Magnezone [QC: 1/2]

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[OVERVIEW]

* While rarely built around, is a reasonable addition to teams needing a check to Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, or Celesteela.
* It's commonly seen, and functions best, on Trick Room teams, where its below average Speed is less of an issue.
* A 4x weakness to Ground is an issue due to Garchomp's usage being so high and Ground being common coverage.
* That said, Magnezone's typing granting a massive 11 resistances and one immunity makes it easy to switch in.
* Electric-type competition such as Tapu Koko, Alolan Raichu, and Vikavolt may situationally be more appropriate.

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Substitute / Magnet Rise / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Protect
item: Leftovers / Electrium Z
ability: Sturdy / Magnet Pull
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 236 SpA / 20 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Thunderbolt serves as Magnezone's most reliable STAB attack with high power and good super effective coverage.
* Flash Cannon is secondary STAB that hits Fairy-types such as Tapu Lele and Alolan Ninetales super effectively.
* Substitute helps shield Magnezone against super effective hits, and is also useful to stop Celesteela's Leech Seed.
* Magnet Rise eliminates Magnezone's greatest weakness in Ground for five turns, making it more difficult to KO.
* Hidden Power Ground hits many of the foes which resist Magnezone's STABs such as Alolan Marowak and Xurkitree.
* Protect allows Magnezone to shield itself for a turn while an ally KOs a threat or switches to improve positioning.

Set Details
========

* Electrium Z is often the best item, as Z-Thunderbolt backed by high Special Attack deals great damage to the foe.
* Leftovers is most useful in combination with Substitute to compensate for lost HP, but can also reactivate Sturdy.
* Sturdy allows Magnezone to survive a single attack; this is useful given the ubiquity of Flare Blitz and Earthquake.
* Magnet Pull is an option if your team struggles against opposing Steel-types such as Celesteela by trapping them.
* The EVs primarily outrun Celesteela, optimize Leftovers recovery, and allow for maximum consecutive Substitutes.
* The remaining EVs, with a Modest nature, are used to boost Magnezone's damage output as much as possible.
* The above Special Attack EVs also hit a stat that is 10n before Modest’s boost, which is optimal for said boost.
* That said, since the Special Attack EVs are mostly leftovers, they can optionally be reinvested into other stats.
* For example, increasing Speed investment to creep faster Celesteela is often worthwhile in attempting to check it.
* If Magnezone is used on a team with an Intimidate user, 44 Defense EVs survive a -1 Garchomp's Earthquake.
* Similarly, under rain, 44 SpD EVs ensure 4 SpA Celesteela's Flamethrower won't break Magnezone's Substitute.

Usage Tips
========

* Magnezone is often best brought out mid-game after speed control has taken effect and Steel-types sent out.
* While Magnezone's bulk makes it tempting to switch into attacks, be aware that this will prevent Sturdy's effect.
* If you have it, it's often better to set up a Substitute against Celesteela than to immediately attack.
* Note that cycling between Substitute and Protect can be an great way to stall out undesirable field conditions.

Team Options
========

* Speed control like Trick Room from users such as Porygon2 and Mimikyu compensates for Magnezone's low Speed.
* Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele and Metagross are useful for beating Fighting-types which threaten Magnezone.
* Tapu Lele also joins Tapu Fini and Tapu Bulu in being Fairy-types; equally useful for defeating Fighting-type foes.
* Both deal super effective to Ground-types with their STAB moves, and Grassy Terrain neuters Ground-type moves.
* Politoed is another example of a Water-type, and its Drizzle helps protect Magnezone against Fire-type attacks.
* Checks for Kartana such as Arcanine or Flamethrower Salamence are valuable, as Magnezone is threatened by it.
* Both also provide Intimidate, which aids Magnezone against physical attackers like Garchomp which can OHKO it.
* Ground-types of your own such as Garchomp and Gastrodon notably help Magnezone KO Fire- and Electric-types.
* Wide Guard users such as Hariyama and Gigalith lend safety against spread moves like Earthquake and Heat Wave.

[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Volt Switch / Discharge
move 3: Flash Cannon
move 4: Hidden Power Ground
item: Choice Specs
ability: Sturdy / Magnet Pull
nature: Modest
evs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Thunderbolt's high power and good super effective coverage means it serves as Magnezone's main STAB attack.
* Volt Switch deals good damage and switches Magnezone out, helping maintain momentum via switch initiative.
* Discharge is an alternative that allows Magnezone the option of a spread attack; though it also damages allies.
* The option exists to drop Thunderbolt and use both Volt Switch and Discharge if you don't need the extra power.
* Flash Cannon functions as a secondary STAB, and deals with Fairy-types such as Tapu Lele and Alolan Ninetales.
* Hidden Power Ground hits Alolan Marowak, Xurkitree, Magnezone, and Togedemaru, who resist Electric and Steel.

