[OVERVIEW]
Electric
========
Magnet Pull granting Magnezone the ability to trap annoying or threatening Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Choice-locked Excadrill makes it a decent choice for an Electric team. Magnezone's Steel typing gives it a resistance to multiple types along with an immunity to Poison-type moves. Coupled with its great bulk, Magnezone can act as a great check to Pokemon of the types it resists that do not carry super effective coverage. Furthermore, this lets Magnezone act as an excellent pivot with Volt Switch. It has excellent Special Attack, allowing it to act as a strong wallbreaker. However, its Steel typing increases its weakness to Ground-type moves while also making it weak to common Fighting- and Fire-type coverage. Magnezone has very low Speed, which can be easily exploited. It lacks strong coverage moves and has to rely on Hidden Power Fire for coverage against the Steel-types it traps. However, Magnezone is still an excellent pick for an Electric team due to its ability to beat threats that Electric teams otherwise struggle with, like Excadrill and Tapu Bulu.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Choice Specs
ability: Magnet Pull
nature: Modest
evs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Thunderbolt provides a strong STAB move with excellent coverage. Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB move that allows Magnezone to hit Ground-types that tend to switch in like Hippowdon for solid damage while also nailing Fairy-, Ice-, and Rock-types for super effective damage. Volt Switch allows Magnezone to pivot out of unfavorable matchups and let Pokemon that are more suitable for dealing with the foe come in. Hidden Power Fire lets it hit the Steel-types it traps such as Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, and Excadrill.
Set Details
========
Choice Specs along with a Modest nature grants Magnezone the wallbreaking power it needs, letting it damage the opposing team enough for sweepers like Alolan Raichu to clean up. Magnet Pull lets it trap and remove Steel-types. 128 Speed EVs allow Magnezone to outspeed and KO defensive Mega Scizor. The rest of the EVs maximize its wallbreaking potential and overall bulk.
Usage Tips
========
Magnezone's 4x weakness to Ground can be very troublesome at times. Even Pokemon like Latios can carry Ground-type coverage, so try to scout for such moves before letting Magnezone come in. Similarly, try not to switch it directly in against foes carrying Choice items like Excadrill and Tapu Bulu, as they can lock themselves into super effective moves. Scout for what move they choose to lock themselves into first. Sacrificing a Pokemon to a Steel-type to see what the Pokemon locks itself into is fine as well. For example, sacrificing Zapdos to an Excadrill that locks itself into Rock Slide before bringing Magnezone in is an optimal play. However, switching it in immediately against defensive threats like Ferrothorn to remove them is fine. Due to its decent bulk, switching it in to tank a hit or two from Pokemon that can't hit it for super effective damage is fine if its trapping utility is unneeded. Use pivoting moves like U-turn and Volt Switch to bring Magnezone in, as it hates being worn down. If Magnezone's ability to trap Steel-types is unneeded, it can be used early-game to wallbreak and make it easier for sweepers like Tapu Koko and Alolan Raichu to clean up. Be careful about what you choose to lock Magnezone into. Locking it into a move that is resisted by multiple Pokemon on the opposing team generally results in a huge loss of momentum.
Team Options
========
Magnezone provides excellent synergy because of the pivoting cores that it forms with Pokemon like Tapu Koko. Tapu Koko also benefits from the removal of Ferrothorn and Excadrill, which lets it freely spam its Electric-type STAB moves. It also provides Electric Terrain to further increase the power of Magnezone's Electric-type moves while getting rid of Fighting-types that beat Magnezone. Alolan Raichu appreciates Magnezone's wallbreaking power making it much easier for it to clean up, and it excels at removing threatening Fighting-types. Zapdos provides Magnezone with a great wall to fall back on against threatening Ground- and Fighting-types. Rotom-W appreciates the removal of Mold Breaker Excadrill and Ferrothorn, as both are great checks to it. Its resistance to Fire-type moves and immunity to Ground-type moves makes it a good partner for Magnezone. Alolan Golem provides Stealth Rock support, breaking a potential Sturdy or Focus Sash. It resists Fire-type moves, making it a great check to Pokemon like Victini, but stacks the weakness to Fighting-type moves and the 4x weakness to Ground-type moves. Xurkitree, similarly to most other Electric-types, loves the removal of its two excellent checks, Ferrothorn and Excadrill, making it much easier to spam Thunderbolt against Steel teams. However, it can be extremely hard to fit both Xurkitree and Magnezone in the same team given how important the support other Electric-types provide.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Electric
--------
A set utilising Choice Scarf can be used in conjunction with Hidden Power Ice to lure in threats like Landorus. However, it is not as viable due to the fact that Electric teams have better Choice Scarf users like Xurkitree and that even with a Choice Scarf, Magnezone's Speed is rather low. Air Balloon is another semi-viable item. It makes Magnezone a perfect counter to a Choice-locked Excadrill, as it has to lock itself into either Iron Head or Rock Slide, but this causes Magnezone to lose out on a lot of power.
Checks and Counters
===================
Electric
--------
**Ground-types**: Ground-types, especially those that resist Flash Cannon like Seismitoad and Excadrill, can easily take a hit from Magnezone and KO back with their Ground-type STAB moves.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types like Heracross and Breloom threaten Magnezone with their super effective STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types like Mega Charizard X and Entei can easily take care of Magnezone with their super effective Fire-type moves.
**Specially Defensive Walls**: Specially defensive walls like Chansey and Gastrodon can heal damage taken from any attack that Magnezone goes for and can slowly whittle it down.
**Electric-immune Pokemon**: Certain Electric-immune Pokemon that resist Flash Cannon like Alolan Marowak and Lanturn are excellent switch-ins to Magnezone, as it cannot deal much damage to either of them.
