[OVERVIEW]
Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful mixed attacker that is able to deal huge amounts of damage, especially with Close Combat. With its Fighting- and Steel-type STAB attacks, Mega Lucario can make quick work of the two most popular Mega Evolutions in the tier, Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also reaches a great Speed tier that lets it take advantage of its powerful attacks, beating the many base 110 Speed Pokemon as well as max Speed Thundurus. Mega Lucario's movepool is decent, lacking only an accurate, strong physical Steel-type move, which forces it to operate as a mixed attacker and holds it back against the specially defensive Fairy-types in the tier. Sadly, Mega Lucario's already low defenses seem even lower due to the necessity of running a Defense- or Special Defense-lowering nature. This makes Mega Lucario especially susceptible to priority attacks, even if they aren't super effective against it. Those low defenses also make Mega Lucario practically useless if it doesn't have the Speed advantage, as most super effective or strong neutral hits will knock it out.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute / Extreme Speed
move 4: Detect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Naive
evs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Close Combat is Mega Lucario's most reliable STAB attack and hits really hard with the Adaptability boost. Although Close Combat drops Mega Lucario's defenses, the damage output is easily worth it. Flash Cannon has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated and takes on Fairy-types that can stomach a Close Combat. Stone Edge hits Mega Charizard Y as well as Thundurus and Talonflame, all three of which resist Mega Lucario's Steel- and Fighting-type attacks. If carrying Stone Edge, Mega Lucario has the ability to outspeed and OHKO the three most common Mega Pokemon in the tier: Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, and Mega Charizard Y. Substitute can be used instead of Stone Edge to avoid status effects and Intimidate, as both are crippling to Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Once behind a Substitute, Mega Lucario also gains the ability to survive any one hit and can take advantage of the pressure applied by this buffer. Extreme Speed is also a viable alternative, allowing Mega Lucario to get around Sucker Punch or knock out a weakened priority user such as Talonflame or Thundurus. Detect allows Mega Lucario to stall out field conditions or protect itself while its partner deals with a threat. In this case, Detect is used over Protect to avoid Imprison + Protect users trying to cripple Lucario.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment along with a Naive nature is used to let Mega Lucario outrun Mega Diancie and Thundurus and at least tie with opposing Mega Lucario. 244 Attack EVs are used to guarantee that Mega Lucario can OHKO standard Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, even after an Intimidate drop. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack to power up Flash Cannon. A Naive nature is chosen over a Hasty one to help Mega Lucario against common priority attacks, the majority of which are physical. Inner Focus is used to allow Mega Lucario the option to defer Mega Evolution against a predicted Fake Out and subsequently do lots of damage to the Fake Out user. A more specially based spread of 132 Atk / 124 SpA / 252 Spe can be used if not carrying Stone Edge, as this is the minimum Attack investment needed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after an Intimidate drop. The boosted Special Attack investment also grants Mega Lucario a better chance to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Flash Cannon.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Lucario works fairly well during any stage of the game, hitting threats hard until it eventually falls. Against a predicted Fake Out, Mega Evolution should be postponed in favor of getting to move that turn, as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat and will at least Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan should it choose to not use Fake Out. Otherwise, Mega Lucario commonly needs to use Detect on its first turn out in order to get the Speed boost from Mega Evolving, as it will otherwise be outsped by a large number of common Pokemon.