Set Details
========

* Choice Specs are used to complement Magnezone's already high Special Attack stat by boosting it a further 50%.
* Sturdy allows Magnezone to survive any single hit, which is valuable for helping it retaliate given its slow speed.
* Magnet Pull helps Magnezone check opposing Steel-types, primarily Celesteela, by preventing them from switching.
* A Modest nature and 252 SpA EVs are used to maximise damage output, which aids the set's primary function.
* 20 Spe EVs allow for outpacing 4 Spe Celesteela, and opposing Magnezone to KO them with Hidden Power Ground.
* The leftover EVs are placed into HP for bulk; increasing the chance Magnezone will survive an attack and retaliate.
* You may wish to increase Speed investment to speed creep faster Celesteela; particularly useful with Magnet Pull.

Usage Tips
========

* It's generally preferable to bring Magnezone out during the mid-to-late game when speed control has taken effect.
* Learning when to Thunderbolt or Volt Switch is crucial, as Magnezone has a tendency to bait out dangerous foes.
* We wary of Choice locking into Hidden Power Ground, as its low base power kills momentum in the following turns.
* When using Sturdy, be aware of the fact that switching Magnezone into attacks will prevent it from functioning.

Team Options
========

* Speed control is useful as Magnezone is slow, so Trick Room users such as Porygon2 and Mimikyu are great allies.
* Psychic-types such as Tapu Lele and Metagross are useful so as to beat Fighting-types that threaten Magnezone.
* Tapu Lele, as a Fairy-type, likewise joins Tapu Fini and Tapu Bulu in checking Fighting-types along with Garchomp.
* Tapu Bulu is also useful as the only user of Grassy Surge, which reduces the damage of Ground-type attacks.
* Pelipper and Politoed can similarly compensate for one of Magnezone's weaknesses in Fire with Drizzle setting rain.
* Checks to Kartana such as Arcanine and Flamethrower Salamence are recommended, as it threatens Magnezone.
* The aforementioned are also users of Intimidate, which help to complement Magnezone's excellent Defense stat.
* Ground-types such as Garchomp and Gastrodon are advantageous to defeat problematic Fire- and Electric-types.
* Wide Guard, from users such as Hariyama and Gigalith, shields against spread like Earthquake and Heat Wave.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Hidden Power Ice hits Garchomp on Salamence very hard, although they're both naturally faster than Magnezone.
* Hidden Power Fire can be used to check Kartana and the rare Scizor, whom are each hit 4x super effectively by it.
* Expert Belt is a more general use item, boosting super effective moves, and doesn't break Sturdy unlike Life Orb.
* Weakness Policy has synergy with Sturdy in allowing Magnezone to tank a single big hit and boost up afterwards.
* Wiki Berry, like Weakness Policy, is relatively easy to activate with Sturdy, and improves late-game longevity.
* Air Balloon serves a similar purpose to Magnet Rise, though it's easily broken and disincentivises switching.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Ground-type Pokemon**: Ground-types such as Garchomp, Gastrodon, and Krookodile are easy to switch in thanks to their to Electric immunity and can exploit Magnezone's 4x weakness to Ground with their STAB moves.

**Fighting-type Pokemon**: Pheromosa and Hariyama's high power STAB moves deal great damage to Magnezone.

**Fire-type Pokemon**: Fire-types such as Arcanine and Alolan Marowak can switch into Flash Cannon and target Magnezone's weakness to Fire with their STAB moves. Arcanine's access to Snarl further serves as a deterrent.

**Kartana**: Kartana can outspeed and hit Magnezone with Sacred Sword, but must be wary of Hidden Power Fire.

**Slower Pokemon**: Magnezone's low Speed means it functions quite well under Trick Room, but it's still vulnerable to even slower foes such as Snorlax whose Earthquake or High Horsepower makes short work of Magnezone.

**Lightning Rod**: Togedemaru and the aforementioned Alolan Marowak's Lightning Rod prevents Electric-type moves from striking their allies, though the former must still be wary of a 4x super effective Hidden Power Ground.
 
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Ready for QC.

Was kind of on the fence about doing a 3 Attacks + Protect set, so I'd be interested to hear feedback on that.
 
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tbh HP Fire > HP Ground overall and i would slash that with HP Ground

- trapping Kartana and then OHKOing it is really cool, and that mon is much more common than magnezone or togedemaru
- togedemaru has absolutely no options to do anything for Magnezone, and with HP Fire magnezone still beats opposing magnezone that lacks HP fire or HP Ground
- togedemaru often runs Sash and i think HP Fire is enough to 2hko it so extra "damage" of HP Ground is irrelevant anyway

Tbh it seems like best use of HP Ground is for another specs magnezone mirror battle, and that scenario definitely wont happen often. If anything that almost screams OO material for me but im not QC so i need more opinions from others, but i can pretty safely say that HP Fire is overall much more useful than HP Ground (unless im missing something) and should be atleast slashed with HP Ground on main set.

EDIT: almost half of Togedemarus runs air balloon and 20% runs sash loolll
 
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HP Ground importantly hits Alolan Marowak and Xurkitree, so it's not used exclusively for the two you mentioned (I'll add this). Also, hitting Togedemaru super effectively is nice because of Lightning Rod, not because it directly threatens Magnezone.

I'll definitely add Hidden Power Fire, though. That's more of an oversight than a deliberate decision.
 

Jio

God is Good
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I guess you can make a mention of Electrium Z w/ Thunderbolt since Shoma showed success with it, but otherwise this looks solid! QC 1/2
 
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