erisia
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[Overview]
<p>Magmortar is undeniably one of the greatest offensive threats in the NU metagame, with an incredible base 125 Special Attack stat and an outstanding array of coverage options. Only a select few can repeatedly take Magmortar's attacks, with many being hit super effectively by a coverage move or simply being roasted outright by Fire Blast. Furthermore, previous checks such as Lanturn are no longer available in the NU tier to stop it, making it even more of a destructive force. Magmortar also retains its versatility from the previous generation, functioning well as either a wallbreaker with a Life Orb or Choice Specs, or a potent revenge killer with a Choice Scarf. However, whilst Magmortar is pretty fast with a respectable base 83 Speed stat, it unfortunately falls just short of many of the tier's common revenge killers, such as Sawk and Rotom-S, making it difficult for it to sweep outright until these threats are removed. Whilst the addition of Flame Charge to Magmortar's movepool can help it get around these revenge killers, it forces Magmortar to sacrifice coverage, letting it be walled more easily by conventional counters. Nevertheless, Magmortar is extremely potent and places the opponent under pressure to deal with it quickly, or risk being destroyed by its arsenal of attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Timid
evs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With its incredible Special Attack stat, outstanding super effective coverage, and the ability to switch between its attacks at will, Magmortar can be incredibly hard to wall; almost any defensive Pokemon in the NU tier can be dealt with using the appropriate coverage move. Fire Blast is Magmortar's default STAB attack, dealing massive damage to almost anything that doesn't resist it and having enough power to OHKO most offensive switch-ins outright. Thunderbolt is a somewhat unique option amongst Fire-types and lets Magmortar 2HKO many of the remaining Water-typed Pokemon in the tier with ease, such as Alomomola and Wartortle, often OHKOing them if they try to take a Fire Blast beforehand. Focus Blast gives Magmortar a solid option against Rock-types such as Regirock and Gigalith, who could otherwise threaten it with a super effective Stone Edge, whilst Hidden Power can be used to hit specific niche threats. Water / Ground-types such as Quagsire are dealt with by Hidden Power Grass, while Hidden Power Ice hits Altaria —who would otherwise be able to force Magmortar out —for massive damage. All in all, there are very few Pokemon who are able to stand up to this combination of attacks, especially when they are coming from Magmortar's massive Special Attack stat.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread and a Timid nature lets Magmortar outspeed all Pokemon with Base 80 Speed or below, such as Altaria and Braviary, and by extension most of NU's defensive Pokemon, with Special Attack being maximized and the rest being poured into Magmortar's HP stat for extra bulk. While a Modest nature can be used to further augment Magmortar's power, it doesn't make a lot of difference against most targets and can result in Magmortar being outsped by a larger variety of offensive Pokemon, reducing its utility overall. A Life Orb is used as the default item, as it gives Magmortar the power it needs to ensure 2HKOs against defensive targets and OHKOs against offensive ones, whilst letting Magmortar switch attacks freely as the situation requires. Choice Specs can be used instead to provide even more power and prevent Magmortar from killing itself with recoil damage, but it appreciates the versatility more in most scenarios. Thus, using an Expert Belt is often the better choice if you want to avoid recoil, or alternatively, to bait the opponent and hit them with a super effective coverage move when they least suspect it.</p>
<p>Magmortar can also use a physical attack instead of Hidden Power to deal with a specific threat, provided you divert the HP EVs into Attack and use a nature that doesn't hinder Magmortar's Attack stat. Earthquake is by far the best in this tier, hitting the specially defensive Fire-types that can usually deal with Magmortar (such as Camerupt and Flareon) extremely hard, 2HKOing them without entry hazard support. It also OHKOes opposing Magmortar after Stealth Rock, Spikes or a round of Life Orb recoil, which will cut their sweep short. Cross Chop is also available to hit specially defensive Normal-type Pokemon such as Lickilicky, but isn't as effective in this tier because many of them also have respectable physical Defense, unlike Blissey in OU and to an extent, Munchlax in RU. If you can put up with the extra residual damage or can give Magmortar Wish or Leech Seed support, Substitute is also a great option to use instead of one of Magmortar's coverage moves. Whilst it somewhat reduces Magmortar's coverage, Magmortar can force switches easily and set one up with ease, preventing it from being revenge killed as easily and forcing the opponent to take a powerful hit while Magmortar remains relatively safe.</p>
<p>Since Magmortar can only use four attacks at once, it may be worth using team-mates to fill in the gaps in its coverage. For instance, use a Grass-type Pokemon such as Exeggutor to deal with Quagsire if you lack Hidden Power Grass, or use Lapras to deal with Fire types if you lack Earthquake (in addition to Altaria) Magmortar also really appreciates Rapid Spin support because it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards, and it also takes a lot of residual damage from its Life Orb; without Rapid Spin support this residual damage could eventually overwhelm Magmortar during the endgame.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Timid
evs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With a Choice Scarf, Magmortar outspeeds almost all unboosted Pokemon, as well as many other Choice Scarf users and stat boosters, such as Dragon Dance Altaria and Modest Shell Smash Gorebyss, which lets it revenge kill them easily. In this case, Magmortar shifts team roles entirely, turning from a powerful wallbreaker into an insurance against other sweepers. With Magmortar's plethora of attacking options, almost any offensive Pokemon can either be hit hard by Fire Blast or hit super effectively by a coverage move, making Choice Scarf Magmortar a universal threat to offensive playstyles. In this case, Hidden Power Ice is more valuable than Hidden Power Grass because Magmortar isn't attempting to wallbreak, and prefers revenge killing Altaria to beating Quagsire. Other than that small change, Magmortar retains all of its normal offensive options, and loses little functionality other than the ability to switch moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Overheat can be used as an alternative STAB option over Fire Blast to compensate for the lack of a power-boosting item, and the stat-dropping side effect is less noticeable on this set because Magmortar will often switch out after attacking anyway. However, Fire Blast is arguably more useful late-game, as it can allow Magmortar to single-handedly sweep through an offensive team once its counters and faster Choice Scarf users are removed. Likewise, Magmortar can afford to use a Modest nature on this set as it still gets away with outspeeding Pokemon such as Swellow, although it misses out on faster Choice Scarf users. While Earthquake can also be used on this set instead of Hidden Power, it becomes less effective without a boosting item, and it's generally inadvisable when so many Pokemon can switch into it and begin setting up. Since Magmortar will often be throwing about Fire Blasts in response to offensive threats, it's a good idea to pack a response to Flash Fire users (such as Flareon) and other bulky responses (such as Altaria) somewhere in your team, such as Quagsire and Gigalith respectively. This set in particular also requires Rapid Spin support, as it will be switching in and out constantly to deal with the opponent's offensive pokemon as they appear. If the opponent has used Stealth Rock, Magmortar can only come in a maximum of five times, meaning it can be eventually be stalled out if the opponent predicts correctly.</p>
[SET]
name: Flame Charge
move 1: Flame Charge
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Naive / Hasty
EVs: 24 Atk / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Flame Charge is one of the only additions to Magmortar's movepool in the newest generation, and combines the raw power of the wallbreaker set with the speed of the Choice Scarf one, which allows Magmortar to potentially sweep through unprepared teams. Whilst Flame Charge is primarily used to boost Magmortar's Speed stat, it is also a reasonably useful attack in its own right, breaking the Focus Sash of leads and Pokemon with Magic Guard as well as preventing Sturdy users such as Sawk from impeding its progress. In addition, it still has enough power to OHKO even defensive Jynx and Cryogonal, and 2HKO opponents such as Cacturne, Pinsir, Haunter, and Kadabra. As usual, Fire Blast and Thunderbolt are present, to generally destroy things and break through bulky Water-type Pokemon, respectively. Earthquake is the coverage option of choice here as it lets Magmortar get past opposing Magmortar, as well as Camerupt and Flareon, more easily. Hidden Power Ice is also good because it allows Magmortar to KO offensive Altaria, whilst Hidden Power Grass is less useful because Quagsire is hardly going to sweep your team as long as you pack a Grass-type move on something else. Once Magmortar has the boost from Flame Charge, and its specific counters have been dealt with, it can be extremely difficult to stop this offensive juggernaut.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>While a Naive nature is used to reduce Magmortar's vulnerability to priority moves, Sucker Punches from Pokemon such as Absol and Cacturne will often OHKO regardless due to Life Orb recoil, so a Hasty nature can be used instead to let Magmortar come in on special attacks more easily, thanks to its respectable 75 / 95 defenses. Magmortar can use other niche moves in the fourth moveslot to deal with specific threats, with Focus Blast being an option if you're seriously scared of Regirock and Thick Fat Miltank. Hidden Power Water also guarantees the OHKO on physically defensive Camerupt, but hits nothing else. As Magmortar is boosting its Speed stat, you can also shift EVs into HP and Defense instead to allow Magmortar to tank resisted hits and priority attacks better, and thus get more boosts, but this could potentially leave Magmortar a sitting duck against offensive teams if it fails to get those boosts initially. As Magmortar's coverage is not as extensive as usual with this set, it is important to provide solid responses to the threats that can now withstand his attacks. Exeggutor deals with physically defensive Rock-types such as Gigalith with ease, in addition to Quagsire. Rapid Spin support remains as important as ever since Magmortar will be losing health to Stealth Rock, Spikes and Life Orb recoil throughout the match, and this can limit the number of times Magmortar can attempt to set up significantly.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Vital Spirit is the default ability, as it lets Magmortar come in against Sleep inducers such as Jynx and Tangela much more reliably, making it a more effective offensive Pokemon. However, Flame Body is also pretty useful for punishing physical attackers that try to to abuse Magmortar's low Defense stat, and is also good at neutering priority attackers such as Absol and Cacturne. Be aware that Earthquake and Stone Edge don't trigger Flame Body, however, making it somewhat difficult to activate in this metagame. Whilst Magmortar could run a SubPunch set like it does in other tiers, this largely isn't necessary in NU as Focus Punch's key targets are absent from the tier, making Focus Blast a superior option. Mach Punch gives Magmortar some (albeit weak) priority for finishing off Sturdy Pokemon, whilst Taunt puts the walls that Magmortar can't beat into uncomfortable positions. Belly Drum is also available, and can be interesting when combined with Flame Charge, but it can be seriously hard to abuse due to the proliferation of Sucker Punch users. Stealth Rock support lets Magmortar beat opposing Fire-types more comfortably, while sun support turns Magmortar into a nuke capable of leveling even the most defensive walls, with a combination of Fire Blast / SolarBeam / Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Magmortar's counters largely depend on what coverage move it is not running. If it lacks Hidden Power Grass, specially defensive Quagsire can set up on it reliably, whilst Altaria can do the same if Magmortar lacks Hidden Power Ice. Specially defensive Fire-types such as Lampent, Camerupt, and Flareon, also beat Magmortar if it lacks Earthquake, although repeated Focus Blasts can wear them down if you lack other options. However, it's often much easier to revenge kill Magmortar than it is to wall it, with powerful Pokemon such as Sawk and Swellow being able to force Magmortar out once they get a free switch in. Likewise, Sucker Punch users, such as Cacturne, Absol, and Skuntank, can capitalize on Magmortar's low physical Defense and force it out, even if it manages to accrue Speed boosts with Flame Charge. Whilst few can switch into Magmortar's moves directly, many are able to threaten it once it scores a kill, which lets the opponent seize momentum and potentially gain an advantage.</p>
[Overview]
<p>Magmortar is undeniably one of the greatest offensive threats in the NU metagame, with an incredible base 125 Special Attack stat and an outstanding array of coverage options. Only a select few can repeatedly take Magmortar's attacks, with many being hit super effectively by a coverage move or simply being roasted outright by Fire Blast. Furthermore, previous checks such as Lanturn are no longer available in the NU tier to stop it, making it even more of a destructive force. Magmortar also retains its versatility from the previous generation, functioning well as either a wallbreaker with a Life Orb or Choice Specs, or a potent revenge killer with a Choice Scarf. However, whilst Magmortar is pretty fast with a respectable base 83 Speed stat, it unfortunately falls just short of many of the tier's common revenge killers, such as Sawk and Rotom-S, making it difficult for it to sweep outright until these threats are removed. Whilst the addition of Flame Charge to Magmortar's movepool can help it get around these revenge killers, it forces Magmortar to sacrifice coverage, letting it be walled more easily by conventional counters. Nevertheless, Magmortar is extremely potent and places the opponent under pressure to deal with it quickly, or risk being destroyed by its arsenal of attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Timid
evs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With its incredible Special Attack stat, outstanding super effective coverage, and the ability to switch between its attacks at will, Magmortar can be incredibly hard to wall; almost any defensive Pokemon in the NU tier can be dealt with using the appropriate coverage move. Fire Blast is Magmortar's default STAB attack, dealing massive damage to almost anything that doesn't resist it and having enough power to OHKO most offensive switch-ins outright. Thunderbolt is a somewhat unique option amongst Fire-types and lets Magmortar 2HKO many of the remaining Water-typed Pokemon in the tier with ease, such as Alomomola and Wartortle, often OHKOing them if they try to take a Fire Blast beforehand. Focus Blast gives Magmortar a solid option against Rock-types such as Regirock and Gigalith, who could otherwise threaten it with a super effective Stone Edge, whilst Hidden Power can be used to hit specific niche threats. Water / Ground-types such as Quagsire are dealt with by Hidden Power Grass, while Hidden Power Ice hits Altaria —who would otherwise be able to force Magmortar out —for massive damage. All in all, there are very few Pokemon who are able to stand up to this combination of attacks, especially when they are coming from Magmortar's massive Special Attack stat.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread and a Timid nature lets Magmortar outspeed all Pokemon with Base 80 Speed or below, such as Altaria and Braviary, and by extension most of NU's defensive Pokemon, with Special Attack being maximized and the rest being poured into Magmortar's HP stat for extra bulk. While a Modest nature can be used to further augment Magmortar's power, it doesn't make a lot of difference against most targets and can result in Magmortar being outsped by a larger variety of offensive Pokemon, reducing its utility overall. A Life Orb is used as the default item, as it gives Magmortar the power it needs to ensure 2HKOs against defensive targets and OHKOs against offensive ones, whilst letting Magmortar switch attacks freely as the situation requires. Choice Specs can be used instead to provide even more power and prevent Magmortar from killing itself with recoil damage, but it appreciates the versatility more in most scenarios. Thus, using an Expert Belt is often the better choice if you want to avoid recoil, or alternatively, to bait the opponent and hit them with a super effective coverage move when they least suspect it.</p>
<p>Magmortar can also use a physical attack instead of Hidden Power to deal with a specific threat, provided you divert the HP EVs into Attack and use a nature that doesn't hinder Magmortar's Attack stat. Earthquake is by far the best in this tier, hitting the specially defensive Fire-types that can usually deal with Magmortar (such as Camerupt and Flareon) extremely hard, 2HKOing them without entry hazard support. It also OHKOes opposing Magmortar after Stealth Rock, Spikes or a round of Life Orb recoil, which will cut their sweep short. Cross Chop is also available to hit specially defensive Normal-type Pokemon such as Lickilicky, but isn't as effective in this tier because many of them also have respectable physical Defense, unlike Blissey in OU and to an extent, Munchlax in RU. If you can put up with the extra residual damage or can give Magmortar Wish or Leech Seed support, Substitute is also a great option to use instead of one of Magmortar's coverage moves. Whilst it somewhat reduces Magmortar's coverage, Magmortar can force switches easily and set one up with ease, preventing it from being revenge killed as easily and forcing the opponent to take a powerful hit while Magmortar remains relatively safe.</p>
<p>Since Magmortar can only use four attacks at once, it may be worth using team-mates to fill in the gaps in its coverage. For instance, use a Grass-type Pokemon such as Exeggutor to deal with Quagsire if you lack Hidden Power Grass, or use Lapras to deal with Fire types if you lack Earthquake (in addition to Altaria) Magmortar also really appreciates Rapid Spin support because it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards, and it also takes a lot of residual damage from its Life Orb; without Rapid Spin support this residual damage could eventually overwhelm Magmortar during the endgame.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Grass
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Timid
evs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With a Choice Scarf, Magmortar outspeeds almost all unboosted Pokemon, as well as many other Choice Scarf users and stat boosters, such as Dragon Dance Altaria and Modest Shell Smash Gorebyss, which lets it revenge kill them easily. In this case, Magmortar shifts team roles entirely, turning from a powerful wallbreaker into an insurance against other sweepers. With Magmortar's plethora of attacking options, almost any offensive Pokemon can either be hit hard by Fire Blast or hit super effectively by a coverage move, making Choice Scarf Magmortar a universal threat to offensive playstyles. In this case, Hidden Power Ice is more valuable than Hidden Power Grass because Magmortar isn't attempting to wallbreak, and prefers revenge killing Altaria to beating Quagsire. Other than that small change, Magmortar retains all of its normal offensive options, and loses little functionality other than the ability to switch moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Overheat can be used as an alternative STAB option over Fire Blast to compensate for the lack of a power-boosting item, and the stat-dropping side effect is less noticeable on this set because Magmortar will often switch out after attacking anyway. However, Fire Blast is arguably more useful late-game, as it can allow Magmortar to single-handedly sweep through an offensive team once its counters and faster Choice Scarf users are removed. Likewise, Magmortar can afford to use a Modest nature on this set as it still gets away with outspeeding Pokemon such as Swellow, although it misses out on faster Choice Scarf users. While Earthquake can also be used on this set instead of Hidden Power, it becomes less effective without a boosting item, and it's generally inadvisable when so many Pokemon can switch into it and begin setting up. Since Magmortar will often be throwing about Fire Blasts in response to offensive threats, it's a good idea to pack a response to Flash Fire users (such as Flareon) and other bulky responses (such as Altaria) somewhere in your team, such as Quagsire and Gigalith respectively. This set in particular also requires Rapid Spin support, as it will be switching in and out constantly to deal with the opponent's offensive pokemon as they appear. If the opponent has used Stealth Rock, Magmortar can only come in a maximum of five times, meaning it can be eventually be stalled out if the opponent predicts correctly.</p>
[SET]
name: Flame Charge
move 1: Flame Charge
move 2: Fire Blast
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Naive / Hasty
EVs: 24 Atk / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Flame Charge is one of the only additions to Magmortar's movepool in the newest generation, and combines the raw power of the wallbreaker set with the speed of the Choice Scarf one, which allows Magmortar to potentially sweep through unprepared teams. Whilst Flame Charge is primarily used to boost Magmortar's Speed stat, it is also a reasonably useful attack in its own right, breaking the Focus Sash of leads and Pokemon with Magic Guard as well as preventing Sturdy users such as Sawk from impeding its progress. In addition, it still has enough power to OHKO even defensive Jynx and Cryogonal, and 2HKO opponents such as