shrang
General Kenobi
Worth a try, I suppose. (Credits to Dab for reminding of furries for the name) :D
[OVERVIEW]
Before ORAS, Lopunny's abilities, while quite good, were never enough to compensate for its middling stats. However, its Mega Evolution grants it significantly better stats and unresisted coverage due to its new ability, Scrappy. Mega Lopunny's base 135 Speed allows it to revenge kill Pokemon such as Darkrai and pull off the fastest Healing Wish in the Ubers metagame. Mega Lopunny can also use Fake Out reliably, because Scrappy removes Ghost-types' immunity. All of this makes Lopunny a potent supporter on hyper offense teams. However, Mega Lopunny is still relatively weak, even with its respectable base 136 Attack, as it cannot hold a power-boosting item such as Life Orb.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Low Kick / High Jump Kick
move 2: Return
move 3: Fake Out
move 4: Healing Wish
item: Lopunnite
ability: Limber
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Return and Low Kick give Lopunny unresisted STAB moves. High Jump Kick can be used over Low Kick, as Low Kick has a low Base Power against Klefki and, to a lesser extent, Jirachi. However, even with Scrappy, the miss chance and Protect users make High Jump Kick a lesser option, as Low Kick hits most Pokemon in Ubers for maximum power anyway. Fake Out is used so Lopunny can have a free turn to Mega Evolve, and it chips setup sweepers such as Xerneas and Arceus. Healing Wish allows Lopunny to bring back a crippled teammate, which is extremely useful on the hyper offense teams that Lopunny fits into. Ice Punch can be used in the last slot over Healing Wish to hit Mega Salamence hard, but Healing Wish is more unique and useful to Mega Lopunny. Even with Ice Punch's 4x effectiveness, Mega Salamence is bulky enough to not be fazed too much by it, assuming Salamence has Intimidated Lopunny first before Mega Evolving.
Set Details
========
Thanks to its unresisted coverage and blistering Speed, Mega Lopunny fulfills a number of roles for a hyper offense team. It can revenge kill and chip away at dangerous sweepers such as Darkrai, clean up late-game when its counters have been weakened, and pull off a fast Healing Wish to bring back a weakened teammate. Limber is the preferred ability pre-Mega Evolution due to its ability to ward off paralysis. Lopunnite is compulsory, as there is little reason to use Lopunny outside of its Mega Evolution. Maximum Speed with a Jolly nature allows Lopunny to outspeed neutral Speed Deoxys-A and base 130 Speed Pokemon such as Mewtwo and Mega Gengar, and the rest of the EVs go into Attack.
Usage Tips
========
Lopunny is quite a frail Pokemon, so it is best to bring it on a free switch, which can be done through a revenge kill, a slow U-turn or Volt Switch, or a double switch. Use Fake Out to chip down and weaken sweepers such as Xerneas. Lopunny is generally more useful in the end-game. Bringing Lopunny in early, when most foes are still healthy, would just mean that it would get walled easily, as it is rather weak. The only exception is when you require Lopunny to revenge kill a dangerous threat, such as Mega Gengar, Darkrai, or Dark Arceus, or to chip down a setup sweeper. Other than this, using Lopunny is fairly simple. Switch it into a Pokemon that can't do much damage or can't cripple it, such as Blissey, and then use a strong attack or sacrifice it using Healing Wish for a more potent sweeper. Sometimes it is worth using Healing Wish just to stop a foe from using Defog or Rapid Spin.
