Project ORAS Pokemon of the Week MK. 3 - read post 138 pls

[Tressed]

originally approved by alexwolf
OP stolen from boltsandbombers
Taken over from firehusky

Welcome to the Pokemon of the Week Project. Each week, one Pokemon will be chosen for discussion. Not only do we hope to bring some underrated sets and pokemon out into the exposure of the OU community, but we hope to bolster discussion of well established threats at the same time. Each Monday, a new subject will be chosen, with the goal of making this thread a resource for new players to refer to in order to look at how certain pokemon fair in the current metagame, and create serious discussion amongst ourselves!

What Topics Do We Talk About?
In general, some topics to be discussed are...

• The Pokemon of the Week's current role in the OU metagame, and the niches that it fulfills.
• Viable and popular sets.
• Underrated or creative sets.
• How the subject Pokemon fares against other threats in the tier.
• Advantages and disadvantages over Pokemon with similar niches.
• Good teammates for the subject Pokemon.
• Strategies based on the subject Pokemon.
• The subject's influence on the metagame.
• Common misconceptions or assumptions about the subject.

What Are the Goals of This Thread?

• To spark deep analysis of a Pokemon to fully explain it's uses in the OU meta.
• To generate exposure on Pokemon or sets not usually seen.
• To develop a resource for new players to reference in order to gain knowledge and understanding of OU.

Archive

MK. 1 can be found here!
MK. 2 can be found here!
Week 1 - Heatran
Week 2 - Gengar
Week 3 - Mega Absol
Week 4 - Landorus
Week 5 - Greninja
Week 6 - Mega Metagross
Week 7 - Mega Scizor
Week 8 - Mega Sableye
Week 9 - Talonflame
Week 10 - Mega Altaria
Week 11 - Chesnaught
Week 12 - Keldeo
Week 13 - Charizard
Week 14 - Celebi
Week 15 - Manaphy
Week 16 - Mega Diancie
Week 17 - Mega Garchomp
Week 18 - Tornadus-Therian
Week 19 - Tyranitar
Week 20 - Mamoswine
Week 21 - Mega Alakazam
Week 22 - Skarmory
Week 23 - Starmie
Week 24 - Reuniclus
Week 25 - Mega Manectric
Week 26 - Lucario
Week 27 - Latias and Mega Latias
Week 28 - Togekiss
Week 29 - Weavile
Week 30 - Terrakion
Week 31 - Mega Pidgeot
Week 32 - Kyurem-B
Week 33 - Landorus-T
Week 34 - Charizard X/Y
Week 35 - Jirachi
Week 36 - Hoopa C/U
Week 37 - Clefable
Week 38 - Gyarados and Mega Gyarados
Week 39 - Hippowdon
Week 40 - Mega Houndoom
Week 41 - Thundurus
Week 42 - Serperior
Week 43 - Suicune
Week 44 - Mega Lopunny

 

[Tressed]

Base Stats: 110 HP / 65 Atk / 75 Def / 125 SpA / 85 SpD / 30 Spe
Abilities: Overcoat / Magic Guard / Regenerator

Reuniclus has returned to the OU tier, despite it's fall from grace at the beginning of XY. Thanks to it's solid bulk and access to a great ability in Magic Guard, Reuniclus is able to find plenty of time to set up Calm Minds. Additionally, access to Trick Room turns it's low Speed from a liability to a great asset. However, the prominence of Knock Off in the tier does not bode well for our jelly friend, and it's lack of resistances can make taking hits rather taxing.

Feel free to begin discussion!​

 

[DarkNostalgia]

you stole it from me tressed :c

Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast / Shadow Ball
- Recover

Lol it's fine anyway, tressed :]

Reuniclus really has risen, both in usage and viability. This set is Reuniclus's most common set in the metagame. Balance is the most common playstyle at the moment, and Reuniclus completely destroys that. It's a good check to the likes of Keldeo, Mega Diancie, special Mega Altaria, and many more. Psychic + Fighting is good neutral coverage, only resisted by the likes of Mega Sableye and Psychic-types. Because of its access to both Calm Mind and Recover, it is incredibly hard to take down, especially when it already has great natural bulk, making it a great defensive win-con against archetypes such as stall and balance, with the latter being the most common. Reuniclus also has Magic Guard, which makes it unable to be worn down by status/entry hazards/phazing (with entry hazards), making it a terror for stall, a playstyle relying mostly on status or passive damage (think Alomomola and Chansey). However, it faces stiff competition from Clefable, which also runs a Calm Mind + Magic Guard set. I've highlighted this in the 'Role Comparison Project' run by Recreant, but Reuniclus does have numerous traits over Clefable.

