Gen 2 Magneton NEW (GSC UU) [QC 0/2] [GP 0/?]

:gs/Magneton:


[OVERVIEW]
Magneton is a powerful Electric-Steel type special attacker that is able to temporarily wall non Hidden Power Ground variants of Granbull and Scyther, which dominate the tier, and also check Psychic types that don't have Fire Punch as coverage, such as Kadabra, Mr.Mime, and Hypno. Magneton uses its phenomenal STAB Thunder/Thunderbolt to threaten a good portion of the metagame with its ability to cripple threats through paralysis. Thanks to access to Hidden Power Ice, Magneton has the ability to deal super effective or neutral damage to almost all pokemon in the tier, including Ground types such as Nidoqueen, Gligar and Sandslash. It does have a few drawbacks compared to other Electrics in the tier, namely, its limited movepool, its slow Speed and poor HP and SpDef stats can make it inconsistent at checking fast Water types or Lanturn. Its quad-weakness to Ground typing and reliance on Hidden Power Ice to damage its checks means it will have a hard time stopping Nidoqueen, Piloswine and Quagsire from coming in to abuse it. Magneton not only has a vast competition with other more popular Electrics, namely Ampharos, Electabuzz and Lanturn, but it finds itself having to compete as a Normal resistant pokemon with the likes of Haunter and Omastar, both of which appear to handle their own checks more effectively and which do not risk being OHKO'd by a Hidden Power Ground after Spikes.

[SET]
name: Sleep Talker
move 1: Thunder / Thunderbolt
move 2: Hidden Power Ice / Reflect
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
item: Leftovers

Set Description
=========
Magneton's main set is its Sleep Talk set. Thunder is without a doubt the most powerful move in Magneton's arsenal, guaranteeing an OHKO against Flying types such as Dodrio and Scyther as well as Omastar, nearly guaranteeing an OHKO on Slowbro with Spikes. It can 2HKO Slowking and with spikes it can do so vs Granbull and Mr.Mime and even has a solid chance of 3HKOing Hypno at the start of a match, one of the most valuable feats of any special attacker in the tier. Thunder’s relatively high paralysis rate means that it can threaten to cripple many fast pokemon such as Mr.Mime, Electabuzz and Kadabra, as well as defensive pokemon, such as Bellossom. Thunderbolt is a slightly less potent but more accurate option. Unlike with Omastar, Slowbro and Scyther no longer risk getting OHKO'd by Thunderbolt but its higher accuracy gives a greater chance of success at OHKOing Gyarados, Qwilfish and Dodrio, and a more consistent chance of beating Blastoise, Politoed and Slowking in the 1v1. Thunderbolt’s lower base power, however, means it is less consistent against Granbull, who is still slower, but survives the odds of being 2HKO without spikes on the ground and has a chance of OHKOing it back with Hidden Power Ground.
Hidden Power Ice is a decent coverage move granting Magneton the coveted pseudo Bolt-beam coverage, which has a chance to OHKO Gligar and can be helpful to chip certain checks such as Nidoqueen and Bellossom which can force them to use Moonlight to recover HP. However, this can be easily brushed off from Nidoqueen who may capitalize off of the threat of an OHKO with Earthquake to recover its HP. Similarly, Piloswine who is a much more common threat in today's meta, may come in without taking any significant damage from Hidden Power Ice due to its typing. Hidden Power Water is a good alternative in today's meta where Piloswine has risen in usage and Bellossom has significantly decreased in usage. At the cost of a little bit of bulk, Hidden Power Water can deal enough damage to 3HKO Piloswine and grants significant chip damage to deter it from coming in. Reflect can be slashed over Hidden Power Ice, should the player decide to insert Magneton in a defensive core and use the support move before it invites an obvious switchin, such as Nidoqueen or Piloswine.

The third and fourth move are what make Magneton such a semi-reliable tank: Rest and Sleep talk help grant the slow Magneton with the much needed longevity to continue packing a punch against special attackers like Sleep Talk Mr.Mime, Hypno, Haunter and Bellossom, as well as enabling it to more reliably come in on Water types that it is meant to check, such as Gyarados and Blastoise. Sleep Talk and Rest let Magneton also absorb status from Mr.Mime, Hypno, Haunter, Bellossom, Jumpluff, Kadabra, and Lovely Kiss Granbull. Sleep talk lets Magneton continue to keep non-Hidden Power Ground Granbull in check, even after a few Curses.

Team Options
=========
Since Magneton is the Normal resist that has the hardest time dealing with Ground types, it requires defensive support from its teammates as well as offensive synergy. Magneton’s dual Electric and Steel typing and limited movepool means it may be OHKO'd by every STAB Earthquake, and that Ground Types like Piloswine, Nidoqueen, Gligar, Sandslash and Quagsire can come in on a predicted Thunder and make quick work of it. Since it can’t do much to threaten them once they are in, Magneton benefits from teammates that fit a defensive support role and can reliably come in on Earthquakes while threatening them back with offensive moves of their own. Bulky Water types such as Blastoise, Slowking and Slowbro and Sleep Talk Politoed are a convenient solution, because with their STAB Surf they can threaten out any Ground type and they are bulky enough to withstand one or two Thunders from Nidoqueen. Blastoise is faster than Nidoqueen and isn't afraid of Lovely Kiss from Nidoqueen thanks to its Rest Talk set, and it can offer support in Rapid Spin by removing Spikes which affect Magneton's ability to survive. In return these pokemon benefit from Magneton’s presence, because it resists both of their weaknesses, namely Grass and Electric. Gyarados’s ground immunity cannot be understated in a metagame where Piloswine has become more and more common and typically likes to switch into Magneton, although Gyarados fears Thunder from Nidoqueen. Gyarados can risk taking a hit from Granbull in attempt to scout for Hidden Power Ground and it acts as a soft check for Scyther. Slowbro and Slowking are defensively apt at handling threats like Granbull or opposing Psychic types without an Electric move and also Nidoqueen. For other checks against Ground types, Bellossom, Gligar, and Pinsir are also options since they either resist or are immune to Earthquake. Bellossom does not have as strong a STAB move with which to threaten Magneton's checks, but it can sponge a few hits from Nidoqueen or Gligar and threaten them with status. With Hidden Power Grass or Razor leaf it can threaten Sandslash, Quagsire or Piloswine offensively as well, though it must respect the latter's Ice Beams. Thanks to its unique defensive typing Gligar can come in on any combination of moves between Earthquake, Thunder, Rock Slide and Hidden Power Rock without any issue, making it an excellent defensive-offensive hybrid against all Ground types besides Piloswine, Ice Beam or Lovely Kiss Nidoqueen. It's fast enough to outspeed Nidoqueen meaning it can threaten to 2HKO it or even revenge KO her with an Earthquake. With Thief, Gligar can steal valuable leftovers away from Ground types, giving Magneton an easier time chipping them down to dangerous percents. Alongside a bulky Water type like Blastoise or Gyarados, Gligar and Magneton can make a powerful trio with great offensive and defensive synergies. Pinsir is a powerful wallbreaker who can capitalize off of Piloswine by coming in on Earthquake and setting setup with Swords Dance and then threatening it out with Double Edge or Submission. In return Magneton can act as a check against many Pokemon that wall or check Pinsir, such as Scyther, Qwilfish, Crobat and Haunter.

Some of the pokemon that the Sleep Talk variants of Magneton seem to offer support to are Ground types themselves, like Piloswine, Sandslash, Nidoqueen and Quagsire, who offer physical or mixed offence to help cleave through the special walls that stand in Magneton’s way, such as Chansey and Ampharos, in exchange for protection against Grass and Water types and other special attackers. Piloswine, while being a valid check to non-Fire Blast versions of Nidoqueen, can depend on Magneton’s Thunder to OHKO Gyarados and Blastoise. Magneton can check the likes of Blastoise, Politoed and Qwilsifh who pose a threat to Quagsire and Sandslash and may prevent any setup opportunities with Haze while threatening them with Surf and Hydro Pump. Magneton also acts as a decent check against Bellossom, which it can threaten with Hidden Power Ice or cripple badly with a paralysis inflicting move. Nidoqueen struggles to get past curse Granbull and hates facing Psychic types, especially the Bulky Hypno and the powerful Mr.Mime and Kadabra. Magneton can check curse rest talk or other variations of granbull that do not have Hidden Power Ground thanks to its Steel typing and it can potentially break through defensive Psychic types like Hypno and Sleep Talk Mr.Mime and even threaten fast Psychic types with paralysis in order to allow Nidoqueen to take them out with Earthquake. Nidoqueen can effectively dispose of any Chansey, Ampharos or Electabuzz that wall and potentially threaten Magneton.

