[OVERVIEW]
Magnet Pull Magneton plays a unique role in ADV OU by trapping prominent Steel-type Pokemon like Skarmory, Forretress, Metagross, Jirachi, and opposing Magneton. Skarmory and Forretress are Magneton's primary targets, as they are potentially OHKOed by Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fire and they give Magneton a free switch in when they are setting Spikes.
Magneton can do much more in a battle than trap Steel-types. For example, it can defensively check some threats, including Choice Band Salamence locked into Hidden Power Flying; Choice Band Metagross locked into Meteor Mash; Snorlax in sand lacking Earthquake or Fire Blast; and Choice Band Aerodactyl, Zapdos, and non-Fire Punch Gengar, albeit only once, with its many resistances. Additionally, Magneton can pressure some defensive teams with its sheer power combined with the threat of status: Thunderbolt threatens Suicune and Milotic, while Toxic forces out Blissey and Celebi, and the switch-in either takes a chunk from Thunderbolt or gets hit by a nasty status ailment.
Magneton's overall good defensive typing often gets overshadowed by its 4x weakness to one of the most common attacks in ADV OU: Earthquake. This weakness means that it will be OHKOed by most physical attackers, including Tyranitar, Metagross, Salamence, Swampert, Snorlax, Flygon, and Claydol. The weakness is especially exploited by Arena Trap Dugtrio, which can switch into Magneton's Thunderbolt and trap Magneton; to make things worse, Dugtrio is commonly used alongside Magneton's primary trap target, Skarmory, turning the trap into a one-for-one trade at best. Furthermore, offensive Skarmory can potentially outspeed and OHKO Magneton with Hidden Power Ground, while Forretress can sometimes survive Hidden Power Fire and OHKO back with Earthquake, which makes trapping these foes more difficult. Metagross and Jirachi at full health also generally win one-on-one against Magneton, meaning Magneton can't trap them without prior chip damage. Magneton's Fire- and Fighting-type weaknesses are also very relevant drawbacks, as they turn Moltres, mixed Salamence, and mixed Tyranitar into effective revenge killers.
[SET]
name: Trapper
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Grass
move 3: Toxic / Thunder Wave
move 4: Protect / Substitute
item: Magnet / Leftovers
ability: Magnet Pull
nature: Modest / Timid
evs: 4HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Magneton's offensive movepool consists mainly of Thunderbolt, which hits everything in the metagame except for Ground-types and dedicated special walls like Blissey and Celebi for solid damage. Thunderbolt can OHKO specially defensive Skarmory, 2HKO maximum HP Metagross, and 4HKO Snorlax in sand. Hidden Power Fire covers Forretress and opposing Magneton, but Hidden Power Grass is very common to cover Ground-types such as Swampert and Claydol as well as catch Dugtrio on the switch. With Hidden Power Grass, Magneton can run 31 Speed EVs, guaranteeing at least a Speed tie with Jolly offensive Skarmory.
Magneton is often packing a status move, either Thunder Wave or Toxic; the former is very effective at crippling Jirachi as well as annoying Metagross and opposing Magneton, while the latter cripples Ground-types like Swampert, Claydol, and Flygon on the switch. Toxic also forces out Blissey and Celebi so that the incoming Pokemon has to take a powerful Thunderbolt. Since Hidden Power Grass covers Ground-types, it gets usually paired with Thunder Wave, while Hidden Power Fire is most often paired with Toxic.
Protect is commonly paired with Toxic to increase the rate of poison damage, and it scouts foes' attacks, especially Choice Band users such as Salamence and Aerodactyl. Substitute can pair with both Toxic and Thunder Wave; the former helps in forcing out Blissey and Celebi, while the latter can generate a free turn with a timely full paralysis, allowing Magneton to safely stay behind the Substitute. Substitute also has nice synergy with Leech Seed, allowing Magneton to wall slower threats like Suicune and Snorlax as well as guaranteeing Metagross traps by weakening it into KO range.
Magnet critically gives Magneton a much better chance to OHKO specially defensive Skarmory. The difference between OHKOing and 2HKOing Skarmory is huge, as it often translates to an extra layer of Spikes for your team to deal with but could also translate to Skarmory phazing Magneton, giving it a chance to make a comeback in later stages of the game, especially if paired with Dugtrio or a Wish user such as Blissey. Magneton can alternatively use Leftovers considering it's immune to sand, and when paired with Protect or Substitute, it can become much more annoying to deal with via repeated chip damage. Leftovers makes Magneton a lot more robust against Aerodactyl, Blissey, and Electric-types.
Maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed maximizes Magneton's offensive potential and guarantees Speed tying with opposing Magneton with the same Hidden Power type. A Modest nature maximizes the odds of OHKOing Skarmory and is sufficient for outspeeding most Metagross, but it leaves Magneton slower than or Speed tying with Adamant offensive Skarmory, which can OHKO Magneton with Hidden Power Ground. A Timid nature allows Magneton to trap Adamant Skarmory and opposing Modest Magneton but gives up the favorable roll to OHKO specially defensive Skarmory. Timid is frequently used when the team has a spinner such as Claydol and thus does not mind Skarmory sticking around for a little longer or when it is beneficial for Magneton to trap opposing Magneton, most notably with Skarmory as a partner. For the latter purpose, a good benchmark is having 32 Special Defense EVs to survive opposing Magneton's Hidden Power Fire. An alternative bulky spread is 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe with a Modest nature; this is designed to always survive Adamant Skarmory's Hidden Power Ground while retaining the Speed for standard specially defensive Skarmory. However, if Magneton seeks to survive Forretress's Earthquake, it needs to use 252 HP / 84 Def / 156 SpA / 16 Spe with a Modest nature.
Team Options
========
Magneton is a key component in physical offense teams by virtue of removing Skarmory, which is the premier physical wall in ADV OU. Physical attackers like Gyarados, Salamence, Aerodactyl, and Flygon greatly benefit from the absence of Skarmory, while other threats like Metagross, Heracross, and Snorlax also appreciate the removal of Skarmory as a Spiker and phazer. On physical offense squads, Gyarados and Salamence often run a sweeper set with Dragon Dance, while Metagross can run a cleaner set with Agility, a luring set for Swampert with Hidden Power Grass, or a physically defensive set with Protect. Heracross uses Substitute + Salac Berry to sweep late-game, while Snorlax can run a lure set with Self-Destruct to get rid of a key wall or be a late-game sweeper with Curse + Rest. Physical offense tends to be weak against Gengar, so Pursuit Tyranitar, or sometimes Houndoom, is a nice fit; Pursuit support also enables Curse + Earthquake Snorlax as well as a niche Pokemon like Steelix. A bulky Water-type like Swampert or Suicune often rounds out the team by giving it a check to physical attackers.
Magneton is also a cornerstone on defensive teams that aim to get rid of Skarmory and Forretress to contain Spikes. Since these teams are generally weak to Spikes, they always pack a spinner with Magneton to make sure the entry hazard pressure is totally negated. The most common spinners paired with Magneton are Claydol and Starmie; a less common one but still seen in OU is Donphan. A defensive Celebi with Leech Seed is a common sight on these teams, since it's a set that struggles with both Skarmory and Forretress, and Leech Seed synergizes well with Substitute Magneton. Milotic and Suicune are also very common on these teams, most often paired with Claydol to form a defensive core that is resilient to offensive pressure as well as entry hazards. A bulky Metagross with Protect can be an alternative defensive backbone for the team, especially when paired with a bulky Rapid Spin Starmie. These teams often rely on a bulky setup sweeper like Curse + Rest Snorlax or Calm Mind + Rest Suicune as the late-game sweeper; since they really hate Spikes and getting phazed by Skarmory when they go through Rest cycles, Magneton is a clear necessity on these teams. Pursuit support from Tyranitar and the rare Umbreon can facilitate the use of Rapid Spin, (comma) enable Donphan, and support CurseLax sets without Shadow Ball. A Ground-immune or Fighting-resistant Pokemon like Choice Band Salamence, Zapdos, or Moltres often rounds out the team.
Magneton is also commonly seen paired with Skarmory, forming the popular Skarm-Mag core. Magneton not only can trap opposing Skarmory and Forretress, ensuring your Skarmory will win the Spikes war, but it can also trap opposing Magneton, saving your Skarmory from getting trapped. These teams often feature a sturdy special wall, like Blissey or Celebi, in combination with a powerful wallbreaker like Choice Band Salamence to provide offensive pressure paired with Spikes. Alternatively, a fast sweeper like Aerodactyl is used in combination with a soft Zapdos check like Venusaur or Jirachi to keep up offensive momentum. A physical wall like Swampert, Metagross, or Flygon rounds out the team, together with the ever present Tyranitar for sand support. Tyranitar can also provide Pursuit support for Flygon and Skarmory, which really hate Gengar. Additionally, Pursuit can be used to chip Forretress into Magneton's Hidden Power Fire KO range.
