Other A Guide to Lures in OU

[LoDart210]

Oh man, my boy, AV tangrowth practically only works as a lure, at least when I play it. It has a load of attacking moves in both categories and the raw stats to use them.

Tangrowth @ assault vest
252 HP/ 4 attack or special attack/ 252 sp def
Regenerator
- rock slide
- earthquake
- knock off
- giga drain

NOTE: tangrowth can also run HP ice, focus blast, poison jab, sludge bomb so order to your taste

Here's what I use my tangrowth to lure in,

Talonflame--
4 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 288-340 (96.6 - 114%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

4 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 288-340 (80 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Sacrificing some sp def ev's for defense ev's allows you to still tank special hits easily while living flare blitz and brave bird


Heatran--
4 Atk Tangrowth Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 276-328 (71.5 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

4 Atk Tangrowth Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Heatran: 204-240 (52.8 - 62.1%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Heatran can't even 2HKO with lava plume

Greninja--
4 SpA Tangrowth Giga Drain vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Greninja: 234-276 (81.8 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Charizard Y--
4 Atk Tangrowth Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 268-316 (89.9 - 106%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO



Man I could go on and on. This guy is AWESOME. He's like Mega Vensaur's protege, and he does it all without a mega stone.

What do you guys think?

 

[Kevun]

Heatran @ Power Herb
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Solar Beam
-Stealth Rock/Will-O-Wisp

This set easily bluffs a choice set, and lures in water types, such as Rotom-W and Azumarill, thinking they can force you out and take a resisted Fire Blast. Well, jokes on them when they take a Solar Beam to the face! Although this can't OHKO a physically defensive Rotom-W, it severely cripples it.

 

[Quaily]

it also cripples your heatran since you have 1) no hold item 2) 3 move slots

solar beam/power herb is never worth carrying

 

[Kevun]

it also cripples your heatran since you have 1) no hold item 2) 3 move slots

solar beam/power herb is never worth carrying

Is a Heatran crippled simply because of those two requirements? Stating that Solar Beam/Power Herb is never worth carrying is false - it depends on the rest of your team. A whole point of a lure is to kill a particular pokemon/group of pokemon that prove troublesome to your particular team.

1) Although Heatran benefits from leftovers, the difference is relatively minor and Heatran can still function completely properly without it
2) Depending on your team, you can easily do without Will-O-Wisp/Stealth Rock, as those functions can easily be replicated by another member

In my team, I have a relative weakness to water types in general, so I run Heatran with Solar Beam. For that matter, it does its job perfectly. That benefit offsets the costs. Of course, your team might be different, but do keep in mind that the utility of a certain moveset depends on a team, so you can't claim it's never worth using at all.

 

[Exeggutive]

Mold breaker pinsir is nice to catch rotom w before you mega evolve.

double dance thudurus-t with hp flying to kill mega venusaur to make it easy for a bd azumarill sweep is cool or to continue a thundy sweep

Hp flying specs Keldeo is a good lure too

 

[PrincessDerpy]

Mold Breaker only catches people not paying attention.

[PKMN] breaks the mold!

 

[doughboy]

Heatran @ Power Herb
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Solar Beam
-Stealth Rock/Will-O-Wisp

This set easily bluffs a choice set, and lures in water types, such as Rotom-W and Azumarill, thinking they can force you out and take a resisted Fire Blast. Well, jokes on them when they take a Solar Beam to the face! Although this can't OHKO a physically defensive Rotom-W, it severely cripples it.

Last generation we saw Sunny Day + Magma Storm to catch Politoed and other Water-types off guard and to win weather wars. It looked a little bit like this:

Hide

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power

Magma Storm traps the water-type in question (such as Politoed) and then you Sunny Day the next turn to weaken its Scald. On the third you would KO the bulky water with Solar Beam. Earth Power is there so you could hit other Heatran, which was really important for Sun. With this set you could not only lure in bulky waters, but you can also trap them.

I wouldn't recommend Solar Beam Heatran though. Since you said that it can not OHKO Rotom-W, you should go for a set that isn't a 1 for 1 trade. I would consider the more conventional SubToxic Heatran. It still heavily cripples bulky waters, but behind the safety of a Substitute. You also get more than one chance to cripple a bulky water too. What happens when the opponent has two bulky waters and you have one power herb solar beam!

 

[gnr61]

I call this a "status lure". Basic idea is it to pair it with a sweeper than hates status (mega mawile *-*) and use a double anti status Lum + Substitute to let you play incredibly aggressively against status users, often forcing the opp to sack their status user.

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 252 spe / 252 atk
Ability: Rough Skin
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Substitute

With this set you switch in ON will o wisp, then bait them to use it again, while you sub. At that point, you can achieve +2 cleanly, and then force your opponent to have something die to the mighty Garchomp on the switch as it basically 2HKOs everything, or sack their will o wisp user, both are favorable. Lum also protects from stray scald and lava plume burns for users of both that move and will o wisp, such as Jellicent, or Heatran.

While I've often thought Sub Garchomp lacking, I'm finding I really love using this set. It forms a terrifying offensive core with M-Mawile and has so many more switch-in opportunities than regular Chomp due to Lum + Substitute. It can come in freely on most WoW/Lava Plume/Scald users aiming for Mawile or just throwing things around, since it can proceed to out-speed most of those threats and sub. And of course, if no burn manages to land, you're much freer to throw around +2 Outrages while Lum cures your confusion. Great set, mate.

 

[TheArchangle]

Energy ball Jellicent lol

 

[Jaroda]

A niche favorite of mine, good for luring specific things but struggles otherwise.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pokebankoubeta-68734502

Lapras@Weakness Policy
Water Absorb/Shell Armor
Calm 252 Hp / 4 Df / 252 SpD or
Bold 252 Df / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
~ Freeze Dry
~ Surf
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk

Counters bulky waters all day. +3 LO Manaphy Energy Ball only has a 6% chance to OHKO max/max Lapras while you can OHKO with a +2 super effective Freeze Dry after Life Orb recoil, and you're utterly safe against Leftovers versions. Crocune can't touch you and would have to work on PP stalling Freeze Dry and hope to not get a crit or frozen. You can safely switch into Rotom-W's WoW or Hydro Pump easily, and then laugh at the pittance of damage Volt Change does to you, allowing for an easy Rest to keep you at full health after activating WP. Vaporeon also can't touch you, and you can't be Toxic stalled either. +0 Genesect Thunderbolt also struggles to do more than 40% and you can get a strong Surf in before he decides to run with U-Turn so you can Rest.

That said it is hard to find the perfect EV spread. Lapras has good defensive stats (130/80/95) and abilities. If permanent Rain still existed than with Hydration he could forego Sleep Talk for all together for Thunderbolt or even Psychic for Venusaur and Conkeldurr. But it's hard to find a good middle ground for defensive spreads. His HP is so high it really doesn't need investment, hitting a natural 401 with 0 EVs. He really does want some SpA investment though, even with the +2 boost many tough neutral hits are still 2-3HKOs. The best team support comes from Sticky Web, dual screens or receiving speed and defense boosts from Scolipede, or Calm Mind boosts from Mew. The speed really helps because otherwise you're dependent or estimation when its the right time to use Rest, and of course you can always be screwed by Sleep Talk itself. His typing makes it great for receiving the WP boost (Rock, Electric, Fighting and Grass are common enough), but tough to take repeated hits from. I'd say its a higher risk/reward version of Crocune. Less reliable, but more rewarding.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Swird is the word (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 152 Spd / 48 HP / 56 Atk
Rash Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Destiny Bond
- Autotomize

Pretty simple: Autotomize WP Aegislash with Destiny Bond. Just enough Speed EVs to outspeed Jolly Talonflame.

Destiny Bond allows it to take down anything that it can't quite OHKO, since without King's Shield you're stuck in blade form and are likely to get KOed by any neutral attack. Really effective set, can cause a huge amount of damage to the enemy team.

The attack EVs are there not only to power up Sacred Sword, but to ensure that you're 2HKOed by Mandibuzz's Foul Play while in shield form.

