Shadow Ball doesn't get STAB, so you lose a 25% damage compared to ghost types. Mewtwo is an exceptions since his astronomically high stats makes up for it. So CO/SB isn't really good, and close combat sucks compared to Dynamic Punch. What people are expecting for a Lucario CD/Raid day is for him to get aura sphere, his siganture move, which could potentially be good. Potentially.
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Lucario Rating Explanation
I just got enough Riolu candy to make a Lucario. I remember reading that some people are waiting to evolve Lucario until a community day. What move are they expecting?
Also, I was reading the "Rating Explanation" for Lucario. It says his "lackluster movepool." Counter is one of the best Fast Moves and Shadow Ball is one of the best Charge Moves. So what am I missing?
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People are mostly expecting Aura Sphere, a fighting-type move heavily associated with it in the main series. Potentially Drain Punch as well, which I think has been added to the game master but without any attributes.
The "rating explanation" is still very heavily gym/raid oriented, where Lucario is heavily outclassed on all fronts. Counter and Shadow Ball are fantastic moves individually that have weak synergy together from a specialist standpoint - both types weak to ghost actively resist counter, which keeps it from being optimal. There's also the lack of STAB on Shadow Ball as frankank explained above that hampers its utility - Mewtwo and the unreleased Darkrai can get away with a lack of STAB due to sky high attack stats and high EPS fast moves. Close Combat is a terrible move which causes Lucario's usefulness to trail behind the likes of Hariyama and Toxicroak, who for raids are themselves outclassed.
In PvP where generalists have better utility those two moves do set it up to be astounding, but its high-attack/low-bulk stat spread mean it'll be very frail in the CP capped leagues, hurting its longevity.
I hatched 2 riolu and I am feeding them berries for candies. I`m too afraid to evolve as both its stab charge moves Close Combat and Flash Cannon are terrible moves and a Lucario CD would generate mega HYPE from people (though I don`t know if they`d allow a baby to spawn outside eggs or they`d try the Feebas Day method to release it`s shiny)
The introduction of Aura Sphere on Lucario would be a boon, like people said. And Riolu CD seems unlikely, like people said. A "gengar like" day sould be great.. but what everyone is missing is that there are only 3 mons that learn meteor mash: metagross, clefable, and Luke. Just saying.. lets pray for aura sphere
