Hey guys! This is my first post ever on smogon, but I´ve been a competitive Pokemon battler for some time and not to be cocky but I consider myself sorta good. These past few years I´ve won a few small online and local tourneys, played on showdown and wifi when time allows (which is not as often because of school 
), and won most of my matches. Anyway, there is always room to learn and improve, and so, today I bring to you my newest creation. A creation that recently reached top 98th on the OU ladder after 4 days of playing an offensive Lucario based team.Since BW (which is when I first joined competitive play) I have been using Lucario because he is my favorite pokemon, my smash bros main, and all-around just a cool guy. So by now I´m pretty sure I know what I'm doing. In XY, Lucario is seriously outclassed by many other sweepers and revenge killers, especially with the steel nerf and the addition of fairies (which makes its already poor defenses and 4-moveslot syndrome stand out even more). To cope with this, It got a mega, which was admittedly OP and had to go... (Its still fun to use mega Luke on Ubers though) Nevertheless, I think people underestimate the non-mega jackal. He sets up easily on common defensive pokemon like Ferrothorn, Mandibuzz, Skarmory, Ttar, etc. and OHKOs all of them after rocks. Also, with knock offs being thrown around everywhere, Lucario´s Justified ability is actually very helpful and threatening. And, most importantly, Extremespeed... This move not only revenge kills easily, it sweeps entire teams after a Swords Dance. There are very few things that can take a +2 Espeed after Rocks and Lucario outspeeds and OHKOs most of them with Close Combat. As a revenge killer, he is heavily outclassed by the likes of Dragonite, but it´s still a cool, underestimated pokemon to have. I know Lucario is not the best Pokemon, but I like the way he battles and want to keep using him. Also, All of the nicknames are based off Egyptian Mythology... So without further ado, rate away...
Lucario- Anubis (the resemblance though... also it´s the jackal god of death) Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Justified
Moveset:
-Close Combat
-Extremespeed
-Crunch
-Swords Dance
The star and main sweeper/revenge killer of the team. The EV spread is standard, and 4 in defense to take knock off slightly better and have an odd HP stat. Adamant nature is a must, Jolly outspeeds SOME key threats (mainly Excadrill) which is nice and all but the power drop is noticeable as you can't OHKO Skarmory or Ferrothorn anymore. Also, Pokemon around Lucario´s speed tier love scarfs, adding to the uselessness of the nature. The set is fairly standard, with crunch as the last option. Lucario needs some way to handle Slowbro and Metagross. Also its nice to catch Ghosts and Psychics on the switch. I have considered using Ice punch over Crunch to catch Landorus and Gliscor on the switch, but I believe Crunch is more effective so that Im not walled by bulky ghosts.
Mega Charizard Y- Ra (god of the sun) Charizardite
Evs: 252 SPAtk, 240 Spe, 16 HP
Ivs: 0 atk
Nature: Modest
Ability: Blaze/Drought
Moveset:
-Fire Blast
-Solarbeam
-Roost
-Focus Blast
Thanks TLS for the build. Lucario appreciates pokemon that can dent the opposing team and tear its walls apart. Mega Charizard Y was my chosen pokemon because Fire Blast 2HKOs everything bar Heatran, Ttar, and Chansey (all of which Lucario beats unboosted). Mega Charizard is especially useful against the likes of Mega Metagross, Scizor, and Rain teams. Also, the drought enables Zard to beat Greninja or severely weaken its most powerful move. The standard set works for me. Solarbeam is a must, no need to explain why. However, Im willing to change Roost and Focus Blast. I run roost to provide more longevity and look past the Rocks (sometimes), and I run Focus Blast for Heatran and Ttar. Im open to suggestions on this Wallbreaker slot, whether in move set or the pokemon itself. I have partnered Lucario with KyuremB before, but that makes my team very weak to fairies and Kyurem dies fairly quickly. Maybe I just don't play him right, but overall, Charizard has worked better for me.
Landorus T- Maahes (the lion god of war) Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
This is the Physical Tank and Rocker of the team. Landorus takes many hits very nicely, and its Earthquake hits back like a truck. It's my biggest check to most physical attackers and U-turn works well to keep momentum and ease prediction. Stone Edge is awesome because it has gotten me surprise KO´s on flying switch ins, especially Zapdos and Talonflame. Also, with stone edge, Landorus can rip through many weakened cores, which has made it my win condition a few times. My only complaint about this pokemon is that I often find myself wishing it were faster against the likes of Mega Lopunny, Sceptile, or Manectric.
Porygon2 - Thoth (the crane god of medicine... there were no ducks ok??) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Thanks to Rafael J. Feliciano for this amazing recommendation. Porygon2 with balanced bulk and eviolite EATS HITS FOR BREKFAST (see calcs in his comments below). This thing is way better than my previous Greninja/Keldeo check because first of all takes hits better, second its recovery is very reliable, and third... Trace... Trace itself wins matches. Switch in on a Greninja trace Protean... Proceed to be an annoyance. I love Porygon2 because it gives this team the control over opposing offensive threats that it needs, while still maintaining it´s offensive nature and momentum. Sure, I miss Rotom's Volt Switch but with a little prediction it´s still easy to maintain. Also, people love Knock Offing Porygon, which means that Lucario gets a free justified boost (or I switch into Landorus/Zard depending on the situation) and if my opponent is choiced into knock off, its a Lucario sweep. gg. I took Rafael´s recommended set except for one move, shadow ball. Shadow ball is literally only on this because of two reasons: Metagross, Gengar. Lucario needs them out.
Scizor- Khepri (the beetle god of rebirth) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk/ 80 SpD / 48 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
I used to use Bisharp in this slot to pressure the Lati duo from defogging, and resisting Psychic moves, Knock Off was also nice, and sucker punch was cool. Bisharp won many battles but I had too many problems with it... Too slow, made my team very weak to fairies (especially mega altaria) and sweepers loved to set up on sucker punch. So, I picked one of my favorite mons instead, Scizor. Scizor does the same job Bisharp did and effectively pursuit traps psychics which is well worth over knock off. Ghost types, such as Gengar, still do not appreciate a bullet punch to the face, and now I don't have to worry about them WoWing first (bar sableye). Superpower for surprise kills and coverage, and UTurn for STAB and momentum. Scizor has been a HUGE asset on all of my games and it is a nice offensive lead. It also survives Mega Metagross´s moves and hits back hard with Technician Pursuit, which is nice. The EV spread is somewhat straightforward: 252 Atk for max power, 80 SpDef to take Draco from Latios fairly well (80 makes the 2HKO a roll, otherwise if need full investment which is not worth it), 48 speed to outspeed standard Belly Drum Azumarrill, the rest in HP.
Latias- Isis (goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom) @ Life Orb
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
Ah Latias... The most useful and useless pokemon on this team... Latias´s main purpose is Defogging for Charizard´s benefit and healing wishing to avoid worrying about status or damage to much while I'm sweeping. Healing wish is Latias´s best asset, I often find that my win condition is weakened to the point of uselessness and then Latias comes in and wins me the victory. Draco Meteor is nice for fast power (especially with life orb) and psyshock is there to catch Gengar, Venusaur and Conkeldurr, which could be a problem. I often find that Latias is KO'd too easily, or risking speed ties too much. Also the miss chance on Draco has lost me matches as well. However, I like the fact that Latias is able to keep offensive momentum and take hits at the same time.
To finish off, I want to point out a list of grievances of this team. This team is good but it is far too easy to sweep. Pokemon like Mega Manetric, Mega Altaria, Mega Lopunny, Azumarril, Keldeo, and Zard X can easily crack holes if not sweep the entire team. Especially Lopunny... Also, this team packs a punch, yes. But against stall teams it has a rough time, even though Lucario is able to effectively sweep most of them after Glisor is gone. Also, this team needs more speed... I find that my core relies too much on tanking. I need to play more aggressively I feel like that would make my biggest problems much easier to deal with at the risk of being at the hands of my prediction. However, I do lose to the miss/burn/freeze/para/flinch/speed tie hax often, which I reaaaally do not enjoy and would like to alleviate without losing the sheer power. My thought process was to give Landorus a scarf, get a support Clefable, and make Scizor a spdef defogger, but I don't want to lose the check against Mega Altaria, and the Lati duo, nor my healing wish card. What do you guys think? But I also really don't feel comfortable with more than one choiced Pokemon.. Should I change any moves (iron tail Lucario, etc)? Coming into upper-mid ladder I see more variety and I think getting other´s advise is the best way to go. Thanks!!
If you could give suggestions to better deal with the following, It´d be greatly appreciated:
-Stored Power Mega Latias (stored power anything really)
-Stall teams
-Baton Pass
-Mega Lopunny
-Mega Manectric
-Zapdos
-ZardX
If you´d like to see the team in action, here are some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190245610 -before Scizor
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-191039629 -after Scizor
Lucario sweeps:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190608335
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190384227
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190378814
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-189979199
), and won most of my matches. Anyway, there is always room to learn and improve, and so, today I bring to you my newest creation. A creation that recently reached top 98th on the OU ladder after 4 days of playing an offensive Lucario based team.Since BW (which is when I first joined competitive play) I have been using Lucario because he is my favorite pokemon, my smash bros main, and all-around just a cool guy. So by now I´m pretty sure I know what I'm doing. In XY, Lucario is seriously outclassed by many other sweepers and revenge killers, especially with the steel nerf and the addition of fairies (which makes its already poor defenses and 4-moveslot syndrome stand out even more). To cope with this, It got a mega, which was admittedly OP and had to go... (Its still fun to use mega Luke on Ubers though) Nevertheless, I think people underestimate the non-mega jackal. He sets up easily on common defensive pokemon like Ferrothorn, Mandibuzz, Skarmory, Ttar, etc. and OHKOs all of them after rocks. Also, with knock offs being thrown around everywhere, Lucario´s Justified ability is actually very helpful and threatening. And, most importantly, Extremespeed... This move not only revenge kills easily, it sweeps entire teams after a Swords Dance. There are very few things that can take a +2 Espeed after Rocks and Lucario outspeeds and OHKOs most of them with Close Combat. As a revenge killer, he is heavily outclassed by the likes of Dragonite, but it´s still a cool, underestimated pokemon to have. I know Lucario is not the best Pokemon, but I like the way he battles and want to keep using him. Also, All of the nicknames are based off Egyptian Mythology... So without further ado, rate away...Lucario- Anubis (the resemblance though... also it´s the jackal god of death) Life Orb
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Justified
Moveset:
-Close Combat
-Extremespeed
-Crunch
-Swords Dance
The star and main sweeper/revenge killer of the team. The EV spread is standard, and 4 in defense to take knock off slightly better and have an odd HP stat. Adamant nature is a must, Jolly outspeeds SOME key threats (mainly Excadrill) which is nice and all but the power drop is noticeable as you can't OHKO Skarmory or Ferrothorn anymore. Also, Pokemon around Lucario´s speed tier love scarfs, adding to the uselessness of the nature. The set is fairly standard, with crunch as the last option. Lucario needs some way to handle Slowbro and Metagross. Also its nice to catch Ghosts and Psychics on the switch. I have considered using Ice punch over Crunch to catch Landorus and Gliscor on the switch, but I believe Crunch is more effective so that Im not walled by bulky ghosts.
Mega Charizard Y- Ra (god of the sun) Charizardite
Evs: 252 SPAtk, 240 Spe, 16 HP
Ivs: 0 atk
Nature: Modest
Ability: Blaze/Drought
Moveset:
-Fire Blast
-Solarbeam
-Roost
-Focus Blast
Thanks TLS for the build. Lucario appreciates pokemon that can dent the opposing team and tear its walls apart. Mega Charizard Y was my chosen pokemon because Fire Blast 2HKOs everything bar Heatran, Ttar, and Chansey (all of which Lucario beats unboosted). Mega Charizard is especially useful against the likes of Mega Metagross, Scizor, and Rain teams. Also, the drought enables Zard to beat Greninja or severely weaken its most powerful move. The standard set works for me. Solarbeam is a must, no need to explain why. However, Im willing to change Roost and Focus Blast. I run roost to provide more longevity and look past the Rocks (sometimes), and I run Focus Blast for Heatran and Ttar. Im open to suggestions on this Wallbreaker slot, whether in move set or the pokemon itself. I have partnered Lucario with KyuremB before, but that makes my team very weak to fairies and Kyurem dies fairly quickly. Maybe I just don't play him right, but overall, Charizard has worked better for me.
Landorus T- Maahes (the lion god of war) Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
This is the Physical Tank and Rocker of the team. Landorus takes many hits very nicely, and its Earthquake hits back like a truck. It's my biggest check to most physical attackers and U-turn works well to keep momentum and ease prediction. Stone Edge is awesome because it has gotten me surprise KO´s on flying switch ins, especially Zapdos and Talonflame. Also, with stone edge, Landorus can rip through many weakened cores, which has made it my win condition a few times. My only complaint about this pokemon is that I often find myself wishing it were faster against the likes of Mega Lopunny, Sceptile, or Manectric.
Porygon2 - Thoth (the crane god of medicine... there were no ducks ok??) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Thanks to Rafael J. Feliciano for this amazing recommendation. Porygon2 with balanced bulk and eviolite EATS HITS FOR BREKFAST (see calcs in his comments below). This thing is way better than my previous Greninja/Keldeo check because first of all takes hits better, second its recovery is very reliable, and third... Trace... Trace itself wins matches. Switch in on a Greninja trace Protean... Proceed to be an annoyance. I love Porygon2 because it gives this team the control over opposing offensive threats that it needs, while still maintaining it´s offensive nature and momentum. Sure, I miss Rotom's Volt Switch but with a little prediction it´s still easy to maintain. Also, people love Knock Offing Porygon, which means that Lucario gets a free justified boost (or I switch into Landorus/Zard depending on the situation) and if my opponent is choiced into knock off, its a Lucario sweep. gg. I took Rafael´s recommended set except for one move, shadow ball. Shadow ball is literally only on this because of two reasons: Metagross, Gengar. Lucario needs them out.
Scizor- Khepri (the beetle god of rebirth) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk/ 80 SpD / 48 Speed
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
I used to use Bisharp in this slot to pressure the Lati duo from defogging, and resisting Psychic moves, Knock Off was also nice, and sucker punch was cool. Bisharp won many battles but I had too many problems with it... Too slow, made my team very weak to fairies (especially mega altaria) and sweepers loved to set up on sucker punch. So, I picked one of my favorite mons instead, Scizor. Scizor does the same job Bisharp did and effectively pursuit traps psychics which is well worth over knock off. Ghost types, such as Gengar, still do not appreciate a bullet punch to the face, and now I don't have to worry about them WoWing first (bar sableye). Superpower for surprise kills and coverage, and UTurn for STAB and momentum. Scizor has been a HUGE asset on all of my games and it is a nice offensive lead. It also survives Mega Metagross´s moves and hits back hard with Technician Pursuit, which is nice. The EV spread is somewhat straightforward: 252 Atk for max power, 80 SpDef to take Draco from Latios fairly well (80 makes the 2HKO a roll, otherwise if need full investment which is not worth it), 48 speed to outspeed standard Belly Drum Azumarrill, the rest in HP.
Latias- Isis (goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom) @ Life Orb
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
Ah Latias... The most useful and useless pokemon on this team... Latias´s main purpose is Defogging for Charizard´s benefit and healing wishing to avoid worrying about status or damage to much while I'm sweeping. Healing wish is Latias´s best asset, I often find that my win condition is weakened to the point of uselessness and then Latias comes in and wins me the victory. Draco Meteor is nice for fast power (especially with life orb) and psyshock is there to catch Gengar, Venusaur and Conkeldurr, which could be a problem. I often find that Latias is KO'd too easily, or risking speed ties too much. Also the miss chance on Draco has lost me matches as well. However, I like the fact that Latias is able to keep offensive momentum and take hits at the same time.
To finish off, I want to point out a list of grievances of this team. This team is good but it is far too easy to sweep. Pokemon like Mega Manetric, Mega Altaria, Mega Lopunny, Azumarril, Keldeo, and Zard X can easily crack holes if not sweep the entire team. Especially Lopunny... Also, this team packs a punch, yes. But against stall teams it has a rough time, even though Lucario is able to effectively sweep most of them after Glisor is gone. Also, this team needs more speed... I find that my core relies too much on tanking. I need to play more aggressively I feel like that would make my biggest problems much easier to deal with at the risk of being at the hands of my prediction. However, I do lose to the miss/burn/freeze/para/flinch/speed tie hax often, which I reaaaally do not enjoy and would like to alleviate without losing the sheer power. My thought process was to give Landorus a scarf, get a support Clefable, and make Scizor a spdef defogger, but I don't want to lose the check against Mega Altaria, and the Lati duo, nor my healing wish card. What do you guys think? But I also really don't feel comfortable with more than one choiced Pokemon.. Should I change any moves (iron tail Lucario, etc)? Coming into upper-mid ladder I see more variety and I think getting other´s advise is the best way to go. Thanks!!
If you could give suggestions to better deal with the following, It´d be greatly appreciated:
-Stored Power Mega Latias (stored power anything really)
-Stall teams
-Baton Pass
-Mega Lopunny
-Mega Manectric
-Zapdos
-ZardX
If you´d like to see the team in action, here are some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190245610 -before Scizor
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-191039629 -after Scizor
Lucario sweeps:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190608335
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190384227
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-190378814
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-189979199
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