LU-turncario(OU)

[Pharaoh]

I was thinking about new team ideas when it hit me, U-turn...
I would use it to provide holes in my opponent's team, and then strike with a sweeper that would benefit from having the likes of Blissey and such, weakened.

Team Building process:

As soon as i thought about it, Lucario came into mind, he could easily sweep and can use Extremespeed to pick off weakened Pokemon.

U-turn is Scizor's thing, He rules at it and allows me to pick off weakened Pokemon with Bullet Punch

Flygon is amazing with U-turn and has awesome synergy with Scizor typewise. And they could easily beat opponents together and keep them guessing.

Jirachi has always been one of my favourites in this gen and the last one, and almost every team I make has him. He works well with Flygon because Scizor can't switch in sometimes due to being slow and subseed celebi outspeeding it and all. A great asset overall

Infernape was the next on my agenda, he has good attack, speed and a nice movepool to beat bugs, steels etc. He has been a savior in many battles, and I love him.

I chose Yanmega as my lead because I found it very devastating to the opponent at many times, He sleeps, and at times, has put 3 pokemon out of commision(including sleep). He is a very nice asset to the team.

I replaced Yanmega with Azelf because it can set up rocks and still be a good threat to the opposition. I think it's a lot better with Azelf, really helps with the whole concept.

Azelf was replaced for Celebi because Cel can counter non-Bounce Gyarados. and it adds some bulk to the team.

Celebi @ Expert Belt
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 128 Atk/252 Spd/128 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- U-turn
- Recover

I chose Celebi as my lead because it can set up rocks easily and can U-turn out. It also counters Gyarados and has Recover to be quite bulky. It can also kill a lot of common leads like Azelf and Swampert.

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk/192 Spd/64 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Overheat
- Stone Edge

Infernape is part of the U-turn chain, He beats steels and such. Close Combat for steels and a stable source of damage. Overheat is useful for Scizor, and lots of other pokemon and with prediction makes it an absolute beast. Stone Edge is for Gyara and Mence and such. I switched from a scarf set to a physically based Mixape, so I'll see how it plays out.(too lazy to test it now)

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Thunderpunch

Another part of my chain. it's the standard, U-turn is obvious, Iron Head for flinch-hax, and an overall good source of damage. Fire Punch is for scizor and other steels. Thunderpunch is for gyara. You may wonder why i replaced trick. I replaced it cause I suck with it, and almost always give my opponent an easy win.

Flygon (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SAtk
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower
- U-turn

It glues the chain together well by supporting the ground weakness in the team and being an overall beast against almost anything. U-turn is obvious, Dragon Claw is for Mence and STAB. Earthquake for STAB and works for steels too. Flamethrower is for Scizor, Skarm and Forry to be able to beat them.

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/176 Atk/4 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Standard CB Scizor, Has the most powerful U-turn due to CB and STAB, Bullet Punch picks off weakened pokemon. Pursuit is for gengar and Latias and such. Superpower beats steels and T-Tar.

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Extremespeed

The whole team works around helping this to sweep although it usually doesn't need to sweep too much. Aura Sphere for STAB, HP Ice for Dragons, especially nite and mence. Shadow Ball hits Gengar, Latias and all psychics and supports Aura Sphere well. Extremespeed picks off weakened pokemon and is the reason Lucario is so much better than anything else at this role.

Pokemon Removed:

Yanmega (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Hypnosis
- Protect

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion

 

[Robo-Ky]

All of your U-turn Pokemon and Lucario would benefit greatly from Stealth Rock, as it lets them score earlier KOs than they would otherwise. In addition, Hypnosis leads are very, very risky, as they are pretty much entirely reliant on luck to shut down the opponent (due to Hypnosis' poor accuracy). For a similarly fast lead that can easily shut others down, set up SR, and open some holes in the opponent's team, Azelf makes a great choice:

Azelf @ Focus Sash
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
Levitate
-Stealth Rock
-Psychic
-Explosion
-Taunt / Fire Blast

I personally recommend Taunt since you want to be able to shut down other leads. You could run Fire Blast over Psychic, but Psychic gets STAB and tends to be more useful against common leads. Basically, you Taunt the opponent, set up SR, and attack until you feel you need to explode. Simple as that, and more effective than Yanmega.

Other than this, the team looks good. I like the general theme, opening up holes for a Lucario sweep while keeping offensive momentum if needed with U-turn. You may want to consider switching items on a couple of your U-turners; you sacrifice some power, but it gives you freedom to U-turn out if your opponent switches to a counter while you use a different attack. It's your choice.

 

[Pharaoh]

Thanks for that, added it in.

But I still desperately need a Gyarados counter.

 

[broodjekebab]

There are two bulky Gyarados counters that learn u-turn; celebi and zapdos.
I'd recommend celebi, since you're switching around a lot. In addition, it learns heal bell, and your team really doesn't like status (even though you have specific pokemon to absorb t-wave, wow, and toxic). However, I don't know which pokemon to replace without ruining the synergy. It is imperative that you keep Flygon and Infernape as fire-resists. You could swap Azelf for Celebi, with a defensive set of SR, GK and two of U-turn/recover/heal bell.

 

[Alan]

I know its kinda the essence of your team, but for a Gyarados counter, why not drop u-turn on ScarfRachi and put in Thunderpunch, it can omgwtf Gyara while it tries to set up a DD.
________
AERO WARRIORS

 

[Pharaoh]

i might put it up for trick, as i always give my opponent an edge when i use it

 

[CrossHair-a]

I know its kinda the essence of your team, but for a Gyarados counter, why not drop u-turn on ScarfRachi and put in Thunderpunch, it can omgwtf Gyara while it tries to set up a DD.

Or, instead, drop Fire Punch for Thunder Punch. You already have Flygon with Earthquake, and Infernape with Overheat. Both of these are much better chocies to handle steels, as a 75 Base Power Fire attack specifically for steels won't be doing much for you. Infernape can handle Scizor quite easily, as he resists his Bullet Punch and has Overheat, attacking his (and pretty much every single other steel including Skarmory and Metagross) weaker defenses. This gives you a safer counter/check to Gyaras that lack Earthquake, and Infernape can't switch into anything except an Ice Fang and go for the KO, while Jirachi can switch in on a +1 Waterfall and KO back (after Stealth Rock) with Thunder Punch.

Hope that helped; good luck with the team!

 

[SevveN]

The main problem I see here, with 4 pokemon with U-Turn and 3 pokes weak to Fire, the opponent can spam fire moves and eventually you'll either mispredict, or Flygon and Infernape will be overwhelmed. Two things I think yould greatly benefit from, is another fire resist, and Wish support. When U-Turning, you rack up a lot of residual damage. So, I suggest you should use a standard Wish Vaporeon over Jirachi. It is also a reliable counter to Gyarados.



Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/60 Spe
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]


You can also use Toxic and Ice Beam in the last spot, for future reference. Good luck with your team, I love the idea.



P.S. Ily Pharaoh ;)

 

[Pharaoh]

Crosshair - I'll try that

Les - Well, I could do that, especially since i'm thinking about replacing azelf with celebi. but I can't replace Jirachi, He holds the team together incredibly well. Jirachi comes out early game, I try to keep scizor to lategame as gyara can set up on it and it's not as fast. The pokemon I won't replace are Jirachi, Flygon, and Scizor. They're the heart of the team.

and since I'm adding thunderpunch anyway, Jirachi'll be more important than ever.

Edit: About the residual damage thing, do take care that 3 pokemon resist stealth rock and the other 3 are neutral, it isn't much of a problem. infernape is the only one affected by Toxic Spikes, and spikes is the only thing that may be trouble, but it's not too common.

 

[CrossHair-a]

Hey, thansk for taking my suggestion into account :P

I have a little nitpick: Lucario learns Dark Pulse, and I urge you to use it over Shadow Ball, because no pokemon is immune to Dark-type, and it hits pretty much everything you want Ghost to hit for super-effective damage. Also, the 20% flinch rate can help, maybe. Note that it boats the same Base Power: 80, as well. While Fighting resists it, you'll probably be using Aura Sphere vs. other fighters bar Heracross (:P)

Again, just a nitpick that could help.

 

[Friar]

Hey there,

Great team you have going here! Its great how everything works together to get Lucario that final end game sweep. I have just a few minor nitpicks to hopefully make the team run a little more smoothly.

Infernape - a great Pokemon to use alongside Lucario, but I think a change in set is required. Choice Scarf Infernape does not do very much for the team in my opinion, because you pack Flygon and Jirachi who are able to handle most every offensive threat imaginable. Therefore, we can use Infernape as our early game wall breaker, and an alternate sweeper in case Lucario goes down. The Physically Based MixApe is a fantastic Lucario partner because they both have similar counters, so once Infernape is through weakening Lucario's counters Lucario should be free to sweep. Here is the set:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Hasty / Blaze
252 Attack / 64 Sp. Attack / 192 Speed
-Close Combat
-Overheat
-Stone Edge
-U Turn / Mach Punch

Infernape is a tremendous offensive threat with the following set. Close Combat 2HKOs many Infernape "counters" such as Vaporeon, and is your go to move. Overheat is great to deal with troublesome Physical Walls like Gliscor, who when dealt with Lucario can sweep. Stone Edge hits stuff like Zapdos, Gyarados, and Salamence, who are all great checks / counters to your Lucario. I recommend U Turn in the last spot, as it allows you to catch unsuspecting Starmie and Latias on the switch and deal with them via Jirachi, Scizor, or Flygon, helping Infernape continue sweeping. However, Mach Punch could be considered to deal with the now popular ScarfTar which could spell trouble for Lucario. However, with Scizor, Jirachi, and Flygon on the team Scarftar shouldnt be a big problem so I think U Turn should stay. The Speed EVs outspeed +nature non scarfed base 100s such as Zapdos and Salamence.

Jirachi - Moveset looks fine (maybe consider Ice Punch over U Turn) but DEFINITELY run a Jolly nature. Jirachi needs the speed to tie with opposing ScarfRachi and ScarfFlygon as well as +1 DD Mence, who usually runs max speed.

Flygon- Max speed (Jolly Nature) for the same reason outlined above. Use Outrage over Dragon Claw because Flygon really really needs the power and because you should not need to Dragon Claw early game (instead utilizing U Turn), so being locked in should not be an issue. Also run Stone Edge over Flamethrower. Stone Edge hits Gyarados and Zapdos for super effective damage, which helps Lucario sweep. If you find you are having trouble with Gyarados, switch to ThunderPunch. In addition, you can deal with Skarmory through Azelf, Infernape, or cripple it with Trick, so you do not lose your only way of dealing damage to Skarmory by dropping Flamethrower. The move of making Flygon able to deal with Gyarados rather than Jirachi is better for a few reasons. First, you can still use both U Turn AND Trick on Jirachi, which will help you control matches a lot more, and your main Gyara check (as well as a check for a huge amount of other threats) cannot be trapped by Magnezone.

Scizor: Ok, you lack set up Pokemon, so there is one particular Pokemon that really threatens to wall much of your team if you arent careful: Vaporeon. If Infernape cannot smack it with a Close Combat when it first switches in, you are really in a load of trouble. You will need something to switch in and at least weaken it to the point it can be dealt with. Scizor is your man. All he needs is an EV spread of 160 HP / 176 Attack / 168 Sp. Def. / 4 Speed, still with the Adamant nature. This gives you a little bit more reliable switch in to Vaporeon and other Special attackers if you cannot deal with them some other way. Scizors attacking power is still monstrous with these Evs. Beware of Starmie, the Life Orb variant can still take this behemoth down with Hydro Pump after a tad bit of prior damage, you should probably attempt to hit it with U Turn with Infernape on the switch in or beat it down with the combination of Jirachi and Flygon by U Turn.

Lucario- I like the pokemon, not the moveset. You see, your whole team is designed on the physical side of the attacking spectrum, so to have a largely special Lucario does not make much sense. HP Ice wont hit much anyway, because Salamence, Zapdos, and Gliscor will outspeed you almost 100% of the time. Therefore, to truly complete the team, I recommend SD Lucario in the last spot. Nothing finishes games quite like Lucario, and your whole team is ready to give this particular variant a chance to shine.

Lucario @ Life Orb
Jolly / Inner Focus
252 Attack / 4 Def / 252 Speed
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-ExtremeSpeed
-Crunch

I'm sure you are familiar with this set, but a few things need explaining. First, the Jolly nature. I feel that because your whole team is based upon killing the same stuff, you will not need an Adamant Nature to break through stall. Instead, you might struggle a bit more against offense with an Adamant Lucario, but Jolly Luke is great against offense. Jolly with Crunch also allows you to outspeed 100% of Rotom appliances not running a Choice Scarf, making even Timid 188 Speed EV Rotom that are trying to outspeed Adamant Lucario an easy KO.

Thats all I have, good luck with your team!

 

[GMLW]

I have a nitpick: you say you have HP Electric on Infernape for Gyarados, yet Thunderpunch, which it can learn, has higher Base Power, takes advantage of Infernape's attack-boosting nature, and hits Gyarados's weaker defense stat. I suggest changing HP Electric to Thunderpunch.

 

[Pharaoh]

even though I'm changing the infernape set, My reasoning for that was intimidate. Friar, thanks a lot, I'll try your suggestions.

Edit: The reason I chose a special set over SDLuke is this: U-turn weakens the special walls that can wall special luke. If I go to SDLuke, I'll be caught easily by skarm, This one can beat it. All the others are reasonable though.

 

[SlottedPig]

I suggest you change Lucario to this:

Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Mild nature (+SpA, -Def)
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Extremespeed

Speed seems unimportant because, after Stealth Rock and many U-Turns, and especially considering the fact that many mons faster than you are frail (watch out for other priority though), ExtremeSpeed should catch them.

Gl with the team.