Reuniclus has better natural bulk, unlike Clefable (though Clefable can be deemed bulkier looking at typing, as Fairy is better defensively than Psychic), which relies on living attacks by the skin of its teeth (think Latios's Psyshock, Thundurus's Thunderbolt). Reuniclus also beats a few Pokemon Clefable struggles with, such as Mega Venusaur, Chansey, Talonflame, Gliscor, Tentacruel, Heatran etc. In addition, Reuniclus deals better against stall than Clefable will - unless Clefable opts for a more offensively-oriented set in tandem with a Life Orb.

On the other hand, however, Reuniclus still has flaws. It is hard-walled by Mega Sableye and Psychic-types, though the usage of the former is greatly decreasing, along with stall builds, but Psychic-types are increasing in dominance. Pokemon such as Latios, Slowking, Mega Metagross etc. are a huge pain for Reuniclus to deal with, unless it runs Shadow Ball, but then it is walled by Dark-types. Furthermore, Reuniclus is weak to the omnipresent Knock Off and Pursuit. When cores such as Tyranitar + Keldeo + Landorus (I) are running rampant, Reuniclus does struggle with its job. Aegislash's suspect test also doesn't help Reuniclus one bit, but that's a matter for speculation and for further study when Aegislash does get unbanned.

In short, Reuniclus is a threat not to be unprepared for. Depending on what set it runs, it can deal with a lot of the metagame, especially when it has good bulk and a stellar ability in Magic Guard.

Oh yeah, also common misconceptions. I guess the one that pops into mind is that people think Reuniclus sucks outside of Trick Room, which is not true at all. You could arguably say that Ferrothorn, Clefable, Chansey sucks outside of Trick Room too, since they're slow, but that doesn't apply and doesn't make sense either. Reuniclus is meant to be a defensive win-con, shrugging of status, and weaker hits with its bulk, not a fast glass cannon such as Greninja. People also think Life Orb is the best item on Reuniclus. This isn't true; Leftovers is by far the best. The gradual recovery granted by Leftovers provide Reuniclus with the ability to check the likes of Mega Metagross and Mega Diancie, and the extra power from Life Orb doesn't get any additional KOs, as far as I'm aware.

DN EDIT: Lol sorry if it was a wall of text, didn't mean to :/ I just like Reuniclus

 

[firehusky]

One suggestion would be to link the post you make each week to the OP, that way when they click on reuniclus and want to read its discussion they can just click on its name in the OP instead of scrolling through the entire thread.

Anyways I set that hey yal recently innovated is the imprison set: imprison / shadow ball / calm mind / recover works as a decent mono attacker although rather weak but the cool thing is that with imprison you completely shut down mega sableye as you're immune to will o wisp thanks to magic guard.

DarkNostalgia summed up reuniclus pretty well but a really important thing that he didn't mention was its access to psyshock which allows it to get past mons that are bulkier on the special side such as heatran and chansey which clefable cannot do. Reuniclus is definitely a great asset for balanced and stall teams as it works as a great stallbreaker and once it gets going, it's super hard to stop and stall teams have trouble dealing with it as they often rely on passive damage.

 

[Red King]

i've been running a great reun team for awhile and i'm just gonna start listing partners

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 192 SpD / 72 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Gliscor specifically this set as it beats mega sableye and can check on bisharp which is sweet. it's also not afraid to switch into ttar. Reun has a well known weakness to sableye and honestly running sball is awful coverage and a waste. with focus blast you can smash steel types and prevent bisharp from switching in. you beat half the people on ladder cause they think they can just dump bisharp into it whenever it comes out. It also takes on gengar relatively well who also gives reuniclus trouble.

Keldeo is also a pretty good partner as it beats bisharp easily and can wear down things like latios with scald that come into it.

Reun also has a pretty big weakness to set up sweepers like DDD altaria and dragonite who can just boost past it. unaware cm clefable is also a jerk.

Steel types are great partners especially jirachi, who comes into psychics like Latios, Gardevoir and friends with literally no trouble at all. Heatran also helps. Spdef skarmory is also an option who can whirlwind out sweepers like altaria and dragonite who take advantage

Aegislash is ironically a great team asset to reuniclus as it also switches into the psychic types that cause reun trouble, and since so many teams rely on aegis as a crutch to deal with reun and many other pokemon you can wear it down, and gliscor switches into aegis all day.

I really can't emphasize how much that gliscor set works for reuniclus. just run a core of reun, it and a steel type. It puts in so much work.

 

[WhiteQueen]

Agree with the above that Gliscor makes a great partner for Reuniclus for its ability to check Gengar (even the Life Orb variant). Keldeo is definitely a good partner for its ability to scare off Bisharp, but it can't repeatedly switch into Bisharp's attacks. Defensive Mega-Scizor is a much better Bisharp check and it doesn't fear Knock Off either. It also checks Mega-Altaria and Clefable, both Pokemon that Reuniclus doesn't care for as the post before me stated. Cobalion is also a good partner, if your team is Bisharp weak and needs a Stealth Rock user. Cobalion shouldn't be used otherwise, as it's not that good compared to the other options in OU.

 

[Tressed]

Base Stats: 70 HP / 75 Atk / 80 Def / 135 SpA / 80 SpD / 135 Spe
Abilities: Intimidate

This week's 'mon is Mega Manectric! It's high speed and solid special attack make it a powerful offensive threat, and it happens to have just enough coverage to threaten huge portions of the tier. Add STAB Volt Switch and Intimidate to the mix, and you have one great revenge killer and momentum thief. Unfortunately, Manectric's inability to carry a held item is an issue, as it's Sp Attack is rather average for a Mega Pokemon. This means that it can be somewhat mediocre against teams with strong defensive cores, and it has few ways to defeat specially defensive Ground types, such as Hippowdon.

I'll updating this thread on Mondays from now on, as per the old schedule.​

 

[DarkNostalgia]

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Mega Manectric is a pretty cool mon in ORAS, boasting the ability to check a wide range of Pokemon, particularly Steel-types such as Mega Scizor and Mega Metagross, which are rising in popularity. It is a great pivot, and is remotely comparable to Choice Scarf Landorus-T in the sense that they both have a pivoting move (U-turn and Volt Switch, respectively), and Intimidate. Because of its great Speed tier, solid offenses, and access to Intimidate, it is a solid check to offensive archetypes, which encompass Pokemon such as Azumarill and Talonflame. In addition, Mega Manectric is a really cool Pokemon on offensive teams as well, ironically, because of its great pivoting abilities generating valuable free momentum and its ability to check Talonflame because of its Speed tier and Intimidate.

However, Mega Manectric has lost a bit of popularity in the transition to ORAS as well. It faces stiff competition for its role as a Mega Evolution, as many will forgo Manectric for more powerful, versatile Mega Evolutions, such as Mega Altaria, Mega Diancie and Mega Metagross. In addition, it is also checked by quite a bit of the new threats, such as Mega Altaria and Rock Polish Landorus. Manectric is also quite weak without boosts, and often relies on super-effective damage.

Many people compare Raikou with Mega Manectric, as they are both Electric-type pivots, and both occupy a great Speed tier. However, there are quite a few major differences between the two. Mega Manectric occupies a better Speed tier, which allows to check Pokemon such as Hawlucha, Talonflame, and Tornadus-T much easier. Furthermore, its access to Intimidate makes it, ultimately, the better pivot, and having Fire-type coverage in the form of Overheat/Flamethrower means it deals with Steel-types better than Raikou. On the other hand, Raikou can hold an item, whether it be Choice Specs, Assault Vest, or Leftovers, meaning it is more versatile in its role, taking into account Manectric really only has one viable set, while Raikou has around 3; with Choice Specs, Raikou is a good special sweeper, and its Volt Switch hits extremely hard; with Assault Vest, it is a great check to powerful special attackers such as Keldeo and Gengar; with Leftovers, it can opt for a Substitute+Calm Mind, albeit not as popular as a set. Raikou also doesn't take up a Mega slot, meaning it is more splashable than Mega Manectric.

