ORAS OU Lucario team! (First RMT)

[jakeyd12]

Hello everyone! My name is Jake. I have always wanted to get into competitive but I am horribly bad at team building. I can use all the criticism (besides totally swapping out lucario. I will take set changes but I do want to keep him on the team if at all possible. I will still appreciate any comments suggesting replacements for lucario but I want to try to avoid that option) anyone wants to give me so please feel free to comment with suggested changes/tweaks down below! I finally feel that I have made a decent team (could be totally wrong lol!) and I would like some feedback! Here it is :)

PS: My explanations may be off as well so please don't think that I know exactly what I'm talking about because for all I know I could be wrong.. that is why i am coming to the community of smogon :D
PSS: for battlespot singles, I will use mega lucario instead of mega latios because life orb latios is just as deadly and mega lucario is wel... ubers :P

#1:

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Ice Punch

Although Lucario has it's flaws, it's very easy to set up a swords dance and sweep a team with CC. CC obviously being the best and most reliable option lucario has access to when it comes to fighting STAB and with +2 attack, it can sweep entire teams. I know he's not the best option but I do want to have him on the team as he is my favorite pokemon and can be viable if played correctly. Lets not forget the possible justified boost that can be baited with the following pokemon. Ice punch is there to act as coverage for annoying ground/flying types such as lando-t and gliscor

#2:

Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

Latios acts as my special attacking powerhouse. Latios takes care of many threats to lucario including as gengar and all of the dragons before any set ups. I taught him defog as well just to be safe and have someone for hazard removal should I need it. As Latios is arguably one of the strongest mons in OU, latios was a must for this team.

#3

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Explosion

So, I decided to jump on the Lando-T train. I was a little against using this mon because everyone in their mother uses it but once I started testing this team I understood why. This mon is an absolute monster. With a choice scarf, EQ and stone edge obliterate almost anything in it's path and it still has surprising ability to take hits you wouldn't expect it to. U-Turn is the first part of the volt-turn core and can be great for gaining switch initiative and explosion is always there for surprises.

#4

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Rest

Rotom-Wash is the second piece of the volt-turn core. Volt-switch and u-turn allow for a lot of mind games and optimal swaps while proving chip damage and sometimes even more damage then expected. Hydro pump takes care of a lot of fire type pokemon while will-o-wisp cripples physical attackers. Rest is reliable recovery with the chesto berry but I could just swap it for pain split and use lefty's. So far, rest has been nicer.

#5

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast
The special wall of the team. Clefable is an absolute tank and also acts as a cleric with wish and heal bell. I really love this pokemon and it adds a fairy type to my team which seemed to be much needed. I had a tough time deciding between unaware and magic guard so I just went with unaware as it is the popular choice but please feel free to suggest otherwise and explain why.

#6

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

The last piece of the team. I had the first 5 pokemon set and I was struggling with what I was missing. No stealth rock, no toxic, and no taunt! Well, heatran fixed that role while also giving me a stab fire type attack that burns as much (sometimes it seems like more) than scald. I gave heatran the air balloon to be able to avoid one of his weaknesses further strengthening the synergy between the pokemon on my team.

So that's it guys! Please give all the criticism necessary and I will be responding as actively as possible. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far and I look forward to your feedback!

 

[zbr]

ah beautiful. luke teams are my favorite (and yes i do spam mluke on bss too so maybe i can hit you up with my bss squad in the future? xd). i love playing luke in current day OU because it's an amazingly underrated mon that deserves more mentions as it can easily decimate teams that are underprepared for it. I assume that this team is going to be primarily for cartridge play but i am still going to give you suggestions because the primary mode of competitive gaming here on smogon is via the online simulator. the only thing that i probably see as issues for the team is actually rain spam cause this team can actually play past a lot of unfavorable situations. however, this team's only win condition is luke which means you should alter your team to suit the playstyle of smashing opponent's faces in with luke.

now luke teams tend to be a lot more hazard stack oriented because luke , despite being powerful , is not capable of cleaning up / smashing things in without some sort of support and hazards eases your prediction a lot more since it forces mons into 2hko / ohko ranges from either luke or lando-t. right off the bat, i actually think that if you want to use a mega on this squad and play in smogon metagames, i suggest running cm stored power refresh m-latias over m-latios. simply because m-latios is severely outclassed by mzardx and other dd mons and it forces you to waste your mega slot. by running this set, you gain an invaluable addition to the team as you now have a solid water resist that can come in on specskeld and not fear the icy wind 2hko. despite the fact that this means you have no defogger, i will explain later as to why a defogger is not necessary on this team.

next, i'm going to do some minor changes to certain mons. for example, heatran should run max hp max spe timid taunt rocks with lefties instead of the current spread as this gives your team a mon that can force stall into submission more easily and as long as you don't mindlessly let your lefties get knocked off, this variant of heatran can easily give stall a run for it's money. another good change would be to run 88 speed on your rotom. this ensures that you don't lose to rouge mons like cb azu and lo daunts that can easily destroy your team should you not have a solid switch into it and lastly, your lando-t set should be scarf jolly over adamant. this spread ensure you hit 463 speed and allows you to outpace threats like mbee, mscept, jolly gyara at +1, neutral sharpedo at +1, mzam, maero, and scarf drill, all of which you would lose to if you ran adamant instead. those are just some minor nitpicks about spreads that would maximise efficiency for your team.

lastly, looking at the team the only mons that are now badly affected by hazards are unaware clef, heatran and lucario. we can minimise that number by using standard twave magic guard clef. this is because it not only gives you a solid way to deal with threats like m-sab and mons like mandibuzz and whatnot, it is also an extremely good status absorber. this way we can easily reduce our matchup problems and reduce the reliability on hazard controllers. however, should you want to opt for a more offensive version of this team, you can opt to run klefki over the clef slot simply because it is one of the best spikes hazards setter and it can easily pressure our opposing m-sab while being able to set hazards onto the opposing side of the team.

hopefully my suggestions help you climb up the ladder more and improve your team so that it rectifies some of the weaknesses that are present. good luck and have fun in the game! /cheers/

 

[jakeyd12]

ZANBAKUResh alright thank you for the response! I'll be sure to take your suggestions and run with them. Would you mind giving me the full latias spread/moves for showdown because i'm quite unfamiliar with that set. Also, what do you recommend I take the 88 points out of in favor of speed on rotom-w?

For BSS, would I be able to use this latias with a different item? perhaps the soul dew? or do you recommend I swap back to the life orb latios?

 

[zbr]

ZANBAKUResh alright thank you for the response! I'll be sure to take your suggestions and run with them. Would you mind giving me the full latias spread/moves for showdown because i'm quite unfamiliar with that set. Also, what do you recommend I take the 88 points out of in favor of speed on rotom-w?

For BSS, would I be able to use this latias with a different item? perhaps the soul dew? or do you recommend I swap back to the life orb latios?

Hide

(Latias-Mega) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Refresh
- Stored Power

[: you can take out evs from def to put into speed for rotomw. for bss i suggest using LO latios + mluke cause iirc soul dew is banned am i right?

 

[Rampecker]

Hi! You actually have a solid team so it doesn't struggle with a lot of things. You do have some sets / mons that aren't that good in this meta, so that's the only thing im gonna fix here.

M-Latias > M-Latios: M-Latios isn't viable in this meta because there's no reason to use it over regular Latios. With M-Latias on your team you check the same things such as Electric Types, Keldeo and Volcanion. I'd recommend using BoltBeam coverage, it hits a lot of things in the tier such as Lando, Thundurus, Azumarill, etc. with super effective damage. I decided to put T-Wave as the last move to help Lucario, you're able to paralyze fast mons like Jirachi, M-Zard X and M-Lopunny so that way Lucario has an easier time sweeping. A standard spread of max hp and max speed is used to have more bulk to check things better and to outspeed Keldeo, M-Pinsir, Garchomp and speed tie with other Lati's.

Leftovers > Chesto Berry: Rest Rotom-W isn't that reliable tbh, it gets worn down really fast with U-Turns and Rocks Damage which isn't good. With Leftovers you get recovery every turn, this checks Flying types like M-Pinsir and Talonflame in a more consistent way. Since you don't have Chesto Berry then you don't need Rest, you can try using Pain Split over it and it works as a second way to get recovery if you get weakened.

Iron Tail > Ice Punch: The main problem with Ice Punch is that you don't have a way to hit Clefable. With Iron Tail you OHKO Clefable and if you're boosted then you can still do a lot of damage to Defensive Landorus/Chomp and you only need like 30% to put them in range of +2 Iron Tail.

I agree with all of the other changes ZANBAKUResh made to Clefable, Landorus and Heatran.

That's it for my rate. I hope you like the changes, have fun!

Sets

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Iron Tail

Latias-Mega (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Thunder Wave

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split

 

[AD impish john]

Yo what's up, Damn Dainal here!

Firstly, Mega Latios isn't at all Viable in the ORAS OU Metagame, as there is no reason to run it over Regular LO Latios. I suggest using Mega Latias instead as this makes your team more Bulkier, and it checks the same things like Electric Types, Keldeo, and Volcanion. For the set, I'd recommend using Standard BoltBeam as this Coverage let's it hit a lot of things in the Tier such as Lando-T, Garchomp, Azumarill, Skarmory, and etc. Which will let Lucario have an easier time Sweeping. The other two moves can be Recover and Defog for Recovery and Hazard Removal.

RestoChesto Rotom-W isn't very reliable, since if you use Rest again without Chesto, you're vulnerable for 2-3 Turns. Instead, use Leftovers+Pain Split as this gives you recovery every turn, which helps checks Talonflame, and other Chip Damage more dependably. Another change for Rotom-W is to give it 88 Speed, which like zbr said, outspeeds Crawdaunt which is becoming more common in the OU Metagame. You also could try running 220 Spe, if you want to be able to outspeed Base 70 Speed mons like Breloom, & Volcanion.

Since your team now mostly has their own recovery options, there isn't really a reason to still have Cleric Clefable. I recommend using CM+T-Wave Clefable as with Magic Guard, this will give you a solid way to deal against Mega Sableye, making a good Status Absorber for your Team. T-Wave will be helpful crippling opposing mons and is good synergy with Lucario helping with it's Sweep against Jirach, and Mega Lopunny.

Next, I noticed that your team doesn't really enjoy switching into Mega Gardevoir, so to make things easier, try running Chople Berry Heatran which let's it tank a Focus Blast from Mega Gardevoir which let's it weaken it by a Lava Plume or even getting up Stealth Rocks. Chople Berry can also be helpful for Superpower Torn-T, Mega Lopunny, Breloom and Hammer Arm Metagross making it not so limited. Also Heatran should run Max HP & Spe to outrun most Pokemon that try to outspeed it's Sp Def EV Spread.

232+ SpA Gardevoir Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Chople Berry Heatran: 131-155 (40.5 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Lastly just a minor change, is to make Lando-T Jolly Nature instead of Adamant. This let's it hit 463 Speed, outspeeding threats such as Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactly, Mega Beedrill, and +1 Mega Gyarados. Anyway, hoped I helped, gl with the team!

Final Suggestions

>

Jolly>Adamant

Leftovers+Pain Split>RestoChesto

CM+T-Wave>Unaware

Chople Berry>Air Balloon

Sets

Latias-Mega (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Defog

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Def / 220 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled

Heatran @ Chople Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Taunt