Magnemite [QC 3/3]

[-Sparkbeat-]

I was kinda on edge on whether to include the scarf set or just mention it in the other options, but I decided to include is since it can surprise Gligar and Compound Eyes Yanma.

Overview
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Last generation, Magnemite was an effective bulky attacker who could switch into things like the threatening SubRoost Murkrow and take it out, and in this generation, it can still take hits while hitting back, thanks to a niche item + ability combo. Sadly, Steel lost it's resistance to Ghost, making it a less reliable counter to things like Drifloon, and Dark, meaning things like Pawniard can punish it with their STAB. In addition, Magnemite heavily relies on items, so the Knock Off buff has greatly hurt it. Not all is dark for Magnemite though, as Steel is now super effective against the new Fairy type, meaning it can counter or check things like Spiritzee and Snubbull. It was also given a gift with the unbanning of Berry Juice, allowing it to be a top notch abuser of the infamous Berry Juice and Sturdy combo. Although no where near as effective as last generation, it's Choice Scarf set can still function as a solid revenge killer. It's typing still allows it to function as a good pivot for offensive teams, with it's ability to Volt Switch out of threats, absorb Paralyses, and keep great pressure on the opponent with it's solid coverage.


Sturdy + Berry Juice
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name: Sturdy + Berry Juice
move 1: Flash Cannon
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Thunderbolt / Recycle
ability: Sturdy
item: Berry Juice
evs: 240 SpA / 236 Spe
nature: Modest / Timid

Moves
========

• Flash Cannon is the main STAB, hitting Fairies and anything that doesn't resist it hard
• Volt Switch gives you momentum and lets him escape his Grass type counters
  
• Hidden Power Ice hits Gligar and Grass types on the switch
• Hidden Power Ground lets him touch Chinchou and other Magnemite
• Thunderbolt can be used as a more powerful STAB or to stay in after using an Electric move
• Recycle can replace either Thunderbolt or Volt Switch so you can reuse your Berry Juice

Set Details
========

• EV's are standard max/max with the final 36 giving one more point in defense
• Sturdy lets him live OHKO's from full health
• Berry Juice abuses this ability and recovers all damage take meaning Sturdy can be activated again
• Modest maximizes special attack, letting it reach 20
• Timid can be used to get the jump on Swirlix before Unburden is activated

Usage Tips
========

• Use it to bait in things such as Gligar, survive a hit, and OHKO back, or use it to switch in to things that do over 50% and force them to have to 2HKO you without getting KO'd
• Avoid switching into Knock Off users
• Remove Spikes and Stealth Rocks before coming in too keep Sturdy intact
• Can function as a solid lead against common leads like Gligar
• Best as a pivot
• If Sturdy is gone, but you aren't in Berry Juice range, play carefully.

Team Options
========

• Pokemon that can handle Chinchou, like Foongus who can also help against Fighting types or a Chinchou with Hidden Power Grass
• Defog or Rapid Spin users to keep Sturdy intact, such as Gligar who also covers Magnemite's Ground and Fighting weaknesses
• Other Pokemon with U-turn or Volt Switch to keep momentum
• Pokemon that can switch into and defeat Fighting types like Spritzee whose Wish can keep Sturdy intact
• Other bulky Pokemon to come in on faster frail Pokemon that attempt to revenge

Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Thunderbolt
ability: Sturdy
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 240 SpA / 236 Spe
nature: Modest

Moves
========

• Thunderbolt is your strongest STAB and can be used to clean late game
• Flash Cannon is the other STAB, hitting Fairies
• Hidden Power Ice can surprise Gligar that thinks it outspeeds
• Hidden Power Ground can be used if you'd rather hit Chinchou and other Magnemite than OHKO Gligar
• Volt Switch gives you momentum and is a good move to spam

Set Details
========

• EV's are standard max/max with the final 36 giving one more point in defense
• Sturdy lets him live OHKO's from full health
• Choice Scarf fixes his below average speed, and surprises lots of his checks
• Modest gives him the most power possible, and he can outspeed the entire unboosted tier with his 14 speed

Usage Tips
========

• Avoid switching into Knock Off users
• Remove Spikes and Stealth Rocks before coming in too keep Sturdy intact
• Can surprise common leads like Gligar by outspeeding and OHKO'ing
• Revenge kill slower threats with Volt Switch
• Be wary of priority

