[OVERVIEW]
Lucario is one of the most dangerous attackers in the tier, ready to sweep at a moment’s notice. Its fantastic typing, incredible movepool including strong priority in Extreme Speed, and excellent offensive stats make it one of the premier Swords Dance users in the tier that every team must be aware of. An immunity to sand and poison and a 4x resistance to Stealth Rock make it resilient to residual damage, allowing it to be one of the few Pokemon able to run Life Orb consistently without a lot of drawbacks. As a Swords Dance sweeper, Lucario can pick and choose its defensive checks with its coverage moves, whether it be Crunch for Rotom-A and bulky Psychic-types like Latias and Celebi; Ice Punch for Gliscor, Dragonite, Latias, and Zapdos; or Bullet Punch for Gengar and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Lucario also is a premier Choice Scarf user due to outspeeding and KOing common Speed-boosting sweepers such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Gyarados, and Dragonite with its strong Close Combat and excellent coverage. Lucario also has excellent other sweeping options in Agility and Calm Mind that leave it with very different answers, potentially surprising standard counterplay.
However, Lucario is held back by its decent base 90 Speed stat and its inability to run all of its options at once. Lucario is unfortunately both frail and not very fast, meaning many offensive Pokemon such as Rotom-A, Gliscor, Latias, Jirachi, Gengar, and Flygon outspeed and threaten to KO it, especially after it drops its defensive stats with Close Combat. This is made worse by the fact that Lucario often wants the extra power from Adamant to break through Pokemon such as physically Skarmory at +2, meaning even more Pokemon such as offensive Suicune outspeed it. Even with good defensive typing, sweeping Lucario sets are often relegated to very aggressive teams, as it doesn’t provide much defensive utility due to its frailty and common weaknesses. This is exacerbated by Lucario being a Steel-type that doesn't check Latias and is itself checked by the faster Jirachi, typically responsibilities of a Steel-type. Lucario is also a victim of its own success, as defensive teams often have multiple checks, and more offensive teams almost always have multiple Fighting-type answers and a Pokemon resistant to Extreme Speed that can finish off Lucario, such as Fire Punch Jirachi or Scizor. Even with all of this, there are some Pokemon Lucario badly struggles to break unless it has a specific moveset, such as Gliscor, faster Jirachi, Choice Scarf Magnezone or Magneton, and faster priority users like Mach Punch Infernape. Choice Scarf Lucario struggles against defensive teams due to its relatively weak Close Combat and relies heavily on prediction, as its moves can be easily punished if not chosen carefully. Theoretically, Lucario could deal with a lot of these issues; however, it is limited by four moveslots and cannot carry everything it needs.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Lucario's great offenses mean it could use a wide variety of additional offensive moves, such as Agility, Calm Mind, and other attacks such as Thunder Punch and Stone Edge to maximize its coverage as an all-out attacker. All of these options appreciate entry hazard support to make up for the lack of Swords Dance's power. Agility boosts Lucario's Speed to negate the need for priority, as it gets the jump on all revenge killers such as Choice Scarf Rotom-A, Gliscor, and Choice Scarf Magnezone and can KO them with the appropriate coverage option. Such a set is effective against offensive teams but struggles with power against walls such as Hippowdon, Jirachi, Zapdos, Latias, and Skarmory. Calm Mind surprises these walls with boosted special coverage coming from Lucario's higher Special Attack stat. +1 Lucario is strong enough to have a chance to OHKO Clefable with Aura Sphere and has good coverage with options such as Dragon Pulse, Shadow Ball, Vacuum Wave, and various Hidden Power types. While surprising, such a set still struggles to OHKO various walls and doesn't ameliorate Lucario's issues with Speed. All-out attacking Lucario sets focus on using options to beat Flying-types; Thunder Punch OHKOes Gyarados without a Wacan Berry, Stone Edge hits physically defensive Zapdos very hard, and having the additional coverage move can be very surprising in general. Lucario also has destructively strong Choice Specs and Choice Band sets, as its sand immunity and great movepool allow it disguise itself effectively. Choice Specs-boosted Focus Blast can OHKO Pokemon such as Clefable, physically defensive Hippowdon, and offensive Jirachi, while Choice Band Lucario hits hard immediately and can 2HKO offensive Flying-types such as Gyarados. However, Lucario often wants to fully take advantage of its movepool without the restrictions of a Choice item.
