Community POTW #055

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week, and this week we have another classic

It's the weird Electric/Steel-type Pokémon, Magnezone

It's capable of quite a lot, as is its pre-evolution, Magneton.

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/462.shtml

Go nuts

 

[YoungGoose]

I know this is probably a set that nobody would use but hey it works

Electric Storm
Moves
Thunder
Flash Cannon
Rain Dance
Magnet Rise
Item- Damp Rock
EV's- 252 SpA/ 252 Def/ 4 HP
Ability- Analytic/ Sturdy
Nature- Modest (+SpA, -Atk)

The idea of this set is pretty simple. Turn one, Magnet Rise, especially if they have a ground type, or anything that can learn Earthquake. Turn two, Rain Dance then after that, start hitting Thunder. Flash Cannon can be used on anything that isn't affected by Thunder.

I know that there are better Rain setters then Magnezone and because of that, this set seems stupid but hey it actually works pretty well

 

[TurtwigAndSquirtle]

Positives:
Its bulk isn't bad and has good sp atk.
Good abilities

Negatives:
4x ground weakness can barely be countered. It also has 2 other common weaknesses.
Low coverage.
Magnezone should've gotten Levitate! It levitates!

Choice Magnet
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Water]/Signal Beam/Mirror Coat
- Tri Attack

Hits very hard, but slow. Ability and item increase its power immensely. Moves are powerful. Hidden Power to counter ground and fire. You can switch HP out for Signal Beam (coverage) or Mirror Coat (not the best choice for Choice though), stick with HP for gen VI native. Switch Thunder for Thunderbolt in rain teams.

 

[Mestorn]

Time and time again, I have heard Magnezone to be a great anti-Steel pokemon thanks to Magnet Pull. Yet, I can’t help but feel leery about an anti-Steel pokemon being 4x week to Earthquake.

Complaints about a massive Ground weakness aside, Magnezone actually has a very good typing. 11 resistances and 1 immunity in exchange for 3 weaknesses. Sign me up! Magnezone’s defenses complement this as well: a 70/130/90 spread ensures that even boosted resisted hits are not doing much for damage. 130 SATK is just icing on the cake: it allows Magnezone to hit obscenely hard while tanking hits in turn. Unfortunately Magnezone suffers from the “Electric-type moveset syndrome” in where nearly all of its special moves are Electric, meaning it is heavily reliant on Hidden Power for coverage. In addition, the 3 weaknesses it does have are frightfully common; Ground, Fighting and Fire, and neutral special attacks can take advantage of its lesser special bulk to take down Magnezone easily. Magnezone has many things that make it great, but its weaknesses are prevalent as well. Use wisely.

In the Magnezone
Magnezone (Analytic)
Item: Leftovers
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power (Ice/Grass/Fire/Water)
-Substitute/Thunderwave/Tri Attack
Nature: Modest (+SATK, -ATK) or Quiet (+SATK, -SPD)
EVs: 252 HP/252 SATK/ 4 SDEF

A moveset meant to take advantage of Magnezone’s large SATK and its great bulk. Analytic gives the equivalent of a Life Orb power boost to all of Magnezone’s moves if it moves last (which thanks to a poor Base 60 SPD, is relatively easy). Leftovers increases durability. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are your obligatory STAB moves, doing horrific damage to anything that does not resist them. You have you type of Choice for Hidden Power, though anything that takes out Ground types is greatly appreciated. Your final move is up to preference. Substitute works well with that bulk, and gives Magnezone a shield against a single super effective attack. Thunderwave may defeat the purpose of Analytic, but it also provides valuable support to Magnezone’s teammates. Tri Attack is another SATK with good neutral coverage.

Additional Options

Reflect/Light Screen
-Great support options and they emphasize Magnezone’s already impressive bulk

Air Balloon/Magnet Rise
-Ground moves are Magnezone’s Achilles heel, so options to negate it are greatly appreciated.

Mirror Coat
-Give opponents targeting your weaker defense a nasty surprise.

Volt Switch
-For the times when you have to get out of dodge.

Signal Beam
-Weak but hits Grass types. Transfer Only.

Zone Defense
Stopping Magnezone isn't that easy. As mentioned before, it resists a HUGE portion of the game, and at least on the physical side, neutral hits don't bother it that much. Statuses are largely useless as well: sporting immunities to Poison and Paralysis and burns don't bug the magnet much either leaves you pretty much with Sleep. Magnet Pull screws over Steel types not named Aegislash, as few Steel types can withstand repeated assualts from Magnezone's heart stopping SATK. Ferrothorn is a notable exception, provided it has Leech Seed, Leftovers and Power Whip it has a good chance to win One on One with a Choice Specs Magnezone, but will be severely hurting right after (unless Magnezone has Hidden Power Fire, in which case, Ferrothorn is screwed). Shed Skin, Volt Turn, U-Turn and Baton Pass can enable your Steels to escape, though that still means you are feeding another one of your pokemon a Thunderbolt. Water-Ground types like Gastrodon and Quaqsire check Magnezone unless it has Hidden Power Grass. Opposing Electric types also resist both of Magnezone's STABs, but few have options of dealing with it quickly (Mega-Manetric, and Electivire have a good array of options) and will often take considerable damage in the mean time. Revenge killing Magnezone is rather easy. It is easily outsped both in and out of Trick Room and being quad weak to the most popular offensive move in the game (Earthquake) does it no favors. Also, Magnezone suffers from the same problem as so many other bulky prospects: lack of reliable recovery. Repeated assaults and chip damage will wear it down. Unfortunately, due to Magnezone's power, this is often a tactic of last resort: you are liable to lose a chunk of your team without good prediction.

 

[Chinonso]

Magnezone is another one of my favourite Pokemon:

Positives:
+ Its typing is excellent defensively, allowing 11 resistances and an immunity to Poison, meaning it isn't affected by Toxic, one of the most used moves in the game.
+ Its Defense and Special Defense are base 115 and 90 respectively, which allow it to take hits very well.
+ With base 130 Special Attack (which is almost as strong as a Porygon-Z), the guy has a lot of offensive capabilities.
+ Learns both screen moves. I guess that's nice on a defensive Pokemon like Magnezone.
+ A cool design.

Negatives:
- Base 60 Speed isn't very good, as it cannot outspeed most of its counters.
- A limited movepool outside of Electric and Steel and Normal typemoves.
- Its bulk is hindered by a poor Base 70 HP.
- It has a 4x weakness to Ground (specifically Earthquake), and if you want to get rid of that weakness, you have to teach it Magnet Rise, using up a whole space in your move slots.
- Unlike Magneton, it can't use the Eviolite to make it a wall both physically and specially.
- No longer resisted by Ghost and Dark type moves. That's a shame.

Abilities:
Magnet Pull: Prevents Steel types from escaping or switching out if Magnezone is in battle. This ability is actually pretty cool on Magnezone because Electric types hit for neutral damage on Steel types. They then can't switch and their main STAB move is resisted 4x by Magnezone.
Sturdy: Prevents OHKO's on Magnezone. This ability isn't very good because Magnezone is already beefy but I guess you can use it if you get hit by an Earthquake or something.
Hidden Ability -
Analytic: Attack power increases by 1.3x if you go last on that turn. Well, it gives use for Magnezone's horrible base 60 Speed by actually powering it up before it attacks. This is the recommended ability.

Moveset:
-Flash Cannon
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Water)
-Signal Beam/Tri Attack/Mirror Coat
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EV's: 252 SpA, 252 HP and 4 Def.

Alternatively, you could stick Magnezone into a rain team and give it Thunder, which has 30 more power than Thundetbolt, and 100% accuracy because of the rain, making Politoed a great partner.

 

[Deltadromeus]

Okay, this is just an awful pokemon when I fight it.

Pros:
-Massive Special Attack, 130 is a beast
-It gets good stabs. Steel and Electric do a good job of hitting everything neutral or better
-It gets Zap Cannon. I don't know why, but I just love that move. If it wasn't for the accuracy, it would be brutal.
-70/115/90 are decent defenses. Not hit super? Not a KO
-Strudy can be very annoying
-Its not six Magnemites stuck together

Cons
-It doesnt have levitate, WHY?
-Steel-Electric, while good STAB wise, is a horrible typing, 4x week to Ground? No thank you
-You can only get it on Mt Connor? Does it work in other mountains? If not, its a pain to get.
-60 speed. To fast for a trick room, to slow to do much anything else
-Small move pool

Alright, this is the set I'd run

Terminator T-10

Magnesone: Choice Specs, Life Orb, Air Ballon
Sturdy
Evs: 252 Attack, 252 Defense, 4 Health
Modest (+SpA -Atk)
Flash Cannon
Thunderbolt
Signal Beam
Charge Beam


When looking for moves, I found nothing. Just stick to using Flash Cannon and Thunderbolt. Charge beam is really only there for life orb sets when you need to just do a bit of chip damage, and the boost is nice. Signal beam is... there for filler. I don't like using Hidden Power for anything. Choice Specs means that Flash Cannon does a ton of damage. Its rediculously. It killed my Garchomp from 75% health! And sturdy kept it alive after my boosted earthquake. Life orb is very situational, and I honestly wouldn't run it. Air Ballon is just there as an added alternative. Better than life orb, but its worse than specs. I guess if your partner is Garchomp, you could run it.
And now, for fun

You where zapped? How shocking!

Magnezone: Air Ballon
Sturdy
252 Special Attack, 252 Health, 4 Defense
Modest (+SpA -Atk)
Lock On
Zap Cannon
Flash Cannon
Charge Beam/Thunderbolt

This is simply a Zap Cannon gimmick, and if not interfered, can be bad.

In doubles, he's the same really. Just kill everything. However, a good partner would be Ammongus, who can soak up hits while using rage powder. Another would be Dusknoir/Duskclops. Both learn Telekenisis and trick room, making up for Magnezone's speed, as well as being able to get one sucsessful Zap Cannon off. Overall, magnzone is not to good, but I like him, and he is very nostolgic of my fourth gen expirience. I just never had one.

 

[ShafikLight]

Magnezone is becoming a more increasingly common way to deal with physical steel threats due to its ability to trap them with the Magnet Pull ability.
As already evident due to the ban of Mega gengar and I believe suspect test of Shadow Tag, any ability that can trap a pokemon makes the pokemon extremely dangerous and difficult to play around.
If a player or their team is not built around to deal with such threats then prepare to lose a mon pretty easily
The most common set I have seen is
timid nature 252evs sp atk 252 evs speed
item choice scarf
moves: volt switch
thunderbolt
flash cannon
hidden power fire

So why is this threat so dangerous? Well when common steel types such as Skamory, Ferrothorn, scizor, klefki to name but a few, most of which are fairly supportive so the tactic of this set is to switch magnezone on a skarmory, or ferrothorn or any steel mon as it attempts to lay hazards. In doing so Magnezone instantly traps them and with the help of HP Fire pretty much is going to gurantee an OHKO or 2HKO at the very least.
Now the reason max speed with choice scarf is used is due to Magnezone's pretty poor speed and even with that it cannot outrun most things after a +1 speed increase unless they run adamant of modest nature (although I'm more thinking of dragon dance users here) If i recall correctly timid scarf Magnezone should be able to outspeed plus one gyarados and maybe it's mega counterpart but I''m not 100% sure on this so verification is required.
An alternative steel trapper set that has less utility due to it's decrease in speed is to run a modest nature with 252 spatk evs with the majority of the rest putting the evs into HP and the rest into speed to just about outspeed the threats that Magnezone is attempting to lock in with it's ability
I personally think the choice scarf version is the most dangerous and definitely the set I fear the most when I am running a team with any of the steel types I have mentioned.
The threats of locking pokemon in with their abilities such as shadow tag gothitelle running trick and a choice item along with sash trap dugtrio has become so common that if you would rather not have to play around the 50/50 chance of double switching you could run a shed shell on such pokemon that would normally be trapped by such abilities (in fact I have been testing ferrothorn with leech seed, protect and shed shell on certain teams that don't have as much bulk due to the fact double switching can sometimes be a bit more risky meaning I can allow the trapper threat to switch in allowing me a free switch)
Countering Magnezone is usually done best with other scarfers, one of the most effective is Landorus, if you predict the electric move it allows you a free switch and with volt/turn cores in teams getting free switches of your faster mons certainly helps. Also if you predict the HP fire switching in accordingly is useful. Latios/as running HP Fire can also counter Magnezone as it can take hits from magnezone, even the choice specs variant, fairly well due to them resisting most of Magnezone's moves and being able to roost off the damage on the out switch of the magnezone.
Overall magnezone and other trappers are becoming more common, so common in fact I went up a team recently in OU that was running scarfed magnezone and magneton just to be able to trap pokemon accordingly and thanks to the support of the rest of their team I was not able to deal with both steel trappers in one game. So you don't get trapped and lose a mon over nothing good predictions are required and as generally to play a pokemon like magnezone correctly the user does have to go with the most obvious play it makes trying to counter it somewhat easier if you make the more obvious predictions and right plays.

 

[KillerDraco]

Analytic: Attack power increases by 1.3x if you go last on that turn. Well, it gives use for Magnezone's horrible base 60 Speed by actually powering it up before it attacks. This is the recommended ability.

The reason Magnezone is used at all is because of Magnet Pull, so it is always recommended over Analytic. Don't get me wrong, Magnezone can actually use Analytic to decent effect, but its ability to trap steel types and dispose of them is why people use it these days. Magnezone is extremely valuable thanks to powerful fairy types such as Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon. Many teams rely on steel types to stop the aforementioned Fairy types from spamming powerful hyper voices, but when Magnezone comes in and traps your Ferrothorn, Scizor, or Skarmory, it can break down their defensive cores and allow your fairies to spam frighteningly powerful Pixilate Hyper Voices, Play Roughs, etc.

I know most people are going to suggest Choice Specs, but in fact Choice Specs has declined in popularity. There's a new Magnezone at the top of the ladder who's become more popular, and that is...

ScarfZone
Moveset:
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power (Fire)
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

...ScarfZone! You may be thinking, max speed and Scarf on something with base 60 speed? That's crazy talk. Well, much like the Scarf Tyranitar of yesteryear, it actually serves an important purpose by flipping speed tiers on their head. With this set Magnezone outspeeds up to base 114's, meaning it gains the ability to check a lot of things that it otherwise wouldn't be able to. Noteworthy examples of this include Mega Pinsir and Adamant Talonflame, both of whom are popular for their "Birdspam" strategy, which Magnezone can easily switch into thanks to good bulk and a 4x resistance to flying, and either force them out or nail them with a powerful electric STAB before they can unleash their coverage moves such as Close Combat or Flare Blitz. This allows Magnezone to have more utility outside of just trapping steel types. That said, it's still very good at trapping things like Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, and promptly frying them.

Having both Volt Switch and Thunderbolt on a set helps due to the fact that they have very different functions; Volt Switch has its usual switching mechanisms to allow you to GTFO and steal momentum, while Thunderbolt has higher power and can be spammed if the need arises. Hidden Power Fire is the only HP you should be using; without it, Magnezone has a bit more difficulty with Scizor, and can't touch Ferrothorn, thus defeating its niche. Flash Cannon rounds off the coverage, and lets it hit opposing Fairy types, 2HKOing most of them (barring the most specially defensive Sylveon).

 

[Pokeman Man]

Everyone saying that Magnezone should've got Levitate, I do sorta agree with you, but you do have to remember that Magnet Pull is what gave Magnezone its niche for dealing with annoying Steel types like Ferrothorn and Skarmory

 

[Kraleck]

Magnezone. If anything got a Mega Evolution, a few of my friends and I expected this to. It's still rather effective, though.

Stats:
-HP - Average - Base 70 is the most common HP you will ever see...
-Attack - Below Average - ...and Base 70 is below the 80 Average that you can calculate. Stick with Special.
-Defense - Great-bordering-Godly - Base 115 is a good Defense, but Earthquake wrecks it regardless.
-Sp.Atk - Incredible - Base 130 Sp.Atk is impressive, but the lack of Type diversity of Magnezone's Movepool is frightening.
-Sp.Def - Good - Base 90 is not the best, but definitely beware of potential Earth Power users.
-Speed - Dead Zone - Base 60 is too high for my Trick Room liking, but it's higher than most of the slow-paced Steel Types.

