Here, since I was ranting about Magcargo in the how to use UU pokemon well in OU thread, I thought I'd show off my set.
Magcargo @Leftovers
EVs: 252 hp/172 def/84 spdef
Ablility: Flame Body
Bold Nature (+def, -atk)
- Lava Plume
- Light Screen
- Recover
- Yawn
Yeah, so first off, if you want to use this set, you'd better make sure your prediction skills are very high, because otherwise, this set is going to be dead weight. Ok, so like the analysis says, Magcargo may be easy to insult, but it has an awful lot of good support moves.
This guy's pretty easy to actually bring in, but once he gets in there, what to do? Well, with 304 HP and 350 defense, it can take quite a beating on the physical side, taking even resisted Explosions with over 50%, and even Choice Banded hits, because although it may not look like it, with the 4x ground/water weak, its typing does give an awful lot of nice resistances to common types such as Ice, Bug, Normal, Flying and Fire (.25x). This means that it can Recover off the damage from most physical attacks perfectly fine, plus physical attackers can just be stalled out until they're burned from Flame Body with a 30% chance of getting burned from using a physical attack, or M.C. Argo can help that with Lava Plume and push that chance up to 50% by using both in one turn. Steer clear of Earthquake/Waterfall/Close Combat if you want to ensure Magcargo's survival.
The remaining 84 EVs are shoved into special defense. 217 special defense allows it to take a lot of hits under 50% on the special side as well, and then just recover off the damage if you can predict them attacking you. Can switch into Overheats very well and Yawn the switch-in, or just Light Screen while they're bringing in something else. Also, remember, Magcargo is a Rock type, this means that 217 special defense gets moved up to 325 in a sandstorm, allowing it to take almost equal beatings. Steer clear of Surf/Waterfall/Focus Blast of course.
Now, the prediction part of this set. Magcargo, in my experience tends to force quite a bit of switches with this set. There are a few things you can do to a switch-in. You can:
a) Force another switch with Yawn, or if they stay in to sleep after the Yawn, bring in something for a free turn to get set-up. If you think something of a set-up sweeper will come in, then this is the move of choice. Very nice for revealing your opponent's team.
b) Lava Plume and hope for a burn, or if you predict Forretress/Scizor for god knows what reason, they'll be OHKOed. Also a nice surprise for Breloom switch-ins who want to do their Sporepunching business. This will neuter those annoying Garchomp that like switching in to Earthquake you if they get burned. Of course it's best to predict physical sweepers with this.
c) Light Screen while they're switching over and switch to a pokemon and let another teammate take the show. Magcargo supported the team by boosting the special defense already, so it's at least done something, and it didn't take damage doing that, so it can come out for another go later on. Best used if you predict a special threat coming in, or if you predict a sleep-talker and don't want to use Yawn.
d) Recover your health that you may have lost from something such as a Stealth Rock switch-in (25% from stealth rock), or from a wrong prediction and needing to recover off a big hit. Predicting statusers is a good idea for using this, since you can just Recover while they come in and then switch out to something that can take the status.
Now prediction facing things 1-on-1:
a) Yawn. If they switch out, it will rack up residual damage, which Magcargo is good at doing, and it will allow you to switch in something new. The key is predicting stat-uppers, or even a Thunder Wave, which Magcargo doesn't care about since its already slow as heck. Many people see Magcargo as disgustingly weak and they believe they can set-up on it. Prove them wrong.
b) Light Screen is useful if your opponent once again has not learned their lesson and tries to stat-up. Especially useful if you can grab a burn on them later on because they will potentially be screwed. If you have an Encorer, you can then Encore their stat-up and begin wrecking havoc. Plus, Magcargo can support well, so Light Screen may be the missing link between a OHKO and a 2HKO on one of your pokemon.
c) For Recover, you need to predict status moves and moves that will do under 50% on you. Perhaps after you've Yawned the opponent, it will surely work, but if Yawning is not a workable option (sleep clause), then letting the opponent set-up is VERY risky. If they start setting up and you can't Yawn them, you may need to switch out, or if you can take a boosted hit, recover by all means, but you need to predict that as well.
d) Lava Plume. Magcargo's only attacking move is the thing that screws many of his counters over. Like I said, many...many people appear to forget that Magcargo has Flame Body, and then they're in for a rude awakening when I switch in my Magcargo on their physical attack and they get burned. Now, you have to predict whether they will want to keep their physical pokemon in, and you can then Lava Plume and take attacks, recovering when necessary for a 50% chance of burning when you do that. Kind of a psuedo Will-O-Wisp since it can't have 5 moves. Ultimate mind games with this move coupled with Flame Body, since it keeps the opponent guessing for their pokemon's life, since after a physical pokemon, or even a staller is burned, they're not such a huge threat anymore unless they've gotten a Belly Drum off or something and their name starts with an 'H' and ends with an 'Eracross'.
Alright, so in conclusion, give this Magcargo set a try. It works extremely well with Dry Skin Parasect, surprisingly, since they cover each others weaknesses perfectly, and it also works well with Mantine...although both partners must watch out for those annoying rock attacks.
If you have any more questions on the predictions and other poke bric-a-brac about this set, feel free to ask. Heh, I'm sure I missed something, that was pretty long.
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