Introduction
Heya people.
I think this may actually be my first ever Smogon forums post.
I've lurked since Gen 6, and made this account around S/M but have decided to get feedback on a team I've had a lot of fun using.
I never would have thought about using Lucario at all, in fact I only stumbled across them due to adding them to a Zygarde 10% team out of nostalgia using Nasty Plot, Vacuum Wave Infernape and wanting to try out special priority. I end up finding out that it is actually a decent wallbreaker, that hits a large portion of the tier pretty hard.
Thus I began making a team, with Lucario's set being centerpiece.
Team
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
The set itself is quite simple. Nasty plot for a boost to SpA, priority and dual stab as well as EV's to maximise these points.. I originally ran coverage options like Dark pulse to hit things that resist Lucario's dual stab like Zapdos or Slowking but after testing realized Flash Cannon was more useful for reasons I'll get to in a bit.
A more in depth breakdown revolves around switching Lucario into things that have no way of dealing with him, such as Weavile (which he hard checks) Toxapex, Clefable's without flamethrower etc. and, if safe to do so set up a Nasty Plot. At +2 Lucario hits hard, threatening an OHKO on non-specially defensive Landorus-T variants with Flash Cannon, and 2hkoing most mons in the tier that it hits neutrally. Even without boosts it still hits hard, 2hkoing mons such as Landorus-T, Tornadus-T, Skarmory and Corvinight with its stab combinations. Focus blast is run over Aura Sphere to guarantee the OHKO on Steel types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn. Vacuum Wave is the main reason I tried using Lucario, and it works fantastically. Unboosted, Vacuum Wave OHKo's Weavile, turning Lucario into a good pivot against it, and boosted it's able to break holes in most non-bulky mon, such as Zeraora and Garchomp, leaving them to be either revenge killed afterwards or killed if they have already suffered damage.
Now onto Lucario's drawbacks, chief among them is his bulk. Lucario is very frail, and can't take many hits that he doesn't resist. This makes it difficult for him to switch in directly, meaning slow pivots became a must have. Secondly, whilst his matchups against certain mons like Weavile are impressive, he gets bodied by Offensive Lando sets running max speed, and flops before Dragapults running super effective moves like flamethrower. From here we get into the rest of the team, built both around mitigating Lucario's weaknesses and synergizing with each other.
Overused (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Hit Me (Corviknight) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
I really enjoy this defensive core. They both pivot into eachother's weaknesses well and also allow me slow U-turns into other mons such as Lucario. Both also provide Defog and Rocks support which is nice.
A bit more in depth to Landorus, Earthquake is there to hit hard, with U-turn for pivoting.
Stealth rock is for basic Hazard setting.
Toxic is there against other potential leading pokemon, specifically other lando's, although he isn't really my standard lead since Tapu Fini gets that job done better at counter-leading.
Leftovers is simply there for passive recovery.
SpD is run to pair better as a core with Corviknight.
Corviknight has Roost for recovery, allowing it to stay alive for long periods of time.
Defog is there for Hazard removal, and frees up Toxic for Landorus.
U-turn for slow pivoting,
I was originally running Body Press, as that's what standard Smogon sets recommend, but for some reason i kept encountering a ton of Rillabooms so I decided to run Brave Bird to deal with those. It's just a standard damaging move used for chip.
SpD investment allows it to survive 2 hits from Dragapult Shadow Ball, and the rest is put into def.
Tap water (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Trick
- Nature's Madness/Taunt
Tapu Fini was added when I began realizing "Wait a minute, this team is stomped by Urshifu, Dragapult and Landorus" So I added something that was capable of dealing with those.
Choice Scarf is the ideal set, as it both serves as a wallbreaker via trick, crippling some mons such as Blissy, Glowking and Corviknight, whilst doing serious damage to the things I want it to check with Moonblast and Surf. Ev's are spread to maximise speed and damage.
Nature's Madness is run as a way to chip common switchin's such as Toxapex and Blissey. Taunt is ran if i want to prevent Hazards but I've generally preferred using Nature's Madness.
Sneeze (Weavile) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
I originally was running Scizor in this slot since Swords Dance Scizor is a really fun pokemon and one of my favorite staple OU mons, but i quickly realised Fini was unable to reliably check both Pult and Lando, so I opted for Weavile.
The standard Swords dance set, that puts huge amounts of pressure on the opposing team in regards to switches, and forces items off of anything that comes into it.
I don't have a whole lot to add to the description of the Weavile set, It does it's job well, dealing with both Landorus and Dragapult, it does add a glaring weakness to Urshifu in the team however.
Don’t Stoo (Slowking-Galar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
This is the mon I'm most unsure of. I originally had Heatran here as another defensive mon. Don't remember the exact reason I had it, but i do remember getting swept by two rain teams with him back to back and thinking "Damn, I'm weak as hell to rain". In comes Glowking, how does it counter rain? I don't really think it does, but its got enough special bulk to take pretty much any hit from a Pelipper or Zapdos, leaving Tapu Fini to deal with Barraskewda. Of course it brings with it other glaring weaknesses and I'm probably going to replace it but I don't know what with.
Anyway onto the set:
Standard Smogon AV set, runs Future Sight for large damage over time, Sludge Bomb for fairies like Fini or Clef, Flamethrower for 4x weak mons and Ice beam for lando switches.
Team Failings
I've done a lot of testing with this team, and with it I feel i've been able to identify some flaws with it. Despite the changes it can still struggle with rain if something happens to Fini or Glowking, and Scizor can be a big threat if I can't deal with it early before some boosts, since Glowking struggles to switch in on it and Corviknight and Lucario can't take a +2 Superpower, But the biggest issue I've found is this guy.
If Corviknight has been Knocked off, Banded Urshifu destroys 5 out of my 6 Pokemon, and Fini is already having to check either Lando or Pult, meaning if it's injured and gets killed by Urshifu, I might as well quit there since it 2hko's Corviknight and OHKO's everything else. I only realised the glaring weakness recently but have not figured out what to change up in order to counter it.
Replays
I currently only have one replay of the team, and it's from an old version where I was using Sub, DD Zydog for fun before wanting to make the team more serious around Lucario.
Here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1409363781
Basically, Lucario sweeps half the team, dies and the rest clean up.
Conclusion
So this is my first RMT, hopefully It's up to quality standards.
Feedback is greatly appreciated, and any advice is good advice (unless the advice is like, use Regigigas or something)
Anyways, to people reading this, have a nice day or night. Importable will be below so anybody can have fun getting cheeky sweeps with Lucario. Seriously this team's a blast.
Importable
Pokepaste link: https://pokepast.es/d2ebed38773c5ebe
Heya people.
I think this may actually be my first ever Smogon forums post.
I've lurked since Gen 6, and made this account around S/M but have decided to get feedback on a team I've had a lot of fun using.
I never would have thought about using Lucario at all, in fact I only stumbled across them due to adding them to a Zygarde 10% team out of nostalgia using Nasty Plot, Vacuum Wave Infernape and wanting to try out special priority. I end up finding out that it is actually a decent wallbreaker, that hits a large portion of the tier pretty hard.
Thus I began making a team, with Lucario's set being centerpiece.
Team
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
The set itself is quite simple. Nasty plot for a boost to SpA, priority and dual stab as well as EV's to maximise these points.. I originally ran coverage options like Dark pulse to hit things that resist Lucario's dual stab like Zapdos or Slowking but after testing realized Flash Cannon was more useful for reasons I'll get to in a bit.
A more in depth breakdown revolves around switching Lucario into things that have no way of dealing with him, such as Weavile (which he hard checks) Toxapex, Clefable's without flamethrower etc. and, if safe to do so set up a Nasty Plot. At +2 Lucario hits hard, threatening an OHKO on non-specially defensive Landorus-T variants with Flash Cannon, and 2hkoing most mons in the tier that it hits neutrally. Even without boosts it still hits hard, 2hkoing mons such as Landorus-T, Tornadus-T, Skarmory and Corvinight with its stab combinations. Focus blast is run over Aura Sphere to guarantee the OHKO on Steel types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn. Vacuum Wave is the main reason I tried using Lucario, and it works fantastically. Unboosted, Vacuum Wave OHKo's Weavile, turning Lucario into a good pivot against it, and boosted it's able to break holes in most non-bulky mon, such as Zeraora and Garchomp, leaving them to be either revenge killed afterwards or killed if they have already suffered damage.
Now onto Lucario's drawbacks, chief among them is his bulk. Lucario is very frail, and can't take many hits that he doesn't resist. This makes it difficult for him to switch in directly, meaning slow pivots became a must have. Secondly, whilst his matchups against certain mons like Weavile are impressive, he gets bodied by Offensive Lando sets running max speed, and flops before Dragapults running super effective moves like flamethrower. From here we get into the rest of the team, built both around mitigating Lucario's weaknesses and synergizing with each other.
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 374-442 (97.9 - 115.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 187-222 (48.9 - 58.1%) -- 98% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 172-203 (47.5 - 56%) -- 77.7% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 88 SpD Corviknight: 242-286 (60.5 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 312-368 (93.4 - 110.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Vacuum Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 359-426 (127.7 - 151.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Vacuum Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zeraora: 187-222 (58.9 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 187-222 (48.9 - 58.1%) -- 98% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 172-203 (47.5 - 56%) -- 77.7% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 88 SpD Corviknight: 242-286 (60.5 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 312-368 (93.4 - 110.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Vacuum Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 359-426 (127.7 - 151.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Lucario Vacuum Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zeraora: 187-222 (58.9 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Overused (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Hit Me (Corviknight) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
I really enjoy this defensive core. They both pivot into eachother's weaknesses well and also allow me slow U-turns into other mons such as Lucario. Both also provide Defog and Rocks support which is nice.
A bit more in depth to Landorus, Earthquake is there to hit hard, with U-turn for pivoting.
Stealth rock is for basic Hazard setting.
Toxic is there against other potential leading pokemon, specifically other lando's, although he isn't really my standard lead since Tapu Fini gets that job done better at counter-leading.
Leftovers is simply there for passive recovery.
SpD is run to pair better as a core with Corviknight.
Corviknight has Roost for recovery, allowing it to stay alive for long periods of time.
Defog is there for Hazard removal, and frees up Toxic for Landorus.
U-turn for slow pivoting,
I was originally running Body Press, as that's what standard Smogon sets recommend, but for some reason i kept encountering a ton of Rillabooms so I decided to run Brave Bird to deal with those. It's just a standard damaging move used for chip.
SpD investment allows it to survive 2 hits from Dragapult Shadow Ball, and the rest is put into def.
Tap water (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Trick
- Nature's Madness/Taunt
Tapu Fini was added when I began realizing "Wait a minute, this team is stomped by Urshifu, Dragapult and Landorus" So I added something that was capable of dealing with those.
Choice Scarf is the ideal set, as it both serves as a wallbreaker via trick, crippling some mons such as Blissy, Glowking and Corviknight, whilst doing serious damage to the things I want it to check with Moonblast and Surf. Ev's are spread to maximise speed and damage.
Nature's Madness is run as a way to chip common switchin's such as Toxapex and Blissey. Taunt is ran if i want to prevent Hazards but I've generally preferred using Nature's Madness.
Sneeze (Weavile) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
I originally was running Scizor in this slot since Swords Dance Scizor is a really fun pokemon and one of my favorite staple OU mons, but i quickly realised Fini was unable to reliably check both Pult and Lando, so I opted for Weavile.
The standard Swords dance set, that puts huge amounts of pressure on the opposing team in regards to switches, and forces items off of anything that comes into it.
I don't have a whole lot to add to the description of the Weavile set, It does it's job well, dealing with both Landorus and Dragapult, it does add a glaring weakness to Urshifu in the team however.
Don’t Stoo (Slowking-Galar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
This is the mon I'm most unsure of. I originally had Heatran here as another defensive mon. Don't remember the exact reason I had it, but i do remember getting swept by two rain teams with him back to back and thinking "Damn, I'm weak as hell to rain". In comes Glowking, how does it counter rain? I don't really think it does, but its got enough special bulk to take pretty much any hit from a Pelipper or Zapdos, leaving Tapu Fini to deal with Barraskewda. Of course it brings with it other glaring weaknesses and I'm probably going to replace it but I don't know what with.
Anyway onto the set:
Standard Smogon AV set, runs Future Sight for large damage over time, Sludge Bomb for fairies like Fini or Clef, Flamethrower for 4x weak mons and Ice beam for lando switches.
Team Failings
I've done a lot of testing with this team, and with it I feel i've been able to identify some flaws with it. Despite the changes it can still struggle with rain if something happens to Fini or Glowking, and Scizor can be a big threat if I can't deal with it early before some boosts, since Glowking struggles to switch in on it and Corviknight and Lucario can't take a +2 Superpower, But the biggest issue I've found is this guy.
If Corviknight has been Knocked off, Banded Urshifu destroys 5 out of my 6 Pokemon, and Fini is already having to check either Lando or Pult, meaning if it's injured and gets killed by Urshifu, I might as well quit there since it 2hko's Corviknight and OHKO's everything else. I only realised the glaring weakness recently but have not figured out what to change up in order to counter it.
Replays
I currently only have one replay of the team, and it's from an old version where I was using Sub, DD Zydog for fun before wanting to make the team more serious around Lucario.
Here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1409363781
Basically, Lucario sweeps half the team, dies and the rest clean up.
Conclusion
So this is my first RMT, hopefully It's up to quality standards.
Feedback is greatly appreciated, and any advice is good advice (unless the advice is like, use Regigigas or something)
Anyways, to people reading this, have a nice day or night. Importable will be below so anybody can have fun getting cheeky sweeps with Lucario. Seriously this team's a blast.
Importable
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
Overused (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Hit Me (Corviknight) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
Tap water (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Trick
- Nature's Madness
Sneeze (Weavile) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
Don’t Stoo (Slowking-Galar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
Overused (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Hit Me (Corviknight) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
Tap water (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Trick
- Nature's Madness
Sneeze (Weavile) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
Don’t Stoo (Slowking-Galar) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 124 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Pokepaste link: https://pokepast.es/d2ebed38773c5ebe
Last edited:
