[OVERVIEW]
With a great defensive and offensive typing, solid base stats, and a handful of moves to take advantage of, Magearna is widely considered one of the most versatile threats M&M. Its Fairy / Steel typing enables it to check a wide arrange of offensive threats in the tier, with the most notable being Tapu Lele, Kartana, and opposing Magearna. Adding onto this, the additional bulk and useful abilities that Mega Stones such as Manectite and Pinsirite provide enable Magearna to check a wider array of threats such as Arceus-Ground, Terrakion, Zeraora, and Altarianite Zygarde. Its supportive movepool is also noteworthy, where moves such as Pain Split and Volt Switch enable it to sustain its health while wearing down checks and grabbing momentum easily. Access to Shift Gear and a powerful Physical move such as Return combined with the lack of solid Flying-resistant Pokemon in M&M also enables Magearna to employ a setup Shift Gear set in combination with Pinsirite, further enhancing its versatility as an offensive threat. It's especially potent as a setup sweeper because of its resistance to Extreme Speed from Pokemon like Pinsirite and Altarianite Entei, which are some of the main revenge killing options in the metagame. This versatility also makes Magearna very hard to consistently check; its checks vary greatly on the set it is running. For example, Arceus-Ground can check Manectite Magearna but will struggle greatly against Pinsirite Magearna. However, supportive Magearna sets can be stopped cold by the omnipresent Primal Groudon, which not only resists both its STAB moves but also can prevent it from pivoting by blocking its use of Volt Switch. Beyond that, Magearna can also be pressured very heavily by various other Pokemon such as Necrozma-DM, Lucarionite Terrakion, and Lucarionite Zygarde, necessitating additional support from its team to properly account for these threats. It's also worth noting that the lack of reliable recovery can also hamper Magearna's ability to stay healthy throughout the course of a match; Pain Split can be taken advantage of by the foe to recover their own health, making it an unreliable move.
[SET]
name: Manectite Pivot
move 1: Fleur Cannon
move 2: Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Pain Split
item: Manectite
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Fleur Cannon enables Magearna to consistently check Pokemon such as Terrakion and Altarianite Zygarde. However, the drop in Special Attack often forces Magearna out after each use. Hidden Power Fire is mainly employed to OHKO Kartana, as well as deal damage to opposing Pinsirite Magearna without being forced to switch out. Volt Switch prevents Magearna from losing momentum too easily and enables it to safely bring its teammates in thanks to its rather low Speed tier. Pain Split enables Magearna to recover health against targets with a large HP stat such as Blissey, Primal Groudon, and Arceus-Ground. Heart Swap can be run over Hidden Power Fire if Kartana is adequately covered to better check other Pokemon that may attack it with special attacks, such as Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy and Slowbro.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature in combination with Intimidate from Manectite is important in allowing Magearna to check the likes of Kartana, Terrakion, Altarianite Zygarde, and Zeraora.
Usage Tips
========
Primal Groudon is the most prominent Pokemon in the metagame, and Magearna oftentimes loses momentum against it. When facing Primal Groudon, be sure to not use Volt Switch too liberally, as it can let up momentum very quickly. Instead, you should aim to wear it down with Fleur Cannon or directly pivot to another teammate, such as Zygarde or Arceus-Ground. While Intimidate and Magearna's great physical bulk do enable it to check a large range of physical attackers, Magearna must be cautious when switching into the likes of Terrakion and Zygarde, as both threats often carry Lucarionite, which makes them powerful enough to quickly overwhelm it. Scouting for such variants is strongly advised beforehand in order to preserve Magearna's health as much as possible. Pain Split is best used when Magearna is at a low amount of HP. Checks such as Blissey and Arceus-Ground can quickly provide it with a great amount of recovery as they attempt to switch into it, so make sure to use it on forced switches in these situations. You should be very careful of using Fleur Cannon too liberally, as Magearna becomes incredibly passive once its Special Attack is dropped. It's also worth noting that you should be careful of Substitute from Pokemon such as Zygarde, as they can force Magearna out with the Special Attack drops.
Team Options
========
Partners that can handle Primal Groudon are extremely important, as Magearna often enables it to come in freely. Therefore, Pokemon such as Mandibuzz, Primal Kyogre, Arceus-Ground, and Slowbro can be useful to pair with Magearna. Mandibuzz deserves a highlight because Magearna can aid it in checking Fairy-types and form a VoltTurn core with it. Checks to physically offensive threats such as Lucarionite Terrakion, Entei, and Ho-Oh can be important, as they can otherwise overwhelm Magearna. Notable options include Lunala, Primal Groudon, and Slowbro. Offensive partners that can take advantage of Magearna's pivoting capabilities such as Terrakion, Tapu Lele, and Kartana can also be beneficial, as Magearna can often get them into play safely multiple times throughout the match and thus aid them in wallbreaking. Special walls such as Blissey and Gyaradosite Toxapex can help Magearna handle threats such as Tapu Lele and Lunala. Arceus-Ground can also be a nuisance to Magearna, as it can switch into Fleur Cannon with ease and proceed to use Magearna as setup fodder. Teammates such as Arceus-Water, Slowbro, Ho-Oh, and Pinsirite Entei are great partners to deal with Arceus-Ground.
[SET]
name: Pinsirite
move 1: Shift Gear
move 2: Return
move 3: Substitute / Explosion
move 4: Pain Split
item: Pinsirite
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Shift Gear enables Magearna to turn into a potent setup sweeper, providing it with enough Speed after one boost to outspeed almost the entire unboosted metagame. Return is a powerful and reliable STAB move after Mega Evolving, and the metagame's lack of Pokemon that resist Flying enables Magearna to deal great amounts of damage to the majority of unboosted targets. Substitute can be a great way for Magearna to punish switch-ins such as Aggronite Mew and Primal Groudon variants lacking Fire-type moves, effectively turning them into setup fodder after Mega Evolving. This combined with Pain Split makes Magearna a major nuisance for the majority of walls in the metagame to deal with. Explosion is an alternative option that allows Magearna to immediately overwhelm many checks after the use of Shift Gear, such as Primal Groudon. It also enables Magearna to provide momentum for its teammates. Pain Split provides a semi-reliable recovery option that can let Magearna set up against the likes of Blissey and Arceus-Ground without getting worn down.
Set Details
========
140 EVs are placed into Speed for Magearna to outspeed Diancite Terrakion and anything slower after using Shift Gear once. The rest of its EVs are allocated towards Attack and HP with an Adamant nature to enhance its wallbreaking prowess and bulk. Pinsirite provides Magearna with a Flying typing and Aerilate, which allows it to overwhelm many of its typical checks such as Arceus-Ground.
Usage Tips
========
The type change that is involved with Magearna's Mega Evolution can be extremely crucial in securing a sweep in many cases. It's best to save Mega Evolving until situations where Magearna can utilize the type change to lure in its checks, such as Arceus-Ground, and catch them off guard, which will provide it with a free opportunity to set up without repercussion. Before attempting to sweep, it is important that you play patiently and try to wear down checks such as Primal Groudon into range of a +1 Return. Substitute should be used to punish switch-ins like Primal Groudon and Victini, which will need to use Overheat or V-create, respectively, in order to break it, weakening them for teammates to take advantage of. Explosion can should primarily be used in scenarios where Magearna is worn down and can cripple checks to its partners and provide momentum simultaneously. Pain Split can be used strategically to cripple common switch-ins such as Primal Groudon if Magearna has already been worn down previously.
Team Options
========
This variant of Magearna can often be placed on offensive teams due to the role compression it provides by acting as a setup sweeper that can also check threats such as Tapu Lele, Landorus, and Calm Mind Arceus-Ground. Primal Groudon pairs excellently with Magearna, providing Stealth Rock support while also checking many threats to Magearna such as Entei, Zeraora, and Manectite Magearna. Other offensive partners like Terrakion, Lunala, Tapu Lele, and Zygarde can aid Magearna in overwhelming shared checks like Primal Groudon and Slowbro. This synergy becomes especially notable when Magearna is running Explosion. Entry hazard control is very important due to Magearna's tendency to be worn down rather quickly. Therefore, partners such as Mandibuzz, Lunala, Arceus-Ground, and Sablenite users such as Slowbro can be quite effective.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Sablenite Magearna can also be used as a great special wall that can annoy status spreaders as well. However, this set does not see as much success and is quite uncommon due to it struggling to bypass common entry hazard setters such as Primal Groudon and Terrakion. Latiasite variants can also utilize both a pivot and bulky Calm Mind + Pain Split set to great success, being able to counteract checks such as Arceus-Ground, Landorus, and Mamoswine and utilize them as setup fodder after Mega Evolving. However, such sets are generally outclassed by both Manectite and Pinsirite variants of Magearna due to their ability to better handle a wide array of threats. Manectite variants can also employ a Calm Mind + Pain Split set, utilizing Fleur Cannon and Thunderbolt as their attacking moves in order to turn Magearna into a potent bulky setup sweeper. Such sets should utilize an EV spread of 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpA with a Bold nature to enable Magearna to still check Pokemon like Kartana and Terrakion.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Primal Groudon*: Primal Groudon is one of the most common and effective Magearna checks in the metagame, resisting its Fleur Cannon and preventing it from gaining momentum via Volt Switch while threatening to OHKO it in return. However, Pinsirite Magearna can effectively wear down Primal Groudon very quickly, ultimately making it hard for it to switch in frequently.
