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Alright, I'm starting a Pokemon of the Week Project. For those of you who do not know what Pokemon of the Week typically is, we have one victim pokemon each week, and the goal of the thread is to spark discussion of pokemon one by one. Not only do we hope to bring some underrated sets and pokemon out into the exposure of the OU community, but we hope to bolster discussion of well established threats at the same time. I will post every Monday, and essentially we eventually seek to make this a good resource for new players to refer to in order to look at how certain pokemon fair in the current metagame, and create serious discussion amongst ourselves!
What Topics Do We Talk About?
In general, some topics that I hope will be discussed are:
The Pokemon of the Week's current role in the OU metagame, and the niches that it fulfills.
What sets the Pokemon of the Week has that are most viable or popular in the current state of the metagame.
Underrated or underused sets on the Pokemon of the Week, which are still viable.
How the Pokemon of the Week is fares against other Pokemon in the tier.
What advantages and disadvantages it has compared to Pokemon of the Week with a similar niche.
What Pokemon are able to check, counter, threaten, or stop the Pokemon of the Week.
What Pokemon does the Pokemon of the Week check, counter, threaten, or stop.
What Pokemon make for good teammates for the Pokemon of the Week.
How the Pokemon of the Week should be played.
To what extent does the Pokemon of the Week influence the current metagame.
What misconceptions people often have about the Pokemon of the Week.
What Are the Goals of This Thread?
Spark deep analysis of a Pokemon to fully explain how it functions, what sets it can run, its viability in the tier, etc.
Generate more exposure to Pokemon or sets not commonly seen in the current metagame.
Develop a resource which newcomers can reference in order to gain knowledge and understanding of OU.
Little side note, try and keep away from one-liner posts :]
Heatran
Base Stats: 91 HP / 90 Atk / 106 Def / 130 SpA / 106 SpD / 77 Spe
Ability: Flash Fire
Alright, for our first week the victim will be Heatran, the Lava Dome Pokemon. This is a very powerful offensive and defensive tank with a unique typing, allowing it to check many threats in the OU metagame. Heatran is commonly seen as a specially defensive wall, but there are quite a few other sets that it can utilize. Lets discuss!
my favorite set is by far scarftran. if you're ever thinking of using scarf magnezone, use scarftran instead. it's a better birdspam check, its faster even with a neutral nature (outspeeds greninja... aw yiss) and it's stupidly strong for a scarfer as it can run modest.
ofc sdef is great, standard etc etc but another set i loaf is subtoxic... really fucks with balance, and you can even use taunt to shit on stall. heatran is a great mon atm
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]/Stone Edge
This, or some variation of this, is my typical ScarfTran set. STABs are self-explanatory and have pretty decent coverage between them. Fire Blast hurts a lot, even when it hits things for resisted damage. You can forgo FB for either Flamethrower or Lava Plume for for accuracy, or Overheat for more power. Fire Blast is the best middle of the road option imo. Earth Power nails opposing Heatran and already evolved Char-X are. Stone Edge can be used in the last slot to hits all kinds of birds and Char-Y, or HP Ice can be used to hit Gliscor and Lando-T on the switch. Personally I use HP Ice more because I see Lando as a more common switch-in. ScarfTran is overall great and fits on a ton of offensive teams. It can revenge kill, wear things down with Fire Blast, and act as a glue all at the same time.
Putting my post in hide tabs so it doesn't make a huge wall of text. Basically just went and answered the questions.
The Pokemon of the Week's current role in the OU metagame, and the niches that it fulfills:
It fills a lot of roles, lol. No seriously though, Heatran can function as a reliable Stealth Rock setter, Specially defensive wall, Stallbreaker, Revenge Killer, Phaser, Offensive Mon and so forth depending on the spread. It's current role is generally to accomplish the previously mentioned traits while providing ample synergy with other partners both from an offensive and defensive standpoint.
What sets the Pokemon of the Week has that are most viable or popular in the current state of the metagame:
Specially Defensive, Choice Scarf, Offensive Air Balloon, are completely viable as well as being pretty popular in the current meta. These are just standard as some like CelticPrides set are more customizable.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt / Earth Power / Roar
- Protect / Stealth Rock / Earth Power
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon / Hidden Power Ice
- Earth Power / Flamethrower
- Stone Edge / Ancientpower
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp / Earth Power / Toxic / Flash Cannon
Underrated or underused sets on the Pokemon of the Week, which are still viable:
Magma Storm Heatran is an underrated set that may seem like a gimmick to new players until you realize its purpose or it's been explained to you. Magma Storm Heatran works as a stallbreaker in trapping your opponents while adding passive damage similar to that of a burn. It's generally a fantastic asset against more passive mons that don't have the ability to break Heatran, or can be used to gain switch advantage by trapping with Magma Storm and making an appropriate switch or move. The set is Magma Storm, Taunt, Toxic, Earth Power and is generally just Special Attack and Speed. I don't have too much experience using it but I've been seeing it a lot more lately so if anyone has a more detailed spread that would be great.
How the Pokemon of the Week is fares against other Pokemon in the tier:
Heatran is considered one of the top tier threats to prepare for when teambuilding and as such fares well with a plethora of Pokemon. Heatran's greatest role is against though who either partially or don't threaten Heatran what so ever such as non Earthquake/Surf Latios, non Natural Gift Talonflame, Ferrothorn, Zapdos, Latias, and so on. Heatran generally has trouble with water types the most such as Keldeo and Azumarill. Ground types such as Landorus-T and Garchomp can be a burden but depending on the set Heatran may or may not have less trouble with such mons.
What advantages and disadvantages it has compared to Pokemon of the Week with a similar niche:
First entry so can't really answer this one.
What Pokemon are able to check, counter, threaten, or stop the Pokemon of the Week:
Not a whole list but here are some ones to consider
Checks: Garchomp, Landorus-T, Landorus-I, Latios, Greninja, Chansey, Gyarados, Heatran (yes Heatran), Charizard-Y, Charizard-X, Terrakion, M-Cham, M-Heracross, Empoleon, Infernape
Counter: Keldeo and Suicune is probably the closest thing to a counter in my eyes, with Suicune depending on set. Obviously each set has different checks and counters but might as well have a discussion for those sets by itself as well.
Threaten: All these checks and counters more or less can threaten Heatran. Heatran is also threatened by general set up sweepers especially those that it can't hurt tremendously such as Azumarill, M-Gyarados, M-TTar, M-CharX if not running Earth Power, just to provide a few example.
What Pokemon does the Pokemon of the Week check, counter, threaten, or stop:
Again small list
Checks: Latios, Bisharp, M-Venusuar, Char-Y and Char-X (yeah seems weird but depending on the set it's possible to check them as well), Scizor along with its mega, Volcarona
Counters: Doublade, Clefable, Sylveon, Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Latias, passive as hell steel types barring Empoleon
What Pokemon make for good teammates for the Pokemon of the Week:
Heatran is generally considered a valuable option for the common Steel, Dragon, Fairy core so something like Clefable, Latios, Heatran is good for a nice balanced core or something like Suicune, Heatran, M-Venusuar for a more solid defensive core. Cresselia and Heatran also make a solid core as they provide solid defensive synergy with other members along side it such as Keldeo and Landorus-T.
How the Pokemon of the Week should be played:
Depends on the set really. With scarf you would use it as a revenge killer and in some scenarios to scare off your opponent after they know it's scarfed. Sometimes you'll just force switches if they know you're scarfed and as such can use that to your advantage to counter-switch, as in switching to the counter of the incoming switch to gain the advantage. Specially defensive serves as a wall really to special attackers such as Latios and non Focus Blast Gengar, usually you'll want Wish support or some sort of passive recovery like Leech Seed to maintain its defensive capabilities. Offensive sets that are non scarfed usually depend on the game. Sometimes you'll stall break to wittle down opposing walls, other times you'll just go out offensively to put a dent in the teams. It's a really versatile mon so as such your options are equal to its versatility and what it can provide at that moment.
To what extent does the Pokemon of the Week influence the current metagame:
It makes the use of a water type even more viable as the majority of Heatrans movepool can be shut down by bulky water mons or some offensive ones. Heatran has made Earthquake and Surf viable options to use on Latios in order to take out Heatran more efficiently, otherwise it gets walled by Heatran. Along with mons such as Rotom-W, Heatran is another reason why Earth Power on Kyurem-B is used as a coverage move on some sets. For the most part mons that normally wouldn't need ground coverage such as those and something like EQ M-Venusaur, use the ground move to handle Heatran. There's more but I'm sure it'll be elaborated on.
What misconceptions people often have about the Pokemon of the Week:
People make this misconception of assuming that Heatran counters a certain mon and as such will switch in without a second thought. Heatran is a top tier threat when used correctly which a lot of newcomers don't understand and get distraught when Heatran gets taken out for whatever dumb arbitrary reason that shouldn't have happened if the player used it more carefully. You should always scout what moves your opponent has as well as have a general grasp on common move sets as well as lure sets that the opposing pokemon may have. Some mons that have issues dealing with Heatran will sometimes opt to run a coverage move to handle it much more easily, so it's a good idea to always take that into account not only when building but when battling as well. Just don't be a moron about it and you'll do good with it.
Edit: Oh and Subtoxic Tran is legit like Rosenfeldius mentioned definitely try that out. Fire move, Toxic, Sub, Earth Power. Spreads customizable from either Offensive or specially defensive.
Probably my favorite set atm is offensive Baloontran with Taunt. I used to love Scarftran and it's still very good, but it kinda annoys me how often it ends up as setup fodder after it fires off an Overheat. Anyway, Baloontran is a great SR setter and acts as an emergency check to XZard/Exadrill/Lando-T/Garchomp if it carries Wisp, and Taunt is really helpful for taking care of Mew (unless it runs a stupid amount of speed) and annoying Chansey, also stops slower defoggers which is really nice. You kinda want Fire Blast>Flametrower for the OHKO on MHeras who are dumb enough to stay in, last move can be Wisp or Earth Power depending on whether you prefer beating opposing Heatrans and XZards or disabling physical attackers like Garchomp and MGyara.
I haven't used SpD Tran since like, July lol, I wonder if it's still good.
I find Latis to be great Heatran partners especially the Balloon variant since Latis check Keldeo, Lando-I and Terrakion who are problems for it, as well as dealing with Water types decently for the most part.
heatran has always been good in OU because many positive traits, especially defensive because of its awesome typing that boasts 5 double resists, 2 immunities and immunity to damaging status. it has an incredible amount of useful support moves like stealth rock, roar, toxic+protect, wow, taunt and can go offensive with overheat/fire blast for more power or lava plume for burn chance, earth power flash cannon stone edge for coverage and many others. honestly i prefer leftovers over air balloon because with lefties is easier for tran to switch in to absorb attacks without being worn down too easily. for the scarf set, it is really good of course as it can get some unexpected kills, but i don't think it is better than scarfzone; scarfzone is very good in its role of checking birdspam and trapping steels, heatran struggles to come in multiple times on talon/pinsir's bb/return without hp investments while magnezone does it more reliably and can generate momentum by volt-switching so even if the opposing bird is switched out you mantain momentum. i've really never tried subtoxic on tran, i've always seen it with protect+toxic but i find it interesting and probavly will give it a try; it will be something similar to subtoxic aegi even if it won't be as effective.
Heatran can have much set but the most used is this:
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic / Roar
- Taunt / Earth Power/ Protect
- Stealth Rock
Nice Heatran, can check much S.Atker of this meta.
Another good set, second in usage is this:
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
- Stone Edge
Scarf Tran is very goo, Stone edge>Ancient Power because Ancient Power don't kill Charizard, so Stone is better. OverHeat And Flash Cannon the STAB and Earth power for other Heatranand Char-X.
Gengar
Base Stats: 60 HP / 65 Atk / 60 Def / 130 SpA / 75 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Alright, this week's victim will be Gengar, the Shadow Pokemon. While quite frail, Gengar packs a massive punch with its great Special Attack and Speed stats. It has a plethora of support and coverage moves to work with, as well as a variety of different sets to increase its versatility. Lets discuss!
Best gengar of this mg, no one team is prepared for this, taunt break the stall, chansey can't touch it, venu,skarmory,ferrothorn,quag,clefable,amoonguss are destoyed by the good coverage of gengar. With the nice speed can outspeed much pokemon and can destroy they with the STABs.
Holy god do I hate this thing, it's so hard to actually counter. Stall pretty much needs to run Mandibuzz who is really not very good otherwise especially since it needs hazard removal to actually wall anything, ironic considering it's usually used as a defogger itself but really shouldn't be because it's very mediocre at removing hazards.
However, I have found SpD Hippowdon to be a pretty great answer to the LO set at least. Although it does have to run Rock Slide or Stone Edge to beat it, it still only takes around 40% from Shadow Ball which is pretty impressive, and racks up tons of recoil damage on it with sand+LO regardless.
As for other counters to it... SpD Amoonguss? I can't really think of anything else. The fact that Gengar's STAB covers common special walls (Clefable, Jirachi, Cresselia, etc) almost to perfection make it really though for stall teams to face. I find it funny how it went from being a stallbreaker with Taunt and WoW to an outright wallbreaker with LO and 3 Attacks.
Gengar has mostly been a pretty anti-meta pokemon. Even now it's still maintained that trait considering it efficiently handles a plethora of threats in the tier. Life Orb sets right now are the most viable. There are slight variations to them such as Pain/Subsplit attacker, 3 attacks + Taunt like the set Mix posted even though you're killing me by not putting 29 IVS in HP for a Life Orb/SR number and the 4 into Def, 3 attacks + destiny bond, and so forth. Lucario, Diggersby, Azumarill, Heatran, Char-X, Keldeo, Hawlucha, Terrakion, Dragonite are just a handful of partners for it. Weavile, M-Scizor, M-Houndoom, Greninja, Scarf users such as Lando-T and Garchomp, and the ones Albacore mentioned are pretty solid for checking it.
People have this misconception of well....switching it into stuff it shouldn't be switching into lol. Unless you know for a fact what the opponent is about to do or the Pokemon can't threaten Gengar you really shouldn't be trying to use it to tank hits. boltsandbombers if you want me to make a post similar to the Heatran one I can but I figured it would be better to encourage other users to talk about each topic.
Gengar has mostly been a pretty anti-meta pokemon. Even now it's still maintained that trait considering it efficiently handles a plethora of threats in the tier. Life Orb sets right now are the most viable. There are slight variations to them such as Pain/Subsplit attacker, 3 attacks + Taunt like the set Mix posted even though you're killing me by not putting 29 IVS in HP for a Life Orb/SR number and the 4 into Def, 3 attacks + destiny bond, and so forth. Lucario, Diggersby, Azumarill, Heatran, Char-X, Keldeo, Hawlucha, Terrakion, Dragonite are just a handful of partners for it. Weavile, M-Scizor, M-Houndoom, Greninja, Scarf users such as Lando-T and Garchomp, and the ones Albacore mentioned are pretty solid for checking it.
People have this misconception of well....switching it into stuff it shouldn't be switching into lol. Unless you know for a fact what the opponent is about to do or the Pokemon can't threaten Gengar you really shouldn't be trying to use it to tank hits. boltsandbombers if you want me to make a post similar to the Heatran one I can but I figured it would be better to encourage other users to talk about each topic.
Tbh just post whatver you want, even if it's similar to your post from last week. It's great if you can vary the topics about the specific pokemon, but any discussion is awesome :]
Alright, Scarfed Gengar is a very underrated threat in the meta game. If you run a Life Orb set, you risk a Speed tie with Latios and Latias, as well as being out-sped by Mega Absol and are OHKO'd by Knock Off. Many of the moves are standard, but Destiny Bond allows you to surprise Pokémon that think they can finish you off if you're low on HP.
I guess Sucker Punch users can hurt it, but who would stay in against something like Bisharp with a Gengar?
Although three attacks + Taunt is probably Gengar's best set, I've tried a four attack Life Orb set before, with Hidden Power Ice over Taunt (obviously with the standard 252 SpA/252 Spe Timid spread). The key targets for HP Ice (mainly 4x weak pokemon) are generally slower pokemon that can OHKO Gengar, but are only 2HKOed by Gengar's main three attacks. Sometimes, opponents are forced to use those to pokemon to check Gengar, knowing that they can live any one of Gengar's attacks, (but HP Ice or a different attack if there's another type weakness you want to target), makes Gengar into an offensive lure. As Gengar has such great coverage between just its STABs and Focus Blast, along with good power, it's not possible to safely scout for or predict coverage moves in the same way that you can with other pokemon (for example, if you have Bisharp and an opposing Latias has revealed Psyshock, then it's almost certain that it lacks H.P. Fighting, making Bisharp a very safe switchin). I guess the fourth attack plays a similar role to Taunt, in that it allows you cleanly to beat (or in Taunt's case, also shut down) pokemon that you otherwise couldn't. Taunt is generally more useful, but if a team already handles stall fairly well, but could use some more checks to offensive pokemon, then the four attacks version could be a viable choice.
Although three attacks + Taunt is probably Gengar's best set, I've tried a four attack Life Orb set before, with Hidden Power Ice over Taunt (obviously with the standard 252 SpA/252 Spe Timid spread). The key targets for HP Ice (mainly 4x weak pokemon) are generally slower pokemon that can OHKO Gengar, but are only 2HKOed by Gengar's main three attacks. Sometimes, opponents are forced to use those to pokemon to check Gengar, and having . I guess the fourth attack plays a similar role to Taunt, in that it allows you cleanly to beat (or in Taunt's case, also shut down) pokemon that you otherwise couldn't. Taunt is generally more useful, but if a team already handles stall fairly well, but could use some more checks to offensive pokemon, then the four attacks version could be a viable choice.
If you're going to use HP Ice for that reason, use Icy Wind. Lets you manage your IVs better, still lets you get those x4 weaknesses you're looking for, and speed drop is a bonus.
If you're going to use HP Ice for that reason, use Icy Wind. Let's you manage your IVs better, still lets you get those x4 weaknesses you're looking for, and speed drop is a bonus.
Ah, that's a good point, I forgot that Gengar learnt Icy Wind.
H.P. Ice can be obtained with a 2 attack IV, and The speed drop seems to be useful, but there's a slight loss of base power and accuracy, and not many 110+ base speed pokemon would want to switch directly into Gengar anyway. Running a few of the marginal calculations.
0- Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 162-192 (62 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [2 Attack IV]
0- Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 158-188 (60.5 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [0 Attack IV]
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 317-374 (90 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Icy Wind vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 291-343 (82.6 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 204-240 (78.1 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Hidden Power Ice vs. 216 HP / 228 SpD Dragonite: 276-328 (73.2 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery [with Multiscale broken upon switching into Stealth Rocks]
52 SpA Life Orb Gengar Icy Wind vs. 216 HP / 228 SpD Dragonite: 255-302 (67.6 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
64+ Atk Dragonite Dragon Claw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 195-229 (74.7 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
HP Ice does give you a better chance of picking up those KOes, although only the Gliscor one is of importance in this current metagame (haven't seen SpDef Dragonite in the last two months). Depending on your team's composition, I think either move would be okay, as it's very unlikely that the positives/negatives of one or the other will come into play.
Ah, that's a good point, I forgot that Gengar learnt Icy Wind.
H.P. Ice can be obtained with a 2 attack IV, and The speed drop seems to be useful, but there's a slight loss of base power and accuracy, and not many 110+ base speed pokemon would want to switch directly into Gengar anyway. Running a few of the marginal calculations.
0- Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 162-192 (62 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [2 Attack IV]
0- Atk Mandibuzz Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 158-188 (60.5 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [0 Attack IV]
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 317-374 (90 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Icy Wind vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 291-343 (82.6 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 204-240 (78.1 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Hidden Power Ice vs. 216 HP / 228 SpD Dragonite: 276-328 (73.2 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery [with Multiscale broken upon switching into Stealth Rocks]
52 SpA Life Orb Gengar Icy Wind vs. 216 HP / 228 SpD Dragonite: 255-302 (67.6 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
64+ Atk Dragonite Dragon Claw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 195-229 (74.7 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
HP Ice does give you a better chance of picking up those KOes, although only the Gliscor one is of importance in this current metagame. Depending on your team's composition, I think either move would be okay, as it's very unlikely that the positives/negatives of one or the other will come into play.
Two positives I know right off the bat for Icy Wind are this. Scarfed Garchomp gets a drop in speed so if Gengar is healthy and it isn't sweeping your team with outrage at that point, that's basically a gone Garchomp. Also discourages Dragonite before the boost as it'll continuously drop the speed boost gained from ddance. With specially defensive gliscor not being a huge thing as it was before chances are you'll still net the KOs. CBB Nite, the spread that yours is implying isn't even a thing in the current meta and if they're running that on the team that's definitely going to be the least of your worries. Yeah you may miss some KOs but depending on team build speed drop might be your ticket from landing one KO to landing more in succession. Just a thought really based on teambuilding philosophy.
Great discussion going on so far about Gengar! n_n
If anyone would like to suggest pokemon for the next weeks victim, you are more than welcome to message me with ideas. Preferably pokemon with multiple roles in the metagame so the discussion can expand as much as possible.
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: They are very fancy and very specific so that Sub doesn't get broken by X move from Y mon etc, lord only knows what it is
Nature: Timid
-Shadow Ball
-Wisp / Focus Blast / Sludge Bomb / Disable / Taunt
-Substitute
-Wisp / Focus Blast / Sludge Bomb / Disable / Taunt
Shadow Ball / Sub / Taunt / Disable is sheer evil and makes your opponent sad, think of things like Mandibuzz that can only hit you with Foul Play, etc. Alongside hazards it works beautifully as you block both Spin and Defog :).
Whilst I'm discussing Gengar, has anyone ever managed to use Dazzling Gleam successfully? It seems like such a good move on paper but it ends up being terribad in practice :(
good on paper, but since Gengar mostly runs 3 attacks+taunt, Dazzling Gleam doesn't provide what Focus Miss does. It now has trouble taking on Ttar, SpD Heatran, and specially Bisharp(winning that 50/50 could win the match for you). Sure it provides better coverage against Dragons, but doesn't net KOs
252 SpA Life Orb Gengar Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Dragonite: 229-270 (70.8 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO----wihtout Multiscale
Still, it can be used over Taunt if you have no problems against stall, and Ohioisonfire shows the 4-attack Gengar, which should be affective thought i haven't tried it.
Has anybody thought of trying out a McGar-esque set? Substitute/Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball/Focus Punch/Hidden Power Fire. Tech the EVs to make substitutes that takes MegaSaur's HP:Fire's and you're good to go! Substitute up and you're good to go! All the common answers to Gengar can be taken care of with this. Obviously needs SR to work. With expert Belt I can see it being a beast
Has anybody thought of trying out a McGar-esque set? Substitute/Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball/Focus Punch/Hidden Power Fire. Tech the EVs to make substitutes that takes MegaSaur's HP:Fire's and you're good to go! Substitute up and you're good to go! All the common answers to Gengar can be taken care of with this. Obviously needs SR to work. With expert Belt I can see it being a beast
Ive used a shadow ball focus blast hp fire taunt set before but missing out on sludge wave really sucks so putting in a hidden power can be tough to do. I guess you can go 4 attacks but ive never liked that set because you end up being bisharp bait if they get in remotely safe.
