[OVERVIEW]
Lunala possesses a small niche in Ubers as a setup sweeper thanks to its spammable STAB move, access to Agility, and good natural bulk courtesy of Shadow Shield. Its Ghost typing allows it to pressure notable threats like Necrozma-DM, Calyrex-I, and some Extreme Killer Arceus. However, Lunala faces direct competition from its fellow Ghost-types, Necrozma-DW, which fills an almost identical niche and is considerably stronger, and Flutter Mane, which boasts a better secondary typing and much better Speed. To make matters worse, even after a Special Attack boost, it lacks the power to get past many common defensive Pokemon in the tier, such as Ho-Oh, Eternatus, Ting-Lu, and Calm Mind Arceus formes. Additionally, Lunala's vulnerability to entry hazards and dependence on Tera to pick up KOs makes it difficult to justify on most teams.
[SET]
Agility (Lunala) @ Power Herb
Ability: Shadow Shield
Tera Type: Ghost / Fighting / Fairy
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Moongeist Beam
- Focus Blast / Moonblast
- Meteor Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Agility aims to take advantage of Lunala's fantastic Ghost-type STAB move and respectable Special Attack to transform it into a threatening sweeper. 200 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Lunala to outspeed the entire metagame, including even +1 Speed Koraidon and Miraidon, after an Agility boost. The remaining EVs are invested into its HP to better take hits while setting up. Focus Blast, in combination with Moongeist Beam, gives Lunala perfect neutral coverage, and it crucially hits Dark-type Pokemon like Ting-Lu, Arceus-Dark, Kingambit, and Chien-Pao for super effective damage, easily OHKOing the latter two. Focus Blast also allows Lunala to 2HKO Extreme Killer Arceus, though Lunala must be wary of a potential Shadow Claw. Moonblast is a perfectly accurate alternative that forms similarly great coverage with Moongeist Beam and always OHKOes Koraidon, but it deals significantly less damage to Ting-Lu and fails to 2HKO Arceus and OHKO Kingambit. Meteor Beam not only gives Lunala a Special Attack boost, but it also OHKOes Ho-Oh, which is an otherwise problematic check for Lunala to deal with. Tera Ghost boosts the power of Moongeist Beam, which, after a Special Attack boost, allows Lunala to OHKO many neutral targets, such as Koraidon, Miraidon, and Zacian-C. Tera Ghost also removes Lunala's 4x weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type moves, allowing it to survive them if Shadow Shield is intact. Tera Fighting is an option when Lunala is running Focus Blast to, with a Special Attack boost, have a chance to OHKO Ting-Lu after damage from entry hazards and always OHKO Arceus and Arceus-Dark, while Tera Fairy allows Lunala to always OHKO Miraidon and 2HKO Ting-Lu with a boosted Moonblast. Both Tera Fighting and Tera Fairy negate Lunala's weaknesses to Dark and Ghost, with Tera Fairy having the additional benefit of an immunity to the numerous Dragon-type moves used in Ubers, notably enabling Lunala to check Koraidon with Shadow Shield intact.
Lunala finds itself almost exclusively on hyper offense teams that cannot fit a more potent option, such as Necrozma-DW, where its single-use setup is not a problem. Special sweepers like Eternatus and Miraidon alongside Lunala can overwhelm checks like Ting-Lu and Clodsire and clear the way for each other to sweep. Dedicated leads, such as Glimmora, Deoxys-S, and Deoxys-A, can hinder opposing teams from setting entry hazards while setting entry hazards themselves to weaken foes for Lunala. Ho-Oh lures like Zacian-C, Scale Shot Koraidon, and Necrozma-DM running Stone Edge make for great teammates, since Lunala has a much easier time sweeping once Ho-Oh is removed. In return, Lunala's ability to shut down dangerous sweepers, such as Extreme Killer Arceus and Calyrex-I, in an emergency with Shadow Shield frees teammates to run offensive Tera types; for example, Tera Grass on Miraidon with Solar Beam or forgoing Tera Ghost on Arceus and Koraidon in favor of Tera Normal and Tera Fire, respectively.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Psyshock can be used to beat Eternatus, Clodsire, and the rare Blissey, but it leaves Lunala completely walled by Ting-Lu and is largely useless against the rest of the tier. Calm Mind can be used with Heavy-Duty Boots as a boosting option over Meteor Beam. However, being unable to threaten Ho-Oh can be detrimental to Lunala's chances of sweeping, and Lunala will rarely get more than one turn to set up, so the immediate power of Meteor Beam is preferable.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ting-Lu**: A healthy Ting-Lu can tank any attack Lunala throws at it and phaze it out with Whirlwind, set up entry hazards, or weaken it with Ruination.