Lucario has a humongous movepool, and various niche options such as Counter + Focus Sash, Reversal, Me First, and Magnet Rise all have merit on individual sets. However, Lucario struggles to fit all of its options as is.
Checks and Counters
========
**Bulky Flying-types**: Gliscor, Zapdos, and Gyarados are fantastic general answers to Lucario. Gliscor is typically thought of first as the best Lucario check in the tier, as it is faster, neutral to Stealth Rock, and very physically bulky even without investment and swiftly OHKOes Lucario with Earthquake. Zapdos and Gyarados need a lot of investment to take Lucario's attacks and are typically slower, but they can easily OHKO it with Heat Wave and Earthquake, respectively, and only fear the very rare Stone Edge or Thunder Punch in Gyarados's case. Lucario can get around all of these Pokemon—Shuca Berry or Agility + Ice Punch beats Gliscor, while even physically defensive Zapdos and Gyarados don't enjoy Lucario's attacks + Stealth Rock. These Pokemon also take a lot from +2 Extreme Speed.
**Ghost-types**: Rotom-A and Gengar are also excellent checks to Lucario, as they are immune to both Close Combat and Extreme Speed. Choice Scarf Rotom-A is often thought of as the other best Lucario check in the tier, as it outspeeds it, resists Bullet Punch, and OHKOes it with Overheat or Thunderbolt after a Special Defense drop from Close Combat. Defensive Rotom-A walls Lucario if it doesn't have Crunch and burns it. Gengar outspeeds Lucario and OHKOes it with Focus Blast. However, Lucario can deal with both of these Pokemon, as it OHKOes Rotom-A with +2 Crunch and OHKOes Gengar with +2 Bullet Punch or Crunch on the switch.
**Faster Pokemon**: Since Lucario hits so hard, outspeeding and revenge killing it is often the best course of action instead of surviving its attacks. Jirachi, Choice Scarf Magnezone and Magneton, Choice Scarf Heatran, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar are all great checks, as they resist Extreme Speed and KO Lucario after it has dropped its defenses with Close Combat. Jirachi is notable in that it naturally outspeeds Lucario, while Choice Scarf Magnezone and Magneton guarantee -1 Lucario's removal as they outspeed and OHKO it with Thunderbolt. Other faster Pokemon such as Flygon, Timid Suicune, Latias, and Starmie outspeed Lucario, but they take a lot of damage from +2 Extreme Speed and fall to Agility Lucario.
**Extremely Bulky Pokemon**: While +2 Lucario is incredibly strong, extraordinarily bulky Pokemon such as physically defensive Hippowdon, Celebi, Uxie, Cresselia, and Skarmory can survive a hit and incapacitate Lucario. Physically defensive Hippowdon, Uxie, and Cresselia are notable in that they are the only Pokemon in the tier Lucario has no chance to OHKO with a physical attack at +2 after Stealth Rock. These Pokemon and others such as Swampert, Nidoqueen, Metagross, and Latias can survive multiple unboosted attacks from Lucario and KO it back. Note that Lucario often needs the right coverage move to threaten these Pokemon and falls flat if it doesn't have it: without Crunch, it can't even 2HKO Celebi, Uxie, and Cresselia, while it needs Ice Punch to threaten Nidoqueen, Gliscor, and Zapdos.
**Status**: Lucario despises burn and paralysis, as the former completely ruins it and the latter exposes its poor defenses to many more Pokemon. Rotom-A walls Lucario lacking Crunch and burns it, while Latias, Celebi, Jirachi, Uxie, and Cresselia can survive a hit and paralyze it. Even Pokemon Lucario OHKOes such as Clefable and Blissey can use Thunder Wave on a predicted Swords Dance.
**Priority**: Breloom, Infernape, Dragonite, and Scizor are notable in that they force Lucario to use Extreme Speed itself lest they hit it very hard with priority. Infernape is notable in that it naturally outspeeds Lucario and OHKOes it with Mach Punch after a Defense drop, while bulkier Breloom, Dragonite, and Scizor survive Extreme Speed and hit very hard with their priority attacks.
