Taken over from Shouting
QC: TCR | Kavatika | Hawkstar | Goddess Briyella
GP: fleurdyleurse | --
Overview
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Gastly is a very powerful special wallbreaker due to its beneficial typing and varied movepool. Its Ghost / Poison typing, in tandem with its ability, gives Gastly an immunity to three attacking types, Spikes, Sticky Web, and resistance to four other types. In addition, Gastly's movepool allows it to perform both offensive and support-oriented roles, although its defensive stats leave much to be desired.
Life Orb
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name: Life Orb
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Dazzling Gleam
move 4: Substitute / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Life Orb
evs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 200 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are both great STAB moves, and the latter has a nifty chance to inflict poison. Hidden Power Fighting helps Gastly to KO Pawniard, but Dazzling Gleam hits Scraggy for large amounts of damage. Substitute allows Gastly to bypass Sucker Punch and eliminate Pawniard switch-ins, though Destiny Bond allows Gastly to take a foe when it dies.
Set Details
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200 Special Attack and 200 Speed EVs max out offensive stats when using Hidden Power Fighting. 80 Special Defense keeps Gastly's HP stat at 19, which minimizes both Substitute and Life Orb recoil, and ensures that Porygon's Download gives it a boost in Atttack. Life Orb allows Gastly to break down walls with ease.
Usage Tips
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Use Gastly the way you would a revenge killer; it is extremely frail, and shouldn't be switching in much. Gastly is very powerful; however, you should avoid being too agressive. For instance, it won't be OHKOing Pokemon such as defensive Tirtouga or Vullaby. Also, you should be wary of Pokemon with Pursuit when switching out.
Team Options
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Porygon is an ideal teammate for Gastly, as it can reliably deal with Abra and other special attackers. Fighting- and Fairy-types enjoy Gastly’s ability to reliably beat Trubbish, which is a threat to them. Fighting-types can help Gastly eliminate bulky Normal- and Dark-types. Cottonee and Vullaby are also great partners as they can both weaken and counter Drilbur. Vullaby also beats Psychic-types that threaten Gastly, although Cottonee gives Gastly a free turn to come in by Encoring a move. Knock Off support is greatly appreciated, as being able to rip through more defensive and bulky threats more easily is always useful. Pokemon with Pursuit are great partners with Gastly as well, as they eliminate Ghost- and Psychic-types.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Hidden Power Fighting / Destiny Bond / Dazzling Gleam
move 4: Trick / Destiny Bond
ability: Levitate
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 200 Spe
nature: Timid / Modest
Moves
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Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb, which has a good chance to poison targets, are great STAB moves. Hidden Power Fighting nails Pawniard on the switch, while Dazzling Gleam has nice coverage with Shadow Ball, and allows Gastly to eliminate Choice Scarf Scraggy, or Scraggy after it has set up a Dragon Dance. Trick allows Gastly to disrupt walls like Porygon and Vullaby, giving partners such as Scraggy better opportunities to set up. Destiny Bond can be used to beat Pokemon as Gastly faints, allowing it to eliminate a Pokemon who could potentially threaten the rest of your team.
Set Details
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200 Special Attack and 200 Speed EVs maximize offensive stats when Hidden Power Fighting is used, while 80 Special Defense EVs ensure that Porygon's Download will raise its Attack stat. Choice Scarf allows Gastly to outspeed threats that would normally threaten it, such as Abra and Choice Scarf Pawniard. Modest can be used if you're not using Trick, but if you are, you'll want to have 18 Spe after you lose your Choice Scarf.
Usage Tips
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Use Gastly as a revenge killer and don't switch it into attacks. Only Trick away your Choice Scarf when you are certain you won't need it any further.
Team Options
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Scraggy is a great partner for Gastly, as it eliminates many threats Gastly doesn't like to have around, including Psychic- and Dark-types. Scraggy also provides Knock Off support, and enjoys being able to set up more efficiently after Gastly has Tricked its Choice Scarf onto a wall. Vullaby is also a great partner for Gastly, as it also provides Knock Off support, allowing Gastly to rip through more defensive threats, and is a great switch-in for Psychic-types, Fighting-types, and Drilbur. Cottonee is also a great partner, as it reliably counters Drilbur, and gives Gastly free turns to come in when it uses Encore. Fighting- and Dark-types also aid in Gastly's performance, the former by eliminating Dark-types, and the latter by eliminating Psychic- and Ghost-types.
