NESSBOUNDER
Smash Master
Everybody knows that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. When you first see Lucario from the viewpoint of someone who hasn't played as him before (or just started playing) he seems totally weak and uninteresting. He does low to average damage until about 100% and isn't blindingly fast either.
But it's when his stats all come together, then he really starts to stand out.
Ground game:
Lucario has like...the best hitboxes out of anyone. Really. The range and priority on even his basic attack is insane. His Ftilt is like shoving a big shield out in front of him. It has two hits, so it can shield stab, and catch people who are rolling. And it's really fast too. It's offensive, it's defensive, it's pretty much everything a lot of character would want as their Fsmash! And at 100% or so, it even does decent damage! His Dtilt comes out super fast and although it only hits once, it has great range and goes right under shields most of the time if the opponent's shield has taken any damage at all. And I don't even need to praise his up tilt. Oh, did I mention that pretty much all of these moves don't have any major punishable lag?
His fsmash may be slow to start, but it probably has the most range out of any Fsmash in the game after Ike and Dedede. And it has like hardly any after lag. Even if they dodge it, it'll probably still keep you safe enough to dodge their next attack or whatever.
Force palm is just godly. I mean it's like a regular grab only with more range and KO power. And if you miss the grab, you could still hit with the blast depending on what your opponent does. His AAA combo is like best ever. It allows him to get off a free force palm, making him one of the only characters in the game who actually has real combos.
Running attack...It looks bad at first, but it starts REALLY fast and like all of Lucario's moves it seems to have great priority, even though it's not an aura attack. It's unsafe on block of course, but pretty safe on dodge considering how fast it starts.
I just love his grabs. Combined with his aerial ability, Lucario actually has tech-chase combos that WORK. All his grabs have hardly any lag after activation, allowing him to chase the opponent up.
And then there's aura sphere. Controlling the opponent's movement better than a cattle prod. I rarely ever let it charge fully any more unless the opponent has some kind of reflector or absorbing move.
Aerial game:
Fair is so fast that it can actually combo sometimes. Or you can hit with one of them and then footstool off the opponent's head before they've recovered from the hitstun and lead up with a Dair. From a grab, you can follow someone up and even if they air dodge as soon as they can, Ftilt will probably hit them because the attack is so fast and has such incredible range/duration/priority. And if they DO air dodge it, you can just do it again and hit them while they're in air dodge lag! I don't need to talk about how good Dair is, but I'll do it anyway. It's basically like an Ftilt that comes out below you, only faster and with even more range. It shield stabs and wears down shields really really well. Uair and Bair are good KO moves. And Nair...wowowow. It's soooooo good. It's fast as anything and has such incredible range and knockback for a quick move. And it has next to no lag on landing, making it a juggle-breaker, even though Lucario already has a good one with his Dair. Spoilt for choice!
Edge Game:
Now this is my favorite thing about Lucario. Because of his long, floaty jumps and fast high-range, high-priority aerials, and also because of the horizontal angles that his attacks can often send the opponent at, he can basically pull off a Jigglypuff edgeguard with the best of them. You don't even need to think. If you grab your opponent as they roll up from the ledge and throw them backwards, just full jump riiiiight out there and throw out a few Fairs. There's next to no lag at the end of the back throw, so by the time your opponent can jump again, Lucario will most likely already be half way over the abyss and coming to get them. You can even double-jump and go right out to the edge of the stage if you want, and KO them at point blank range. It doesn't matter because Lucario's extremespeed will get him back on the ledge with no problems unless you're very low down. If you're feeling frisky you can even use Nair which has greater knockback, but can lead to SDs. Too good, really.
I used to think Lucario was a primarily defensive character, but he can play offense just as well as defense at any %, even when he's not on high damage. His spacing is excellent and everything about him is pretty much just excellent.
This is why Lucario becomes so good at 100% and up. Even from 0%, he has better overall stats than other characters with the exception of power. It basically means that at 100 and up, he becomes a character with exceptional control, spacing, hitboxes, range, priority, attack stun, "combo" ability, pressure, shield pressure, defensive ability, offensive ability, attacking speed, edgeguarding ability and evasion ability...with average/good power.
That's like top tier material or something.
But it's when his stats all come together, then he really starts to stand out.
Ground game:
Lucario has like...the best hitboxes out of anyone. Really. The range and priority on even his basic attack is insane. His Ftilt is like shoving a big shield out in front of him. It has two hits, so it can shield stab, and catch people who are rolling. And it's really fast too. It's offensive, it's defensive, it's pretty much everything a lot of character would want as their Fsmash! And at 100% or so, it even does decent damage! His Dtilt comes out super fast and although it only hits once, it has great range and goes right under shields most of the time if the opponent's shield has taken any damage at all. And I don't even need to praise his up tilt. Oh, did I mention that pretty much all of these moves don't have any major punishable lag?
His fsmash may be slow to start, but it probably has the most range out of any Fsmash in the game after Ike and Dedede. And it has like hardly any after lag. Even if they dodge it, it'll probably still keep you safe enough to dodge their next attack or whatever.
Force palm is just godly. I mean it's like a regular grab only with more range and KO power. And if you miss the grab, you could still hit with the blast depending on what your opponent does. His AAA combo is like best ever. It allows him to get off a free force palm, making him one of the only characters in the game who actually has real combos.
Running attack...It looks bad at first, but it starts REALLY fast and like all of Lucario's moves it seems to have great priority, even though it's not an aura attack. It's unsafe on block of course, but pretty safe on dodge considering how fast it starts.
I just love his grabs. Combined with his aerial ability, Lucario actually has tech-chase combos that WORK. All his grabs have hardly any lag after activation, allowing him to chase the opponent up.
And then there's aura sphere. Controlling the opponent's movement better than a cattle prod. I rarely ever let it charge fully any more unless the opponent has some kind of reflector or absorbing move.
Aerial game:
Fair is so fast that it can actually combo sometimes. Or you can hit with one of them and then footstool off the opponent's head before they've recovered from the hitstun and lead up with a Dair. From a grab, you can follow someone up and even if they air dodge as soon as they can, Ftilt will probably hit them because the attack is so fast and has such incredible range/duration/priority. And if they DO air dodge it, you can just do it again and hit them while they're in air dodge lag! I don't need to talk about how good Dair is, but I'll do it anyway. It's basically like an Ftilt that comes out below you, only faster and with even more range. It shield stabs and wears down shields really really well. Uair and Bair are good KO moves. And Nair...wowowow. It's soooooo good. It's fast as anything and has such incredible range and knockback for a quick move. And it has next to no lag on landing, making it a juggle-breaker, even though Lucario already has a good one with his Dair. Spoilt for choice!
Edge Game:
Now this is my favorite thing about Lucario. Because of his long, floaty jumps and fast high-range, high-priority aerials, and also because of the horizontal angles that his attacks can often send the opponent at, he can basically pull off a Jigglypuff edgeguard with the best of them. You don't even need to think. If you grab your opponent as they roll up from the ledge and throw them backwards, just full jump riiiiight out there and throw out a few Fairs. There's next to no lag at the end of the back throw, so by the time your opponent can jump again, Lucario will most likely already be half way over the abyss and coming to get them. You can even double-jump and go right out to the edge of the stage if you want, and KO them at point blank range. It doesn't matter because Lucario's extremespeed will get him back on the ledge with no problems unless you're very low down. If you're feeling frisky you can even use Nair which has greater knockback, but can lead to SDs. Too good, really.
I used to think Lucario was a primarily defensive character, but he can play offense just as well as defense at any %, even when he's not on high damage. His spacing is excellent and everything about him is pretty much just excellent.
This is why Lucario becomes so good at 100% and up. Even from 0%, he has better overall stats than other characters with the exception of power. It basically means that at 100 and up, he becomes a character with exceptional control, spacing, hitboxes, range, priority, attack stun, "combo" ability, pressure, shield pressure, defensive ability, offensive ability, attacking speed, edgeguarding ability and evasion ability...with average/good power.
That's like top tier material or something.
Often I'll time it so that it will counter something like an Ike Fsmash, only to get hit before the actual counter frames start to take effect.