[CREDITS]
- Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/johnnyg2.57904/
- Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/oiponabys.435540/
- Grammar checked by : []
Lucario is one of the most dangerous attackers in the tier, ready to sweep at a moment’s notice. Its fantastic typing, incredible movepool including strong priority in Extreme Speed, and excellent offensive stats make it one of the premier Swords Dance users in the tier that every team must be aware of. An immunity to sand and poison and a 4x resistance to Stealth Rock make it resilient to residual damage, allowing it to be one of the few Pokemon able to run Life Orb consistently without a lot of drawbacks. As a Swords Dance sweeper, Lucario can pick and choose its defensive checks with its coverage moves, whether it be Crunch for Rotom-A and bulky Psychic-types like Latias and Celebi; Ice Punch for Gliscor, Dragonite, Latias, and Zapdos; or Bullet Punch for Gengar and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Lucario also is a premier Choice Scarf user due to outspeeding and KOing common Speed-boosting sweepers such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Gyarados, and Dragonite with its strong Close Combat and excellent coverage. Lucario also has excellent other sweeping options in Agility and Calm Mind that leave it with very different answers, potentially surprising standard counterplay.
However, Lucario is held back by its decent base 90 Speed stat and its inability to run all of its options at once. Lucario is unfortunately both frail and not very fast, meaning many offensive Pokemon such as Rotom-A, Gliscor, Latias, Jirachi, Gengar, and Flygon outspeed and threaten to KO it, especially after it drops its defensive stats with Close Combat. This is made worse by the fact that Lucario often wants the extra power from Adamant to break through Pokemon such as physically Skarmory at +2, meaning even more Pokemon such as offensive Suicune outspeed it. Even with good defensive typing, sweeping Lucario sets are often relegated to very aggressive teams, as it doesn’t provide much defensive utility due to its frailty and common weaknesses. This is exacerbated by Lucario being a Steel-type that doesn't check Latias and is itself checked by the faster Jirachi, typically responsibilities of a Steel-type. Lucario is also a victim of its own success, as defensive teams often have multiple checks, and more offensive teams almost always have multiple Fighting-type answers and a Pokemon resistant to Extreme Speed that can finish off Lucario, such as Fire Punch Jirachi or Scizor. Even with all of this, there are some Pokemon Lucario badly struggles to break unless it has a specific moveset, such as Gliscor, faster Jirachi, Choice Scarf Magnezone or Magneton, and faster priority users like Mach Punch Infernape. Choice Scarf Lucario struggles against defensive teams due to its relatively weak Close Combat and relies heavily on prediction, as its moves can be easily punished if not chosen carefully. Theoretically, Lucario could deal with a lot of these issues; however, it is limited by four moveslots and cannot carry everything it needs.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
========
Lucario's great offenses mean it could use a wide variety of additional offensive moves, such as Agility, Calm Mind, and other attacks such as Thunder Punch and Stone Edge to maximize its coverage as an all-out attacker. All of these options appreciate entry hazard support to make up for the lack of Swords Dance's power. Agility boosts Lucario's Speed to negate the need for priority, as it gets the jump on all revenge killers such as Choice Scarf Rotom-A, Gliscor, and Choice Scarf Magnezone and can KO them with the appropriate coverage option. Such a set is effective against offensive teams but struggles with power against walls such as Hippowdon, Jirachi, Zapdos, Latias, and Skarmory. Calm Mind surprises these walls with boosted special coverage coming from Lucario's higher Special Attack stat. +1 Lucario is strong enough to have a chance to OHKO Clefable with Aura Sphere and has good coverage with options such as Dragon Pulse, Shadow Ball, Vacuum Wave, and various Hidden Power types. While surprising, such a set still struggles to OHKO various walls and doesn't ameliorate Lucario's issues with Speed. All-out attacking Lucario sets focus on using options to beat Flying-types; Thunder Punch OHKOes Gyarados without a Wacan Berry, Stone Edge hits physically defensive Zapdos very hard, and having the additional coverage move can be very surprising in general. Lucario also has destructively strong Choice Specs and Choice Band sets, as its sand immunity and great movepool allow it disguise itself effectively. Choice Specs-boosted Focus Blast can OHKO Pokemon such as Clefable, physically defensive Hippowdon, and offensive Jirachi, while Choice Band Lucario hits hard immediately and can 2HKO offensive Flying-types such as Gyarados. However, Lucario often wants to fully take advantage of its movepool without the restrictions of a Choice item.
