Pokémon Mega Lopunny

[correcthorse666]

:sv/Lopunny-Mega:

Type: Normal/Fighting
Stats: 65 HP / 136 Atk / 94 Def / 54 SpA / 96 SpD / 135 Spe
Ability: Scrappy

Pre-Mega Type: Normal
Pre-Mega Stats: 65 HP / 76 Atk / 84 Def / 54 SpA / 96 SpD / 105 Spe
Pre-Mega Abilities: Cute Charm / Klutz / Limber

Notable STAB Moves:
Mega Kick, Facade, Fake Out, Quick Attack, High Jump Kick, Close Combat, Drain Punch, Circle Throw, Mach Punch, Low Kick

Other Notable Moves:
Encore, Swords dance, Trailblaze, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Thunder Wave, U-turn, Triple Axel, Ice Punch, Healing Wish, Iron Tail, Play Rough

Pros:
- Blistering speed tier leaves M-Lop tied for the 6th fastest mon in the format.
- Scrappy means M-lop's STAB combo has perfect neutral coverage. It also means M-Lop can beat ghost types like :sableye-mega: and :Aegislash: that typically function as checks to fighting types .
- STAB Scrappy Fake Out is great at revenge killing foes, scouting spreads, and racking up chip damage.
- Other strong priority options in Quick Attack and Mach Punch are great for revenge killing foes and sweeping through faster revenge killing attempts.
- Big winner with Champion's movepool additions, notably gaining Swords Dance and U-turn to enable it to function as sweeper or pivot.
- Resists Stealth Rock which minimizes hazard chip.
- Limber pre-mega ability means mega evolution can be delayed to dodge paralysis.

Cons:
- Lackluster bulk makes it difficult to switch in, and leaves it prone to being severely damaged by anything it can't OHKO, particularly after Close Combat defense drops.
- Removal of Return means primary normal STAB options are less than ideal, with M-Lop forced to choose between the strong but unreliable Mega Kick, the situational Facade, and the weak but priority Quick Attack.
- Vulnerable to contact punishing abilities.

Potential Sets:

Offensive Pivot (Lopunny-Mega) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Encore / normal STAB / Triple Axel / Mach Punch / Healing Wish
- U-Turn

The goal of this set is to be an offensive pivot. It kills frailer/fighting weak mons with CC and racks up tons of chip on everything else with the Fake Out + U-turn combo. The other moveslot is a bit of a free space that can be easily adjusted to suit the needs of the team. Encore and Healing WIsh both provide valuable utility, but slotting Mega Kick to hit fighting resists hard, Facade to punish status, Quick Attack/Mach Punch to double down on revenge killing capability, or even slotting in an extra coverage move to lure and remove a key threat are all options.

SD Sweeper (Lopunny-Mega) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Mega Kick / Quick Attack / Mach Punch / Facade
- Triple Axel

This set is a powerful physical sweeper that can use the threat of the pivot set to generate free set up turns and tear through weakened teams. Close Combat is M-Lop's main breaking move. Mega Kick is a strong normal STAB to hit fighting resists with, although swapping it out for Quick Attack/Mach Punch to pick off would-be revenge killers, or Facade to insulate against status, is also an option. Triple Axel hits physically bulky flying, grass, and dragon types like :Dragonite:, :Hydrapple:, :Clefable-Mega:, and :Chesnaught-Mega: that would be otherwise difficult to break.

Checks and Counters:

- Due to M-lop's frailty, the few faster mons (:Alakazam-Mega: :Beedrill-Mega: :Aerodactyl-Mega: :Dragapult: :Greninja-Mega:) and scarfers all threaten massive damage if not an outright OHKO.
- Similarly, strong priority users such as :Scizor-Mega:, :Palafin-Hero:, opposing :Lopunny-Mega:, etc threaten to significant damage with their priority moves, especially after Close Combat defense drops.
- Physically bulky mons that aren't weak to fighting such as :Chesnaught-Mega:, :Toxapex:, :Corviknight:, :Skeledirge:, etc. all provide roadblocks to sweeping and need to be weakened for M-Lop to beat them.

Potential teammates

- M-lop struggles against physical walls, so special attackers like :Volcarona: and :Primarina: that can take advantage of M-lop's pivoting to break through them are ideal.
- Similarly, physical attackers like :Quaquaval:, :Weavile:, and :Garchomp: that share similar checks can stacked to overwhelm those same physical walls.
- Hazard support from mons such as :Clefable:, :Garchomp:, and :Samurott-hisui: is extremely helpful as M-Lop needs prior chip to reach many key OHKO/2HKO thresholds.
- Slow pivots like :Slowking:, :Slowking-galar:, :Corviknight:, and :Scizor: that can get M-lop onto the field safely is a must due its frailty.

 

[fluff!!]

I like going Adamant over Jolly with double priority. You still get to outspeed anything below 398 speed, or in other words, Jolly Hawlucha and anything below. This includes Mega Glimmora, Mega Skarmory, Mega Dragonite, Palafin, Garchomp, and Gengar. The trade-off is that you are now outsped by Mega Delphox, Mega Greninja, Mega Meowstic, and Mega Gengar. Mega Gengar is by far the most relevant here, but Mega Meowstic is very much not popular and Mega Gren gets smacked by Mach Punch. Fake Out + Mach Punch is a ~98% guaranteed KO in fact.

The Adamant nature allows Lopunny to have an easier time breaking through bulky mons like Corviknight from higher hp thresholds, while nicely fixing up some calcs on mons that would normally barely survive a hit.

 

[missangelic]

I think you could put Quick Attack and Mach Punch on the Swords Dance set as last moves. This would let Mega Lopunny evade revenge killing attempts from Mega Alakazam and Choice Scarf Greninja dpeending on its choice of priority move.

Would be good to mention that Mega Lopunny is especially impressive as a Fighting-type that beats Aegislash and Mega Sableye pretty handily, especially the former now that it's not relying on High Jump Kick. This is a pretty major differentiating factor between it and Mega Medicham at this point. Mega Medicham now gets to boast having two actually good STABs and a much easier time breaking down walls like Mega Venusaur, Galarian Slowking, and Clefable.

 

[correcthorse666]

I think you could put Quick Attack and Mach Punch on the Swords Dance set as last moves. This would let Mega Lopunny evade revenge killing attempts from Mega Alakazam and Choice Scarf Greninja dpeending on its choice of priority move.

Would be good to mention that Mega Lopunny is especially impressive as a Fighting-type that beats Aegislash and Mega Sableye pretty handily, especially the former now that it's not relying on High Jump Kick. This is a pretty major differentiating factor between it and Mega Medicham at this point. Mega Medicham now gets to boast having two actually good STABs and a much easier time breaking down walls like Mega Venusaur, Galarian Slowking, and Clefable.

Click to collapse...

I already had Quick Attack mentioned for the SD set, but I put in Mach Punch as well. I also added that Scrappy lets M-lop beat those ghosts, something that most fighting types can't do.

I also made some other misc tweaks to the post, like adjusting the sample sets to the Champions style.