Lucario-Centered Hyper Offensive Team

Hi everyone! This is a team I made around June-August-ish, I just remember it being in the summer, in the closing stages of BW2. It was when I was transitioning from playing with the Classic Rain Stall team created by M Dragon, to experimenting with Hyper Offensive Teams. Needless to say, playing Offense with a Stall mindset was not the greatest idea, and the team was only mediocre to say the least. While it may have some chinks and flaws, the main problem was I was not using it with an aggressive mindset. Well fast-forward a few months, and I have finally made that transition and gotten used to the aggressive play, so I decided to finally go back to the team I built. It was centered around a Physical Life Orb Lucario, and needless to say in Gen 5 OU it is working decently well. I am here today to see whether there is anything that can be done to improve this team.

On a side note, I would also like to know if anyone can help me create a variation of this team that is viable in Gen 6 OU. After playing with this team quite a bit, I am starting to view it was my best made team, which may seem sad to some of you. So, if anyone is willing to help me make this team Gen VI Viable, PM me suggestions and advice! Id be glad to hear them.

First Look At The Team




There was no real team building process behind this. One day, I was talking to a friend who was good at Pokemon, and in five minutes we basically built this team. However, despite being a rather sloppy assembly just thrown together, I feel this team has decent synergy, and has served me well on the ladder, letting me reach Top 100 on the Gen 5 OU ladder, which isnt impressive, but its something.



Forretress @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 132 Def / 124 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Explosion
- Rapid Spin

This thing is the Bomb. It has one job, and that job is to get a guaranteed layer of Stealth Rocks, and then assuming it can get down below 25%, do three more things. 1, if the Opponent has no Spinners, and is very grounded, throw down a spikes. 2, if the opponent brings in a spinner, freaking explode. Sometimes I explode if I have the fortune to get one stealth rocks and spikes. This usually happens if the opponent brings in something that can only deal around ~30% to Forretress. 3, spin if theres hazards around, but thats barely a necessity. While some may frown at this set, it has come in clutch several times, such as saving me from a sweep for a 2+ SATk, SpeDef, and Speed Volcorona. Explosion coming from an adamant 252 Forretress is hardly anything to laugh at. This Forretress is generally my go-to lead, unless someone else is running an Anti-lead, such as Infernape, or is running a Smeargle.


Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Crunch

As my sweeper, my entire goal is centered around getting Lucario in safely or into something like a weak dark move. Thats the point of explosion on Forretress, basically to guarantee a switch in. Thats also the point of running Latios AND Gengar, which is to attract any Choice Scarfed Pursuits or Choice Banded Pursuits from Scizor. It at the very least, forces a switch, which is great for getting a free Swords Dance. After swords dance, the damage this thing can dish out is unbelievable. With Gengar, Landorus-T, Gliscor, and Hippowdown all handled by Keldeo, and Tentacruel getting maled by Latios, it basically paves the way for a sweep.




Scizor @ Flying Gem
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 164 HP / 4 SDef / 88 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Roost

This set is basically my lure, as well as a revenge killer and back up sweeper. It lures in some common Lucario counters after I swords dance, such as Gliscor and Tentacruel, and then absolutely nukes them with Flying Gem boosted Acrobatics. Here are some Calcs. It functions well enough on its own, and can often times also serve as a secondary sweeper, meaning I don't even need to use Lucario at all. This set is my absolute favorite set, as most people are just quick to assume its either Life Orb or Choice Band.

+2 252+ Atk Flying Gem Scizor Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Tentacruel: 410-483 (112.9 - 133%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Flying Gem Scizor Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 244 HP / 40+ Def Gliscor: 287-338 (81.5 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal

+2 252+ Atk Flying Gem Scizor Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 244 HP / 248+ Def Gliscor: 243-287 (69 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal




Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

As my spinblocker, this set is hands down my favorite set. It has decent staying power, and disable is great to play mindgames with the opponent. This Gengar functions as my Spinblocker, while also being able to keep up the offensive momentum. I have been debating whether to put Destiny Bond over Disable or Substitute, or just go with a 3 Attacks-Destiny Bond Gengar instead. Either way, Gengar doesn't dissapoint, and his role is also shared with Latios as Pursuit bait, basically to die to a scarfed T-Tars pursuit, let Lucario come in, and then set up on the switch.

