Pokémon Lucario

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The standard SD Mega Lucario has been truly amazing.
It's a top-tier pokemon that, IMHO, has the potential to be banned in the near future (once Mega Gengar is gone).
I do feel the four-slot syndrome is very evident for Lucario, however.
It's always troubling to choose between extremespeed and crunch.
It depends on what your tam wants but with extremespeed and bullet punch he can sweep REALLY well.
The only problem is that without crunch, he gets a handful of checks.
 
I don't really know if it's worth running Bullet Punch over Extremespeed. Mega-Lucario doesn't want to take a Brave Bird from Talonflame anymore than Lucario does, and being able to outspeed it with Extremespeed for the OHKO is a big deal. On the other hand, Bullet Punch allows you to KO Gengar and has the added bonus of not having an immunity. I think if you want to consider using Extremespeed it should go in the place of Bullet Punch and not Crunch/Ice Punch.
 
Use Lucario's resists to find a switch in opportunity. Find a defensive or choice-locked Pokemon, or one that you can threaten to switch out, and set up Swords Dance.
 
An important check to SD Mega Lucario lacking Crunch is Aegislash.Aegislash takes pitiful damage from Bullet Punch,it is inmune to Close Combat and ESpeed which ,means Lucario won't sweep you until your Aegislash has been defeated amd Aegislash can set up all over Mega Lucario.
 
XenoBlade911 said:
An important check to SD Mega Lucario lacking Crunch is Aegislash.Aegislash takes pitiful damage from Bullet Punch,it is inmune to Close Combat and ESpeed which ,means Lucario won't sweep you until your Aegislash has been defeated amd Aegislash can set up all over Mega Lucario.
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All it needs is earthquake to avoid Aegislash.
 
Lucario @ life orb.
252 Attack 252 speed 4 hp
Jolly Nature
Crunch
Extremespeed
Close Combat
Swords Dance

That's your best Lucario set that isn't a mega. Extreme speed is way better than BP because it has more base power and +2 priority instead of +1. Crunch is there to kill Aegslash or any other ghost, (which is really easy to predict against, IMO).
 
It's hilarious how good the special set is. Here's some top special walls: Blissey, Florges, Assault Vest Tyranitar, Goodra, Chansey, and mega Venusaur. Lucario hits all of those but 2 for SE damage, Goodra takes about 70% from a +2 Flash Cannon, and I guess Venusaur can wall it, but having 1-2 checks is not justifiable to being able to destroy near everything else.
 
We're generations past the point where your team must have hard counters for every threat out there. Plenty of pokemon can revenge kill NP luke. Scarf chomp, talonflame, gengar, starmie can all easily outspeed and kill. If you don't have a single speedy pokemon, you're either playing hard stall or have a bad team. And if you opponent manages to kill your revenge killer before bringing our mega-luke (or any threat for that matter) then you got outplayed and he deserves the potential win.

Just because a pokemon can usually beat another doesn't mean it's ban worthy. How many pokemon are out there that have no reliable counters if the user predicts correctly? Unlike certain pokemon such as blaziken, ddtar, and dnite, lucario has neither the bulk nor the immunities to set up on half the meta. If your team is not only full of luke set up bait but also lacks answers for +2 luke, then that's entirely your fault.

+2 252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Flash Cannon vs. +1 252 HP / 0 SpD Goodra: 174-206 (54.2 - 64.1%)

Also, NP/aura sphere/flash cannon/dark pulse/vacuum wave. 4MSS much?

 
Interestingly if you predict correctly you can switch in MAlakazam and take an aura sphere and 1hit lucario unless it switches out next turn, it's a bit close so if lucario runs both aura sphere and vacuum wave or if there are hazards out it won't work if it's already got a +2.

+2 252+ SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Alakazam: 211-249 (83.7 - 98.8%)

252+ SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Alakazam: 106-125 (42 - 49.6%)

252+ SpA Adaptability Mega Alakazam Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Lucario: 362-426 (128.3 - 151%)

252+ SpA Mega Lucario Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Alakazam: 212-250 (84.1 - 99.2%)

Again, prediction dependent and your mega is probably going to lose half it's hp. (Unless you switch in on Nasty plot and lucario doesn't have vaccum wave). If you do then you have an adaptability mega alakazam which should blow holes though most things.
 
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So after some extensive experience using Physical Mega-Lucario on my team basically so I don't auto-lose to M-Kangaskhan, I've concluded that Ice Punch is by far his most useful coverage move right now. Lando-T's and Gliscor's seem to be regarded as safe switch ins on Lucario at the moment and Ice Punch eliminates them from the match effortlessly. You're walled completely by Aegislash unless you forgo priority or SD, unfortunately but the value of taking out powerful pivots for no cost is way too good to pass up for coverage against a single mon that isn't particularly hard to eliminate by other means.
 
It just depends on what your team can cover.
If aegi is a problem hen go with crunch.
If aegi is not a problem, ice punch is generally the way to go.
I've actually seen people go with double priority for mega lucario with adamant.
And it's OK. It's just hard as hell to cover his counters/checks due to the fact that he loses crunch/ice punch.
 