Electric
========
Magnet Pull granting Magnezone the ability to trap annoying or threatening Steel-types like Ferrothorn and Choice-locked Excadrill makes it a decent choice for an Electric team. Magnezone's Steel typing gives it a resistance to multiple types along with an immunity to Poison-type moves. Coupled with its great bulk, Magnezone can act as a great check to Pokemon of the types it resists that do not carry super effective coverage. Furthermore, this lets Magnezone act as an excellent pivot with Volt Switch. It has excellent Special Attack, allowing it to act as a strong wallbreaker. However, its Steel typing increases its weakness to Ground-type moves while also making it weak to common Fighting- and Fire-type coverage. Magnezone has very low Speed, which can be easily exploited. It lacks strong coverage moves and has to rely on Hidden Power Fire for coverage against the Steel-types it traps. However, Magnezone is still an excellent pick for an Electric team due to its ability to beat threats that Electric teams otherwise struggle with, like Excadrill and Tapu Bulu.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Volt Switch
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Choice Specs
ability: Magnet Pull
nature: Modest
evs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Thunderbolt provides a strong STAB move with excellent coverage. Flash Cannon is a secondary STAB move that allows Magnezone to hit Ground-types that tend to switch in like Hippowdon for solid damage while also nailing Fairy-, Ice-, and Rock-types for super effective damage. Volt Switch allows Magnezone to pivot out of unfavorable matchups and let Pokemon that are more suitable for dealing with the foe come in. Hidden Power Fire lets it hit the Steel-types it traps such as Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, and Excadrill.
Set Details
========
Choice Specs along with a Modest nature grants Magnezone the wallbreaking power it needs, letting it damage the opposing team enough for sweepers like Alolan Raichu to clean up. Magnet Pull lets it trap and remove Steel-types. 128 Speed EVs allow Magnezone to outspeed and KO defensive Mega Scizor. The rest of the EVs maximize its wallbreaking potential and overall bulk.
Usage Tips
========
Magnezone's 4x weakness to Ground can be very troublesome at times. Even Pokemon like Latios can carry Ground-type coverage, so try to scout for such moves before letting Magnezone come in. Similarly, try not to switch it directly in against foes carrying Choice items like Excadrill and Tapu Bulu, as they can lock themselves into super effective moves. Scout for what move they choose to lock themselves into first. Sacrificing a Pokemon to a Steel-type to see what the Pokemon locks itself into is fine as well. For example, sacrificing Zapdos to an Excadrill that locks itself into Rock Slide before bringing Magnezone in is an optimal play. However, switching it in immediately against defensive threats like Ferrothorn to remove them is fine. Due to its decent bulk, switching it in to tank a hit or two from Pokemon that can't hit it for super effective damage is fine if its trapping utility is unneeded. Use pivoting moves like U-turn and Volt Switch to bring Magnezone in, as it hates being worn down. If Magnezone's ability to trap Steel-types is unneeded, it can be used early-game to wallbreak and make it easier for sweepers like Tapu Koko and Alolan Raichu to clean up. Be careful about what you choose to lock Magnezone into. Locking it into a move that is resisted by multiple Pokemon on the opposing team generally results in a huge loss of momentum.
Team Options
========
Magnezone provides excellent synergy because of the pivoting cores that it forms with Pokemon like Tapu Koko. Tapu Koko also benefits from the removal of Ferrothorn and Excadrill, which lets it freely spam its Electric-type STAB moves. It also provides Electric Terrain to further increase the power of Magnezone's Electric-type moves while getting rid of Fighting-types that beat Magnezone. Alolan Raichu appreciates Magnezone's wallbreaking power making it much easier for it to clean up, and it excels at removing threatening Fighting-types. Zapdos provides Magnezone with a great wall to fall back on against threatening Ground- and Fighting-types. Rotom-W appreciates the removal of Mold Breaker Excadrill and Ferrothorn, as both are great checks to it. Its resistance to Fire-type moves and immunity to Ground-type moves makes it a good partner for Magnezone. Alolan Golem provides Stealth Rock support, breaking a potential Sturdy or Focus Sash. It resists Fire-type moves, making it a great check to Pokemon like Victini, but stacks the weakness to Fighting-type moves and the 4x weakness to Ground-type moves. Xurkitree, similarly to most other Electric-types, loves the removal of its two excellent checks, Ferrothorn and Excadrill, making it much easier to spam Thunderbolt against Steel teams. However, it can be extremely hard to fit both Xurkitree and Magnezone in the same team given how important the support other Electric-types provide.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Electric
--------
A set utilising Choice Scarf can be used in conjunction with Hidden Power Ice to lure in threats like Landorus. However, it is not as viable due to the fact that Electric teams have better Choice Scarf users like Xurkitree and that even with a Choice Scarf, Magnezone's Speed is rather low. Air Balloon is another semi-viable item. It makes Magnezone a perfect counter to a Choice-locked Excadrill, as it has to lock itself into either Iron Head or Rock Slide, but this causes Magnezone to lose out on a lot of power.
Checks and Counters
===================
Electric
--------
**Ground-types**: Ground-types, especially those that resist Flash Cannon like Seismitoad and Excadrill, can easily take a hit from Magnezone and KO back with their Ground-type STAB moves.
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types like Heracross and Breloom threaten Magnezone with their super effective STAB moves.
**Fire-types**: Fire-types like Mega Charizard X and Entei can easily take care of Magnezone with their super effective Fire-type moves.
**Specially Defensive Walls**: Specially defensive walls like Chansey and Gastrodon can heal damage taken from any attack that Magnezone goes for and can slowly whittle it down.
**Electric-immune Pokemon**: Certain Electric-immune Pokemon that resist Flash Cannon like Alolan Marowak and Lanturn are excellent switch-ins to Magnezone, as it cannot deal much damage to either of them.
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