Pokemon GO: How does Magmortar stack up against other Fire-types?

When it comes to building a team to take on Pokemon GO's Battle League, having even type coverage as well as a balance in roles is key to securing victory. Fire-type Pokemon are notorious for being some of the best offensive choices in the game due to their high attack stats and coverage against Steel types, the most prominent type in the metagame.

With the recent conclusion of Magmar's Spotlight Hour, many players find themselves able to use Magmortar, Magmar's evolution. However, many players may be unaware if Magmortar is worth using over any other Fire-type Pokemon like Charizard or Infernape.

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Is Magmortar worth using in Pokemon GO

Magmortar as it appears in promotional imagery for Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Sadly, standard Magmortar is outperformed as an offensive Fire-type by a large majority of the roster of other Fire-type Pokemon throughout Pokemon GO. Luckily, this is not the case for Shadow Magmortar. Standard Magmortar simply lacks the bulk to stay in a metagame so heavily dominated by offensive Water-type and Ground-type Pokemon.

Standard Magmortar's constant and high amount of damage output makes Magmortar a much better attacker in PvE battles like Raids and Gym Battles as the lack of bulk can be compensated for by dodging and shields. While Magmortar is not bad in Battle Leagues due to shielding and high-powered charged attacks, there are Pokemon that can do it better.

Shadow Magmortar is a much different story, however. Thanks to the boost in attack power all shadow Pokemon receive in Pokemon GO, Shadow Magmortar is significantly stronger than its standard variant. This boost to attacking power brings Magmortar closer to a glass cannon attacker.

Shadow Magmortar is only outperformed by Fire-type Legendary Pokemon like Entei and Moltres, Mega Evolutions like Mega Houndoom and both forms of Mega Charizard, and other shadow Fire types.

Most people do not have access to Shadow Magmortar due to the rotation of shadow Pokemon being constantly rotated. Players looking to pick up a Shadow Magmortar will be happy to know that Shadow Magmar is currently in rotation for available encounters for defeating a Team GO Rocket grunt. After players defeat the Fire-type Team GO Rocket grunt, the player may be rewarded with the chance to catch one.

To summarize, while Magmortar may be lacking on its own in Pokemon GO, Shadow Magmortar is entirely different. With a boosted attack power brought from being a shadow Pokemon, Magmortar is one of the most devastating Fire types in terms of damage output in Pokemon GO. Players looking to use Shadow Magmortar should keep its lacking bulk in mind. However, being a shadow Pokemon does not boost those stats.