Magearna

This analysis was written by User:Quantum Tesseract and formatted by User:charizard8888 and User:Theheheheh
An excellent Fairy / Steel typing allows Magearna to take on common metagame picks such as Tapu Lele, Mega Gyarados, and Porygon Z. Its great Special Attack stat gives it a solid damage output and lets it break down bulky Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro, while solid defensive stats let Magearna take most neutral attacks. Good coverage options allow Magearna to hit nearly the entire metagame for super effective damage. Magearna faces competition from Mega Mawile as a bulky offensive Fairy / Steel Pokemon, but can differentiate itself from Mawile with its Special Attacks and freedom of item. However, weakness to common types in Fire and Ground lets common metagame picks such as Mega Charizard Y and Golem defeat Magearna. Fleur Cannon reduces Magearna's Special Attack, allowing Pokemon who can take a hit to safely recover. Magearna is also extremely slow and outspeeds almost nothing relevant.
=Choice Specs=
Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpA
Modest Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fire
- Thunderbolt
==Set Comments==
===Moves===
Fleur Cannon is Magearna's most powerful STAB move, allowing it to deal heavy damage to anything without a resistance or significant Special Defense. Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB move without the Special Attack drop, letting Magearna wear down foes that have recovery. Shadow Ball hits Ghost- and Psychic-type Pokemon, stopping Aegislash and Offensive Mega Metagross them from readily walling Magearna, and is Magearna's best option against threats such as Deoxys-S. Hidden Power Fire is another option that sacrifices power and hitting Deoxys-S for a better matchup against Durant, Kartana, and Genesect. Thunderbolt hits Water-type Pokemon such as Primarina and Mega Slwobro super effectively; it also OHKOes any bulky Gyarados that choose not to Mega Evolve in the hopes of living a Fleur Cannon.
===Set Details===
252 EVs are placed in HP to allow Magearna to take as many attacks as possible; alongside the Defense EVs, they allow Magearna to live an Earthquake from Landorus-T. 228 Special Attack EVs and a Modest nature maximize Magearna's damage output while hitting the above benchmark. Choice Specs further boosts Magearna's power; since this is 1v1, the move-locking mechanism is almost never an issue.
===Usage Tips===
In most matchups, Magearna should simply click Fleur Cannon, as after STAB it hits harder than super effective coverage. If Magearna cannot OHKO and the foe has recovery, however, it is usually best to avoid using it to prevent Magearna from being easily stalled out. Flash Cannon lacks Fleur Cannon's Special Attack drop, and is thus optimal against Pokemon with Recovery that avoid the OHKO, particularly with its nice chance to drop Special Defense, and Substitute users. Be cautious in being too obvious in the use of Magearna, as its checks are common enough to be on nearly every team even without preparing for it.
===Team Options===
Answers to Mega Charizard and Steel-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Golem pair well with Magearna; in exchange, it takes on Mega Gyarados and bulky Dragons or Fairies. In a similar vein, Mega Gyarados itself takes on Fire- and Ground-type Pokemon for Magearna, as well as Mimikyu. Stallbreakers such as Taunt Tapu Lele and Kartana can take on bulky walls such as Chansey and Mega Venusaur. Sturdy Pokemon such as Carracosta and Donphan can take on Tapu Koko, Blaziken, and Mega Charizard for Magearna.
=Bulky Air Balloon=
Magearna @ Air Balloon
Ability: Soul Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
==Set Comments==
===Moves===
Fleur Cannon is Magearna's strongest STAB move and best way of dealing damage. Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB move deals solid, reliable damage with no side effect. Hidden Power Fire picks off Durant, Kartana, and Genesect while giving Magearna a better matchup versus other Steel-type Pokemon. Ice Beam picks off Ground- and Flying-type Pokemon, allowing Magearna to better deal with Garchomp and Landorus. Thunderbolt hits Water-type Pokemon and Celesteela but has generally worse coverage than Ice Beam.
===Set Details===
252 Special attack and a Modest nature maximise Magearna's damage output. 252 HP EVs allow Magearna to survive as many attacks as possible. 4 SpD EVs ensure that Download gives Genesect an Attack boost. Air Balloon allows Magearna to lure in and take on most ground types, only really losing to rock tomb Golem or Donohan.
===Usage Tips===
Send Magearna out when you predict the foe will send in something it answers, such as Mega Gyarados or Tapu Lele. Against Gyarados, its often safer to use Thunderbolt instead of Fleur Cannon in case they do not mega evolve; should they mega evolve, however, Fleur Cannon is superior as it doesnt risk critical hits or paralysis. If the foe has recovery, be careful when using Fleur Cannon so they cannot freely heal themselves. Should Magearna not be readily able to win, it is usually better to use Ice Beam and try to freeze instead of an automatic failure otherwise. Use Magearna to lure in and KO Ground-type pokemon with Air Balloon.
===Team Options===
Mega Gyarados handles Mega Charizard, Rock Tomb Sturdy Pokemon, and Chansey for Magearna; in exchange, Magearna takes on Kartana, Porygon Z, and opposing Mega Gyarados Donphan and Golem also make good partners, as they handle the Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon that threaten Magearna; they can also take on Tapu Koko. Fighting-type Pokemon such as Terrakion and Sawk are useful to handle Chansey and Blissey. Icium Z Kyurem-B is also a good partner, as it can take on stall stables such as Mega Venusaur and Blissey fairly readily. Ground-weak pokemon such as Mega Charizard X and Golem are useful to lure in Ground-type for Magearna to defeat.
=Strategy Comments=
==Other Options==
Magearna can place EVs in speed to outpace threats, but its low speed limits the use of that technique for outspeeding the Pokemon that defeat it. Fairium Z may be run to give Magearna a similarly powerful Fairy-type attack and the ability to switch moves, but the loss of power in the other options generally make it inferior. Energy Ball may be used over Thunderbolt to hit Water- and Ground-type Pokemon in one slot, but most Ground type Pokemon are either beaten already or win regardless of Energy Ball. Shuca Berry is a nice tech to lure in Ground-type attacks and cannot be defeated by Rock Tomb, but generally does a worse job of letting Magearna beat Ground-type Pokemon.
==Checks and Counters==
*Chansey and Blissey: Chansey and Blissey easily live any attack Magearna can bring, and can recover off the damage while slowly chipping Magearna down. Unless the Chansey or Blissey player greatly missplays, Magearna has no recourse against these threats.
*Fire Type Pokemon: Fire-type Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y and Heatran can hit Magearna for heavy damage, and resist Fleur Cannon to boot. Magearna cannot beat any viable Fire-type Pokemon without hax, and many of the more niche ones will still give it trouble.
*Steel-type Pokemon: Steel-type Pokemon resist both of Magearna’s STAB moves, and are typically very bulky. Furthermore, every relevant Steel-type Pokemon from Aegislash to Mega Mawile is at worst neutral to Fighting-type attacks, preventing Magearna from using Aura Sphere or Focus Blast as coverage to take them out.
*Sturdy Pokemon: While it isn't a direct win condition, most Sturdy users handily defeat Magearna with Ground-type attacks or reflection attacks. While Magearna can somewhat bypass these with its Air Balloon set, many Sturdy users win regardless with moves like Rock Tomb.
*Special Walls: Special and mixed walls, such as Mega Venusaur, are major issues for Magearna. Magearna’s strongest attack lowers its Special Attack, allowing anything it can't OHKO to recover off the attack, and all its other moves are far weaker. Generally, Magearna’s only hope is to get a critical hit, but in some matches even that isn't enough.
Category:Analyses