Lucario’s Vangaurd!
An OU team by Ashura Areson
Hey all you Smogonites! This is my OU team that I have been working on for… Well awhile. As the title suggests, the team has the underrated Pokemon known as Lucario. He was originally the primary sweeper of the team, but as time progressed you could call him more the “glue” of the team. Anyway lets look at the team and how it evolved.
Team Building Process
Starting off we have the leader of this brigade! LUCARIO!
Lucario is a cool poke but he can’t handle everything on his own. Physical walls are an issue. So looking at type synergy and what I need, I chose Latios to fill the second slot. He hits from the opposing end of the spectrum and covers Lucario perfectly. The big difference at the time was that Lucario was a set up sweeper with Latios being a specs Draco Meteor Nuke.
Offense is all but covered with these two, but now we need defenses. Having traps on a battle field is a common tactic so we need a hazards layer. At the same time, a dragon resist would be absolutely awesome given how frail Lucario is. Two pokes fill this roll well. Looking at the two though, Ferrothorn is definitely the better choice with a move disruptive movepool and with a grass STAB to handle things like Swampert. Ferrothorn adds a much needed dragon resistance and definitely pulls its weight here.
Ferrothorn is a great wall but relying only on him is not great. For a partner we need to look at type synergy and ideally spin blocking capabilities. The biggest contender? Well he has an awesome mustache that’s for sure. Jelicent is tanky, a spin blocker, a fighting immunity and fire resistance for both Lucario and Ferrothorn. In addition, Jellicent also draws in dark type moves for Lucario to potentially grab a boost. For Latios, this Jellyfish soaks up ice type moves for the dragon.
Looking at the Jellicent and Ferrothorn, they look really solid and cover eachother well. But Ferrothorn’s X4 weakness to fire is a bit concerning. Also, the plethora of dragons means that Ferrothorn would need to be healthy almost all the time. A feat that is pretty hard to accomplish. With this in mind, I needed a steel type who could take on dragons while dealing with a fire weakness somehow. Well… there’s only ONE steel type that does that. Entering in Heatran. This magma turtle opens up a third level of complexity with in the team. While it adds a fighting weakness, I currently have an immunity and a resist. It also makes it harder for people to predict me when I have Ferrothorn out. Should they go for a fighting move expecting a Heatran? Or is a fire move really the best way to go? This thing also answers sun teams and stops most of their Pokemon hard.
This Vangaurd is starting to look like something. But we still need a 6th member. Well, we have a solid basis for a Sand team. Why not try Tyranitar?
Woah woah hold up there Ashura! Tyranitar opens up too large of a fighting weakness! Good point. That’s why I changed it pretty quickly to Hippowdon.
Hippowdown works alright if I can keep my weather up. But the opposing teams seemed to be always able to smash me pretty soundly due to a lack of offense. So I guess Im not using my own weather... Well… if I can’t use my own weather. Lets use the opponents! Now, I have an answer to sun with Heatran/Latios and an answer to Rain with Latios/ Ferrothorn. My team benefits heavily from sand and hail is almost never seen. So I guess I need a poke that can help with those two. But before I decide… who is the most popular poke right now?? Ah that’s right… God damned Genesect. My team hates genesect right now. Especially scarfed varients. Which reminds me I need a scarfer. So I need a scarfer who can benefit from rain, work okay in the sun, and stop Genesect. After much fiddling around… I decided Tornadus –T would provide the air support to kill things in the rain, outspeed everything and smash it in the face. What does Tornadus T grant in the sun? Well first off its faster than a Venasuar in the sun so long as it holds scarf. Then I can use the magic of heat wave and stop that threat from going.
ALRIGHT! NOW NOTHING CAN STOP ME! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Until… Tornadus T got banned. Crap. Back to the drawing board. Again, I kept on fiddling around, not quite sure what to put in for what. I changed a few sets, changed a few EV spreads, but no other pokemon seemed to mesh in well enough with the rest of the team. Then Genesect was banned. This was a glorious day. But I still needed a pokemon who could fit in well with the team. Eventually I went with Landorus I. This thing was a monster! It wrecked soo many teams nearly single handedly it wasn’t even funny. 2 immunities that pair really well with the immunities I already have, and having great speed and SpA, I won quite a few games due to this thing.
But apparently I wasn’t the only one wrecking faces with Landorus-I. And as such, he was banned. This made me quite upset, but then I remembered that Landorus still is in OU under a different form. So enter in Landorus-T. This thing might not have had the massive power as its predecessor, but it worked well. Bringing in an intimidate helped me out more times than expected and it worked well as a secondary defensive wall.
Looking at the team, All the pokes were pulling their weight but Latios seemed a bit out of place. All the other pokes bar Lucario, were bulky and focused more on tanking hits rather than nuking. Latios defenses are alright but they aren’t the greatest. At the same time though, I couldn’t really drop Latios for a different dragon without screwing up all the synergy type wise. Or so I thought. Until Latios recommended his younger sister Latias. Although not as offensive, she would be able to fill a different type of role and still keep the type synergy relatively the same. With a fond farewell and a huge party, Latios announced his retirement and his successor.
And so that is how this team took shape. Now on to the team members themselves!
Analysis
Lucario
Xeren (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
This set is pretty self explanatory. Lucario’s job is to set up and sweep. With a SD, nothing like taking Espeeds or Close combats or Bullet punches from him. Why Bullet punch? Because screw the hell out of your Ghosts not named Jellicent. While Lucario was the original “goal” pokemon, the team has sort of pushed him into a slightly different role. His job is more to punch down various threats so that the rest of the team can clean up. If the opponents are worn out, his job changes to clean up. It’s a tad difficult for me to put into words but I hope you understand.
Celestine (Latias) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 208HP / 48 SpA
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
Latias is the second sweeper of the team, replacing the immediate power of Latios. Latias job is to be my answer to walls like Ferrothorn. Sub Calm mind provides a lot of safety for the young dragon while the speed EVs insure that I can still be a threat to things like Terrakion and Gengar. While I do sometimes miss Latios’ Wow factor in terms of damage, Latias more than adequately provides power and defense in a nice package. In addition, she and the remaining 4 pokemon create a fairly intricate core of sorts.
Tertra (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 88 Spd/ 248 HP/ 172 Def
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock
Landorus is a Boss. Almost as boss as Lucario. This thing provides Stab EQs coming from a MASSIVE attack stat. Paired up with pretty decent bulk, intimidate, u-turn and 2 immunities, this thing is an amazing Pokemon. This thing covers the issue of Ground type attacks for Heatran, taking some of the worry off of Latias, and it is immune to electric attacks. It also draws in Ice attacks for Lucario and Heatran, and water type attacks for Jellicent, Ferrothorn and Latias. All in all, It fits perfectly.
Durian (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 216 Def / 44 Spd / 248 HP
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
Ask any one of my friends which pokemon they hate the most on my team. Most of them will say this thing. Jellicent is just incredible. I have won soo many games due to this thing being able to tank hits like a champion. It spreads burns pretty well and that helps the rest of the team survive against heavy physical threats. The speed Evs are there to outrun a few pokes. Namely Bulky Scizor. It also lets me out run Bulk up Toxicroak. With Taunt, I completely shut down quite a few Pokemon and allows Jellicent to beat things like Ferrothorn in a one on one. With effectively 3 immunities, stable recovery and great type synergy, Jellicent has won me more games than maybe any other member of the team.
Elohnna (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
Ferrothorn’s main job is to set up hazards. And it does that job very well. Once it does that job, it will usually be there to paralyze anything foolish enough to come in on it and try to set up on it. Additionally, this thing tanks Outrages like a champion. Leech Seed provides support and healing to itself and the rest of the team, and Power Whip is there for any water type that wants to come in. In particular, Starmie is a common goal for me to Power whip. In terms of Synergy, Ferrothorn takes dark,ghost, and dragon type moves for Latias, dark, ghost, electric, and grass for Jelicent. It also baits in fire moves for Latias, Heatran or Jellicent to come in on.
Gallus (Heatran) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roar
- Earth Power
Balloon Tran has 3 immunities with the balloon in addition to a TON of resistances. It also brings quite a bit of fire power to the team. Literally. Its natural bulk is high enough that I didn’t feel the need to invest in it while the speed has come into handy against things like opposing Heatrans, Bulkier varients of Gliscour and against dragons. Speaking of dragons, Heatran is ment to kill opposing Garchomps and Salamences who are sizeable threats. This thing with Ferrothorn, Latias, Jellicent, and Landorus creates a network of resistances and immunities that many teams have a hard time breaking down. The biggest contribution that he brings is the mind games with Ferrothorn, and Jellicent. For moves, Roar is all but a necessity against several Pokemon such as Calm mind Jirachi and other set up sweepers. Fire blast brings down a ton of pain on anything that doesn’t resist it. HP ice is for dragons and Lando-esque pokemon. And Earth Power is there for opposing Heatrans.
Conclusion
And that’s the team. It’s a lot of fun to play with and I think it is pretty solid. Hopefully you feel the same way. This team is pretty heavy on predictions. But then again, what team isn’t? Hope you all enjoyed the team and have a great day!
Edit: And of course pics aren't working... Ill fix it up when I can.
Edit 2: Sprites and Pics are in. Will change pics to be more uniform in size later. Im tired.
