I think the reason it was doing so badly for me was because Mega Doge was doing everything it could do already, and it just doesn't synergise well with the fast-hitting nature of my team. Specs needs some serious support to work though, that's for sure.
The biggest problem with PTrap Gengar is that even after fully investing in HP, it's still not a very durable pokemon in the current Battle Spot meta. You have to be extremely good at predicting their moves and the reason is that they have two free turns to kill you - On the opening turn when you cast PS, and the subsequent turn after you protect, which is why a lot of people don't run Shadow Ball and instead run Sub. You still need the spd EV's with sub but you are frequently able to take only a fraction of the damage from hits that would ordinarily kill your Gengar. And since you're not running SpAtk EV's, SB isn't enormously important anyway - What is important is surviving. It's a build that takes a lot of practice to learn to play well because most people will see a lead Gengar and know that it will likely be running PS/DB.I'm building my very first team for this meta and need some advice.
Giygas (Gengar-Mega) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Perish Song
- Destiny Bond
I'm not familiar with Doubles meta, but you're going to want to ditch Greninja. It's very frail and with so many priority-running pokemon running around, you're going to get ohko'd before you know it. BB CB Talonflame, one of the most common pokemon you see, gets a clean ohko on it with Brave Bird, Fake Out MegaKanga does about 60%, etc. Greninja is good, but with the meta is very priority-focused, which isn't where Greninja excels.
It's more or less the same as before, but I swapped out Crustle for Volcarona to cover my Ice weakness and it's turned out fairly well. Gourgeist and Volcarona actually synergise marvelously together despite the shared Flying weakness; Gourgeist can come in on practically any non-Fire-type physical attacker and burn it, set Leech Seed and generally be a pain in the butt before switching out to Volcarona and setting up a Quiver Dance. Lum Berry is really good on Volcarona as it's a magnet for paralysis and setting up on Thunder Wave is a lot of fun.
1.
Whimsicott can come in on an Outrage or Choiced Earthquake and force it out, getting a free Stun Spore on something; Gourgeist tanks Earthquake and burns back (although Fire Blast murders them both); Manectric and Landorus can wear it's power down with Intimidate spam and Manectric does about 90% with HP [Ice]. Still a worry though.
2.
Gourgeist hard counters and burns it - Colbur Berry protects it against random Crunch. Can't deal with special variants though. Whimsicott can screw it around with priority Encore and Stun Spore. In a pinch, Landorus can hit it with Scarf Superpower, but takes a lot from Sucker Punch.
3.
Manectric takes about 30% from -1 Brave Bird and Thunderbolts. Gyarados Intimidates and sets up on it. Landorus Stone Edges in a pinch.
4.
Gyarados and Landorus can Earthquake spam to kill Crumbler and Stance Dance while only taking minimal damage from Shadow Sneak. Volcarona can set up in it's face. Whimsicott screws around with priority Encore as usual. Still a problem thanks to it's versatility, but I can manage it.
5.
Gourgeist tanks Hydro Pump and Volt Switch and can retaliate with Seed Bomb, however it fears a burn. Gyarados can bait Volt Switches for a free boost to Manectric before it Mega Evolves. Whimsicott can't paralyse, but annoys it a lot with Taunt. Problematic if I leave it alone, however it's not impossible to manage.
6.
Shadow Tag makes this a difficult Pokémon to play around; however I carry U-Turn and Volt Switch on half my team so Perish Trapping can be quite easy to play around. Whimsicott can Taunt and Encore to restrict it's shenanigans but fears Sludge Bomb; Gourgeist can Shadow Sneak it in a pinch but subsequently dies to Shadow Ball. Boosted Volcarona OHKOs with Psychic and can get around random Toxics and Confuse Rays. Gyarados and Landorus Earthquake.
7.
Very susceptible to Intimidate spam and Will-o-Wisp. Manectric outspeeds and Thunderbolts but fears Aqua Jet; Gourgeist tanks everything and burns/Seed Bombs; Whimsicott can Encore it into Belly Drum for a crowning moment of hilarity; Gyarados can set up on it in a pinch. Not worried about Azumarill.
8.
Haven't run into any yet, but Whimsicott has a field day on this thing. Volcarona can set up a Quiver Dance in it's face as it Thunder Waves and destroy it with +1 Bug Buzz. Gourgeist can Shadow Sneak if it is low on health. TBA
9.
Charizard X is Intimidated and set up on by Gyarados, however Y takes little from Waterfall under sun and smacks it around with Solarbeam. Manectric can beat Y but not X. Landorus can revenge both forms if they're unboosted; Intimidate nullifies +1 ZardX but it still outspeeds and takes a chunk of HP. A tricky one.
10.
This thing counters Manectric but is forced out by Landorus, who can U-Turn for momentum or Earthquake for the kill if it can't switch out for whatever reason. Boosted Gyarados runs through Ttar but can't set up on it. Gourgeist can clutch check it by taking a single Dark move with it's Colbur Berry and burning in retaliation. Whimsicott resists it's Dark STAB as well as Earthquake and does Whimsicotty things. Overall not a concern.
Thanks for the input, the team is not made yet, it's just something I brainstormed on Showdown, I don't wanna breed anything yet until I have something solid (except for Gardevoir which I already have in my OU team, but she'll probably need 252 speed to at least tie with M-Kanga). Or I could also swap Gardy for a Scarf Heatran and give Rotom Specs.
This is more bits and pieces than anything, but it should be helpful:
Does switching to D-claw miss out any notable ko's that Outrage would normally get at +1? I love outrage's power, but I can definitely see why I'd need to be careful with it.
Off the top of my head, min HP MKang and 252HP/0Def Rotom are prime OHKO targets for +1 Outrage. Physically defensive Rotom are also not 2HKO'd by Dragon Claw. Hippowdon is 2HKO'd by Outrage. Cresselia is possibly 2HKO'd by Outrage but never by Dragon Claw. I can't really think of many relevant threats, but, I'm not thinking that hard. Fairies aren't really your only concern either, being locked into Outrage vs Aegislash (who is everywhere) is just awful. But, if there are steel types and fairies all over the team preview you know enough not to just click outrage mindlessly. Outrage DDNite is to blow holes in a team lacking appropriate counters and then have one of your many priority users clean up the rest of the mess. As your team is, I would prefer Outrage. Just be careful about when you send him out. Sending him out via say, a slow u-turn / volt switch vs something he threatens so you can DD on the switch and get a good look at their answer to your DDNite is probably the best situation; and one that is very easy to create. In general, you'll find that you'll be DDing as the opponent switches to their counter anyway so locking yourself into Outrage isn't even an issue. Dragon Claw is for safety, and ultimately if you find you're frequently stuck avoiding Outrage you can always switch it out for the "safety" of Dragon Claw. Outrage is just a Heart Scale away if you ever change your mind. The best way to find out what works for you is to just go out and play it versus real opponents.
Thanks for you insight! I definitely like the points you've brought up! I will probably go the mandibuzz/ferro rocky helmet route for Mega-K, as currently my Gengar is the 3 attack/Dbond set. I feel bad for such a short reply to your well thought post, and when I think of more, I'll add it!
DBond Gengar works fine as well as long as the opposing MKang's only way to hit you is sucker punch. You can just alternate between DBond and attacking. But again, I have seen an increase in more "unique" MKang's on BS of late, so you have to be cautious when dealing with them that way.