**Steel-types**: Threats such as Aggronite Mew, Necrozma-DM, and opposing Magearna can check Magearna quite well and threaten to heavily wear it down or utilize it as setup fodder. It is worth noting that Substitute + Pinsirite Magearna can utilize Aggronite Mew as setup fodder instead.
**Arceus-Ground**: Arceus-Ground can check Manectite variants of Magearna relatively well, being capable of switching into its moves at high health and forcing it to switch out. However, it is important to note that Arceus-Ground can easily be used as setup fodder for Pinsirite sets.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Teams with strong wallbreakers such as Lucarionite Terrakion, Pinsirite Entei, and Lunala can overwhelm Magearna very quickly due to its lack of reliable recovery. However, none of them can switch into Magearna comfortably.
**Fire-types**: Ho-Oh, Entei, and Victini can all threaten to OHKO Magearna through their STAB attacks and can easily switch into Manectite Magearna, though they are constantly at risk of losing momentum to Volt Switch. Pinsirite Magearna can also overwhelm them pretty quickly, especially as they are susceptible to being worn down by Stealth Rock.
**Electric-types**: Zeraora and Zapdos can be a huge nuisance to Pinsirite variants of Magearna, switching into their Flying-type STAB attacks with ease and proceeding to check it. It is worth noting that Zeraora can easily be overwhelmed if it repeatedly switches into Return due to its lack of recovery, though.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Funbot28, 255984], [Jordy, 395754]]
- Quality checked by: [[Quantum Tesseract, 297239 ], [In The Hills, 324242 ], [Chazm, 376369]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Rabia, 336073]]
With a great defensive and offensive typing, solid base stats, and a handful of moves to take advantage of, Magearna is widely considered one of the most versatile threats M&M. Its Fairy / Steel typing enables it to check a wide arrange of offensive threats in the tier, with the most notable being Tapu Lele, Kartana, and opposing Magearna. Adding onto this, the additional bulk and useful abilities that Mega Stones such as Manectite and Pinsirite provide enable Magearna to check a wider array of threats such as Arceus-Ground, Terrakion, Zeraora, and Altarianite Zygarde. Its supportive movepool is also noteworthy, where moves such as Pain Split and Volt Switch enable it to sustain its health while wearing down checks and grabbing momentum easily. Access to Shift Gear and a powerful Physical move such as Return combined with the lack of solid Flying-resistant Pokemon in M&M also enables Magearna to employ a setup Shift Gear set in combination with Pinsirite, further enhancing its versatility as an offensive threat. It's especially potent as a setup sweeper because of its resistance to Extreme Speed from Pokemon like Pinsirite and Altarianite Entei, which are some of the main revenge killing options in the metagame. This versatility also makes Magearna very hard to consistently check; its checks vary greatly on the set it is running. For example, Arceus-Ground can check Manectite Magearna but will struggle greatly against Pinsirite Magearna. However, supportive Magearna sets can be stopped cold by the omnipresent Primal Groudon, which not only resists both its STAB moves but also can prevent it from pivoting by blocking its use of Volt Switch. Beyond that, Magearna can also be pressured very heavily by various other Pokemon such as Necrozma-DM, Lucarionite Terrakion, and Lucarionite Zygarde, necessitating additional support from its team to properly account for these threats. It's also worth noting that the lack of reliable recovery can also hamper Magearna's ability to stay healthy throughout the course of a match; Pain Split can be taken advantage of by the foe to recover their own health, making it an unreliable move.