**Ho-Oh**: Once Lunala has used its Power Herb, Ho-Oh can comfortably phaze it out, wasting Lunala's boost from Meteor Beam, and heal off the damage with Regenerator.
**Entry Hazards**: Since Lunala is required to run Power Herb, it is hit by all forms of entry hazards, which break its Shadow Shield and can put it in range of being revenge killed or outright prevent it from setting up.
**Dark-types**: Although rare, Arceus-Dark, Kingambit and Chien Pao's Dark typing and the latter two's priority Sucker Punch make Lunala's prospects of sweeping grim. They have to fear a potential Focus Blast, but Arceus-Dark cannot be OHKOed unless Lunala Terastallizes Fighting, and Sucker Punch has favorable odds to OHKO Lunala even through Shadow Shield if Chien Pao is holding a Life Orb or Choice Band and Kingambit has multiple allies fainted.
**Special Walls**: Walls like Eternatus, Clodsire, and Blissey can shut down Lunala through status or by stalling out the low PP of its moves.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lillianofficial.547277/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/katerina.306317/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/taka.595062/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
Lunala possesses a small niche in Ubers as a setup sweeper thanks to its spammable STAB move, access to Agility, and good natural bulk courtesy of Shadow Shield. Its Ghost typing allows it to pressure notable threats like Necrozma-DM, Calyrex-I, and some Extreme Killer Arceus. However, Lunala faces direct competition from its fellow Ghost-types, Necrozma-DW, which fills an almost identical niche and is considerably stronger, and Flutter Mane, which boasts a better secondary typing and much better Speed. To make matters worse, even after a Special Attack boost, it lacks the power to get past many common defensive Pokemon in the tier, such as Ho-Oh, Eternatus, Ting-Lu, and Calm Mind Arceus formes. Additionally, Lunala's vulnerability to entry hazards and dependence on Tera to pick up KOs makes it difficult to justify on most teams.
[SET]
Agility (Lunala) @ Power Herb
Ability: Shadow Shield
Tera Type: Ghost / Fighting / Fairy
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Moongeist Beam
- Focus Blast / Moonblast
- Meteor Beam
[SET COMMENTS]
Agility aims to take advantage of Lunala's fantastic Ghost-type STAB move and respectable Special Attack to transform it into a threatening sweeper. 200 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Lunala to outspeed the entire metagame, including even +1 Speed Koraidon and Miraidon, after an Agility boost. The remaining EVs are invested into its HP to better take hits while setting up. Focus Blast, in combination with Moongeist Beam, gives Lunala perfect neutral coverage, and it crucially hits Dark-type Pokemon like Ting-Lu, Arceus-Dark, Kingambit, and Chien-Pao for super effective damage, easily OHKOing the latter two. Focus Blast also allows Lunala to 2HKO Extreme Killer Arceus, though Lunala must be wary of a potential Shadow Claw. Moonblast is a perfectly accurate alternative that forms similarly great coverage with Moongeist Beam and always OHKOes Koraidon, but it deals significantly less damage to Ting-Lu and fails to 2HKO Arceus and OHKO Kingambit. Meteor Beam not only gives Lunala a Special Attack boost, but it also OHKOes Ho-Oh, which is an otherwise problematic check for Lunala to deal with. Tera Ghost boosts the power of Moongeist Beam, which, after a Special Attack boost, allows Lunala to OHKO many neutral targets, such as Koraidon, Miraidon, and Zacian-C. Tera Ghost also removes Lunala's 4x weakness to Dark- and Ghost-type moves, allowing it to survive them if Shadow Shield is intact. Tera Fighting is an option when Lunala is running Focus Blast to, with a Special Attack boost, have a chance to OHKO Ting-Lu after damage from entry hazards and always OHKO Arceus and Arceus-Dark, while Tera Fairy allows Lunala to always OHKO Miraidon and 2HKO Ting-Lu with a boosted Moonblast. Both Tera Fighting and Tera Fairy negate Lunala's weaknesses to Dark and Ghost, with Tera Fairy having the additional benefit of an immunity to the numerous Dragon-type moves used in Ubers, notably enabling Lunala to check Koraidon with Shadow Shield intact.
