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Pros:
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-shadow tag and choice specs/scarf on Gothitelle compliment eachother as perfectly as ham and cheese does in a toasted sandwich. Since the opponent cannot switch out, Goth doesn't need to predict anything, thereby making choice items a perfect fit
-greninja ban is pretty cool
-tricking choice scarf onto air balloon Excadrill as it EQs is the best thing ever
-most reliable trapper in the OU tier, as the only Pokemon that can naturally avoid Goth are ghost types and opposing users of shadow tag
-gothitelle is a fantastic team supporter, since it is able to reliably eliminate or cripple a wide range problematic Pokemon, so teams don't have to worry about them the entire match. For example, scarf sets can reliable take out Keldeo and Dugtrio, and specs sets can reliably take out bulkier pokemon without resorting to trick.
-the mere existance of Goth (and other trappers) is enough to make teams put shed shell on their defensive Pokemon in place of more useful items such as lefties and rocky helmet
-is the only trapper with access to trick, allowing it to easily cripple the most hated pokemon in OU, Chansey, and can mess up stall teams real good
-decent defensive stats including an above average 110 spd
-does not suffer from 4MSS, all the moves goth needs are readily available in a convenient group of 4
-new mega pokemon for Goth to prey on such as Mega Slowbro, Mega Gallade, Mega Swampert, and Mega Lopunny to an extent
-counter-traps Dugtrio
-a good check to rain teams. Spells doom for Politoed, Mega Swampert, Ferrothorn, Tornadus-T, Kabutops, and weakened Thundurus-I.
Cons:
-movepool is relatively sparse, mfw can't even learn dazzling gleam to deal with MSableye
-speaking of which, Goth is walled by common Pokemon such as Mega Sableye and Lati@s
-increased popularity of shed shell makes Goths job much more difficult than before
-terrible typing both offensively and defensively, ridiculously weak to u-turn, pursuit, and knock off
-mediocre offensive stats force Goth to go choiced, and while this is great for eliminating a single Pokemon, it is easily exploited once the target Pokemon is eliminated
-is often dead-weight after choice item is tricked away or knocked off
-often overlooked for Magnezone and Dugtrio
-new mega pokemon prey on Goth
-scarf gothitelle does not outspeed +1 gyarados, which is kinda the benchmark for a scarfer
-even when holding choice specs, 95 base special attack is pretty underwhelming, however it is still capable of trapping and eliminating Pokemon
Cancer
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name: Cancer
move 1: Psyshock/Psychic
move 2: Calm Mind
move 3: Trick
move 4: Rest
ability: Shadow Tag
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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This moveset forfeits coverage in favour of setting up. First and foremost is the STAB move of choice. Psyshock is for hitting specially defensive Pokemon harder, while Psychic is for hitting physically defensive Pokemon harder, pretty simple. Calm mind boosts Gothitelle's SpA and SpD and is what differentiates it from other movesets. Trick is the clutch of this set, forcing the opposing pokemon to use only 1 move, allowing for ridiculously easy setup opportunities. Rest fully restores Gothitelle's health and removes status, and allows easier setup if you trick the opposing Pokemon into an attacking move (such as tricking Ferrothorn into Gyro Ball, or Chansey into Seismic Toss).
Set Details
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Shadow Tag is the best ability Gothitelle has, by a LONG shot, don't use anything other than Shadow Tag otherwise it is completely outclassed by other psychic types. Max speed with a timid nature and choice scarf allows Gothitelle to outspeed Pokemon with base 121 speed. 80 HP allows Gothitelle to survive 3 seismic tosses from Chansey, and the remaining 176 evs go into SpA to do as much damage as possible.
Usage Tips
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Switch Gothitelle on something that can't do too much back, which most of the time are walls and supporters. Once you have a preferable matchup, immediately use trick otherwise you won't be able to set up (because you have a choice scarf duh), and proceed to setup. If you can, use trick after you have setup so you can get your scarf back, this is important so you can outspeed fast physical attackers. If the threat of fast physical attackers is non-present, then perhaps keep the item you stole so you can heal with rest or something.
Obviously, you must remove dark-types and bulky steels before you setup.
This Gothitelle set isn't strictly bound to setting up on walls, it is still capable of outspeeding and removing threats such as Keldeo and Dugtrio with it's STAB, and can remove weakened foes too.
Team Options
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Dark types are the bane for this Gothitelle set, removing them is an absolute MUST if you wish to sweep. Fairy types check pretty much every viable dark-type in OU, so Pokemon such as Clefable, Azumarill, or Mega Gardevoir are excellent teammates for Goth. Bulky steel types must also be at least sufficiently weakened before Gothitelle can sweep, so Magnezone and Dugtrio are good in this regard. Keldeo is a soft check to most dark AND steel types as well.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Trick
move 3: Foul Play/Thunderbolt/HP Fire/Rest
move 4: Foul Play/Thunderbolt/HP Fire/Rest
ability: Shadow Tag
item: Choice Scarf
evs: Def 4 / SpA 252 / Spe 252
nature: Timid
Moves
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Psychic is Gothitelle's obligatory STAB move, as it allows Goth to eliminate pesky fighting and poison types such as Keldeo, Terrakion, Breloom, Hawlucha, Gengar, and Toxicroak (lol). Psychic is also hits neutral targets such as Thundurus-I harder than any other move on this set. Trick is non-negotiable, it is essential for crippling bulky threats such as Chansey and Clefable, and can mess up stall teams. The last 2 moves are filler of your choice. Foul play does more damage to powerful physical attackers such as Megagross Mega Gallade, and obliterates other physical attackers who have boosted their stats, Mega Gallade in particular is OHKO'd at +2. Thunderbolt takes care of Skarmory, Gyarados, Slowbro, weakened Azumarill, and other flying types, and serves as an alternative means of eliminating Keldeo and Hawlucha. HP Fire is for roasting annoying steels such as Ferrothorn and Scizor. Rest is for healing and removing status. Energy Ball is useable for taking on Megapert, Quagsire, Hippowdon weakened Rotom-W, Mega Diancie, and Mamoswine. While not listed on the moveset, Gothitelle can use shadow ball to hit the latis, but doesn't provide much use aside from that, and foul play does a decent chunk anyway. HP Ground is a viable option for hitting Heatran, and is not a bad option when you consider how much of the metagame is walled by Heatran, but you do lose out on more useful coverage, and Dugtrio handles Heatran better.
Set Details
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Shadow Tag is the best ability Gothitelle has, by a LONG shot, don't use anything other than Shadow Tag otherwise it is completely outclassed by other psychic types. Max speed with a timid nature and choice scarf allows Gothitelle to outspeed Pokemon with base 120 speed, and speed-tie with base 121 (assuming Gothitelle has HP fire). 252 Special attack is to maximize damage output, and the remaining 4 EVs in defense is to increase your chance of surviving physical attacks by an amazing 0.3%, and decreases stealth rock damage as opposed to 4 HP.
Usage Tips
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Since the choice scarf set lacks the immediate power of the choice specs set, Gothitelle is best suited revenge-killing weakened threats, so use Gothitelle accordingly. Volturn support is highly recommended so Gothitelle can reliably trap the Pokemon you want to trap. If volturn support is currently unavailable, for example if you have a Heatran facing Keldeo, don't be so hasty in switching in Gothitelle, chances are the opponent will be aware of how much of a threat Gothitelle is to Keldeo and will try to play around that. So be careful.
Team Options
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Dark types such as Tyranitar and Bitcharp are one of the biggest problems to Goth because of deadly pursuits and knock offs, so a way of eliminating them is greatly appreciated. Fighting types, most notably the legendary trio Cobalion, Terrakion, and Keldeo, can easily force them out or nab a delicious KO. Dugtrio is great for removing TTar, but must be wary of Bisharp's sucker punch.
Switching Goth into the Pokemon you want to trap is the difficult part, predictions and smart double switching is unreliable and Goth can end up being killed if things don't go to plan. A solid volturner is a fantastic way of fixing this issue. Since volturn has a lower priority than switching you can choose what Pokemon is sent in with deadly precision. Landorus-T and Rotom-W are fantastic examples of these. Magnezone is also a pivot worth considering they are both trappers and resist some of each others weaknesses, they also form a decent trapping core.
Gothitelle is a fairly self-sufficient Pokemon, the only support it really needs is volturn and removal of pursuit-trappers. But other than that, Gothitelle will provide much more for the team than the team provides for Gothitelle because of the ridiculous utility she provides by reliably eliminating dangerous checks/counters for teammates. For example, Goth outspeeds, traps, and KO's Dugtrio and Keldeo, so pokemon that hate these namely Heatran is an excellent teammate. Basically any Pokemon that greatly benefits from Gothitelle being able to remove a certain Pokemon makes for a good teammate.
Choice Specs
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name: Specs
move 1: Psychic/Psyshock
move 2: Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Trick
move 4: Thunderbolt/Energy Ball
ability: Shadow Tag
item: Choice Specs
evs: Hp 168 / SpA 252 / Spe 88
nature: Modest
Moves
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Psychic is Goths most powerful STAB move, Psyshock is useable if you want to hit the opponents physical side, but is generally outclassed due to lower BP and no chance to lower SpD. Thunderbolt is for water and flying types. Hp fire is very useful as it can eliminate troublesome Steel types such as ferro. Trick is fantastic it can completely shut down bulky walls most notably Chansey.
Set Details
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Max SpA and modest nature while holding specs is to dish out the most possible hurt. 84 Spe is to speed creep 0 speed Mega Scizor, however it is perfectly fine to increase the speed if you fear Scizor with some speed investment. And the rest is dumped into HP for extra balk.
A classic spread of 4 SpD 252 SpA and 252 Spe can be used instead, but without a scarf Goth will simply not be outspeeding things so it's more advisable to invest in bulk.
Usage Tips
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If the opponent has a super annoying wall (such as Chansey) you should save Gothitelle specifically for trapping Goth and you only send it in if predicting Chansey to switch in or something, this is ESPECIALLY important if the opponent has a possible pursuit user.
Team Options
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Dark types such as Tyranitar and Bitcharp are one of the biggest problems to Goth because of deadly pursuits and knock offs, so a way of eliminating them is greatly appreciated. Fighting types, most notably the legendary trio Cobalion, Terrakion, and Keldeo, can easily force them out or nab a delicious KO. Dugtrio is great for removing TTar, but must be wary of Bisharp's sucker punch.
Switching Goth into the Pokemon you want to trap is the difficult part, predictions and smart double switching is unreliable and Goth can end up being killed if things don't go to plan. A solid volturner is a fantastic way of fixing this issue. Since volturn has a lower priority than switching you can choose what Pokemon is sent in with deadly precision. Landorus-T and Rotom-W are fantastic examples of these. Magnezone is also a pivot worth considering they are both trappers and resist some of each others weaknesses, they also form a decent trapping core.
Other Options
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Gothitelle has a slew of useable moves in her arsenal. Energy ball and grass knot are useful weapons against Rotom-W, Tyranitar, and Hippowdon. But Hippowdon is not very common, Rotom-W is 2HKOd by specs psychic anyway, and staying in against TTar is a very risky thing to do in the first place. HP ground can be used specifically for Heatran, but Goth has better things to do and a job like that is better rseserved for Duggy. Goth also has various support options including: gravity, heal bell, screens, magic coat, taunt, twave, and toxic, but of course Goth is severely outclassed as a defensive Pokemon and the only reason Goth is in OU is for trapping and eliminating Pokemon, so Goth should be kept that way.
Gothitelle is capable of a few other gimmicky sets, but sadly are either terribly outclassed or just godawful.
Checks and Counters
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Being a trapper, Goth doesn't technically have any true counter because that requires the opponent switch in to Goth, which is very difficult for obvious reasons. However, the following come very close.
**Mega Sableye: This greedy goblin gets a special mention because it is immune to Gothitelle's main STAB, immune to trick, laughs at Gothitelle's coverage options, can switch out with impunity, and uses Gothitelle as setup fodder.
**Pivots: U-Turn from the likes of (Mega)Scizor and Landorus-T can do significant damage and switch out in the process, Mega Beedrill in particular can cleanly outspeed and OHKO any one of Goth's sets with U-Turn. Volt switch and baton pass a much weaker in comparison, but still allow the freedom of switching to a more appropriate Pokemon to deal with Goth.
**Lati@s: The Lati's resist all of Gothitelle's common moves and doesn't mind being tricked into choice scarf or choice specs, and the mega variants are immune to trick. Foul play does do a decent amount though, so Gothitelle isn't completely helpless against these behemoths.
**Dark Types: Immune to Gothitelle's STAB, can cripple with knock off, and can trap with pursuit. Tyranitar and Bisharp are particularly annoying.
**Fast/Powerful Attackers: Gothitelle's mediocre stats leave it out sped and KO'ed by strong attackers and wallbreakers such as Mega Gardevoir, Mega Pinsir and Mega Beedrill, Gengar.
**Ghost Types: Ghost types are shaky checks, as the only relevant ghost type in OU (aside from the little bitch that is Mega Sableye) is Gengar, and it is swiftly KO'd by scarf Gothitelle. Still though, Gengar at least has the freedom to switch out, and can do serious damage if not KO specs Goth
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