[SET]
name: Manectite Pivot
move 1: Fleur Cannon
move 2: Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Pain Split
item: Manectite
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Fleur Cannon enables Magearna to consistently check Pokemon such as Terrakion and Altarianite Zygarde. However, the drop in Special Attack often forces Magearna out after each use. Hidden Power Fire is mainly employed to OHKO Kartana, as well as deal damage to opposing Pinsirite Magearna without being forced to switch out. Volt Switch prevents Magearna from losing momentum too easily and enables it to safely bring its teammates in thanks to its rather low Speed tier. Pain Split enables Magearna to recover health against targets with a large HP stat such as Blissey, Primal Groudon, and Arceus-Ground. Heart Swap can be run over Hidden Power Fire if Kartana is adequately covered to better check other Pokemon that may attack it with special attacks, such as Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy and Slowbro.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature in combination with Intimidate from Manectite is important in allowing Magearna to check the likes of Kartana, Terrakion, Altarianite Zygarde, and Zeraora.
Usage Tips
========
Primal Groudon is the most prominent Pokemon in the metagame, and Magearna oftentimes loses momentum against it. When facing Primal Groudon, be sure to not use Volt Switch too liberally, as it can let up momentum very quickly. Instead, you should aim to wear it down with Fleur Cannon or directly pivot to another teammate, such as Zygarde or Arceus-Ground. While Intimidate and Magearna's great physical bulk do enable it to check a large range of physical attackers, Magearna must be cautious when switching into the likes of Terrakion and Zygarde, as both threats often carry Lucarionite, which makes them powerful enough to quickly overwhelm it. Scouting for such variants is strongly advised beforehand in order to preserve Magearna's health as much as possible. Pain Split is best used when Magearna is at a low amount of HP. Checks such as Blissey and Arceus-Ground can quickly provide it with a great amount of recovery as they attempt to switch into it, so make sure to use it on forced switches in these situations. You should be very careful of using Fleur Cannon too liberally, as Magearna becomes incredibly passive once its Special Attack is dropped. It's also worth noting that you should be careful of Substitute from Pokemon such as Zygarde, as they can force Magearna out with the Special Attack drops.
Team Options
========
Partners that can handle Primal Groudon are extremely important, as Magearna often enables it to come in freely. Therefore, Pokemon such as Mandibuzz, Primal Kyogre, Arceus-Ground, and Slowbro can be useful to pair with Magearna. Mandibuzz deserves a highlight because Magearna can aid it in checking Fairy-types and form a VoltTurn core with it. Checks to physically offensive threats such as Lucarionite Terrakion, Entei, and Ho-Oh can be important, as they can otherwise overwhelm Magearna. Notable options include Lunala, Primal Groudon, and Slowbro. Offensive partners that can take advantage of Magearna's pivoting capabilities such as Terrakion, Tapu Lele, and Kartana can also be beneficial, as Magearna can often get them into play safely multiple times throughout the match and thus aid them in wallbreaking. Special walls such as Blissey and Gyaradosite Toxapex can help Magearna handle threats such as Tapu Lele and Lunala. Arceus-Ground can also be a nuisance to Magearna, as it can switch into Fleur Cannon with ease and proceed to use Magearna as setup fodder. Teammates such as Arceus-Water, Slowbro, Ho-Oh, and Pinsirite Entei are great partners to deal with Arceus-Ground.
[SET]
name: Pinsirite
move 1: Shift Gear
move 2: Return
move 3: Substitute / Explosion
move 4: Pain Split
item: Pinsirite
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Adamant
evs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Shift Gear enables Magearna to turn into a potent setup sweeper, providing it with enough Speed after one boost to outspeed almost the entire unboosted metagame. Return is a powerful and reliable STAB move after Mega Evolving, and the metagame's lack of Pokemon that resist Flying enables Magearna to deal great amounts of damage to the majority of unboosted targets. Substitute can be a great way for Magearna to punish switch-ins such as Aggronite Mew and Primal Groudon variants lacking Fire-type moves, effectively turning them into setup fodder after Mega Evolving. This combined with Pain Split makes Magearna a major nuisance for the majority of walls in the metagame to deal with. Explosion is an alternative option that allows Magearna to immediately overwhelm many checks after the use of Shift Gear, such as Primal Groudon. It also enables Magearna to provide momentum for its teammates. Pain Split provides a semi-reliable recovery option that can let Magearna set up against the likes of Blissey and Arceus-Ground without getting worn down.
Set Details
========
140 EVs are placed into Speed for Magearna to outspeed Diancite Terrakion and anything slower after using Shift Gear once. The rest of its EVs are allocated towards Attack and HP with an Adamant nature to enhance its wallbreaking prowess and bulk. Pinsirite provides Magearna with a Flying typing and Aerilate, which allows it to overwhelm many of its typical checks such as Arceus-Ground.
