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Magma Armor
- Prevents freeze. Halves the number of steps required to hatch Eggs.
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Flame Body
- 30% chance to burn when struck by a contact move. Halves the number of steps required to hatch Eggs.
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Weak Armor
- Boosts Speed by 1 stage and lowers Defense by 1 stage when hit by a physical move.
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Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
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Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
50
|
- |
21 |
24 |
- |
| Atk |
50
|
9 |
11 |
14 |
15 |
| Def |
120
|
16 |
18 |
21 |
23 |
| SpA |
80
|
12 |
14 |
17 |
18 |
| SpD |
80
|
12 |
14 |
17 |
18 |
| Spe |
30
|
8 |
9 |
12 |
13 |
Overview
Although Magcargo's unique typing gives it a useful set of resistances, it also curses it with weaknesses to four of the most common attacking types in the game. Nevertheless, Magcargo is a superb option to spread burn throughout your opponent's team, despite its susceptibility to all entry hazards, as it has a good movepool, including both Recover and Lava Plume, as well as decent defenses. In addition to supporting its team through burning the opposition and cushioning physical blows, Magcargo can set up Stealth Rock and competently wall Flying-, Bug-, and Fire-types. The lovable gastropod even sports Shell Smash for a shot at sweeping, though pitiful Speed and disappointing offenses, as well as the lack of a reliable secondary STAB, reduce the potential of this set. Magcargo is arguably best used as a platform to spread burn, but Shell Smash sweeping can be successful with proper support.
Lava Plume is the basis of this set, acting as a reliable STAB move and spreading burn when paired with Flame Body. Recover helps Magcargo stay healthy enough to keep burning and walling the opposition, whilst Hidden Power Rock acts as secondary STAB and lets Magcargo nail the Flying-, Bug-, and Fire-types it can wall. Magcargo can also act as a decent Stealth Rock user should you lack another team member to do this. Alternatively, Toxic is an option, which provides Magcargo with some means of hurting Water-types. Unfortunately, Toxic can interfere with spreading burn and vice versa, so if burn support is vital to your team, Will-O-Wisp provides a tertiary means to singe the enemy.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The set's aim is pretty straightforward, and its EV spread reflects this; max HP and Special Defense help with walling and patch up Magcargo's weaker side, and a Bold nature makes the most of Magcargo's highest stat. There are also a few other possibilities for the final moveslot; Protect can be used for scouting, getting more Leftovers recovery, and racking up burn damage, and Refresh can be used to heal off status, particularly poison from Toxic Spikes, as its presence would usually cripple Magcargo completely.
Rapid Spin support is mandatory, as with a weakness to Stealth Rock and vulnerability to both forms of Spikes Magcargo will have trouble doing its job if they are down. Unfortunately, NU's more popular spinners, Armaldo and Torkoal, share many of the same weaknesses as Magcargo, so the most—if not the only—suitable Pokemon for this role is Wartortle. Almost all Water-types will destroy Magcargo and are usually able to come in pretty easily, so a teammate to take them on, such as Eelektross, is advised, Chlorophyll abusers such as Exeggutor or Victreebel also help in this regard, and Magcargo is perfectly competent at setting up Sunny Day for them.
Despite its seemingly underwhelming Speed, Magcargo can still make use of Shell Smash. After a single boost, it hits 342 Speed, enough to outpace even positively natured base 105 Speed Pokemon. Fire Blast is Magcargo's primary STAB move, and after a boost, it hits hard enough to OHKO a number of Pokemon. Hidden Power Grass hits the Water- and Rock-type Pokemon that resist Fire Blast, easily dispatching of Golem and Carracosta, and doing good damage to Samurott and Regirock. AncientPower, Magcargo's secondary STAB, grants it super effective coverage against Altaria and Fire-types, such as Magmortar, all of whom resist Magcargo's other moves. AncientPower has a very welcome chance to boost all of Magcargo's stats and provides perfect coverage, but if the low PP is a turn-off, or if you fear Camerupt more than you do Altaria, Earth Power is another option that gives solid coverage alongside Grass- and Fire-type attacks.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Though a Life Orb is tempting in order to boost Magcargo's damage output, Magcargo has enough trouble setting up or surviving the attacks of foes that outspeed it; for this reason, an Air Balloon or a Focus Sash is recommended, as they make setting up easier. Weak Armor is recommended for this set, as the possible extra Speed boost is extremely welcome, and Magcargo's decent Defense allows it to potentially sponge a hit. To this end, White Herb is another item option, but setting up becomes far more difficult without help from Focus Sash or Air Balloon. The listed EVs maximize Magcargo's sweeping potential, but to be honest, that potential remains fairly low. 240 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Magcargo to outspeed the greatest possible number of foes, but its base 30 Speed means that even with a boost, virtually any Pokemon holding a Choice Scarf, or even unboosted fast Pokemon, will be able to outspeed Magcargo and hit its lowered defenses hard.
