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Double Team (かげぶんしん Kage Bunshin?, lit. "Shadow Clone") is Lucario's Down Special Move. When used, Lucario enters a defensive tai chi-like stance. If it is attacked during this stance, it will teleport behind the attacker, then counterstrike with a sliding kick for moderate damage and surprisingly high knockback, which is even greater after Lucario has taken damage.

Overview[]

If Lucario successfully counters with Double Team near an edge, it may teleport above the ledge and fall downwards as it unsuccessfully attacks, making recovery difficult. There is some kind of lag after doing the attack in midair. Double Team has a longer length than Marth's and Ike's Counter, but does more damage and knockback if it is pulled off. In fact, Double Team is the strongest counterattack in the game. One of the most interesting features of Double Team is its damageable area elimination: if Lucario is hit during a Double Team and goes into the counter strike, Lucario will not have a damageable area until it completes the counterattack, which means that Lucario can't be hit, grabbed, or even caught in a Final Smash by anyone or anything. Double Team also reduces Lucario's falling speed for a minor duration. This move is rather easy to dodge, as it is possible to air dodge or shield the attack when Lucario disappears. It also has some invincibility frames to it when activated. The initial damage is 7%, and at 165% (where it caps) is 15%.

Note that Lucario actually strikes the location around where it was hit, just like Counter does. As such, if Double Team is used on a ranged attack or an attack that causes its user to move quickly (Spin Dash, Rollout, etc.), Lucario will most likely miss with his counterattack.

Lucario's Special Moves
Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Aura Sphere
Side Special Force Palm
Up Special Extreme Speed
Down Special Double Team
Final Smash Aura Storm Mega Evolution Aura Storm

Customizations[]

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the move can be customized to Glancing Counter or Stunning Double Team.

Glancing Counter[]

Glancing Counter dodges to avoid taking damage, and then immediately strikes with a strong punch.

Strengths

  • Doesn't need to get hit to attack
  • Can be used to dodge

Weaknesses

Stunning Double Team[]

Stunning Double Team is a counter move that can paralyze your opponent if timed correctly.

Strengths

  • Does more damage
  • Paralyzes the opponent

Weaknesses

Lucario's Custom Special Moves
Custom 1 Custom 2
Standard Special Snaring Aura Sphere Piercing Aura Sphere
Side Special Advancing Force Palm Long-Distance Force Palm
Up Special Ride the Wind Extreme Speed Attack
Down Special Glancing Counter Stunning Double Team

Origin[]

In the Pokémon games, Double Team is a status move that raises evasion, or the chances of an opponent's attack missing, and does not deal retaliation damage if attacked.

Reverse Double Team[]

It is possible to pull off a "reverse" Double Team where Lucario attacks from the front. After using Double Team, simply hold the joystick in the direction wished to attack from. Advantages of pulling off a "reverse" Double Team include allowing Lucario to initiate combos and even wall-cling without the use of a second jump. A video showing this can be seen here.

Trivia[]

  • With precise timing, Lucario's Double Team can activate Marth's Counter.
  • Lucario quietly says "It's over" whenever Double Team is successfully activated in Brawl, but this phrase is barely recognizable by many players due to many other sound effects and music unless one plays the game in high-definition volume settings. Regardless, this phrase is available in the Sound Test. In Smash for 3DS/Wii U, however, Lucario says "Weak!" instead.
    • It's worth noting that in Brawl, Lucario speaks as it's attacking, but in Smash for 3DS/Wii U, Lucario speaks as it's being attacked.
    • Oddly enough Lucario says "Es ist noch nicht vorbei" if the language is set to German, "Esto no ha acabado" to Spanish and "C'est pas encore fini" to French, which translates to "It's not over yet" and "This is not over" respectively, the exact opposite of its English line, possibly meaning that the line was wrongly translated to English.
  • If Lucario uses Double Team with a Pikmin attached to it and attacking, the Pikmin will "vanish" with Lucario.
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