Caasi
Banned deucer.
[OVERVIEW]
*Magearna is one of the most solid answers to xerneas, as its presense in teams completely prevents Power Herb and the rare Z-Geomancy Xerneas from setting up, as it risks having its boosts stolen and potentially can result in magearna reverse sweeping. Furthermore, it makes it much more difficult for Xerneas to try and sweep again, as it has to take two turns in order to do so.
* Magearna checks offensive threats like Yveltal, Deoxys-forms, Mewtwo lacking fire blast and Tapu Lele among many.
*Magearna can act as a solid answer to Arceus Dark, Water, and Fairy as well if lacking Earth Power or Fire Blast as coverage moves.
* It's main niche is being one of the few reliable steel checks to (Geomancy) Xerneas and Calm Mind Arceus forms like Dark and Fairy. Not only does magearna take them on it most notably steals their boost with heart swap wich can turn itself into a heavy hitter.
*Magearna is one of the few defensive Xerneas and Yveltal checks that doesn't get trapped by the likes of Mega-Gengar and Gothitelle thanks to Volt Switch.
*All of this doesnt come with flaws as Magearna struggles against Primal-Groudon the best and most used mon in the tier. Not only does Primal-Groudon block Volt Switch wich can shift momentum it also uses magearna as setup fodder. All magearna can really do is fleur cannon for neglible damage as it doesnt have acces to toxic to wear down Primal-Groudon. Spoken of wearing down magearna lacks acces to reliable recovery wich can make it prone to being overwhelmed.
* Magearna only really has one viable set due to the amount of viable Pokemon that naturally check it anyway, preventing it from running more offensive options such as shift gear, calm mind or OTR. Therefore it is not able to utilise its ability Soul Heart.
[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Fleur Cannon
move 2: Volt Switch/ Flash Cannon
move 3: Heart Swap
move 4: Pain Split
item: Leftovers
ability: Soul Heart
nature: Relaxed/Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
ivs:0Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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*Fleur Cannon is a powerful STAB attack that hits Dark- and Dragon-types for significant damage. It also hurts Marshadow and has good neutral coverage vs a large portion of the metagame. It causes a sharp drop in Special Attack, but since Magearna is so easy to scare out, this is usually insignificant since it will be forced out alot and Fleur Cannon isn't spammable due to the move having a low amount of PP.
*Volt Switch allows Magearna to provide safe opportunities to switch in for its teammates, which works well with its low Speed.
*Heart Swap is the defining move of the set, making it impossible for prominent special sweepers such as Xerneas and Arceus-Dark to set up unpunished.
*Pain Split is Magearna's only form of recovery and makes for an effective option to punish its checks such as Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh.
*As an alternative to Volt Switch, Flash Cannon can be used as a way to hit foes without being forced out by a stat drop and can inflict substantial damage on Fairy-types such as Xerneas.
*Though this does mean Gothitelle and Mega-Gengar can trap you.
Set Details
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*The only use Magearna has is to pivot into special attackers, so full investment in HP and Special Defense helps it perform this role.
*Leftovers further contributes to Magearna's ability to take special attacks throughout the match by providing a steady means of recovery.
*Soul-Heart provides Magearna with a Special Attack boost whenever it lands a KO, but this is largely useless since Magearna still poses no threat whatsoever to its counters at +1.
*Having 0IVs in speed grants you as slow Volt Switch against the likes of opposing Magearna, Celesteela and Mega-Scizor. These also make it so that Gyro Ball does less damage.
*Note that when running Normalium Z Magearna will be able to take on things like Knock Off Yveltal more reliably.
Usage Tips
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*Switch Magearna in on the special attackers from the opposing team you need it to check.
*Try to keep up momentum by Volt Switching or making a double switch on your opponents predicted switchin (Primal-Groudon, Ho-Oh and Ferrothorn among few).
*Try to keep magearna healthy at all times by going for Pain Split to regain health.
*Coverage moves are probably the most notable thing to mention here as they can decide how well Magearna checks a certain threat.
*These should be scouted for examples are Earth Power on Arceus formes and Heat Wave on Yveltal.
*Getting up a Toxic Spike or Spike with a teammate or landing a Toxic on opposing Groudon will limit the amount of times it switches in. Your opponent will also be less likely to keep switching it in and will prefer to go to their steel type or wall. This makes it so you can Volt Switch more freely. Even if you click Volt Switch when your opponent goes Groudon they still will be taking chip damage from poison wich leaves you in a favourable position if you have solid Groudon checks in the back.
Team Options
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*Magearna is not a Pokemon to build a team around, but rather it is one that can cover several weaknesses for a mostly complete team.
*It also fits better in defensive teams, since it is a significant momentum drain.
*Key partners are Zygarde, Giratina, Mega-Sableye since Magearna deals with Fairy and Dark types that threaten these mons.
*In return the former two deal with ground and fire types that Magearna struggles with and the latter deals with passive mons like Ferrothorn that like to switchin.
*Frail attackers like Marshadow, Deoxys and Mewtwo like Magearna's ability to deal with the two most common scarfers in the tier. It can also bring them in freel by Volt Switching.
*Dark-types like Yveltal and Arceus-Dark greatly appreciate Magearna's ability to check Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy reliably.
*Pokemon carrying toxic that can potentially lure groudon make for nice partners since once you land a toxic on groudon, it makes it hard to justify primal groudon switching directly into magearna and taking loads of chip every time. Examples are Primal-Kyogre, Toxapex wich can also setup Toxic Spikes and your own Primal-Groudon.
*Primal-Kyogre is a fantastic partner being able to check Groudon taking any hit or being doubled in on a predicted Groudon switch. Kyogre also appreciates Magearna's ability to chip away at Primal-Groudon. This also means Groudon is less likely to come in on Magearna as your opponent will likely want it healthy for Kyogre. Kyogre also threatens the other Ground-types namely Arceus-ground and Zygarde greatly.
Other Options
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*Magearna truly has one viable set in ubers due to the powercreep Magearna doesnt find many set up opportunities with a Shift Gear set. Even when it sets up it will never be able to get off a sweep because Primal-Groudon and other bulky mons Magearna struggles to break through.
*Thunder Wave is a move Magearna gets access to but should never make it on to any Magearna set. Magearna's switchins are all imune to the status moves so running it would be wasting one of Magearna's valuable moveslots.
*Normalium Z Heal Bell can fully restore Magearna's health recovering it and it's allies from status ailments in the process. This also means Magearna will take less damage from Yveltal's Knock Off.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-types**: Ho-Oh and Primal-Groudon threaten Magearna massively with their strong super effective stabmoves.
**Ground-types**: Ground-Types can heavily threaten Magearna with their stabmoves although most don’t like taking a Fleur Cannon to the face they outspeed Magearna and scare it out. Arceus-Ground, Excadrill and Dugtrio are prime examples.
**Coverage Moves**: Magearna will take serious damage from Yveltal's Heat Wave, Xerneas's Hidden Power Ground, and Calm Mind Arceus's Earth Power, so play carefully if the opponent seems willing to stay in with a Pokemon checked by Magearna.
**Physical Attackers**: Magearna is intended to check special attackers, so strong physical attackers such as Mega Lucario, Mega Salamence with Earthquake, physical Arceus, Pheromosa, and Solgaleo can easily pick it off with only a little prior damage.
**Spikes**: Magearna resists Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes, but as a grounded defensive pivot with no reliable recovery it is very easy to wear down with Spikes. This is not helped by the fact that it can do nothing to common Spikes users such as Ferrothorn.
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