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Moves Stealth Rock wears down foes switching in while also breaking their Sturdy and Focus Sash. Lava Plume gains a STAB boost and provides a chance to burn a foe, which can allow Magcargo to take on physical attackers and walls better. Toxic hits common checks and counters to Magcargo on the switch in, such as Pelipper, Vibrava, and Politoed, to name a few. Toxic can also be used to hit special walls such as Audino and Grumpig. Ancient Power is an option to hit Fire- and Flying-types such as Rapidash and Dodrio as well as Pokemon such as Swanna on the switch. Recover restores Magcargo's HP and allows it to withstand offensive pressure throughout a match. Set Details The given HP investment maximizes Magcargo's bulk while minimizing residual damage. The HP investment paired with maximum Special Defense investment and a Calm nature allows Magcargo to avoid being 2HKOed by Zebstrika with any combination of moves. Flame Body can punish attackers using contact moves and further goes to assist Magcargo in taking on physical attackers. Leftovers offers Magcargo a bit of residual recovery per turn. Usage Tips Magcargo is not usually considered a lead, although it's a smart idea to set up Stealth Rock early-game. While using Magcargo, be wary of super effective coverage moves such as Superpower on Stoutland and Focus Blast on Regice. Magcargo should also be aware of status absorbers like Ursaring, and Flash Fire users such as Rapidash and Ninetales. When predicting an opponent to switch to Ninetales, Rapidash, or Pelipper, use Ancient Power. Use Toxic and Lava Plume to spread status around the opposing team and weaken it for Magcargo's teammates. Be wary of Taunt users, as Magcargo is slow, and Taunt can prevent it from using Toxic and Stealth Rock; Magcargo should also stay clear of opposing Toxic and Stealth Rock, as they can wear it down quickly. Magcargo should mostly be used to check special attackers such as Rotom-F, but it can also check physical attackers such as Dodrio because of its high Defense. Team Options Magcargo fits mostly on bulkier offensive teams or balanced ones, as it is completely outclassed by Golem on hyper offense. Spikes support from Pokemon such as Roselia and Quilladin can help wear down foes more easily and keep pressure on the opposing team. Spinblockers such as Misdreavus and Gourgeist-XL are good to keep your entry hazards on the field, while Purugly and Pawniard can be used to discourage Defog due to Defiant. Setup sweepers and wallbreakers that appreciate Stealth Rock such as Ursaring, Jumpluff, and Fraxure are solid teammates for Magcargo. Leafeon, Roselia, and other Grass-types can handle the Ground- and Water-type attacks Magcargo struggles with, although the latter can't switch into physical Ground-types reliably. Jumpluff has solid type synergy with Magcargo, so they can take hits for each other, bar Rock-type attacks. Pokemon such as Politoed and Pelipper can reliably switch into Water-type moves as well, although they have to be wary of coverage moves. Entry hazard removal can help with Magcargo's Stealth Rock weakness, with Rapid Spin users being preferred, as they don't remove Magcargo's entry hazards. Clerics such as Lickilicky, Grumpig, and Audino can cure Toxic, which can be very harmful against Magcargo. A teammate to take on Clefairy and Duosion, such as Metang or Misdreavus, is essential, as they can use Magcargo as setup fodder.

This set uses Magcargo's unique defensive typing to check various threats in the NU metagame, particularly Fire- and Normal-types such as Charizard and Swellow respectively. Because of this, Magcargo can find multiple opportunities to reliably set up Stealth Rock. In the second slot, Recover is to heal Magcargo from any damage it has taken. It should be noted that Magcargo's Stealth Rock weakness forces it to Recover against foes that it walls, slowing down the team's momentum. Lava Plume is a great STAB option thanks to its nifty 30% burn chance, which can cripple many common switch-ins, such as Golurk. However, despite its decent Base Power, most foes will take very little damage from it due to Magcargo's sub-par Special Attack. This forces Magcargo to use Toxic as its primary form of damage. The given EV spread allows Magcargo to tank weaker special attacks, such as Zebstrika's Thunderbolt, while still allowing it to survive relatively powerful physical attacks, such as Swellow's Facade. Hidden Power Rock or Hidden Power Grass can be used for STAB or to hit Water- and Rock-types, respectively. However, these moves have little utility outside of hitting specific targets. Will-O-Wisp can be used over Toxic to cripple physical attackers, but Lava Plume already has a decent chance to burn. Good partners for Magcargo include those who resist its weaknesses. Seismitoad is a good partner because it absorbs Magcargo's Water-type weakness and resists its Rock-type weaknesses. It can also use Stealth Rock and open up a moveslot for Magcargo. Misdreavus is another solid partner, as it's immune to both Fighting- and Ground-type moves and can heal Magcargo from status with Heal Bell.

Magcargo is often overlooked in UU due to its low stats and weaknesses to common attacking types, but it can still fill a respectable niche as a wall. Despite Magcargo's lowly reputation, its respectable 50/120/80 defensive stats allow it to serve as an effective counter for some powerful sweepers. Magcargo's Fire/Rock typing, despite giving it 4x weaknesses to Water- and Ground-type attacks, is very useful, giving it resistances to Flying-, Poison-, and Normal-type attacks while reinforcing its Fire-type resistance. Combined with a usable Special Attack stat and a serviceable support movepool, Magcargo can be a useful niche counter to certain threats while supporting his team. Magcargo is a great switch-in against Normal-types without effective coverage moves, such as Ambipom and Swellow, or those that are Choice-locked into a Normal-type move, such as Choice Band Kangaskhan or Tauros. Magcargo can also comfortably take on and force out dangerous Fire-type sweepers such as Arcanine and Moltres. Lava Plume is the STAB Fire-type attack of choice thanks to its high burn rate, which has the potential to give a Rhyperior or Azumarill switch-in a nasty surprise. Flamethrower may be used in that slot, but Lava Plume is generally preferred since Magcargo is not trying to overpower its counters, so a little extra power does not make a large difference. Hidden Power Rock is Magcargo's strongest option for a secondary STAB move, hitting Fire-types for solid damage. Recover gives Magcargo reliable recovery and allows it to stay healthy through repeated attacks and residual damage. There are a multitude of options for the last slot. Stealth Rock is always useful for residual damage, while Toxic and Will-O-Wisp can be used to spread potentially crippling status ailments among the opposing team. Toxic is great for hitting bulky Water-types looking to switch in for free, such as Milotic, Blastoise, and Slowbro, while Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers such as Rhyperior and Feraligatr. There are many other moves that Magcargo can run in the last slot; Yawn can be used to shuffle your opponent's team, Light Screen and Reflect support your own team, and Refresh helps Magcargo defeat Pokemon who rely on status to damage it, such as specially defensive Arcanine and SubRoost Moltres. The EVs and nature maximize Magcargo's defensive capabilities. 252 HP EVs are necessary to patch up Magcargo's poor base 50 HP, while 252 EVs in Special Defense help it tank special hits. Because Magcargo's Defense stat is still higher than its Special Defense even without EV investment, Bold is the preferred nature; it increases Magcargo's Defense more than Calm would boost Special Defense. Bulky Water-types, especially Milotic, can come in for free on any move except Toxic and immediately threaten Magcargo. Thus, Venusaur makes a great teammate. Bulky pure Grass-types such as Tangrowth or Leafeon have excellent defensive synergy with Magcargo, easily taking the Ground- and Water-type attacks aimed at it. Hippopotas is also a good teammate because it sets up a permanent sandstorm, giving Magcargo a free Special Defense boost. Magcargo becomes extremely hard to take down in a sandstorm, comfortably walling all but the strongest neutral hits and healing with Recover. Magcargo greatly appreciates Rapid Spin support due to its weakness to Stealth Rock and vulnerability to Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Claydol is an excellent choice to provide this since it can comfortably take the Rock-, Fighting-, and Ground-type attacks that trouble Magcargo.

Even with max Defense EV investment Magcargo still crumbles to any Fighting- and Ground-type attack, and without any Defense investment Magcargo still walls most Normal- and Flying-type attacks, meaning the logical choice is to focus on its average Special Defense to allow it to wall special attackers like Flareon and tank attacks from Chimecho much better. Flamethrower and Fire Blast are both decent STAB moves that separate it from the other Rock-types in the tier, targeting the foes that it normally walls on their generally lower Special Defense. Toxic spreads status and is Magcargo's best way of crippling the bulky Water-types that are sure to switch into it. RestTalk is recommended on this set to give Magcargo as much longevity as possible and allow it to absorb Sleep Powders and other status from the Grass-types it easily walls. When taking this route, pairing Magcargo with a Heal Bell user like Chimecho would be wise to wake it quickly. Toxic can be replaced with Yawn and pairs well with Magcargo's defensive nature by forcing a switch and giving Magcargo's team some momentum. Sassy is the chosen nature to not lower the power of Self-Destruct or Flamethrower, and the slightly lower Speed stat is not an issue due to Magcargo's already snail's pace. A mixed defensive EV spread is doable; a spread of 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD with a Sassy nature can be used, with the Defense investment preventing the 2HKO from a +2 Adamant Mawile's Hidden Power Steel while still allowing Magcargo to avoid the 2HKO from 252 SpA Modest Chimecho's Psychic. Generally, however, the additional Special Defense is preferred to allow Magcargo to beat Plusle one-on-one, and Magcargo OHKOes Mawile with Fire Blast anyway (though not with Flamethrower). Magcargo surprisingly has a number of viable move options not listed above that can be tailored to meet the needs of your team. If running RestTalk doesn't suit your taste, Protect pairs best with Toxic to allow for residual damage buildup and additional Leftovers recovery, as well as allowing Magcargo to scout Choice Band attackers' attacks. That said, Protect's utility can be forgone in favor of additional coverage from Hidden Power Grass, which gives Magcargo some modicum of defense against the other Rock-types in the tier beyond status and will deal a ton of damage to the likes of Whiscash. Self-Destruct is pretty weak compared to the other boom attacks in the tier due to Magcargo's paltry Attack stat, but it's still a good way of crippling opposing Pokemon and allowing Magcargo to keep momentum for its team and prevent Pokemon like Huntail from freely setting up on it; obviously, this should only be run when not using RestTalk. Light Screen and Reflect are both available, with Reflect notably allowing Magcargo to avoid the OHKO from Choice Band Hitmonchan's Earthquake 75% of the time. Light Screen may be more handy overall, though, as with max Special Defense investment and behind a Light Screen, Magcargo is only 3HKOed by defensive Dewgong's Surf. Hidden Power Water can be used over Hidden Power Grass, which trades the ability to batter Whiscash and Relicanth for the ability to threaten other offensive Fire-types like Charmeleon. Both Toxic and Yawn can be used on the set at the same time, allowing Magcargo to literally pick its poison for the enemy between those two moves and its ability, Flame Body; however, doing so can leave Magcargo completely helpless against Substitute users. Spikes support is very effective with this set due to the status and switches it forces, and Roselia has fantastic type synergy with Magcargo, though using both will create a large Ground-type weakness that can be hard to fill. Still, a switch-in to Ground-, Fighting-, and Rock-type attacks is needed when using Magcargo, making physically defensive Swalot, Pelipper, and Whiscash good teammates. Water-types are particularly dangerous to the success of this set, making defensive Bellossom and Kecleon good teammates as well. Finally, offensive Pokemon that appreciate Magcargo's ability to wall both Fire- and Flying-types should be used with it, examples including Tangela, Piloswine, and Venomoth.