Lunala, the moon Pokemon
QC: x / x / x
GP: x / x
[OVERVIEW]- Lunala's amazing offensive typing Psychic / Ghost paired with the ability Shadow Shield makes it very difficult to wall and at the same time hard to take down thus standing out from the rest of the Ubers Pokemon.
- Lunala can abuse its great ghost typing and its decently high special attack with the STAB move Moongeist Beam which will deal considerable damage to unprepared teams on its own since since it also gets a unique 200BP Z-Move that also ignores abilities.
- Add Psyshock to the mix and now you have a special attacker that bypasses many Spdef walls such as Blissey or Ho-Oh.
- In addition to its great STABs, Lunala also gets access to a plethora of coverage moves in Focus Blast for perfect coverage with Moongeist Beam and to hit the Steel, Normal and Dark type pokemon it will lure in, Moonblast to hit Dark types with better accuracy, Ice Beam, Heat Wave, Night Daze, Thunderbolt, etc...
- But this mon isn't just an offensive force, it has quite the utility arsenal too such as recovery, the Calm Mind / Substitute combo to setup on passive walls or even Tailwind to sweep or just provide support. However, Moongeist Beam's low pp count and Lunala's huge weakness to Dark typing that is immune to one of its STABs and resists the other while hitting back with 4x effectiveness really draw it back.
[SET]
Name: Z-Move Attacker
Move 1: Moongeist Beam
Move 2: Psyshock / Focus Blast
Move 3: Calm Mind / Focus Blast / Moonblast
Move 4: Substitute / Roost
Item: Lunalium Z
Ability: Shadow Shield
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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- Moongeist Beam is your bread and butter for damage, it's a STAB 100BP move that ignores abilities, that only gets walled by some Spdef walls and a few Dark types.
- This is where Psyshock comes into play, bypassing these huge Spdef walls attacking their weaker defense with a powerful STAB.
- From here, the choice of moves is very dependant on the team,
- Calm Mind paired with Substitute is good setup, Roost is added longevity,
- Focus Blast and Moonblast are good coverage options.
Set Details
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- Lunala's main STAB 2HKOs 14 of the top 20 most used pokemon breaking 18/20 if followed up by Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom with the exceptions being Blissey and Ho-Oh and some Spdef variants of Sablenite Magearna.
- Psyshock is then used to break both.
- Roost has great synergy with its decent speed tier and Shadow Shield, allowing it to wall some sets it never should.
- CM + Sub allow it to easily setup vs Toxic/Seismic Toss Blissey and with some luck Psywave Blissey too, while being a really nice blanket check to many uncommon walls or revenge killers.
- But, however good it may seem, this set is completely countered by Gyaradosite Toxapex post-mega, as it tanks every single coverage move, OHKOs with Payback and will setup Toxic Spikes freely. You can keep it out of the field with the constant Psyshock threat but that's the extent Lunala can go to not autolose to Toxapex.
Usage Tips
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- If this set ever gets on the field for free, it will most likely be claiming a life if neither of the walls mentioned above are available anymore, so prioritize this after concluding it's a good win condition, you can aid it with pivot support.
- Given the low pool of sets that can effectively switch into Lunala makes it one of the best mons to use against offensive team archetypes. This is boost through Tailwind as well, making it a fast, very strong, decently bulky sweeper.
- Substitute setup is a safe option to play the slowish, bulky, hard hitter breaker. As long as the user of Lunala has ways to deal with Toxapex, which I will get into later, Lunala will be able to put in lots of work as long as it's kept healthy.
Team Options
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- Gliscor is your best friend when it comes to dealing with your nemesis. I can switch freely into Toxapex not fearing Payback, easily clearing Toxic Spikes, hitting it hard with Earthquake and pivoting out into a better matchup. If pre-mega, Gliscor also has the ability Poison Heal which allows it to switch into Toxic and make use of it.
- TSpikes immune defoggers can also deal with Toxicless Toxapex, clearing away hazards and pivoting out. Examples of this include but are not limited to Zapdos, Mandibuzz, Aggronite Mew and Giratina-O.
- Toxapex! Yeah, you can check Toxapex with your own Toxapex, it doesn't get posioned, absorbs all Toxic Spikes layers and can set their own.
- Terrakion is an underrated switch into the Dark types that Lunala will bring in, it can easily take some hits and boost up through Justified before evolving. Options are either Lucarionite for damage, or Diancite for speed and revenge killing Dark types. It also helps clearing Blissey and Ho-Oh off the board.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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- Choice Specs is very scary Lunala set as it achieves the same damage as the Moongeist Beam into Z-Move combo I mentioned earlier without having to sacrifice the item slot, it can also catch a lot of walls offguard.
- Tailwind is usually seen as a support move for the team, but with Lunala's great offenisve presence and after a Calm Mind boost, having 3 turns of doubled speed can completely turn the game on its head.
- Lunala is blessed with an extensive ultility movepool such as Defog + Magic Coat to work as an anti-lead and to deal with Paybackless Toxapex, Will-O-Wisp or Toxic as a status spreader and a way to hinder potential switchins and Roar to break unconvenient enemy Substitutes or simply get a better matchup without having to switch.
- A Choice Scarf set is also possible, working similarly to the way the Tailwind set works without needing 2 turns of setup, losing a bit in power and move choice.
- Screens! Lunala gets both Reflect and Light Screen, which in conjunction with its ability and maybe even Magic Coat makes for an mazing dual screen setter and since it cannot Mega Evolve using a stone, nor does it need a Focus Sash due to Shadow Shield, Light Clay fits perfectly with this set.
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**Gyaradosite Toxapex**: This set, as previously mentioned, hardwalls Lunala as even at +2 it has close no way of even 2HKOing it, all hwile getting OHKOed back if Shadow Shield is broken, and since there is no pressure on Pex, it can use its free turns to setup Toxic Spikes or Toxic an incoming mon.
**Weavile**: One of the best Pursuit trappers in the metagame, and even better at taking out Lunala since it doesn't even get 2HKOed by +1 Moongeist and is immune to Psyhock making it an effective switchin. It can then use Fake Out to break Shadow Shield and Pursuit to remove it from the field.
**Other Dark types**: Other Dark types such as Yveltal and Darkrai can also be decent switchins that force out Lunala, making the Lunala user lose a lot of momentum with little to no gain.
**Spdef Steel types**: Sablenite Magearna, somehwat defensive Pinsirite Metagross, several variants of Jirachi and even some Necrozma-Dusk-Mane sets can also be deadly to the Lunala user, being able to tank a couple hits and either pivot, set hazards, or KO back.
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