[1v1] Magearna [QC 3/3] Written[GP 0/1]

Overview
An excellent Fairy / Steel typing allows Magearna to take on common metagame picks such as Kyurem-B, 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 lets 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 differntiate itself with 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 Attacker
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 and Jirachi. 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 neglect to Mega Evolve

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 Kyurem-B. 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, Blazikin, 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 Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, and 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 flinches. If the foe has recovery, be careful when using Fleur Cannon so they cannot freely heal themself. 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 Baloon.

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 Deoxys-D, Mega Venusaur, and Gastrodon, 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.
 
Last edited:

lost heros

Meme Master
Overview
* Excellent Fairy / Steel typing allows Magearna to take on common metagame picks such as Kyurem-B, Tapu Lele, Mega Gyarados, and Porygon Z
* Great special attack stat gives it a solid damage output and lets it break down bulky Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro.
* Solid defensive stats lets Magearna take most neutral attacks.
* Good coverage options allow Magearna to hit nearly the entire metagame for super effective damage.
* Faces competition from Mega Mawile as a bulky offensive Fairy / Steel Pokemon mention its advantage of being more specially bulky and being able to trade items
* Weakness to common types in Fire and Ground lets common metagame picks such as Mega Charizard Y and Golem defeat Magearna.
* Magearna is extremely slow and outspeeds almost nothing relevant.

Choice Specs Attacker
Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 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 Aegislash and Mega Metagross super effectively, stopping them from readily walling Magearna, and deals solid damage to threats such as Deoxys-S and Jirachi. Shadow Ball doesn't OHKO Jirachi meaning it would have to move twice in 3 turns, which isn't going to happen. Shadow Ball also doesn't OHKO Bulky MMetagross, meaning EQ gets a solid 2HKO or meteor mash will likely 2HKO.
* Hidden Power Fire is another option that sacrifices power and hitting Deoxys-S for a better matchup against Durant, Kartana, and Magnezone.
* Thunderbolt hits Water-type Pokemon such as Primarina and Mega Slwobro super effectively; it also OHKOes any bulky Gyarados that neglect to Mega Evolve

Set Details
* 252 Special Attack EVs and a Modest nature maximize Magearna's damage output
* 252 EVs are placed in HP to allow Magearna to take as many attacks as possible.
* 4 Special Defense EVs ensure that Download boosts the attack of Genesect and Porygon-Z Remove the PZ mention. It's not important
* 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.
Mention Flash Cannon's uses here. It's good for picking up 2HKO's that Fleur Cannon will miss and has an annoying 10% spd drop
* 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.
* 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 Donphan and Golem pair well with Magearna; in exchange, it takes on Mega Gyarados and Kyurem-B
* 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.


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 / Shadow Ball
- 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.
* Shadow Ball may be used instead to hit Aegislash and Mega Metagross slightly harder, but does not let Magearna beat either. So why mention it at all. I'm not personally a fan of Shadow Ball at all, but if other QC like it you can include it, but it just doesn't seem that good
* Ice beam picks off Ground- and Flying-type pokemon, allowing Magearna to better deal with Donphan, Garchomp, Landorus and (???)
* 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 zporygon and Genesect an attack boost. Remove the PZ mention here.
* Air Balloon allows Magearna to 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 Isn't this every game of 1v1. Be more specific on to why you want to send in Magearna. For example, sending in Magearna on predicting fairy, dragon, or dark type pokemon. Also more importantly, when you think you can lure in a Ground type like Landorus-T or Donphan, such as Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, and 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 doesn't risk critical hits or flinches.
* If the foe has recovery, be careful when using Fleur Cannon so they cannot freely heal themself.
* 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.
Again mention Flash Cannon's use

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 Kyurem-B is also a good partner, as it can take on stall stables such as Mega Venusaur and Blissey fairly readily.
Mention a ground weak pokemon that can help bait a Lando-T or Donphan.

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.

