Welcome to the long-awaited second SM Monotype suspect! Ever since Pokemon Sun and Moon began, Magearna has been one of the most controversial releases relevant to Monotype. Its omnipresent presence on two of the best and most commonly used types has enabled it to have an almost unparalleled presence in the current metagame and is one of the biggest threats to most teams right now.
On the surface, Magearna seems to have quite a stacked deck. It has great base Special Attack and one of the most versatile movepools around, which includes STAB moves in Fleur Cannon and Flash Cannon, impeccable BoltBeam coverage along with Aura Sphere and Focus Blast, and even Volt Switch. This combines with its range of setup options in Calm Mind, Trick Room, and Shift Gear, and that's not even mentioning the snowball effect of Soul-Heart. Thanks to one of the best available defensive typings in Steel / Fairy and its impressive 80 / 115 / 115 bulk, Magearna is very capable of setting up even multiple times a game and is difficult to outright KO. Its great offensive and defensive ability also means that it can take on many roles outside of simply being a sweeper, able to use Choice Specs to be an incredible wallbreaker and Assault Vest to act as a bulky pivot. It's one of the few Pokemon that can not only outright sweep an offense team on its own but also tear holes right through balance teams. This range of sets makes Magearna very unpredictable and means it fits on every team that it is legal on, able to fulfill whatever role the team needs most. Even when Magearna is checked or even revenge killed, it's almost impossible to bring in its checks safely, meaning that it has often already done irreparable damage to a team.
However, many of Magearna's advantages are not easy to fully actualize. Its versatility is particularly illusive, as it suffers from four-moveslot syndrome and is almost always forced to run the same coverage moves to maximize its ability, meaning most sets can be checked by very similar Pokemon. Sweeper sets rely heavily on a Z-Move to get a beginning Soul-Heart boost, as it has initial trouble with walls. This combined with Fleur Cannon weakening in power over each use makes Magearna's sweeping plan fairly predictable. Magearna's Speed is also rather terrible before it sets up Shift Gear or Trick Room and makes it very easy to weaken or take out before it can get going; even after setting up, its base Speed continues to plague it, as weather sweepers like Excadrill and Choice Scarf users like Keldeo and Greninja are still able to outspeed and revenge kill it. Many of the teams that cannot easily deal with Magearna are either inherently weak to begin with or have other internal teambuilding choices that Magearna takes advantage of, which is why its effect on Dragon and Fighting differs from its effect on Dark. Most types that aren't weak to Magearna's Fleur Cannon are in fact quite capable of defensively checking or outright countering it before Soul-Heart gets out of control or using a naturally bulky Pokemon like Victini or Volcarona that can easily take many of its weaker coverage attacks.
Magearna exhibits many of the qualities one could expect from a broken Pokemon, but it's difficult to gauge whether it is indeed significantly more powerful than and a cut above the rest, as the SM metagame has never been without it. In order to determine the true extent of its influence and whether or not it should continue to be legal, the Monotype council has voted to suspect Magearna.
In order to cast a vote in this suspect test, you must participate on the Monotype suspect ladder in which Magearna is not allowed. The requirements for qualification are 2900 COIL or more in 70 games or fewer. The B-value for this suspect test is 10.0. The suspect test will last two weeks, until Friday August 11 at 11:59 PM EDT (GMT-4) . You will then have three days to cast your vote, until Monday August 14 at 11:59 PM EDT (GMT-4). Magearna will require a 60% majority of voters in favor of banning it in order for it to be banned from Monotype.
Upon meeting the requirements, you must post proof of the qualification in the Voter Identification thread, which is separate from this thread and will be created closer to the end of the suspect. Do not post your proof in this discussion thread.
You may use this thread to discuss this Magearna suspect or ask for clarification for any questions you may have.
You may not use this thread to post one-liners or discuss either the suspect system, other future suspects, or topics generally unrelated to this suspect, such as unrelated and inapplicable parts of the tiering philosophy.
Please stay respectful when you post and follow all Monotype forum rules.
To earn 2900 COIL, you must have at least a certain GXE corresponding to the number of games you have played:
Code:
GXE | Games
90 33
88 36
86 39
84 48
83 52
82 57
81 63
80.5 67
----------
80 71
To calculate for yourself the required number of games for any given GXE, compute:
N=10.0/log2(40*GXE/2900)
Tagging The Immortal to set up the suspect ladder. Thank you!
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