Team Options
========
Lopunny best works on hyper offense teams. Consistent leads such as Deoxys-S, Deoxys-A, Custap Berry Forretress, Cloyster, and Greninja are good teammates for Lopunny. Toxic Spikes support is especially nice to have because with Fake Out, the residual damage builds up really quickly. Forretress, Cloyster, and Greninja can all use Toxic Spikes. As for sweepers that synergize well with Lopunny, Primal Groudon is probably the best choice, as it can switch into Fairy attacks that Lopunny is weak against and set up with Rock Polish or Swords Dance. In terms of specific Mega Salamence checks to use on offensive teams, the options are relatively limited. Mixed Primal Groudon with Dragon Pulse can check Mega Salamence. Ice Arceus and Shuca Berry Zekrom can also check it but are not that good on hyper offensive teams. Geomancy Xerneas is probably the best teammate that resists Fighting-type moves to use alongside Lopunny, with its ability to stampede through teams. Ghost Arceus also synergizes excellently with Lopunny, because it resists Fighting-type moves while preventing Rapid Spin. Yveltal is also a good Pokemon to run alongside Lopunny, as it can take on Mega Mewtwo Y, which outspeeds and OHKOes Lopunny.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Lopunny has a fantastic support movepool; however, most moves are not very helpful to hyper offensive teams. Heal Bell is useful for most teams, but offensive teams that Lopunny fits on will not usually have multiple Pokemon simultaneously crippled by status. Moreover, any teammates that have been inflicted with status can be cured by Healing Wish. Encore is another move that can be used with Lopunny's excellent Speed; however, it does not offer that much in terms of team support. Toxic can be used to cripple bulky Pokemon such as Lugia and Primal Groudon. Drain Punch can be tempting for newer players due to its ability to heal HP, but it is far too weak to be useful. Finally, Lopunny has the option of Baton Passing Cosmic Power, Agility, and Substitute, but it has far better things to be doing.
Checks and Counters
=============
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Mega Lopunny is quite weak, so it has a hard time getting past most Pokemon with high Defense. Mega Salamence, Lugia, both Giratina formes, Ghost Arceus, defensive Yveltal, and Landorus-T can all switch into Mega Lopunny and either threaten to KO it or cripple it.
**Fairy-types**: Xerneas, Fairy Arceus, and Klefki can all switch into Low Kick from Mega Lopunny, although Klefki needs to watch out for High Jump Kick. Xerneas does not like to take Return, either.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Most Choice Scarf users in Ubers, such as Xerneas, Genesect, and Zekrom, can deal huge amounts of damage to Mega Lopunny, if not KO it outright.
**Priority Attackers**: Extreme Killer Arceus can deal a lot of damage to Mega Lopunny with Extreme Speed and KO it with some prior damage, although it cannot OHKO Lopunny at full health and instead gets OHKOed in return.
**Deoxys-A**: While Deoxys-A cannot switch into Mega Lopunny, it can easily revenge kill Mega Lopunny with Psycho Boost.
**Mega Mewtwo Y**: Mega Mewtwo Y can outspeed Mega Lopunny and OHKO it with Psystrike.
[OVERVIEW]
Before ORAS, Lopunny's abilities, while quite good, were never enough to compensate for its middling stats. However, its Mega Evolution grants it significantly better stats and unresisted coverage due to its new ability, Scrappy. Mega Lopunny's base 135 Speed allows it to revenge kill Pokemon such as Darkrai and pull off the fastest Healing Wish in the Ubers metagame. Mega Lopunny can also use Fake Out reliably, because Scrappy removes Ghost-types' immunity. All of this makes Lopunny a potent supporter on hyper offense teams. However, Mega Lopunny is still relatively weak, even with its respectable base 136 Attack, as it cannot hold a power-boosting item such as Life Orb.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Low Kick / High Jump Kick
move 2: Return
move 3: Fake Out
move 4: Healing Wish
item: Lopunnite
ability: Limber
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Return and Low Kick give Lopunny unresisted STAB moves. High Jump Kick can be used over Low Kick, as Low Kick has a low Base Power against Klefki and, to a lesser extent, Jirachi. However, even with Scrappy, the miss chance and Protect users make High Jump Kick a lesser option, as Low Kick hits most Pokemon in Ubers for maximum power anyway. Fake Out is used so Lopunny can have a free turn to Mega Evolve, and it chips setup sweepers such as Xerneas and Arceus. Healing Wish allows Lopunny to bring back a crippled teammate, which is extremely useful on the hyper offense teams that Lopunny fits into. Ice Punch can be used in the last slot over Healing Wish to hit Mega Salamence hard, but Healing Wish is more unique and useful to Mega Lopunny. Even with Ice Punch's 4x effectiveness, Mega Salamence is bulky enough to not be fazed too much by it, assuming Salamence has Intimidated Lopunny first before Mega Evolving.
Set Details
========
Thanks to its unresisted coverage and blistering Speed, Mega Lopunny fulfills a number of roles for a hyper offense team. It can revenge kill and chip away at dangerous sweepers such as Darkrai, clean up late-game when its counters have been weakened, and pull off a fast Healing Wish to bring back a weakened teammate. Limber is the preferred ability pre-Mega Evolution due to its ability to ward off paralysis. Lopunnite is compulsory, as there is little reason to use Lopunny outside of its Mega Evolution. Maximum Speed with a Jolly nature allows Lopunny to outspeed neutral Speed Deoxys-A and base 130 Speed Pokemon such as Mewtwo and Mega Gengar, and the rest of the EVs go into Attack.