An OU team by Ashura Areson
Hey all you Smogonites! This is my OU team that I have been working on for… Well awhile. As the title suggests, the team has the underrated Pokemon known as Lucario. He was originally the primary sweeper of the team, but as time progressed you could call him more the “glue” of the team. Anyway lets look at the team and how it evolved.
Team Building Process
Starting off we have the leader of this brigade! LUCARIO!
Lucario is a cool poke but he can’t handle everything on his own. Physical walls are an issue. So looking at type synergy and what I need, I chose Latios to fill the second slot. He hits from the opposing end of the spectrum and covers Lucario perfectly. The big difference at the time was that Lucario was a set up sweeper with Latios being a specs Draco Meteor Nuke.
Offense is all but covered with these two, but now we need defenses. Having traps on a battle field is a common tactic so we need a hazards layer. At the same time, a dragon resist would be absolutely awesome given how frail Lucario is. Two pokes fill this roll well. Looking at the two though, Ferrothorn is definitely the better choice with a move disruptive movepool and with a grass STAB to handle things like Swampert. Ferrothorn adds a much needed dragon resistance and definitely pulls its weight here.
Ferrothorn is a great wall but relying only on him is not great. For a partner we need to look at type synergy and ideally spin blocking capabilities. The biggest contender? Well he has an awesome mustache that’s for sure. Jelicent is tanky, a spin blocker, a fighting immunity and fire resistance for both Lucario and Ferrothorn. In addition, Jellicent also draws in dark type moves for Lucario to potentially grab a boost. For Latios, this Jellyfish soaks up ice type moves for the dragon.
Looking at the Jellicent and Ferrothorn, they look really solid and cover eachother well. But Ferrothorn’s X4 weakness to fire is a bit concerning. Also, the plethora of dragons means that Ferrothorn would need to be healthy almost all the time. A feat that is pretty hard to accomplish. With this in mind, I needed a steel type who could take on dragons while dealing with a fire weakness somehow. Well… there’s only ONE steel type that does that. Entering in Heatran. This magma turtle opens up a third level of complexity with in the team. While it adds a fighting weakness, I currently have an immunity and a resist. It also makes it harder for people to predict me when I have Ferrothorn out. Should they go for a fighting move expecting a Heatran? Or is a fire move really the best way to go? This thing also answers sun teams and stops most of their Pokemon hard.
This Vangaurd is starting to look like something. But we still need a 6th member. Well, we have a solid basis for a Sand team. Why not try Tyranitar?
Woah woah hold up there Ashura! Tyranitar opens up too large of a fighting weakness! Good point. That’s why I changed it pretty quickly to Hippowdon.
Hippowdown works alright if I can keep my weather up. But the opposing teams seemed to be always able to smash me pretty soundly due to a lack of offense. So I guess Im not using my own weather... Well… if I can’t use my own weather. Lets use the opponents! Now, I have an answer to sun with Heatran/Latios and an answer to Rain with Latios/ Ferrothorn. My team benefits heavily from sand and hail is almost never seen. So I guess I need a poke that can help with those two. But before I decide… who is the most popular poke right now?? Ah that’s right… God damned Genesect. My team hates genesect right now. Especially scarfed varients. Which reminds me I need a scarfer. So I need a scarfer who can benefit from rain, work okay in the sun, and stop Genesect. After much fiddling around… I decided Tornadus –T would provide the air support to kill things in the rain, outspeed everything and smash it in the face. What does Tornadus T grant in the sun? Well first off its faster than a Venasuar in the sun so long as it holds scarf. Then I can use the magic of heat wave and stop that threat from going.
ALRIGHT! NOW NOTHING CAN STOP ME! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Until… Tornadus T got banned. Crap. Back to the drawing board. Again, I kept on fiddling around, not quite sure what to put in for what. I changed a few sets, changed a few EV spreads, but no other pokemon seemed to mesh in well enough with the rest of the team. Then Genesect was banned. This was a glorious day. But I still needed a pokemon who could fit in well with the team. Eventually I went with Landorus I. This thing was a monster! It wrecked soo many teams nearly single handedly it wasn’t even funny. 2 immunities that pair really well with the immunities I already have, and having great speed and SpA, I won quite a few games due to this thing.
But apparently I wasn’t the only one wrecking faces with Landorus-I. And as such, he was banned. This made me quite upset, but then I remembered that Landorus still is in OU under a different form. So enter in Landorus-T. This thing might not have had the massive power as its predecessor, but it worked well. Bringing in an intimidate helped me out more times than expected and it worked well as a secondary defensive wall.
Looking at the team, All the pokes were pulling their weight but Latios seemed a bit out of place. All the other pokes bar Lucario, were bulky and focused more on tanking hits rather than nuking. Latios defenses are alright but they aren’t the greatest. At the same time though, I couldn’t really drop Latios for a different dragon without screwing up all the synergy type wise. Or so I thought. Until Latios recommended his younger sister Latias. Although not as offensive, she would be able to fill a different type of role and still keep the type synergy relatively the same. With a fond farewell and a huge party, Latios announced his retirement and his successor.
And so that is how this team took shape. Now on to the team members themselves!
Analysis
Lucario
Xeren (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
This set is pretty self explanatory. Lucario’s job is to set up and sweep. With a SD, nothing like taking Espeeds or Close combats or Bullet punches from him. Why Bullet punch? Because screw the hell out of your Ghosts not named Jellicent. While Lucario was the original “goal” pokemon, the team has sort of pushed him into a slightly different role. His job is more to punch down various threats so that the rest of the team can clean up. If the opponents are worn out, his job changes to clean up. It’s a tad difficult for me to put into words but I hope you understand.
Celestine (Latias) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 208HP / 48 SpA
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
Latias is the second sweeper of the team, replacing the immediate power of Latios. Latias job is to be my answer to walls like Ferrothorn. Sub Calm mind provides a lot of safety for the young dragon while the speed EVs insure that I can still be a threat to things like Terrakion and Gengar. While I do sometimes miss Latios’ Wow factor in terms of damage, Latias more than adequately provides power and defense in a nice package. In addition, she and the remaining 4 pokemon create a fairly intricate core of sorts.
Tertra (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 88 Spd/ 248 HP/ 172 Def
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock
Landorus is a Boss. Almost as boss as Lucario. This thing provides Stab EQs coming from a MASSIVE attack stat. Paired up with pretty decent bulk, intimidate, u-turn and 2 immunities, this thing is an amazing Pokemon. This thing covers the issue of Ground type attacks for Heatran, taking some of the worry off of Latias, and it is immune to electric attacks. It also draws in Ice attacks for Lucario and Heatran, and water type attacks for Jellicent, Ferrothorn and Latias. All in all, It fits perfectly.
Durian (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 216 Def / 44 Spd / 248 HP
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt
Ask any one of my friends which pokemon they hate the most on my team. Most of them will say this thing. Jellicent is just incredible. I have won soo many games due to this thing being able to tank hits like a champion. It spreads burns pretty well and that helps the rest of the team survive against heavy physical threats. The speed Evs are there to outrun a few pokes. Namely Bulky Scizor. It also lets me out run Bulk up Toxicroak. With Taunt, I completely shut down quite a few Pokemon and allows Jellicent to beat things like Ferrothorn in a one on one. With effectively 3 immunities, stable recovery and great type synergy, Jellicent has won me more games than maybe any other member of the team.
Elohnna (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
Ferrothorn’s main job is to set up hazards. And it does that job very well. Once it does that job, it will usually be there to paralyze anything foolish enough to come in on it and try to set up on it. Additionally, this thing tanks Outrages like a champion. Leech Seed provides support and healing to itself and the rest of the team, and Power Whip is there for any water type that wants to come in. In particular, Starmie is a common goal for me to Power whip. In terms of Synergy, Ferrothorn takes dark,ghost, and dragon type moves for Latias, dark, ghost, electric, and grass for Jelicent. It also baits in fire moves for Latias, Heatran or Jellicent to come in on.
Gallus (Heatran) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roar
- Earth Power
Balloon Tran has 3 immunities with the balloon in addition to a TON of resistances. It also brings quite a bit of fire power to the team. Literally. Its natural bulk is high enough that I didn’t feel the need to invest in it while the speed has come into handy against things like opposing Heatrans, Bulkier varients of Gliscour and against dragons. Speaking of dragons, Heatran is ment to kill opposing Garchomps and Salamences who are sizeable threats. This thing with Ferrothorn, Latias, Jellicent, and Landorus creates a network of resistances and immunities that many teams have a hard time breaking down. The biggest contribution that he brings is the mind games with Ferrothorn, and Jellicent. For moves, Roar is all but a necessity against several Pokemon such as Calm mind Jirachi and other set up sweepers. Fire blast brings down a ton of pain on anything that doesn’t resist it. HP ice is for dragons and Lando-esque pokemon. And Earth Power is there for opposing Heatrans.
Conclusion
And that’s the team. It’s a lot of fun to play with and I think it is pretty solid. Hopefully you feel the same way. This team is pretty heavy on predictions. But then again, what team isn’t? Hope you all enjoyed the team and have a great day!
Edit: And of course pics aren't working... Ill fix it up when I can.
Edit 2: Sprites and Pics are in. Will change pics to be more uniform in size later. Im tired.
Last edited:
