Ghost-types: Spiritually Gifted (Some?)

[Governess]

BOO

Hello! After lurking through these forums (No school today, bored ;-;) I found some forums that talked about specific typings of Pokemon. It was really interesting. As I kept reading them, I realized they stopped at a certain point. And there were still 5 types left! We started them, may as well finish them.

Ghost Type Pokemon are fascinating creatures with different niches they bring to the NU tier. Not all of the options are listed, but here are the gist of them:


Banette:
The Pokemon has 115 Atk FFS, but yet, it's seen as just an unlucky doll. Trick Room is the only thing going for him. It has very few decent stats, and his only niche is very specific. However, Banette can perform that niche well if used properly.


Drifblim:
Someone call the circus; this balloon is performing Acrobactics all over the place. With a very high HP stat, and decent offenses, it can pull its own weight. AcroBlimp is rising in fame for it. It's appealing defensive typing and stats may let it be shunned, but it's still very unique.


Shedinja:
Small picture? On purpose. To show you how little, but different Shedinja is. I haven't used Shedinja much, so you may need to help me out here ^^; Shedinja is sort of a double-edged sword, per say. It cant be beaten easily, but it CAN be beaten easily. If you have other sets/ideas for him, I would be glad to hear it :)


Golurk:
Unarguably one of the best offensive Ghost Type in the tier (argue about it anyways x3), Golurk makes its shining debut in NU. Other than its saddening speed, and weaknesses to common attacks, it has great defensive typing/immunities. Whether you Choice Band it, or have it SubPunch, Golurk will not disappoint. (I had no idea Golurk could learn Fly 0.o)


Haunter:
Following in Gengar's footsteps, Haunter is ready to harm anything in its path. Don't bother with Eviolite for him, he has pitiful defenses anyways, and will most likely faint for most strong attacks. Fast, and offensively strong, it will usually get the job done.


Lampent:
Who? Honestly, I didn't even know this Pokemon was in NU at first. Eviolite and High Sp.Atk is what Lampent has going on. He has many sets and moves to choose from, but is overlooked. Though, with proper support, Lampent does very well.


Misdreavus:
The queen of Eviolite for for Ghosts! Most likely the best SpinBlocker in the tier, her defenses plus Eviolite are sure to handle what needs to be done. A great wall, though, no access to a reliable healing source besides Pain Split really hurts it. Nonetheless, she is very useful to any team.


Frillish:

Ah, Frillish. He is so overlooked I forgot to put him in my thread XD (Thx, Shroom). He isn't the best SpinBlocker, but he/she can tackle on some things. Eviolite helps its defense, but it won't be nearly as good as Jellicent. Poor little Jellyfish.. Speaking of Jellyfish, I'm having that for lunch today... P:<

Well, that's it for me. Is there any idea for one of these ghost types that I have missed? Or sets that has been successful for you that you's like to share? Any theorymoning you want to discuss with them? Or how some should be more/lessed used than they should? Talk below.

[Punchshroom]

You left out poor Frillish :(. Granted, he/she isn't terrific in the spinblocking role, but at least he/she is one of the safest Samurott switches in NU, so he/she has probably more use than banette :P

[Governess]

Lol, I completly forgot Frillish O.O I need to add that, and lol, I agree with you on being better than Banette. Poor little guy ;_;

[DragonBorn]

Banette is underated and can hit pretty hard

A set with Adamant 252 atk and life orb/choice band can dent many foes who dont resist(althought the premier physcial walls take about just as much from golurks shadow punch)
probably its best attacking set is shadow calw/Sucker Punch/ Shadow Sneak/ Return meaning he can be beaten by any steel type but i wouldnt underestamate it.

[Shuckleking87]

I believe Yamask also deserves some consideration, as it fills a very small niche. With 38/85/65, its HP stat is very lacking to make it that useful for eviolite. However, its ability mummy is a great one, and is the perfect partner for slaking. With any physical attack hitting yamask, it makes the user's ability mummy. Yamask then holds the eject button, which lets it switch out immediately, whether it attacked or not. You then switch into slaking. This strategy would seemingly fail, as the user can just switch out suspecting these shenanigans. However, slaking's pursuit would guarentee you hit the target and gain the mummy ability, and then you have a 150HP, 160A and 100 speed pokemon on the loose. So this poke fills a very small niche, and cannot do much against special attackers, but this combo can be deadly if done correctly.

[DragonBorn]

that is true shuckleking i remember someone playing the Yamask-Slaking team on me i realy didnt see it coming

[Governess]

Hmmm.. I did not forget Yamask on purpose actually, I just didn't think it had anything going for it. But now, that strategy you mentioned sounds great, though that's the only thing it has. I'll totally test it. Is there anything else for Yamask? ATM, it doesn't seem to earn a spot.

[JirachiCelebiMew]

I honestly think Frillish is underrated; it's the best Spinblocker for Stall teams bar none. It has a sweet typing, allowing it to take a lot of move at least neutrally, and it also has two nice abilities in Cursed Body / Water Absorb.

[Governess]

Originally Posted by Fat JirachiCelebiMew

I honestly think Frillish is underrated; it's the best Spinblocker for Stall teams bar none. It has a sweet typing, allowing it to take a lot of move at least neutrally, and it also has two nice abilities in Cursed Body / Water Absorb.

I agree. I used Frillish on my teams, and it did an exceptional job. Battling against Frillish was a pain, tbh.

[Aasgier]

Frillish also gets hit by quite a few common types in NU. Especially Dark is very common because of the omnipresent Golurk, Gardevoir and Musharna.
But Electric, Ghost and Grass are rather common in NU as well, as many teams run a Grass-type somewhere, like Roselia or Vileplume, whereas Ghost and Electric are very common coverage moves on NU's Psychic-types.

Frillish is decent, but it is weak to four common attacking types, which is why I don't really like it.

[JirachiCelebiMew]

I wouldn't say that Dark is very common. The only one you usually see is Skuntank, who faces the risk to get burned by either W-o-W or Scald. Frillish can also take quite some hits. Cacturne is the only other Pokemon that is frequently used, but there you can Wow (But if Cacturne has Substitute you're screwed). Other than that, it is true that Electric, Ghost and Grass are common in NU, which also refrains me from using Frillish in any of my teams barring stall.

[Governess]

True. I never see Cacturne anymore, Skuntank is common to most teams; only way to handle Musharna easily. Though, Frillish has its quirks. I wonder how it'll do in LC, but that's a whole new thread xD

[DragonBorn]

Yamask actually can run a pretty decent defensive set

Yamask@Eviolite
Trait:Mummy
Nature:Impish
Ev:252 Hp/252 Def
-Pain Split
-Knock Off
-Night Shade
-Will-o-wisp

It actually functions real well as a physical wall or special but it has higher defense. Although it is probably outclassed by Missy it works realy well against mons like BU Braviary
0 Atk Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 84-99 (30 - 35.35%) -- 23.19% chance to 3HKO
as you can see it can take a hit from brave bird(making it lose Defiant) will-o-wisp it, take another hit Pain Split and repeat utill its to much for it, a crit or you want to switch to something with Intimidate like Mawile or Luxary

0 Atk Eelektross Wild Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 58-70 (20.71 - 25%) -- possible 4HKO

Coil Elektross cant do much to him where as he can take away his Levitate, will-o wisp, and then switch in a ground type to scare it out with it now being weak to ground type moves

Night Shade is there to deal some decent damage and Knock off is there to ruin everyones day by getting rid of their item and he can spread mummy around with it too.