Good partners for Mega Manectric include Landorus-T, as it completes a nice VoltTurn and double Intimidate core with Manectric, and appreciates Manectric's ability to deal with Water-types such as Azumarill and Slowbro. Keldeo is a fantastic partner as well, appreciating Manectric's ability to tear apart Water-types, providing valuable momentum, and can beat Bisharp for Mega Manectric, which takes advantage of Intimidate to activate Defiant. Keldeo also deals with sturdier balance and stall builds, which Mega Manectric struggle with. A Pokemon to check Dragon-types such as Mega Altaria and Latios, such as Weavile, Latios, and Clefable, are also great partners for Mega Manectric, as Mega Manectric cannot do much to Dragon-types other than a weak Hidden Power Ice.

What other options to consider? There really aren't many other options to consider, as Mega Manectric as quite a shallow movepool. Flamethrower could be used in place of Overheat, providing much better staying power in the sense that it doesn't lower Mega Manectric's Special Attack, but loses out on some notable KOs, such as the OHKO on Mega Metagross and Ferrothorn. Hidden Power [Grass] deals with Water / Ground types, such as Mega Swampert, Seismitoad, and Quagsire, but losing out on the ability to deal with Dragon-types, Gliscor, and both Landorus formes is quite detrimental. Charge Beam could give Mega Manectric the opportunity to sweep, but is a weak move and Manectric is more of a pivot.

 

[Kurona]

poor reuni; rip in five posts :[

also title needs updated; and OP needs "Week 25 - Manectric" with a link

 

[WhiteQueen]

Without Raikou, Mega-Manectric would be the electric pivot of choice due to its amazing Speed and coverage moves. Unfortunately, Raikou does MMan's role just as well, albeit slower, without taking up a Mega slot. That's the only drawback that comes to mind when I think of Mega-Manectric.

With that out of the way, there's no reason not to use MMan if a Mega slot is available. It's fast, powerful, and has a useful ability in Intimdate. Landorus-T and Tornadus-T both form an amazing VoltTurn core with MMan. Wish Passers such as Jirachi, Clefable, and Chansey / Blissey also make good partners for MMan since it has no reliable form of recovery.

 

[Bluwing]

manectric is and should be the electric pivot off choice due to a whole lot off better pros it sports than raikou. the megaslot argument is rly just busted because it always comes down to what ur team need. mman is both faster and stronger than raikou, it sports better coverage and better abilities as both off manectrics abilities are amazing. manectric is also not weak to knock off from threats like tornadus-t, and is also faster than threats like talonflame which then leads me to that mega manectric is a LOT better than raikou in every scenario as an electric pivot regardless off the megastone, where the only drawback being that it's slower than raikou before mega.

 

[bludz]

I've always wondered if Manectric really only has the one set. I mean it's effective as hell at what it does for sure, but it would be really sweet if it had another role.

Either way a pretty underrated mon if you ask me and it tears offense a new one similar to Mega Lopunny but offers some different utility

 

[Celticpride]

I've always wondered if Manectric really only has the one set. I mean it's effective as hell at what it does for sure, but it would be really sweet if it had another role.

Either way a pretty underrated mon if you ask me and it tears offense a new one similar to Mega Lopunny but offers some different utility

Sometimes one set is all you need ;)

But to not make this a one liner, Manectric is pretty great. Accurate Fire coverage (or basically accurate coverage to hit stuff like Ferro) is pretty big compared to other offensive Electrics. A lot of the above posts apply, but Manectric is very good at harassing certain balanced cores and gaining momentum from them. Intimidate also forces more switches than the other common Volt Switchers, which allows it to spam Volt Switch that much more. It's speed tier also became kinda underrated after Gren got banned, because there's still a few dangerous threats in between it and Raikou or Thundurus.

 

[You...You...]

