[OVERVIEW]
+ One of two viable Shadow Tag users, alongside Mega Gengar, with Gothitelle boasting better defensive stats, typing, immediate trapping ability, and that it can be used with another mega.
+ Great ability to provide setup opportunities for teammates through it's ability to trap opposing Pokemon and wide range of useful support moves.
+ Fills the role of bulky Psychic-type Trick Room setter and bulky support, getting great moves such as Heal Pulse and Helping Hand.
- Faces competition in these roles from other Psychic-types such as Cresselia, which boasts far better bulk and more reliable recovery with Moonlight.
- Particularly weak to Pokemon which greatly threaten Trick Room teams such as strong Dark-types, for example Hoopa-U and Bisharp, as well as Heatran and Aegislash, due to Gothitelle's pure Psychic-typing.
- Gothitelle therefore also faces competition from other Trick Room setters such as Hoopa-U, Jellicent, and Reuniclus which can all help cover some of these common Trick Room team weaknesses.
- Poor Special Attack stat and limited coverage give it low offensive pressure and make Gothitelle especially vulnerable to Taunt.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Trapper
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Trick Room
move 3: Helping Hand / Charm / Heal Pulse
move 4: Protect / Helping Hand / Heal Pulse
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Shadow Tag
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 40 SpA / 56 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Other Options
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**Typing Advantage** Dark- and Steel-type Pokemon such as Bisharp, Heatran, Hydreigon, and Aegislash take little to no damage from Gothitelle's attacks, with Heatran and Aegislash being free to Substitute up. Dark-types in particular are a problem as they deal massive super effective damage to Gothitelle, with Bisharp's Knock Off even OHKOing, while being immune to Gothitelle's attacks. Aegislash and other Ghost-types such as Gengar hit Gothitelle super effectively and are also free to switch out of Gothitelle's Shadow Tag.
**Utility Moves**: Gothitelle's lack of direct offensive presence and reliance on status moves leaves it particularly vulnerable to Taunt, however it can still hit some Taunt users such as Keldeo and Terrakion for decent damage. Taunting Gothitelle before it can set Trick Room turns it into a liability due to it's low Speed and minimal offensive presence. Opposing Fake Out users such as Mega Kangaskhan can stop Gothitelle from setting Trick Room turn one. Breloom and Amoonguss both threaten Gothitelle with Spore in and out of Trick Room respectively, however, Safety Goggles remedies this problem.
+ One of two viable Shadow Tag users, alongside Mega Gengar, with Gothitelle boasting better defensive stats, typing, immediate trapping ability, and that it can be used with another mega.
+ Great ability to provide setup opportunities for teammates through it's ability to trap opposing Pokemon and wide range of useful support moves.
+ Fills the role of bulky Psychic-type Trick Room setter and bulky support, getting great moves such as Heal Pulse and Helping Hand.
- Faces competition in these roles from other Psychic-types such as Cresselia, which boasts far better bulk and more reliable recovery with Moonlight.
- Particularly weak to Pokemon which greatly threaten Trick Room teams such as strong Dark-types, for example Hoopa-U and Bisharp, as well as Heatran and Aegislash, due to Gothitelle's pure Psychic-typing.
- Gothitelle therefore also faces competition from other Trick Room setters such as Hoopa-U, Jellicent, and Reuniclus which can all help cover some of these common Trick Room team weaknesses.
- Poor Special Attack stat and limited coverage give it low offensive pressure and make Gothitelle especially vulnerable to Taunt.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Trapper
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Trick Room
move 3: Helping Hand / Charm / Heal Pulse
move 4: Protect / Helping Hand / Heal Pulse
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Shadow Tag
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 40 SpA / 56 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Psychic provides strong STAB, doing sufficient damage on super effective hits, but not much otherwise.
- Trick Room allows Gothitelle and other slow Pokemon to take the advantage and move first for a few turns.
- Gothitelle has myriad of support options; with moves such as Helping Hand, which strengthen's a partner's attack, and Heal Pulse, which heal's a partner a great deal. Charm can weaken the strength of an opposing physical attacker, making them a trapped liability for teammates to take advantage of.