Lastly, there are pokemon that offer offensive support to Magneton, despite not having key resistances. Hypno and Granbull don't resist Nidoqueen's attacks but are fairly safe options against it if they can avoid paralysis or getting crit.
Granbull has a 77.% chance of surviving a 3HKO from Nidoqueen's Earthquake after Spikes damage, and can immediately threaten to setup Curse. Furthermore, Magneton can easily dispose of other Normal resists such as Omastar, Haunter and Kabutops and even the bulky Slowbro, all of which act as defensive checks against Granbull. Hypno switches in better on special attacks and nearly 2HKOes Nidoqueen with its STAB Psychic or can even put her to sleep with Hypnosis. Furthermore, it can offer more support for longevity with Reflect and Light Screen or even offer it paralysis support in Thunder wave. Magneton can OHKO Scyther, acting as a small road block for a setup sweep since it can survive a Hidden Power Ground unboosted and is not worried about Scyther with Hidden Power Bug, but it must respect the possibility that Scyther uses Baton Pass to a ground type. Similarly, Kadabra and Mr.Mime also benefit from Magneton's ability to check HP Bug variants of Scyther. Mr.Mime can use Thief to weaken Hypno, Bellossom, Granbull, and Sleep Talk Lanturn and make Magneton's time 3HKO or 2HKOing these pokemon a lot easier. Mr.Mime and Kadabra outspeed Nidoqueen and can 2HKO it for Magneton. Mr.Mime offers may use Hypnosis to put Nidoqueen and Hidden Power Ground Granbull to sleep while both it and Kadabra are able to bait out any of the set up sweepers and use Encore to lock Magneton's checks like Quagsire or Sandslash into using Swords Dance and Belly Drum repeatedly. Magneton also handles Dodrio, who can readily take advantage of these 3 Psychic types' frail defences.
Qwilfish offers Magneton with the much needed offensive support in Spikes, which makes its pseudo-bolt-beam coverage that much more menacing. Like Gyarados, Qwilfish can outspeed Nidoqueen and threaten to 2HKO her and other Ground-types with Hydro pump if healthy enough. Furthermore it learns Haze which can effectively slowdown any setup users that might be getting out of hand, such as Swords Dance Scyther or Kabutops, both of whom Magneton cannot switch into if they are running Hidden Power Ground.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Magneton has very limited options to run moves besides the commonly seen Rest and Sleep Talk set. There are other options for Hidden power Ice though not advisable in most cases: hidden power Grass can 2HKO Quagsire and 3HKO Piloswine, but Magneton loses valuable coverage against the powerful Nidoqueen, as well as Gligar and Grass types. Hidden Power Fire suffers from similar issues but at the very least allows Magneton to threaten opposing Magneton with a 2HKO, while still dealing super effective damage to Piloswine and Bellossom.
Thunder Wave is a valid support move worth considering, due to how crippling it can be against faster pokemon, or even slow and bulky ones that rely on their ability to click Rest unhindered just to wall Magneton. Agility has seen usage in conjunction with Substitute over Rest and Sleep Talk, offering it the fringe option of a setup sweeper by granting it the much needed speed boost to tear through teams. This does however put it in a tighter spot against specially defensive pokemon like Hypno, whom Magneton cannot reliably check without the ability to replenish its HP.


Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground types**: thanks to their STAB Earthquakes, all ground types are naturally nearly perfect counters to Magneton if it cannot fight back. Nidoqueen and Piloswine gain tons of momentum and can secure themselves kills with their excellent array of mixed offence. Furthermore, they can regain any health lost from Moonlight and Rest, respectively, while Quagsire can force the player into uncomfortable situations where it has to outplay a potential Belly Drum sweep. Piloswine and Quagsire are not deterred from Hidden Power Ice either but they do fear Hidden Power Grass and are slower than Magneton. Sandslash can be threatening by setting up a Substitute and Swords Dance to sweep, but is slower than Magneton and not bulky enough to survive a 2HKO from Hidden Power Ice, Grass or Water.

**Electric types**: Ampharos not only is bulkier but can also setup a Light Screen and make Magneton's time threatening Psychic types a lot harder. Electabuzz occasionally has Cross Chop, with the potential of crit OHKOing Mag. However, Electabuzz often lack the moveset to be threatening to Magneton's teammates and recover from a paralysis inflicted by Thunder. Both of Magneton's rivals can also run Fire Punch to deal super-effective damage. Opposing Magneton also create an awkward stalemate situation since they resist all of each other's moves unless one has Hidden Power Fire.

**Vileplume and Victreebell**: though probably the softest among Mag's checks, these have the potential to be very annoying matchups. Victreebell and the rare Vileplume are often seen running Hidden Power Ground, which compensates for Mag's immunity to STAB Sludgebomb. They can OHKO magneton after a single Swords Dance. The two don't, however ,like to take repeated hits from Hidden Power Ice and also lose their effectiveness from a well timed paralysis from Thunder.

**Chansey**: Chansey can seize the opportunity to use Heal bell and heal its teammates and wall Magneton, causing it to waste PP. That said, it should be noted that Chansey is unlikely to completely stall it out of its PP without Lighst Screen or other high PP supporting moves.

**Fire types**: Arcanine has that chance to use Fire Blast or Flamethrower to OHKO magneton (or nearly OHKO it) the same applies for the rare Flareon. Magneton does have a chance to 2HKO Arcanine with Thunder after Spikes. Flareon suffers from similar issues but is slower than Magneton.

**Any Hidden Power Ground User**: these include but aren't limited to Scyther, Kabutops, Granbull, Dodrio, Victreebell and occasionally Gyarados. Coincidentally, these pokemon all are users of a setup move or are common recipients of baton pass, hence it is not advisable to take risks from a Hidden Power (although Gyarados frequently run Hidden power Flying).

- Written by: [[cherryb0ng, 421511]]
- Quality checked by: [[User, ], [User, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[User, ]]
 
Estarossa

Here. I kept an old skeleton but I tried to make it concise and left out old useless stuff like Tri Attack and whatnot.

Do excuse the fact that it's still a long read. If I really need to redo it all from scratch because somehow I suck then I'm sorry.
 

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