[Governess]

Originally Posted by Fat DragonBorn

Yamask actually can run a pretty decent defensive set

Yamask@Eviolite
Trait:Mummy
Nature:Impish
Ev:252 Hp/252 Def
-Pain Split
-Knock Off
-Night Shade
-Will-o-wisp

It actually functions real well as a physical wall or special but it has higher defense. Although it is probably outclassed by Missy it works realy well against mons like BU Braviary
0 Atk Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 84-99 (30 - 35.35%) -- 23.19% chance to 3HKO
as you can see it can take a hit from brave bird(making it lose Defiant) will-o-wisp it, take another hit Pain Split and repeat utill its to much for it, a crit or you want to switch to something with Intimidate like Mawile or Luxary

0 Atk Eelektross Wild Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 58-70 (20.71 - 25%) -- possible 4HKO

Coil Elektross cant do much to him where as he can take away his Levitate, will-o wisp, and then switch in a ground type to scare it out with it now being weak to ground type moves

Night Shade is there to deal some decent damage and Knock off is there to ruin everyones day by getting rid of their item and he can spread mummy around with it too.

That's an interesting set. I've seen Yamask as walls, and they are actually pretty decent. .3. Though, how much damage would Brave Bird cause if Braviary had 252 AtK EV's, which it usually does?

[ium]

Originally Posted by Fat DragonBorn

It actually functions real well as a physical wall or special but it has higher defense. Although it is probably outclassed by Missy it works realy well against mons like BU Braviary
0 Atk Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 84-99 (30 - 35.35%) -- 23.19% chance to 3HKO

braviary would just use substitute and yamask wouldn't be able to touch it at all. yamask's hp stat is rather poor too.

[DragonBorn]

that is true
and the choice band set does this
252 Atk Choice Band Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite (custom): 151-178 (53.92 - 63.57%) -- guaranteed 2HKO and then you can just pain split to eventually get it down to 25% then switch something in to force it out and then have SR so it cant switch back in

but yea sub ruins his day

[Governess]

I might add Yamask in the thread, may as well. Those sets/ideas are convincing enough for me. Besides, I don't have anything else to do. ^^;

[tennisace]

Originally Posted by Fat Governess

I might add Yamask in the thread, may as well. Those sets/ideas are convincing enough for me. Besides, I don't have anything else to do. ^^;

Yamask is only useful in one extremely specific situation that is easily stopped by simply switching. Don't add it since it's not a legitimate strategy.

Dragonborn, I've seen this in multiple posts of yours, but here's a hint: if a defensive Pokemon is getting 100% 2hko'd by the most common powerful attacks in the tier, that means they are NOT good defensive Pokemon. You need to be able to switch into powerful attacks to be a worthwhile check to anything. Just being able to take one hit doesn't mean anything in this metagame unless you can outspeed and OHKO in return.

[Governess]

Im sorry, I won't add it in then. I didn't know. :<

[JirachiCelebiMew]

Talking about Yamask, it's totally outclassed by Misdreavus, who is faster, bulkier, can go offensive and has Heal Bell and Taunt. The only situation where I'd use Yamask is in the gimmicky Slaking + Yamask core, which isn't very good.

[Shuckleking87]

Originally Posted by Fat tennisace

Yamask is only useful in one extremely specific situation that is easily stopped by simply switching. Don't add it since it's not a legitimate strategy.

Yes, I would not recommend using yamask besides for the slaking core, and the strategy is totally for naught if the person already knows the strategy or hits it with a special attack. However, when a pokemon is just using a general physical attack, yamask can switch on the predicted physical attack, die or eject button into slaking, and by slaking using pursuit, the user cannot "simply switch." I believe U-turn does not let the user switch if the opponent has eject button, but im not entirely sure. It can definitely be a somewhat effective strategy as i've seen a player ranked around 1850 with the 2 pokes, which is pretty decent. I personally have not used it, however. But I said only a very small niche for yamask, that is not even worthy of consideration for any other reason.

[Governess]

Well, we can all agree Yamask doesn't do much justice for the NU tier, poor thing. I wonder why it isn't LC or NFE, though. It seems to offer more there than it would ever do here.

[JirachiCelebiMew]

http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/yamask It says Yamask is LC, lol.

[Governess]

?_? Really? Then why did it pop up? I honestly thought it was NU, I saw it so many times. I gotta catch up on these things ;-; lol, either that, or I have been gone from Smogon for a looooong time, and need to be caught to speed.

[JirachiCelebiMew]

It popped up because someone wanted to make a set on it, but like I previously said, it's directly outclassed by Misdreavus.