Team Options
========
Thundurus works quite well as an offensive partner for Mega Lucario, removing threatening Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Bulky Thundurus sets can also prevent status and Trick Room, which could otherwise reduce Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Togekiss or Amoonguss can operate as a redirector to allow Mega Lucario to set up a Substitute should it be running the move. Togekiss also beats the Fighting-types that Mega Lucario fears as well as opposing Amoonguss, which is one of the best answers to non-Substitute Mega Lucario. Dark-types such as Darkrai, Hydreigon, and Hoopa-U can take on Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent, many of which wall Mega Lucario. Since Landorus-T threatens Mega Lucario so much, teammates that beat it such as Gyarados and Suicune come in handy. Wide Guard support from teammates such as Aegislash is appreciated, protecting Mega Lucario from Earthquakes and Heat Waves that would otherwise take it out. Quick Guard support from Keldeo or Scrafty can also come in handy, as Mega Lucario is so frail that many priority attacks will knock it out in one hit. Quick Guard also protects from Thundurus's priority Thunder Wave. Talonflame works quite well with Mega Lucario, scaring out the Fighting-types that it hates and also removing many priority attackers and fast Pokemon. Talonflame also handles Amoonguss and Aegislash, which would otherwise wall Mega Lucario.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Iron Tail can be used over Flash Cannon in order to OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, but its shaky accuracy and the fact that it's weakened by Intimidate makes it a risky pick. Crunch or Dark Pulse can be used so that Ghost- and Psychic-types cannot wall Mega Lucario, but neither hits very hard without the Adaptability boost applied to many of Mega Lucario's other moves. Bullet Punch grants Mega Lucario a different priority option from Extreme Speed and gets the Adaptability boost. However, the main targets of Bullet Punch are typically better covered by the moves found in the main set. Ice Punch can catch Landorus-T on the switch in and hit Latios harder than any of Mega Lucario's other options. Feint allows Mega Lucario to break Protect, Quick Guard, or Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom and outprioritize priority users such as Talonflame.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-Type Pokemon**: Keldeo and Conkeldurr, among others, can all take any one hit from Mega Lucario and OHKO it in return with their own STAB Fighting-type moves. Conkeldurr even has Mach Punch to potentially OHKO Mega Lucario before it has a change to attack.
**Fire-Type Pokemon**: Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona take very little damage from Mega Lucario's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively in return, but they must be wary of Stone Edge. Volcarona even has a chance to burn Mega Lucario that target it with Close Combat due to Flame Body.
**Fairy-Type Pokemon**: Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir have enough special bulk to survive one Flash Cannon and OHKO Mega Lucario in return with Hyper Voice, even if Mega Lucario is behind a Substitute. Azumarill also takes any of Mega Lucario's attacks handily, and may even set up a Belly Drum, followed by an easy OHKO Mega Lucario with a +6 Aqua Jet.
**Flying-Type Pokemon**: Most viable Flying-types resist Mega Lucario's STAB moves, though a Stone Edge will hurt. Talonflame is especially troublesome for Mega Lucario to face, as its Gale Wings ability allows it to move before Mega Lucario can attack, even if it carries Stone Edge.
**Bulky Poison-, Psychic-, and Ghost-Type Pokemon**: Many bulky Pokemon that aren't hit super effectively by Mega Lucario's moves, such as Amoonguss, Cresselia, and Aegislash, can easily take anything Mega Lucario throws at them and retaliate with status effects, Speed control, or a decently strong attack.
**Intimidate and Burns**: As Mega Lucario carries primarily physical attacks, Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Landorus-T cripple it. Burns from Will-O-Wisp users such as Gengar and Rotom-W have a similar but more permanent and damaging effect. Although Mega Lucario still hits decently hard at -1 Attack, it is nowhere near as threatening.
**Faster Pokemon**: As a frail Pokemon, Mega Lucario is susceptible to faster opponents such as Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Blaziken with Speed boosts, all of which outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Lucario is also threatened by priority users such as Talonflame and Conkeldurr.
**Paralysis, Tailwind, and Trick Room**: Any form of Speed control, be it Thunder Wave from Thundurus or Gyarados, Tailwind from Talonflame or Suicune, or Trick Room from Jellicent or Cresselia, takes away the Speed advantage that, due to its frailty, Mega Lucario absolutely needs in order to function.