There are two main reasons why Mega Manectric has only one moveset; that it doesn't have a free move slot as all of its moves are vital to it and its movepool is really damn shallow. With that being said I can see taunt to break defensive pokemon (nope doesn't even learn that), toxic to wear down some of its checks, substitute to dodge status and generally be useful and, while somewhat gimmicky, I can see potential in magnet rise. What move from the standard set you'd drop to make room for these moves I don't know but I think Volt Switch (especially in the case of charge beam and substitute) and Thunderbolt are probably the most likely candidates.

 

[WhiteQueen]

manectric is and should be the electric pivot off choice due to a whole lot off better pros it sports than raikou. the megaslot argument is rly just busted because it always comes down to what ur team need. mman is both faster and stronger than raikou, it sports better coverage and better abilities as both off manectrics abilities are amazing. manectric is also not weak to knock off from threats like tornadus-t, and is also faster than threats like talonflame which then leads me to that mega manectric is a LOT better than raikou in every scenario as an electric pivot regardless off the megastone, where the only drawback being that it's slower than raikou before mega.

What you said is true. That's why the Mega Stone argument is quite legit because it really is the only reason why many players would use Raikou over MMan. With MMan, you don't have room for Mega-Metagross, Mega-Altaria, Mega-Diancie, Mega-Charizard X, etc. Raikou plus one of the aforementioned powerhouses is typically MORE POWERFUL than MMan and another none-Mega Pokemon. Also Assault Vest Raikou can come in on Manaphy (without a boost) a few times to chase it off, something that MMan can't claim, as an unboosted Scald from Manaphy would drain half of its HP.

 

[Alfalfa]

What you said is true. That's why the Mega Stone argument is quite legit because it really is the only reason why many players would use Raikou over MMan. With MMan, you don't have room for Mega-Metagross, Mega-Altaria, Mega-Diancie, Mega-Charizard X, etc. Raikou plus one of the aforementioned powerhouses is typically MORE POWERFUL than MMan and another none-Mega Pokemon. Also Assault Vest Raikou can come in on Manaphy (without a boost) a few times to chase it off, something that MMan can't claim, as an unboosted Scald from Manaphy would drain half of its HP.

While being able to deal damage is important for Mega Man, it serves mostly more as a pivot than an offensive Pokemon. Taking up a Mega Slot is not necessarily a bad thing, as having an Intimidate user who is not crippled by switching into weak Knock Offs is a good asset to have. While taking up a Mega Slot is a pain in the neck, that trade off is not difficult to build around. In addition, Raikou is typically not more powerful than Mega Man unless it is running Calm Mind (or even Specs if that is a thing), and Mega Man's ability to outspeed Torn-T and Starmie consistently is something that is almost certainly worth not being a check to Manaphy that can switch into it.

 

[Tressed]

Base Stats: 70 HP / 110 Atk / 70 Def / 115 SpA / 70 SpD / 90 Spe
Abilities: Steadfast / Inner Focus / Justified

It's May 4th, I'm pretty sure I'm forced to have Lucario as the Pokemon of the Week this time. Lucario's claim to fame is it's offensive power. Thanks to Swords Dance, Close Combat, a variety of coverage moves, and Extremespeed, Lucario makes for a solid late game cleaner and general offensive threat. However, Lucario's offensive potency is hampered by it's unimpressive speed, and it's good defensive typing is held back by limited defenses.​

 

[Celticpride]

Lucario has a nice niche in OU. It's not a threat that can completely break defensive teams by itself, but +2 Close Combat can certainly put in work. ESpeed is a nice cleaning tool especially in the Talonflame-Thundurus era. The 3% SR damage is also nice. Seems like small amount but adds up if you like to pull a lot of double switches. I think that people over exaggerate how bad Luke is in OU. Yeah it isn't near DPP Luke in terms of effectiveness, but you don't build a team around pretty much anything in the B- to C ranks anyways as they are pretty much complimentary pieces. Luke is a nice compliment to certain offensive threats, and the 4mss is kinda exaggerated and can be mitigated a lot through the use of good cores / teammates. Off the top of my head M-Gyara, Weavile, and offensive Heatran all work well with Luke depending on the coverage move used. I see a lot of "well if Luke drops x move than y walls it" whereas I look at something like Luke as "well ESpeed is a good fit and I have threat z to break wall y so I can use coverage move x". Going back to M-Gyara, it handles Slowbro and Gliscor well (aka common Luke checks) but has trouble with some Fairies and Ferrothorn. Iron Tail Luke is a solid fit as it handles Ferro really well and can also hurt a ton of Fairies with Steel STAB.

