One change I’d like to see happen for Macargo’s sake is the end of the horse council civil war. He’s been scrutinized and ostracized for too long. He’s been through so much. The war must come to an end so Macargo can enjoy his rightful privileges as a horse.
@@IStillPlayWhite2 The Horse Council has been unfair towards many applicants and several prominent members have turned against Magcargo despite its acceptance into the Council. We won't stand for this injustice and must support any Magcargo endeavors in hopes of finally putting an end to this discrimination against non-horses.
Putting Gooey on Magcargo feels...a little weird. Like, yeah, punching it's gonna cover you in goo, but that _goo_ is burning twice as hot as the surface of the sun. There's a lightning strike on your skin, that's not gonna leave you with a single stage speed drop
yeah, I think gooey would be more fitting for a convergent evolution pokemon (i.e. diglett, wiglett) or maybe as the hidden ability.. like it's at lava lamp temperature? warm enough to melt wax, which would stick to you and hurt a little bit, but not burn you unless you kept contact with it.
Thanks for your input and I understand where youre coming from! I dont really like to put realistic expectations in the videos or pokemon *too* much, i feel like it can break some of the creative process when it comes to reworking pokemon =)
This was a lot better then I expected, and genuinely seems pretty viable. Although, Macargo is rock type because lava is literal molten rock so at a logical stand point, it makes sense for it to have the rock type. But at a competitive stand point, yeah bug is the closest type that isn’t bad with its other type and that matches its visual design. I loved using Volcarona so Marcago in this form seems like a fun pokemon
Maybe give it an ability that works like Dhelmise, essentially giving a third type To be fair I've long been a supporter of one day someone making a ROM so that pokemon have all their types at once
it’s just sentient lava resembling a slug/snail, the only bug type move it learns is Infestation and lots of pokemon learn it so i would chalk it up for being actually a bug
If Hisuian Arcanine can overcome it's fire/roxk typing, Magcargo can. It just needs a huge BST buff, an ability that synergizes with trick room, and good rock and fire STABs. This snail should be firing off insane eruptions; dwarfing Torkoal, a top tier trick room option. Maybe give it a signature rock type eruption reskin, thematically it could explode it's shell and regrow it or something. Magcargo could be great, it has the design potiental, but the mechanics aren't there.
@@SkyNinja759 your idea of it’s exploding shell is super interesting, i love that idea. making unique signature moves is something i should consider for future pokemon !
The loss of stealth rock 3:11 would be terrible tho. It could work as a Flame Body wall in lower tiers, or maybe a mini heatran with flash fire. Something like: - recover - lava plume - Earth Power - stealth rock (major) /Wil o wisp (niche)
good move set choices! my only concern is that there are a plethora of better stealth rock users in lower tiers, so i went with making him a bug instead
I'm with the stat changes this time around. They serve Magcargo's niche without making it too strong. I think gooey should be replaced with flame body. Touching lava won't just slow you down, it will burn you. Edit: already has flame body. Maybe shell armour Also, keep the rock/fire type. Magma is molten rock.
Pretty much no change to this pokemon will ever help it unless it's given a different type though. A Rock/Fire type only works if it's significantly faster.
@@PrimeCarrot Thanks for your input! I sympathize with the fact of it being molten lava, but in a viability standpoint, its downright horrid. I generally like to steer away from hyper realism when designing these remakes, as i feel like it can limit some of my creative process =)
My idea to fix Magcargo is based on a change for the moves Shell Trap and Meteor Beam, that I would give it access to. Shell Trap sets a (new) hazard on the field that activates a special Fire-type attack with 150 Base Power when contact is made by contact moves (2 layers possible). However, any Ground moves activates the Shell Trap on the respective side and possibly deal self damage. Meteor Beam does not need a setup turn in sand storm (just as Solar Beam in Sun or Electro Shot in Rain). Furthermore, I'd give Regenerator and Gooey as new ability to Magcargo. The regenerative abilities of magma and of the pokemon itself are mentioned in the dex entry. Lastly, Shed Tail might be useful for it as well. Its role would be a pivoting hazard setter: Magcargo @ Rocky Helmet /Air Balloon Ability: Regenerator Tera Type: Fire EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpA Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Shell Trap - Shed Tail - Lava Plume / Recover - Meteor Beam
Nice work! I overlooked Regenerator as an ability completely. Shed tail has some cool potential as well. Nice to see that you included a competitive moveset for it, thanks for your thoughts! :)
When I was tinkering with emerald's decomp and modding it, I gave Magcargo an ability named Lava Bubble, which was essentially a fire-flavored translation of Araquanid's Water Bubble. Water Bubble doubles the power of water moves, halves fire damage taken and makes it owner immune to burn. So I made Lava Bubbble double the power of fire moves, halve water damage taken and make it immune to freeze (frostbite, actually). I also gave it Eruption. It's literally made of lava after all. It wasn't a perfect pokemon by any means, but sending one out in trick room teams was horrifying. It really felt like it burned at 18,000 °F like the Pokedex says lol
@@IStillPlayWhite2 Yeah, but Magcargo is pretty much essential for hatching eggs if you don't hate yourself. The other changes are pretty good ideas though.
