[Anything Goes] Gengar

[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is the best trapper in the metagame. It has high Special Attack and Speed stats, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza while stopping them from switching out. Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and support Arceus. It is incredibly effective at supporting sweepers by removing their answers, such as Fairy Arceus for Mega Rayquaza. Mega Gengar also has an excellent offensive typing that allows it to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus, and Mega Diancie without being a slouch defensively either thanks to its immunity to Normal-type moves allowing it to revenge KO Arceus and Mega Rayquaza without worrying about Extreme Speed.
However, Mega Gengar cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, making it much harder to fit onto a team. Its paltry bulk prevents it from taking any non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon, and it has a decent number of solid checks, forcing it to play as a hit-and-run trapper

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest-hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it, particularly Fairy-type Pokemon such as Xerneas. Sludge Bomb does similar damage, but sacrifices a bit of power for a decent chance of poison. Shadow Ball still deals large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina and being the best move on the set to hit Primal Groudon. Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit troublesome Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus. Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to trade with Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, going well with its ability to force Pokemon to stay in and take it on. Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new Speed tier, and scout the foe's moveset, while Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phazing Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to Speed tie with Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza. 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible,notably enabling it to always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving to get Shadow Tag, which prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats.

Usage Tips
========

This set's primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team strategy, particularly those weak to Gengar's attacks. Be cautious when attempting this on Xerneas, however, as with a Choice Scarf it outspeeds Mega Gengar and can 2HKO it. Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until the opponent KOes a Pokemon for a free switch, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon.
In most battles, you should Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and has far lower stats, particularly its Special Attack and Speed. It's often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late-game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed. Not Mega Evolving is mostly only useful here, as it makes Gengar a better switch-in to Arceus. When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via entry hazards or prior attacks, as Mega Gengar often falls just short of an OHKO.

Team Options
========

Switch-ins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to it. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well, but they can be beaten by offensive sets if low on HP. Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB priority moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Ho-Oh are useful. Pokemon that can take on Ground-types, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Ground Arceus or Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled. Checks to Ho-Oh such as Water Arceus, Rock Arceus, and Zekrom are also appreciated due to Ho-Oh's high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar.
Wallbreakers that can take advantage of opened holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter's ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon. Setup sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters.
Pivot Pokemon like Jirachi, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup. Entry hazard setters like Deoxys-A, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus, while Mega Gengar pressures Defoggers and the rare Rapid Spin user.

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Perish Song facilitates the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag. Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves. Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful like setting Stealth Rock before fainting, while Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their most recently used move, making it invaluable versus Choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. Substitute blocks both status moves and attacks and allows Mega Gengar to stall out Perish Song turns.

Set Details
========

216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Mega Gengar to outspeed maximum Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower. 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allow Mega Gengar to survive a Lum Berry Arceus's Earthquake after Stealth Rock. 12 Special Defense EVs in conjunction with the HP allows Mega Gengar to survive a Darkrai's Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-type, a Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell.

Usage Tips
========

Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe. Due to its low bulk, aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely. Don't attempt to Disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still heavily damage Mega Gengar.
Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but trapping defensive, passive walls gives the lowest risk vs. reward ratio, as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar. When deciding on which Pokemon to remove, focus on removing answers to your wincon, such as Water Arceus for Primal Groudon.
Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use Roar such as support Arceus and Giratina, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing Mega Gengar, and then Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary.
Perish Song should be used as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage, but against some targets it can be useful to click another move first. While you can stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable, if the foe phazes Mega Gengar they can switch out and remove the countdown. On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, you almost always switch Mega Gengar out. There's rarely a reason to let it get KOed.

Team Options
========

Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters, as do those such as Klefki with a very select number of viable answers. Defensively, Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, and Psychic-type attacks, like Yveltal and support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged. Pivot Pokemon like Zekrom, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters. As Shadow Tag does not affect Ghost-types, answers to them such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal are beneficial. In particular, the latter also deals with the occasional Shed Shell user such as Blissey with Knock Off, either by KOing them outright or leaving them vulnerable to trapping.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Disable on offensive sets allows Mega Gengar to trap and KO Choice-locked Pokemon that it cannot otherwise touch, such as Ho-Oh, or Pokemon with only one effective move, such as Magic Coat Arceus. Will-O-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar's time compared to removing them outright. Hypnosis is an option that can make trapping effortless, turning battles around in an instant. However, it has an abysmal accuracy that makes relying on it a questionable decision.
Meanwhile, Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support, Hypnosis, or Will-O-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but it requires more team support and is ineffective against Lum Berry Arceus. Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness.

Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose what it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect, and Deoxys-S can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. None of them can come in safely, however, so often the best they can do is force Mega Gengar out.

**Yveltal**: Thanks to its excellent typing and bulk, both offensive and defensive Yveltal can take on Mega Gengar, either by avoiding the 2HKO and OHKOing back or simply eliminating it with Sucker Punch. Mega Gengar requires significant chip damage on Yveltal to have even a shot at winning.

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can act, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched out of.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar's attacks such as Ho-Oh, Mega Sableye, Klefki, and Primal Groudon can take an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. However, all of these bar Klefki can be Perish Trapped or defeated with enough chip damage.
 
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MZ

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Hi QC agrees we need a perish song set, it should be fairly straightforward but if you've never used and need stuff for UT try asking people or getting somewhat similar stuff from ubers analysis, I just need to make sure you don't copy right from there. I'll check this after you add the set

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Taunt / Disable
- Substitute

EVs take an unboosted lum jolly ekiller eq after rocks and a geoxern moonblast after rocks (but not thunder) while outspeeding darkrai (which you can take one hit from without rocks)
 
Hi QC agrees we need a perish song set, it should be fairly straightforward but if you've never used and need stuff for UT try asking people or getting somewhat similar stuff from ubers analysis, I just need to make sure you don't copy right from there. I'll check this after you add the set

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Taunt / Disable
- Substitute

EVs take an unboosted lum jolly ekiller eq after rocks and a geoxern moonblast after rocks (but not thunder) while outspeeding darkrai (which you can take one hit from without rocks)
Included. I added destiny bond to the set as well, but if you think its not useful enough I can just mention it in moves.
The usage tips seems a bit long, but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. I can cut some of the less critical or obvious parts if you think its a good idea.
 

Chloe

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Included. I added destiny bond to the set as well, but if you think its not useful enough I can just mention it in moves.
The usage tips seems a bit long, but I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. I can cut some of the less critical or obvious parts if you think its a good idea.
it's not useful enough, and it doesn't belong in moves either.

it needs the four moves it has there, replacing anything is just making it useless most of the time.

as for ut, the length is fine. :5
 

dhelmise

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[overview]

- Best and most reliable redundant trapper in the tier metagame, ag isnt a tier thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag
- Its access to Taunt and Destiny Bond allows it to destroy stall and balance cripples some setup sweepers as they attempt to set up, switches out before said sweepers can attack as well
- High Special Attack and Speed that lets it outspeed x, x, and x allowing for offensive sets this is really vague
- Decent to large one or the other, not both offensive movepool "that gives it access to x and x"
- Great offensive typing, good defensive typing you need to actually mention the typing and what helps make it good offensively/defensively, ie resisting fairy-type moves and having an immunity to espeed is good defensively, offensively it has almost unresisted neutral coverage
- Able to remove Toxic Spikes
- Has the opportunity cost dont use opportunity cost in analyses of taking a mega slot
- Weak to Pursuit trapping
- Paltry bulk prevents it from living hits from which pokemon? what types of hits?

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest hitting option, boasting 142.5 Base Power after STAB dont include stab-boosted base power, just say "sludge wave is mega gengar's main stab move, with 95 base power" or something, but even then, what does sludge wave let mega gengar hit? how does it help mega gengar?
- Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types examples, which cannot be trapped.
- Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit trouble Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Tyranitar
- Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to guaranteedly remove an opposing Pokemon not guaranteedly, if it uses it on a ghost type or on a setup sweeper, it can waste its pp
- Protect allows Gengar to safely mega evolve and scout the opponent’s foe's movepool
- Taunt cripples support Pokemon like and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond
- Hidden Power Fire is another option that has some utility, but is generally inferior to the listed moves because

Set Details
========

- 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed tie Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza
- 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to almost always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas

what does levitate do? what does shadow tag let it do?