Abilities:
-Magnet Pull - With the introduction of Fairy Types, Steel Types have become more common. This helps punish Steel Types not named Aegislash (remember that Ghost Types cannot be trapped anymore), especially ones weak to Electric (like Skarmory and Empoleon). Just beware of Steel Types with Earthquake access like Aggron and Steelix.
-Sturdy - Guarantees you'll survive a single hit unless they have Mold Breaker (or one of its copies). With Steel Types being more commonly used, this is less useful, but it's still really good.
-Analytic (Hidden, Available [Poké Transfer or Friend Safari]) - Another good Ability thanks to your low-ish Speed, but the prevalence of Steel Types makes Magnet Pull too good to not use.

Overall, Magnezone is a cool and weird Pokémon with 3 good Abilities, decent Stat spread, some interesting Moves, and a common set of Weaknesses. Fire, Fighting, and Ground are really common Move Types and Magnezone has little way of dealing without Hidden Power. Steel Types that are Neutral, Resistant, or Immune to Electric can be trouble without Hidden Power as well, especially ones that carry Magnet Pull themselves. When considering offensive Moves, Flash Cannon and Discharge/Thunderbolt (depending on your need to Paralyze) are the commonly seen Moves with options for Signal Beam, Tri Attack, Volt Switch, Charge Beam, and Hidden Power (Water or Fire) being likely.

 

[Mudkipz_Lulz]

Pre-Evolution Corner!!!


Magneton ;082;


Magneton was a Pokemon that always had special sweeping potential with Base 120 Special Attack but that was hindered by not the best defenses, Base 70 Speed, and horrible HP... along with a 4x weakness to Earthquake.

Did somebody say Eviolite?


When this bunch of Magnemite holds Eviolite its defenses go up to 50/142/105 if I'm not mistaken. Pair that with the Special Attack and Speed stated above and I can work with it.


Now losing your item is always tough... with these stats and access to dual screens I would want to run that but you can't have Light clay. Scarf or Specs would blow Magnezone out of the water... can't do that either. Somebody earlier said Rain Dance setter, no damp rock here. So we are limited.



Your best bet is to run TrapRise Magneton with Thunderbolt (Thunder in Rain teams), Flash Cannon, and HP Fire.


Goal is to trap a steel, Magnet Rise up and smash.


With the sheer bulk and slow speed Analytic is like being able to hold life orb so that is cool too.

 

[Psynergy]

Whoa, yes, the Magnemite family, so this is one I like. You know you've got a fantastic evolutionary line when each member is great in some tier. I don't really like Hidden Power Water for Magnezone though, Flash Cannon will hit most Ground types just as hard and HP Water doesn't really hit a whole lot as opposed to Fire. 95% of the time you should be using HP Fire on Magnezone.

I've been using this set against KillerDraco's advice to me to not use Analytic, but I like what I've gotten out of it.

Choice Magnet
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SAtk / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Volt Switch

Part of this set's effectiveness actually relies on the fact that most people will expect you to use Specs Magnet Pull or even just Scarf. This set is also amazing against stall teams that lack Chansey or have lost Chansey since switching becomes dangerous. There's also a ridiculous amount of people right now using Shed Shell on Steels that Magnezone normally traps, so I'm finding less opportunity cost for running Analytic over Magnet Pull at least for now. Typically Magnet Pull offers more utility though, and I wouldn't recommend Analytic for a typical Magnezone.

I want to move on to Magneton though, my favorite Gen 1 Pokemon. Especially in RU, Magneton is a fantastic bulky attacker with Eviolite as stated above, running 252 HP / 252 SpAtt with the same moves as Magnezone. The difference being that you will usually use HP Grass and Analytic if in RU since trapping isn't as useful. Alternatively Magneton runs Specs Analytic (252 SpAtt / 252 Spe) with the same set as Eviolite. Magneton also has utility in higher tiers, or so I'm told, though typically you would use Magnezone over Magneton in OU.

I'd talk about Sturdy Juice Magnemite in LC because that was a thing the last time I tried it, but I don't really play LC so I won't mention much other than Magnemite is good in LC.

The Magnemite line is a gold mine of competitive viability.

 

[pika250]

Level 1 Magnemite strats anyone? Too bad it's vulnerable to multi-hit moves (which aren't too common) and the occasional burn from moves like Scald...

 

[LinksOcarina]

A simple, one trick pony of a pokemon is Magnezone. Good thing it's a good trick in the end huh?

The only reason for higher tier competitive play is Magnet Pull to take down supportive steel types with either Hidden Power Fire. The best set is the choice scarf set mentioned above by killer draco, but you also have Choice Specs for extra power to do his thing. You can also tie an air balloon to him just for shits and giggles, but it doesn't really work most of the time, especially if your opponent out predicts you. Analytic is good but is hard to pull off, since it doesn't have the speed to sweep.

So it has the niche of defeating Ferrothorn, Forretress, Skarmory Scizor, Jirachi and Klefki real easily. Outside of that, it can hit hard on other types if scarfed, in particular bulky waters and keep momentum with volt switches as an opening scout move, and can beat up fairies and rock types with Flash Cannon.

But here is the rub, Magnezone is all based on prediction. Simply put, the only good use you get out of it is based upon guessing games, and hopefully exploiting a mistake by your opponent. Magnezone has the stats for non-steel trapping, but the pokemon around him can easily counter it since, chances are, it's running the same set every time.

If you have a ground-type presence on the opposing team, electric STAB is useless and is often impossible to break into, forcing you to go flash cannon on opponents for damage and losing momentum if they go into a ground type.

I can't really do much against scarfed pokemon such as Lucario or Excadrill in one on one fights.
Speaking of which, Excadrill can check Magnezone despite the presence of HP Fire. One STAB earthquake would be enough. I believe Steelix has enough muscle power to do that too.
Likewise, Heatran pretty much checks it completely.
It can't really fight off Priority moves like Mach Punch.
It can't really counter fighting types like Conkeldurr, Heracross/Mega-Heracross or Breloom. You also need to watch for BL and UU Fighting types like Infernape.
While it has stopping power, Sylveon, Rotom-Wash and Mega Venusaur can sponge hits and stall or annoy.

So really, Magnezone is kind of boring if you ask me. There is little else it can do other than trap wayward setup fodder that happens to be steel-typed. It's too slow to go against other scarfers, too barren in it's movepool to counter anything already weak against it, too standardized in it's moveset to really have room for anything else, and too predictable and niche to really be on every team. With steel types slowly giving away to more dark and ghost types, soon even that niche will disappear.

If you do put him in, do so when you know there is a heavy chance of a steel type that is moreso support like Ferrothorn and Skarmory, or a Steel type that you know you can trap like Scizor.

 

[TheMegaJedi]

Magnezone is one of those pokemon you automatically think "it has levitate". Nope, it's 4x weak and no levitate. I always assumed it did as a kid, but it doesn't. Such a shame, Levitate would be great for it. It's still good, but Ground demolishes it.
Get in the Zone
Magnezone w/Choice Scarf
Magnet Pull, Modest, 252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
~HP Fire/HP Ice
~Thunderbolt
~Flash Cannon
~Volt Switch
This is, as of right now, the most common Zone set. HP Fire deals with Ferro, Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are dual STAB and have decent coverage, and Volt Switch is a great pivot move and gets STAB. Scarf allows you to outspeed threats such as Dugtrio, which get OHKOd by HP Ice if you choose to run that instead. Same with Lando and Gliscor as well.
Partners
I normally pair up Landorus-T with Zone, Intimidate always helps greatly. And he's immune to EQ, the biggest Zone threat. They cover up each other's weakness well enough. Gliscor is also an option, albeit more stally and annoying.
Counters
Where do I even start? Fire and Ground are literally the most used types in the Metagame, other than maybe Fairy and Ghost. Fighting is also pretty high on that list as well. And while Zone has decent bulk, it's not living a super effective hit. Dugtrio is the best switch in, being able to live any hit other than HP Ice (albeit not healthily), trap Zone in, and then OHKO with EQ. Aside from that, Talonflame comes to mind, being the almighty Smogon Bird. Lucario and Breloom also come to mind. So does Nidoking. Basically, my point is, this thing has way to many weaknesses that outspeed it without a Scarf, and easily OHKO.
Overall
Decent/Passable stats, Great Scarf user, Very useful, but many weaknesses, and lacking movepool. I give Zone a participation medal and a gold star.

 

[disboardvagrant]

It seems most of the standard Magnezone information is covered pretty well here. I'm just going to go over some extra thoughts.

Partners/team building with scarfed magnezone:
Magnezone is paired well with Gyarados, which even while not a mega, should never be underestimated. Lum Gyarados covers up for all of magnezone's weakness excellently, and trounces on the ever so common keldeos. Magnezone helps out Gyarados as well by trapping and removing ferrothorn and skarmory.

Landorus-Therian also works well with Magnezone, as it covers for its weaknesses, and the two form a nice voltturn core.

And did we forget about dragmag? Obviously the potency of dragons have declined since the appearance of fairies (although with the recent string of new megas, the potency is about to rise again), but magnezone still pairs well with dragons, though maybe no longer a team of dragons. Dragonite, Chomp, and Latios all pair relatively well with magnezone covering for its weaknesses. latios especially, takes care of some of the scarfed counters to magnezone, (terrakion, superpower lando-T). Magnezone obviously gets rid of, or scares the steels, and deals surprisingly well with fairies, between flash cannon against clefable (though with some prior damage, as flamethrower is common on clefable) and thunderbolt on azumarill.

Other Stuff:
Balloon Mag:
Take scarf mag and replace scarf with balloon, and volt switch with magnet rise. This one is really made just to trap and destroy excadrill, if your team has difficulties dealing with the excadrill sand rush spam. Careful not to pop the balloon when coming in, and magnet rise against excadrill when drill opts to go for rock slide/iron head. HP fire ftw.

 

[UnovaWarriorX]

Magnezone is one of my favourite Electric types, and among my favourite Pokemon of all time. It's just great.
Now, I know Magnezone is very weak to possibly the most common type in the metagame, Ground. As well as having 2 very common weaknesses in Fire and Fighting, but it also has a lot of coverage, and thanks to the Fairy type, a new advantage.

Highway to the Magnezone! (Gotta love that Top Gun reference)
Item: Air Balloon, Life Orb
Ability: Analytic/Magnet Pull
EV Spread: 252 SAtk, 172 HP, 42 Def, 42 Sp Def
Nature: Modest or Quiet
Moves:
- Lock On/ Magnet Rise
- Zap Cannon/ Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- HP Water/ HP Ice/ HP Fire

Now, the first two moves are entirely situational with what item you choose to have. If you pick Air Balloon, then go with Lock On and Zap Cannon, for the guaranteed 120 Base Power STAB Electric attack, which is very hard to resist if it's neutral or super effective, plus, you get a guaranteed paralysis on anything you don't wipe out. If you choose Life Orb, go with Magnet Rise and Thunderbolt. Either way, you've got Ground protection, albeit only for a while, as well as a very strong Electric STAB move with either choice. The next two moves are just for coverage, with Flash Cannon taking advantage of the Steel STAB, HP Water for those pesky Fire types, or HP Ice for that extra smack in the face to Ground types. The ability is entirely up to you, but if you go with Magnet Pull, use HP Fire, as it allows you to take out any Mega Mawiles or Aegislash's you may trap.

This is my first post so hopefully it looks good, but these are sets I have run before, and so far they've worked really well me.

 

[Razor Shiftry]

The reason Magnezone is used at all is because of Magnet Pull, so it is always recommended over Analytic. Don't get me wrong, Magnezone can actually use Analytic to decent effect, but its ability to trap steel types and dispose of them is why people use it these days. Magnezone is extremely valuable thanks to powerful fairy types such as Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon. Many teams rely on steel types to stop the aforementioned Fairy types from spamming powerful hyper voices, but when Magnezone comes in and traps your Ferrothorn, Scizor, or Skarmory, it can break down their defensive cores and allow your fairies to spam frighteningly powerful Pixilate Hyper Voices, Play Roughs, etc.

I know most people are going to suggest Choice Specs, but in fact Choice Specs has declined in popularity. There's a new Magnezone at the top of the ladder who's become more popular, and that is...

ScarfZone
Moveset:
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power (Fire)
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

...ScarfZone! You may be thinking, max speed and Scarf on something with base 60 speed? That's crazy talk. Well, much like the Scarf Tyranitar of yesteryear, it actually serves an important purpose by flipping speed tiers on their head. With this set Magnezone outspeeds up to base 114's, meaning it gains the ability to check a lot of things that it otherwise wouldn't be able to. Noteworthy examples of this include Mega Pinsir and Adamant Talonflame, both of whom are popular for their "Birdspam" strategy, which Magnezone can easily switch into thanks to good bulk and a 4x resistance to flying, and either force them out or nail them with a powerful electric STAB before they can unleash their coverage moves such as Close Combat or Flare Blitz. This allows Magnezone to have more utility outside of just trapping steel types. That said, it's still very good at trapping things like Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, and promptly frying them.

Having both Volt Switch and Thunderbolt on a set helps due to the fact that they have very different functions; Volt Switch has its usual switching mechanisms to allow you to GTFO and steal momentum, while Thunderbolt has higher power and can be spammed if the need arises. Hidden Power Fire is the only HP you should be using; without it, Magnezone has a bit more difficulty with Scizor, and can't touch Ferrothorn, thus defeating its niche. Flash Cannon rounds off the coverage, and lets it hit opposing Fairy types, 2HKOing most of them (barring the most specially defensive Sylveon).

I utterly Agree. ScarfZone is pretty much the best set of the lot, trapping and disposing/heavily damaging steels and breaking down cores.

The only other set worth mentioning is Specs Analytic Magneton in the lower tiers. Analytic not only boosts when going last but also boosts if the opponent's pokemon swtches out - hence why Analytic Starmie is so popular as well. Pretty much the exact same set as ScarfZone but utilizes the crazy amount of resistances electric/steel has to cause switches and then smack the pokemon coming in with a specs and analytic boosted attack. Prediction is the key and if timed correctly, can really break down walls. Also, remember that unlike its evolution, Magneton has 10 more base speed (base 70) so it can actually outspeed more than you think, especially if you decide to have less power and power speed and slap a scarf over specs on it.

Moveset:
-Volt Switch
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power Fire/Grass
Item Attached: Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Hidden Power Fire for steels, although there are less steels in the lower tiers. Hidden Power Grass are for Ground types that are x4 weak (such as Quagsire or Rhyperior etc etc) that will no doubt try and switch in. Volt Switch for hard hitting analytic boosted momentum. Thunderbolt for main STAB and Flash Cannon for STAB as well and some extra coverage.

 

[yangste3333]

I'm new here, so can someone please tell me how this works.

From what I thought about, Taunt can be used to counter Magnezone if it is using Magnet Rise. Steelix resists both of Magnezones STABs and Hidden Power Fire and can learn Taunt, so that might be a bearable option even though it is affected by Magnet Pull.

Magnezones biggest use is to Magnet Pull, so you can use Mold Breaker to destroy it.

If there is anything wrong with it, let me know.

 

[KillerDraco]

I'm new here, so can someone please tell me how this works.

From what I thought about, Taunt can be used to counter Magnezone if it is using Magnet Rise. Steelix resists both of Magnezones STABs and Hidden Power Fire and can learn Taunt, so that might be a bearable option even though it is affected by Magnet Pull.

Magnezones biggest use is to Magnet Pull, so you can use Mold Breaker to destroy it.

If there is anything wrong with it, let me know.

Most Magnezone don't bother with Magnet Rise at all, so Taunt by no means counters Magnezone. The vast majority tend to use Choice items, with four attacks. Steelix isn't a counter at all, and in fact is more of a check. Steelix can 1HKO with Earthquake, but its standard set is always 2HKO'ed by Hidden Power Fire, and with Choice Specs, there's a chance for a 1HKO, albeit a low one.

4 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 336-400 (103.7 - 123.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Steelix: 186-220 (52.5 - 62.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Steelix: 306-362 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Also, Mold Breaker doesn't affect Magnet Pull.