 

[xhig]

Swird is the word (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 152 Spd / 104 HP
Rash Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Destiny Bond
- Autotomize

Pretty simple: Autotomize WP Aegislash with Destiny Bond. Just enough Speed EVs to outspeed Jolly Talonflame.

Destiny Bond allows it to take down anything that it can't quite OHKO, since without King's Shield you're stuck in blade form and are likely to get KOed by any neutral attack. Really effective set, can cause a huge amount of damage to the enemy team.

Would it even be able to use Autotomize? WP only allows attacking moves, and Autotomize isn't attacking...

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Would it even be able to use Autotomize? WP only allows attacking moves, and Autotomize isn't attacking...

That's Assault Vest.

 

[xhig]

That's Assault Vest.

Whoops. I got them mixed up. Yeah, with WP, that'd be pretty good.

 

[Prinz]

Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball

Just a classic Tail Glow Manaphy with Wacan Berry over Leftovers / Life Orb. It allows to beat in 1v1 Thundurus / Manetric and other Electric-types mon (lol Jolteon) which usually comes in to revengekill Manaphy after it already done a kill. Then Manaphy tanks a Thunderbolt thanks to Wacan Berry and they get smashed. No Electric-types mons means that Talon / Pinsir / other mons that struggle against Electric-types can do a better job so they're the primary partner for Wacan Berry Manaphy. Remaining on the topic of Manaphy you can use another set with Psychic over Energy Ball (I wouldnt use Wacan Berry + Psychic but w/e everything is possible and I havent tested that before so it might work) to bypass M Venusur which would otherwise beat Mana in 1v1 with its natural bulk + Thick Fat + Giga Drain. Then when Venusaur is gone you can use Greninja / Mawile / other mons that normally struggles against Venu etc to come in and get damages.

 

[chimpact]

Energy ball Jellicent lol

Rip somalia

 

[Sevifar]

I've been following this thread, and have been using a couple of the lures already posted. I'm not the most experienced battler and had never used a lure before. I've had a great deal of success and fun since (There's nothing like that moment right where you nail their "counter") and have made up some of my own sets. The most effective, being this:

Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Psycho Cut
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch/Rock Slide

At first glance, it seems so dumb. A pretty standard Gen 4/5 set. Yet it works so incomprehensibly well. It's not as straightforward as most lures either, since the scarf begs for a fair amount of prediction on your end. And it can double as an endgame sweeper too. Pair up with a Pursuit trapper and you're good to go. It can be tempting to just attack, but this set is much more effective as a lure. You aren't using Medicham because of it's power: its the THREAT of that power coupled

With the advent of Mega Medicham in OU, Classic Scarfcham becomes a very effect lure. Because 99.9% of Cham users run a Mega stone, you auto-bluff one. From there its a simple matter of picking your attack and going with it. An Adamant nature is preferred to Jolly, you want all the power you can get and aren't going to be speed tying with anyone except Dragonite. (If you want to use cham to revenge kill Dragonite, then go Jolly.) HJK, even when resisted, will usually result in a crippled or dead pokemon. Psycho cut is a nice secondary stab that can be used to punish common switch ins OHKO'ing Gengar and 2HKO'ing Tentacruel and Mega-Venusaur. Ice punch is your best bet against Dragons and Ground/Flyers,1 or 2HKOing them all. The last moveslot really depends on your team-mates and what you need. Fire punch is probably better, as you can 2HKO Aegislash that try and switch in to HJK (Medicham survives a Shadow Sneak, but watch out for King's Shield). Rock slide murders Talonflame/Charizard that attempt to switch in on a HJK. It's also better against Togekiss (Serene grace ftw).

Checks and Counters

Medicham's counters are mostly dependent on move you lock yourself into. Talonflame can switch in on any move bar Rock slide and force cham out, Ghost types can come in on a predicted HJK and force it out. Regular Gyarados can come in on a HJK or Ice punch, intimidate and set up as Cham flees. Bulky Psychics and Fairies can eat Medicham's stabs, as well as Sableye who is immune to them and can cripple with priority WoW. It's important to note that many of these pokemon still take heavy damage from resisted HJK's and can be worn down relatively easily as the game goes on. Medicham isn't very bulky, and will take heavy damage from powerful neutral stab attacks (No, you can't take that Draco Meteor).

