LC Spotlight: Gothita

By tko. Art by Sparkl3y.
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LC Spotlight: Gothita

Introduction

When Gothita was first released back in BW, it did not have much going for it. Its Hidden Ability, Shadow Tag, was illegal on Gothita in LC for the duration of the BW era. Gothita's stats are mediocre at best, but it was never really a Pokémon to put on a competitive team, typically overshadowed by other Psychic-types like Abra. As a result, Gothita hardly saw the light of day.

However, everything changed for Gothita with the release of XY, when Hidden Abilities could be passed down. This meant that Gothita could get Shadow Tag at level 5, which heavily shifted its viability. Now, it has a solid niche of being able to trap Pokémon to support its team. Since Fighting-types are very popular in ORAS, Gothita finds itself on many teams that appreciate Fighting-types gone. Also, Gothita has just the right tools to run a stallbreaker set that allows it to threaten the bulky Pokémon of the tier, such as Foongus and Spritzee. Later on in ORAS, Gothita gained Trick, which allows it to trade away Eviolites from the opponent's bulkier Pokémon. All in all, Gothita has vastly improved and finally has found its place in the LC metagame.

Gothita's Qualities

Gothita's ability, Shadow Tag, is what attracts players to it. Coupled with Gothita's stats, that makes it perfect for its role. With a Choice Scarf, Gothita outspeeds the whole unboosted metagame, allowing it to handle a wide variety of nuisances, particularly Mienfoo, Timburr, Skrelp, Archen, and many other Pokémon when they are weakened, with its wide coverage. Even after it has trapped a specific threat, Gothita can use Trick to cripple another foe, which can lead to more opportunities for your Pokémon to set up. Alternatively, Gothita also possesses enough bulk, allowing it to, in tandem with Eviolite, Calm Mind, and Rest, deal with common bulky Pokémon such as Spritzee, Foongus, and Porygon, one-on-one. Many offensive Pokémon appreciate Gothita's supporting capability to remove these Pokémon from play, giving them a path to run through teams.

Playing with Gothita

Choice Scarf

Gothita

With a Choice Scarf equipped, Gothita is able to trap and outspeed the whole unboosted metagame, which means that with Gothita's flexible moveset, it's able to come in on a free switch in and pick off a Pokémon that is weak to its coverage. Psychic is Gothita's main STAB option, KOing or weakening the abundant Fighting-type Pokémon that run the tier, such as Mienfoo and Timburr; it is also the best choice to pick off weakened Pokémon that are trapped to revenge kill them if there is no super effective option. The rest of Gothita's moveset allows it to pick off specific Pokémon; Thunderbolt KOes Flying-type Pokémon with prior damage, such as Archen. Both Thunderbolt and Energy Ball hit Water-type Pokémon; however, Energy Ball is also useful against the dual-type Water-type Shell Smashers, Tirtouga, Omanyte, and Binacle. Energy Ball is also an option to hit Chinchou. If Flying-type Pokémon are not an issue, then Hidden Power Fire is a specialized option that allows Gothita to heavily damage Ferroseed. Trick can be used as a last-ditch effort to cripple walls if Gothita is too weakened to be of any more use in the game, and taking away Eviolites from the likes of Spritzee and Porygon can really affect their usefulness in a game, taking away their support options.

Calm Mind Stallbreaker

Gothita

Unlike the standard Gothita, which traps and KOes more offensive threats on a team with its Choice Scarf, a Calm Mind set allows Gothita to eliminate more bulky Pokémon on a team, thanks to their weaker damage output, allowing Gothita to easily heal off the damage with Rest. The combination of Rest and Calm Mind means Gothita can take on common walls one-on-one, such as Foongus and Porygon, which lack the ability to break through Gothita once it has attained enough Calm Mind boosts. Rest and Sleep Talk ensures that status won't cripple Gothita, as well as keeping up pressure during Gothita's Rest turns. Charm allows Gothita to trap Ponyta, provided Gothita does not come in as Ponyta attacks, and Snubbull, provided Gothita does not lose its Eviolite to Thief. With Charm, Gothita is able to trap all Fighting counters, with the exception of Cottonee. Psyshock is used over Psychic to ensure that it won't lose Calm Mind wars against Calm Mind Spritzee. If Dark-type Pokémon have been eliminated, Gothita turns from a Pokémon that can probably only get one KO to a potential wincon.

Playing against Gothita

Since Gothita's role is mainly to get rid of specific Pokémon for a sweeper or wallbreaker to punch through teams, you have to play safely with the Pokémon it can trap if they are not out on the field to ensure that they can check the sweeper in the back. However, if you are forced to go into a Pokémon that Gothita can easily deal with, you must play aggressively with it to try and make sure it is not in for Gothita to trap via double switching, using Volt Switch, and other such methods. If Choice Scarf Gothita ends up getting a revenge kill, a Pokémon that is resistant to the type last used can be used to force it out or KO it. Dark-type Pokémon are the best for this, as typical Dark-type Pokémon such as Pawniard and Stunky don't take much from Gothita's coverage options and are able to Pursuit trap Gothita. The Calm Mind stallbreaker set is worn down by hazards and strong attacks, which means Gothita can find itself losing against fast, offensive teams with powerful wallbreakers. The prevalence of Knock Off also keeps Gothita at bay; Gothita can't switch in on Knock Off and even if it survives, its viability in the game stoops down low.

Fitting onto a team

Gothita is loved by many setup sweepers that roam the metagame, since its coverage is just enough for them to have specific threats removed to allow an easier sweep. Pokémon such as Corphish, Fletchling, Pawniard, and any Shell Smasher can capitalize on Gothita's moveset, which gets rid of types that those Pokémon struggle with. In general, Gothita is a good partner for Pokémon that need Mienfoo, Chinchou, or Foongus eliminated from play. VoltTurn cores give Gothita free switches in, while allowing it to trap the Pokémon that was switched out on. A Pokémon like Mienfoo or Chinchou can bring Gothita in without harm and allows Gothita to do what it does best—KO weakened threats.

Get out there!

Gothita has shown just how threatening it is, having been the subject of a suspect test before. It has definitely proven to be an annoying threat to many teams in the LC metagame. Its flexibility to fit on teams that are based on a setup sweeper has been effective in the metagame and, when played with correctly, will prove to be good at its job on a team you use it with.

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