Adaptability coupled with high attacking stats makes Mega Lucario a powerful mixed attacker that is able to deal huge amounts of damage, especially with Close Combat. With its Fighting- and Steel-type STAB attacks, Mega Lucario can make quick work of the two most popular Mega Evolutions in the tier, Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Diancie. Mega Lucario also reaches a great Speed tier that lets it take advantage of its powerful attacks, beating the many base 110 Speed Pokemon as well as max Speed Thundurus. Mega Lucario's movepool is decent, lacking only an accurate, strong physical Steel-type move, which forces it to operate as a mixed attacker and holds it back against the specially defensive Fairy-types in the tier. Sadly, Mega Lucario's already low defenses seem even lower due to the necessity of running a Defense- or Special Defense-lowering nature. This makes Mega Lucario especially susceptible to priority attacks, even if they aren't super effective against it. Those low defenses also make Mega Lucario practically useless if it doesn't have the Speed advantage, as most super effective or strong neutral hits will knock it out.
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Stone Edge / Substitute / Extreme Speed
move 4: Detect
item: Lucarionite
ability: Inner Focus
nature: Naive
evs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Close Combat is Mega Lucario's most reliable STAB attack and hits really hard with the Adaptability boost. Although Close Combat drops Mega Lucario's defenses, the damage output is easily worth it. Flash Cannon has the benefit of ignoring any Intimidate drops that Mega Lucario may have accumulated and takes on Fairy-types that can stomach a Close Combat. Stone Edge hits Mega Charizard Y as well as Thundurus and Talonflame, all three of which resist Mega Lucario's Steel- and Fighting-type attacks. If carrying Stone Edge, Mega Lucario has the ability to outspeed and OHKO the three most common Mega Pokemon in the tier: Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, and Mega Charizard Y. Substitute can be used instead of Stone Edge to avoid status effects and Intimidate, as both are crippling to Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Once behind a Substitute, Mega Lucario also gains the ability to survive any one hit and can take advantage of the pressure applied by this buffer. Extreme Speed is also a viable alternative, allowing Mega Lucario to get around Sucker Punch or knock out a weakened priority user such as Talonflame or Thundurus. Detect allows Mega Lucario to stall out field conditions or protect itself while its partner deals with a threat. In this case, Detect is used over Protect to avoid Imprison + Protect users trying to cripple Lucario.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment along with a Naive nature is used to let Mega Lucario outrun Mega Diancie and Thundurus and at least tie with opposing Mega Lucario. 244 Attack EVs are used to guarantee that Mega Lucario can OHKO standard Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan, even after an Intimidate drop. The remaining EVs are placed into Special Attack to power up Flash Cannon. A Naive nature is chosen over a Hasty one to help Mega Lucario against common priority attacks, the majority of which are physical. Inner Focus is used to allow Mega Lucario the option to defer Mega Evolution against a predicted Fake Out and subsequently do lots of damage to the Fake Out user. A more specially based spread of 132 Atk / 124 SpA / 252 Spe can be used if not carrying Stone Edge, as this is the minimum Attack investment needed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after an Intimidate drop. The boosted Special Attack investment also grants Mega Lucario a better chance to OHKO Mega Gardevoir with Flash Cannon.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Lucario works fairly well during any stage of the game, hitting threats hard until it eventually falls. Against a predicted Fake Out, Mega Evolution should be postponed in favor of getting to move that turn, as non-Mega Lucario still has a chance to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat and will at least Speed tie with Mega Kangaskhan should it choose to not use Fake Out. Otherwise, Mega Lucario commonly needs to use Detect on its first turn out in order to get the Speed boost from Mega Evolving, as it will otherwise be outsped by a large number of common Pokemon.
