Pokémon Magearna

[Jukain]

Magearna | #801

Type: Steel / Fairy
Base Stats: 80 HP / 95 Atk / 115 Def / 130 SpA / 115 SpD / 65 Spe

Ability: Soul-Heart | This Pokemon's Sp. Atk is raised by 1 stage when another Pokemon faints.

Level-Up Movepool
Lv1 - Crafty Shield
Lv1 - Gear Up
Lv1 - Shift Gear
Lv1 - Iron Head
Lv1 - Helping Hand
Lv1 - Sonic Boom
Lv1 - Defense Curl
Lv1 - Psybeam
Lv9 - Lucky Chant
Lv17 - Aurora Beam
Lv25 - Mirror Shot
Lv33 - Mind Reader
Lv41 - Flash Cannon
Lv49 - Fleur Cannon
Lv57 - Iron Defense
Lv65 - Pain Split
Lv73 - Synchronoise
Lv81 - Aura Sphere
Lv89 - Heart Swap
Lv97 - Trump Card

TMs
TM04 - Calm Mind
TM10 - Hidden Power
TM13 - Ice Beam
TM15 - Hyper Beam
TM16 - Light Screen
TM17 - Protect
TM21 - Frustration
TM22 - Solar Beam
TM24 - Thunderbolt
TM27 - Return
TM30 - Shadow Ball
TM31 - Brick Break
TM32 - Double Team
TM33 - Reflect
TM48 - Round
TM49 - Echoed Voice
TM52 - Focus Blast
TM53 - Energy Ball
TM54 - False Swipe
TM57 - Charge Beam
TM63 - Embargo
TM64 - Explosion
TM68 - Giga Impact
TM72 - Volt Switch
TM73 - Thunder Wave
TM74 - Gyro Ball
TM86 - Grass Knot
TM87 - Swagger
TM90 - Substitute
TM91 - Flash Cannon
TM92 - Trick Room
TM99 - Dazzling Gleam
TM100 - Confide

ANALYSIS

Magearna just based on stats and typing on alone is pretty incredible. 80/115/115 defenses make Magearna pretty bulky, and Steel/Fairy is an incredible defensive typing. You get a defensive Fairy-type that is immune to Poison and neutral to Steel. You get a defensive Steel-type that is neutral to Fighting. Combined, Steel/Fairy has 9 resistances and 2 immunities with only 2 weaknesses. 130 SpA is also nothing to sneeze at; Magearna is strong. With a 130 BP Fairy STAB in Fleur Cannon and Flash Cannon for a Steel STAB with Aura Sphere, Magearna certainly isn't lacking for movepool options. It even gets Shadow Ball to cover Aegi or Volt Switch to pivot out. Shift Gear and Calm Mind are other notable movepool options, though not necessarily that effective.

POTENTIAL SET

Choice Specs
Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Ball / HP Fire
- Flash Cannon

alt. option: Volt Switch

Specs is pretty much the logical go-to for Magearna. You have a strong STAB in Fleur Cannon that nukes everything...strong Fairy STABs are in low supply, just look at what MGard Hyper Voice does in ORAS to see how nice that is. The SpA drop bit is helped by Soul-Heart, which is pretty nice. Aura Sphere is for Ferro and Heatran, as well as a couple other assorted, slightly less relevant Pokemon. Shadow Ball covers Aegi, which is definitely important because otherwise Magearna loses to Aegi, and Megagross. HP Fire serves as an acceptable replacement for Shadow Ball for KOs on Genesect and Scizor as well as an OHKO on Ferrothorn, while retaining a chance to 2HKO Aegi and taking about 3/4 of Megagross's health. Flash Cannon is the all-important reliable STAB option for a Specs user, giving Magearna an option that it can actually use multiple times in a row and abuse Soul-Heart boosts with.

PERSONAL OPINION

Magearna feels very good thus far. Its typing and bulk give it many opportunities to come in and wreak havoc with its powerful attacks. There's some awkwardness with Aegi and Dugtrio, though Magearna does have options against them, in addition to the limitations that come up with a poor Speed tier. Defensive teams can handle Magearna, but anything more offensive struggles with the fact that Magearna can utilize many Pokemon as potential setup fodder. I like that Magearna helps with things like Latios and Tapu Lele/Bulu while being such a strong Pokemon. I think Magearna is definitely an upper echelon OU Pokemon due to its strong combination of effective offensive and defensive qualities. The combination of being walled by Toxapex and a mild weakness to Aegi/Dug is pretty significant, but Magearna can surely succeed despite these factors.

 

[Swagodile]

Shadow Ball doesn't really hit anything relevant, does it? I'd just swap it for Volt Switch s that Magearna can function as a pivot.

 

[MattL]

He mentioned that Shadow Ball hits Aegi (also hits Jirachi since HP fire doesn't do much to spdef) but once Aegi goes then Volt Switch should probably be a main slot.

I also don't think you should run max HP. Think of it like Specs Magnezone - there are so many crucial speed tiers to hit with just a few dozen EVs, and although Magearna is obviously able to switch into so much more than Magnezone, it's still way more important to hit speed benchmarks.

 

[Subject 18]

I think the other sets that should be mentioned are Trick Room and Shift Gear as the more notable ones. I've seen include Trick Room and Shift Gear which seem to be kind of cool and seemed to work fairly well when played right. I know of one person that is using Corkscrew Crash (160 BP) on a Shift Gear set and that is legit terrifying. However, even at +2 it 502 Speed with Timid which is enough to outspeed everything up to Scarf Garchomp.

This is the Trick Room set someone gave me.

Magearna @ Life Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Trick Room
- Focus Blast

The Shift Gear set that I've run to good success was:

Magearna @ Steelium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shift Gear
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Thunderbolt

 

[Aurinko]

Magearna @ Fairium-Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Explosion
- Shift Gear

Does a great job at cleaning, since the kill from Fairium-Z boosts your SpAtk, making your Fleur Cannon stronger, which also kills probably and nets you another Fleur Cannon coming from +0 SpAkt. Then, boom.

More details in the Z moves thread.

 

[bludz]

I think the other sets that should be mentioned are Trick Room and Shift Gear as the more notable ones. I've seen include Trick Room and Shift Gear which seem to be kind of cool and seemed to work fairly well when played right. I know of one person that is using Corkscrew Crash (160 BP) on a Shift Gear set and that is legit terrifying. However, even at +2 it 502 Speed with Timid which is enough to outspeed everything up to Scarf Garchomp.

This is the Trick Room set someone gave me.

Magearna @ Life Orb
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Trick Room
- Focus Blast

The Shift Gear set that I've run to good success was:

Magearna @ Steelium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shift Gear
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Thunderbolt

I've been running a Shift Gear set as well and I think it's really powerful honestly. I've been running Fleur Cannon > Aura Sphere and LO > Steelium Z. I think the variant I've been using really appreciates trapping support, from Dugtrio (to remove Heatran and the like) or from Mag to get rid of mons like Scizor, but with LO Tbolt it can do big damage to Toxapex which is nice.

Soul-Heart makes Fleur Cannon not too bad because if you get one kill without it, you can use it for the next KO and be back to normal. I think there's more to be explored and I'm interested to try out these sets as well.

 

[Kierany9]

This thing is an absolute monster in Doubles, it has a great defensive typing, great bulk and an ability that is good in singles but absolutely retarded when there are twice as many Pokemon on both sides fainting.

 

[KingKdot]

I've been running a Shift Gear set as well and I think it's really powerful honestly. I've been running Fleur Cannon > Aura Sphere and LO > Steelium Z. I think the variant I've been using really appreciates trapping support, from Dugtrio (to remove Heatran and the like) or from Mag to get rid of mons like Scizor, but with LO Tbolt it can do big damage to Toxapex which is nice.

Soul-Heart makes Fleur Cannon not too bad because if you get one kill without it, you can use it for the next KO and be back to normal. I think there's more to be explored and I'm interested to try out these sets as well.

I agree with this, I decided to switch aura sphere to fleur cannon. I'm still running the set with steelium z over LO for the added longevity. Fleur cannon is needed vs stall so you don't get walled by Quag.

 

[pubby]

Air balloon is extremely good on the shift gear set because it allows you to set up on Landorus, Garchomp, and Dugtrio. Bring this baby out mid to late game and you'll have no trouble sweeping.

Magearna @ Air Balloon
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 16 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon

 

[Kutscher]

what does z-shift gear?

 

[Fuzzysqurl]

what does z-shift gear?

removes the debuffed stats.

 

[Bombkirby]

Aura Sphere from my testing turned out to be one of my least used moves. It's mostly used to kill opposing steel types but the popular steel types like Scizor, Gross, Magearna, half resist fighting anyways. And dark types just get Fleur Cannoned anyways. Might try ice beam or hp fire or t bolt.

 

[bobma99]

Same idea as the other sweep sets:

Magearna-Original @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aura Sphere
- Fleur Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Shift Gear

I feel Bisharp pairs pretty well. Been pairing it with bish and phero, Phero lures in the typical checks to Magearna like Aegi/Alo Maro/Celesteela and bish can weaken them along with whatever general special walls like chansey.
Fairy-z fleur cannon is stupid strong, and while it sometimes sucks to not have a strong neutral stab while sweeping, it lets you pick a nuke to get the ball rolling.
Just to get an idea, it ohkos 252/0 lando-t unboosted, around half to mega metagross, and 34-40 to 252/0 shield aegi
I have no idea what I'm doing with the coverage tbh, mainly looking at what's been annoying so far. Tbolt for pex/celesteela and aura sphere mainly for ferro/driller. Ice beam and Shadow Ball both potentially useful and the extra power from focus blast might be good 70% of the time. Definitely a lot of potential though, eats all sorts of hits and sets up everywhere and can only get better if things like aegi get banned.

 

[Agile Turtle]

Magearna has some nice coverage options and on different teams, the moves I use are never consistent. It has Fairy/Steel/Fighting/Ghost/Electric/Ice and you can pick you coverage based on what your team needs. I always use a shift gear set but the coverage differs. Sometimes I'll just do Shift Gear+Double STABs+Shadow Ball because Aegislash is a nuissance, or if my team is a bit flying weak I'll opt for BoltBeam coverage + one STAB to handle flying types very well. A Z-move is a nice touch to muscle past some bulky mons that you can't hit hard enough with your chosen coverage.