Usage Tips
========
The type change that is involved with Magearna's Mega Evolution can be extremely crucial in securing a sweep in many cases. It's best to save Mega Evolving until situations where Magearna can utilize the type change to lure in its checks, such as Arceus-Ground, and catch them off guard, which will provide it with a free opportunity to set up without repercussion. Before attempting to sweep, it is important that you play patiently and try to wear down checks such as Primal Groudon into range of a +1 Return. Substitute should be used to punish switch-ins like Primal Groudon and Victini, which will need to use Overheat or V-create, respectively, in order to break it, weakening them for teammates to take advantage of. Explosion can should primarily be used in scenarios where Magearna is worn down and can cripple checks to its partners and provide momentum simultaneously. Pain Split can be used strategically to cripple common switch-ins such as Primal Groudon if Magearna has already been worn down previously.
Team Options
========
This variant of Magearna can often be placed on offensive teams due to the role compression it provides by acting as a setup sweeper that can also check threats such as Tapu Lele, Landorus, and Calm Mind Arceus-Ground. Primal Groudon pairs excellently with Magearna, providing Stealth Rock support while also checking many threats to Magearna such as Entei, Zeraora, and Manectite Magearna. Other offensive partners like Terrakion, Lunala, Tapu Lele, and Zygarde can aid Magearna in overwhelming shared checks like Primal Groudon and Slowbro. This synergy becomes especially notable when Magearna is running Explosion. Entry hazard control is very important due to Magearna's tendency to be worn down rather quickly. Therefore, partners such as Mandibuzz, Lunala, Arceus-Ground, and Sablenite users such as Slowbro can be quite effective.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Sablenite Magearna can also be used as a great special wall that can annoy status spreaders as well. However, this set does not see as much success and is quite uncommon due to it struggling to bypass common entry hazard setters such as Primal Groudon and Terrakion. Latiasite variants can also utilize both a pivot and bulky Calm Mind + Pain Split set to great success, being able to counteract checks such as Arceus-Ground, Landorus, and Mamoswine and utilize them as setup fodder after Mega Evolving. However, such sets are generally outclassed by both Manectite and Pinsirite variants of Magearna due to their ability to better handle a wide array of threats. Manectite variants can also employ a Calm Mind + Pain Split set, utilizing Fleur Cannon and Thunderbolt as their attacking moves in order to turn Magearna into a potent bulky setup sweeper. Such sets should utilize an EV spread of 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpA with a Bold nature to enable Magearna to still check Pokemon like Kartana and Terrakion.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Primal Groudon*: Primal Groudon is one of the most common and effective Magearna checks in the metagame, resisting its Fleur Cannon and preventing it from gaining momentum via Volt Switch while threatening to OHKO it in return. However, Pinsirite Magearna can effectively wear down Primal Groudon very quickly, ultimately making it hard for it to switch in frequently.
**Steel-types**: Threats such as Aggronite Mew, Necrozma-DM, and opposing Magearna can check Magearna quite well and threaten to heavily wear it down or utilize it as setup fodder. It is worth noting that Substitute + Pinsirite Magearna can utilize Aggronite Mew as setup fodder instead.
**Arceus-Ground**: Arceus-Ground can check Manectite variants of Magearna relatively well, being capable of switching into its moves at high health and forcing it to switch out. However, it is important to note that Arceus-Ground can easily be used as setup fodder for Pinsirite sets.
**Strong Wallbreakers**: Teams with strong wallbreakers such as Lucarionite Terrakion, Pinsirite Entei, and Lunala can overwhelm Magearna very quickly due to its lack of reliable recovery. However, none of them can switch into Magearna comfortably.
**Fire-types**: Ho-Oh, Entei, and Victini can all threaten to OHKO Magearna through their STAB attacks and can easily switch into Manectite Magearna, though they are constantly at risk of losing momentum to Volt Switch. Pinsirite Magearna can also overwhelm them pretty quickly, especially as they are susceptible to being worn down by Stealth Rock.
**Electric-types**: Zeraora and Zapdos can be a huge nuisance to Pinsirite variants of Magearna, switching into their Flying-type STAB attacks with ease and proceeding to check it. It is worth noting that Zeraora can easily be overwhelmed if it repeatedly switches into Return due to its lack of recovery, though.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Funbot28, 255984], [Jordy, 395754]]
- Quality checked by: [[Quantum Tesseract, 297239 ], [In The Hills, 324242 ], [Chazm, 376369]]
- Grammar checked by: [[The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216], [Rabia, 336073]]
Last edited:
