Outrage
~Earthquake
~Fire Blast
~Swords Dance

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Technician
Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SpD
~Bullet Punch
~U-turn
~Swords Dance
~Roost

Good luck!

You make a very good point with the hydreigon, maybe it just isnt fit for a team with Lucario. I like the Garchomp as he can potentially be a third sweeper. I have a few questions. First what do you think of yache berry over life orb. It allows for easier set up and the extra damage isnt needed. Also tho he is nice, dont you think that gives me too much of a physically offensive team? Without Hydreigon, I only have one Pokemon to hit on the Special side. Do you think maybe Scizor should be replaced for a Special attacker thay can fill a similar role like Rotom-w. Dont feel limited to the Pokemon I have listed in the intro. Either way, thanks for the advice.