Other Options
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A Substitute + Disable set can be quite fun to use, just be sure to use Berry Juice as an item. You should split the leftover 116 EVs between Defense and Special Defense; however, if you're using Hidden Power Fighting over Sludge Bomb, put the EVs into HP. Be sure to have Pokemon that can easily deal with Pawniard, who otherwise beats Gastly without difficulty. You can also use Hypnosis on this set over Disable, which is really good against walls. A Substitute + Pain Split set is also viable on Life Orb Gastly. In this case, Gastly should have as little HP as possible, meaning you should split the 116 EVs between Defense and Special Defense.
A Venoshock + Hex set with the use of Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, or even Toxic Spikes support can also be used. You'd probably use the same EVs as the Life Orb set, with Venoshock, Hex, Hidden Power Fighting, and either Substitute, Destiny Bond, or even Sucker Punch in the final slot. The item can either be Berry Juice or Life Orb, as both are fantastic options. Thunderbolt and Giga Drain can be used on offensive sets if you would like, but Hidden Power Fighting or Dazzling Gleam are generally superior, and Destiny Bond provides better utility. Icy Wind can also be used on Gastly, but without Gligar around the move has lost its niche. Will-O-Wisp and Hypnosis can be used to surprise your opponents, but given Gastly's extreme frailty, this is better left to bulkier or faster Pokemon. Sucker Punch and Knock Off are also options, but with its mediocre Attack stat, they can easily fall short of being useful. However, with Knock Off on the Life Orb set, you won't need Knock Off support, and Sucker Punch allows Gastly to nail opposing Gastly and Abra before they can hit you. Gastly also has Haze and Clear Smog, but with Gastly's lack of defensive capabilities and Prankster, these should not be used.
Checks and Counters
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**Chespin**: With its Hidden Ability, Bulletproof, Chespin can easily come in on anything Gastly uses, and wall it without a problem. This allows Chespin to reliably set up Spikes and eliminate Gastly with Payback or Rock Slide after they have been set.
**Drilbur**: With Mold Breaker Earthquake, Drilbur easily threatens Gastly. However, Drilbur will have to be wary, as it is outsped by Gastly and Life Orb Shadow Ball will do quite a lot of damage.
**Stunky**: Gastly definitely has to be wary of Stunky, who easily switches into any set and threatens to KO Gastly with a Dark-type STAB move, like Pursuit when switching out, or Sucker Punch when attacking.
**Pawniard**: Pawniard resists both of Gastly's main attacking moves, but Hidden Power Fighting easily beats it. Pawniard has many moves in its arsenal that eliminate Gastly with ease, and its most used set, Choice Scarf, can easily come and Pursuit trap Gastly. However, because of Hidden Power Fighting, it will still have to switch in with caution.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types threaten Gastly easily, as they resist its main STAB move, Shadow Ball, and some, like Houndour, even have access to Sucker Punch and Pursuit. Vullaby and Scraggy are also very threatening due to their ability to live many of Gastly's attacks bar Dazzling Gleam, and then KO it with Knock Off. Vullaby will still have to be very careful of switching in due to Sludge Bomb, which 2HKOes it, and Dazzling Gleam, which is super effective.
**Priority**: With Gastly's severe frailty, it is easily prone to being KOed by priority attacks from Pawniard, Fletchling, Carvanha, Tirtouga, Stunky, and many other Pokemon. However, thanks to its typing, it is immune to Mach Punch, Vacuum Wave, Fake Out, Feint, and Extreme Speed. Sucker Punch also fails if Gastly uses a non-attacking move.
**Bulky Special Walls**: Gastly fails to 2HKO Munchlax and Lickitung, and even has trouble with Porygon and Vullaby. Although all of these can also KO Gastly with moves of their own, it is more important to note that they all effectively wall Gastly. Lileep also falls into this category, as it fares just as well against Gastly as the previously mentioned Pokemon; however, it is not immune to Shadow Ball.
**Faster Pokemon**: If you don't have priority that can hit Gastly, Pokemon who outspeed it can also be a decent answer. Meowth, Aipom, Elekid, Abra, Taillow, and plenty of others give Gastly a hard time. However, many of these checks need to be wary of the Choice Scarf set.
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