 

[TheNegativeOne]

Magearna is such a great mon. It has a fantastic type and hits like a truck even when you don't invest. Ice types, Dark types, Flying types, Grass types, Rock types, Magearna doesn't give a shit. (Weavile, Bisharp, Pinsir-M, Gyarados(Mega), Serperior, Gengar, Aegislash, Pheromosa, Hydreigon, Kartana, Magnezone, Tyranitar, Buzzwole not packing EQ, Hoopa Unbound, Tapu Koko, Scizor-M, Greninja, and the list goes on, but of course PhysDef checks some of these better than the set below)

Here's a set I customized myself
Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- HP Ground / Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

HP Ground and Focus Blast really comes down to preference. I like HP Ground because it lets you smack Heatran, Magnezone, Aegis when it's in Blade form, and Tapu Koko. This set is amazing for switching in and tanking special hits and also avoids the 2HKO from neutral Specs Hoopa-U's Focus Blast w/o rocks and has a 25% chance to 2HKO after rocks, meanwhile you're guaranteed an OHKO from Fleur Cannon after rocks and even w/o rocks you have an almost 60% chance to kill. Also note that this set doesn't give a damn about Greninja and avoids the 2HKO from HP Fire and Hydro Pump even with rocks up. (That's another reason I love HP Ground. It hits HP Fire Greninja)

Calcs

252 SpA Choice Specs Hoopa-Unbound Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 163-192 (44.7 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 109-129 (29.9 - 35.4%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 151-179 (41.4 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Heatran Lava Plume vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 150-176 (41.2 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 117-138 (32.1 - 37.9%) -- 34% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 165-195 (45.3 - 53.5%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Serperior Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 161-192 (44.2 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (Keep in mind Serp doesn't run LO as much anymore btw, and Lefties does SO much less)

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Magearna: 157-187 (43.1 - 51.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

I could go on but you get the point. This thing is FAT.

 

[guustavooo]

Wait,

Doesn't Shift Gear raises ATK while we're all using Special Attacks? Something I'm missing?

 

[tegrof19]

it's for the speed boost

 

[Full_Korbe]

I wonder how Iron Head would be viable to punish some classic checks, but I don't even know what kind of mons fear a +1 Iron Head from a 90Atk without investment.

 

[Agile Turtle]

You could use a physical shift gear set if you wanted, but magearna has a much better special movepool and its ability raises its special attack.

 

[Prinz]

shift gear is rly cool atm and it can sweep teams with ease thanks to its great typing and natural bulk, i really don't like choice specs tho cus of its not great speed and because choiced volt switches are very punishable altho it ofc hits p hard. i find av great @ checking tapu lele and other stuff and it's p flexible

 

[Bombkirby]

shift gear is rly cool atm and it can sweep teams with ease thanks to its great typing and natural bulk, i really don't like choice specs tho cus of its not great speed and because choiced volt switches are very punishable altho it ofc hits p hard. i find av great @ checking tapu lele and other stuff and it's p flexible

Slow volt switches are good. It's speed is perfect for this.

 

[Morningstar]

Shift Gear is an example of a move with decent synergy but would not be used to its full potential, its worth using but it suits other mobs (read: psychical attackers) better. Kinda makes me wonder if there was ever a move that converts one stat boost into another stat boost (in this case Atk to SpA). Or a counterpart that boost SpA and Speed is added to their movepools.

either of those moves with Soul Heart might make Magearna more powerful as a setup sweeper. Unless you force them to switch out with a ground-type and waste the stat boosts but that would rely on outspeeding them or surviving the boosted attacks.

All that said it does give me ideas for moves Game Freak might add in the future.

 

[Count Bleck]

I suppose Shadow Ball can also be used on the ever common Alola Marowak running about; without it Marowak switches in on anything Magearna has quite easily.

 

[Bombkirby]

Shift Gear is an example of a move with decent synergy but would not be used to its full potential, its worth using but it suits other mobs (read: psychical attackers) better. Kinda makes me wonder if there was ever a move that converts one stat boost into another stat boost (in this case Atk to SpA). Or a counterpart that boost SpA and Speed is added to their movepools.

either of those moves with Soul Heart might make Magearna more powerful as a setup sweeper. Unless you force them to switch out with a ground-type and waste the stat boosts but that would rely on outspeeding them or surviving the boosted attacks.

All that said it does give me ideas for moves Game Freak might add in the future.

You can always go mixed. I tried it with decent success. The SpA decrease from Fleur Cannon isn't a big deal when you can Iron Head the enemy and get your SpA back every time you kill an enemy. There's other set up sweepers you could use though.

 

[Prinz]

Slow volt switch/u-turn are good ofc (see landorus-t, rotom-w), but volt switch can be punished even more than u-turn (grounds, marowak) thus it extremely relies on predictions.

Specs can be good but its a bit overrated, while av gives more utility and shift gear makes magearna a good late game sweeper

Def an overall good mon though