I was wondering. I think it is pretty clear that Justified is the ability to go with for physical Lucario before Mega Evolving. Though would it be worth considering to use Inner Focus or Steadfast for special based Lucario? You can either grab a speed boost or not get flinched at all. I think it is pretty viable with Khan crawling everywhere and possibly Togekiss.
 
So, anyone's thoughts on running High Jump-kick (egg move from Blaziken & others) instead of Close Combat? The BP difference is small, but I don't really care for consistantly lowering my defenses, even on something frail like Lucario.
 
I2edShift said:
So, anyone's thoughts on running High Jump-kick (egg move from Blaziken & others) instead of Close Combat? The BP difference is small, but I don't really care for consistantly lowering my defenses, even on something frail like Lucario.
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That Lucario will seem even more frail when it misses and takes out half it's health every 10 attacks.
 
New World Order said:
That Lucario will seem even more frail when it misses and takes out half it's health every 10 attacks.
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Rather than HJK's drawback (honestly, Lucario's so frail that it doesn't even matter unless you're intending to survive Kang's +2 Sucker punch), it's more that it doesn't even really hit anything harder than CC enough to matter at the cost of 10 accuracy. Adaptability CC is so strong that HJK's extra power just isn't worth the imperfect accuracy.
 
JustLetMePlay said:
Rather than HJK's drawback (honestly, Lucario's so frail that it doesn't even matter unless you're intending to survive Kang's +2 Sucker punch), it's more that it doesn't even really hit anything harder than CC enough to matter at the cost of 10 accuracy. Adaptability CC is so strong that HJK's extra power just isn't worth the imperfect accuracy.
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That was the main thing I was wondering, I mean there aren't any calcs, but going from 240 BP (adaptability) to 260 doesn't seem like a big difference.
 
Been experimenting lately.MegaLuke's biggest problem is trying to find the proper 4th move. How about trying this out?

Lucario@Lucarionite
Jolly Nature, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
-Swords Dance
-Crunch/Earthquake
-Close Combat
-Ice punch

My line of thinking is that at base 112 with a jolly nature, you can afford to drop priority. Just a thought; wouldn't mind some input. It would have a lot of use as a late game sweeper.
 
Ropeburn said:
Been experimenting lately.MegaLuke's biggest problem is trying to find the proper 4th move. How about trying this out?

Lucario@Lucarionite
Jolly Nature, 252 Atk, 252 Spd
-Swords Dance
-Crunch/Earthquake
-Close Combat
-Ice punch

My line of thinking is that at base 112 with a jolly nature, you can afford to drop priority. Just a thought; wouldn't mind some input. It would have a lot of use as a late game sweeper.
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But what does Earthquake hit? Close Combat / Ice Punch / Crunch is basically perfect coverage anyways. The debate with Bullet Punch / Extremespeed is always sacrificing coverage for priority against faster stuff. If you don't want priority, you run coverage.
 
BlackLight said:
But what does Earthquake hit? Close Combat / Ice Punch / Crunch is basically perfect coverage anyways. The debate with Bullet Punch / Extremespeed is always sacrificing coverage for priority against faster stuff. If you don't want priority, you run coverage.
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I slashed it just because I've seen some arguments for it for countering Aegislash with King's Shield.
 
I know this set is wierd but I've had success with it.

Lucario@LO
Spread:PS recommend
Nature: Jolly
Justified

Move set:
Crunch,
Bullet punch,
Close Combat
Substitute.

I decided in crunch for ghost (I'm looking at you Treavant) and Now eeffects steel if I mispredict a switch (tho steal shouldnt switch in unless it's Skarmory?). Bullet punch is for priority ofcourse, and Close combat is to destroy things that are not Ghost. Now for subitute, I know it might seem wierd especially with a LO(So maybe I should use lefties instead?) but as we all know EQ is really common, so substitute is supposed to be used on something that is ethier going to set up, or something you check or counter. Now, since you have subsitute up, they will likely switch in a counter or check, and this gives you a chance to throw in two attacks (especially when you outspeed them) and, since this set doesn't have SD, LO is to take its place somewhat. Thoughts?
 
I guess Crunch is considered to be pretty much necessary for Aegislash, huh? I was thinking about CC/Iron Tail/ESpeed coverage when I realized that Slash walls it flat.
 
Banryu said:
I guess Crunch is considered to be pretty much necessary for Aegislash, huh? I was thinking about CC/Iron Tail/ESpeed coverage when I realized that Slash walls it flat.
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You could also run Earthquake. It just depends on how your team works.
EQ is better for Aegislash, and has great coverage. Crunch is for Skarmory (I believe?) and Ghost type to, and has decent coverage. Honestly, Earthquake deals with more common pokemon I think (not sure if it matters, they could asume your already running EQ and not send in pokemon weak to it). Remeber, it depends on how your team is built and what you want Lucario to be able to kill (or what you want him to do).
 
for all intents and purposes of the current metagame, crunch is the superior option. a lot of teams right now carry 2-3 ground immunities since eaerthquake is so common and crunch takes care of ghosts that switch in on CC. it is the superior choice
 
No don't run Crunch, so that my Jellicent won't have a hard time walling your Megaluke :)

Seriously though, with all the bulky Ghosts carrying WoW running around, I think Crunch is almost always mandatory on a Physical Megaluke.
 
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