Team Options

To function best, Medicham needs a pursuit user to trap Ghosts + Psychics that come in to beat it. Bisharp is a great partner since it can beat Psychics, Ghosts and Fairies. It can also come in on Flying/Ghost moves that would otherwise beat Medicham. Tyranitar and Scizor are also decent, particularly the latter with Bullet punch.

This is my 1st post on Smogon too :) (Although I've done my fair share of lurking)

 

[Disposable Puppets]

This is my favorite lure

Greninja-Life Orb
Timid
252 Special Attack/252 Speed/6 HP
Hydro Pump
Dark Pulse
Ice Beam
Extrasensory

I run Mega Mawile and one of the pokemon that stops it cold is Mega Venusaur. This Greninja set never fails to lure in Mega Venusaur and nail it with Extrasensory. Extrasensory usually does around 75-77% so a combination of switching into Hydro Pump and getting nailed by Extrasensory will always kill it.

Extrasensory is not dead weight except for Mega Venusaur either, it's good for hitting Keldeo for super effective damage, as well as doing decent damage to assault vest Conkeldurr and Azumarill.

 

[Jaroda]

@ Weakness Policy
Magic Guard
Quiet 4 HP / 252 Df / 252 SpA
0 Atk IV
0 Spd IV
~ Trick Room
~ Psyshock/Psychic
~ Shadow Ball/Recover
~ Focus Blast/HP Ice/Grass Knot/Thunder

In one turn Reuniclus can take any obvious Knock Off (aside from Bisharp) or U-Turn during the same turn it sets up Trick Room. Now you're the fastest blob in the universe able to cover almost everything with Psyshock, Shadow Ball and Focus Blast alone. AV Conk for example does 65-76% damage as you set up TR and can't finish with Mach Punch so +2 Psyshock ends him easily. Even with 252 HP / 252 Df with Relaxed Adamant LO Bisharp still has a 43% chance to OHKO with Knock Off, so you are putting a gamble on A) surviving Knock Off and B) hitting with Focus Blast, so just don't do it.

Sucker Punch is the greatest threat to you. You can fish for it with repeated use of Trick Room but honestly it isn't the worst idea to have Recover somewhere for fast healing and to thwart Sucker Punchers, but its a waste of turns and you now get walled too easily. Without Shadow Ball, can't beat Aegeslash. No Focus Blast and Tyranitar Pursuit traps you. Still the threat of Trick Room with Stealth Rock out really forces the enemy to send out their priority users to deal with you which is good news for the rest of your set up sweepers.

 

[Prinz]

The set is p nice and innovating but does it works in the current meta? Sorry but I doubt it. Knock Off is everywhere and one single Knock Off can damage ur mon really hard (OHKOing it if Bisharp's as you already said though) and priority moves are everywhere too, which can finish off Reuniclus. Also Im p sure Aegislash can OHKO Reuniclus with Shadow Ball + Snadow Sneak but Im too lazy to calc so whatever. Dark-types mons are in general too common with the benefits XY gave them and therefore, in additional that priority moves are everywhere in the current meta, I personally wouldnt use Reuniclus. No that Genesect is super common as well and can shot Reuniclus with Bug Buzz / U-Turn. I dont want to be rude, I mean ur set is nice etc but I doubt it works ok in the current metagame.

 

[GarchompPit]

(Taken from my RMT - Here)

Red Bull (Terrakion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 176 Atk / 80 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

A lure Terrakion with HP Ice for Landorus-T or I and Gliscor. With 80 Sp. Att. EVs you can:
80 SpA Expert Belt Terrakion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 226-269 (63.8 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

80 SpA Expert Belt Terrakion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 216-254 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Everything else is standard for Terrakion.

 

[Prinz]

Maybe Life Orb instead of Expert Belt? HP Ice isnt common per se and you should be able to baitkill successful even without Expert Belt, and with Life Orb you can it harder with every move. Not that you can also put more EVs on Attack for Close Combat, Stone Edge and Earthquake that are the 3/4 of ur set. Nice one btw.

 

[GarchompPit]

Maybe Life Orb instead of Expert Belt? HP Ice isnt common per se and you should be able to baitkill successful even without Expert Belt, and with Life Orb you can it harder with every move. Not that you can also put more EVs on Attack for Close Combat, Stone Edge and Earthquake that are the 3/4 of ur set. Nice one btw.

I guess you are right about the Life Orb part. Thanks!
But the EV spread is the best for lure Terrakion (trust me, I calced it extensively)

 

[Mulligan]

(Taken from my RMT - Here)

Red Bull (Terrakion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 176 Atk / 80 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

A lure Terrakion with HP Ice for Landorus-T or I and Gliscor. With 80 Sp. Att. EVs you can:
80 SpA Expert Belt Terrakion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 226-269 (63.8 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

80 SpA Expert Belt Terrakion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 216-254 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Everything else is standard for Terrakion.

Hasty might be better on it. It's a nitpick, but Terrakion does get a Sp. Def boost if sand is up. Sand is still fairly common in the metagame right now, even if you don't run a sand inducer yourself. Earthquake isn't a concern from said bait because you outspeed all Gliscor and any Lando-T that isn't Scarfed anyway. It's not like you're going to tank a Bullet Punch much better running Naive.

 

[ArchPhantom]

I've been testing out a unique Charizard-Mega-Y set and I am quite impressed. This set is meant to lure out common Char Y switch ins or checks and remove them from the game. Without further adieu, here it is:

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SAtk
Nature: Naive (+ Spd, - SDef)
- Fire blast
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
- Solarbeam / Focus Blast

252 Atk?! Wut? I know that is what you are thinking but with these EVs, Char y can remove Chansey and Blissey from the game by 2HKOing them after stealth rock. It also removes Heatran which will be expecting a 2HKO from a Focus Blast. This set also demolishes defensive cores such as Skarmbliss rather easily. None is safe. Since this set is more physically offensive, it can easily take out fairies like Sylveon expecting a purely special set due to their ass defense. The Evs give Char y nice 307/355 offenses, and in the sun, it can easily break down teams. Tentacruel is no longer a decent check because 252 Atk EQ.

The goal of this set is to lure out Chansey, Tentacruel, Heatran, Sylveon, and other common Char y switch ins and remove them from the game even if that means Char Y going down with them (Flare blitz Recoil vs Chansey)

Calcs:

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 333-393 (51.8 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 333-393 (47.3 - 55.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey in Sun: 459-540 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 356-420 (92.2 - 108.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Tentacruel: 178-210 (48.9 - 57.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery (Assuming Tentacruel is physically defensive. Quite impressive IMO)

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon in Sun: 358-423 (90.8 - 107.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Oh my LAAWD)

252 Atk Mega Charizard Y Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon in Sun: 237-280 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (Still not bad)

Also, fret not because Zard's special attacks coming off its 355 Special Attack is still going to hurt, especially sun boosted Fire Blast. This set is good for users who like Chansey removed from the game and for those who want to weaken a core as much as possible before pulling off a sweep. Its main goal is to lure out the blobs, of course, but it can do more than that.

Because this set lacks roost, Char y will most likely commit suicide with flare blitz, but that's fine. So why use this set for Chansey instead of common taunt users, ghosts, etc? Because this set LURES Chansey in, and before the egg knows what happened, it will find its beautiful pink shell cracked and dripping, leaving it with less than 50% of its health and if it switches out, something is getting nuked. Plus, it will be severely crippled on the next switch in after SR if it opts to switch out. (Forced to Softboiled) And for the record, you can easily fake a Mega Zard X set by not mega evolving and using any of the physical moves on a predicted protect so they can bring in, say, Rhyperior and Bop! Solarbeam. Heh. Kinda like MixNape in Gen 4.

This set works well with things that appreciate the blobs gone. Otherwise, normal Char y is probably better overall. Depends though.

Well that is enough jibber jabber. Hope y'all like this set. :]