Lucario has a humongous movepool, and various niche options such as Counter + Focus Sash, Reversal, Me First, and Magnet Rise all have merit on individual sets. However, Lucario struggles to fit all of its options as is.
Checks and Counters
========
**Bulky Flying-types**: Gliscor, Zapdos, and Gyarados are fantastic general answers to Lucario. Gliscor is typically thought of first as the best Lucario check in the tier, as it is faster, neutral to Stealth Rock, and very physically bulky even without investment and swiftly OHKOes Lucario with Earthquake. Zapdos and Gyarados need a lot of investment to take Lucario's attacks and are typically slower, but they can easily OHKO it with Heat Wave and Earthquake, respectively, and only fear the very rare Stone Edge or Thunder Punch in Gyarados's case. Lucario can get around all of these Pokemon—Shuca Berry or Agility + Ice Punch beats Gliscor, while even physically defensive Zapdos and Gyarados don't enjoy Lucario's attacks + Stealth Rock. These Pokemon also take a lot from +2 Extreme Speed.
**Ghost-types**: Rotom-A and Gengar are also excellent checks to Lucario, as they are immune to both Close Combat and Extreme Speed. Choice Scarf Rotom-A is often thought of as the other best Lucario check in the tier, as it outspeeds it, resists Bullet Punch, and OHKOes it with Overheat or Thunderbolt after a Special Defense drop from Close Combat. Defensive Rotom-A walls Lucario if it doesn't have Crunch and burns it. Gengar outspeeds Lucario and OHKOes it with Focus Blast. However, Lucario can deal with both of these Pokemon, as it OHKOes Rotom-A with +2 Crunch and OHKOes Gengar with +2 Bullet Punch or Crunch on the switch.
**Faster Pokemon**: Since Lucario hits so hard, outspeeding and revenge killing it is often the best course of action instead of surviving its attacks. Jirachi, Choice Scarf Magnezone and Magneton, Choice Scarf Heatran, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar are all great checks, as they resist Extreme Speed and KO Lucario after it has dropped its defenses with Close Combat. Jirachi is notable in that it naturally outspeeds Lucario, while Choice Scarf Magnezone and Magneton guarantee -1 Lucario's removal as they outspeed and OHKO it with Thunderbolt. Other faster Pokemon such as Flygon, Timid Suicune, Latias, and Starmie outspeed Lucario, but they take a lot of damage from +2 Extreme Speed and fall to Agility Lucario.
**Extremely Bulky Pokemon**: While +2 Lucario is incredibly strong, extraordinarily bulky Pokemon such as physically defensive Hippowdon, Celebi, Uxie, Cresselia, and Skarmory can survive a hit and incapacitate Lucario. Physically defensive Hippowdon, Uxie, and Cresselia are notable in that they are the only Pokemon in the tier Lucario has no chance to OHKO with a physical attack at +2 after Stealth Rock. These Pokemon and others such as Swampert, Nidoqueen, Metagross, and Latias can survive multiple unboosted attacks from Lucario and KO it back. Note that Lucario often needs the right coverage move to threaten these Pokemon and falls flat if it doesn't have it: without Crunch, it can't even 2HKO Celebi, Uxie, and Cresselia, while it needs Ice Punch to threaten Nidoqueen, Gliscor, and Zapdos.
**Status**: Lucario despises burn and paralysis, as the former completely ruins it and the latter exposes its poor defenses to many more Pokemon. Rotom-A walls Lucario lacking Crunch and burns it, while Latias, Celebi, Jirachi, Uxie, and Cresselia can survive a hit and paralyze it. Even Pokemon Lucario OHKOes such as Clefable and Blissey can use Thunder Wave on a predicted Swords Dance.
**Priority**: Breloom, Infernape, Dragonite, and Scizor are notable in that they force Lucario to use Extreme Speed itself lest they hit it very hard with priority. Infernape is notable in that it naturally outspeeds Lucario and OHKOes it with Mach Punch after a Defense drop, while bulkier Breloom, Dragonite, and Scizor survive Extreme Speed and hit very hard with their priority attacks.
[CREDITS]
- Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/johnnyg2.57904/
- Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/oiponabys.435540/
- Grammar checked by : []
Last edited:
