Every time I look at Smogon's analysis for Lucario, I can't help but thinking that something was blatantly missed in the screening of Lucario's movepool and stats. While he is frail, he has tremendous offenses with 110 attack and 115 special attack. So the question arises: why not have him follow in Infernape's footsteps and make him a wall breaker? The potential is all there, so let's try it out.
Set: MixCario
Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus, Naive
-Close Combat
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Extremespeed/Blaze Kick
-Dark Pulse
EVs: 80 atk/202 sp atk/220 spd
114 atk/144 sp atk/220 spd
Set: MixCario v2
Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus, Naive
-Swords Dance
-Aura Sphere
-Blaze Kick
-Crunch
EVs: 132 atk/124 spd/252 sp atk
A few calcs:
Close Combat vs. max def+ Blissey: 864 damage. OHKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended Hippowdon: 260 damage. 2HKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended MixMence (Rash): 532 damage. OHKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended Gliscor: 504 damage. OHKO.
Dark Pulse vs. MixPert: 48%.
Dark Pulse vs. physical wall Cresselia: 48%.
Close Combat vs. spiking Skarmory: 44%.
Blaze Kick vs. supporting Bronzong (sassy): 59%. 2HKO.
Blaze Kick vs. Forretress: ~99.4%. Any less than maximum HP on Forretress and it's an OHKO (with Smogon recommended 96 def).
Hidden Power Ice vs. Rapid Spin Donphan: 78%. 2HKO.
Reasonably good results, it seems. 2HKOs are good as opponents flounder around attempting to figure out what exactly my moveset is and which wall they can send in safely. Unfortunately, he still suffers from moveslot syndrome, and would love to have an electric attack on here too, though it appears there's sadly no room. Blaze Kick is a good idea over Extremespeed if you intend to encounter Forretress or Bronzong on your journeys.
Regarding the EVs: I think a spread of 96 atk/156 sp atk/252 spd might also work, considering Lucario has STAB on Close Combat but not on HP Ice or Dark Pulse. This wouldn't be an option when considering Bullet Punch over Extremespeed, because Bullet Punch is still 20 BP less (even with STAB) which makes a big difference. Additionally, anything Steel can do Fighting can do better (offensively, of course). So let us discuss MixCario for now. Opinions?
After spending some quality time with MixCario, it's easy to see what makes Mixape so good compared to MixCario. It's not the offenses certainly: Lucario has better offenses in both categories. It's not the speed either, as the general target of both sets, walls, are generally very slow. Mixape's access to Grass Knot is a factor, but really only for Hippowdon and other Grounds. It's not even Nasty Plot, because Lucario has access to Swords Dance. The big difference is that Infernape has two usable STABs. Steel is the second least effective offensive type in the game, next only to Poison, whereas Fire has fantastic type coverage and Infernape gets a great STAB bonus, shooting his Flamethrower to tremendous power even without Nasty Plot.
One thing MixCario does have over Mixape is one simple advantage: it's a Lucario and not an Infernape. While so far everyone has marked this as a disadvantage (and criticized me for bothering to do this), think about fighting Lucario. When someone switches in a Lucario, how do YOU respond? Is it physical? Is it special? Do you have ANY idea? The thing is, it's very hard to tell what kind of Lucario you'll be fighting. When someone pulls an Infernape on you, it's obvious that it's a Mixape. You know to pull your Cresselia, Vaporeon, or Starmie. Let's say you bring in MixCario against a Salamence. You outspeed it and OHKO with HP Ice (this is set 1 of course). Assuming you have a SpecsLuke, your opponent pulls out Blissey. Close Combat for the OHKO. What's next? Maybe your opponent has an anti-Magnezone Forretress (aka one with EQ). Blaze Kick takes that one down. To make it shorter, it's tougher to predict against Lucario than against Infernape. That's that. If you have trouble predicting against Infernape, then that's you, but personally I find Infernape to be pretty darn predictable.
After going through numerous movesets, coming up with one universal moveset for mixed Lucario is nigh on impossible. For example, one that fits well with my team is Swords Dance//Close Combat//Crunch//Hidden Power Ice. The EV spread is definitely important though, and 132 atk/124 spd/252 sp atk is really recommended for anyone using Swords Dance.
I've had a request to compare MixCario to other Lucario. Let's start like this. These are maximum damage listed here.
MixCario HP [Ice] vs max def Gliscor: 147% max.
Max atk CB Lucario Close Combat vs max def Gliscor: 30% max.
MixCario Close Combat (no swords dance) vs SS stalling Cradily: 112% max.
Specs Lucario Aura Sphere vs SS stalling Cradily: 74% max.
Those are just a few. CB Lucario gets completely destroyed by Gliscor, because STAB EQ on Lucario's modest to crappy defenses is not so good. Out of my experience, MixCario after a CC or Crunch is a perfect lure for Gliscor, then a free OHKO with HP Ice.
Edit: You don't need to say that Mixape is better. You also don't need to say that I'm a retard for suggesting something other than Mixape.