upload_2014-1-24_14-15-17.png


Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Trick

As a wall-breaker and cleaner, this set has done fantastic things for the team. A trick on the predicted switch is great for crippling defensive threats that think they can set up, such as Stockpile Quagmire or CurseLax. It also does wonders against Blissey or Chansey, forcing them to use only one attack, and if it happens to be Toxic, Heal Bell, or Wish, I can easily send in Lucario to start doing work. This set is able to severelly weaken any sort of physical wall that Lucario may have to deal with, and trick does force switches alot, and gives me a ton of switch in oppurtunites. Finally, thanks to attracting Scarfed Pursuiters, I can easily let Latios die, and then switch in Lucario, set up, and sweep. It can also come in on Earthquakes aimed at Luke, especially choiced ones, and then proceed to nuke the switch in with a Specs Draco.

upload_2014-1-24_14-21-17.png


Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Secret Sword
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hydro Pump


In the event that Latios goes down, I still have Keldeo as back-up for cleaning. It serves as a pretty decent revenge killer, and essentially takes the same role as weakening any physical walls for Lucario to sweep. It works really well in that it also resists fire for both Lucario and Scizor (Same with Latios, forgot to mention). In turn, Scizor really helps it out with its grass weakness, as well as its psychic one. Synergy asside, Keldeos role in the team is quite one-dimensional compared to eveyrthing else, which is basically to do its best to either
A.Weaken everything for the rest of the team
B.Clean up everything after the rest of the team.

Thus, it plays a prominent role in victory, even though it is very predictable. With good play, it is guaranteed at least crippling one or two members of the team, and with very good play, can even take up to half of the opponents team. I love this thing so much, its only held back by its very shallow moveset.

So here it is! Any criticism or rates are helpful, but try not to change the pokemon to much. Better EV spreads, Better movesets, Items, ETC, are all welcome. And as before, if anyone is kind enough, please PM me or just do it in this thread if thats allowed to help me adapt this team for Gen VI! Although I do want to iron out this teams weaknesses, I definitely want to be able to use it effectively in XY, as this is basically my favorite team I have ever created.
 

Attachments

Hey man! Thanks for all the help you've given with the rain team!
  • Changing Forretress to Deoxys D with Magic Coat, Spikes and SR, and T-Wave. Item is Red Card.
  • Ive also changed the Scizor set to one holding an Iron Plate, and use U-Turn and Defog instead of Acrobatics and Swords Dance.
  • Latios is now scarfed
  • Keldeo is now Life Orb
  • Gengar is replaced with Mega Gyarados, and the offensive core if Mega Gyarados and Lucario is quite powerful.
First, change your post to this. ^.^
Second, you're the first person to request a rate from me. So... well, thanks. Makes me feel good.

As I'm not sure the exact set up of either Deoxys D or Mega Gyrados, I'll just speculate at them.

A few things first.
I really like Keldeo, but I think he's a bit redundant on your team. With Gyrados and Lucario, both of his types are already on your team, so he doesn't provide any great coverage or switch options you don't already have. His move set is a bit lacking as well. You don't really need Surf AND Hydro Pump when you could pack something like Taunt or Roar to counter set up. On top of that, by switching out Gengar, you no longer have a spin blocker, though with Defog it might not be as important. Something else that's odd to note, is in a fight against Mandibuzz, if you don't have Taunt, you could very well lose. Knock Off doesnt' scare you, but Foul Play triggers Justified... which doesn't help you at all, but instead helps Mandibuzz finish you off.

With both Deoxys and Latios, you have two mons that are afraid of getting pursuit trapped, and with the potency of Knock Off and its well deserved popularity. Latios fills a better role on your team, allowing for good switches into a variety of common special attack, where as your Deo-D is vulnerable to a variety of things like Priority Taunt (totally shuts him down), the popularity of Dark moves in general this gen, and I don't think you want a suicide lead that vulnerable. However, by that same token, with Forretress, you have two mons with the exact same typing, so perhaps a different SR user altogether should suffice.

With that being said, as far as Hyper Offence goes, your Defogger is... well, Stall set up. That really puts the pressure off of your opponent.

As far as Mega Gyrados goes, I assume the Set Up of EQ, Aqua Tail, Dragon Dance, and then either Pay Back or Outrage or some other type of coverage move (not really sure). His initial ability could be either Intimidate OR Moxie. Intimidate for the hindering switches (and since he's still flying, to threaten Ground Types). Moxie is for if you think you can play around with your opponent before going Mega. The big thing about Gyrados' mega form is that he has a lot of weaknesses (5) and he just doesn't have the speed to keep up with a lot of things, and with the amount of priority running around... he's really underwhelming. It might actually be wiser to stick with Keldeo.

Lucario is pretty boss right there.

Overall, the offensive scene has changed a lot since BW. So here are a few options I'd consider trying for your team.
Which... if you follow my advice, is currently Lucario, Latios, Keldeo.