- Protect is a vitally important move in Doubles, and allows Gothitelle to avoid taking damage or a Taunt. Omitting Protect to gain another support move can however be a viable option.
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- This distribution of EVs allow Gothitelle to live either a Modest Life Orb Dark Pulse from Hydreigon, or two Adamant Life Orb Talonflame Brave Birds, with Sitrus berry; the remaining EVs are put in to Special Attack to help maximize Gothitelle's offensive power and guarantee the 2HKO on standard Relaxed nature Amoonguss.
- 0 Attack IVs minimize the damage Gothitelle takes from confusion or Foul Play, while 0 Speed IVs help Gothitelle to move first under Trick Room.
- Sitrus Berry offers limited recovery to Gothitelle, allowing it to stay on the field and provide support for longer.
- ChestoRest, with Rest being used over Protect, is another option to help Gothitelle instantly restore back to full Health. This allows it to recover the damage taken while setting Trick Room the first time so it can be more easily set again later in the match. This does however force Gothitelle to lose Protect or a second support move, sadly.
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- Gothitelle is best used early-game and as a lead, where it can trap and weaken the opponent's Pokemon and also set Trick Room. This utilizes Shadow Tag the best as this gives you the opportunity to trap and either significantly weaken or KO threats early on for teammates.
- After Trick Room is set, Gothitelle should mainly be using it's support move or Protect unless there is Pokemon such as Amoonguss which you need to hit.
- If Gothitelle is running Charm it should try to trap the opponent's physical attackers and use it to render them dead weight, giving Gothitelle and its teammates a chance to set up or attack safely.
- Even if Gothitelle is on a low amount of HP or crippled by status such as sleep, Shadow Tag alone is still great utility, and through the use of Protect and switching out if need be - the opponent cannot hard-switch out on the turn Gothitelle leaves the field - it can still be a great asset to it's team, further backed up by a support move-pool including the priority Helping Hand.
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- Fake Out users such as Scrafty and Hariyama help Gothitelle set Trick Room. Fighting-type Fake Out users such as the previous examples can also hit the Dark- and Steel-types which trouble Gothitelle such as Aegislash, Heatran, Bisharp, and Hydreigon for super effective damage. Scrafty also offers Intimidate, which patches up Gothitelle's weaker Defence stat.
- Intimidate users in general including Landorus-T and Gyarados as well help Gothitelle to stay on the field for longer as they reduce opponents attack. In combination with Shadow Tag, this can be used for Intimidate shuffling to severely weaken the strength of the opponents' phsyical attacks.
- Strong Trick Room attackers such as Mega Camerupt, Mega Abomasnow, and Mega Mawile can all take advantage of the reversed move order while appreciating the support provided by Gothitelle to nab extra KOes.
- Set up Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan, Azumarill, and Volcarona all appreciate the benefits of Shadow Tag, as Gothitelle can trap opponents which provide easy set up opportunities, and can also trap and help remove or significantly weaken the Pokemon which threaten the set up user, such as by trapping Talonflame for Volcarona to attack unhampered. Using Heal Pulse is very effective for supporting these Pokemon set up, with Azumarill especially appreciating the recovery due to Belly Drum's health cost.
- Weather setters such as Mega Abomasnow, Mega Charizard Y, and Politoed all receive large benefits from Gothitelle's ability to trap the opponent's weather setter and so win the weather war. This is particularly important for sun versus rain matchups, where the dominating weather can easily determine the winner of the match.
- Partners which can remove Pokemon such as Dark-types, Heatran, and Aegislash work well with Gothitelle, such as Mega Camerupt, Hoopa-U, and Scrafty, who all work well under Trick Room as well.
Other Options
=============
- Taunt allows Gothitelle to stop Amoonguss from using Spore and Rage Powder completely, while also preventing Heatran from subbing, and easing prediction against Aegislash for teammates. However, Amoonguss does underspeed Gothitelle under Trick Room so Taunt is quite niche and must be used with Safety Goggles to be truly effective.
- Foul Play allows Gothitelle to hit Aegislash for big damage if caught in blade form but greatly reduces Gothitelle damage output even further in general. Foul Play also hits Pokemon with high or increased Attack stats for good damage such as Power-Up Punch Mega Kangaskhan, Landorus-T, and Hoopa-U.
- Mental Herb lets Gothitelle get around Taunt, being most useful for guaranteeing the Trick Room set turn one, but has the drawbacks of being single-use and being less effective than other items in most cases.
- Colbur Berry allows Gothitelle to tank single Dark-type attack, notably allowing it to live an Adamant Life Orb Knock Off from Bisharp if above 67% HP, but reduces its defensive abilities in general.
- Tickle performs similarly to Charm, with the added Defence drop being the vital difference. Tickle is more team-specific, and works better for attempting to quickly KO a Pokemon rather than simply weaken it. If using Tickle, Psyshock should be used as well due to it's higher damage output than Psychic after a Defence drop.
- Fake Tears is another stat dropping move, which instead lower's an opponent's Special Defence. This again make Fake Tears a better option for teams which need to quickly remove a threat, however this time using a special attacker. Fake Tears notably allows Gothitelle to OHKO Amoonguss, and can effectively provide a check to Calm Mind Cresselia.
- Safety Goggles is a niche item choice which provides Gothitelle with a complete immunity to Spore and the ability to ignore Rage Powder if needed, which is greatly helpful against Amoonguss. However, Gothitelle's lack of raw bulk means that without Sitrus Berry or ChestoRest, Gothitelle will usually go down to even two neutral hits.
- Magic Coat allows Gothitelle to deal with Taunt users by bouncing back Taunt onto the user, making them incapable of using Taunt again for a few turns. Outside of helping set Trick Room or for facing Thundurus, which has priority Taunt to stop most of Gothitelle's support moves, Magic Coat is effectively dead weight.
- Thunder Wave provides Gothitelle with a great single-target speed control move for non-Trick Room teams. However, this option is not usually recommended as Gothitelle is commonly used on Trick Room teams so that it can nearly always use support moves such as Charm and Heal Pulse before the opponent attacks.
- Reflect and Light Screen can be used to reduce the attack of physical and special attacks to your team respectively, but both options make Gothitelle more passive. Reflect also faces large competition from other moves such as Charm and Tickle which also reduce opposing physical attackers' damage output.
- Flash is a luck-based option which allows Gothitelle to reduce an opponents accuracy, and works only in this instance due to Gothitelle's trapping ability. However, this strategy is still highly unreliable and there will be far better options the vast majority of the time.
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**Typing Advantage** Dark- and Steel-type Pokemon such as Bisharp, Heatran, Hydreigon, and Aegislash take little to no damage from Gothitelle's attacks, with Heatran and Aegislash being free to Substitute up. Dark-types in particular are a problem as they deal massive super effective damage to Gothitelle, with Bisharp's Knock Off even OHKOing, while being immune to Gothitelle's attacks. Aegislash and other Ghost-types such as Gengar hit Gothitelle super effectively and are also free to switch out of Gothitelle's Shadow Tag.
**Utility Moves**: Gothitelle's lack of direct offensive presence and reliance on status moves leaves it particularly vulnerable to Taunt, however it can still hit some Taunt users such as Keldeo and Terrakion for decent damage. Taunting Gothitelle before it can set Trick Room turns it into a liability due to it's low Speed and minimal offensive presence. Opposing Fake Out users such as Mega Kangaskhan can stop Gothitelle from setting Trick Room turn one. Breloom and Amoonguss both threaten Gothitelle with Spore in and out of Trick Room respectively, however, Safety Goggles remedies this problem.
[OVERVIEW]
Gothitelle carves itself a niche in the Doubles OU metagame as one of two viable Shadow Tag users, with the other being Mega Gengar. Over its fellow trapper, Gothitelle boasts better defensive stats, the immediate ability to trap, and the ability to be used alongside another Mega Pokemon. Shadow Tag allows Gothitelle to provide excellent setup opportunities for teammates, aided by its wide range of support moves such as Charm, Heal Pulse, and Helping Hand. Gothitelle also fills the role of a bulky Psychic-type Trick Room setter and general supporter, as its great support movepool allows it to assist a variety of teammates.
