Is it my turn? Huh, guess I'll give this a shot.
Type: Electirc
Weakness: Ground x2
Resistance(s): Electric 1/2, Flying 1/2, Steel 1/2
Ability 1 - Rivalry: Attack & Special Attack is increased by 25% if the foe is of the same gender; Attack & Special Attack is decreased by 25% if the foe is of the opposite gender.
Ability 2 - Intimidate: Upon entering battle, the opponent’s Attack lowers one stage. In a Double Battle, both opponents’ Attack are lowered. Pokémon with the Clear Body, Hyper Cutter, or White Smoke ability are unaffected. In a link battle, if both sides switch on the same turn, and first player sends out a Pokémon with Intimidate, the opponent’s Attack will be lowered before the opponent’s Pokémon switches.
Ability 3 - Guts: Attack is increased by 50% when induced with a status (BURN, PARALYZE, SLEEP, POISON, FREEZE). Burn’s effect of lowering Attack is not applied.
Base Stats: HP 80, Atk 120, Def 79, S.Ata 95, S.Def 79, Spd 70
I got back into Pokemon near the end of Black 2/White 2, so I never even knew about this magnificent beast until I got a Luxio off Wonder Trade in X/Y. Been thinking lately of alternates that I could put on my team, or even on a completely separate team to work with. All in all, the builds you can use make Luxray a very flexible pick.
Choices, choices, there are many choices for us to consider. I am actually going to be comparing and utilizing some of naitre's Arcanine build(s) found in the Metagame Megathread.
First up, let's take a look at abilities: Rivalry, Intimidate and Guts. Just going to take a quick look at all three.
1) Intimidate: Quite possible the go to choice for Luxray's abilities. A staple among VGC teams, Intimidate lowers the physical attack stat of both opponents pokemon that are on the field. With the exception of Bisharp... of course. This helps to keep your pokemon that are weak to, oh say an Earthquake, alive for just a bit longer. But not just that, Rock Slide, Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Double Edge among all the others that you've seen become weaker.
2) Guts: You see this on other heavy hitter, mainly used by Conkeldurr, to become a attacking beast. Guts gives Luxray a +50% increase to it's physical attack that ignores burn reduction. This ability tends to take up your item slot with a flame orb, but the end results are well justified.
3) Rivalry: This one, most people will ignore. Rivalry gives Luxray a +25% increase to it's physical and special attack stat when attacking a pokemon with the same gender. However, it gives a -25% penalty whenever fighting a pokemon of the opposite gender. Normally I would agree, if we were still in X/Y (granted Luxray wasn't playable but bear with me). In the current meta for Pokemon AS/OR, the ability to predict what pokemon are being brought is much higher. Kangaskhan is female, Landorus and Thundurus are both male, among the others that are gender specific you will probably see at some point in time. Not the best, never will be, but it is usable in its own right. A high risk for a high reward. As a side note, I decided to leave out the Rivalry calculations. If people are interested please let me know and I can add them in at a later time.
Items are going to be next, a small list as you won't need much for Luxray.
First, just going to get this one out of the way, Flame Orb. After one turn your pokemon is BURNED, what this would normally do is reduce the physical stat by half, but with Guts this reduction is ignored and Luxray would gain a +50% increase instead.
Second up are the obvious choice, in the Choice Band and Choice Scarf. Choice Band gives your pokemon a +50% increase to its physical attack stat, much like Guts, but locks your pokemon in to the first attack chosen until switched out. A good option as it helps to cancel out an opponents Intimidate and gives you some attack options when you only have neutral or in-effective moves. Choice Scarf, on the other hand, gives a +50% increase to its speed stat. A good option if you aren't running Tailwind or Thunder Wave. With a base speed of 70 Luxray isn't the best option for a Trick Room team, and no where near fast enough to out speed the opposition with just nature and ev spread.
Other choices include
Sitrus Berry: Restores 25% of total health when reduced below 50% HP.
Shuca Berry: Reduces damage from a supper effective ground-type move by 50%.
Air Balloon: Lifts the holder off the ground, negating the effects of ground-type moves. Last until the holder is hit.
Life Orb: Increase damage done by 30%, but the user loses 10% of their total HP.
All are good options, two tend to be staples while the other are situational.
I thought about adding another section for moves and natures but thought it would be better if those were described in the example builds given, and without further ado...
Luxray @Choice Band or Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 108 HP/252 Atk/148 Def
Adamant Nature
-Superpower
-Wild Charge
-Crunch
-Ice Fang
Not much to explain here on the offensive side, the defense however I have tinkered with just a bit. I used to have 252 HP and nothing in Def but with this ev spread you can safely survive an Earthquake while hitting back in response.
