Remember when 1v1 Metagame Discussion was the most active thread? Pepperidge farm remembers.
On a separate tangent, ooh look matchups
Mega Gengar VR matchup (assuming at least 2 turn sleep and hitting hypnosis/focus blast)
char x: W
Char y: W
dnite: W
gyarados: W
magearna: W
metagross: W
Pz: W
lele: W, unless scarf
slowbro: W
Zygarde: W
Greninja: W
Jumpluff: W
Lando-T: W, unless scarf
Lopunny: L
Magnezone: W
Meloetta: W, unless psychic coverage
Mew: W
Aegislash: W
Altaria: W
Donphan: W
Gardevoir: W
Genesect: W
Kommo-o: W
Naganadel: W
Primarina: W
Fini: Inconsistent, Gen needs sludge wave, otherwise fini wins
mega ttar: W
mega venu: W
Mega Aggron: W
Celesteela: W
Chansey: Inconsistent, needs 3 turn sleep
Ferrothorn: W
Garchomp: W
mega garchomp: w
Heatran: W
Kartana: W
mawile: W
Necrozma: W
pinsir: w
mega sableye: L
Victini: W, unless scarf
volc: W
Zera: L
Archeops: W, unless scarf
Blastoise: W
Blaziken:Inconsistent, sub on protect or hypnosis on attack
mega blaziken: Inconsistent, sub on protect or hypnosis on attack
Blissey: Inconsistent, needs 3 turn sleep
Crustle: W
Deoxys-Speed: L
Mega Diancie: L unless sludge wave
Durant: W
Golem: W
Haxorus: W, unless scarf
Heracross: W
Hoopa u: W, unless scarf
incineroar: W
Krookodile: W
Kyurem: W
manaphy: W
Medicham: W
Sawk: W, unless scarf
Swampert: W
Togekiss: W, unless scarf
Avalugg: W
Blacephalon: W, unless scarf
Carracosta: W
Gallade: W
Mega Gengar: speed tie
Latias mega: W
latios: W, unless scarf
marowak: W
pheromosa: W
Porygon2: W
Scizor: W
Bulu: W
terrakion: W
Umbreon: W
Buzzwole: W
camerupt: W
Cloyster: W
Entei: W
Excadrill: w, unless scarf
infernape: W
Keldeo: W
Magneton: W
Nihilego: W
pidgeot: W (lmao no guard)
Pyukumuku: W
Rhyperior: W
Serperior: w
Skarmory: W
Thundurus-T: W
Type: Null: W
Volcanion: W
mega alakazam; L
Landorus: W, unless scarf
Lucario: W
ninetales-A: W
Quagsire: W
Salazzle: W
Sceptile: W
sceptile-Mega: W
aron: W
Breloom: W
Manectric: W
Relicanth: W
Slaking: W
Smeargle: W
Stunfisk: W
total: 116
Mgar wins: 90/116
inconsistent (can run scarf, lose to coverage, 50/50s): 21
Loss + scarf: 18
Loss: 5
So I’ve been meaning to bring up Mega Gengar for a while. This Pokemon is basically downright busted, cough cough if you’re lucky enough cough cough. RNG abuse in 1v1 is usually a tricky discussion, cause everyone doesn’t really agree at what levels RNG becomes unnaceptable, and when it just becomes part of the game that is Pokemon.
For me personally, I think that in order to properly gauge if a mon is a sufficiently broken RNG abuser, you need to take into account not only the Pokemon’s chance to win but also how much of the metagame that Pokemon can beat using its RNG strat. For example, Jirachi can technically beat any mon below 492 speed, and lacking inner focus. But, the chances of this actually happening against some of the most common Pokemon in the game, like Greninja and Mega Gyarados, and most Ground or Steel-types, is pretty slim, so in reality, its not that bad of an issue and can’t prove itself to be reliable. Something like an OHKO move, on the other hand, can beat any Pokemon it can land a hit on, barring sturdy Pokemon, 30% of the time. Acknowledging that Sturdy is one of the best abilities in 1v1, that would still allow OHKO moves to beat more than 80% of the metagame with 30% consistency, which to me seems absurdly broken/uncompetitive/whatever trigger word you want to use.
When you compare both the chances of winning through RNG and the coverage offered by this, it paints a picture of how overwhelming Mega Gengar can be. Mega Gengar has a 60% chance to land a Hypnosis, allowing it to already OHKO a sizeable chunck of the metagame. A base 130 ghost stab off of a 170 spa is no joke. For two turns of sleep, the odds move to 26% (.6 x .66 = .396 spooky) which basically allows Mega Gengar to beat everything thats not a Dark or Normal type. Although, Dark and Normal types aren’t a huge issue either, as Mega Gengar’s Focus Blast will put them to sleep, metaphorically.
As you can all see, this leads to Mega Gengar basically being capable of beating around 90% of the metagame, even more so if you don’t assume your opponent runs Choice Scarf. Only 5 Pokemon can hardcounter Mega Gengar. Not all Scarf Pokemon can beat Mega Gengar reliably, too. Against Scarf Greninja, Mega Gengar lives one attack, giving it the opportunity to win if it hits Hypnosis. Essentially, Mega Gengar gets above OHKO move accuracy odds at beating almost every Pokemon in the game. In addition to the sheer matchups, Mega Gengar is incredibly splashable on a team thanks to its perfect coverage, and will often psychologically warp a game around it, as most players don’t have teams with Mega Gengar answers, and will therefore need to worry if they should send their best Mega Gengar check or not. To me, thats pretty bad. But, I’m not everyone; I’d love to hear what people in 1v1 think of Mega Gengar: is it busted, or are people overestimating it?
P.S. if you think I’ve made any mistakes/forgot a mon to include in VR, lmk so I can address that and fix this post.
P.S.S. For this post i considered the gengar set to be hypnosis, hex, focus blast, and either Substitute or Sludge Wave.