Gengar

[Laga]

Overview
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• Gengar always shined more in Singles than Doubles, but Gen 6 has brought it a new niche.
• New Mega-evolution has the ability of Shadow Tag, which makes Mega Gengar a great trapper.
• Ghost is an amazing offensive typing.
• Does a good job of countering Trick Room setters.

Mega Gengar
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set name: Mega Gengar
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Focus Blast / Sludge Bomb
move 3: Taunt / Sludge Bomb
move 4: Protect
item: Gengarite
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid

Moves
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• Shadow Ball is the main move of this set, hitting extremely hard
• Focus Blast has perfect neutral coverage against everything, but Sludge Bomb is more accurate and hits Fairies
• Taunt is great utility, but Sludge Bomb should be used in this slot if you want to run all-out offensive Megagar
• Protect is a great move in dubs for scouting / playing around, etc etc

Set Details
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• Running maximum Speed is important to outspeed and knock out Shaymin-S.
• Will-O-Wisp is amazing for catching and crippling physical attackers off guard, especially Bisharp and Kangaskhan, mons that usually would use Sucker Punch against a Gengar.

Usage Tips
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• Great Trick Room counter with a powerful STAB Shadow Ball to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types. Taunt works against Trick Room very well too.
• Mega Gengar should be used and its set customised accordingly to counter threats that your team has trouble with, since it can easily remove these Pokemon through trapping.

Team Options
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• Fighting-types make amazing partners to Gengar, as Mega Gengar can trap and KO troubling Ghost- and Psychic-types. Pokemon such as Conkeldurr and Hitmontop can also deal with Dark-types, notably Tyranitar and Bisharp, who trouble Gengar.
• Most Pokemon can take huge advantage of the utility Mega Gengar provides, as long as Mega Gengar is customed to trap and kill specific threats that trouble these teammates.

Other Options
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• Destiny Bond is a great last resort of taking an opposing Pokemon down as they attack Gengar.
• Hidden Power Ice or Icy Wind works well for taking care of Landorus-T and Garchomp, but is very situational.

Check & Counters
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• Dark-types are a huge pain unless Gengar is running Focus Blast. Pokemon such as Tyranitar and Bisharp completely wall it otherwise.
• Powerful or super-effective priority attacks such as Talonflame's Brave Bird or any Sucker Punch user are very problematic for Gengar, as they can easily exploit its weak Defense stat.
• Generally bulky Pokemon that are not weak to its STABs have a general advantage; Pokemon such as Charizard-Y, Rotom-W, and Assault Vest Conkeldurr have no problems in dealing with Gengar.

 

[Nollan]

Quick WIP note that Will-O-Wisp is an option that should be heavily considered since with Gengar's high speed it allows it to burn the majority of physical attackers in the tier. ;)

 

[Explorer]

Another option: Giga Drain, for hitting Rotom-W very hard while giving Gengar some recovery. Maybe slash it in the 3rd or 4th slot.

 

[Lasagne]

Another option: Giga Drain, for hitting Rotom-W very hard while giving Gengar some recovery. Maybe slash it in the 3rd or 4th slot.

I don't see giga drain deserving a spot on the set, as it doesn't accomplish much outside of hitting a few bulky waters (all the ground types are neutral anyway and u have focus blast for rocks). I don't think it deserves a set details mention either (I think that's where alternate moves go???? I want ac back), but its ok material for sure. Gengars other moves are just generally better unless you really want to recover health or beat gatsrodon or whatever

 

[Explorer]

Fair enough. I sometimes run obscure coverage moves to hit specific prevalent targets in a tier, and this seemed like a good one. That being said, all of Gengar's other moves are very powerful and probably worth sacrificing Giga Drain's coverage for most of the time.

 

[Unowninator]

Why not Sludge Wave? It hits both opposing Pokémon.

 

[Mizuhime]

First off I think a perish song set should be added to this, tho it may be slightly "gimmicky" it's extremely viable and is in my opinion the best set that gengar can run,

Second Laga are you ever going to look at this again

 

[Arcticblast]

Do Will-o-Wisp too, there's nothing more satisfying than trapping and burning a helpless Mega Kangaskhan and watching it slowly wither away

 

[Bughouse]

Will-o-Wisp should be on the set, not OO. It can turn entire games into 2 v 1 scenarios.

Me: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-smogondoubles-10407
Laga: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-smogondoubles-10236

 

[Unowninator]

Do Will-o-Wisp too, there's nothing more satisfying than trapping and burning a helpless Mega Kangaskhan and watching it slowly wither away

Wouldn't Perish Song be better for that?

 

[Stratos]

no; with will-o-wisp you can basically trap a pokemon that will never do shit except slowly wither away for 8 turns so you can turn the game into a series of 2v1s its fucking amazing

 

[Unowninator]

no; with will-o-wisp you can basically trap a pokemon that will never do shit except slowly wither away for 8 turns so you can turn the game into a series of 2v1s its fucking amazing

Can you give an example of how killing in 8 turns is better than 3?

 

[LightningLuxray]

Can you give an example of how killing in 8 turns is better than 3?

It's better because while Perish Song is unreliable and dependent on Gengar being to survive those turns, the effects of Will-O-Wisp last throughout the whole battle, even if Gengar does switch out/faint. Also while you still have two strong Pokemon out during Perish Song, you're dealing with weak 'mons after Will-O-Wisp, making it easier for your team to take hits and giving your opponent a dead weight on your side of the field.

 

[Unowninator]

Fair enough. Thanks LightningLuxray.

 

[LightningLuxray]

Laga you've had this as WIP for 5 months, could I please take this over?

 

[Laga]

definitely. I told mizu to give this out and then she gave out my heatran.