Offensive calculations
252+ Atk Choice Band Superpower vs 252 HP/0 Def Mega Kangaskhan (HP: 212, Def: 120): 210-248 (~99-116%)
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Ice Fang vs 252 HP/0 Def Landorus-T (HP: 192, Def: 110): 173-204 (~88-104%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Superpower vs 4 HP/0 Def Bisharp (HP: 141, Def: 120): 428-504 (~303-357%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 4 HP/0 Def Bisharp (HP: 141, Def: 120): 120-142 (~85-100.7%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 Hp/216 Def Milotic (HP: 202, Def: 126): 231-272 (~114-134%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 HP/0 Def+ Marvel Scale Milotic (HP: 202, Def: 108/162): 180-212 (~89-104%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 HP/0 Def+ Suicune (HP: 207, Def: 148): 195-230 (~94-111%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Ice Fang vs 4 HP/0 Def Garchomp (HP: 184, Def: 115): 244-288 (~132-156%)
Defensive vs 108 HP/148 Def Luxray (HP: 169, Def: 117)
-1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake [spread]: 100-118 (~59-69%)
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake [spread]: 107-127 (~63-75%)
+1 252+ Atk Bisharp Knock Off [w/ item]: 135-159 (~79-94%)
+1 252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch: 112-132 (~66-78%)
-1 252 Atk M.Kangaskhan Double Edge: 107-126 (~63-74%)
252+ S.Atk Milotic Scald: 77-91 (~45-53%)
252+ S.Atk Suicune Scald: 73-87 (~43-51%)
Let's try something else.
Luxray @Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP/48 Atk/208 Def
Relaxed Nature
-Protect
-Thunderbolt/Thunder
-Thunder Wave
-*See below*
This one is almost a mirror of naitre's Second build for Arcanine (Leftovers/Relaxed nature). The defensive stats are pooled differently to help offset the lower health, as well as the burn damage. Thunder Wave is here in place of Will-o-Wisp, and Thunderbolt/Thunder for Flamethrower as well as Wild Charge. The recoil while taking burn damage just can't be held up. I decided to leave the last slots open for the users choice: Ice Fang/Crunch/Fire Fang/Iron Tail/Superpower.
One last one... for now.
Luxray @Sitrus Berry/Air Balloon
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 124 Def / 84 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
- Snarl
- Wild Charge
This one is set up to be your switch Intimidator. The ev spread is simply to help against attacks thrown into your switch slot. The moves can be pretty much whatever you want for this one. I went with Thunder Wave and Snarl to help with the utility that this build is trying to bring.
So, ladies and gents, I'd like to bring you Luxray. Hope you all enjoy.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROnRnsv-7JXC_lE9GP3Dm...oGVmpRHUbd]](http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROnRnsv-7JXC_lE9GP3DmAbybDz8bW1K3wC3pRDioGVmpRHUbd)
LuxrayType: Electirc
Weakness: Ground x2
Resistance(s): Electric 1/2, Flying 1/2, Steel 1/2
Ability 1 - Rivalry: Attack & Special Attack is increased by 25% if the foe is of the same gender; Attack & Special Attack is decreased by 25% if the foe is of the opposite gender.
Ability 2 - Intimidate: Upon entering battle, the opponent’s Attack lowers one stage. In a Double Battle, both opponents’ Attack are lowered. Pokémon with the Clear Body, Hyper Cutter, or White Smoke ability are unaffected. In a link battle, if both sides switch on the same turn, and first player sends out a Pokémon with Intimidate, the opponent’s Attack will be lowered before the opponent’s Pokémon switches.
Ability 3 - Guts: Attack is increased by 50% when induced with a status (BURN, PARALYZE, SLEEP, POISON, FREEZE). Burn’s effect of lowering Attack is not applied.
Base Stats: HP 80, Atk 120, Def 79, S.Ata 95, S.Def 79, Spd 70
I got back into Pokemon near the end of Black 2/White 2, so I never even knew about this magnificent beast until I got a Luxio off Wonder Trade in X/Y. Been thinking lately of alternates that I could put on my team, or even on a completely separate team to work with. All in all, the builds you can use make Luxray a very flexible pick.
-Choices to make.-
Choices, choices, there are many choices for us to consider. I am actually going to be comparing and utilizing some of naitre's Arcanine build(s) found in the Metagame Megathread.
First up, let's take a look at abilities: Rivalry, Intimidate and Guts. Just going to take a quick look at all three.
1) Intimidate: Quite possible the go to choice for Luxray's abilities. A staple among VGC teams, Intimidate lowers the physical attack stat of both opponents pokemon that are on the field. With the exception of Bisharp... of course. This helps to keep your pokemon that are weak to, oh say an Earthquake, alive for just a bit longer. But not just that, Rock Slide, Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Double Edge among all the others that you've seen become weaker.
2) Guts: You see this on other heavy hitter, mainly used by Conkeldurr, to become a attacking beast. Guts gives Luxray a +50% increase to it's physical attack that ignores burn reduction. This ability tends to take up your item slot with a flame orb, but the end results are well justified.
3) Rivalry: This one, most people will ignore. Rivalry gives Luxray a +25% increase to it's physical and special attack stat when attacking a pokemon with the same gender. However, it gives a -25% penalty whenever fighting a pokemon of the opposite gender. Normally I would agree, if we were still in X/Y (granted Luxray wasn't playable but bear with me). In the current meta for Pokemon AS/OR, the ability to predict what pokemon are being brought is much higher. Kangaskhan is female, Landorus and Thundurus are both male, among the others that are gender specific you will probably see at some point in time. Not the best, never will be, but it is usable in its own right. A high risk for a high reward. As a side note, I decided to leave out the Rivalry calculations. If people are interested please let me know and I can add them in at a later time.
Items are going to be next, a small list as you won't need much for Luxray.
First, just going to get this one out of the way, Flame Orb. After one turn your pokemon is BURNED, what this would normally do is reduce the physical stat by half, but with Guts this reduction is ignored and Luxray would gain a +50% increase instead.
Second up are the obvious choice, in the Choice Band and Choice Scarf. Choice Band gives your pokemon a +50% increase to its physical attack stat, much like Guts, but locks your pokemon in to the first attack chosen until switched out. A good option as it helps to cancel out an opponents Intimidate and gives you some attack options when you only have neutral or in-effective moves. Choice Scarf, on the other hand, gives a +50% increase to its speed stat. A good option if you aren't running Tailwind or Thunder Wave. With a base speed of 70 Luxray isn't the best option for a Trick Room team, and no where near fast enough to out speed the opposition with just nature and ev spread.
Other choices include
Sitrus Berry: Restores 25% of total health when reduced below 50% HP.
Shuca Berry: Reduces damage from a supper effective ground-type move by 50%.
Air Balloon: Lifts the holder off the ground, negating the effects of ground-type moves. Last until the holder is hit.
Life Orb: Increase damage done by 30%, but the user loses 10% of their total HP.
All are good options, two tend to be staples while the other are situational.
I thought about adding another section for moves and natures but thought it would be better if those were described in the example builds given, and without further ado...
Luxray @Choice Band or Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 108 HP/252 Atk/148 Def
Adamant Nature
-Superpower
-Wild Charge
-Crunch
-Ice Fang
Not much to explain here on the offensive side, the defense however I have tinkered with just a bit. I used to have 252 HP and nothing in Def but with this ev spread you can safely survive an Earthquake while hitting back in response.
Offensive calculations
252+ Atk Choice Band Superpower vs 252 HP/0 Def Mega Kangaskhan (HP: 212, Def: 120): 210-248 (~99-116%)
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Ice Fang vs 252 HP/0 Def Landorus-T (HP: 192, Def: 110): 173-204 (~88-104%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Superpower vs 4 HP/0 Def Bisharp (HP: 141, Def: 120): 428-504 (~303-357%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 4 HP/0 Def Bisharp (HP: 141, Def: 120): 120-142 (~85-100.7%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 Hp/216 Def Milotic (HP: 202, Def: 126): 231-272 (~114-134%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 HP/0 Def+ Marvel Scale Milotic (HP: 202, Def: 108/162): 180-212 (~89-104%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Wild Charge vs 252 HP/0 Def+ Suicune (HP: 207, Def: 148): 195-230 (~94-111%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Ice Fang vs 4 HP/0 Def Garchomp (HP: 184, Def: 115): 244-288 (~132-156%)
Defensive vs 108 HP/148 Def Luxray (HP: 169, Def: 117)
-1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake [spread]: 100-118 (~59-69%)
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake [spread]: 107-127 (~63-75%)
+1 252+ Atk Bisharp Knock Off [w/ item]: 135-159 (~79-94%)
+1 252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch: 112-132 (~66-78%)
-1 252 Atk M.Kangaskhan Double Edge: 107-126 (~63-74%)
252+ S.Atk Milotic Scald: 77-91 (~45-53%)
252+ S.Atk Suicune Scald: 73-87 (~43-51%)
Let's try something else.
Luxray @Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP/48 Atk/208 Def
Relaxed Nature
-Protect
-Thunderbolt/Thunder
-Thunder Wave
-*See below*
This one is almost a mirror of naitre's Second build for Arcanine (Leftovers/Relaxed nature). The defensive stats are pooled differently to help offset the lower health, as well as the burn damage. Thunder Wave is here in place of Will-o-Wisp, and Thunderbolt/Thunder for Flamethrower as well as Wild Charge. The recoil while taking burn damage just can't be held up. I decided to leave the last slots open for the users choice: Ice Fang/Crunch/Fire Fang/Iron Tail/Superpower.
One last one... for now.
Luxray @Sitrus Berry/Air Balloon
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 124 Def / 84 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
- Snarl
- Wild Charge
This one is set up to be your switch Intimidator. The ev spread is simply to help against attacks thrown into your switch slot. The moves can be pretty much whatever you want for this one. I went with Thunder Wave and Snarl to help with the utility that this build is trying to bring.
