[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Fleur Cannon
move 2: Volt Switch
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Specs
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Choice Specs, along with high Special Attack, makes Magearna a strong offensive wallbreaker capable of breaking past many defensive Pokemon. Great defensive typing and natural bulk makes up for its rather low speed tier and gives it multiple opportunities to strike. Volt Switch allows Magearna to pivot around on Pokemon that can switch in such as Heatran, Mega Scizor, and Toxapex and generate momentum for teammates. Focus Blast gives Magearna a way of hitting troubling Steel-type Pokemon like Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Excadrill, as well as Blissey. Trick cripples switch-ins such as Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Specially Defensive Heatran.
Mega Lopunny and Landorus-T serve as great partners to benefit from Magearna's Volt Switch on Pokemon like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Blissey as they can come in using this switch and keep up momentum for the battle. Zapdos, Tangrowth, and Slowbro are also great Pokemon to support Magearna's weaknesses to Fire- and Ground-type attacks. Slowbro provides Magearna Future Sight support and can pivot out using Teleport on Pokemon that would try to come in on it such as Hydreigon, Greninja, and Tapu Lele, which are threats Magearna can take advantage of. Slowking can also be used to fill some of Slowbro's uses and additionally provide a better switch for Heatran and Tapu Lele, at the cost of worse matchups against physical Ground-types and Cinderace. Magearna can also benefit from offensive partners like Cinderace, Garchomp, and Mega Medicham. Cinderace using U-turn alongside Magearna's Volt Switch gives a great pivoting core that can apply great pressure to teams. Garchomp and Mega Medicham also appreciate Magearna using Volt Switch on Pokemon like Blissey, Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Toxapex so they can get a free switch-in to attack accordingly. Chipping Steel-types in Ferrothorn and Heatran lets Magearna give a pathway for Tapu Lele, Mega Latias, and Clefable. Magearna being a team's Steel-type would need more defensive backbone from teammates to handle the Pokemon mentioned before. Dark-types like Mega Tyranitar, who only fears Fighting-type attacks, and Alolan Muk can switch into any psychic move from the former two and trap with Pursuit. Clefable and Tapu Lele also don't like offensive pressure of Poison-type attacks from Cinderace and Alolan Muk. Magearna also greatly appreciates Stealth Rock and Spikes that can allow it to pressure defensive pokemon like Toxapex, Heatran, and Ferrothorn easily.
[SET]
name: Kiss Power
move 1: Draining Kiss
move 2: Stored Power
move 3: Calm Mind
move 4: Shift Gear
item: Weakness Policy
ability: Soul-Heart
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 24 SpA / 180 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Kiss Power Magearna plays the role of an offensive sweeper that mainly fits on hyper offensive teams, making use of the numerous methods available to boost its stats to quickly snowball with Stored Power. Shift Gear allows Magearna to outspeed and KO threats such as Cinderace, Landorus-T, Mega Lopunny, and Garchomp. Calm Mind lets Magearna take hits more comfortably on the special side from Pokemon like Ash-Greninja, Heatran, and Magnezone. With Special Attack boosts from Weakness Policy, Calm Mind, and Soul-Heart, Magearna can damage switch-ins like Toxapex, Moltres, and Ferrothorn severely and break past them to sweep. Weakness Policy uses Magearna's excellent bulk to its advantage, by turning strong super effective attacks into fodder for more stat boosts. 252 HP EVs and 52 Defense EVs allows Magearna to live a Pyro Ball from Cinderace and an Earthquake from Landorus-T at full Health. 180 Speed EVs with a Timid nature allows Magearna to outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T after a Shift Gear while 24 Special Attack EVs allows it to get the most out of its Special Attack.
Teammates like Mega Gyarados and Rillaboom appreciate Magearna for weakening bulkier Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Toxapex. Cinderace and Mega Aerodactyl also benefit greatly from the pressure applied to Ground-type Pokemon and can also pressure Steel-type Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Excadrill. Pokemon like Landorus-T and Gyarados serve as great switch-ins to physical Fire-types and Ground-types that can typically threaten Magearna. Magearna also appreciates teammates like Tapu Koko, Mega Garchomp, and Rillaboom to help pressure Ground-types like Landorus-T and Garchomp and the former two pressuring Fire-types like Cinderace, Mega Charizard X, and Mega Charizard Y. Magearna can also appreciate Pokemon like Mew and Landorus-T supporting it with hazards to chip things down like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor and give Magearna an easier time in sweeping.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Magearna can also run use Flash Cannon as a substitute for Focus Blast to have constant damage against the likes of Calm Mind Clefable, Mega Venusaur, and Amoonguss. Hidden Power Fire can also be used in this slot to hit switch-ins like Shedinja, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor. However, in losing Focus Blast, Steel-types can be a more reliable switch-in and cause Magearna problems during the battle. On Kiss Power sets, Magearna has the option of running Focus Blast over Draining Kiss as a way of hitting troubling Steel-types that can prevent Magearna from sweeping like Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Excadrill at the cost of longevity. Magearna has the option of running Iron Defense over Shift Gear on Kiss Power sets to take Physical hits better from the likes of Cinderace and Landorus-T, giving it more ample opportunities to activate Weakness Policy with more HP leftover. However, forgoing Shift Gear can be detrimental at times, as Magearna lacks great speed and still at risk of being critically hit by faster Pokemon before all setup is achieved. Magearna can run a Shift Gear set alongside Fleur Cannon, Focus Blast, and Thunderbolt with a Z-Crystal, Leftovers, or Shuca Berry, but this set is outclassed by Kiss Power variants. Assault Vest Magearna is great at sponging hits and generating momentum using Volt Switch, but it can be passive and it tends to get chipped down too quickly through hazards to be worth using over other similar options such as Blissey.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Steel-type Pokemon do a great job of taking hits from Magearna's moves. Ferrothorn can chip it down using Body Press, Gyro Ball, or Leech Seed and paralyze it for other Pokemon to revenge it. Heatran also takes hits from Magearna and can threaten back with Magma Storm or Earth Power and damage it significantly. However, they must look out for Focus Blast. Mega Scizor can shut down Kiss Power Magearna completely but has a bad matchup against Choice Specs.
**Toxapex**: Toxapex can take hits from Magearna decently and shut down Kiss Power sets using Haze and resists Fleur Cannon. However, repetitive Volt Switches and Trick from Choice Specs variants or Thunderbolt with Electrium Z on Shift Gear sets can be very difficult to deal with.
**Fire-types**: Cinderace and Mega Charizard Y can keep up the pressure against Magearna and prevent it from making progress in battles. Cinderace being able to take most hits from Magearna and using Pyro Ball in return, only fearing a boosted Z-Move from Magearna and doesn't like taking multiple hits from Choice Specs Magearna. Victini and Moltres can also take on Kiss Power sets rather well, with Victini being able to switch in comfortably and use V-Create while Moltres can limit Magearna with Mythical Fire.
**Ground-types**: Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Excadrill can pressure Magearna and limit it from functioning in a battle. They are all capable of outspeeding unboosted Magearna and pressuring it with Earthquake. Excadrill can also handle a hit from Kiss Power sets.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Aurodian, 483087]]
- Quality checked by: [[Solaros & Lunaris, 471780], [faded love, 241308]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]
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