Hello! Salt here with my first RMT on this site. I don't post here much because I don't usually build teams that do well enough for me to make one of these, but one team I've built has been doing well recently. In light of the recent CAP that has been designed to be used in a core with Latias and Lucario, I have decided to make a team that made use of the Latias and Lucario core that Volkraken was designed to be the perfect partner to out of curiosity to see how the former two Pokemon behave in the real metagame. This is because the discussion that went on helped me understand what one mon can do for a "core" of sorts, but didn't reflect on the actual metagame as much for me. So, I decided to learn for myself: How do Lucario and Latias take the metagame on together?
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
The main sweeper and "test subject" of this team. The purpose of the team was to see how Lucario interacts with the metagame. Swords Dance, Close Combat, and Extreme Speed are self explanatory and are defining moves for Lucario, so the only move up to interpretation is the 4th slot. I chose Earthquake because Aegislash is one of Lucario's biggest adversaries and appears more often than the targets of Ice Punch. I tried Iron Tail but, after like 15 or so games and having not used it once, I decided I would put a move in the 4th slot that I would actually use.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Defog
-Memento
I know what you're thinking: Why am I using Latios if I specifically mentioned Latias? Wasn't my goal to find out how the core of Lucario and Latias functions in OU? The answer to this is pretty simple: Latios is just better here. After just a few matches, I asked myself: Why Latias? Because the core specifically mentioned Lucario and Latias? This wasn't a good enough reason to keep Latias in the end, so I tried Latios out. I found the extra power that Latios has to be more useful than Latias' bulk. I also prefer Memento over Healing Wish because opportunities for easing Lucario's setup present themselves often enough for Memento to be more useful than healing a member of the team.
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Scald
-Secret Sword
-Hidden Power Flying
The next choice for my team was a wallbreaker. I tried a few different Pokemon, such as Kyurem-B and Mega Charizard Y, before finally settling on Keldeo because of his "mixed" capabilities and ability to punish switch-ins with Scald burns. He also adds valuable Water, Fire, and Ice resistances. I wasn't too picky about which wallbreaker I wanted and decided on Keldeo because of his neat Speed-tier, not being weak to hazards, and the resistances he gives the team.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
Impish Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Knock Off
I needed a Stealth Rock user at this point because Lucario needs Stealth Rock to obtain important KOs with Extreme Speed. Landorus-T, in conjunction with Mega Manectric, was the best choice as it forms a VoltTurn Intimidate core which provides Lucario with more setup opportunities. I use Knock Off as a fourth move, though I'm thinking of switching it to Rock Slide or Stone Edge because Mega Pinsir and Dragonite easily threaten me if Manectric takes too much damage.
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lighningrod --> Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Overheat
-Hidden Power Ice
The second member of the Intimidate VoltTurn core who also acts as a revenge killer. I realized I hadn't used my Mega yet after choosing Landorus as my Stealth Rock user, and I always have wanted to try Mega Manectric, so this became the perfect opportunity to try it. Often times, Mega Manectric is able to put in a lot of work with his high speed and unexpectedly great power. With Landorus-T, the Intimidate VoltTurn core creates a lot of momentum which provides Lucario with quite a few set up opportunities.
Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Knock Off
-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Iron Head
The sixth member, Bisharp, is here for two reasons: I wanted a Pursuit user to take care of Psychics and Ghosts that trouble Lucario and I wanted a Ghost-resist. For this more offensive team, Bisharp was a pretty natural choice. It also has the added bonus of being able to kill some of the Fairies that trouble this team with Iron Head. While I'm not using Bisharp on an offensive Defog abuser like many other people do, it still has attributes that make it worth using on this team, and still being able to take advantage of opposing Defogs is a nice bonus.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Thunderbolt
-Defog
-Healing Wish
Like I said in Latios' description, I just found that Latias wasn't really the ideal choice for the team. It's not that Latias is bad, it's just that I value Latios' higher power and Memento over the bulk and Healing Wish. I also used Thunderbolt on Latias for awhile and found it redundant with Mega Manectric on the team, and changed it to Psyshock when I changed to Latios.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 244 HP/12 Def/252 SpA
Quiet Nature
-Shadow Ball
-Pursuit
-Shadow Sneak
-King's Shield
When I was finishing up the team, the only thing on my mind was a Pursuit user. Aegislash was actually the first Pokemon that came to mind, but after playing with it a while, it didn't really seem to do much. First off, it's weak to Ghost as opposed to resisting it like Bisharp, and Ghost/Dark coverage is really strange, especially since I have two moves at 40 BP. After Aegislash hadn't really done much after a few games, I made the switch to Bisharp and found positive results
What this team has taught me is that Lucario isn't a simple sweeper to use. He's a bit slow for a sweeper which made me use Extreme Speed more often than I thought I would, and is really frail and relies on double switches, my Intimidate VoltTurn core, or Latios' Memento to come in safely. I often used him as a revenge killer with Extreme Speed, and often didn't need to Swords Dance because it would be so late in the game that simply Extreme Speeding or using Manectric to clean up was a good way to close out the game. I hope you liked this RMT, and I'm open to every suggestion to make this team better.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Extreme Speed
-Earthquake
The main sweeper and "test subject" of this team. The purpose of the team was to see how Lucario interacts with the metagame. Swords Dance, Close Combat, and Extreme Speed are self explanatory and are defining moves for Lucario, so the only move up to interpretation is the 4th slot. I chose Earthquake because Aegislash is one of Lucario's biggest adversaries and appears more often than the targets of Ice Punch. I tried Iron Tail but, after like 15 or so games and having not used it once, I decided I would put a move in the 4th slot that I would actually use.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Psyshock
-Defog
-Memento
I know what you're thinking: Why am I using Latios if I specifically mentioned Latias? Wasn't my goal to find out how the core of Lucario and Latias functions in OU? The answer to this is pretty simple: Latios is just better here. After just a few matches, I asked myself: Why Latias? Because the core specifically mentioned Lucario and Latias? This wasn't a good enough reason to keep Latias in the end, so I tried Latios out. I found the extra power that Latios has to be more useful than Latias' bulk. I also prefer Memento over Healing Wish because opportunities for easing Lucario's setup present themselves often enough for Memento to be more useful than healing a member of the team.
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Scald
-Secret Sword
-Hidden Power Flying
The next choice for my team was a wallbreaker. I tried a few different Pokemon, such as Kyurem-B and Mega Charizard Y, before finally settling on Keldeo because of his "mixed" capabilities and ability to punish switch-ins with Scald burns. He also adds valuable Water, Fire, and Ice resistances. I wasn't too picky about which wallbreaker I wanted and decided on Keldeo because of his neat Speed-tier, not being weak to hazards, and the resistances he gives the team.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spe
Impish Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Knock Off
I needed a Stealth Rock user at this point because Lucario needs Stealth Rock to obtain important KOs with Extreme Speed. Landorus-T, in conjunction with Mega Manectric, was the best choice as it forms a VoltTurn Intimidate core which provides Lucario with more setup opportunities. I use Knock Off as a fourth move, though I'm thinking of switching it to Rock Slide or Stone Edge because Mega Pinsir and Dragonite easily threaten me if Manectric takes too much damage.
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lighningrod --> Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Overheat
-Hidden Power Ice
The second member of the Intimidate VoltTurn core who also acts as a revenge killer. I realized I hadn't used my Mega yet after choosing Landorus as my Stealth Rock user, and I always have wanted to try Mega Manectric, so this became the perfect opportunity to try it. Often times, Mega Manectric is able to put in a lot of work with his high speed and unexpectedly great power. With Landorus-T, the Intimidate VoltTurn core creates a lot of momentum which provides Lucario with quite a few set up opportunities.
Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Knock Off
-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Iron Head
The sixth member, Bisharp, is here for two reasons: I wanted a Pursuit user to take care of Psychics and Ghosts that trouble Lucario and I wanted a Ghost-resist. For this more offensive team, Bisharp was a pretty natural choice. It also has the added bonus of being able to kill some of the Fairies that trouble this team with Iron Head. While I'm not using Bisharp on an offensive Defog abuser like many other people do, it still has attributes that make it worth using on this team, and still being able to take advantage of opposing Defogs is a nice bonus.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Thunderbolt
-Defog
-Healing Wish
Like I said in Latios' description, I just found that Latias wasn't really the ideal choice for the team. It's not that Latias is bad, it's just that I value Latios' higher power and Memento over the bulk and Healing Wish. I also used Thunderbolt on Latias for awhile and found it redundant with Mega Manectric on the team, and changed it to Psyshock when I changed to Latios.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 244 HP/12 Def/252 SpA
Quiet Nature
-Shadow Ball
-Pursuit
-Shadow Sneak
-King's Shield
When I was finishing up the team, the only thing on my mind was a Pursuit user. Aegislash was actually the first Pokemon that came to mind, but after playing with it a while, it didn't really seem to do much. First off, it's weak to Ghost as opposed to resisting it like Bisharp, and Ghost/Dark coverage is really strange, especially since I have two moves at 40 BP. After Aegislash hadn't really done much after a few games, I made the switch to Bisharp and found positive results
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Memento
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Secret Sword
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Memento
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Secret Sword
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Bisharp @ Dread Plate
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
What this team has taught me is that Lucario isn't a simple sweeper to use. He's a bit slow for a sweeper which made me use Extreme Speed more often than I thought I would, and is really frail and relies on double switches, my Intimidate VoltTurn core, or Latios' Memento to come in safely. I often used him as a revenge killer with Extreme Speed, and often didn't need to Swords Dance because it would be so late in the game that simply Extreme Speeding or using Manectric to clean up was a good way to close out the game. I hope you liked this RMT, and I'm open to every suggestion to make this team better.
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