Team Options
========
Thundurus works quite well as an offensive partner for Mega Lucario, removing threatening Flying-types such as Talonflame and Landorus-T. Bulky Thundurus sets can also prevent status and Trick Room, which could otherwise reduce Mega Lucario's effectiveness. Togekiss or Amoonguss can operate as a redirector to allow Mega Lucario to set up a Substitute should it be running the move. Togekiss also beats the Fighting-types that Mega Lucario fears as well as opposing Amoonguss, which is one of the best answers to non-Substitute Mega Lucario. Dark-types such as Darkrai, Hydreigon, and Hoopa-U can take on Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Aegislash, and Jellicent, many of which wall Mega Lucario. Since Landorus-T threatens Mega Lucario so much, teammates that beat it such as Gyarados and Suicune come in handy. Wide Guard support from teammates such as Aegislash is appreciated, protecting Mega Lucario from Earthquakes and Heat Waves that would otherwise take it out. Quick Guard support from Keldeo or Scrafty can also come in handy, as Mega Lucario is so frail that many priority attacks will knock it out in one hit. Quick Guard also protects from Thundurus's priority Thunder Wave. Talonflame works quite well with Mega Lucario, scaring out the Fighting-types that it hates and also removing many priority attackers and fast Pokemon. Talonflame also handles Amoonguss and Aegislash, which would otherwise wall Mega Lucario.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Iron Tail can be used over Flash Cannon in order to OHKO Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir, but its shaky accuracy and the fact that it's weakened by Intimidate makes it a risky pick. Crunch or Dark Pulse can be used so that Ghost- and Psychic-types cannot wall Mega Lucario, but neither hits very hard without the Adaptability boost applied to many of Mega Lucario's other moves. Bullet Punch grants Mega Lucario a different priority option from Extreme Speed and gets the Adaptability boost. However, the main targets of Bullet Punch are typically better covered by the moves found in the main set. Ice Punch can catch Landorus-T on the switch in and hit Latios harder than any of Mega Lucario's other options. Feint allows Mega Lucario to break Protect, Quick Guard, or Wide Guard to allow its partner more freedom and outprioritize priority users such as Talonflame.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-Type Pokemon**: Keldeo and Conkeldurr, among others, can all take any one hit from Mega Lucario and OHKO it in return with their own STAB Fighting-type moves. Conkeldurr even has Mach Punch to potentially OHKO Mega Lucario before it has a change to attack.
**Fire-Type Pokemon**: Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona take very little damage from Mega Lucario's STAB moves and can hit it super effectively in return, but they must be wary of Stone Edge. Volcarona even has a chance to burn Mega Lucario that target it with Close Combat due to Flame Body.
**Fairy-Type Pokemon**: Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir have enough special bulk to survive one Flash Cannon and OHKO Mega Lucario in return with Hyper Voice, even if Mega Lucario is behind a Substitute. Azumarill also takes any of Mega Lucario's attacks handily, and may even set up a Belly Drum, followed by an easy OHKO Mega Lucario with a +6 Aqua Jet.
**Flying-Type Pokemon**: Most viable Flying-types resist Mega Lucario's STAB moves, though a Stone Edge will hurt. Talonflame is especially troublesome for Mega Lucario to face, as its Gale Wings ability allows it to move before Mega Lucario can attack, even if it carries Stone Edge.
**Bulky Poison-, Psychic-, and Ghost-Type Pokemon**: Many bulky Pokemon that aren't hit super effectively by Mega Lucario's moves, such as Amoonguss, Cresselia, and Aegislash, can easily take anything Mega Lucario throws at them and retaliate with status effects, Speed control, or a decently strong attack.
**Intimidate and Burns**: As Mega Lucario carries primarily physical attacks, Intimidate users such as Gyarados and Landorus-T cripple it. Burns from Will-O-Wisp users such as Gengar and Rotom-W have a similar but more permanent and damaging effect. Although Mega Lucario still hits decently hard at -1 Attack, it is nowhere near as threatening.
**Faster Pokemon**: As a frail Pokemon, Mega Lucario is susceptible to faster opponents such as Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and Blaziken with Speed boosts, all of which outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Lucario is also threatened by priority users such as Talonflame and Conkeldurr.
**Paralysis, Tailwind, and Trick Room**: Any form of Speed control, be it Thunder Wave from Thundurus or Gyarados, Tailwind from Talonflame or Suicune, or Trick Room from Jellicent or Cresselia, takes away the Speed advantage that, due to its frailty, Mega Lucario absolutely needs in order to function.
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