Team Options
========

• Pokemon that can handle Chinchou, like Foongus who can also help against Fighting types
• Defog or Rapid Spin users to keep Sturdy intact
• Other Pokemon with U-turn or Volt Switch to keep momentum
• Pokemon that enjoy the removal of Gligar, like Mienfoo
• Pokemon that can counter priority using Fighting types, like Spritzee who can also pass Wish to keep Sturdy intact
• Pokemon that can switch into Pokemon using Sucker Punch and beat them

Other Options
########

• Hidden Power Fire can be used on a Steel trapping set, but you may as well just use a counter to these Pokemon, such as a Fighting type
• Magnet Pull can be useful for Sandstorm teams looking for something to threaten Snover and handle Drilbur's counters
• Magnet Rise can negate his weakness to Ground
• It can function as a weather starter, though there's usually a better one

Checks & Counters
########

• Entry Hazards
• Chinchou
• Ferroseed
• Hippopotas
• Foongus
• Porygon since Shadow Ball in neutral
• Munchlax
• Ponyta and Larvesta can take a hit or two, have recovery, and can use Will-O-Wisp to avoid Sturdy + Berry Juice
• Timburr
• Misdreavus can take most of his moves and threaten back with Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fighting
• Croagunk can hurt it with a combination of Drain Punch and Vacuum Wave
  
• Knock Off users
• Hail
• Burn Status (Will-O-Wisp)
• Once it is at 1HP or is between 51% and 99% faster things with a super effective move like Gligar and Meditite or priority users like Murkrow can revenge it
• Anything that resists whatever move it is lock into can beat it's scarf set

 

[Ray Jay]

• Timid deserves a slash on the first set as 15 Speed is often far better than 14 Speed (Speed tie with tite and most Pawniard and beat Swirlix before unburden, for example) but Modest should still be primary slash
• HP Ground - the reason you use it is because you can hit both Chinchou AND Pawniard, which is what makes it superior to HP Grass / Fire respectively. Definitely still secondary slash to HP Ice though.
• Mention Spritzee's Wish, which allows you to switch in and get back to full health for Sturdy.
• The Steel-trapping set needs to be mentioned as a good pokemon for sandstorm teams, as it applies a lot of pressure to Snover and the things that handle Drilbur; sand teams are pretty much the only reason you would ever use Magnet Pull Magnemite but it is actually a pretty good reason.

With that, QC 1/3

 

[Goddess Briyella]

Looks good, Lunatic Lies!



QC 2/3

 

[ryan]

Ray Jay tbf HP Ground hits Pawniard just as hard as Thunderbolt; I think it'd be better to mention hitting opposing Magnemite in addition to Chinchou with HP Ground but keeping it as the second slash for sure.

I also believe that the first set should look like:

name: Sturdy + Berry Juice
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Recycle / Thunderbolt
ability: Sturdy
item: Berry Juice
evs: 36 Def / 236 SAtk / 236 Spd
nature: Modest / Timid

Perhaps swap the order of Recycle/Thunderbolt, but I've rarely found myself wanting Thunderbolt. Volt Switch is super important because gathering momentum is so nice. Furthermore, the only Ground-type that really beats you is Mold Breaker Drilbur, which won't want to eat a Flash Cannon or an HP Ice anyways. The Hidden Power reasoning has already been covered. The reason why I feel that Recycle is more important than Thunderbolt is because Magnemite is able to check and/or lure a lot of stuff for offensive teams, including Swirlix (both BD and CM), Yanma, Gligar if running HP Ice, Murkrow, Tangela sort of, pretty much any offensive mon tbh lol. The ability to do this repeatedly throughout the match while still facing up really well against more defensive teams is soooo nice, and that's why I value Recycle so much. As for the order of the moves, they're supposed to be ordered by importance of the move, which means that Thunderbolt should definitely not be first (what does it do that Volt Switch can't outside of let you stay in?). I also agree with the order of nature slashes that Ray Jay listed because a slower Volt Switch (especially with Berry Juice and Sturdy) is so nice for offensive teams to bring in a frailer offensive Pokemon safely.

Something else I think you could mention in the Usage Tips is that people usually play really predictably around this particular set once they've figured out what it is. For example, in order to keep you from endlessly Recycling your Berry Juice, they'll probably hit you with something weaker followed up with something to take you out, so knowing this, you can swap out on the obvious stronger hit into a partner that can take it and bring Magnemite back in later on a resisted hit in order to consume its Berry Juice.