Putting in an untested set for the Swords Dance set that was recommended. I'm testing the first set right now, anyone want to test the Swords Dance set?
Set: MixCario
Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus, Naive
-Close Combat
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Extremespeed/Blaze Kick
-Dark Pulse
EVs: 80 atk/202 sp atk/220 spd
114 atk/144 sp atk/220 spd
Set: MixCario v2
Lucario @ Life Orb
Inner Focus, Naive
-Swords Dance
-Aura Sphere
-Blaze Kick
-Crunch
EVs: 132 atk/124 spd/252 sp atk
A few calcs:
Close Combat vs. max def+ Blissey: 864 damage. OHKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended Hippowdon: 260 damage. 2HKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended MixMence (Rash): 532 damage. OHKO.
Hidden Power Ice vs. Smogon recommended Gliscor: 504 damage. OHKO.
Dark Pulse vs. MixPert: 48%.
Dark Pulse vs. physical wall Cresselia: 48%.
Close Combat vs. spiking Skarmory: 44%.
Blaze Kick vs. supporting Bronzong (sassy): 59%. 2HKO.
Blaze Kick vs. Forretress: ~99.4%. Any less than maximum HP on Forretress and it's an OHKO (with Smogon recommended 96 def).
Hidden Power Ice vs. Rapid Spin Donphan: 78%. 2HKO.
Reasonably good results, it seems. 2HKOs are good as opponents flounder around attempting to figure out what exactly my moveset is and which wall they can send in safely. Unfortunately, he still suffers from moveslot syndrome, and would love to have an electric attack on here too, though it appears there's sadly no room. Blaze Kick is a good idea over Extremespeed if you intend to encounter Forretress or Bronzong on your journeys.
Regarding the EVs: I think a spread of 96 atk/156 sp atk/252 spd might also work, considering Lucario has STAB on Close Combat but not on HP Ice or Dark Pulse. This wouldn't be an option when considering Bullet Punch over Extremespeed, because Bullet Punch is still 20 BP less (even with STAB) which makes a big difference. Additionally, anything Steel can do Fighting can do better (offensively, of course). So let us discuss MixCario for now. Opinions?
After spending some quality time with MixCario, it's easy to see what makes Mixape so good compared to MixCario. It's not the offenses certainly: Lucario has better offenses in both categories. It's not the speed either, as the general target of both sets, walls, are generally very slow. Mixape's access to Grass Knot is a factor, but really only for Hippowdon and other Grounds. It's not even Nasty Plot, because Lucario has access to Swords Dance. The big difference is that Infernape has two usable STABs. Steel is the second least effective offensive type in the game, next only to Poison, whereas Fire has fantastic type coverage and Infernape gets a great STAB bonus, shooting his Flamethrower to tremendous power even without Nasty Plot.
One thing MixCario does have over Mixape is one simple advantage: it's a Lucario and not an Infernape. While so far everyone has marked this as a disadvantage (and criticized me for bothering to do this), think about fighting Lucario. When someone switches in a Lucario, how do YOU respond? Is it physical? Is it special? Do you have ANY idea? The thing is, it's very hard to tell what kind of Lucario you'll be fighting. When someone pulls an Infernape on you, it's obvious that it's a Mixape. You know to pull your Cresselia, Vaporeon, or Starmie. Let's say you bring in MixCario against a Salamence. You outspeed it and OHKO with HP Ice (this is set 1 of course). Assuming you have a SpecsLuke, your opponent pulls out Blissey. Close Combat for the OHKO. What's next? Maybe your opponent has an anti-Magnezone Forretress (aka one with EQ). Blaze Kick takes that one down. To make it shorter, it's tougher to predict against Lucario than against Infernape. That's that. If you have trouble predicting against Infernape, then that's you, but personally I find Infernape to be pretty darn predictable.
After going through numerous movesets, coming up with one universal moveset for mixed Lucario is nigh on impossible. For example, one that fits well with my team is Swords Dance//Close Combat//Crunch//Hidden Power Ice. The EV spread is definitely important though, and 132 atk/124 spd/252 sp atk is really recommended for anyone using Swords Dance.
I've had a request to compare MixCario to other Lucario. Let's start like this. These are maximum damage listed here.
MixCario HP [Ice] vs max def Gliscor: 147% max.
Max atk CB Lucario Close Combat vs max def Gliscor: 30% max.
MixCario Close Combat (no swords dance) vs SS stalling Cradily: 112% max.
Specs Lucario Aura Sphere vs SS stalling Cradily: 74% max.
Those are just a few. CB Lucario gets completely destroyed by Gliscor, because STAB EQ on Lucario's modest to crappy defenses is not so good. Out of my experience, MixCario after a CC or Crunch is a perfect lure for Gliscor, then a free OHKO with HP Ice.
Edit: You don't need to say that Mixape is better. You also don't need to say that I'm a retard for suggesting something other than Mixape.
Putting in an untested set for the Swords Dance set that was recommended. I'm testing the first set right now, anyone want to test the Swords Dance set?