Usage Tips
========

- Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot switch in. It’s possible to wait until they KO a Pokemon, but many walls don’t ever do that. elaborate please
- Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap
- When revenge killing, wait until the threat is somewhat weakened. Mega Gengar usually falls just short of the OHKO how does the reader to know to use mega gengar as a revenge killer?
- Be wary of Choice Scarf Pokemon like, as they can get a hit off and badly damage Mega Gengar even when weak when they're weak? when it's weak? elaborate
- Decide which Pokemon threatens your team most, and use Mega Gengar to remove that rather than blindly trapping

this is extremely vague; you dont mention anywhere the one benefit of not immediately mega evolving gengar: keeping its immunity to earthquake/power to lure non-shadow claw ekiller, etc; you dont mention what this set's role is: trapping pokemon while still maintaining a decent offensive presence. you have missed way too much.

Team Options
========


- Switchins for Dark-types like Yveltal are crucial, as Gengar can do little to them. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well
- Ghost Types cannot be trapped, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Darkrai are useful
- Wallbreakers that can take advantages of holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s hole punching skills this sentence is clunky and doesnt make sense because of how run-on it is
- Set up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit in a similar manner your original point doesnt even state how the pokemon benefit, so im confused?
- Pokemon that do not mind Klefki, suck as Fairy Arceus, Yveltal, and Primal Groudon, are all but necessary to take it out.
- Pivot Pokemon like Scizor, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely. why are pivot pokemon good for this?

again missing a lot. what do these pokemon appreciate from gengar? think of things like these when improving upon this

[Set]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Perish Song KOes any Pokemon that stays in for at least 3 turns, allowing for the removal of even extremely bulky walls examples. It also it passed by Baton Pass, allowing Gengar to force a sack mention that it also hits behind substitute, crippling even sub users
- Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song turns it also lets mgar scout for potential choice items and threatening moves that lure it
- Taunt prevents phazing with Roar and Whirlwind, status moves like Thunder Wave, and prevents Pokemon from fulfilling vital team roles such as Stealth Rock and Defog this is a gp thing but the current wording of this introduces a parallelism error
- Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last-used move, making it invaluable versus choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with protect can be risky to use against one-time setup sweepers like geoxern
- Substitute blocks both status and attacks, potentially for more than one turn. However, each use decreases Mega Gengar's already flimsy bulk. this isnt a bulk-related problem; it's just related to mega gengar's already low hp stat

Set Details
========
- 216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed max Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower.
- 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus Earthquake after Stealth Rock
- 12 Special Defense allows Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock.

again, mention the pre-mega ability and the post-mega ability

Usage Tips
========
- Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe
- Aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely
- Don't attempt to trap Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Primal Groudon or Mega Rayquaza, as even after a Disable they can still OHKO Mega Gengar
- Trapping bulky Pokemon gives the highest risk to reward ratio, as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar
- Against defensive Pokemon such as Support Arceus, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you.
- Scout for moves that can damage Mega Gengar with Protect, and then disable them afterwords as well as potential choice items, lures, etc
- Once the opposing Pokemon can no longer harm Mega Gengar, use Perish Song this doesnt really help the reader. how does the user know that the foe cant harm mgar anymore?
- Stall out the remaining "remaining" doesnt really need to be used here Perish Song turns with Protect, Substitute, and Disable if mgar's using disable, it obviously doesnt have taunt, meaning that if the foe has roar/whirlwind/dtail/u-turn then it can phaze out mgar and switch itself out, so mention to be wary of that
- On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, switch Mega Gengar out. There's no purpose in letting it get KOed alongside the foe

"this is extremely vague; you dont mention anywhere the one benefit of not immediately mega evolving gengar: keeping its immunity to earthquake/power to lure non-shadow claw ekiller, etc; you dont mention what this set's role is: trapping pokemon while still maintaining a decent offensive presence. you have missed way too much."

Team Options
========
- Pokemon with bulky counters, such as Arceus, Primal Groudon, and Xerneas, are great teammates to take advantage of Mega Gengar's trapping ability how do they take advantage?
- Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost, Dark, and Psychic attacks, primarily Yveltal, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged
- Pokemon that can take on Primal Groudon, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus are useful to switch into it how are they useful? how does this help mgar?
- Hazard Setters that can punish double switches such as Klefki, Deoxys-S, and Scolipede that can punish double switches are helpful to encourage the opponent to stay in. what does forcing the foe stay in do? how is it beneficial? how does their ability to do this help mgar? They also have additional synergy due to Mega Gengar's ability to trap defoggers

pivotal pokemon like yveltal and genesect to safely get mgar in to perishtrap the foe, hazard clearers to prevent mgar from taking excessive damage if necessary, etc. again, missing quite a few important things. also, you mention some pokemon in here and im not sure how they fit to the roles you listed them in. im not going to specify, but maybe explain how they fit into said roles

Other Options
=============

- Substitute is a decent move that blocks status while also allowing safe mega evolution, but takes part of Mega Gengar’s already frail health to do so ok and why is this an other option? for which set? specify that it's for the first set considering the second one already has sub
- A bulky set with Perish Song is highly effective at destroying stall, but Gengar often faints before the opponent due to its subpar defensive stats why are you mentioning an already existent set
- Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes deals much heavier damage, but is unreliable and requires more team support
- Disable is usable in conjunction with Protect or Substitute to stop the opponent from harming you, particularly on Perish Song sets. However, unless they lack coverage to hit you they can always switch moves. there's a set
- Will-o-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar ok and why is it a waste? what is it outclassed by? why is it hard to use on gengar?
- Sludge Bomb can be used over Sludge Wave for an increased poison chance
- Attacking moves can be used on the ???

Checks and Counters
===================
Mega Gengar cannot be countered like other Pokemon can because it cannot be switched out from. However, there are many Pokemon that have a good matchup against it these summarizing sentences arent allowed

**Pursuit**: Pursuit turns the trapping back in on Mega Gengar, eliminating it from your lineup so it cannot do its job. While no Pursuit trapper likes taking Mega Gengar’s attacks, they often can win 1v1. pursuit trappers like...

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare.

**Klefki**: Klefki is immune to Sludge Wave, and doesn't take crippling damage from any of Mega Gengar's other moves. It can then cripple Mega Gengar with Thunder Wave and Swagger.

**Faster Pokemon**: Whether with a Choice Scarf like Jirachi and Genesect, or just plain faster like Mega Mewtwo Y and Deoxys-A, fast Pokemon can exploit Mega Gengar’s pitiful bulk to KO it before it can react. react to what? it isnt reacting to anything if it's being outsped and ohkoed. just change react to attack

**Dark Types**: Dark-type Pokemon resist both of Mega Gengar’s STAB moves, and can retaliate with their own. Few of them enjoy Focus Blast, however. give examples

**Ghost Types**: Ghost-type Pokemon cannot be trapped, allowing them to freely switch out of shadow tag, and can harm Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB moves. However, they cannot switch in they can switch in if they predict focus blast, but it's risky if the user predicts the switch in due to the massive damage they take from Shadow Ball. give examples
am qc check
 
again, mention the pre-mega ability

- Scout for moves that can damage Mega Gengar with Protect, and then disable them afterwords as well as potential choice items, lures, etc

"this is extremely vague; you dont mention anywhere the one benefit of not immediately mega evolving gengar: keeping its immunity to earthquake/power to lure non-shadow claw ekiller, etc; you dont mention what this set's role is: trapping pokemon while still maintaining a decent offensive presence. you have missed way too much."

**Ghost Types**: Ghost-type Pokemon cannot be trapped, allowing them to freely switch out of shadow tag, and can harm Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB moves. However, they cannot switch inthey can switch in if they predict focus blast, but it's risky if the user predicts the switch in due to the massive damage they take from Shadow Ball.
Implemented all but the above, for the reasons that follow:
-Pre-Mega ability is pretty much useless on the Perish Trap set, as it's going to be megaing as soon as posible. Ekiller only being able to use Stone Edge is meaningless compared to Mega Gengar's inability to do anything back, and it isn't coming in on Primal Groudon ever. About the only use would be to take Choice Banded earthquakes from HooH or MRay, and even then Mega Evolution+Protect+Disable is better.
-How do you disable a choice item, and why would you want to if you can just stop them from using that move?
-This set doesn't care about offensive presence at all, or about luring Ekiller
-They can only switch in from a ghost type or a shadow tag user, both of which Mega Gengar will be clicking shadow ball against. The only other situation where something can switch is blissey, and MGar will be using taunt there. If you want, I guess I could mention them switching in on Taunt, though.

Thanks for the QC check, this really needed it. There should be a few other changes as well.
 

MZ

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loads of stuff to rework here, lmk when this is done and I can look over again
[overview]

- Best trapper in the metagame thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag
- Its access to Taunt and Perish Song allows it to destroy stall and balance this is an ok bullet but definitely not as important as other stuff, if I were writing the analysis I'd put it around the large move pool part
- Mega Gengar has high Special Attack and Speed, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza which can't get away bc trapped
- Large movepool that includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond
- Excellent offensive typing that allows Mega Gengar to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus and Mega Diancie I see no mention of how it removes defensive mons like clefable or support arc formes which is just invaluable for team members. given a bullet here about trapping lugia and fairy arceus idk how such an important part got ignored
- Good defensive typing that provides an immunity to Extreme Speed and Toxic as well as a resistance to Fairy-type attacks eh, every fairy has ways to cripple or straight up KO it and toxic immunity isn't that important. I'd just mention how it's one of the only things that can easily come in on ekiller and get a hit off, because that's huge
- Able to remove Toxic Spikes irrelevant, remove
- Cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza this suggests that it can't be run with random mons, specifically mention the mega opportunity cost
- Weak to Pursuit trapping irrelevant, remove
- Paltry bulk prevents it from living non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon
I'd also mention that it does have a good amount of checks, so its forced to generally function as a hit and run trapping mon because of how much stuff can beat it one on one. still, it's kinda hard to find a significant con for this
[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokémon that doesn't resist, particularly Fairy-Type Pokemon
- Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina which cannot be trapped.
- Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit trouble Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Tyranitar just mention the first two, it's incredibly lame to go from the 2 best mons to ttar
- Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to remove a Pokemon that it might otherwise be unable to touch, albeit at the cost of itself this is a little vague, it's specifically for straight up removing certain mons you normally would only be able to chip a bit like Pdon to support gengar's team
- Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve specifically because it's much slower before that and scout the foe's moveset
- Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia specifically support mons and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond and also recovering, phazing gengar, and is the only way to beat foes like chansey which can otherwise recover off all damage
- Hidden Power Fire is another option that has some utility vs foes such as Scizor and Ferrothorn, but is generally inferior to the listed moves due to its low base power remove this it sucks. Like dont even put in OO, it's not worth wasting a slot on the rare scizor and and FB is just as strong vs ferro

Set Details
========
- 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed tie Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza
- 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to almost always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas
- Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake specifically pivot into eq users like don, hooh, etc before mega evolving, but is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving
- Shadow Tag prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to fulfill its role fulfill its role is incredibly generic, I'd just rewrite this part to be less obvious and routine "I have to mention this but I dont have to like it"

Usage Tips
========

- This set’s primary goal is trap and KO offensive threats, preventing them from defeating your team not really. you trap whatever is needed, be it offensive threats or defensive threats. "from defeating your team" doesn't really mean anything
- Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to what?. It’s possible to wait until they KO a Pokemon, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon
- Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and also all the other benefits. A lot of this analysis is over-simplified, dont feel the need to dumb stuff down so much
- When revenge killing, wait until the threat is somewhat weakened. Mega Gengar usually falls just short of the OHKO again, you can just suggest getting a little bit of chip damage but this just sounds weird
- Be wary of Choice Scarf Pokemon like Jirachi and Genesect, as they can get a hit off and badly damage Mega Gengar even when at low HP this only really applies to surprise scarfers and neither of these should really be surprising. maybe you can reword it into avoiding faster mons but remove otherwise
- It is occasionally useful to not immediately Mega Evolve vs foes like Arceus or support Primal Groudon so that Gengar can retain Levitate; however, both of those have moves to harm it regardless. yeah dont mention this you're pretty much always mega evolving
- Decide which Pokemon threatens your team most, and use Mega Gengar to remove that rather than blindly trapping I can't imagine a situation where someone just blindly traps everything but the one thing they should be trapping. Reread this and then remove it
something about keeping this around for checking ekillers late game


Team Options
========

- Switchins for Dark-types like Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to them. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well it has focus blast for like, every dark type but yveltal and none like to switch in. yveltal checks yes, dark checks not necessarily
- Ghost Types cannot be trapped, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Darkrai are useful i mean, what ghosts does gengar lose to? it doesn't help to list weaknesses if they dont work like that in practice. also specific examples of problem mons help
- Wallbreakers that can take advantages of holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon
- Set up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters
- Pokemon that do not mind Klefki, such as Fairy Arceus, Yveltal, and Primal Groudon, are all but necessary ? to take it out.
- Pivot Pokemon like Scizor, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup.
not seeing checks to ho-oh, which is one of the most annoying things for coming in on gengar and smacking something
[Set]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Perish Song KOes any Pokemon that stays in for at least 3 turns we know what it does, allowing for the removal of even extremely bulky walls examples i think you meant to put examples here?. It also it passed by Baton Pass, allowing Gengar to force a sacrifice even against Substitute or magic bounce Pokemon. this whole thing sounds weird, all you have to do is say it = guarantee kill if you can get it off without dying
- Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves
- Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and status moves like Thunder Wave. It also stops Pokemon from fulfilling vital team roles such as Stealth Rock and Defog we know what taunt does. here it's specifically for preventing phazing and stopping foes from doing anything useful as they wait for death
- Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last-used move, making it invaluable versus choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. It does, however, leave Mega Gengar weak against setup sweepers not really? if there's a setup sweeper, 1. it only has like 2 turns to KO gengar and get out before perish song finishes and 2. dont trap something if it beats you without going down. it's more that you can't trap mons with status moves as reliably
- Substitute blocks both status and attacks, potentially for more than one turn I think this means the sub can last for more than one turn but lol u dont need to mention that. However, each use makes it even harder for Mega Gengar to survive attacks obvious, you dont need to mention. also you dont say that it stalls out more psong turns and 25% is likely less than what the mon ur trapping can do to gengar

Set Details
========

- 216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed max Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower.
- 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus Earthquake after Stealth Rock
- 12 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock.
- Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-Type, Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell

Usage Tips
========
- Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe
- Aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely
- Don't attempt to trap dont try disabling them, you can still try trapping them. however get better examples as those can both OHKO you on the same turn as you psong Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Primal Groudon or Mega Rayquaza, as even after a Disable they can still OHKO Mega Gengar
- Trapping bulky Pokemon gives the highest risk to reward ratio what? it's lowest risk and reward dependent on the game. If anything you should say that they are the easiest to trap since gengar is quite frail, as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar
- Against defensive Pokemon that run roar a lot such as Support Arceus and another example, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you.
- Scout for moves that can damage Mega Gengar with Protect, and then disable them it doesn't need to sound like an instruction manual, saying something about protect disable is good but this sounds odd
- Once the opposing Pokemon has been Disabled, use Perish Song normally you'd do that first. this step by step guide doesn't really apply
- Stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable. Be aware, however, that if the foe phazes you they can switch out and remove the countdown.
- On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, switch Mega Gengar out. There's no purpose in letting it get KOed alongside the foe
- Don’t try and trap anything that carries a pivot move unless you have Disable even then ur probably not trapping anything with a pivot move since they all threaten gengar well enough, fix/remove this
I see no specific mentions of what you can/should trap. that is the entire point of this set. pls fix


Team Options
========

- Pokemon with bulky counters, such as Arceus, Primal Groudon, and Xerneas, are great teammates to take advantage of Mega Gengar's ability to remove passive Pokemon "bulky counters" and "passive pokemon" is just layering on the generic phrases, all this needs to be is setup sweepers appreciate removing their counters
- Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, primarily Yveltal and neutral support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged
- Pokemon that can take on Primal Groudon, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Primal Groudon
- Hazard setters such as Klefki, Deoxys-S, and Scolipede just the first two that can punish double switches are helpful to encourage the opponent to stay in, thus easing trapping prediction that's not exactly how spikes work, just stick with the later point. They also have additional synergy due to Mega Gengar's ability to trap defoggers.
- Defoggers such as Giratina and support Arceus are important so that Mega Gengar can come in multiple times I dont think they're that important, it's not like rocks really hurt it
- Pivot Pokemon like Scizor, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in on walls or, you know, anything else switching into their u-turn

Other Options
=============

- Substitute is a decent move for the offensive set that blocks status while also allowing safe Mega Evolution, but takes part of Mega Gengar’s already frail health to do. no. it already has enough 4mss
- Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes specify it's the teammate using tspikes not gengar. also mention how this suffers from nothing that good getting them, and mention willo+hex specifically since it's a solid set but mentioned separately and negatively for no reason at all deals much heavier damage, but is unreliable and requires more team support
- Will-o-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar compared to removing them outright
- Sludge Bomb can be used over Sludge Wave for an increased poison chance
- Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but the lack of power is extremely noticeable. it's more that you need all of the support moves to successfully perish trap most of the time, the point of the set isn't to have an attack

Checks and Counters
===================
Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it cannot be switched out from. this is desperately in need of some better phrasing. also c&c should be ordered by how well they check or counter the mon. You should go faster pokemon/priority/tanks

**Pursuit**: Pursuit turns the trapping back in on Mega Gengar, eliminating it from your lineup so it cannot do its job. While no Pursuit trapper likes taking Mega Gengar’s attacks, they often can win 1v1. Scizor and Tyranitar are of particular note, as beating one usually precludes beating the other due to the different coverage options necessary. we have 2 uncommon pursuit users, one of which rarely runs it. you mention pursuit multiple times in the analysis but honestly I'd rather remove this and fit Ttar somewhere else in c&c

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare. you need to give more specific examples, I've learned almost nothing about how super effective priority beats gengar

**Klefki**: Klefki is immune to Sludge Wave and doesn't take major damage from any of Mega Gengar's other moves. It can then cripple Mega Gengar with Thunder Wave and Swagger. move this into tanks

**Faster Pokemon**: Whether with a Choice Scarf like Jirachi and Genesect, or just plain faster like Mega Mewtwo Y and Deoxys-A, fast Pokemon can exploit Mega Gengar’s pitiful bulk to KO it before it can attack. look at other complete analyses then try to phrase this a little better

**Dark Types**: Dark type Pokemon such as Yveltal and Tyranitar do not particularly mind Mega Gengar’s Stab moves and can retaliate with super effective attacks of their own. Few of them enjoy Focus Blast, however. moving this into tanks

**Ghost Types**: Ghost-type Pokemon such as Mega Sableye tanks, Giratina-O super effective priority, and Aegislash super effective priority cannot be trapped, allowing them to freely switch out of Shadow Tag. They can also greatly harm Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB moves, but they cannot switch in due to the damage taken from Shadow Ball drop this category

tanks should talk about all the random mons that can take a hit from gengar because they dont really make sense in tons of mini categories. yveltal, ttar, hooh, klefki, msab, pdon, can all take gengar on 1v1 and cripple or KO it in some way
 
- Good defensive typing that provides an immunity to Extreme Speed and Toxic as well as a resistance to Fairy-type attacks eh, every fairy has ways to cripple or straight up KO it and toxic immunity isn't that important. I'd just mention how it's one of the only things that can easily come in on ekiller and get a hit off, because that's huge
-
Cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza this suggests that it can't be run with random mons, specifically mention the mega opportunity cost
- Don't attempt to trap dont try disabling them, you can still try trapping them. however get better examples as those can both OHKO you on the same turn as you psong Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Primal Groudon or Mega Rayquaza, as even after a Disable they can still OHKO Mega Gengar
- Against defensive Pokemon that run roar a lot such as Support Arceus and another example, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you.
Implemented all except the above:
1. Toxic is neat because Mega Gengar tends to come in on stall, and being resistant to Fairy allows Mega Gengar to revenge KO Scarf xern/Switch in on Fairy Arceus (particularly since scarfxern, clefable and support fairyceus don't run coverage). I can put the EKiller first in more detail if it's particularly important though
2. This seems fairly self explanatory. Why would saying it cannot be run with other mega pokemon imply an inability to be run with random mons?
3. Any pokemon with multiple coverage moves to hit Mega Gengar is suicude to trap, as even 0 Spa Judgement can 2HKO Mgar. This is specifically the perish trap set, which needs to have enough HP to live the attack with >25% hp unless that's the only option to hit MGar
4. This one is a bit confusing and I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Are you suggesting I specifially say that taunt doesn't block dragon tail (from like giratina I geuss?)
 

dhelmise

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Implemented all except the above:
1. Toxic is neat because Mega Gengar tends to come in on stall, and being resistant to Fairy allows Mega Gengar to revenge KO Scarf xern/Switch in on Fairy Arceus (particularly since scarfxern, clefable and support fairyceus don't run coverage). I can put the EKiller first in more detail if it's particularly important though
2. This seems fairly self explanatory. Why would saying it cannot be run with other mega pokemon imply an inability to be run with random mons?
3. Any pokemon with multiple coverage moves to hit Mega Gengar is suicude to trap, as even 0 Spa Judgement can 2HKO Mgar. This is specifically the perish trap set, which needs to have enough HP to live the attack with >25% hp unless that's the only option to hit MGar
4. This one is a bit confusing and I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Are you suggesting I specifially say that taunt doesn't block dragon tail (from like giratina I geuss?)
1. implement the change
2. If it's self explanatory then remove the point
3. ok
4. No, zard is saying that it blocks defensive pokemon that run roar from using it, it's implied that taunt doesn't block a damaging move
 
Last edited:

MZ

And now for something completely different
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[OVERVIEW]

- Best trapper in the metagame thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag
- Mega Gengar has high Special Attack and Speed, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza by stopping them from switching
- Large movepool that includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond
- Its access to Taunt and Perish Song allows it to destroy stall and balance, particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and Support Arceus
- Excellent offensive typing that allows Mega Gengar to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus and Mega Diancie
- Good defensive typing that provides an immunity to Extreme Speed and Toxic as well as a resistance to Fairy I think you sorta misunderstand. Sure, it has /ok/ defensive typing. But that isn't really relevant to the mon. the important thing to get out of this is that gengar outspeeds espeeders so the immunity makes it the only mon that will always hit ray/arc first. fairy resist and toxic immunity arent that important and dont need an overview mention, but that absolutely does
- Cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza
- Paltry bulk prevents it from living non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon
- Has a decent number of checks, forcing it to play as a hit and run trapper

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokémon that doesn't resist, particularly Fairy-Type Pokemon
- Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina which cannot be trapped.
- Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit trouble Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus
- Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to remove a Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, albeit at the cost of itself
- Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new speed tier scout, and the foe's moveset
- Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phasing Mega Gengar

Set Details
========

- 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed tie Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza
- 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to almost always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas
- Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving
- Shadow Tag prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats

Usage Tips
========

- This set’s primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team strategy, particularly those weak to its attacks.
- Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until they KO a Pokemon, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon
- Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap
and has far lower stats, particularly special attack and speed
- When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via hazards or attacks, as Mega Gengar usually falls just short of an OHKO.
- It’s often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed

Team Options
========

- Switchins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little toit. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well
- Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Darkrai are useful
- Wallbreakers that can take advantages of holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon
- Set up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters
- Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled
- Pivot Pokemon like mega Scizor, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup
- Hazard setters like Deoxys-Attack, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus and Mega Rayquaza in a single attack neither of these are incredibly bulky or get OHKOed after rocks? Either be a little less specific or be correct and stay specific
- Checks to Ho-Oh such as Primal Groudon this is kind of a lame "hooh check", Arceus Rock, and Zekrom are useful due to Ho-Oh’s high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

- Perish Song allows for the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag
- Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves
- Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful before fainting
- Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last-used move, making it invaluable versus choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect.
- Substitute blocks both status and attacks, potentially for more than one turn last part sounds weird here, also still doesn't mention that it helps stalling out psong together with protect. While you do lose HP, it’s likely less than what they would have done had they attacked directly.

Set Details
========

- 216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed max Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower.
- 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus Earthquake after Stealth Rock
- 12 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock.
- Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-Type, Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell

Usage Tips
========

- Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe
- Aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely
- Don't attempt to disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still badly damage Mega Gengar
- Trapping bulky Pokemon gives the lowest risk to reward ratio, as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar I mean it's ubers, lots of stuff are bulky. I think you're looking for defensive pokemon, pokemon with low offensive presence, passive walls, etc
- Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but passive walls are the easiest targets this sorta just overlaps with the first bullet
- Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use roar such as Support Arceus, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you.
- Use Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary
- Use Perish Song as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage
- Stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable. Be aware, however, that if the foe phazes you they can switch out and remove the countdown.
- On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, switch Mega Gengar out. There's no purpose in letting it get KOed alongside the foe

Team Options
========

- Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters.
- Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, primarily Yveltal and neutral i dont think "neutral" is necessary. also neither of those take on, say, basic support pdon with plume or LO mewtwo that well, if you list all of these types you need checks for at once then you need mons that can take on all of those types support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged
- Pokemon that can take on Primal Groudon, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Primal Groudon like you could just drop the ground types part into a second bullet here, or move the examples to that one. either way, it's just for you when you're writing it up
- Hazard setters such as Klefki, Deoxys-S, and Deoxys-A that can punish double switches are helpful to impose costs on double switching. They also have additional synergy due to Mega Gengar's ability to trap defoggers. i dont think hazard stack really helps here. because it's not damaging this is very literally saying "hazards punish switches" which does apply more to a mon with shadow tag but just barely. I wouldn't leave this in
- Pivot Pokemon like mega Scizor, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters

Other Options
=============

- Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support or Will-o-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but is unreliable and requires more team support seems fairly negative for something as easy as willo hex, if anything willo hex has issues with increased usage of lum on ekiller from ubers to ag but I dont see the need to be so negative
- Will-o-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar compared to removing them outright
- Sludge Bomb can be used over Sludge Wave for an increased Poison chance
- Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness
hypnosis? ubers uses it so its probably fine to mention as completely unreliable but also makes trapping stuff super easy 55% of the time

Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose who it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect and Deoxys-S with Psycho Boost no set should lack psycho boost, even lead can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. By this point, however, Mega Gengar generally has either an intact team to sponge hits or has fulfilled its role. this last part seems odd. if anything the caveat should be "gengar can KO all of them on switchin" but I'm not sure what the extra part means

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched into out of? as in getting gengar out for free?.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar’s attacks such as Mega Sableye, Yveltal, Klefki and Primal Groudon can live an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. I'd like to see a bit more detail here, like gengar can trap some or gives some trouble with perish trap or needs a bit of chip, idk but a 1 sentence thing for a fairly large group of mons probably doesn't get enough info out
I'm really tired so if something doesn't make any sense just lmk on discord, but this shouldn't be too hard to implement
zDganmZ.gif
 

Chloe

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I have to say I can't find much so most of what I'm saying is just small little tweaks and additions.

Offensive Trapper
Moves:
- I think you made a mistake when wording Protect.

Usage Tips:
- Be cautious when trying to trap Xerneas, as it may carry a Choice Scarf set and 2HKO.
- On the last point mention how it can be kept in regular form until then to be a more secure switchin.

Team Options:
- Checks for Ground-types such as Water Arceus and Yveltal are beneficial, as Mega Gengar struggles to deal with Primal Groudon and Ground Arceus.
- Checks for opposing ghost types that can threaten Gengar such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh are nice as Mega Gengar has issues ensuring an OHKO on Giratina-O and Aegislash, while they can OHKO with Shadow Sneak.
- Mention Ho-Oh in Pokémon that can take on Klefki. // It looks like I'm biased but it's probably the most important one.

Perish Trapper
Set Details:
- Mention the 12 SpD in conjunction with the HP stat as that way it just seems like the 12 SpD alone can do the function listed.

Usage Tips:
- About what you said on the last point, there are sometimes times where sacking off Gengar would be the better play.

Team Options:
- Checks for ghost types such as Yveltal are good teammates as Shadow Tag doesn't affect ghost types. Taunt and Knock Off variants are also effective against common Shed Shell users such as Blissey.
- The Ground-types point is somewhat irrelevant as it can deal with both these Pokémon depending on whether it runs Taunt/Disable. (more relevant in Offensive Trapper, hence i listed it there)

OO:
- Disable on offensive sets allows MGar to trap Choice-item users efficiently as well as disabling moves such as Earthquake on Arceus that may be the opponent's only way to hit you (I figure you can come up with a better way to word this)

C&C:
- Give Yveltal its own mention since both offensive and defensive sets can check; while it is an incredibly potent threat.
- Mention Ho-Oh in tanks // 252 SpA Mega Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 127-150 (30.6 - 36.1%) -- 53.5% chance to 3HKO

QC 2/3
GP's going to have a fun time with you :S
 
I have to say I can't find much so most of what I'm saying is just small little tweaks and additions.

Offensive Trapper
Moves:
- I think you made a mistake when wording Protect.

Usage Tips:
- Be cautious when trying to trap Xerneas, as it may carry a Choice Scarf set and 2HKO.
- On the last point mention how it can be kept in regular form until then to be a more secure switchin.

Team Options:
- Checks for Ground-types such as Water Arceus and Yveltal are beneficial, as Mega Gengar struggles to deal with Primal Groudon and Ground Arceus.
- Checks for opposing ghost types that can threaten Gengar such as Yveltal and Ho-Oh are nice as Mega Gengar has issues ensuring an OHKO on Giratina-O and Aegislash, while they can OHKO with Shadow Sneak.
- Mention Ho-Oh in Pokémon that can take on Klefki. // It looks like I'm biased but it's probably the most important one.

Perish Trapper
Set Details:
- Mention the 12 SpD in conjunction with the HP stat as that way it just seems like the 12 SpD alone can do the function listed.

Usage Tips:
- About what you said on the last point, there are sometimes times where sacking off Gengar would be the better play.

Team Options:
- Checks for ghost types such as Yveltal are good teammates as Shadow Tag doesn't affect ghost types. Taunt and Knock Off variants are also effective against common Shed Shell users such as Blissey.
- The Ground-types point is somewhat irrelevant as it can deal with both these Pokémon depending on whether it runs Taunt/Disable. (more relevant in Offensive Trapper, hence i listed it there)

OO:
- Disable on offensive sets allows MGar to trap Choice-item users efficiently as well as disabling moves such as Earthquake on Arceus that may be the opponent's only way to hit you (I figure you can come up with a better way to word this)

C&C:
- Give Yveltal its own mention since both offensive and defensive sets can check; while it is an incredibly potent threat.
- Mention Ho-Oh in tanks // 252 SpA Mega Gengar Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 127-150 (30.6 - 36.1%) -- 53.5% chance to 3HKO

QC 2/3
GP's going to have a fun time with you :S
Ty, implemented. Now I have to write this up...
 
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MZ

And now for something completely different
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Sorry for the wait, wasn't sure if josh was planning to check this but he ain't so oops
[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is the best trapper in the metagame. It has high Special Attack and Speed stats, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza by stopping them from switching out. Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, while it's access to Taunt and Perish Song allows it to destroy stall and balance- I'd rewrite this slightly as both offensive and perish trapper achieve the desired effect of ruining balance cores. Also you could make some mention of how it is incredibly good at supporting other offensive pokemon by removing their checks, a huge part of it is how much scarier it makes something like geoxern particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and Support Arceus. Mega Gengar also has an excellent offensive typing that allows it to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus and Mega Diancie, while not being a slouch defensivly thanks to it's immunity to normal type moves allowing it to revenge KO Arceus and Mega Rayquaza without worrying about Extreme Speed.
However, Mega Gengar cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, making it much harder to fit onto a team. It's paltry bulk prevents it from living non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon, and it has a decent number of solid checks, forcing it to play as a hit and run trapper

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokémon that doesn't resist, particularly Fairy-Type Pokemon such as Xerneas you can mention sludge bomb here in moves, it's fine tbh. Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina which cannot be trapped also best move vs pdon. Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit trouble Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus. Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to trade with Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, going well with it's ability to force pokemon to stay in and take it on. Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new speed tier, and scout the foe's moveset, while Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phasing Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed tie Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza. 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to almost always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after stealth rock. Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving to get Shadow Tag, which prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats.

Usage Tips
========

This set’s primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team strategy, particularly those weak to its attacks I'd specify that this can be huge for removing defensive checks for the rest of your team, you can specifically go after removing random defensive mons that let something else sweep. Be cautious when attempting this on Xerneas, however, as with a Choice Scarf it outspeeds and can 2HKO. Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until they KO a Pokemon for a free switch, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon
In most battles, you should Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and has far lower stats, particularly Special Attack and Speed. It’s often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed. Not Mega Evolving is mostly only useful here, as it makes Gengar a better switchinto Arceus. When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via hazards or attacks, as Mega Gengar often falls just short of an OHKO.

Team Options
========

Switchins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to it. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well, but can be beaten by offensive sets if low on HP. Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB priority moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Ho-Oh are useful. Pokemon that can take on Ground-types, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Ground Arceus or Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled. Checks to Ho-Oh such as Water Arceus, Rock Arceus, and Zekrom are also appreciated due to Ho-Oh’s high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar.
Wallbreakers that can take advantages of holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon. Set up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters.
Pivot Pokemon like Landorus-Therian maybe dont mention this one, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup. Hazard setters like Deoxys-Attack, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus, while Mega Gengar pressures Defoggers and the rare Rapid Spin user.

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Perish Song allows for the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag. Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves. Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful like setting Stealth Rocks before fainting, while Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last-used move, making it invaluable versus choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. Substitute blocks both status and attacks and allows Mega Gengar to stall out Perish Song turns. While you do lose HP, it’s likely less than what they would have done had they attacked directly. this last line isn't rly necessary

Set Details
========

216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed max Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower. 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus Earthquake after Stealth Rock. 12 Special Defense EVs in conjunction with the HP allows Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-Type, Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell.

Usage Tips
========

Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe. Due to it's low bulk, aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely. Don't attempt to Disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still badly damage Mega Gengar
Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but trapping defensive, passive walls gives the lowest risk to reward ratio as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar
Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use roar such as Support Arceus or Giratina, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you, then Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary
Perish Song should be as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage, but against some targets it can be useful to click another move first. While you can stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable, if the foe phazes you they can switch out and remove the countdown. On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, you almost always switch Mega Gengar out. There's rarely a reason to get it KOed.
I dont see any mentions about what it should trap, like random mons that beat gengar's teammates

Team Options
========

Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters, as do those such as klefki with a very select nuber of viable answers. Defenisively, Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, and Psychic-type attacks, like Yveltal or support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged. Pivot Pokemon like Landorus-Therian, Yveltal, and Genesect dont use all the exact same examples from set to set, at least like yveltal and rachi or something are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters. As Shadow Tag does not effect Ghost-types, answers to them such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal are beneficial. In particular, the latter also deals with more like can lure it in and remove its shed shell the occasional Shed Shell user such as Blissey with Knock Off.

Other Options
=============

Disable on offensive sets allows Mega Gengar to trap and KO Choice-locked Pokemon that it cannot otherwise touch such as Ho-Oh or Pokemon with only one effective move such as Magic Coat Arceus. Meanwhile, Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support, Hypnosis, or Will-o-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but requires more team support and is ineffective against Lum Berry Arceus. not sure why there are any random paragraph breaks in any sections of the analysis, but in particular this part right here. also mention hex later so that you've already mentioned wisp and hypnosis earlier in the section
Will-o-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar compared to removing them outright. Sludge Bomb can be used over Sludge Wave for an increased Poison chance, but offensive sets rarely need that to do their job. dont mention this here
Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness. Hypnosis is an option that can make trapping effortless, turning battles around in an instant. However, it has an abysmal accuracy that makes relying on it a questionable decision.


Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose who it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect and Deoxys-S can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. None of them can come in safely, however, so often the best they can do is force Mega Gengar out.

**Yveltal**: Thanks to its excellent typing and bulk, both offensive and defensive Yveltal can take on Mega Gengar, either by avoiding the 2HKO and OHKOing back or simply eliminating it with Sucker Punch. Mega Gengar requires significant chip damage to have even a shot at winning.

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched out of.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar’s attacks such as Ho-Oh, Mega Sableye, Klefki and Primal Groudon can live an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. However, all of these bar Klefki can be Perish Trapped or defeated with enough chip damage.
zDganmZ.gif
3/3 Quantum Tesseract. Also gonna tag wishes just confirming you know that I'm doing the 3/3 despite doing 1/3 because nobody else
 
GP 1/2

remove add comments
[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is the best trapper in the metagame. It has high Special Attack and Speed stats, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza by while stopping them from switching out. Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, while and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, (comma) in particular -(hyphen) particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and Support support Arceus. It is incredibly effective at supporting sweepers by removing their answers, such as Fairy Arceus for Mega Rayquaza. Mega Gengar also has an excellent offensive typing that allows it to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus and Mega Diancie, while not being a slouch defensively thanks to it's its immunity to normal type Normal-type moves allowing it to revenge KO Arceus and Mega Rayquaza without worrying about Extreme Speed.
However, Mega Gengar cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, making it much harder to fit onto a team. It's Its paltry bulk prevents it from living taking any non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon, and it has a decent number of solid checks, forcing it to play as a hit-(hyphen)and-(hyphen)run trapper. (period)

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest-(hyphen)hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it, particularly Fairy-Type -type Pokemon such as Xerneas. Sludge Bomb does similar damage, but sacrifices a bit of power for a decent poison chance of poisoning. Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina and is being the best move on the set to hit Primal Groudon. Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit troublesome Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus. Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to trade with Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, going well with it's its ability to force Pokemon to stay in and take it on. Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new speed Speed tier, and scout the foe's moveset, while Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phasing phazing Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed Speed tie with Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza. 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving to get Shadow Tag, which prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats.

Usage Tips
========

This set’s primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team's strategy, particularly those weak to its Gengar's attacks. and paving the way for a teammate to sweep. Be cautious when attempting this on Xerneas, however, as with a Choice Scarf it outspeeds and can 2HKO. Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until they KO the opponent KOes a Pokemon for a free switch, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon. (period)
In most battles, you should Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and has far lower stats, particularly its Special Attack and Speed. It’s often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late-(hyphen)game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed. Not Mega Evolving is mostly only useful here, as it makes Gengar a better switch-(hyphen)in to Arceus. When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via entry hazards or prior attacks, as Mega Gengar often falls just short of an OHKO.

Team Options
========

Switch-(hyphen)ins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to it. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well, but can be beaten by offensive sets if low on HP. Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB priority moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Ho-Oh are useful. Pokemon that can take on Ground-types, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Ground Arceus or Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled. Checks to Ho-Oh such as Water Arceus, Rock Arceus, and Zekrom are also appreciated due to Ho-Oh’s high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar.
Wallbreakers that can take advantages of opened holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon. Set(space)up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters.
Pivot Pokemon like Jirachi, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup. Hazard setters like Deoxys-Attack, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus, while Mega Gengar pressures Defoggers and the rare Rapid Spin user.

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Perish Song allows for the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag. Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, (comma) as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves. Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful like setting Stealth Rocks before fainting, while Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last most recently-used move, making it invaluable versus choice Choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. Substitute blocks both status (moves or ailments?) and attacks and allows Mega Gengar to stall out Perish Song turns.

Set Details
========

216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed maximum Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower. 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus's Earthquake after Stealth Rock. 12 Special Defense EVs in conjunction with the HP allows Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai's Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-Type -type, a Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell.

Usage Tips
========

Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe. Due to it's its low bulk, aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely. Don't attempt to Disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still badly heavily damage Mega Gengar.
Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but trapping defensive, passive walls gives the lowest risk to vs. reward ratio as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar. When deciding on which one Pokemon to remove, focus on removing answers to your wincon condition, such as Water Arceus for Primal Groudon.
Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use Roar such as Support support Arceus or Giratina, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you, then Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary.
Perish Song should be used as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage, but against some targets it can be useful to click another move first. While you can stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable, if the foe phazes you they can switch out and remove the countdown. On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, you almost always switch Mega Gengar out. There's rarely a reason to let it get it KOed.

Team Options
========

Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters, as do those such as klefki Klefki with a very select nuber number of viable answers. Defenisively Defensively, Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, and Psychic-type attacks, like Yveltal or support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged. Pivot Pokemon like Zekrom, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters. As Shadow Tag does not effect affect Ghost-types, answers to them such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal are beneficial. In particular, the latter also deals with the occasional Shed Shell user such as Blissey with Knock Off, either by KOing them outright or by leaving them vulnerable to trapping.

Other Options
=============

Disable on offensive sets allows Mega Gengar to trap and KO Choice-locked Pokemon that it cannot otherwise touch, (comma) such as Ho-Oh, (comma) or Pokemon with only one effective move, (comma) such as Magic Coat Arceus. Will-oO-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar's time compared to removing them outright. Hypnosis is an option that can make trapping effortless, turning battles around in an instant. However, it has an abysmal accuracy that makes relying on it a questionable decision.
Meanwhile, Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support, Hypnosis, or Will-oO-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but requires more team support and is ineffective against Lum Berry Arceus. Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness.

Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose who what it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect, (comma) and Deoxys-S can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. None of them can come in safely, however, so often the best they can do is force Mega Gengar out.

**Yveltal**: Thanks to its excellent typing and bulk, both offensive and defensive Yveltal can take on Mega Gengar, either by avoiding the 2HKO and OHKOing back or simply eliminating it with Sucker Punch. Mega Gengar requires significant chip damage on Yveltal to have even a shot at winning.

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched out of.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar’s attacks such as Ho-Oh, Mega Sableye, Klefki, (comma) and Primal Groudon can live take an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. However, all of these bar Klefki can be Perish Trapped or defeated with enough chip damage.
 
Last edited:
GP 1/2

remove add comments
[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is the best trapper in the metagame. It has high Special Attack and Speed stats, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza by while stopping them from switching out. Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, while and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, (comma) in particular -(hyphen) particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and Support support Arceus. It is incredibly effective at supporting sweepers by removing their answers, such as Fairy Arceus for Mega Rayquaza. Mega Gengar also has an excellent offensive typing that allows it to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus and Mega Diancie, while not being a slouch defensively thanks to it's its immunity to normal type Normal-type moves allowing it to revenge KO Arceus and Mega Rayquaza without worrying about Extreme Speed.
However, Mega Gengar cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, making it much harder to fit onto a team. It's Its paltry bulk prevents it from living taking any non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon, and it has a decent number of solid checks, forcing it to play as a hit-(hyphen)and-(hyphen)run trapper. (period)

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar’s hardest-(hyphen)hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it, particularly Fairy-Type -type Pokemon such as Xerneas. Sludge Bomb does similar damage, but sacrifices a bit of power for a decent poison chance of poisoning. Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina and is being the best move on the set to hit Primal Groudon. Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit troublesome Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus. Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to trade with Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, going well with it's its ability to force Pokemon to stay in and take it on. Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new speed Speed tier, and scout the foe's moveset, while Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phasing phazing Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to speed Speed tie with Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza. 252 Special Attack EVs allows Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability to always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving to get Shadow Tag, which prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats.

Usage Tips
========

This set’s primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team's strategy, particularly those weak to its Gengar's attacks. and paving the way for a teammate to sweep. Be cautious when attempting this on Xerneas, however, as with a Choice Scarf it outspeeds and can 2HKO. Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until they KO the opponent KOes a Pokemon for a free switch, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon. (period)
In most battles, you should Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and has far lower stats, particularly its Special Attack and Speed. It’s often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late-(hyphen)game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed. Not Mega Evolving is mostly only useful here, as it makes Gengar a better switch-(hyphen)in to Arceus. When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via entry hazards or prior attacks, as Mega Gengar often falls just short of an OHKO.

Team Options
========

Switch-(hyphen)ins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to it. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well, but can be beaten by offensive sets if low on HP. Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB priority moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Ho-Oh are useful. Pokemon that can take on Ground-types, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Ground Arceus or Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled. Checks to Ho-Oh such as Water Arceus, Rock Arceus, and Zekrom are also appreciated due to Ho-Oh’s high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar.
Wallbreakers that can take advantages of opened holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter’s ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon. Set(space)up sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters.
Pivot Pokemon like Jirachi, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup. Hazard setters like Deoxys-Attack, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus, while Mega Gengar pressures Defoggers and the rare Rapid Spin user.

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Perish Song allows for the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag. Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve, (comma) as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves. Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful like setting Stealth Rocks before fainting, while Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their last most recently-used move, making it invaluable versus choice Choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. Substitute blocks both status (moves or ailments?) and attacks and allows Mega Gengar to stall out Perish Song turns.

Set Details
========

216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Mega Gengar to outspeed maximum Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower. 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allows Mega Gengar to live a Lum Berry Arceus's Earthquake after Stealth Rock. 12 Special Defense EVs in conjunction with the HP allows Mega Gengar to live a Darkrai's Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-Type -type, a Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell.

Usage Tips
========

Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe. Due to it's its low bulk, aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely. Don't attempt to Disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still badly heavily damage Mega Gengar.
Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but trapping defensive, passive walls gives the lowest risk to vs. reward ratio as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar. When deciding on which one Pokemon to remove, focus on removing answers to your wincon condition, such as Water Arceus for Primal Groudon.
Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use Roar such as Support support Arceus or Giratina, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you, then Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary.
Perish Song should be used as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage, but against some targets it can be useful to click another move first. While you can stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable, if the foe phazes you they can switch out and remove the countdown. On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, you almost always switch Mega Gengar out. There's rarely a reason to let it get it KOed.

Team Options
========

Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters, as do those such as klefki Klefki with a very select nuber number of viable answers. Defenisively Defensively, Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, and Psychic-type attacks, like Yveltal or support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged. Pivot Pokemon like Zekrom, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters. As Shadow Tag does not effect affect Ghost-types, answers to them such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal are beneficial. In particular, the latter also deals with the occasional Shed Shell user such as Blissey with Knock Off, either by KOing them outright or by leaving them vulnerable to trapping.

Other Options
=============

Disable on offensive sets allows Mega Gengar to trap and KO Choice-locked Pokemon that it cannot otherwise touch, (comma) such as Ho-Oh, (comma) or Pokemon with only one effective move, (comma) such as Magic Coat Arceus. Will-oO-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but is usually a waste of Mega Gengar's time compared to removing them outright. Hypnosis is an option that can make trapping effortless, turning battles around in an instant. However, it has an abysmal accuracy that makes relying on it a questionable decision.
Meanwhile, Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support, Hypnosis, or Will-oO-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but requires more team support and is ineffective against Lum Berry Arceus. Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness.

Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose who what it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect, (comma) and Deoxys-S can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. None of them can come in safely, however, so often the best they can do is force Mega Gengar out.

**Yveltal**: Thanks to its excellent typing and bulk, both offensive and defensive Yveltal can take on Mega Gengar, either by avoiding the 2HKO and OHKOing back or simply eliminating it with Sucker Punch. Mega Gengar requires significant chip damage on Yveltal to have even a shot at winning.

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can react, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched out of.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar’s attacks such as Ho-Oh, Mega Sableye, Klefki, (comma) and Primal Groudon can live take an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. However, all of these bar Klefki can be Perish Trapped or defeated with enough chip damage.
Implemented, thanks.

Question (included currently) on the beginning:

"Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, in particular passive Pokemon such as Clefable and support Arceus."
This flow seems very awkward and rambling. Is and really the best move to include there?
 
Implemented, thanks.

Question (included currently) on the beginning:

"Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, in particular passive Pokemon such as Clefable and support Arceus."
This flow seems very awkward and rambling. Is and really the best move to include there?
Gengar's moveset was still being talked about, so the use of "while", which implies comparison, was inappropriate.
 

Lumari

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remove
add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 2/2
[OVERVIEW]

Thanks to the incredible ability Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar is the best trapper in the metagame. It has high Special Attack and Speed stats, allowing offensive sets to outspeed and revenge KO common offensive Pokemon such as Darkrai, Arceus, and Mega Rayquaza while stopping them from switching out. Gengar's large movepool includes powerful offensive options such as Shadow Ball and Focus Blast for perfect coverage alongside support moves such as Destiny Bond, and sets with Taunt or Perish Song destroy stall and balance, (comma) particularly passive Pokemon such as Clefable and support Arceus. It is incredibly effective at supporting sweepers by removing their answers, such as Fairy Arceus for Mega Rayquaza. Mega Gengar also has an excellent offensive typing that allows it to take on common metagame picks such as Xerneas, Lugia, Fairy Arceus, (AC) and Mega Diancie (RC) while not without being a slouch defensively either thanks to its immunity to Normal-type moves allowing it to revenge KO Arceus and Mega Rayquaza without worrying about Extreme Speed.
However, Mega Gengar cannot be run alongside other Mega Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, making it much harder to fit onto a team. Its paltry bulk prevents it from taking any non-resisted hits from nearly any offensive Pokemon, and it has a decent number of solid checks, forcing it to play as a hit-and-run trapper

[SET]
name: Offensive Trapper
move 1: Sludge Wave
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast / Destiny Bond
move 4: Protect / Taunt / Destiny Bond
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Sludge Wave is Mega Gengar's (straight apostrophe) hardest-hitting option, dealing heavy damage to any Pokemon that doesn't resist it, particularly Fairy-type Pokemon such as Xerneas. Sludge Bomb does similar damage (RC) but sacrifices a bit of power for a decent chance of poisoning. Shadow Ball is another excellent move for Gengar, still dealing deals large amounts of damage while having the ability to hit Ghost-types such as Giratina and being the best move on the set to hit Primal Groudon. Focus Blast is a nice coverage option for Mega Gengar, with perfect neutral coverage alongside Shadow Ball and the ability to hit troublesome Pokemon like Darkrai, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Steel Arceus. Destiny Bond is another option that allows Mega Gengar to trade with Pokemon that it cannot otherwise beat such as Primal Groudon, going well with its ability to force Pokemon to stay in and take it on. Protect allows Gengar to safely Mega Evolve, gain its new Speed tier, and scout the foe's moveset, while Taunt cripples support Pokemon like Water Arceus and Lugia and stops them from avoiding Destiny Bond, recovering, or phazing Mega Gengar.

