Smogon Gengar Page
[Overview]
- The strongest SpA based Ghost type in Ubers without set-up moves like Calm Mind/Nasty Plot, etc.
- Pretty much the same when compared to Gen 4.
- BW2 metagame is kind for our levitating poisonous ghost, as the only semi-popular Pursuit user in Ubers is Tyranitar, which Gengar can still beat 1on1 with Focus Blast. His worst nemezis, Scizor, dropped drastically in popularity when compared to Gen 4 Ubers metagame. In other words Gengar is much less vulnerable to Pursuit Trapping then in the past.
- Good 130 base Special attack with GREAT STAB to have in Ubers hitting many popular Ubers Pokemon for SE damage (or at least neutral) and good special based movepool to give him overall great coverage in his attacks.
- Good immunities (Normal, Ground, Fighting) and Resistances (Grass, Bug) allows him to switch more easily into field then his bad defences suggest
- Still HORRIBLY frail by Ubers standards and most strong neutral attacks in Ubers rip him to shreds (and even some resisted ones may do the same)
- Good base 110 Speed, which allows him to outspeed many crucial targets (like Palkia, Terrakion, most Lugias, Rayquaza, etc.)
- Unfortunately his lack of set-up moves (absolutely NOTHING to boost his special attack) doesn't allow him to sweep on his own, unless opponents team is really weakened. In other words he's a bit weak against heavy stall based teams. Although as a late game cleaner/lure/revenge killer it doesn't dissapoint.
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Good 110 speed makes him one of the fastest Scarfers in this tier. The ability to outspeed targets like Scarf Terrakion, +1 DD Rayquaza, Darkrai, MewTwo and few other scary Pokemon makes him great revenge killer in Ubers.
- Not that hard to switch in taking into account his great immunities and resistances, although in Ubers tier he may still struggle to find this free turn to get in.
- Although really uncommon these days, Pursuit users are a massive problem for this set
- This set is a bit of a liability against more defensive teams, as it's not powerful by any means and won't break through any bulky Pokemon, although Trick is always good against dedicated walls.
- One of few Scarfers with ability to revenge kil BOTH DD and SD Rayquaza, something that not many of them can claim.
- HP Fire is an option to hit Forretress and Ferrothorn really hard (as long as it's not raining), although it's really inferior to HP Ice on this set and Icy Wind without any damage boost doesn't hit hard enough. Although HP Fire allows you to beat the most popular Rapid Spinner without taking a hit as long as his not at 100% health.
- Thunder is another possible option as without Thunder you won't be able to hurt seriously some certain Pokemon in Ubers (Kyogre, Ho-Oh, Tentacruel and Manaphy are main targets for it)
- It's a 'glue' Pokemon. In other words you don't build a team around Scarf Gengar, but to fix weaknesses which teams have.
- Modest Nature is a possibility for additional power, but you loose the ability to outspeed some crucial targets, so it's not really recommended.
- Good pick mostly for offensive teams, but his immunities/resistances are actually good for more defensive teams as well, as balanced/stall like teams in Ubers really appreciate Scarf support with many Uber Pokemon not having sure-fire counters (like MewTwo, Kyurem-W, Deoxys-A, etc.)
- Really appreciates hazards supports, which make up for his missing power with Scarf.
- As the main niche of this Gengar is revenge killing, it needs teammates which wall-break and/or straight out sweep. The best ones are those which resist his -Dark, -Ghost and -Psychic weaknesses (in other words mostly steel & dark types), so special mention goes mostly to Dialga (Gengar covers perfectly Dialgas Earth and Fighting weaknesses), Dark, Rock & Steel Arceus and Tyranitar. Offensively Terrakion is great teammates as well, as you cover his -Fighting and -Earth weaknesses. Also Gengar can't handle strong neutral hits like Water Spout or Fire Blast, so Grass Arceus, Lati@s, Ubers bulky waters are viable partners as well.
name: Life Orb
move 1: Shadow Ball
move 2: Hidden Power Ice / Icy Wind
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Thunder / Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Good base 110 Speed and 130 Special Attack with great STAB makes this set dangerous against weakened teams.
- Really good bait/lure to targets, which love to switch into Scarf set. Tyranitar, Dialga, Forretress, Ferrothorn, bulky waters (Manaphy, Kyogre, Water Arceus) to name few, taking them out in one or two hits as long as at least SR is up.
- Icy Wind is crucial against Rayquaza (and much less common Salamence), which otherwise survive every single hit even with SR up and easily OHKO you back. With Icy Wind (or HP Ice if you go with Thunder) you still keep your ability to check/revenge kill all variants of Rayquaza (and Mence) except Dragon Dance ones.
- Focus Blast with Shadow Ball alone give you perfect neutral coverage in just two moves. And without Focus Blast Tyranitar would be 100% surefire counter to Gengar. But it's not.
- Thunder is crucial to hit more defensive water types and Ho-Oh for SE damage, which otherwise could easily switch into Gengar and with Life Orb it's strong enough to work. Also you still 2HKO Forretress with Thunder and with Scizor being much less common HP Fire is not as necessary.
- HP Fire although it's still good pick with Sun support, allowing you to beat Steel types, which otherwise wall you (like SpD Jirachi, Bronzong, etc.)
- Hazards are pretty much necessary to make this set work (Stealth Rock is absolute minimum).
- Substitute and Protect are both possible options on this set, but scouting is not as important with team preview and Pursuit users being rare in Ubers.
- It has a small niche of offensive spin blocking, although it's really frail, so it's necessary to be cautious with him in this role. Fortunately for him the most popular spinners Forretress and Tentacruel are slower then him and don't hit that hard at all, so he can still beat them in 1vs1 situations as long as it's played properly. Also zero self-sustain (unless you really want to run Pain Split) limits his spin blocking attempts to minimum.
- Appreciates Wish support, as Life Orb takes out his life really quick and allows him to weaken opponents walls further, as weakening his targets and luring some of them is his main job (or late game cleaning with really weakened opponents). Also he has good synergy with pretty much all viable Wish users in Ubers, which is good bonus.
- The same teammates mentioned on Scarf set work perfectly well here as well, although his ability to lure some strong Pokemon (like TTar, Steel types, Bulky waters) allow some sweepers/wallbreakers to truly shine. CM MewTwo, CM Lugia, Tail Glow Manaphy, CM Lati Twins, Extremekiller Arceus are good examples of offensive synergy with this Gengar.
- Energy Ball (mostly for Groudon and Ground Arceus)
- Sludge Bomb (only pretty much for Grass Arceus, although it's your strongest attack against neutral targets as well)
- Destiny Bond to catch someone offguard, especially with good base speed which Gengar has
- Hypnosis for sleep status, although ONLY with Substitute so it gives you another chance to use it in case it misses at first time
- Pain Split for self-recovery, but Gengar is so frail that it won't have time to use it, as his main job should be attacking as much as possible. Possible with Substitute though.
- Thunderbolt if you desperately need electric attack and don't want to rely on weather, although power drop in pretty much all cases is not worth it
- Expert Belt to bluff Choice set(s). Especially when you hit good amount of targets for SE damage.
- Choice Specs is somewhat viable and in some cases power increase does matter, especially now with only Tyranitar being somewhat the only common Pursuit user in Ubers. Testing it and looking forward to QC opinion on it (also checking if Sludge Bomb on it is strong enough against neutral targets where Shadow Ball is not strong enough). Although you loose the ability to revenge kill many crucial targets and in Ubers it has massive competition when it goes to Specs users, while with Scarf/Life Orb it's not outclassed by anything/can't be compared to anything. And in more stallish metagame this additional power and nasty Trick is another advantage over Life Orb.
- Chansey/Blissey are probably the best counters to Gengar as long as they are relatively healthy. Although both of them HATE Trick, so they must be cautious if they face Choice set(s).
- Rock Arceus in Sand with additional special bulk is second best bet against Gengar taking all hits (even Focus Blast) and recovering them back, while his Stone Edge/Judgement hurts back hard. Dark Arceus is decent check, although it doesn't enjoy taking Focus Blast in the face, so as long as he doesn't switch in directly on it, he wins. It looks similar with Steel Arceus as well.
- Really uncommon these days, but Scizor and Metagross (especially the second one) easily switch in and checkmate Gengar with Bullet Punch/Pursuit combination. Especially against Choice set(s). Scizor must watch out on HP Fire though.
- Specially Defensive Jirachi can take all hits, use Thunder-Wave and Iron Head flinch hax it to death although it goes in two hits against Life Orb HP Fire in Sun and special defense drop from Shadow Ball may be fatal. But like Chansey/Blissey he hates being tricked with Choice item.
- As long as he doesn't switch in/take Focus Blast, Tyranitar obliterates Gengar and Pursuit trap him (especially against Choice set).