[OVERVIEW]
Gholdengo is among the scariest offensive presences in the tier while simultaneously providing a unique defensive profile, making it a natural fit on a wide variety of teams. Gholdengo sports an impressive base 133 Special Attack and Make It Rain, a devastatingly strong spread attack with decent neutral coverage. Defensively, its typing allows it to switch into hard-hitting Pokemon such as Tera Normal Dragonite, Iron Hands, and Maushold. Its ability Good as Gold gives it numerous entry points against the common Amoonguss through its immunity to Spore. However, Gholdengo's Steel / Ghost typing matches up poorly into the abundance of Fire- and Dark-type Pokemon in the tier such as Chi-Yu, Arcanine, Kingambit, and Ting-Lu. In addition, it is limited by its middling Speed. To make up for this, Gholdengo can be used with Tailwind setters such as Roaring Moon, Iron Jugulis, and Murkrow, as well as Iron Bundle carrying Icy Wind. Amoonguss often pairs with Gholdengo to keep it healthy with Pollen Puff and entirely thwarting enemy Amoonguss' attempts to use Spore. Gholdengo is also a common sight on Rain teams to mitigate its Fire-type weakness and synergize with Pelipper's Tailwind.
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Nasty Plot
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 112 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* Make It Rain is a spread attack that hits neutral targets quite hard and crushes Rock- and Ice-type Pokemon such as Glimmora, Garganacl, and Chien-Pao.
* Shadow Ball hits opposing Gholdengo while providing neutral coverage into Fire- and Water- types like Arcanine and Palafin.
* Nasty Plot boosts Gholdengo's Special Attack to monstrous levels and allows it to achieve notable OHKOs against relatively bulky Pokemon like Garchomp and Dragonite with Life Orb-boosted Make It Rain.
* Protect allows Gholdengo to position itself out of danger and stall out field effects such as Trick Room and opposing Tailwind.
* Life Orb makes Gholdengo a more immediate threat and lets it nab more OHKOs after boosting. Sitrus Berry provides burst healing that enables easier set up.
* Tera Steel augments the power of Make It Rain and drops weaknesses to Dark- and Ghost-types, easing its matchup into Pokemon such as opposing Gholdengo and Roaring Moon.
* The bulk investment allows Gholdengo to survive Tera Ground Garchomp's spread Earthquake and Chi-Yu's spread Heat Wave. 4 Spe outspeeds Iron Bundle under Tailwind.
* Alternatively, an EV spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with either a Timid or a Modest nature can be used to outpace as many foes as possible.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Power Gem / Trick
item: Choice Specs
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* With Choice Specs, Make It Rain threatens both foes with a very strong hit, even if resisted. Tera Steel boosts Make It Rain's power even further.
* Shadow Ball deals consistent damage while Choice-locked and offers an option to OHKO opposing Gholdengo.
* Thunderbolt OHKOs Water-types such as Palafin-Hero and Pelipper. Additionally, it hits Pokemon that may be pressured to Tera Water for the resistance to Make It Rain, most commonly Amoonguss and Iron Bundle.
* Power Gem scores a super effective hit against Chi-Yu as well as Arcanine. This option is particularly effective with Speed control such as Tailwind to outspeed them. Trick allows Gholdengo to get rid of its Choice Specs and debilitates support Pokemon like Arcanine and Ting-Lu.
* Modest maximizes Gholdengo's power, almost always picking up the OHKO on Chi-Yu with Power Gem. Timid can be used for opposing Gholdengo, but does not allow Gholdengo to outspeed much else.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* Equipped with a Choice Scarf, Gholdengo's Make It Rain makes for an effective cleaner and revenge killer. Tera Steel provides a damage boost to secure a KO on a weakened enemy.
* Shadow Ball OHKOs Dragapult, which Gholdengo is able to outspeed with Choice Scarf.
* Choice Scarf Gholdengo outspeeds and OHKOs +1 Speed Gyarados and Pelipper under Tailwind with Thunderbolt.
* Trick gives a Choice Scarf to an enemy, which heavily impedes the effectiveness of defensive Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Ting-Lu.