Lunala finds itself almost exclusively on hyper offense teams that cannot fit a more potent option, such as Necrozma-DW, where its single-use setup is not a problem. Special sweepers like Eternatus and Miraidon alongside Lunala can overwhelm checks like Ting-Lu and Clodsire and clear the way for each other to sweep. Dedicated leads, such as Glimmora, Deoxys-S, and Deoxys-A, can hinder opposing teams from setting entry hazards while setting entry hazards themselves to weaken foes for Lunala. Ho-Oh lures like Zacian-C, Scale Shot Koraidon, and Necrozma-DM running Stone Edge make for great teammates, since Lunala has a much easier time sweeping once Ho-Oh is removed. In return, Lunala's ability to shut down dangerous sweepers, such as Extreme Killer Arceus and Calyrex-I, in an emergency with Shadow Shield frees teammates to run offensive Tera types; for example, Tera Grass on Miraidon with Solar Beam or forgoing Tera Ghost on Arceus and Koraidon in favor of Tera Normal and Tera Fire, respectively.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
====
Psyshock can be used to beat Eternatus, Clodsire, and the rare Blissey, but it leaves Lunala completely walled by Ting-Lu and is largely useless against the rest of the tier. Calm Mind can be used with Heavy-Duty Boots as a boosting option over Meteor Beam. However, being unable to threaten Ho-Oh can be detrimental to Lunala's chances of sweeping, and Lunala will rarely get more than one turn to set up, so the immediate power of Meteor Beam is preferable.
Checks and Counters
====
**Ting-Lu**: A healthy Ting-Lu can tank any attack Lunala throws at it and phaze it out with Whirlwind, set up entry hazards, or weaken it with Ruination.
**Ho-Oh**: Once Lunala has used its Power Herb, Ho-Oh can comfortably phaze it out, wasting Lunala's boost from Meteor Beam, and heal off the damage with Regenerator.
**Entry Hazards**: Since Lunala is required to run Power Herb, it is hit by all forms of entry hazards, which break its Shadow Shield and can put it in range of being revenge killed or outright prevent it from setting up.
**Dark-types**: Although rare, Arceus-Dark, Kingambit and Chien Pao's Dark typing and the latter two's priority Sucker Punch make Lunala's prospects of sweeping grim. They have to fear a potential Focus Blast, but Arceus-Dark cannot be OHKOed unless Lunala Terastallizes Fighting, and Sucker Punch has favorable odds to OHKO Lunala even through Shadow Shield if Chien Pao is holding a Life Orb or Choice Band and Kingambit has multiple allies fainted.
**Special Walls**: Walls like Eternatus, Clodsire, and Blissey can shut down Lunala through status or by stalling out the low PP of its moves.
[SET CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/lillianofficial.547277/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/katerina.306317/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/taka.595062/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tbolt.555379/
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