Magneton is also featured on Baton Pass teams, since they are weak to being phazed by Skarmory's Whirlwind. Physical Baton Pass teams feature either Swords Dance + Baton Pass Celebi or Swords Dance + Baton Pass Ninjask, rarely both. The most common recipients of the boosts are Dragon Dance users like Salamence, Gyarados, and, less frequently, Tyranitar, as well as Agility Metagross and Substitute + Liechi Berry Aerodactyl; paired with Ninjask, slow sweepers like Marowak and Medicham are also common. Alternatively, specially based Baton Pass teams featuring Calm Mind + Baton Pass Celebi are sometimes seen with Magneton, as Skarmory would be able to safely switch on Celebi and phaze it, thus ruining the chain; additionally, these teams don't generally pack a spinner and therefore don't appreciate Skarmory setting multiple layers of Spikes.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Magneton only needs Thunderbolt + Hidden Power to function, which leaves it two free slots for some interesting options; Endure allows Magneton to activate Salac Berry. After the boost, Timid Magneton can outrun the entire OU metagame barring Jolteon and Aerodactyl, and it critically becomes faster than Dugtrio, meaning it cannot be successfully trapped. Additionally, it becomes faster than offensive Starmie and can check it in a pinch, and it can be used as a surprise weapon to check Flygon and Salamence with Hidden Power Ice. Alternatively, or in conjunction with Endure, Magneton can be an effective weather clearer with Rain Dance or Sunny Day; removing sand is used to great advantage when it is partnered with sand-weak Pokemon like Suicune, Snorlax, and Celebi. Metal Sound allows Magneton to scare off special walls like Blissey and Celebi and can potentially enable it to trap specially defensive Wish Jirachi from full HP; Metal Sound can also prevent last Pokemon Snorlax from sweeping your team. Swagger is an effective alternative when paired with Thunder Wave to generate key free turns for setup sweepers, Substitute users, and stat passers like Dragon Dance Tyranitar, Substitute Heracross, Substitute + Calm Mind Jirachi, and Ninjask. Charcoal is an alternative to Magnet, as it drastically increases the chances to OHKO Forretress and opposing Magneton with Hidden Power Fire; for this reason, it is sometimes seen on Skarm-Mag builds. Magneton can run the admittedly unreliable Thunder to OHKO specially defensive Skarmory when using a set without Magnet.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Dugtrio**: Dugtrio is a very effective counter to Magneton, trapping and OHKOing it. Dugtrio can also switch in on Thunderbolt and revenge kill Magneton after it has successfully trapped Skarmory. It is frequently possible to infer the presence of Magneton on a team and double switch Dugtrio in as Magneton tries to trap Skarmory; this is often a game-winning play. The only things Dugtrio has to fear from Magneton are potential Hidden Power Grass on the switch and the Endure + Salac Berry set.
**Blissey and Celebi**: Blissey and Celebi can switch into Magneton and negate the Thunderbolt damage with their recovery moves, but they are forced out by Toxic, especially when it's paired with Protect or Substitute; for this reason, teams that rely on Blissey or Celebi to sponge Magneton are often troubled by the combination of Thunderbolt + Toxic. The occasional Metal Sound or Screech might also give Blissey and Celebi issues.
**Claydol**: Claydol is a decent check to Magneton because it can switch into Thunderbolt and threaten an OHKO with Earthquake, although it doesn't enjoy switching into Toxic or Hidden Power Grass.
**Flygon**: Flygon is effective at punishing Magneton, as it can switch in on Thunderbolt or for a revenge kill after Skarmory was trapped to get a free Substitute as Magneton switches out or stays in to use Toxic; since Magneton rarely runs Hidden Power Ice, Flygon only has to fear for Toxic on the switch.
**Revenge Killers**: While not many Pokemon can take Magneton's powerful Thunderbolt, many are just fast enough to OHKO it before it can do anything, including Salamence, Aerodactyl, Moltres, Charizard, and Brick Break Heracross.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[mikmer, 511989]]
- Quality checked by: [[vapicuno, 5454], [M Dragon, 21345]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [CryoGyro, 331519]]
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