* Timid is necessary to outspeed Dragapult and Iron Bundle.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tera Water is a more defensively sound option than Tera Steel, trading additional power for a resistance to Fire-type attacks such as Heat Wave from Chi-Yu and Armarouge and a neutrality to Ground-type moves like Earthquake from Great Tusk and Garchomp. Focus Blast is an option on Choiced sets to hit Dark-types, notably Kingambit, but comes with abysmal accuracy. Metal Coat is an alternative offensive item to Life Orb on the Nasty Plot set that does not cut into your HP. However, the power loss, especially on Shadow Ball, is noticeable. Covert Cloak is useless in many matchups but completely blocks passive damage from Garganacl's Salt Cure, prevents Special Attack drops from Arcanine's Snarl, and Speed drops from Iron Bundle's Icy Wind.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[qsns, 230771]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]
Gholdengo is among the scariest offensive presences in the tier while simultaneously providing a unique defensive profile, making it a natural fit on a wide variety of teams. Gholdengo sports an impressive base 133 Special Attack and Make It Rain, a devastatingly strong spread attack with decent neutral coverage. Defensively, its typing allows it to switch into hard-hitting Pokemon such as Tera Normal Dragonite, Iron Hands, and Maushold. Its ability Good as Gold gives it numerous entry points against the common Amoonguss through its immunity to Spore. However, Gholdengo's Steel / Ghost typing matches up poorly into the abundance of Fire- and Dark-type Pokemon in the tier such as Chi-Yu, Arcanine, Kingambit, and Ting-Lu. In addition, it is limited by its middling Speed. To make up for this, Gholdengo can be used with Tailwind setters such as Roaring Moon, Iron Jugulis, and Murkrow, as well as Iron Bundle carrying Icy Wind. Amoonguss often pairs with Gholdengo to keep it healthy with Pollen Puff and entirely thwarting enemy Amoonguss' attempts to use Spore. Gholdengo is also a common sight on Rain teams to mitigate its Fire-type weakness and synergize with Pelipper's Tailwind.
[SET]
name: Nasty Plot
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Nasty Plot
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Modest
evs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 112 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* Make It Rain is a spread attack that hits neutral targets quite hard and crushes Rock- and Ice-type Pokemon such as Glimmora, Garganacl, and Chien-Pao.
* Shadow Ball hits opposing Gholdengo while providing neutral coverage into Fire- and Water- types like Arcanine and Palafin.
* Nasty Plot boosts Gholdengo's Special Attack to monstrous levels and allows it to achieve notable OHKOs against relatively bulky Pokemon like Garchomp and Dragonite with Life Orb-boosted Make It Rain.
* Protect allows Gholdengo to position itself out of danger and stall out field effects such as Trick Room and opposing Tailwind.
* Life Orb makes Gholdengo a more immediate threat and lets it nab more OHKOs after boosting. Sitrus Berry provides burst healing that enables easier set up.
* Tera Steel augments the power of Make It Rain and drops weaknesses to Dark- and Ghost-types, easing its matchup into Pokemon such as opposing Gholdengo and Roaring Moon.
* The bulk investment allows Gholdengo to survive Tera Ground Garchomp's spread Earthquake and Chi-Yu's spread Heat Wave. 4 Spe outspeeds Iron Bundle under Tailwind.
* Alternatively, an EV spread of 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with either a Timid or a Modest nature can be used to outpace as many foes as possible.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Power Gem / Trick
item: Choice Specs
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* With Choice Specs, Make It Rain threatens both foes with a very strong hit, even if resisted. Tera Steel boosts Make It Rain's power even further.
* Shadow Ball deals consistent damage while Choice-locked and offers an option to OHKO opposing Gholdengo.
* Thunderbolt OHKOs Water-types such as Palafin-Hero and Pelipper. Additionally, it hits Pokemon that may be pressured to Tera Water for the resistance to Make It Rain, most commonly Amoonguss and Iron Bundle.
* Power Gem scores a super effective hit against Chi-Yu as well as Arcanine. This option is particularly effective with Speed control such as Tailwind to outspeed them. Trick allows Gholdengo to get rid of its Choice Specs and debilitates support Pokemon like Arcanine and Ting-Lu.
* Modest maximizes Gholdengo's power, almost always picking up the OHKO on Chi-Yu with Power Gem. Timid can be used for opposing Gholdengo, but does not allow Gholdengo to outspeed much else.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Make It Rain
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Good as Gold
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
tera type: Steel
[SET COMMENTS]
* Equipped with a Choice Scarf, Gholdengo's Make It Rain makes for an effective cleaner and revenge killer. Tera Steel provides a damage boost to secure a KO on a weakened enemy.
* Shadow Ball OHKOs Dragapult, which Gholdengo is able to outspeed with Choice Scarf.
* Choice Scarf Gholdengo outspeeds and OHKOs +1 Speed Gyarados and Pelipper under Tailwind with Thunderbolt.
* Trick gives a Choice Scarf to an enemy, which heavily impedes the effectiveness of defensive Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Ting-Lu.
* Timid is necessary to outspeed Dragapult and Iron Bundle.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Tera Water is a more defensively sound option than Tera Steel, trading additional power for a resistance to Fire-type attacks such as Heat Wave from Chi-Yu and Armarouge and a neutrality to Ground-type moves like Earthquake from Great Tusk and Garchomp. Focus Blast is an option on Choiced sets to hit Dark-types, notably Kingambit, but comes with abysmal accuracy. Metal Coat is an alternative offensive item to Life Orb on the Nasty Plot set that does not cut into your HP. However, the power loss, especially on Shadow Ball, is noticeable. Covert Cloak is useless in many matchups but completely blocks passive damage from Garganacl's Salt Cure, prevents Special Attack drops from Arcanine's Snarl, and Speed drops from Iron Bundle's Icy Wind.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[qsns, 230771]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]
Last edited:
