[AG] Lugia [QC 2/3] Written

Taken over from lance
Overview

Lugia is perhaps the best blanket defensive check in the metagame, and can take on threats such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, Geomancy Xerneas, and is the closest thing Mega Rayquaza has to a counter; Choice Band is the only Mega Rayquaza set Lugia cannot switch into when Stealth Rock is off the field. Lugia possesses amazing defensive stats, as well as a very high Speed stat for a wall and an excellent defensive ability in multiscale. However, Lugia has issues with common moves such as Stealth rock and Toxic, and is almost completely helpless against Taunt. It also does have several viable answers such as Mega Gengar, Yveltal and Lunala that can break through it.

Great Wall
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Substitute

Set Comments

Moves

Roost heals lugia, keeping it healthy throughout the match and allowing it to reactivate multiscale. Whirlwind phazes out setup sweepers, preventign lugia from beign setup bair and allowing it to take on boosted swepers for the team. Toxic allows Lugia to badly poison opposing Pokemon, and wear them down while Lugia stalls it out with its massive bulk combined with Roost. Substitute protects Lugia from status, while at the same time allowing it to easily PP-stall many attacks such as Primal Groudon's Stone Edge.

Set Details

The EVs maximize Lugia's HP and Physical defense, allowing it to betetr answer physical attackers such as Life Orb Mega Rayquaza. Multiscale is the ability of choice: it doubles Lugia's defense when at full HP and greatly aids it when switching in to powerful attackers. Leftovers grant Lugia constant passive recovery.

Usage Tips

When possible, click Toxic to slowly wear down the foe; this allows Lugia to slowly wear down the foe without needing to spend turns attacking. Be careful switching lugia into Mega Rayquaza until the set is known, as Swords Dance Life Orb and Choice Band can both give Lugia major headaches. Try to keep Lugia at full health to use Multiscale, especially before switching it out so that it can come in on offensive threats more easily. Keep Stealth Rocks off the feild when possible to preserve multiscale. Against a Life Orb or poisoned Pokemon that is incapable of dealing more than 37% damage to Lugia through Multiscale, such as an unboosted Mega Rayquaza, it is usually a good idea to alternate between Substitute and Roost in order to stall it out.

Team Options

Entry Hazard managers such as Defog support Arceus and Mega Sableye are important for keeping Stealth Rock off your side of the field. Status absorbers such as Arceus-Steel, Ho-Oh, Chansey and Giratina re handy to help Lugia preserve multiscale; on a similar note, status clearers such as Clefable and Chansey are also handy. Checks to Ghost-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Tyranitar and Alolan Muk are useful. The last two can trap and eliminate Lunala and Mega Gengar with Pursuit, two Pokemon which are generally extremely troublesome for Lugia to deal with, but lose to Marshadow and thus generally appreciate additional support from the likes of Arceus-Fairy and Quagsire. Flying-resistant Pokemon such as Arceus-Steel and Arceus-Rock are good for switching into Choice Band Mega Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent; these pokemon, like Arceus-fairy, also tend to function as excellent Yveltal answers for Lugia. Fire-type Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon can take advantage of Steel-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and Arceus-Steel that enjoy switching in to Lugia.

Strategy Comments

Other Options


Ice Beam can be used for numerous purposes, such as dealing damage to Mega Rayquaza, knocking out the rare Mega Salamence, dealing damage to Zygarde, and not being complete Taunt bait. A faster set with 72 Speed EVs may be used to outpace Speed-invested Primal Kyogre and Primal groudon, but the loss of Defense is usually not worth it. Dragon Tail can be used to phaze out Taunt users, allowing Lugia to take on Mega Gengar without giving up a valuable move, but comes at the cost of imperfect accuracy and an inability to phaze Xerneas. Psyshock can be used to deal heavy damage to Mega Gengar. Reflect enables Lugia to better deal with extremely powerful physical attackers, such as Mega Rayquaza and Swords Dance Primal Groudon.

Checks and Counters

Status effects: Toxic and burn ruins Lugia's Multiscale and hurt its walling ability via constant chip damage, while full paralyses can hinder Lugia's walling abilities by preventing it from using Roost on certain turns.

Stealth Rock: This entry hazard slices off a quarter of Lugia's HP, weraing it down and nullifying its Multiscale, which leaves it unable to switch into powerful threats such as Mega Rayquaza.

Mega Gengar: Mega Gengar with Taunt can trap and effortlessly eliminate Lugia, while those with Hypnosis can do the same provided that move hits. Regular sets, however, are stillextremely threatening, especially when against weakened Lugia.

Taunt: Lugia is often complete Taunt bait. Notable Taunt users include Mewtwo, Yveltal and Deoxys-S, the first of which can force Lugia o stay in against it and get KOed

Super Effective Attackers: On top of being able to hit Lugia super effectively, common Dark and Ghost-type Pokemon in this metagame have other ways to threaten Lugia greatly. Marshadow can render Lugia innefective with substitute or blow it away with a powerful Soul Stealing 7 Star Strike, Lunala bypasses multiscale to deal heavy damage to lugia directly, and Yveltal can flinch lugia or remove its leftovers, both of which greatly weaken lugia.

Toxic-immune Pokemon: Without entry hazards, Lugia cannot damage Steel and Poison-type Pokemon such as Arceus-Steel, Ferrothorn, Tentacruel and Alolan Muk. Mega Sableye deserves special mention, as it makes Toxic even more hazardous by bouncign it back and cannot be Whirlwinded.

Choice Band Mega Rayquaza: While Lugia is normally Mega Rayquaza's #1 counter, it cannot switch into a Choice Band Dragon Ascent.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MZ

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top