Usage Tips
========
Lopunny is quite a frail Pokemon, so it is best to bring it on a free switch, which can be done through a revenge kill, a slow U-turn or Volt Switch, or a double switch. Use Fake Out to chip down and weaken sweepers such as Xerneas. Lopunny is generally more useful in the end-game. Bringing Lopunny in early, when most foes are still healthy, would just mean that it would get walled easily, as it is rather weak. The only exception is when you require Lopunny to revenge kill a dangerous threat, such as Mega Gengar, Darkrai, or Dark Arceus, or to chip down a setup sweeper. Other than this, using Lopunny is fairly simple. Switch it into a Pokemon that can't do much damage or can't cripple it, such as Blissey, and then use a strong attack or sacrifice it using Healing Wish for a more potent sweeper. Sometimes it is worth using Healing Wish just to stop a foe from using Defog or Rapid Spin.
Team Options
========
Lopunny best works on hyper offense teams. Consistent leads such as Deoxys-S, Deoxys-A, Custap Berry Forretress, Cloyster, and Greninja are good teammates for Lopunny. Toxic Spikes support is especially nice to have because with Fake Out, the residual damage builds up really quickly. Forretress, Cloyster, and Greninja can all use Toxic Spikes. As for sweepers that synergize well with Lopunny, Primal Groudon is probably the best choice, as it can switch into Fairy attacks that Lopunny is weak against and set up with Rock Polish or Swords Dance. In terms of specific Mega Salamence checks to use on offensive teams, the options are relatively limited. Mixed Primal Groudon with Dragon Pulse can check Mega Salamence. Ice Arceus and Shuca Berry Zekrom can also check it but are not that good on hyper offensive teams. Geomancy Xerneas is probably the best teammate that resists Fighting-type moves to use alongside Lopunny, with its ability to stampede through teams. Ghost Arceus also synergizes excellently with Lopunny, because it resists Fighting-type moves while preventing Rapid Spin. Yveltal is also a good Pokemon to run alongside Lopunny, as it can take on Mega Mewtwo Y, which outspeeds and OHKOes Lopunny.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Lopunny has a fantastic support movepool; however, most moves are not very helpful to hyper offensive teams. Heal Bell is useful for most teams, but offensive teams that Lopunny fits on will not usually have multiple Pokemon simultaneously crippled by status. Moreover, any teammates that have been inflicted with status can be cured by Healing Wish. Encore is another move that can be used with Lopunny's excellent Speed; however, it does not offer that much in terms of team support. Toxic can be used to cripple bulky Pokemon such as Lugia and Primal Groudon. Drain Punch can be tempting for newer players due to its ability to heal HP, but it is far too weak to be useful. Finally, Lopunny has the option of Baton Passing Cosmic Power, Agility, and Substitute, but it has far better things to be doing.
Checks and Counters
=============
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Mega Lopunny is quite weak, so it has a hard time getting past most Pokemon with high Defense. Mega Salamence, Lugia, both Giratina formes, Ghost Arceus, defensive Yveltal, and Landorus-T can all switch into Mega Lopunny and either threaten to KO it or cripple it.
**Fairy-types**: Xerneas, Fairy Arceus, and Klefki can all switch into Low Kick from Mega Lopunny, although Klefki needs to watch out for High Jump Kick. Xerneas does not like to take Return, either.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Most Choice Scarf users in Ubers, such as Xerneas, Genesect, and Zekrom, can deal huge amounts of damage to Mega Lopunny, if not KO it outright.
**Priority Attackers**: Extreme Killer Arceus can deal a lot of damage to Mega Lopunny with Extreme Speed and KO it with some prior damage, although it cannot OHKO Lopunny at full health and instead gets OHKOed in return.
**Deoxys-A**: While Deoxys-A cannot switch into Mega Lopunny, it can easily revenge kill Mega Lopunny with Psycho Boost.
**Mega Mewtwo Y**: Mega Mewtwo Y can outspeed Mega Lopunny and OHKO it with Psystrike.
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