Extremespeed can be useful to hit Choice Scarf Keldeo, Heatran and Volcarona. Anyway, +2 Bullet Punch is better because is boosted by Adaptability and OHKOes Gengar and Terrakion.Normal Luke = Extremespeed
Mega Luke = Bullet Punch
Here's the scary thing. If you have a SD off, most of the time Scenario plays like thisAnd Aegislash? If luke runs iron tail it gets walled by aegislash.
It depends on what your team needs. I understand LO Lucario ExSpeed are stronger but it's necessary to run on regular Lucario if Talonflames, Starmies, Scarf Keldeo are a problem.Normal Luke = Extremespeed
Mega Luke = Bullet Punch
This individual has summed it up correctly.The choice isn't that clear cut for Mega Lucario. They have exactly the same power, and Bullet Punch beats Mega Gengar while Extremespeed beats Talonflame, so it's a heavily team-dependent choice.
You could technically run both. BUT MegaLucario kills heatrands and Volcarona regardless. If Terrakion isnt scarfed, it looses to CloseC. If a gengar switches in onto you, you are faster EVEN if it megaevolves.Extremespeed can be useful to hit Choice Scarf Keldeo, Heatran and Volcarona. Anyway, +2 Bullet Punch is better because is boosted by Adaptability and OHKOes Gengar and Terrakion.
You should post your team and we can see what to workout.I've been having trouble with the pokemon that bullet punch can't cover, but I'm wary of giving up the method of dealing with Mega Gengar right now since my team doesn't have much in that department.
Serious question here, since I haven't used Lucario since gen IV: what should I be looking to switch into in order to get that SD off?
I've been playing around with it and I either force a switch, get the SD off and proceed to sweep or wildly mispredict and lose Lucario immediately.
Just on the Talonflame note,Small nitpick, but Adaptability Bullet Punch and Extremespeed have the same strength.
The difference between these moves is coverage; coverage is necessary because their power without a Life Orb is rather underwhelming. Bullet Punch allows you to pick on Scarf-Terrakion, Mega-Gengar with little effort but what utility does Extremespeed have? You have a solid answer to offensive Starmie who can outspeed and OHKO Lucario with Hydro Pump. It is not a good answer to Scarf-Keldeo, which takes quite a bit of grind-work in order to wear it down enough for Extremespeed to KO it and at this stage you probably will have figured its set out anyway. Lucario does not need coverage in order to KO offensive Volcarona (Choice-Volcarona is bonkers in Singles due the mere existence of Stealth Rocks) and there is no way you get past a Scarf-Heatran expect with something like Agility a Scarf on the regular one. Talonflame is a valid target but only the Adamant LO Brave Bird is enough to OHKO Lucario. If it has taken SR and one LO damage beforehand, it can be knocked down with Bullet Punch.
Given Fairies have better special bulk than physical bulk, a physical Steel move would be better against them: this is one of the main reasons why people run Bullet Punch on Lucario. Vacuum Wave also offers fairly redundant coverage with Close Combat, and there are fewer notable threats that are threatened more from Vacuum Wave than Bullet Punch anyway.With Adaptability would a mixed set be a better fit? He could easily be one of the best wall breakers this gen.
Lucario@Lucarionite
Justified
Naive
~CC
~Flash Cannon (faries?)
~Vaccum Wave
~Work Up
252 Spe 252 SpA 4 HP
I only say Justified because you might be able to catch a dark type move on the switch if you switch from your spin blocker.
Just throwing out ideas, but might be interesting.
EDIT: Ah blow me, I thought Adaptability was that one ability that gave the pokemon a boost on the switch.
Why?Here's the scary thing. If you have a SD off, most of the time Scenario plays like this
Player 2 sent Aegislash
Player 1 used swords dance
Player 2 King's Shield
Player 1 Swords dance
You may outspeed Talonflame, but Gale Wing gives it a priority on Brave Bird. So unless you come up with a priority yourself, it will go first.If Talonflame was adamant, then a CC would be the better choice as you outspeed Talonflame.
However, what I've been running into is Jolly Flying gem Tflame.
252 Atk Flying Gem (custom) Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 219-258 (77.65 - 91.48%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Sadly what this calc didnt take into account is the boost from Flying Gem
To get Ice Punch you need to transfer it from HG/SS, because it is a tutor move, not egg move (I tried breeding it in).Sticky Web support needs mentioning; Lucario wrecks most of the tier with it. Also, Lucario should get mentioning of Ice Punch over Extreme Speed since I've seen Landorus-T here and there and it is not pretty when they switch in.
I do hope that you plan on going into depth with this. Saying "Period" doesn't justify the end of a conversation.I wouldn't be mentioning Iron Tail at all on a Pokemon that quite enjoys the luxury of 100 acc attacks and being sure they hit the target. 75 acc is too low, period.
He/She meant generally speaking after the Pokebank comes out.To get Ice Punch you need to transfer it from HG/SS, because it is a tutor move, not egg move (I tried breeding it in).
Yes, you are correct. We are in agreementYou may outspeed Talonflame, but Gale Wing gives it a priority on Brave Bird. So unless you come up with a priority yourself, it will go first.
Also, we did not consider the Flying Gem because it is not legally obtainable, as far as we know. A Flying Gem Acrobatics would be a clean OHKO, but if you manage to ping the Flying Gem beforehands, you can survive one hit - as long as your defense is not -1 or lower.
They fill different roles. Lucario's speed allows it to Kill threats that M-Maw would usually get hurt by. Not to mention it has access to two huge priority moves Bullet Punch and ExSpeed.Question: how does Mega Lucario compare to Mega Mawile? At a glance, they look like they work exactly the same - deal massive damage as fast as possible but still surviving a hit or two, helped up by priority moves and perhaps swords dance. But I've been hearing say M-Lucario should be practically uber, but not M-Mawile. So what's the difference?
Is it because of its sweeping ability? Being able to OHKO a lot without retribution thanks to its speed, while Mega Mawile is great on a 1v1 but easy to whittle down with more?
So do you prefer Lucario to have SD/CC/IceP/EQ and no Priority? because I would agree that this set is legibleSticky Web support needs mentioning; Lucario wrecks most of the tier with it. Also, Lucario should get mentioning of Ice Punch over Extreme Speed since I've seen Landorus-T here and there and it is not pretty when they switch in.
There is nothing to go in depth to, I spelled it out for you in two sentences.I do hope that you plan on going into depth with this. Saying "Period" doesn't justify the end of a conversation
I understand where your concern is but I'd like to point out that those reliable moves are not killing anyone or the coverage on them is not to great.There is nothing to go in depth to, I spelled it out for you in two sentences.
But if you believe near-Focus Miss accuracy is something a Pokemon as frail as Lucario will enjoy using instead of reliably being able to connect meaningful hits to those threats, then fine by me, I won't judge you. :)
I'm not advocating Iron Tail as I haven't tested it, but I just wanted to demonstrate how utterly flawed this train of thought is ("period."). If Gengar never learnt Focus Blast then it would not have been anywhere near as powerful and consistently OU as it has been. When Gengar uses Focus Blast is understands that 30% of the time it's going to miss and Gengar is probably going to get OHK'd by the thing it's trying to Focus Blast, but the game isn't anywhere near this simple. A lot of the time Focus Blast is going to let you get past something you otherwise had no business getting past, which is huge when the enemy team probably only had that one thing preventing their team from getting swept by Gengar. Additionally the game isn't 1v1 and you often are trying to hit something that is switching in, which if you predicted correctly means even if you miss you aren't dying for it. No-one is saying that if Gliscor is in on you with full HP that you aren't allowed to swap out and have to Iron Tail, you choose when the risk is worth the reward.I wouldn't be mentioning Iron Tail at all on a Pokemon that quite enjoys the luxury of 100 acc attacks and being sure they hit the target. 75 acc is too low, period.
What you just said is best summed up as a petty risk vs reward argument using an example which isn't even comparable to this situation here. Focus Blast being a major, (yet not perfectly reliable) coverage move for Gengar has very little to do with a Pokemon that has a fundamentally different role and is known for severe 4mss.-snip-
Fortunately, that quote wasn't made anywhere by me. Also, statistical hyperbole is disgusting.To make a grand statement like "frail pokemon can't afford non-100% accurate moves" is to ignore 99% of how battling works.