It's about time I gave DragMag a shot. I seriously can't believe it's been an entire generation since I used it. That was back when 4Drag2Mag was actually used. Seems like so long ago now... Anyway, DragMag TEAMS may be in decline now, but DragMag CORES are still out there, still usable. Frankly, I was a bit surprised 4Drag2Mag worked in the Gen Mamoswine was introduced in, but that's besides the point. For those who don't know, the concept of DragMag is basically that if you can remove the Steels, the Dragons can rampage with nothing to stop their Outrages. Magnezone traps Steels and destroys almost all of them (damn you Heatran), hence the Mag bit. The team, as with... Well, every team I make really, is pretty offensive but I've developed a new complete respect for FerroCent cores (and personally love Ferrothorn anyway), so I decided to incorporate that as well. From there, I remembered how badly the lack of a spinner hurt April Showers, the last OU team I made, so I decided on Starmie as it didn't add any crippling weaknesses and always works well for me (provided it isn't adding a crippling weakness). It also makes a nice status absorber. So, here's the team:
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Aqua Tail
Not exactly your standard ScarfMoxieMence set, with no Dragon Claw or Fire Blast in sight. There is a reason for that, and its name is BalloonTran. Heatran is the only Steel Magnezone can't kill bar some Scizor variants (although with Banded being the most common, it's pretty easy to come in on a Choice-locked Bullet Punch and get that kill). Earthquake can't hit it with the Balloon, and I'm scarfed so no switching moves for me. Aqua Tail to the rescue! And then there's Brick Break which is not really necessary, but it does hammer Blissey and Dark-types without resorting to Outrage prematurely and hits any Steels Magnezone hasn't killed pretty hard. The main reason I'm running it is because when I tested the team Magnezone was able to remove every Steel bar Heatran, so I was alright to go ahead and Outrage. I don't use much here besides Outrage, and the appropriate move for the Heatran set in question. Unless the rest of their team has a major weakness to Ground. Outrage out-powers the other 2 bar Rain for Aqua Tail or 4x weakness for Brick Break. I think I've used Brick Break maybe once. It does get perfect coverage alongside Outrage though (eat it Kitsunoh!).
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
Rash Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Roost
Hydreigon's not a Dragon I use often, but it's brutally powerful (hehehe, brutally... It's the Brutal Pokemon.... *shot*). Bad jokes aside, it's a wonder I don't use this thing more often. Great mixed attacking stats, great movepool, reliable recovery... Hydreigon's a great mixed attacker/wallbreaker, and this set's its best in my opinion. Draco Meteor.... Just hurts. Raining armageddon on my enemy's head is always fun. Really, really fun. Fire Blast is here mainly for something that survived Magnezone somehow. I'm using it on Hydreigon but not on Mence because Hydreigon can switch its moves up, whereas I'm locked into Mence's move. No reason to lock myself into a move that exists just to finish what something else started when I can lock myself into something that smashes through the other 4 or 5 mons without any trouble. I'll just let Hydrei finish it off. Superpower hits things like Heatran and Tyranitar and Blissey that don't care about the other 2 moves, and Roost is here for recovery. Especially as it offsets the Life Orb recoil really nicely.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
Timid Nature (+Spe, - Atk)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Charge Beam
- Hidden Power Fire
This is what makes my Dragons work. It's pretty simple. I come in on a Steel that can't touch me. The aforementioned Band-locked Scizor is a perfect candidate for this, as is any Ferrothorn or Skarmory ever, and any non-Volt-Switching Forretress and almost any other Steel in OU. Lucario is a (really uncommon) problem, as is Cobalion, but really Magnezone can deal with most of them very well. I trap them, Sub and Charge Beam up if it's the last Steel they have, or kill it quick with HP Fire if they have another one I'll need to trap. It's a pretty straightforward set. The Air Balloon offsets the Ground weakness Magnezone has.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
This was a no-brainer for me. It's my favorite Ferrothorn set by far. Stealth Rock is my entry hazard of choice here and it's really the best of the 3. It's easy to set up and it does a fair bit of damage to a lot of things. Leech Seed works nicely with Leftovers for keeping Ferrothorn kicking, and also chips away at the opponent. Thunder Wave is here as it is on every Ferrothorn I ever run because I realized early early on that Ferrothorn is amazing at spreading status. I've paralyzed entire teams with this set. Power Whip is here over Gyro Ball because Gyro Ball clashes with Thunder Wave, prevents me from T-Waving Gyro Ball Ferrothorns before they can do anything to me and has terrible coverage by comparison. This Ferrothorn is the worst nightmare of any non-Focus-Miss carrying Toed.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
Jellicent goes with Ferrothorn like Nutella goes with everything. Ferrothorn takes Physical hits, Jellicent takes Special. Ferrothorn takes all of Jellicent's weaknesses, Jellicent takes Ferrothorn's. Ferrothorn sets hazards, Jellicent Spinblocks. Jellicent Burns, Ferrothorn walls the burnt Physical attacker. Need I say more? They synergize so well it's not even funny. Scald is STAB and has a nice Burn chance. Shadow Ball is secondary STAB, mainly for Ghosts and Psychics. Will-O-Wisp is for Burning physical threats and Ground-types Ferrothorn can't Paralyze, and Recover keeps Jellicent rolling. This also helps a lot against Heatran, which helps my Dragons in general.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
Hello spinner! I needed a spinner and Starmie seemed like the perfect fit for the team. It gets STAB Hydro Pump and just murders all non TrapperTran in general, it gets BoltBeam coverage, it has Natural Cure to absorb status, it has Rapid Spin, it has phenomenal coverage, it has everything I was looking for in my spinner. Its typing is just awesome for the team too, removing my 3/2 Fighting weakness while adding none at all. As if having Jellicent around didn't already help with that. But Hydro Pump murders a lot of things. BoltBeam coverage is resisted by the Magnets, Lanturn and that's about it. Yeah, the coverage rocks. And only Lanturn resists the entire set. Rapid Spin does not count for that, although it's really funny to pick up the occasional KO with it. I do that with Excadrill sometimes in Ubers. The only thing funnier than KOing with Rapid Spin is KOing Arceus with Rapid Spin.
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Aqua Tail
Not exactly your standard ScarfMoxieMence set, with no Dragon Claw or Fire Blast in sight. There is a reason for that, and its name is BalloonTran. Heatran is the only Steel Magnezone can't kill bar some Scizor variants (although with Banded being the most common, it's pretty easy to come in on a Choice-locked Bullet Punch and get that kill). Earthquake can't hit it with the Balloon, and I'm scarfed so no switching moves for me. Aqua Tail to the rescue! And then there's Brick Break which is not really necessary, but it does hammer Blissey and Dark-types without resorting to Outrage prematurely and hits any Steels Magnezone hasn't killed pretty hard. The main reason I'm running it is because when I tested the team Magnezone was able to remove every Steel bar Heatran, so I was alright to go ahead and Outrage. I don't use much here besides Outrage, and the appropriate move for the Heatran set in question. Unless the rest of their team has a major weakness to Ground. Outrage out-powers the other 2 bar Rain for Aqua Tail or 4x weakness for Brick Break. I think I've used Brick Break maybe once. It does get perfect coverage alongside Outrage though (eat it Kitsunoh!).
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
Rash Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Roost
Hydreigon's not a Dragon I use often, but it's brutally powerful (hehehe, brutally... It's the Brutal Pokemon.... *shot*). Bad jokes aside, it's a wonder I don't use this thing more often. Great mixed attacking stats, great movepool, reliable recovery... Hydreigon's a great mixed attacker/wallbreaker, and this set's its best in my opinion. Draco Meteor.... Just hurts. Raining armageddon on my enemy's head is always fun. Really, really fun. Fire Blast is here mainly for something that survived Magnezone somehow. I'm using it on Hydreigon but not on Mence because Hydreigon can switch its moves up, whereas I'm locked into Mence's move. No reason to lock myself into a move that exists just to finish what something else started when I can lock myself into something that smashes through the other 4 or 5 mons without any trouble. I'll just let Hydrei finish it off. Superpower hits things like Heatran and Tyranitar and Blissey that don't care about the other 2 moves, and Roost is here for recovery. Especially as it offsets the Life Orb recoil really nicely.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
Timid Nature (+Spe, - Atk)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Charge Beam
- Hidden Power Fire
This is what makes my Dragons work. It's pretty simple. I come in on a Steel that can't touch me. The aforementioned Band-locked Scizor is a perfect candidate for this, as is any Ferrothorn or Skarmory ever, and any non-Volt-Switching Forretress and almost any other Steel in OU. Lucario is a (really uncommon) problem, as is Cobalion, but really Magnezone can deal with most of them very well. I trap them, Sub and Charge Beam up if it's the last Steel they have, or kill it quick with HP Fire if they have another one I'll need to trap. It's a pretty straightforward set. The Air Balloon offsets the Ground weakness Magnezone has.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
This was a no-brainer for me. It's my favorite Ferrothorn set by far. Stealth Rock is my entry hazard of choice here and it's really the best of the 3. It's easy to set up and it does a fair bit of damage to a lot of things. Leech Seed works nicely with Leftovers for keeping Ferrothorn kicking, and also chips away at the opponent. Thunder Wave is here as it is on every Ferrothorn I ever run because I realized early early on that Ferrothorn is amazing at spreading status. I've paralyzed entire teams with this set. Power Whip is here over Gyro Ball because Gyro Ball clashes with Thunder Wave, prevents me from T-Waving Gyro Ball Ferrothorns before they can do anything to me and has terrible coverage by comparison. This Ferrothorn is the worst nightmare of any non-Focus-Miss carrying Toed.
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
- Scald
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
Jellicent goes with Ferrothorn like Nutella goes with everything. Ferrothorn takes Physical hits, Jellicent takes Special. Ferrothorn takes all of Jellicent's weaknesses, Jellicent takes Ferrothorn's. Ferrothorn sets hazards, Jellicent Spinblocks. Jellicent Burns, Ferrothorn walls the burnt Physical attacker. Need I say more? They synergize so well it's not even funny. Scald is STAB and has a nice Burn chance. Shadow Ball is secondary STAB, mainly for Ghosts and Psychics. Will-O-Wisp is for Burning physical threats and Ground-types Ferrothorn can't Paralyze, and Recover keeps Jellicent rolling. This also helps a lot against Heatran, which helps my Dragons in general.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
Hello spinner! I needed a spinner and Starmie seemed like the perfect fit for the team. It gets STAB Hydro Pump and just murders all non TrapperTran in general, it gets BoltBeam coverage, it has Natural Cure to absorb status, it has Rapid Spin, it has phenomenal coverage, it has everything I was looking for in my spinner. Its typing is just awesome for the team too, removing my 3/2 Fighting weakness while adding none at all. As if having Jellicent around didn't already help with that. But Hydro Pump murders a lot of things. BoltBeam coverage is resisted by the Magnets, Lanturn and that's about it. Yeah, the coverage rocks. And only Lanturn resists the entire set. Rapid Spin does not count for that, although it's really funny to pick up the occasional KO with it. I do that with Excadrill sometimes in Ubers. The only thing funnier than KOing with Rapid Spin is KOing Arceus with Rapid Spin.