However, Gothitelle faces competition in these roles from other Psychic-types such as Cresselia, which boasts far better defensive stats and more reliable recovery in Moonlight. Gothitelle's pure Psychic typing and low offensive presence leave it particularly weak to Pokemon that greatly threaten Trick Room teams such as Bisharp, Hoopa-U, Heatran, and Aegislash. Due to this, Gothitelle also faces competition from other Trick Room setters such as Hoopa-U, Jellicent, and Reuniclus, which can all alleviate some of these weaknesses. Gothitelle's poor Special Attack stat and limited coverage leave it especially vulnerable to Taunt.
[SET]
name: Trick Room Trapper
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Trick Room
move 3: Helping Hand / Charm / Heal Pulse
move 4: Protect / Helping Hand / Heal Pulse
item: Sitrus Berry
ability: Shadow Tag
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 40 SpA / 56 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Psychic is Gothitelle's strongest STAB move, dealing sufficient damage when hitting super effectively but not too much otherwise. Trick Room allows Gothitelle and other slow Pokemon to take advantage of moving first for a few turns. Gothitelle has a wide range of support options that are effective on this set, with Helping Hand being the best option for strengthening a partner's attack. Alternatively, Charm allows Gothitelle to greatly weaken opposing physical attackers such as Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T, making them trapped liabilities for teammates to take advantage of. Heal Pulse is another defensive support option that heals Gothitelle's partner by a good amount. Protect is a vitally important move in Doubles, allowing Gothitelle to avoid an attack or Taunt while its partner takes care of the threats. Omitting Protect for another support move can, however, be a viable option on certain teams.
Set Details
========
A Sassy nature with maximum HP investment and 56 Special Defense EVs ensures Gothitelle will survive a Life Orb-boosted Dark Pulse from Modest Hydreigon. Sitrus Berry and 160 Defense EVs allow Gothitelle to survive two Brave Birds from Adamant Life Orb Talonflame from full HP. The remaining EVs are put into Special Attack to help patch up Gothitelle's middling power and guarantee the 2HKO on standard Relaxed Amoonguss. 0 Speed IVs help Gothitelle to move first under Trick Room. Sitrus Berry offers limited recovery, allowing Gothitelle to stay on the field and provide support for longer. A ChestoRest strategy, with Rest being used over Protect, is another option to help Gothitelle instantly restore back to full health, allowing it to recover the damage taken when first setting Trick Room so that it can be more easily set again later in the match. However, this does force Gothitelle to lose Protect or a second support move.
Usage Tips
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Gothitelle is best used mid-game, when it can come in on Pokemon that threaten its team to trap and either KO or significantly weaken them. Getting Gothitelle onto the field via U-turn or free switches in particular helps conserve its precious HP and ensures that the opponent cannot switch out predicting a Gothitelle switch. After Trick Room is set, Gothitelle should mainly be using a support move or Protect unless it has trapped Pokemon such as Amoonguss that you really need to attack with it. Gothitelle. If Gothitelle is running Charm, it should try to trap the opponent's physical attackers and use Charm to render them dead weight, giving Gothitelle and its teammates a chance to set up, attack, or set Trick Room safely. Even if Gothitelle is low on health or crippled by status such as sleep, Shadow Tag is still great utility, and through the use of Protect and switching out if need be, as the opponent cannot hard switch out even on a turn when Gothitelle leaves the field, it can still be a great asset to its team.
