-
Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Magmortar (GP 2/2)
- Thread starter erisia
- Start date
Amateur check.
Deletions
Additions / Corrections
Comments
[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, 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 metagame 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 types 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 (space) / (space) Ground-types such as Quagsire are dealt with by Hidden Power Grass, whilst 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 maximised and the rest being poured into Magmortar's HP stat for extra bulk. Whilst a Modest nature can be used to further augment Magmortar's power, it doesn't make a lot of difference against most of its 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 to prevent Magmortar from killing itself with recoil damage, but Magmortar appreciates the versatility more in most scenarios. Thus, using an Expert Belt is often the better choice if you want to reduce recoil, or alternatively if you want 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 mixed physical attack instead of a 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 normally deal with Magmortar (such as Camerupt and Flareon) extremely hard, 2HKOing them without hazard support. It also OHKOes opposing Magmortar with after Stealth Rock, Spikes or a round of LO recoil, preventing them from counter-sweeping you cutting their sweep short. Cross Chop is also available to hit specially-defensive Normal-typed Pokemon such as Lickilicky, but isn't as effective in this tier since 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 whilst Magmortar remains relatively safe.</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 boosters like Dragon Dance Altaria and Modest Shell Smash Gorebyss, letting 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 Scarf Magmortar a universal threat to offensive playstyles. In this case, Hidden Power Ice is more valuable than Hidden Power Grass since because Magmortar isn't aiming to wallbreak, and prefers the capacity to revenge kill 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 since Magmortar will often switch out after attacking anyways. However, Fire Blast is arguably more useful late game since it can allow Magmortar to single-handedly sweep through an offensive team once its counters and faster Scarfers Choice Scarf users are removed. Likewise, Magmortar can afford to use a Modest nature in this set as it still gets away with outspeeding Pokemon such as Swellow, although it misses out on faster Scarfers Choice Scarf users. Whilst Earthquake can also be used on this set over Hidden Power, it becomes less effective without a boosting item, and it's generally irresponsible to use it when so many Pokemon can switch into it and begin setting up.</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 new generation, and allows it to combine the raw power of the wallbreaker set with the speed of the Choice Scarf one, allowing it to potentially sweep through unprepared teams at the right moment. 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 Sashes of leads and Magic Guard pokemon Pokemon with Magic Guard as well as preventing Sturdy users such as Sawk from impeding its progress. Meanwhile Despite this, it still has enough power to OHKO even defensive Jynx and Cryogonal, as well as 2HKOing opponents like Cacturne, Pinsir, Haunter, and Kadabra. Fire Blast and Thunderbolt are present as usual, to generally destroy things and to break through bulky Water-type Pokemon respectively. Earthquake is the coverage option of choice here since as it lets Magmortar get past opposing Magmortar, as well as Camerupt and Flareon, more easily. Hidden Power Ice is also good since because it lets allows Magmortar to kill offensive Altaria easily, whilst Hidden Power Grass is less useful since Quagsire is hardly going to counter-sweep your team if 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 specially-offensive juggernaut.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Whilst a Naive nature is used to reduce Magmortar's vulnerability to priority moves, Sucker Punches from Pokemon like 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 options 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. Since Magmortar is boosting its Speed stat, you can also divert 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 as a sitting duck against offensive teams if it fails to get those boosts initially.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Vital Spirit is the default ability since as it lets Magmortar come in against Sleep inducers like Jynx and Tangela much more reliably, making it a more effective offensive Pokemon. However, Flame Body is also pretty good 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 Flame Body somewhat difficult to activate in this metagame. Whilst Magmortar could run a SubPunch set like it does in the other tiers, this largely isn't necessary in NU as Focus Punch's key targets are absent from the tier, making Focus Blast generally a superior option. Mach Punch gives Magmortar some (albeit weak) priority for finishing off Sturdy Pokemon, whilst Taunt let Magmortar puts the walls it 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. In terms of team support, Magmortar really appreciates Rapid Spin support since because it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and it takes a lot of residual damage from its Life Orb anyways. Stealth Rock support lets Magmortar beat opposing Fire types more comfortably, whilst Sun support turns Magmortar into a nuke capable of levelling even those 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 unable to run 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 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 capitalise 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, letting the opponent cease seize momentum from it and potentially gaining an advantage.</p>
A couple of repeated errors:
Super effective, not super-effective.
Specially defensive, not specially-defensive.
Revenge kill, not revenge-kill.
'In general, "since" should only be used in terms of chronology. If you are stating a reason, then use "because" or "due to".' (thanks Zystral)
Pokemon, not pokemon.
Edit: also I've just seen 'respectable base 83 speed' in the first paragraph. Speed should be capitalised.
Deletions
Additions / Corrections
Comments
[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, 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 metagame 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 types 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 (space) / (space) Ground-types such as Quagsire are dealt with by Hidden Power Grass, whilst 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 maximised and the rest being poured into Magmortar's HP stat for extra bulk. Whilst a Modest nature can be used to further augment Magmortar's power, it doesn't make a lot of difference against most of its 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 to prevent Magmortar from killing itself with recoil damage, but Magmortar appreciates the versatility more in most scenarios. Thus, using an Expert Belt is often the better choice if you want to reduce recoil, or alternatively if you want 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 mixed physical attack instead of a 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 normally deal with Magmortar (such as Camerupt and Flareon) extremely hard, 2HKOing them without hazard support. It also OHKOes opposing Magmortar with after Stealth Rock, Spikes or a round of LO recoil, preventing them from counter-sweeping you cutting their sweep short. Cross Chop is also available to hit specially-defensive Normal-typed Pokemon such as Lickilicky, but isn't as effective in this tier since 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 whilst Magmortar remains relatively safe.</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 boosters like Dragon Dance Altaria and Modest Shell Smash Gorebyss, letting 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 Scarf Magmortar a universal threat to offensive playstyles. In this case, Hidden Power Ice is more valuable than Hidden Power Grass since because Magmortar isn't aiming to wallbreak, and prefers the capacity to revenge kill 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 since Magmortar will often switch out after attacking anyways. However, Fire Blast is arguably more useful late game since it can allow Magmortar to single-handedly sweep through an offensive team once its counters and faster Scarfers Choice Scarf users are removed. Likewise, Magmortar can afford to use a Modest nature in this set as it still gets away with outspeeding Pokemon such as Swellow, although it misses out on faster Scarfers Choice Scarf users. Whilst Earthquake can also be used on this set over Hidden Power, it becomes less effective without a boosting item, and it's generally irresponsible to use it when so many Pokemon can switch into it and begin setting up.</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 new generation, and allows it to combine the raw power of the wallbreaker set with the speed of the Choice Scarf one, allowing it to potentially sweep through unprepared teams at the right moment. 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 Sashes of leads and Magic Guard pokemon Pokemon with Magic Guard as well as preventing Sturdy users such as Sawk from impeding its progress. Meanwhile Despite this, it still has enough power to OHKO even defensive Jynx and Cryogonal, as well as 2HKOing opponents like Cacturne, Pinsir, Haunter, and Kadabra. Fire Blast and Thunderbolt are present as usual, to generally destroy things and to break through bulky Water-type Pokemon respectively. Earthquake is the coverage option of choice here since as it lets Magmortar get past opposing Magmortar, as well as Camerupt and Flareon, more easily. Hidden Power Ice is also good since because it lets allows Magmortar to kill offensive Altaria easily, whilst Hidden Power Grass is less useful since Quagsire is hardly going to counter-sweep your team if 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 specially-offensive juggernaut.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Whilst a Naive nature is used to reduce Magmortar's vulnerability to priority moves, Sucker Punches from Pokemon like 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 options 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. Since Magmortar is boosting its Speed stat, you can also divert 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 as a sitting duck against offensive teams if it fails to get those boosts initially.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Vital Spirit is the default ability since as it lets Magmortar come in against Sleep inducers like Jynx and Tangela much more reliably, making it a more effective offensive Pokemon. However, Flame Body is also pretty good 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 Flame Body somewhat difficult to activate in this metagame. Whilst Magmortar could run a SubPunch set like it does in the other tiers, this largely isn't necessary in NU as Focus Punch's key targets are absent from the tier, making Focus Blast generally a superior option. Mach Punch gives Magmortar some (albeit weak) priority for finishing off Sturdy Pokemon, whilst Taunt let Magmortar puts the walls it 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. In terms of team support, Magmortar really appreciates Rapid Spin support since because it is vulnerable to all forms of entry hazards and it takes a lot of residual damage from its Life Orb anyways. Stealth Rock support lets Magmortar beat opposing Fire types more comfortably, whilst Sun support turns Magmortar into a nuke capable of levelling even those 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 unable to run 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 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 capitalise 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, letting the opponent cease seize momentum from it and potentially gaining an advantage.</p>
Super effective, not super-effective.
Specially defensive, not specially-defensive.
Revenge kill, not revenge-kill.
'In general, "since" should only be used in terms of chronology. If you are stating a reason, then use "because" or "due to".' (thanks Zystral)
Pokemon, not pokemon.
Edit: also I've just seen 'respectable base 83 speed' in the first paragraph. Speed should be capitalised.
I really enjoyed reading through this, really well written erisiascape! The main problem I found was that you make mistakes with list structure. Every modifier in a sentence must use the same tense or form, not differing ones. For example:
"First I built my house, then I was eating it, now I kick it. "
Should be "First I built my house, then I ate it, and kicked it"
Done, done, done. Not Doing, did, done.
Other than that,
GP Approved 2/2
You need to mention it for every set. Not everyone is going to read the whole analysis. If somebody wants to read one set, and only one set, they'll miss a whole bunch of useful information. It's vital that you mention it for every set, just be creative, mention different teammates that carry out the same role. What if I just wanted to see a special attacker set? I wouldn't look at the Flame Charge set, would I? The most important information needs to be displayed where people will actually read it. For offensive sets, you need information on entry hazards, how to beat its counters, and Rapid Spin support. It's simple. Please change this.
Edit: This is clearly outlined in the analysis guidelines announcement.
Edit: This is clearly outlined in the analysis guidelines announcement.