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Lucario

Lucario can use Band, Specs and Scarf all reasonably well.

He has the stats and movepool for any of these roles, the typing still rocks and the fact that Luke has so many different sets that people actually use gives him the same surprise factor that Salamence had.

Basically when you see a Lucario you typically think its a boosting set, they used to be mostly SD so NP became popular to lure and kill the physical walls Lucario used to attract.

Now that NP is popular too when an opponent sees a Lucario they don't know whether its SD/NP/Band/Specs/Scarf and as such it makes Luke hard very to counter.
 
The problem is when you play luke, he cant really switch in on resisted hits due to 70 defenses(he still can but not reliably)
Mence dont have many set. theres only 2 but his usualy predicted hits still hits really hard off the bat(same reason people complain about latios). Luke have that but its hurt if you have safe switch in(hippo fucking epic don) and he cant really take hit from the most common priority in the game AND have 90 speed furtherly cripple him.

It still nice in this meta though having like 3 set to punch hole AND he IS a fighting type after all
 
if you are switching into shit like a full powered specs draco meteor then you are doing it wrong. he is suppose to switch in a choice pokemon locked into a move that cant hurt him(CS stone edge, -2 draco meteor, etc), use his setup move and sweep. its really easy to get him in the field and SD while taking little damage if you know what you are doing.
 
He makes a good partner for shanderaa. Sazandora walls him (shanderaa) to hell and back, but lucario is more than willing to take a dark pulse for him. Just be careful not to switch into an earth power or flamethrower/fire blast.
 
If you're switching into weak bulky water attacks, like a Jellicent Scald, Lucario could just carry an Absorb Bulb to get a +1 Sp. Attack while he's at it. Not sure if it's really worht it though, not everything using weak water type attacks will be Jellicent... random surfs coming off of stuff like Milotic, Vaporeon or Suicune for example, all will hurt hard.
 
+2 LO Lucario is stronger than +3 Lucario and isn't forced to take a Water attack in order to further boost its special attack like that.
 
+ 2 LO = 2.6 multiplier
+3 = 2.5 multiplier.
Irrelevant but considering the turn you need to spent to get +3....
 
So, I was reading through the competitive analysis for Lucario. Are there no viable mixed options for Luca? More out of personal interest, I want something on my team that can deal with T-Tar while still being able to attack from the special side.
 
You could always run Special attacks + Close Combat, but the base power of its moves on that side are just too low to work well without Nasty Plot, which makes all the difference. Infernape, for example, is weaker, but has higher base power moves. Lucario really should focus on one spectrum at a time.
 
So, I was reading through the competitive analysis for Lucario. Are there no viable mixed options for Luca? More out of personal interest, I want something on my team that can deal with T-Tar while still being able to attack from the special side.

Aura Sphere/Vacuum Wave aren't good enough for you? Modest LO Aura Sphere KOes max/max+ Ttar with SR guaranteed, Modest LO +2 Vacuum Wave KOes max/max+ Ttar after SR and a little bit guaranteed.
 
well u could try completely special evs with sd or vice versa with nasty plot so thats an option with sd aura sphere extreemespeed and dark pulse or vacuum wave with crunch or cc instead of aura or something like taht if u want a mixed set
 
I am very excited for Lucario recieving NP, back in 4th gen, it was a rarity to see a Special lucario, as CM was the best option it had for boosting it's Special attack stat. With Lucario having the full Arsenel of SD NP and agility. Lucario will be a force to be reckoned with. All special sets may become quite popular in 5th gen.

I would like to make the point that modest grants Lucario no significant KO's that timid doesn't.

These calculations are based off of a 252 SAtk 252 Spe Timid Lucario.

2+ LO Aura Sphere vs.
252/0 Bold Blissey 75.9% - 89.4% Possible KO after SR
252/252 Calm Blissey 57.1% - 67.5% Guarenteed 2HKO @Leftovers
252/4 Bold Chansey 63.4% - 75%
252/252 Calm Chansey 50.5% - 59.8% Guarenteed 2HKO
252/240 Skarmory 96.1% - 113.2% KO after SR
252/252 Ferrothorn 129.5% - 152.3%

2+ LO Vacuum Wave vs.
0/4 Naive Heatran 102.2% - 120.7%
0/4 Jolly Flygon 62.1% - 73.8%
4/0 Jolly Tyranitar 122.8% - 145% (inside sandstorm)
248/0 Adamant Scizor 54.2% - 64.7% (Scizor's BP does 38.3% - 45.4%) If Lucario is at 48.3% or lower Scizor wins due to LO

As I hope you guys have seen, modest does not grant Lucario many significant KO's that timid does not. Anyway, totally psyched about 5th gen NP Lucario :D
 
No. Boosting sweeper sets break walls quicker than any mixed set ever could, and having the additional boost in priority will make it easier to beat your faster checks as well.
 
What partners generally help Lucario set up?

I find Cobalion a lot easier to set up due to it's bulk, access to Taunt, speed and stuff, but Lucario definitely hits harder.
 
Partners? Gyarados is a great partner for him off the top of my head. Balloon chandy too.
 
I've found that Volcarona (and probably any bug pokemon) synergizes with balloon luke fairly well, taking fighting attacks while letting luke set up on choice scarfed EQ and stone edges from terakion and garchomp.

Agility Lucario is a pretty decent clean up sweeper. CC/crunch/ice punch has perfect neutral coverage as far as I remember. Balloon+steel typing lets it set up on a wide range of physical attackers and weaker special attackers. It's somewhat lacking in power though. I remember a defensive chandelure living through a crunch after SR.

IMO, all lucario sets should hold balloon just for the ability to revenge any Excadrill without brick break. Inner Focus means no rock slide flinch hax and 2 greater base speed means Jolly Agililuke is guaranteed a set-up, although I prefer adamant for the extra power.
 
Maybe on a team that has absolutely no room for one of Excadrill's other checks, but Lucario needs all the power it can get, especially on an Agility set. Personally, I wouldn't really ever consider Balloon on Lucario and would much rather go for LO.
 
IMO, all lucario sets should hold balloon just for the ability to revenge any Excadrill without brick break. Inner Focus means no rock slide flinch hax and 2 greater base speed means Jolly Agililuke is guaranteed a set-up, although I prefer adamant for the extra power.

Out of curiosity, how much does +2 return do?
 
Would Lucario be able to utilize a successful Mixed Attacker moveset w/ Aura Sphere or no? And what would that moveset be?

You're better off running Close Combat as your main STAB option because it's more powerful than Aura Sphere. You're better off going with Dark Pulse or HP Ice with Close Combat if you want to go mixed.
 
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