Makes more sense to fix Magma Armor as an ability than to remove it entirely. I made it give an immunity to all Ice moves and raise the user's defense if hit by one (because it's cooling the magma into rock). This makes Magcargo a hard counter to Icy Wind and a safe switch in against hardhitting ice moves
i think these would be genuinely cool changes. it'd function kind of like a low-tier moltres, switching in to punish contact moves with flame body. i don't really jive with getting rid of the rock typing, but if your goal is to turn it into a pivot then you just can't justify keeping rock
I feel like Magcargo is one of those Pokémon who really needs an evolution at this point, like these changes are good but even with them, I feel like he'll end up underwhelming, great format tho, I really liked the pace and the editing on the video!
Bug/fire is just as ass as rock/fire Volc is good becauae of its good stats. Only reason no one uses it is because its too damn slow while lacking bulk. Increase the def/spedef with recover as a level up move and it would be used. The def/spedef is too low for its hp stat. Look a toxapex, has low hp but the defences make up for it.
Good points; Recover is a level up move by default, so I think the HP increase alongside that can boost it and make it more viable for playthroughs at least! Maybe some extra stats invested in its defenses would work as well.
@IStillPlayWhite2 I see. I don't think it used to get recover in the games where it was a viable fire type to be used. The problem now is that the pokemon just doesn't appear in games early enough or at all to be a choice to be used. It's like how Bisharp or golurk are rarely used, they just don't appear soon enough despite being quite good pokemon
@@colonelcider8292 True, I agree. Location and how early one can get a Pokemon is good factor I should consider when making these, think I may put that in a future video.
Here's what I would like to see: Replace magma armor with sturdy 130 defense 110 special defense 100 special attack Add razor shell, nasty plot and scald These changes add to the original identity of magcargo without taking away it's unique and memorable flaws.
A very simple fix. Give it a unique ability. I had the idea, that works perfectly with its type. I came with a ability called evaporate. If Margcargo is hit by a water type attack, the damage get neutralized., as well activates the ability a small attack, like a low base power scaled attack with a high burn chnace. Making it not only immune agaisnt water attacks, but if switched to a water type attack can brn the oppoenent. . The ability also has the same side effect as flamebody.
The way to fix Macargo is this. The rock/fire typing stays, we are going to give it the ability storm drain. The pokedex entry says how hot it is, so it is literally burning the moisture around it. The pokemon now has an immunity to water, why stop there. The new move lava bubble, which is 80 base power, is the only fire type move to not get weakened in the rain. The new Macargo can function in the sun as well as on a rain team, boom fixed.
Thanks for your thoughts! To me, thats way too little of a change for it to be any better, I think buffing its attack up to 100 was a modest but well needed change.
@@IStillPlayWhite2 Oh, I should had probably be clearer that aside from the special attack limit, I would consider all your other changes as valid, then add Solid Rock. 😅
You REALLY are on to something with this! I’ve always liked Magcargo’s design, but like everybody said it’s just really hard to use that Pokemon. If Magcargo was fire/bug then Gold/Silver would have been the biggest game changer of the entire series. My only disagreement on your take is to not get rid of the rock moves. Sure it may not be a rock type anymore in this scenario but who doesn’t like a Pokemon with coverage? 😁🐌❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
I totally agree about the GS scenario. I removed its rock typing to keep in consistent with other bugs alongside the fact that it was no longer a bug type, haha. I see where youre coming from though!
I see the Rock-type moves staying in its learnset, honestly. Could be like Lugia or Gliscor, where sure, they're not ACTUALLY Water or Poison-type... but they still have a lesser affinity for those types.
I use him on playthrough teams every time he's available, it's not like you need the strongest pokemon to beat the game itself... Not talking about multiplayer of course.
Honestly i dig it, I understand magma is molten rock but in this economy, being a rock type isn't a great thing, I thought on another improvement, in Pokemon Radical Red, 2 Mega pokemon get an fan made ability: Mountaineer, it gives the pokemon immunity to Stealth rocks and Rock type moves
What kind of Pokémon based off of scaly foot gastropods isn’t a steel type? If that’s what Magcargo is based off of then they should at least get a fire steel regional form or something. Unless you pulled them up because they’re also called volcano snails. A water steel regional form could also work for a scaly foot gastropod Pokémon due to them living deep underwater near underwater vents
Hear me out. Magcargo stays Fire/Rock but gets Water Absorb as an ability. Magma + Water give stone. Magcargo could use stone to restore its shell, so healing itself. In that way its gets new way of restoring hp and Water Absorb gets rid of his 4x water weakness.
@@IStillPlayWhite2 aight cool 🤓 eager to see who else you try and fix lol I have some mons in mind that need love, but I’m sure you have a nice list of your own too
I know a guy that runs weak armor rockpolish set with a band and it just, can run with a game off that gimmick in a surprising number of situations, still far from 'good or consistent' but this stacking with a better mon is kinda crazy so im glad you nuked it too.
The increase to it's spt to 100 is over kill. He doesn't need it with such a decent defense play. Especially because I'm pretty sure I'll be able to learn buffing moves like quiver dance especially because it's a bug type. Plus also because it's already a defensive type, it will be able to learn powdered moves. Just like amoongus.
hey, thanks for your input! i actually didn’t teach it quiver dance because almost every pokemon that does learn it either flies/has wings of some sort, and magcargo unfortunately doesn’t fit that criteria. good point on the powder moves!
I'd rather it be changed to fire/ground. It would match numel/camerupt which are also based around volcanic activity, and still have not as many weaknesses as it does now. I like the stat changes though. Bug just feels too weird for it.. I don't think of mollusks as bugs personally, and the bug type moves listed don't fit its design imo
Likewise, I generally structure these videos in order to not have them receive an evolution, because at that point you wouldnt really be "fixing" the bad pokemon, and it'll become just an underwhelming middle evolution.
Also, I have a signature ability to it: MAGMA TERAIN (Hello, the entry in the Pokédex about 9k degrees for Magcargo) This will increase the power of fire and earth by 20%, weaken grass and fairy moves by 20%, and create passive damage (5%) to each non-fire/earth/rock Pokémon. :)
@@king_of_rats_Monfernep Very interesting idea with the Magma Terrain! Making new moves/unique mechanics is something I should explore as well. And yeah, maybe I should have kept its rock type moves just for the sake of coverage and its Pokedex entries.
Honestly having played Pokemon Elite Redux, just giving it simple is enough. Like 30 base speed is rough but max investment +4 from shell smash is very respectable.
Good point! My only concern is you can make that argument for essentially any bad pokemon with a boosting move; I think its more fun to explore options based on lore and different gameplay factors :)
It feels like a crime to talk about why nobody uses Magcargo without even mentioning what is easily arguable the biggest reason why nobody uses it/it's bad, it's availability. There are technically only two games where you can get it before the post game: gen 3 and gen 6. For gen 3 it's the lowest encounter of the fire types where you can find it and shares competition with newly introduced pokemon in the form or Torkal and Numel, two new* pokemon to the games (*Slugma was post game exclusive in gen 2 and at an awful 5% encounter rate, practically feeling like it was a gen 3 mon). Then in gen 6 you cant get one unless you use rock smash on a single route to then have that encounter be about a 30% chance to even have Slugma. You can technically also get it in HGSS early on but that comes with it's own problems and problems that it shares with Ponyta but worse, it's high evolution level. On average teams will be in their low-mid 40s when reaching the champion and Slugma evolves at level 38, leaving you with only a small handful of levels to even use Magcargo. Some teams don't even reach that before the final gym. So maybe you'll have one gym fight where Magcargo won't even be used cause of it's disadvantage then the Elite 4 to actually use it. Has basically the same problem in gen 3 except with a whole ocean before the final two gyms. Camerupt will at least usually have the 6th gym at least to enjoy it's evolved state before dealing with it's worst part of the game. It's hard enough for people to even know Magcargo exists and if they do, it can be hard to even get both in encountering it and evolving it. Having an easy way to be obtained can make up for it being bad to justify using it. Just look at Magmar. If you ask anyone they'll likely tell you it's not a great mon but people will use it anyways cause of it's easy availability. People will even use Ponyta in gen 4 despite it's huge issues cause it's easy to find while arguably being worse than Magcargo.
Give him desolate land (or drought/water absorb to be less severe), probably would make him a top tier VGC pick, and/or make him a Fire Water type as it would have the niche of being the only non-legendary Fire Water Type. Fire Bug wouldn't be that special as that is a very aggressive type combination for such a slow Pokémon, you would just be making the Fire Bug version of Golem/Rhyperior, 4x weak to a common aggro move type on a slow but massive nuclear bomb. To go with the new typing, or in general, you can give it Hydro Steam/Scald for way more utility and coverage while still fitting in the theme of being a Lava Slug. The bug moves suggested wouldn't help his niche at all due to his horrendous attack stat and I feel like Sticky Web doesn't suit the design as he's a fire slug, the 'webs' he would create would be 1000°C.
@IStillPlayWhite2 i love magcargo and reworking bad pokemon in general so i'm very thankful for someone bringing him to light, hope to see more content from you it's very fun to watch
@@IStillPlayWhite2the real-life volcano snail's shell has an outer layer of (entirely biologically developed) iron sulphides, and the foot has iron sulphide sclerites too
I do think that removing weak armor doesn't help its setup sweeper potential given it has shell smash. once it starts getting +3 speed from both weak armor and shell smash it's reasonable fast and the defense stat isn't going to matter anyways. I also think being kind of forced to run heavy duty boots due to a horrible matchup into stealth rocks limits the buff even more. plus removing stealth rocks from its movepool doesnt help as well. Just feels like wish volcarona.
Interesting take on his changes! Me personally, I think he's a little too slow to be a shell smash sweeper, but maybe with some extra support such as the HDB you mentioned, he could shine as one.
Slugs arnt bugs though, theyre mollusks, so water fire would have made more sense. Edit: Mollusks are only found near water, Magcargo is a rock type - because of sand, he is not a snail even though he has a shell.
I think game developers stretch the definition of what a bug is all the time. In Twilight Princess there's a girl that wants you to collect golden bugs from around the kingdom for her, and a couple of them are a pair of snails despite all the rest being more conventional "bugs" like insects and pillbugs.
@@cradiculous exactly this! I replied to someone previously about not wanting to put hyper realism into pokemon, otherwise we wouldnt have half of the pokemon that we do now adays lol. Valid points from everyone regardless!
I don't think bug type makes sense, snails sre not even close to be comsidered bugs, they are more similar to oysters and octopuses, if anything i think it would make more sense if it was an pure fire type
The thing is, for Pokemon, you're a bug if you look like a weird animal, for example Arachnids aren't insects but are associated with bug types, crabs are definitely not Bugs but Dwebble and Crustle don't care, Bug types in Pokemon are basically any weird thing that slightly looks like an bug or doesn't fit any other category like mammals are bug
@@Eric6761 i agree and enjoy that GF do some abstractions when it comes to types, but even tough the bug type seem like an umbrella for "weird animal", i think it's more of an arthropoda (which is the group where bugs are included) umbrella than anything, that's why arachnids and crustaceans are included since they are all from this filo and share a lot of similar characteristics. But mollusks and arthropods are VERY far from each other, for you to have an idea they are just as close to each other as mammals are to starfishes and sea cucumbers, also, they don't share a lot of common "bug like" characteristic, so making animals like an octopus be a bug feels just wrong and weird, of course i know they don't go scientific on their designs, but for a pokemon to be bug type it should at least be bug like/bug adjacent, otherwise it just feel that the typing is wrong
What if we give it minecarft logic,give ability if it get hit with water type move give it boost def or sp.def by 1 but lower speed by 1 like lava +water = cobble stone shit
Youre onto something, I really, REALLY like this idea. I want to do cool things like that for pokemon in the future. It makes alot of sense for Magcargo since lava will essentially neutralize water.
You’re the reason the saying “great potential” was invented. I mistook you for a at least 1K subscriber youtuber when i first saw you i have a mon I recommend you could try fixing: carbink. I just like the little fella so i would appreciate it if you could
That means so much, thank you alot :) Carbink can be an interesting Pokemon to explore in the future. I have alot in the chamber I want to get done first.
He does not need fixing. He has a valuable resistance to Normal and zero notable weaknesses.
@@jimothycool if only he was good :(
One change I’d like to see happen for Macargo’s sake is the end of the horse council civil war. He’s been scrutinized and ostracized for too long. He’s been through so much. The war must come to an end so Macargo can enjoy his rightful privileges as a horse.
His weaknesses to Water and Ground are nowhere near as much trouble to him as Horses
@@cradiculous who sent you guys here 🤣🤣
@@IStillPlayWhite2 The Horse Council has been unfair towards many applicants and several prominent members have turned against Magcargo despite its acceptance into the Council. We won't stand for this injustice and must support any Magcargo endeavors in hopes of finally putting an end to this discrimination against non-horses.
He is a rock type because lava is just melting rock
Putting Gooey on Magcargo feels...a little weird. Like, yeah, punching it's gonna cover you in goo, but that _goo_ is burning twice as hot as the surface of the sun. There's a lightning strike on your skin, that's not gonna leave you with a single stage speed drop
yeah, I think gooey would be more fitting for a convergent evolution pokemon (i.e. diglett, wiglett)
or maybe as the hidden ability.. like it's at lava lamp temperature? warm enough to melt wax, which would stick to you and hurt a little bit, but not burn you unless you kept contact with it.
Thanks for your input and I understand where youre coming from! I dont really like to put realistic expectations in the videos or pokemon *too* much, i feel like it can break some of the creative process when it comes to reworking pokemon =)
1:00 Didn’t realize bro was this massive 😭
This was a lot better then I expected, and genuinely seems pretty viable.
Although, Macargo is rock type because lava is literal molten rock so at a logical stand point, it makes sense for it to have the rock type. But at a competitive stand point, yeah bug is the closest type that isn’t bad with its other type and that matches its visual design. I loved using Volcarona so Marcago in this form seems like a fun pokemon
thanks for your thoughts! bug/fire is always a sick combo and can probably be used well in a playthrough =D
Maybe give it an ability that works like Dhelmise, essentially giving a third type
To be fair I've long been a supporter of one day someone making a ROM so that pokemon have all their types at once
@@gg_sam7847 Thats a very unique idea that can be implemented for lots of Pokemon im sure.. good to know =)
With the new typing Heavy duty boots would be mandatory because of stealth rocks
absolutely agree.
making it a horse would fix it
i agree lmfao
And then remove the Rock type and rearrange its stats, abilities, movepool...
And you get a Rapidash
@@rike971 let’s do it ‼️
@@rike971you could do that with any rock type that learns high horsepower
or do that to snorlax
it’s just sentient lava resembling a slug/snail, the only bug type move it learns is Infestation and lots of pokemon learn it so i would chalk it up for being actually a bug
i agree !
magcargo doesn't need fixing. he rides now for the trident, join him horse brothers
we need Jimothy here again!
If Hisuian Arcanine can overcome it's fire/roxk typing, Magcargo can.
It just needs a huge BST buff, an ability that synergizes with trick room, and good rock and fire STABs.
This snail should be firing off insane eruptions; dwarfing Torkoal, a top tier trick room option.
Maybe give it a signature rock type eruption reskin, thematically it could explode it's shell and regrow it or something.
Magcargo could be great, it has the design potiental, but the mechanics aren't there.
@@SkyNinja759 your idea of it’s exploding shell is super interesting, i love that idea. making unique signature moves is something i should consider for future pokemon !
Solid Rock would do it wonders to combat its atrocious quad weaknesses
The problem is that magcargo is a defensive mon with a good offensive type (in case of arcanine), but with a bad defensive type
@@icycrybaby totally agree!
The loss of stealth rock 3:11 would be terrible tho. It could work as a Flame Body wall in lower tiers, or maybe a mini heatran with flash fire. Something like:
- recover
- lava plume
- Earth Power
- stealth rock (major) /Wil o wisp (niche)
good move set choices! my only concern is that there are a plethora of better stealth rock users in lower tiers, so i went with making him a bug instead
I'm with the stat changes this time around. They serve Magcargo's niche without making it too strong.
I think gooey should be replaced with flame body. Touching lava won't just slow you down, it will burn you. Edit: already has flame body. Maybe shell armour
Also, keep the rock/fire type. Magma is molten rock.
Pretty much no change to this pokemon will ever help it unless it's given a different type though. A Rock/Fire type only works if it's significantly faster.
@@cradiculous It's never going to be competitive without some radical changes, I agree. But rock fire makes sense for the guy.
@@PrimeCarrot Thanks for your input! I sympathize with the fact of it being molten lava, but in a viability standpoint, its downright horrid. I generally like to steer away from hyper realism when designing these remakes, as i feel like it can limit some of my creative process =)
I dont think Magcargo should be just a worse Volcarona
My idea to fix Magcargo is based on a change for the moves Shell Trap and Meteor Beam, that I would give it access to.
Shell Trap sets a (new) hazard on the field that activates a special Fire-type attack with 150 Base Power when contact is made by contact moves (2 layers possible). However, any Ground moves activates the Shell Trap on the respective side and possibly deal self damage.
Meteor Beam does not need a setup turn in sand storm (just as Solar Beam in Sun or Electro Shot in Rain).
Furthermore, I'd give Regenerator and Gooey as new ability to Magcargo. The regenerative abilities of magma and of the pokemon itself are mentioned in the dex entry.
Lastly, Shed Tail might be useful for it as well.
Its role would be a pivoting hazard setter:
Magcargo @ Rocky Helmet /Air Balloon
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Trap
- Shed Tail
- Lava Plume / Recover
- Meteor Beam
Nice work! I overlooked Regenerator as an ability completely. Shed tail has some cool potential as well. Nice to see that you included a competitive moveset for it, thanks for your thoughts! :)
When I was tinkering with emerald's decomp and modding it, I gave Magcargo an ability named Lava Bubble, which was essentially a fire-flavored translation of Araquanid's Water Bubble.
Water Bubble doubles the power of water moves, halves fire damage taken and makes it owner immune to burn.
So I made Lava Bubbble double the power of fire moves, halve water damage taken and make it immune to freeze (frostbite, actually). I also gave it Eruption. It's literally made of lava after all.
It wasn't a perfect pokemon by any means, but sending one out in trick room teams was horrifying. It really felt like it burned at 18,000 °F like the Pokedex says lol
@@kenshiro8984 incredible changes! i don’t know how i missed eruption, thanks for the catch !
the horse council will not like this..
0:45 you can say it’s a rock type since magma is just liquid rock .
Magcarjoe would be proud.
i agree.
Removing magma armor takes away it's only unique thing in favour of doing stuff other pokemon already do
the thing is though, magma armor is ridiculously niche and is never the first choice for his ability
@@IStillPlayWhite2 Yeah, but Magcargo is pretty much essential for hatching eggs if you don't hate yourself. The other changes are pretty good ideas though.
@@BasilicanBarkBR that’s a good point, i generally think of improving pokemon in a battle sense but i can look into outside uses as well!
GOATed editing fam, you have a lot of potential!
thank you so much! excited to see where this channel goes 😊
Storm Drain or Water Absorb. His Pokedex entry also states that he is unharmed by water as it immediately vaporizes on contact.
this wouldve been a cool change!
Makes more sense to fix Magma Armor as an ability than to remove it entirely. I made it give an immunity to all Ice moves and raise the user's defense if hit by one (because it's cooling the magma into rock). This makes Magcargo a hard counter to Icy Wind and a safe switch in against hardhitting ice moves
If i were to rework abilities then that would be a good idea! Its something I can look at with more depth for the future.
i think these would be genuinely cool changes. it'd function kind of like a low-tier moltres, switching in to punish contact moves with flame body. i don't really jive with getting rid of the rock typing, but if your goal is to turn it into a pivot then you just can't justify keeping rock
Exactly that! If these changes were hypothetically put into place then i think he can have a solid role in NU or even RU to an extent.
I feel like Magcargo is one of those Pokémon who really needs an evolution at this point, like these changes are good but even with them, I feel like he'll end up underwhelming, great format tho, I really liked the pace and the editing on the video!
much appreciated! much more to come in the near future =)
Subbed. You deserve more bro. Keep it up with the amazing content ❤
thanks :) much more to come!
Taking out stealth rock from its movepool would hurt it. I guess it isn't a rock type in this scenario but still
Bu-b-but, snails are molluscs 😢😢😢
Bug/fire is just as ass as rock/fire
Volc is good becauae of its good stats.
Only reason no one uses it is because its too damn slow while lacking bulk.
Increase the def/spedef with recover as a level up move and it would be used.
The def/spedef is too low for its hp stat. Look a toxapex, has low hp but the defences make up for it.
Good points; Recover is a level up move by default, so I think the HP increase alongside that can boost it and make it more viable for playthroughs at least! Maybe some extra stats invested in its defenses would work as well.
@IStillPlayWhite2 I see. I don't think it used to get recover in the games where it was a viable fire type to be used.
The problem now is that the pokemon just doesn't appear in games early enough or at all to be a choice to be used. It's like how Bisharp or golurk are rarely used, they just don't appear soon enough despite being quite good pokemon
@@colonelcider8292 True, I agree. Location and how early one can get a Pokemon is good factor I should consider when making these, think I may put that in a future video.
The videos keep Getting better and better!!!!
Great video! It’s always interesting to see what changes might help a pokemon’s viability.
We need you on the dev team
Yeah if we had more people like him we wouldn't have gotten absurd borderline Fakemon like Flutter Mane and its dreadfully unbalanced minmaxed stats
Here's what I would like to see:
Replace magma armor with sturdy
130 defense 110 special defense
100 special attack
Add razor shell, nasty plot and scald
These changes add to the original identity of magcargo without taking away it's unique and memorable flaws.
I like the Razor Shell idea! Could be cool if i included more water based elements. Also sturdy would improve it a ton ;3
The only Marcargo I ever raised was Incubator In ORAS. And I think you can tell she was only battling in an emergency just from the name
Yup! Lol.
This is the type of video that has the potential to get to 1m gl
Also i like his evolution lines and of the deez nuts jokes add the charm to it
Not 1M but at least a good 10K
A very simple fix. Give it a unique ability. I had the idea, that works perfectly with its type. I came with a ability called evaporate. If Margcargo is hit by a water type attack, the damage get neutralized., as well activates the ability a small attack, like a low base power scaled attack with a high burn chnace. Making it not only immune agaisnt water attacks, but if switched to a water type attack can brn the oppoenent. . The ability also has the same side effect as flamebody.
Adding that ability is a great idea! It could be a really solid check to strong water types that like to spam moves
The way to fix Macargo is this. The rock/fire typing stays, we are going to give it the ability storm drain. The pokedex entry says how hot it is, so it is literally burning the moisture around it. The pokemon now has an immunity to water, why stop there. The new move lava bubble, which is 80 base power, is the only fire type move to not get weakened in the rain. The new Macargo can function in the sun as well as on a rain team, boom fixed.
it could have a fire type equivalent to gastrodon's storm drain where it sucks in all fire type moves, including will o wisp
Very underrated channel for the quality of content, good job mate
@@Mil3o thanks a lot 🫶
I would give it Solid Rock to still keep the rock shell imagery, and keep the SpA to a max of 90.
We don't want to overcook it.
Thanks for your thoughts! To me, thats way too little of a change for it to be any better, I think buffing its attack up to 100 was a modest but well needed change.
@@IStillPlayWhite2 Oh, I should had probably be clearer that aside from the special attack limit, I would consider all your other changes as valid, then add Solid Rock. 😅
You REALLY are on to something with this! I’ve always liked Magcargo’s design, but like everybody said it’s just really hard to use that Pokemon. If Magcargo was fire/bug then Gold/Silver would have been the biggest game changer of the entire series. My only disagreement on your take is to not get rid of the rock moves. Sure it may not be a rock type anymore in this scenario but who doesn’t like a Pokemon with coverage? 😁🐌❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
I totally agree about the GS scenario. I removed its rock typing to keep in consistent with other bugs alongside the fact that it was no longer a bug type, haha. I see where youre coming from though!
I see the Rock-type moves staying in its learnset, honestly. Could be like Lugia or Gliscor, where sure, they're not ACTUALLY Water or Poison-type... but they still have a lesser affinity for those types.
Thats super valid, and something I can take into consideration as well!
"i never understood why magcargo is a rock type" uhhhhh maybe it has something to do with the giant rock shell on its back?
I use him on playthrough teams every time he's available, it's not like you need the strongest pokemon to beat the game itself... Not talking about multiplayer of course.
For sure! But in comparison to other fire or rock types, he's simply underwhelming and thats where i come into play ;)
Honestly i dig it, I understand magma is molten rock but in this economy, being a rock type isn't a great thing, I thought on another improvement, in Pokemon Radical Red, 2 Mega pokemon get an fan made ability: Mountaineer, it gives the pokemon immunity to Stealth rocks and Rock type moves
Mountaineer is a really unique ability! And yeah, rock type combined with a slow speed is just asking for trouble.
I actually used it in my Heart Gold playthrough. Overshadowed by Ho-oh tho
;(
I'd say keep the rock moves, otherwise this seems pretty solid.
What kind of Pokémon based off of scaly foot gastropods isn’t a steel type? If that’s what Magcargo is based off of then they should at least get a fire steel regional form or something.
Unless you pulled them up because they’re also called volcano snails.
A water steel regional form could also work for a scaly foot gastropod Pokémon due to them living deep underwater near underwater vents
Thats a really good idea actually! Giving regional forms to Pokemon might be a really valid way to buff them ;)
Give it Drought,Body Press and Eruption
I'm sad that I overlooked eruption :(
Hear me out. Magcargo stays Fire/Rock but gets Water Absorb as an ability. Magma + Water give stone. Magcargo could use stone to restore its shell, so healing itself. In that way its gets new way of restoring hp and Water Absorb gets rid of his 4x water weakness.
hey i’m here to remind you that you let chandelure die
still upset about that
Great video mate! I love bug types, so you got me
@@AcksD.Bharlotte thanks! more to come very soon :))
@@IStillPlayWhite2 aight cool 🤓 eager to see who else you try and fix lol
I have some mons in mind that need love, but I’m sure you have a nice list of your own too
I know a guy that runs weak armor rockpolish set with a band and it just, can run with a game off that gimmick in a surprising number of situations, still far from 'good or consistent' but this stacking with a better mon is kinda crazy so im glad you nuked it too.
The increase to it's spt to 100 is over kill. He doesn't need it with such a decent defense play. Especially because I'm pretty sure I'll be able to learn buffing moves like quiver dance especially because it's a bug type. Plus also because it's already a defensive type, it will be able to learn powdered moves. Just like amoongus.
hey, thanks for your input! i actually didn’t teach it quiver dance because almost every pokemon that does learn it either flies/has wings of some sort, and magcargo unfortunately doesn’t fit that criteria. good point on the powder moves!
It already gets Shell Smash so I doubt it would even want Quiver Dance
The only shiny I found naturally :/
I'd rather it be changed to fire/ground. It would match numel/camerupt which are also based around volcanic activity, and still have not as many weaknesses as it does now. I like the stat changes though.
Bug just feels too weird for it.. I don't think of mollusks as bugs personally, and the bug type moves listed don't fit its design imo
Thats an interesting take, thanks for your input! If it were not a rock type i think ground would fit it a lot better.
I am not against making it Fire/Bug. Flame Body with Spider's Web could be a great combo for wrecking physical attackers.
100%. If Volcarona can see some success with it, im sure Magcargo can put in some work as well =)
Spider Web needs brought back though. Game Freak didn't put it in gen 9.
W video, I’d like if they evolved it entirely
Likewise, I generally structure these videos in order to not have them receive an evolution, because at that point you wouldnt really be "fixing" the bad pokemon, and it'll become just an underwhelming middle evolution.
How would Magcargo use its Leech Life and First Impression with 50 ATTACK though?
i think it could keep stealth rock since it does look rocky enough to justify it
Magcargo with New bug type need some Rock move, cuz it has a flying weakness
Also, I have a signature ability to it: MAGMA TERAIN (Hello, the entry in the Pokédex about 9k degrees for Magcargo) This will increase the power of fire and earth by 20%, weaken grass and fairy moves by 20%, and create passive damage (5%) to each non-fire/earth/rock Pokémon. :)
@@king_of_rats_Monfernep Very interesting idea with the Magma Terrain! Making new moves/unique mechanics is something I should explore as well. And yeah, maybe I should have kept its rock type moves just for the sake of coverage and its Pokedex entries.
Yo that's an awesome buff, and after that dex entry, yeah, the rock typing doesn't make a lot of sense on Magcargo
I appreciate it! Lots more to come in the near future! :)
Honestly having played Pokemon Elite Redux, just giving it simple is enough. Like 30 base speed is rough but max investment +4 from shell smash is very respectable.
Good point! My only concern is you can make that argument for essentially any bad pokemon with a boosting move; I think its more fun to explore options based on lore and different gameplay factors :)
Dusknoir is next
potentially !
You showed Magby as if you can catch it. You have to breed a magmar to get one OR get lucky in crystal
true + good point, I just wanted to show the baby evolutions of pokemon if im being totally honest =)
Good short video
It feels like a crime to talk about why nobody uses Magcargo without even mentioning what is easily arguable the biggest reason why nobody uses it/it's bad, it's availability. There are technically only two games where you can get it before the post game: gen 3 and gen 6.
For gen 3 it's the lowest encounter of the fire types where you can find it and shares competition with newly introduced pokemon in the form or Torkal and Numel, two new* pokemon to the games (*Slugma was post game exclusive in gen 2 and at an awful 5% encounter rate, practically feeling like it was a gen 3 mon). Then in gen 6 you cant get one unless you use rock smash on a single route to then have that encounter be about a 30% chance to even have Slugma.
You can technically also get it in HGSS early on but that comes with it's own problems and problems that it shares with Ponyta but worse, it's high evolution level. On average teams will be in their low-mid 40s when reaching the champion and Slugma evolves at level 38, leaving you with only a small handful of levels to even use Magcargo. Some teams don't even reach that before the final gym. So maybe you'll have one gym fight where Magcargo won't even be used cause of it's disadvantage then the Elite 4 to actually use it. Has basically the same problem in gen 3 except with a whole ocean before the final two gyms. Camerupt will at least usually have the 6th gym at least to enjoy it's evolved state before dealing with it's worst part of the game.
It's hard enough for people to even know Magcargo exists and if they do, it can be hard to even get both in encountering it and evolving it. Having an easy way to be obtained can make up for it being bad to justify using it. Just look at Magmar. If you ask anyone they'll likely tell you it's not a great mon but people will use it anyways cause of it's easy availability. People will even use Ponyta in gen 4 despite it's huge issues cause it's easy to find while arguably being worse than Magcargo.