Cacturne, Pinsir, Haunter, and Kadabra. As usual, Fire Blast and Thunderbolt are present, to generally destroy things and break through bulky Water-type Pokemon, respectively. Earthquake is the coverage option of choice here as it lets Magmortar get past opposing Magmortar, as well as Camerupt and Flareon, more easily. Hidden Power Ice is also good because it allows Magmortar to KO offensive Altaria, whilst Hidden Power Grass is less useful because Quagsire is hardly going to sweep your team as long as you pack a Grass-type move on something else. Once Magmortar has the boost from Flame Charge, and its specific counters have been dealt with, it can be extremely difficult to stop this offensive juggernaut.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>While a Naive nature is used to reduce Magmortar's vulnerability to priority moves, Sucker Punches from Pokemon such as Absol and Cacturne will often OHKO regardless due to Life Orb recoil, so a Hasty nature can be used instead to let Magmortar come in on special attacks more easily, thanks to its respectable 75 / 95 defenses. Magmortar can use other niche moves in the fourth moveslot to deal with specific threats, with Focus Blast being an option if you're seriously scared of Regirock and Thick Fat Miltank. Hidden Power Water also guarantees the OHKO on physically defensive Camerupt, but hits nothing else. As Magmortar is boosting its Speed stat, you can also shift EVs into HP and Defense instead to allow Magmortar to tank resisted hits and priority attacks better, and thus get more boosts, but this could potentially leave Magmortar a sitting duck against offensive teams if it fails to get those boosts initially. As Magmortar's coverage is not as extensive as usual with this set, it is important to provide solid responses to the threats that can now withstand his attacks. Exeggutor deals with physically defensive Rock-types such as Gigalith with ease, in addition to Quagsire. Rapid Spin support remains as important as ever since Magmortar will be losing health to Stealth Rock, Spikes and Life Orb recoil throughout the match, and this can limit the number of times Magmortar can attempt to set up significantly.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Vital Spirit is the default ability, as it lets Magmortar come in against Sleep inducers such as Jynx and Tangela much more reliably, making it a more effective offensive Pokemon. However, Flame Body is also pretty useful for punishing physical attackers that try to to abuse Magmortar's low Defense stat, and is also good at neutering priority attackers such as Absol and Cacturne. Be aware that Earthquake and Stone Edge don't trigger Flame Body, however, making it somewhat difficult to activate in this metagame. Whilst Magmortar could run a SubPunch set like it does in other tiers, this largely isn't necessary in NU as Focus Punch's key targets are absent from the tier, making Focus Blast a superior option. Mach Punch gives Magmortar some (albeit weak) priority for finishing off Sturdy Pokemon, whilst Taunt puts the walls that Magmortar can't beat into uncomfortable positions. Belly Drum is also available, and can be interesting when combined with Flame Charge, but it can be seriously hard to abuse due to the proliferation of Sucker Punch users. Stealth Rock support lets Magmortar beat opposing Fire-types more comfortably, while sun support turns Magmortar into a nuke capable of leveling even the most defensive walls, with a combination of Fire Blast / SolarBeam / Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Magmortar's counters largely depend on what coverage move it is not running. If it lacks Hidden Power Grass, specially defensive Quagsire can set up on it reliably, whilst Altaria can do the same if Magmortar lacks Hidden Power Ice. Specially defensive Fire-types such as Lampent, Camerupt, and Flareon, also beat Magmortar if it lacks Earthquake, although repeated Focus Blasts can wear them down if you lack other options. However, it's often much easier to revenge kill Magmortar than it is to wall it, with powerful Pokemon such as Sawk and Swellow being able to force Magmortar out once they get a free switch in. Likewise, Sucker Punch users, such as Cacturne, Absol, and Skuntank, can capitalize on Magmortar's low physical Defense and force it out, even if it manages to accrue Speed boosts with Flame Charge. Whilst few can switch into Magmortar's moves directly, many are able to threaten it once it scores a kill, which lets the opponent seize momentum and potentially gain an advantage.</p>