Is Magcargo Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Fire/Rock is a defensive disaster: 4x weak to Water and Ground. Magcargo's stats don't compensate. Postgame-only availability makes it a non-factor for the Johto story.
Slugma has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Slugma resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Chuck's team hits Slugma's weaknesses hard.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Clair's Pokemon outpace and outclass Slugma here.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Sabrina's typing presses Slugma's defenses.
Slugma has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Slugma trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Misty's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Brock's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Magcargo has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Magcargo trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Magcargo has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Magcargo resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Bruno's team hits Magcargo's weaknesses hard.
Magcargo has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Magcargo trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catch Slugma
Catch Slugma on Route 16 (walking, Lv 27, rare).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 27)
- LV 27FireEmberPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- LV 27RockRock ThrowPower 50Accuracy 90%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Whitney
- TM13NormalSnorePower 40Accuracy 100%PP 15Moomoo Farm
- After Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- LV 36FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- 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 Misty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 38)
- LV 38FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 38RockRock ThrowPower 75Accuracy 90%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner
- LV 48RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10
- LV 60NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Magcargo in Gold & Silver
Magcargo has no wild presence here. A Slugma reaches level 38, one of the higher evolution thresholds in this stretch, so you will be grinding a wild Slugma well past the level you caught it at.
Catch Slugma at any of these 3 spots to eventually evolve into Magcargo.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Slugma
- 2Evolve Magcargoat Lv.38
Badge 8How to Obtain Magcargo in GS
To get Magcargo, start by catching Slugma through walking encounters at Lv. 25-29. The chain covers 1 catchable stage before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Magcargo ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Goldenrod Pokemon Day Care to receive a Slugma egg.
How to Get Shiny Magcargo in Gold & Silver
Magcargo skips the wild entirely, so hunt a shiny Slugma along Route 16, Route 17, and Route 18, then evolve it at level 38. Compare Shiny Magcargo odds across every game
Gold & Silver Shiny Magcargo Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
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 Gold & Silver 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
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Magcargo Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Magcargo
 Marowak Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Marowak builds →Earthquake 4x131-154%KO Dynamic Punch 2x43-51% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 4x196-232%KO Surf 4x75-89% Dynamic Punch 2x65-77% Rollout 2x31-37% | ||
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Tyranitar builds →Earthquake 4x135-159%KO Surf 4x133-157%KO Rock Slide 2x76-89% Dynamic Punch 2x67-80% | ||
 Suicune Water | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Suicune builds →Surf 4x191-225%KO Dig 4x51-61% Rock Smash 2x10-12% | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 4x283-333%KO Mud-Slap 4x18-21% | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Slowbro builds →Surf 4x209-246%KO Earthquake 4x83-98% Dynamic Punch 2x42-49% | ||
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Donphan builds →Earthquake 4x185-218%KO Rollout 2x20-23% Rock Smash 2x13-16% | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Feraligatr builds →Hydro Pump 4x218-256%KO Earthquake 4x109-129%KO Dynamic Punch 2x54-64% | ||
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Golduck builds →Hydro Pump 4x250-295%KO Dig 4x56-65% Dynamic Punch 2x44-53% | ||
 Quagsire WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 32 Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Quagsire builds →Earthquake 4x137-161%KO Surf 4x149-175%KO Dynamic Punch 2x46-54% Rollout 2x15-18% | ||
 Nidoking PoisonGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Nidoking builds →Earthquake 4x161-189%KO Surf 4x121-143%KO Dynamic Punch 2x53-63% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 4x158-186%KO Dynamic Punch 2x53-62% Rollout 2x16-20% | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Lapras builds →Hydro Pump 4x229-270%KO Rock Smash 2x10-12% | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Magcargo View Nidoqueen builds →Earthquake 4x146-172%KO Surf 4x111-131%KO Dynamic Punch 2x49-57% | ||
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 11 partners from the Amorphous egg group. Notable egg moves include Acid Armor.
GS Magcargo Best Moveset
Fire/Rock typing creates a devastating 4x weakness to both Water and Ground, the two most common offensive types. MoveFire Blast from 80 Sp. Atk hits modestly. Held ItemLeftovers sustains what little HP survives the switch-in. Typing that invites the format's most dangerous moves.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Rest
- Fire Blast
- Amnesia
- Acid Armor
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 Fire Blast and Flamethrower 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.
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
17 of 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The shell on its back is just skin that has cooled and hardened. It breaks easily with a slight touch.
Its brittle shell occasionally spouts intense flames that circulate throughout its body.
Magcargo Gold & Silver Guide
Honestly, in Gold & Silver Magcargo is a tough sell. It rates just E-Tier, and stronger Fire/Rock options exist. Fun pick, not a practical one.
Yes. Magcargo is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Magcargo becomes available after the main story is complete in Gold & Silver.
In Gold & Silver, use Magcargo as a support. Splits damage between physical and special. It's slow, so Trick Room or priority moves are key.
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 · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List