Team Options
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Fake Out users such as Scrafty and Hariyama help Gothitelle to set Trick Room. Fighting-type Fake Out users can also hit the Dark- and Steel-types that trouble Gothitelle, such as Aegislash, Heatran, Bisharp, and Hydreigon, for super effective damage. Scrafty, as well as other Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Gyarados, also helps patch up Gothitelle's weaker Defense stat. In combination with Shadow Tag, these Pokemon can also be used for Intimidate shuffling to severely weaken the opponent's physical attackers. Gothitelle also appreciates partners that can remove Pokemon that give it trouble, such as Dark-types, Heatran, and Aegislash, with good options including Mega Camerupt, Hoopa-U, and Scrafty, which all work well under Trick Room as well. Strong Trick Room attackers such as Mega Camerupt and Mega Abomasnow can take advantage of the reversed move order and appreciate the support provided by Gothitelle. In particular, Gothitelle can trap Fire-types such as Heatran for other teammates to KO, giving Abomasnow a better time.
Setup sweepers such as Mega Kangaskhan, Azumarill, and Volcarona all appreciate the benefits of Shadow Tag, as Gothitelle can trap foes that provide easy setup opportunities and can also help remove or significantly weaken threats to the setup user, such as by trapping Talonflame for Volcarona to attack unhampered. Using Heal Pulse is very effective for supporting these Pokemon's setup, with Azumarill especially appreciating the recovery due to Belly Drum's health cost. Weather setters such as Mega Abomasnow, Mega Charizard Y, and Politoed all receive large benefits from Gothitelle's ability to trap the opponent's weather setter and so win the weather war. This is particularly important for sun versus rain matchups, where the dominating weather can easily determine the winner of the match.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Taunt allows Gothitelle to stop Amoonguss from using Spore while also making Aegislash vulnerable and preventing Heatran from using Substitute. However, Amoonguss outspeeds Gothitelle under Trick Room, making Safety Goggles a necessary addition. Safety Goggles by itself can be used on Amoonguss-weak teams, but Gothitelle greatly misses the recovery from Sitrus Berry or ChestoRest. Foul Play allows Gothitelle to hit Pokemon with high Attack stats such as Aegislash, Hoopa-U, Mega Kangaskhan, and Landorus-T for sizable damage, but it further reduces Gothitelle's offensive presence against anything else. Colbur Berry allows Gothitelle to tank a single Dark-type attack, notably allowing it to live a Life Orb-boosted Knock Off from Adamant Bisharp, but reduces its overall ability to take hits. Mental Herb lets Gothitelle ignore a single Taunt, being most useful for guaranteeing Trick Room on the first turn, but it is single use and less effective than other items in most cases. Tickle is a team-specific version of Charm that reduces an opponent's Attack and Defense stats. If using Tickle, Psyshock should be used over Psychic as well due to its higher damage output after a Defense drop. Fake Tears is another great stat-lowering option to support specially offensive partners such as Mega Camerupt and Mega Abomasnow while also allowing Gothitelle to OHKO Amoonguss after the drop. Thunder Wave provides Gothitelle with a great single-target speed control move for non-Trick Room teams, but Gothitelle is primarily used on Trick Room so that it can use its support moves before foes can move. Light Screen can be used but is more passive than other options.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage** Dark- and Steel-type Pokemon such as Bisharp, Heatran, Hydreigon, and Aegislash take little to no damage from Gothitelle's attacks, with Heatran and Aegislash being free to use Substitute. Dark-types in particular are a problem because they deal massive super effective damage to Gothitelle, with Bisharp's Knock Off even OHKOing it, and are immune to Gothitelle's STAB attacks. Aegislash and other Ghost-types such as Gengar can hit Gothitelle super effectively and are also free to switch out of Gothitelle's Shadow Tag.
**Utility Moves**: Gothitelle's lack of direct offensive presence and reliance on support moves leaves it particularly vulnerable to Taunt, although it can still hit some Taunt users, such as Keldeo and Terrakion, for decent damage. Taunting Gothitelle before it can set Trick Room turns it into a liability due to its low Speed and minimal offensive presence. Opposing Fake Out users such as Mega Kangaskhan can stop Gothitelle from setting Trick Room on the first turn. Breloom and Amoonguss both threaten Gothitelle with Spore while in and out of Trick Room, respectively; however, Safety Goggles can remedy this problem.
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