- Mega Aerodactyl
Having coverage on moves like Ice/Thunder/Fire Fang (30% more powerful w/ Tough Claws), Iron Head, and Stabs like Stone Edge and Aerial Ace (Effectivly 110 BP after STAB and Tough Claw), he can be a powerful offensive threat sitting on his 150 Base Speed and 135 Base Attack. Plus, he can help cover Lucario's Ground weakness, whereas currently everything on this team covers his Fire weakness too. Also, he can learn a surprising Pursuit (Not STAB, but Tough Claw boosted).

- Excadrill
This guy can Rock and Spin while still presenting an impressive Offensive presence. Getting the coverage from the rest of your team like Lucario does, his weaknesses shouldn't be a huge concern.

- Zapdos
This rounds you out at 3 and 3, special attackers and physical attackers, making it hard to wall you one way or the other. Zapdoes can bring something else important to the table as well: Thunder Wave. The hyper Offence is great, but some times speed IS an issue, and having that Thunderwave to cripple a faster opponent can be huge. On top of that, Zapdos can switch into TWave as well (in cases where Excadrill doesn't want to, like perhaps Rotom-W), and return with some threatening Special Damage.

- TTar
The premier Pursuit Trapper in the game. Also, loves his Assault Vest, making him not only dangerous, but a good special wall. Downside, stuff on your team doesn't like sand... Even if you don't consider TTar, consider the Assault Vest. Perhaps on Conkeldurr.

Something with Infiltrator or a Sound Move to get through Subs.

Overall
Pros: The Hyper Offence strategy doesn't leave room for things to Set Up, and always keeps a damaging presence on the field, making every choice your opponent makes.
Cons: You have to know what your threats are, and losing a mon due to bad switches/prediction can really set you back. Also, with a general lack of healing in favor of more damge puts games on a timer, and makes things like Stealth Rock dangerous when it comes to lots of switches.
 
Hi aPandaCub,

This is a pretty solid offensive team here. I like your use of Custap Forretress as a lead.

On Forretress, I'm not sure what the EVs are for, but I would go with 252 Atk / 252 Def. This gives Forretress maximum physical bulk while minimizing its special bulk so that Custap Berry will activate more easily when Forretress is hit with a special attack. In addition, I prefer Gyro Ball over Explosion, since this allows Forretress to hit Gengar on the switch and also allows Forretress to hit multiple times, instead of just dying to Explosion.

Lucario needs an Adamant Nature to get the necessary KOs with Extremespeed and Close Combat. For example, with a Jolly Nature, Extremespeed only does a maximum of 80% to standard Keldeo failing to KO after Stealth Rocks and one layer of spikes, while with an Adamant Nature, Lucario always KOs Keldeo after Stealth Rocks and Spikes. The same argument goes for Latios. I put some calcs below.
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 221-260 (68.4 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 242-285 (74.9 - 88.2%)
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 243-286 (80.4 - 94.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 299-352 (99 - 116.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO


As you seem to be a bit weak to sun teams, especially Volcarona, I think you can try using Rain Dance on Keldeo instead of Surf. The idea (stolen from Dragonuser) is that Sun teams tend to sack Ninetails against weatherless teams. When Ninetails is gone, you can then set-up Rain Dance with Keldeo and switch out, preventing Venusaur and Volcarona from being extremely large threats to you team. In addition, the rain powers up Latios's Surf , and also helps Scizor and Lucario in tanking a HP Fire.

Hope this helps!
 
Thank you everyone for your replies! I have finally remodeled this team to a Gen VI viable version, and thanks to your suggestions, I feel it has a solid chance of competing against other teams. Thank you Moonclawz especially for the Rain Dance idea, although I actually sacked Hydro Pump instead.

Adamant over Jolly is also extremely helpful

ModelT: I decided in WiFi to replace Keldeo with Excadrill instead. But over Showdown, the Keldeo-Latios duo really provides great offensive coverage, although I have tried replacing Keldeo with Starmie at times.
 

GaryTheGengar

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hey cool ho team man! well built, i've only got a couple minor suggestions for you, those being superpower over roost on scizor and adamant lucario. Your scizor is walled by steels and rotom-w, but with superpower you can lure and beat heatran and rotom, two of scizors biggest counters. I'd run a spread with at least 180 speed to outrun bulky heatran and defensive rotom. second, not much resides in the 279-306 speed tier other than jolly mamoswine and fast modest volcorona. mamoswine is worn down by hazards, and your other team members don't really care about it, and ada espeed hits about as hard as jolly cc vs volc.

anyway just minor changes, nice team!
 

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