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 Deoxys-D, Mega Venusaur, and Gastrodon, 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.

Fire type pokemon (???)

[/quote]

Maybe it's just me, but I like to use Aura Sphere instead of HP Fire/Shadow Ball. You lose anyways to most steel/psychic and steel/ghost anyways that it doesn't even matter. Plus it beats Ferrothorn and Kartana super easily. It deserves at least a mention in OO if not a slash on the main set.

Either way implement these changes Qc 1/3

 

DEG

The night belongs to you
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Overview
* Excellent Fairy / Steel typing allows Magearna to take on common metagame picks such as Kyurem-B, Tapu Lele, Mega Gyarados, and Porygon Z
* Great special attack stat gives it a solid damage output and lets it break down bulky Pokemon such as Mega Slowbro.
* Solid defensive stats lets Magearna take most neutral attacks.
* Good coverage options allow Magearna to hit nearly the entire metagame for super effective damage.
* Faces competition from Mega Mawile as a bulky offensive Fairy / Steel Pokemon, but can differntiate itself with Special Attacks and freedom of item.
* Weakness to common types in Fire and Ground lets common metagame picks such as Mega Charizard Y and Golem defeat Magearna.
* Magearna is extremely slow and outspeeds almost nothing relevant.

Choice Specs Attacker
Magearna @ Choice Specs
Ability: Soul Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 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 and Jirachi.
* Hidden Power Fire is another option that sacrifices power and hitting Deoxys-S for a better matchup against Durant, Kartana, and Magnezone.
* Thunderbolt hits Water-type Pokemon such as Primarina and Mega Slwobro super effectively; it also OHKOes any bulky Gyarados that neglect to Mega Evolve

Set Details
* 252 Special Attack EVs and a Modest nature maximize Magearna's damage output
* 252 EVs are placed in HP to allow Magearna to take as many attacks as possible.
* 4 Special Defense EVs ensure that Download boosts the attack of Genesect.
* 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 Donphan and Golem pair well with Magearna; in exchange, it takes on Mega Gyarados and Kyurem-B
* 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.

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 Donphan, 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 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 Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, and 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 flinches.
* If the foe has recovery, be careful when using Fleur Cannon so they cannot freely heal themself.
* 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.

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 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 withotu 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 Deoxys-D, Mega Venusaur, and Gastrodon, 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.
Hello! n_n

Overview
Mention that its most important move Fleur Cannon decreases its Special Attack making it unable to break specially defensive foe

Choice Specs Attacker
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SpA minimal change but it allows it to live a Landorus-Therian Earthquake if no z.

Moves
Mention that hp fire also hits Genesect

Set Details
Fix EVs

Team Options

Sturdy users
carracosta, donphan, golem break tapu koko and fire-types

GUCCI

Bulky Air Balloon

Set Details

I'd say Air Balloon lures in Ground-type

Usage Tips
Same as above, when predicting a Ground-type use this Magearna as it allows it to lure in ground-types


QC 2/3
gj!
 

Felucia

Robot Empress
is a Battle Simulator Moderator
Overview
An excellent Fairy / Steel typing allows Magearna to take on common metagame picks such as Kyurem-B, 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 lets 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 differntiate itself with 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 Attacker
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 and Jirachi. 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 neglect to Mega Evolve

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. 28 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 Kyurem-B. 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, Blazikin, 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 Donphan, 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 Kyurem-B, Mega Gyarados, and 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 flinches. If the foe has recovery, be careful when using Fleur Cannon so they cannot freely heal themself. 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 Baloon.

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 withotu 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 Deoxys-D, Mega Venusaur, and Gastrodon, 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.
I underlined some typos I know that's not my job but might as well.

Moves (set 2)
- Ice Beam does no good on Air Balloon to beat Donphan, so remove mention of Donphan (Flash Cannon -> Flash Cannon does the same)

Usage Tips (set 2)
- I strongly approve of the underlined sentence, props to you!



QC 3/3
 

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