Give him desolate land (or drought/water absorb to be less severe), probably would make him a top tier VGC pick, and/or make him a Fire Water type as it would have the niche of being the only non-legendary Fire Water Type. Fire Bug wouldn't be that special as that is a very aggressive type combination for such a slow Pokémon, you would just be making the Fire Bug version of Golem/Rhyperior, 4x weak to a common aggro move type on a slow but massive nuclear bomb. To go with the new typing, or in general, you can give it Hydro Steam/Scald for way more utility and coverage while still fitting in the theme of being a Lava Slug. The bug moves suggested wouldn't help his niche at all due to his horrendous attack stat and I feel like Sticky Web doesn't suit the design as he's a fire slug, the 'webs' he would create would be 1000°C.
Interesting choice to make him a water type! Those are some pretty interesting changes that may make him very viable.
@IStillPlayWhite2 i love magcargo and reworking bad pokemon in general so i'm very thankful for someone bringing him to light, hope to see more content from you it's very fun to watch
@@rizi7832 thanks! lots more to come 😃😃
Just give it a Fire/Steel Volcano Snail (real life snail) evolution with massive defenses and a good special attack.
fire steel is a cool combo, i’m curious to see your reasoning behind it! is it cause of its massive shell as a defense?
@@IStillPlayWhite2the real-life volcano snail's shell has an outer layer of (entirely biologically developed) iron sulphides, and the foot has iron sulphide sclerites too
Personally I think it would be better with the fire ground or fire steel type.
I do think that removing weak armor doesn't help its setup sweeper potential given it has shell smash. once it starts getting +3 speed from both weak armor and shell smash it's reasonable fast and the defense stat isn't going to matter anyways. I also think being kind of forced to run heavy duty boots due to a horrible matchup into stealth rocks limits the buff even more. plus removing stealth rocks from its movepool doesnt help as well. Just feels like wish volcarona.
Interesting take on his changes! Me personally, I think he's a little too slow to be a shell smash sweeper, but maybe with some extra support such as the HDB you mentioned, he could shine as one.
@@IStillPlayWhite2 also in the video you gave it sticky web which could help its speed even more
Snails aren't insects
Slugs arnt bugs though, theyre mollusks, so water fire would have made more sense.
Edit: Mollusks are only found near water, Magcargo is a rock type - because of sand, he is not a snail even though he has a shell.
Interesting point, thanks for the info!
game freak has been known to give certain non-bugs the bug type, like crustle, who is a crab
I think game developers stretch the definition of what a bug is all the time. In Twilight Princess there's a girl that wants you to collect golden bugs from around the kingdom for her, and a couple of them are a pair of snails despite all the rest being more conventional "bugs" like insects and pillbugs.
@@cradiculous exactly this! I replied to someone previously about not wanting to put hyper realism into pokemon, otherwise we wouldnt have half of the pokemon that we do now adays lol. Valid points from everyone regardless!
I wonder where did my previous comment about him needing Rock coverage go?
I reuploaded !
@@IStillPlayWhite2oh geez, I feel like you need to check your videos more often before you upload them /s
I don't think bug type makes sense, snails sre not even close to be comsidered bugs, they are more similar to oysters and octopuses, if anything i think it would make more sense if it was an pure fire type
Pure fire is intersting! Thanks for your feedback :)
@@IStillPlayWhite2 ignoring that i think it was great
The thing is, for Pokemon, you're a bug if you look like a weird animal, for example Arachnids aren't insects but are associated with bug types, crabs are definitely not Bugs but Dwebble and Crustle don't care, Bug types in Pokemon are basically any weird thing that slightly looks like an bug or doesn't fit any other category like mammals are bug
@@Eric6761 i agree and enjoy that GF do some abstractions when it comes to types, but even tough the bug type seem like an umbrella for "weird animal", i think it's more of an arthropoda (which is the group where bugs are included) umbrella than anything, that's why arachnids and crustaceans are included since they are all from this filo and share a lot of similar characteristics. But mollusks and arthropods are VERY far from each other, for you to have an idea they are just as close to each other as mammals are to starfishes and sea cucumbers, also, they don't share a lot of common "bug like" characteristic, so making animals like an octopus be a bug feels just wrong and weird, of course i know they don't go scientific on their designs, but for a pokemon to be bug type it should at least be bug like/bug adjacent, otherwise it just feel that the typing is wrong
What if we give it minecarft logic,give ability if it get hit with water type move give it boost def or sp.def by 1 but lower speed by 1 like lava +water = cobble stone shit
Youre onto something, I really, REALLY like this idea. I want to do cool things like that for pokemon in the future. It makes alot of sense for Magcargo since lava will essentially neutralize water.
Giving Magcargo First Impression makes 0 sense. . . . .bc its a snail. . . You know, slow af.
Golisopod also gets first impression with a speed of 40 :3
What is his pre evo called? I can't remember 🤨
Slugma
@@Eric6761 Thanks 🙂
not sure ab sticky web
i'd love to hear your explanation as to why !
UNDER 1K VIEWS??????? WTH
;)
Here before you blow up
🤝
You’re the reason the saying “great potential” was invented. I mistook you for a at least 1K subscriber youtuber when i first saw you
i have a mon I recommend you could try fixing: carbink. I just like the little fella so i would appreciate it if you could
That means so much, thank you alot :)
Carbink can be an interesting Pokemon to explore in the future. I have alot in the chamber I want to get done first.
I am always down for more bug types 🐌🐛🪱🦋
We need better bug types ❗