[Overview]
Name: Support
Move 1: Stealth Rock
Move 2: Lava Plume
Move 3: Toxic / Ancient Power
Move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[Set Comments]
Moves
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[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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**Water Types** ( Relicanth, Pelipper, Carracosta, Floatzel with water veil) Water types can switch in on Magcaro's STABs and not care bar a lava plume burn, with Floatzel not caring at all. Magcargo can annoy with toxic.
**Ground Types** (Golem, Piloswine) Golem can switch in relatively free, bar a lava plume burn and force Magcargo out with an earthquake, and Piloswine can easily switch into Magcargo too, due to thick fat, besides fearing burn.
**Taunt users** (Grumpig, Misdreavus) Taunt shuts down Magcargo's recovery and toxic, limiting the pokemon a lot.
**Residual Damage** Stealth Rock and Toxic severely limit Magcargo's survivability. Magcargo loses to common Stealth Rock setters such as Pilowine and Golem
**Magic Guard** (Clefairy/Duosion) Come in for free and not care about Lava Plume burns through magic guard, and can set up Calm Minds for free.
**Fighting Types** Guts Machoke can absorb A Will-o or a lava plume burn and KO Magcargo with a boosted STAB attack or force it out. Monferno is a decent switch in as Ancient Power is neutral and cannot be burned by Lava Plume.
**Grumpig** Grumpig resists well lava plume due thick fat, can Super Effective him with Focus blast and taunt him when using Stealth Rock or Recover.
- Outclassed as offensive fire by Rapidash,Simisear, and Ninetales because of Magcargo's poor special attack, defensive fire by Torkoal
- Outclassed as offensive rock by Carracosta because of below average special attack, as defensive rock by Carracosta,Probopass, and even Carbink because of SR weakness and terrible typing
- Great supportive movepool (Memento,Screens,Stealth Rock)
- Gets access to reliable recovery
- Fire/Rock grants a typing that is weak to rocks and quad weak to common types such as water and rocks
- Stealth Rock weakness is very detrimental to Magcargo making it easy to pressure
- Very slow and bait for Taunt users such as Misdreavus
- Magcargo has a bad matchup versus most leads and other SR setters (Pilo,Golem,Carracosta)
Name: Support
Move 1: Stealth Rock
Move 2: Lava Plume
Move 3: Toxic / Ancient Power
Move 4: Recover
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
Nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
[Set Comments]
Moves
==============
- Stealth Rock benefits all teams as it wears down foes switching in while also breaking Study and Sashes, Lava Plume is Magcargo's choice of stab, providing the infamous "30%" chance to burn. Toxic hits common checks/counters to Magcargo, such as special walls and water types. Ancient power can be used as a secondary STAB and hit fire types better. Recover preserves Magcargo and keeps it around.
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- 248 EVs in HP maximizes Magcargos bulk and also allows Magcargo to come in on Stealth Rock 5 times. Max spd with Calm nature allows Magcargo switching better on powerful Special attackers, such as Zebstrika, Roselia and Tangela.Flame Body is the chosen ability for the chance of burning on contact moves, and because his other 2 abilities are horrible for him.Leftovers is the preferred item, as it gives Magcargo passive recovery to take hits longer.
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- Magcargo is not always a lead, but seeing as it has Stealth Rock it is a good idea to get them up early game. Be wary of SE coverage moves run such as Superpower on Stoudland, Focus Blast on Regice. Be aware of status abusers such as Machoke and Ursaring, as well as Flash Fire users such as Ninetales and Rapidash.Be aware of status abusers such as Machoke and Ursaring, as well as Flash Fire users such as Ninetales and Rapidash. When predicting a switch to Ninetales, Rapidash and Pelipper use Toxic / Ancient Power. Use toxic / lava plume to spread status around the opposing team. Be wary of taunt users as Magcargo is slow and this will prevent Toxic / Stealth Rock. Be wary of toxic and rocks as Magcargo can be easily pressured and worn down. Use Magcargo to switch into Pokemon such as Dodrio, Zebstrika, and Rotom-F.
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- Other hazards support from such mons as Roselia and Quilladin helps wear down foes and keep pressure on the opposing team.Spin-Blockers such as Misdreavus and Gourgeist are good to keep hazards on the field, when they also help with Fighting weak. Set-up sweepers and wallbreakers that appreciate the stealth rock by Magcargo such as Ursaring, Jumpluff, Carracosta, and Barbaracle. Sawsbuck, Roselia, and other grass types can handle the ground and water attacks Magcargo struggles with. Purugly can be used for defog block. Jumpluff is a great teammate being able to take all SE hits thrown at Magcargo bar rock hits also Pelipper could be good options to take water attacks, and Pelipper can also take ground attacks. Rapid Spin users and Defoggers can help with Magcargo's Stealth Rock weakness, spinners are preferred as your own hazards stay. Clerics can cure the status that are very annoying to Magcargo (Lickilicky, Misdreavus, Hypno). Pokémons who resist to fight, principally Duosion and Clefairy, who can setup Calm Mind easily on fighting types. Mightyena can switch in psychic types, who, otherwise could setup Calm Mind easily on Magcargo. Magcargo fits mostly on bulkier offensive teams or balanced ones as it is completely outclassed by golem on hyper offense.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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- Magcargo gets access to cool support moves in dual screens and memento which could be used with a light clay set to open up holes for other teammates to set up , although outclassed by Meowstic-M and Solrock in this regard.
- Earth power can be used to hit rock types harder than Ancient Power.
- A max defensive spread of 248 hp 252 def 8 SpD bold can be used to check physical attackers better.
- Will-O-Wisp can be used to punish physical attackers even further and to even boost Magcaro's physical bulk through the roof, although with the good chance of a Lava Plume burn, Toxic is still prefered.
- A set of offensive shell-smash with max SpA max Speed with a Timid nature with HP Electric or Ancient Power/ Fire Blast / Earthpower / ShellSmash,but it too slow, and, is outclassed by Torkoal due no spin.
- Clear Smog can be used too, because Magcargo is a setup bait to things like Ninetales, Carracosta, Barbaracle and Bulk Up Floatzel.
Checks & Counters
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**Water Types** ( Relicanth, Pelipper, Carracosta, Floatzel with water veil) Water types can switch in on Magcaro's STABs and not care bar a lava plume burn, with Floatzel not caring at all. Magcargo can annoy with toxic.
**Ground Types** (Golem, Piloswine) Golem can switch in relatively free, bar a lava plume burn and force Magcargo out with an earthquake, and Piloswine can easily switch into Magcargo too, due to thick fat, besides fearing burn.
**Taunt users** (Grumpig, Misdreavus) Taunt shuts down Magcargo's recovery and toxic, limiting the pokemon a lot.
**Residual Damage** Stealth Rock and Toxic severely limit Magcargo's survivability. Magcargo loses to common Stealth Rock setters such as Pilowine and Golem
**Magic Guard** (Clefairy/Duosion) Come in for free and not care about Lava Plume burns through magic guard, and can set up Calm Minds for free.
**Fighting Types** Guts Machoke can absorb A Will-o or a lava plume burn and KO Magcargo with a boosted STAB attack or force it out. Monferno is a decent switch in as Ancient Power is neutral and cannot be burned by Lava Plume.
**Grumpig** Grumpig resists well lava plume due thick fat, can Super Effective him with Focus blast and taunt him when using Stealth Rock or Recover.
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