Is Magcargo Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Fire/Rock with AbilityMagma Armor blocking freeze. Magcargo handles Glacia's Ice E4 and Winona through Rock coverage. Painfully slow with a 4x Water weakness that makes Juan and Wallace lethal matchups. Good against specific bosses, dangerous everywhere else.
Roxanne's team hits Slugma's weaknesses hard.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Flannery's typing presses Slugma's defenses.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Tate & Liza's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Juan's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Magcargo has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Magcargo trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Magcargo has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Drake's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Wallace's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Catch Slugma
Catch Slugma in Fiery Path (walking, Lv 15, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 36FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 43RockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10
- LV 50NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Slugma to Magcargo
Slugma evolves into Magcargo at Level 38. Your Slugma should hit Level 38 before you reach Tate & Liza, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 38)
- LV 38FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- TM06PoisonToxicPower —Accuracy 85%PP 10Fiery Path
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 48RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10
How to Get Magcargo in Emerald
Slugma is the only way in: catch one in the Fiery Path or the Route 113 ashfall and raise it to level 38, and it hardens into Magcargo. No Safari pass needed, since the base walks open routes.
Catch Slugma at any of these 2 spots to eventually evolve into Magcargo.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Slugma
- 2Evolve Magcargoat Lv.38
Badge 3How to Obtain Magcargo in E
- Step 2Magcargo ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Slugma egg.
How to Get Shiny Magcargo in Emerald
Magcargo isn't a wild find, so hunt a shiny Slugma on ashen Route 113 or in the Fiery Path, then level it to 38; evolving your molten catch preserves the shine. Compare Shiny Magcargo odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Magcargo Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Magcargo in the Emerald Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Magcargo Weakness
Magcargo's Fire/Rock typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Ground, Fighting, and Rock. Water and Ground hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. 6 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that. Magcargo's physical bulk (base 120 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Water, Ground |
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fire |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Magcargo Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Magcargo
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Hariyama builds →Focus Punch 2x138-164%KO Dig 4x79-93% Surf 4x74-88% Rock Tomb 2x33-40% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (Littleroot Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Feraligatr builds →Surf 4x178-209%KO Focus Punch 2x83-98% Dig 4x71-84% | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 2x119-140%KO Dig 4x66-79% Rock Tomb 2x27-33% | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Ludicolo builds →Surf 4x195-230%KO Focus Punch 2x60-72% | ||
 Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Combusken builds →Focus Punch 2x103-122%KO Dig 4x59-70% Rock Tomb 2x26-30% | ||
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Petalburg City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Azumarill builds →Surf 4x142-167%KO Focus Punch 2x47-56% Dig 4x43-51% Rollout 2x12-14% | ||
 Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Marshtomp builds →Surf 4x142-167%KO Dig 4x88-105%KO Rock Tomb 2x26-30% Rock Smash 2x12-14% | ||
 Camerupt FireGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Camerupt builds →Dig 4x100-119%KO Rock Slide 2x41-49% Rock Smash 2x13-16% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Sandslash builds →Dig 4x100-119%KO Focus Punch 2x79-93% Rock Tomb 2x27-33% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Graveler builds →Dig 4x94-112%KO Focus Punch 2x74-88% Rock Tomb 2x41-49% | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Trapinch Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Trapinch builds →Dig 4x100-119%KO Rock Tomb 2x27-33% Rock Smash 2x13-16% | ||
Magcargo Evolutions
Magcargo is the evolved form of Slugma. Breeding produces Slugma eggs, and they take an average time to hatch. Evolving from Slugma gave Magcargo the biggest boost in Defense (+80), bringing the total to 410 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Magcargo to get Slugma eggs easily using 22 partners from the Amorphous egg group. Notable egg moves include Acid Armor, Heat Wave.
E Magcargo Best Moveset
Fire/Rock typing creates a painful 4x Water weakness that limits where Magcargo fits on a team. 120 base Defense handles physical hits, but the moveset struggles to find safe switch-in opportunities with so many common weaknesses.
Best Build
Magcargo best EVs are Defense and HP
Wall Moveset
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Hidden Power Ice
- Rest
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without TMs, Magcargo's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Poison and Normal coverage and more on top of Overheat and Fire Blast for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The shell on its back is made of hardened magma. Tens of thousands of years spent living in volcanic craters have turned MAGCARGO’s bodies into magma.
Magcargo Emerald Guide
In Emerald, Magcargo has niche appeal at best. The E-Tier rating means you're fighting uphill by mid-game. There are better Fire/Rock Pokemon available.
In Emerald, use Magcargo as a support. Splits damage between physical and special. It's slow, so Trick Room or priority moves are key. Flamethrower is the primary attack.
For Emerald, run Bold on Magcargo. +Defense is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the support role.
For Emerald, build your team around Celebi, Jolteon, and Forretress. These have the highest co-usage rates with Magcargo in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
Game Availability
Magcargo first appeared in Gold & Silver and has been available in 16 games across 8 generations. Obtainable through wild encounters in most titles where it appears.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Magcargo.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List