Summary

Magneton is a difficult Pokemon to justify on most drafts. It is often too expensive to justify a slot and its stats aren't high enough to justify it over other electrics: it isn't fast enough to get past most offensive water types, isn't bulky enough to pivot into neutral attacks, and can even be 2HKO'd by most resisted attacks. Magneton, however, does have 2 significant benefits though that can make it worth using.

The first of these traits is a fantastic ability, Magnet Pull, even if it is extremely limited in scope. Many drafts have and will lose on lead to Skarmory, and Magneton is one way to fix that problem. Two of the most powerful spikers, Skarmory and Forretress, are Steel types that are vulnerable to being trapped and eliminated by Magneton via Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fire. Magneton is also capable of trapping other steel types and limiting sets even if its unlikely to be brought. For example, Metagross cannot effectively run Choice Band into a Magneton draft because it is 2hkod by Thunderbolt, and Registeel must run Earthquake or Hidden Power Fire in order to not lose outright to Magneton. Plenty of pokemon force moveslots, but Magneton threatens to eliminate the Steel types that often constitute key defensive pieces and can be played in such a way as to chip and eliminate them, forcing awkward play until you've revealed your team.

Magneton's second use is its typing: while it does have a crippling 4x weakness to one of the more common attacking types in Ground, it is also one of a very small group that resists common "BoltBeam" coverage of Electric and Ice. Magneton does not have great bulk into neutral types, but into resisted threats such as Zapdos and Raikou it is more than capable of walling both in the short-term so long as you have a Ground-type pokemon or something similar to force Hidden Power Grass or Ice. Magneton also has a 4x resist to Flying and resists Normal. Magneton doesn't particularly want to switch into either of these types because of how easy Earthquake is to slot, but it does punish or outright prevent Choice Band sets simply by existing. Magneton's base Special Attack of 120 is more than satisfactory to prevent itself from being passive even if you run no EV investment, dealing close to half health with an uninvested Thunderbolt to top tier threats such as Salamence, Zapdos, and Tyranitar. A defensively invested Magneton, while not as useful as a true wall, is more than serviceable enough to take resisted hits and force it back out if every other pokemon you can take to fill these roles is off the board.

Magneton isn't a pokemon you can plug and play, but it does have traits worth noting. While Magneton's best traits are not particularly valuable in most contexts, it has a clear niche that is capable of supporting or enabling otherwise impossible drafts via the trapping and elimination of Steel types and disabling of Choice Band sets.

Summary written by Wraxius

Go back to main page