 

[BCE]

how iron tail helps against ferrothorn ?

 

[GnralLao]

how iron tail helps against ferrothorn ?

He meant that M-Gyara had problems with Faries and Ferro, so pairing it with Iron Tail Lucario would be a good idea as Luke already deals with Ferro (obvious Close Combat) and can deal with Fairies with Iron Tail.

 

[Random Passerby]

The problem with Lucario is that it really needs a Life Orb and be at +2 to sweep, which is actually difficult to do, given it's frailty. I know that Luke sets up on the Pokemon it forces out (Heatran, Ferrothorn, Bisharp, Ttar, Clefable, etc.) but if the opponent predicts the SD or simply sac the Pokemon, Lucario will likely be crippled taking Lava Plume (Heatran), Low Kick (or even Knock Off + Sucker Punch) (Bisharp), Thunder Wave or Gyro Ball (Ferro), EQ or Fire Blast (Ttar), Thunder Wave or Flamethrower (Clefable). This shows that the opponent will simply not let Luke set-up if they know their team is cleaned by SD Lucario; they can just sac a Pokemon and revenge it later (as unboosted Extreme Speed is really weak). The presence of Talonflame, Lando-I, Garchomp, Lati@s, Sableye, Mew, Jirachi, Slowbro, Gyarados and Mega Metagross doesn't help as Luke has a difficult time against them unless it is already at +2 (easier said than that). Furthermore, it wants Steel STAB for fairies, Ice Punch for bulky Grounds, Bullet Punch for Gengar, Mega Gard and Terrakion, and Crunch for bulky Psychics, which leads to a minor 4 MSS and leads to difficulty in doing it's job.

 

[MANNAT]

The problem with Lucario is that it really needs a Life Orb and be at +2 to sweep, which is actually difficult to do, given it's frailty. I know that Luke sets up on the Pokemon it forces out (Heatran, Ferrothorn, Bisharp, Ttar, Clefable, etc.) but if the opponent predicts the SD or simply sac the Pokemon, Lucario will likely be crippled taking Lava Plume (Heatran), Low Kick (or even Knock Off + Sucker Punch) (Bisharp), Thunder Wave or Gyro Ball (Ferro), EQ or Fire Blast (Ttar), Thunder Wave or Flamethrower (Clefable). This shows that the opponent will simply not let Luke set-up if they know their team is cleaned by SD Lucario; they can just sac a Pokemon and revenge it later (as unboosted Extreme Speed is really weak). The presence of Talonflame, Lando-I, Garchomp, Lati@s, Sableye, Mew, Jirachi, Slowbro, Gyarados and Mega Metagross doesn't help as Luke has a difficult time against them unless it is already at +2 (easier said than that). Furthermore, it wants Steel STAB for fairies, Ice Punch for bulky Grounds, Bullet Punch for Gengar, Mega Gard and Terrakion, and Crunch for bulky Psychics, which leads to a minor 4 MSS and leads to difficulty in doing it's job.

Lucario isn't supposed to be a sweeper that sets up and blows through teams. It it supposed to clean up late game after the opponents checks and counters to Luke have been eliminated. Lucario can easily finish off teams late game with rocks up because LO bolstered offenses can finish off a ton of weakened threats. Here are some calcs to prove it.

Calcs with no setup

252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 175-208 (57.7 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 120 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 147-174 (44.9 - 53.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Scizor: 187-220 (66.5 - 78.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (offensive SD)
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 230-270 (95.4 - 112%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (hit on switch)
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Goodra: 333-394 (87.4 - 103.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 476-562 (123.6 - 145.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Alakazam: 207-244 (79.9 - 94.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Clefable: 367-432 (93.1 - 109.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

As you can see from here, Lucario can do a great job finishing off weakened teams late game without any boosts. If it gets up some boosts, it really can melt through some teams very quickly, although this is very hard to do:

Calcs with setup

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Slowbro: 408-481 (103.5 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Altaria: 562-663 (158.7 - 187.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 499-589 (124.4 - 146.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Celebi: 324-382 (80.1 - 94.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Garchomp: 370-437 (88 - 104%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-T: 242-286 (63.3 - 74.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 56+ Def Gliscor: 298-351 (84.1 - 99.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Hippowdon: 347-409 (82.6 - 97.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Jirachi: 359-422 (88.8 - 104.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Lucario's paper-thin defenses and MINOR 4MSS may let him down a lot, but the iron tail SD set is an excellent late game cleaner that can melt through teams if it is utilized correctly.

 

[Tressed]

Latias
Base Stats: 80 HP / 80 Atk / 90 Def / 110 SpA / 130 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Levitate

Mega Latias
Base Stats: 80 HP / 100 Atk / 120 Def / 140 SpA / 150 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Levitate

Figured we might as well cover Latias as a whole this week. Latias is the bulkier of the two Eon Pokemon, and tends to be used for it's defensive typing, being able to switch into attackers such as Keldeo and Raikou easily. Access to a pair of solid STAB moves, reliable recovery, and Defog makes Latias an excellent choice for hazard removal. Mega Latias boasts enormous defenses, holds the significant niche of being one of the only Landorus counters in OU, and can be used as a wall or a win condition for stall teams. Latias's flaws lie in it's mediocre physical bulk and weakness to Pursuit trapping, as it is unable to deal significant damage to common trappers such as Bisharp and Tyranitar. Additionally, it faces competition from it's more offensively based brother, Latios.​

 

[bludz]

Mega Latias has gained a lot of traction as a serious threat on balance teams as a set up sweeper. It operates similarly to Clefable and Reuniclus but has far better bulk than either and is also quite fast and is more similar to Clefable insofar that it has a variety of options it can run. Utility sets are good too just because this monster is so hard to take down especially when you use Reflect Type shenanigans on opposing Bisharps and whatnot. People often forget about Latias' great support movepool that includes gems like Thunder Wave and Roar.

Normal Latias is also decent with Reflect Type although similar to Starmie it sorta loses its ability to check SubCM Keldeo reliably.

 

[firehusky]

Mega latias is definitely really good right now. It's one of the only mons that can consistently switch in on the combination of keldeo, landorus, and zard y. One of the sets that I like using right now is CM + roost + 2 attacks. This set is really versatile. You can run dual STABs, although I don't like it because it just leaves you really open to steel types which are super common right now; stored power + coverage move (surf, HP fire, etc.), dragon pulse + coverage, and many other options. It's bulk is so well rounded and thanks to its mega stone, knock off isn't even boosted against it, which makes setting up pretty easy.

Paired up with fairies or fighting-types that can take out dark types, it has a really easy time setting up and cleaning with stored power. Once it gets up like 2 calm minds, it's almost impossible to stop without status or phazing. Even status can be avoided such as by reflect typing on heatran. Phazers only stop the problem momentarily and once they get weakened and are in KO range of mega latias, mega latias can just come back in again and set up.

Mega latias is like pretty much the whole reason why people don't like using mega latios. There are just way too many scenarios where you're like, "wow I wish I had the extra bulk" compared to "wow I wish I had some extra power". The extra bulk that latias provides makes it a much better switch in to the pokemon I listed earlier, as well as making setting up CMs much more easier. After like a few CMs latias is already hitting pretty hard and the extra power provided by mega latios isn't really missed that much.

As for regular latias, it's probably one of my most used pokemon. Tied with latios as probably the best defoggers in the tier atm. When there's a bulkier alternative for a pokemon, I almost always go for the bulkier one. Latias is a much more reliable switch in to specs keld that doesn't get 2HKOed by icy wind, however, the main reason I like using it is definitely healing wish. Being able to bring a crippled sweeper or cleaner back from the dead is simply amazing and often times people just forget about this and lose games because of it. Now obviously latios has much better offensive presence as well as being able to run some pretty cool sets such as defog + 3 attacks, roost + 3 attacks, memento, and choice scarf, but healing wish is really great for HO teams as it gives sweepers another shot at sweeping. Latios and latias both have their benefits but in most cases I just almost always find myself going with latias.