Set Details
========

252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Mega Gengar to Speed tie with Mewtwo and outspeed anything slower, including Arceus, Darkrai, and Mega Rayquaza. 252 Special Attack EVs allows allow Mega Gengar to do as much damage as possible, including the ability notably enabling it to always OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Levitate allows Gengar to avoid Earthquake and pivot into users such as Extreme Killer Arceus, but keeping it is generally inferior to immediately Mega Evolving to get Shadow Tag, which prevents the foe from switching out and allows Mega Gengar to effectively revenge KO threats.

Usage Tips
========

This set's (straight apostrophe) primary goal is trap and KO any Pokemon that threatens your team strategy, particularly those weak to Gengar's attacks. Be cautious when attempting this on Xerneas, however, as with a Choice Scarf it outspeeds Mega Gengar and can 2HKO it. Double switching or pivot support is important in order to properly utilize Mega Gengar, as it cannot directly switch in to most attacks. It’s possible to wait until the opponent KOes a Pokemon for a free switch, but in many cases you cannot afford to lose a Pokemon.
In most battles, you should Mega Evolve Gengar as soon as feasible because regular Gengar lacks the ability to trap and has far lower stats, particularly its Special Attack and Speed. It's (apo) often a good idea to keep Mega Gengar around to check Extreme Killer Arceus late-game, as Mega Gengar is faster and immune to Extreme Speed. Not Mega Evolving is mostly only useful here, as it makes Gengar a better switch-in to Arceus. When revenge KOing, attempt to get chip damage via entry hazards or prior attacks, as Mega Gengar often falls just short of an OHKO.

Team Options
========

Switch-ins for Yveltal are crucial, as Mega Gengar can do little to it. Fairy Arceus and Xerneas do this well, but they can be beaten by offensive sets if low on HP. Ghost-types such as Giratina-O and Aegislash cannot be trapped and threaten Mega Gengar with their super effective STAB priority moves, so Pokemon that can take them on like Yveltal and Ho-Oh are useful. Pokemon that can take on Ground-types, such as Giratina, Yveltal, and Water Arceus, are useful to have, as Mega Gengar cannot effectively deal with Ground Arceus or Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take on Klefki such as Primal Groudon, Extreme Killer Arceus, and Mega Diancie are extremely useful to keep Mega Gengar from being crippled. Checks to Ho-Oh such as Water Arceus, Rock Arceus, and Zekrom are also appreciated due to Ho-Oh's (apo) high Special Defense and ability to OHKO Mega Gengar.
Wallbreakers that can take advantage of opened holes in opposing teams, like Mega Rayquaza and Mewtwo, pair well with Mega Gengar due to the latter's (apo) ability to selectively remove troublesome Pokemon. Setup sweepers like Extreme Killer Arceus and Geomancy Xerneas also benefit from Mega Gengar removing their checks and counters.
Pivot Pokemon like Jirachi, Yveltal, and Genesect are also handy to bring Mega Gengar in safely by removing the risk of the foe switching to an unfavorable matchup. Entry hazard setters like Deoxys-A, Klefki, and Primal Groudon are useful to allow Mega Gengar to take out bulky attackers such as Arceus, while Mega Gengar pressures Defoggers and the rare Rapid Spin user.

[SET]
Name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Perish Song
move 2: Protect
move 3: Taunt / Disable
move 4: Substitute
item: Gengarite
ability: Levitate
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpD / 216 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Perish Song allows for enables (or facilitates / allows Mega Gengar to, etc, but allow for = take into consideration) the removal of even extremely bulky walls, such as Lugia, Arceus, and Chansey. It is passed by Baton Pass and goes through Substitute and Magic Bounce, allowing Mega Gengar to force a sacrifice against any Pokemon that cannot avoid Shadow Tag. Protect lets Gengar safely Mega Evolve as well as allowing it to stall out Perish Song and scout for threatening moves. Taunt prevents phazing with Roar or Whirlwind and stops the foe from doing anything useful like setting Stealth Rock before fainting, while Disable stops the opposing Pokemon from using their most recently used (RH) move, making it invaluable versus Choice-locked Pokemon or when combined with Protect. Substitute blocks both status moves and attacks and allows Mega Gengar to stall out Perish Song turns.

Set Details
========

216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allow Mega Gengar to outspeed maximum Speed Darkrai, as well as anything slower. 248 HP and 32 Defense EVs allow Mega Gengar to live a survive Lum Berry Arceus's Earthquake after Stealth Rock. 12 Special Defense EVs in conjunction with the HP allows Mega Gengar to live survive a Darkrai's Dark Pulse or a +2 Moonblast from Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Shadow Tag allows Mega Gengar to trap any Pokemon that is not a Ghost-type, a Shadow Tag user, or carrying a Shed Shell.

Usage Tips
========

Gengar cannot trap anything until it Mega Evolves, so do so as early in the match as is safe. Due to its low bulk, aggressive double switches and pivot moves are very helpful to get Mega Gengar in safely. Don't attempt to Disable Pokemon with multiple effective attacking moves such as Calm Mind Arceus, as even after a Disable they can still heavily damage Mega Gengar.
Anything that lacks multiple moves that can OHKO Mega Gengar is a valid option for trapping, but trapping defensive, passive walls gives the lowest risk vs. reward ratio, (AC) as they usually can't do anything to stop Mega Gengar. When deciding on which Pokemon to remove, focus on removing answers to your wincon, such as Water Arceus for Primal Groudon.
Against defensive Pokemon that commonly use Roar such as support Arceus or and Giratina, use Taunt on the first turn to prevent them from phazing you Mega Gengar, and then Protect to scout for super effective coverage, Disabling it if necessary.
Perish Song should be used as quickly as feasible to avoid racking up chip damage, but against some targets it can be useful to click another move first. While you can stall out the Perish Song counter with Protect, Substitute, and Disable, if the foe phazes you Mega Gengar, (AC) they can switch out and remove the countdown. On the turn before the Perish Song counter reaches zero, you almost always switch Mega Gengar out. There's rarely a reason to let it get KOed.

Team Options
========

Setup sweepers such as Arceus, Xerneas, and Primal Groudon appreciate the ability of Mega Gengar to remove their counters, as do those such as Klefki with a very select number of viable answers. Defensively, Pokemon that do not mind taking Ghost-, Dark-, and Psychic-type attacks, like Yveltal or and support Arceus, are helpful to avoid Mega Gengar getting unnecessarily damaged. Pivot Pokemon like Zekrom, Yveltal, and Genesect are also useful to bring Mega Gengar in safely against their would-be counters. As Shadow Tag does not affect Ghost-types, answers to them such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal are beneficial. In particular, the latter also deals with the occasional Shed Shell user such as Blissey with Knock Off, either by KOing them outright or leaving them vulnerable to trapping.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Disable on offensive sets allows Mega Gengar to trap and KO Choice-locked Pokemon that it cannot otherwise touch, such as Ho-Oh, or Pokemon with only one effective move, such as Magic Coat Arceus. Will-O-Wisp can guarantee a burn on any given Pokemon, but it is usually a waste of Mega Gengar's time compared to removing them outright. Hypnosis is an option that can make trapping effortless, turning battles around in an instant. However, it has an abysmal accuracy that makes relying on it a questionable decision.
Meanwhile, Hex in combination with Toxic Spikes support, Hypnosis, or Will-O-Wisp deals much heavier damage, but it requires more team support and is ineffective against Lum Berry Arceus. Attacking moves can be used on the Perish Trap set to remove some particular target, but all the moves listed are required for maximum effectiveness.

Checks and Counters
===================

Mega Gengar cannot be countered in the ordinary sense because it can pick and choose what it wants to battle with Shadow Tag.

**Faster Pokemon**: Faster Pokemon such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Deoxys-A, Choice Scarf Genesect, and Deoxys-S can effectively revenge KO Mega Gengar. None of them can come in safely, however, so often the best they can do is force Mega Gengar out.

**Yveltal**: Thanks to its excellent typing and bulk, both offensive and defensive Yveltal can take on Mega Gengar, either by avoiding the 2HKO and OHKOing back or simply eliminating it with Sucker Punch. Mega Gengar requires significant chip damage on Yveltal to have even a shot at winning.

**Super Effective Priority**: Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak from Pokemon such as Aegislash and Giratina-O hit super effectively before Mega Gengar can act, usually OHKOing it. However, all users with the exception of Yveltal are quite rare, and Sucker Punch can be freely switched out of.

**Tanks**: Bulky Pokemon not weak to Mega Gengar's (apo) attacks such as Ho-Oh, Mega Sableye, Klefki, and Primal Groudon can take an attack and proceed to cripple or KO Mega Gengar. However, all of these bar Klefki can be Perish Trapped or defeated with enough chip damage.
 
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