Since Magcargo hates these speedy Pokemon, something that can easily dispatch of them is recommended. Gurdurr does an excellent job of picking off Sneasel and Tauros, amongst others, with a powerful Mach Punch. It even has decent defensive synergy with Magcargo, taking Rock-type attacks for it in exchange for having its Flying-type weakness covered. On the flip side, Gurdurr is also a large threat to Magcargo, picking it off effortlessly even in the unlikely scenario that it gets multiple boosts. Basculin poses a similar problem with its powerful Aqua Jet. Rotom-S can easily stop both of these Pokemon and hence makes a superb partner for Magcargo. Again, Rapid Spin support is strongly recommended—vital if you are running Focus Sash. Wartortle is the recommended candidate for this role, as it packs complementary typing and acts as a stop to Basculin. Finally, Magcargo truly appreciates Stealth Rock; Torterra is an excellent choice for the job.
Other Options
Magcargo has a surprisingly large movepool and can perform a number of other roles, albeit to a questionable standard. A support set with dual screens and Memento is a possibility to ensure the setup of a powerful teammate, but the effectiveness of all of these moves is limited by Magcargo's abysmal Speed and crippling weaknesses, as plenty of Pokemon will simply KO it with a Ground- or Water-type attack before Magcargo gets a chance to cushion the blow with the appropriate screen. Similarly, Memento or Explosion can be paired with Sunny Day to support a powerful sun sweeper, such as Victreebell or Exeggutor, but such a set suffers similar problems to the dual screen set mentioned above. If you would like Magcargo to set up sun, it is generally advised to simply forgo Stealth Rock for Sunny Day on the basic defensive set. Yawn is another possibility to offset Magcargo's lack of phazing moves, but this interferes heavily with what should usually be Magcargo's primary objective: spreading burn. Finally, Overheat is a powerful STAB move that can surprise foes, but its usefulness is limited by Magcargo's poor Special Attack, and Lava Plume is usually a better choice for the burn chance.
Checks and Counters
Water-types are Magcargo's biggest problems, often able to come in easily and usually able to KO even defensive sets by taking advantage of its 4x weakness to their attacks. Specially oriented Water-types, such as Golduck and Gorebyss, won't be overly troubled by a burn either, and as they can switch in with impunity on just about anything but Toxic, Magcargo has very little hope of being able to do anything to them. Magmar is also a superb stop to defensive Magcargo, as it is immune to burn and OHKOes it with Focus Blast; however, if Magcargo uses Shell Smash on the switch, Hidden Power Rock will easily OHKO.
One Pokemon capable of stopping both offensive and defensive variants of Magcargo with ease is Gurdurr; it sports Mach Punch for the Shell Smash users and Drain Punch for the defensive set. Gurdurr's Guts ability also means that Magcargo's greatest asset is turned against it, and even prudent use of Lava Plume and Will-O-Wisp may not prevent Gurdurr snagging a burn, thanks to Flame Body. In truth, most specially based attackers with a solid, super effective attack will scare off defensive Magcargo, and should they hold a Choice Scarf, they can easily pull double duty and stop the Shell Smash set as well. Haunter packing Hidden Power Ground and Gardevoir are some of the best Choice Scarf users to stop Magcargo.
