Gengar
Taking over this for G80, credit to him
and Earthworm
and GP
[Overview]
<p>Gengar is a very powerful threat due to its great stats and diversity. Its vast movepool is aided by high Special Attack, and Speed. Though held back by its awful defenses, Gengar will often have multiple opportunities to safely switch in thanks to its immunity to Ground-, Fighting-, and Normal-type attacks. Because of its versatility and great coverage, Gengar is very difficult to properly counter, once it is on the offensive. Gengar also has a wide variety of support moves at its disposal, ranging from status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Hypnosis to Destiny Bond and Perish Song. Gengar can easily clean up many Pokemon late-game when almost everything has been weakened and is in KO range of its attacks.</p>
[SET]
name: Status
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Ice Punch
move 3: Giga Drain / Will-O-Wisp
move 4: Hypnosis / Will-O-Wisp / Destiny Bond / Explosion / Taunt
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 172 HP / 148 SpA / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set combines Gengar's great coverage with a variety of support moves to cripple Pokemon that normally switch in against it. Thunderbolt and Ice Punch create a pseudo BoltBeam combination, which hits a lot of things that aren't dedicated special walls very hard. Giga Drain is a great attack to nail Swampert, which can cause Gengar some problems due to its bulk and immunity to Thunderbolt. However, Will-O-Wisp can be used in its place, as Giga Drain has little use outside of KOing Swampert (Swampert is crippled by Will-O-Wisp anyway). Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers such as Tyranitar and Metagross, which Gengar is otherwise virtually useless against. A myriad of choices are available in the last slot. Hypnosis is the preferred option, as it allows Gengar to put one Pokemon to sleep, essentially rendering it useless. Its terrible accuracy is the main drawback, though. You can use both Will-O-Wisp and Giga Drain if you wish, although only one of the two is necessary. Destiny Bond is very useful in the last slot, allowing Gengar to kill a Pokemon if it is taken down. It can also give Gengar free turns in which it can attack, attempt to burn a Pokemon, or switch for free, as not many players will attack a Gengar that has used Destiny Bond. Explosion can be used, allowing Gengar to go out with a bang, which is particularly useful against Blissey and Snorlax, both of whom wall Gengar.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>188 Speed EVs with a Timid nature is used because Gengar should always aim to outrun Pokemon such as Jolly Flygon, Timid Jirachi, and Tyranitar with one Dragon Dance. EVs are invested into the HP stat so Gengar isn't killed by a gentle breeze. 172 HP allows Gengar to always survive a Choice Band Metagross's Meteor Mash after it has been burned. The remaining EVs are invested in Special Attack to pump up Gengar's damage output. Make sure to use a Hasty nature and move the HP EVs to Attack if Explosion is used; this will let it do 80-90% to both Snorlax and Blissey, KOing them after prior damage.</p>
<p>Pokemon such as Celebi and Blissey can be troublesome for Gengar. Blissey takes pathetic damage from Gengar's attacks, can cripple Gengar with Thunder Wave, as well as heal any burned or sleeping teammates with Aromatherapy. Celebi is 3HKOed by Ice Punch, but can Recover off damage, set up with Calm Mind, and OHKO Gengar with Psychic. Neither of these Pokemon are crippled by status due to Natural Cure. Starmie and Raikou can easily switch in on Ice Punch and Thunderbolt respectively, and outspeed and KO Gengar. Adamant Dugtrio can trap and kill all of the aforementioned Pokemon, as well as Magneton, which is the only Pokemon that resists all of Gengar's attacks.</p>
<p>Taunt is an unexpected move that can turn the tables on some of Gengar's most common counters, such as Blissey, Snorlax, Regice, and Zapdos. Gengar should attempt to burn these Pokemon as they switch in, then when they attempt to use a recovery or status move, Taunt them to prevent it, and switch to an appropriate counter or attempt to finish them off. The effectiveness of this strategy is a lot greater if you have Spikes support and sandstorm to wear down the aforementioned Pokemon's HP. Destiny Bond can also be used in conjunction with Taunt to force the opponent to use an attacking move, taking the foe down when Gengar is KOed.</p>
[SET]
name: McIceGar
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Ice Punch
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Focus Punch
item: Leftovers
nature: Hasty
evs: 184 Atk / 136 SpA / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This famous set from the earlier days of Advance has since declined in usage, but still has impressive coverage. The idea of the set is to use Substitute and Focus Punch to beat the Pokemon that cause purely special Gengar variants trouble: Blissey, Snorlax, and Regice. Each of the aforementioned Pokemon takes around 50% from a Focus Punch. Blissey cannot touch Gengar without Ice Beam, as Gengar is immune to Seismic Toss, and Thunder Wave is blocked by Substitute. The last two moveslots are occupied by Thunderbolt and Ice Punch, recreating the BoltBeam combination, giving Gengar great coverage alongside Focus Punch. Thunderbolt can nail the common bulky Water-types in the tier: Vaporeon, Suicune, and Gyarados, as well as Skarmory. Ice Punch puts a dent in Celebi and Zapdos, provided they are hit with it as they switch in. It can also OHKO Dragon-type Pokemon such as Flygon, Salamence, and Dragonite.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>188 Speed EVs with a Hasty nature allow Gengar to outrun Pokemon with base 100 Speed, such as Flygon and Jirachi, as well as Tyranitar after a Dragon Dance. 184 EVs in Attack will allow Gengar to 2HKO (49.9% - 59%) the standard Blissey most of the time with Focus Punch. Snorlax is also 2HKOed, and Tyranitar OHKOed. The remaining EVs are put into Gengar’s Special Attack stat to boost the damage output of Ice Punch and Thunderbolt.</p>
<p>The main issue with this set is its inability to threaten common Pokemon such as Jirachi and Swampert. Once the opponent figures out that Gengar doesn't pack Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp, or Giga Drain, they can deal with it easily. Dugtrio can trap and KO Jirachi with Earthquake, as well as Starmie and Raikou, which can be a problem for Gengar. It can also pick off Blissey after it has been weakened by Focus Punch.</p>
[SET]
name: All Out Attacker
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Ice Punch
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Fire Punch
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Gengar can make an excellent all out attacker due to its high Speed and Special Attack stats as well as its great movepool. This set sacrifices support moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Hypnosis, gaining the widest possible coverage against common Pokemon in return. This is mostly an anti-metagame set that is popular against the modern play-off-resistances team. The combination of Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, and Fire Punch provide perfect neutral coverage (barring Lanturn, which is uncommon). Thunderbolt hits Skarmory and bulky Water-types such as Gyarados, Suicune, and Vaporeon, whereas Ice Punch nails Zapdos and Celebi for around 40%, and OHKOes common Dragon-type Pokemon. Giga Drain nails Swampert, who is immune to Thunderbolt, sponges Ice Punch with ease, and can 2HKO Gengar with Hydro Pump. Since Swampert is a common switch-in to Gengar, the opponent will have trouble against this set if Swampert is their only reliable switch in to it. Fire Punch is used in the last moveslot, and allows Gengar to KO Forretress, Scizor, and 2HKO standard Jirachi, Magneton and Metagross, the former after Spikes damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread is very straightforward: Gengar's Speed is maximized to outpace Pokemon with base 100 Speed, as well opposing Gengar without maximum Speed. Gengar's Special Attack is also maximized to ensure a high damage output. A Timid nature is advised, making Gengar as fast as possible. A Modest nature can be used to increase Gengar's power even further, but Gengar will be outpaced by opposing Gengar with a Timid nature.</p>
<p>Due to Gengar's lack of Will-O-Wisp, Tyranitar can be a problem, as it doesn't take much from Gengar's attacks and has a favorable match-up. Starmie can switch in on a predicted Ice Punch or Fire Punch, then outspeed and KO it with Psychic. Gengar is not KOed by any of its other attacks and can finish it off with Thunderbolt if it doesn't carry Psychic. Raikou is also problematic as it outspeeds Gengar and has access to Calm Mind. As such, Dugtrio makes a reliable teammate, because it can eliminate Raikou, and Tyranitar after one Dragon Dance boost. Furthermore, defensive variants of Zapdos and Celebi cause problems for Gengar, taking about 40% from Gengar's super effective moves, while doing serious damage to Gengar with Thunderbolt and Psychic, respectively. Tyranitar can be used to assist against Zapdos, while Dugtrio can switch in on a recovering Celebi and 2HKO with Hidden Power Bug.</p>
[SET]
name: Perish Trapper
move 1: Mean Look
move 2: Perish Song
move 3: Substitute / Taunt
move 4: Destiny Bond / Protect / Hypnosis
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 80 SpD / 80 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Perish Trapping Gengar is often unexpected and can turn the tables on typical Gengar counters. The idea of the set is to use Mean Look as a Gengar counter such as Blissey or Snorlax switches in and trap it, then use Perish Song to KO the Pokemon. Substitute effectively provides free turns at the cost of a quarter of Gengar's HP. After two turns, Gengar switches to an appropriate switch-in, scoring a free KO while the opposing Pokemon is trapped. Destiny Bond is used in the final moveslot, allowing Gengar to take out another Pokemon after trapping and KOing something. It should only be used as a last resort, such as when Gengar has lost most of its HP by making Substitutes. Taunt can be used instead of Substitute to stop any attempts at crippling Gengar with status moves or phazing it, but Protect must be used in the final moveslot as Gengar needs free turns to pull off the strategy. Hypnosis is an alternative, and can put the trapped Pokemon to sleep, rendering it useless as Perish Song takes effect. However, its low accuracy makes it a risky option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>This bulky EV spread allows you to survive dangerous moves such as Celebi's Psychic or Choice Band Salamence's Hidden Power Flying, while Gengar is vulnerable as it sets up Perish Song. With 80 Speed EVs and a Timid nature, Gengar has over 300 Speed, allowing it to outspeed a vast number of Pokemon and to use Substitute to provide free turns for itself. Its Speed stat is not maximized though, because bulk is its main priority on this set.</p>
<p>For the purposes of trapping, Dugtrio makes an excellent teammate because of its Arena Trap ability. Dugtrio can reliably trap and KO Pokemon with Perish Song if Gengar is KOed before Perish Song has taken effect. Dugtrio will need Substitute or Protect in its movepool, though, which is otherwise a bit gimmicky. Dugtrio can also assist against Starmie, Raikou, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar, which are problematic for Gengar.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Choice Band Gengar is a gimmicky option, but an option nonetheless, as it has two strong physical STAB attacks in Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball. This set can do serious damage to Pokemon that normally counter Gengar, such as Blissey and Snorlax with Focus Punch, and Celebi with Sludge Bomb. Once the opponent discovers the set, however, Gengar can be easily countered and will often end up resorting to Explosion quite quickly. Shadow Ball used to be a common move for Celebi and other Gengar. Sludge Bomb is the only other physical move worth using on Gengar. It dents Blissey for about 25-30% and has a chance to poison it. This will force Blissey to resort to use Softboiled, which is when Gengar can hit it with Focus Punch, which 2HKOes. Gengar can run a mixed set with both special and physical attacks, but this would overall be less effective. This set would run into serious issues with Metagross and Jirachi, and is generally not favorable in this metagame. Taunt is an option to prevent Snorlax from using Rest or Blissey from using Softboiled. This becomes a decent option with some HP EVs and Spikes support.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Blissey can come in on the most popular Gengar set with ease. Special attacks do virtually nothing to it, and Natural Cure makes status moves mostly ineffective. Dugtrio can switch in on a sleeping Blissey, trapping and killing it, though. It is usually wise to switch out to something else that can absorb a Hypnosis to activate sleep clause. Curse Snorlax with Shadow Ball and Rest can set up on Gengar without fear of Will-O-Wisp. The standard RestTalk Regice set is a very solid Gengar counter as well. For teams that use resistances as their main defense against strong special attackers, the opponent will often have to figure out or guess Gengar's set first, as it is very versatile. With some careful playing, Calm Zapdos will usually be able to switch in. Ice Punch deals considerable damage, but Gengar will usually lose one-on-one.</p>
<p>Celebi can take on Gengar well thanks to Recover and Calm Mind. Gengar usually wouldn't risk staying in and taking a Psychic. Jirachi works in a similar way, except it takes less damage from Thunderbolt than Celebi takes from Ice Punch. Bulky Sleep Talk Tyranitar and Metagross can usually switch in on Gengar easily. McIceGar isn't that common, so Tyranitar is usually safe. With Max HP and some Special Defense investment, these Pokemon can reliably shut Gengar down. Tyranitar with Pursuit will also be able to trap and kill Gengar. Raikou is a good counter too, because it doesn't take much damage from Thunderbolt or Ice Punch, and can outspeed and do around 70% damage to Gengar with Thunderbolt. Raikou should be wary of Hypnosis and Will-O-Wisp, though. Rest + Sleep Talk is a situational set on Raikou that can counter Gengar hard. Dusclops is in the same boat—Rest + Sleep Talk sets will easily switch in on Gengar, but the Pain Split version should watch out for status.</p>