Sorry this is kinda tl;dr but I've used this particular set a lot, so I have a lot of thoughts on it. @_@

Also, I'd swap the order of the Choice Scarf set moves to Volt Switch / Flash Cannon / HP Ice / Thunderbolt for the same reason why I recommend putting Volt Switch first on the previous set.

And FINALLY above your hashtags, it should say SET NAME rather than the actual name of the set. For example, the Sturdy + Berry Juice set should look like:

SET NAME
########
name: Sturdy + Berry Juice
move 1:
etc.

 

[Lolk]

Just a few nitpicks:

In the overview you mention magnemite's role as a bulky attacker last gen and say that it still applies to this gen, even though you don't have a bulky attacker set. You also mention that it still counters Murkrow, but there is a chance Magnemite will not survive switching into Brave Bird and Spikes and then taking a sucker punch.

Repeat your mention of Entry Hazards in checks and counters since breaking its sturdy is the easiest way to check the berry juice set. :3

 

[-Sparkbeat-]

Thanks for the feedback! Suggestions have been implemented.

 

[DTC]

Remove the 36 Def EVs on both sets, since they don't actually do anything (Hidden Power Ice lowers Defense IV to 30, and Hidden Power Ground makes you have to use 240 SpA EVs) Both sets EVs should be 240 SpA / 236 Spe (even though Hidden Power Ice only needs 236 SpA EVs, just leave 240 in there for consistency with Hidden Power Ground).

Also, Knock Off, WoW, and hail should be given a mention in c&c where entry hazards is mentioned, as they all mess up Berry Juice Magnemite's Sturdy.

edit: also don't use ps abbreviations for stats. this is the full list of abbreviations:

HP - HP
Attack - Atk
Defense - Def
Special Attack - SpA
Special Defense - SpD
Speed - Spe

 

[-Sparkbeat-]

Changes made

 

[macle]

I'd like more specific team options.

 

[Electrolyte]

macle's suggestion is solid; put in specific examples of Pokemon that fall under the descriptions that you have provided. Add Foongus as a Grass-type that can handle Chinchou and also sponge Fighting-type attacks. Add Gligar as a Ground-type that can sponge Ground and Fire, remove hazards, and check Chinchou / Fire-types. Add Chinchou itself, whom can check other Chinchou if it carries HP Grass and also absorb Fire-type attacks.

In Moves for SturdyJuice, Thunderbolt is not the main STAB move; Flash Cannon is. Thunderbolt would not be slashed with something if it were the main STAB move, and Steel is pretty awesome offensively anyway. I would also swap the order of VSwitch and Flash Cannon; Flash Cannon is a much more easily spamable STAB, and is more useful than pivoting. So few things resist Steel that Magnemite always has a lot of opportunities to deal serious damage, so people should take advantage of those opportunities. Keep in mind that this is only for the Sturdy Juice set; the Scarf set likes Thunderbolt more because of its greater natural power.

In Usage Tips of Sturdy Juice, mention that the whole reason why the set is viable in the first place is because of the way Sturdy + Berry Juice lets it bait and kill things that would otherwise typically beat it. The set serves as a general multipurpose check, too, as it can sponge any attack on the switch in and recover back to full health, making it a solid answer to almost anything in the metagame.

Fire-types need to go in Checks and Counters; Larvesta / Ponyta are good ones because they can burn it and OHKO without needing to go through Sturdy + Berry Juice first.


Add all of that and its QC 3/3 :)


In EVs of Choice Scarf mention how Modest 236 Spe lets Mag hit 14 speed, enough to outspeed every unboosted opponent when equipped with a Scarf.

 

[-Sparkbeat-]

Changes made, and I should have it written by Friday or Saturday :]

 

[prem]

hi you sohuld update for new bans and write it up Lunatic Lies :)

 

[-Sparkbeat-]

It'll be edited and written up by the end of the week. Finally have some time thanks to Mardi Gras break. Sorry for the wait.

 

[prem]

lol no problem we all forgot about c&c

 

[Goddess Briyella]

Lunatic Lies has decided to drop this, so I'll be locking it. If someone would like to pick this analysis up, make a post in the reservation index.