I’m actually gonna toss Player J a bone here and go to bat for Gengar because I’ve been using a silly strat on several different Pokémon that absolutely preys on unwary Grimm leads and that I think could also work for Gengar: Clear Amulet. It prevents Grimmsnarl from being able to execute Parting Shot, so it has to hard switch or be 2HKO’d by Sludge Wave. Considering that most Grimms aren’t hard switching out of Gengar on turn 1 and are either running only Spirit Break or no attacks at all, you can even combine it with disruptive tools like Mean Look, Reflect Type, Taunt, Hypnosis, Skill Swap, or Encore/Disable, or even run Brick Break to ahahahaha just kidding why is Gengar even on the VR this mon sucks in the current meta
I will ignore the ending part of Alephgalactus message because that is when his post started to stray.
Alephgalactus was seeing the vision I was talking about, until he got to the ending when he dropped the vision ball.
The fact still remains that Gengar has the tools necessary to cause issues to unsuspecting players.
This separates Gengar from other Ghost types.
Sure, The idea may be a little cheesy and the idea may not catapult Gengar to the S tier Viability Status.
However, I see no reason why Gengar should be “D” rank.
Gengar could be C+ or B- rank.
When you look at the Pokémon in the C+ rank, you can see they are not doing anything special.
Barraskewda
Iron Thorns
Masquerain
Pincurchin
Scovillain
Not every Pokémon team is running these Pokémon.
Most of these Pokémon are niche on very specific teams.
When you look at the Pokémon in the B- rank, you can see a similar theme.
Gyarados
Hawlucha
Hippowdon
Iron Jugulis
Orthworm
Pelipper
Slither Wing
Tauros-Paldea-Fire
The Pokémon are good, but not amazing.
This is the same running theme for Gengar.
Gengar is a Good Pokémon.
Gengar can counter a very popular Pokémon getting used on Sample Team’s.
Gengar can do his hit & run tactics with out worry due to the Dark Move (Pursuit) getting nerfed.
The Meta Favors Gengar as it is very Ghost Dominated.
Alephgalactus created the below move set for Gengar.
It wasn’t the move set I was thinking about using on Gengar, but it looks valid.
Gengar @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mean Look
- Skill Swap
- Taunt
- Sludge Bomb
Alephgalactus created the below Battle Summary for Gengar.
Comes in on Grimm and Mean Looks while it sets up a screen, then Taunts as it attempts to Parting Shot. If it’s got Light Screen, you can hit it with a Sludge Bomb before stealing Prankster; if not, steal Prankster right away and then go for the Sludge Bombs (Taunt will run out but it won’t matter). If Cyclizar comes in after you’ve got Prankster, Taunt it so it can’t Shed Tail. If Espathra comes in and it’s not behind a sub, Taunt to prevent it from boosting/subbing and Tera Steel to resist both its moves.
I would like to share my Gengar move set & my thoughts.
Before I do, I wanted to talk about Grimmsnarl for a moment.
My idea is to use Gengar to kill Grimmsnarl.
Alephgalactus went along with my above idea and added the move mean look to prevent the enemy from hard switching Grimmsnarl out.
Alephgalactus added the item Clear Amulet to double down on the above idea because he anticipated the enemy Grimmsnarl to have Parting Shot.
If the enemy Grimmsnarl has parting shot, I do feel like Alephgalactus set recommendation is better vs. mine.
I created my Gengar move set based on what a lot of the sample team‘s I saw were recommending.
They were telling beginners to run the following moves on Grimmsnarl:
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Spirit Break
This move set doesn’t have Parting Shot which means the move Mean Look should be enough to keep Grimmsnarl locked into the battle.
This also allows my Gengar to run a different item vs. Clear Amulet.
I was thinking of running the below Gengar set:
Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Cursed Body
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 60 Def / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mean Look
- Trick
- Destiny Bond
- Sludge Bomb
The Battle summary I was trying to create is below:
I open with Gengar vs. Enemy Grimmsnarl.
Gengar uses the move Mean Look while Grim is setting up Light Screen.
Gengar uses the move Sludge Bomb while Grim uses Spirit Break
Gengar uses the move Sludge Bomb fainting Grim
If Cyclizar comes in after you faint Grim, Gengar doesn’t have to stop the Shed Tail.
Cyclizar uses Shed Tail passing Sub. Espathra while Gengar uses Sludge Bomb destroying the Sub.
Gengar uses the move Trick while Espathra tries to Boost.
If the item Black Sludge is on Poison Type Pokémon, The Pokémon heals 1/16th health per turn.
If the item Black Sludge is on a Non-Poison Type Pokémon, The Pokémon loses 1/8th health per turn.
Gengar is Ghost/Poison type Pokémon as long as Black Sludge is on him he gains healing.
When Gengar tricks it to Non-Poison Type, It becomes a Item of Destruction which puts them on a timer.
The last move Destiny Bond is a move Gengar has used in the past.
When Gengar health runs low, you can simply use the move Destiny Bond to drag down any Pokémon with him.
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This set I am showing on Gengar may seem cheesy, but I feel it captures the essence of Gengar very well.
Take stock of the situation we are talking about.
1st. Gengar faints Grim
2nd. Gengar Trick/Black Sludge Item can cripple if not faint another Pokémon
3rd. Gengar Destiny Bond can take out another Pokémon as he faints
Look at the value!
1 Pokémon taking out 3 Pokémon is insane value.
Gengar has the capability of doing the above.
Past Generations, Mega Gengar would trap Slower Support Pokémon with the ability Shadow Tag.
Than Mega Gengar would faint them Pokémon.
The ability Shadow Tag prevents an enemy from retreating similar to the move Mean Look.
The ability Shadow Tag was ban to Ubers because it’s completely insane.
However, we still have the move Mean Look.
It may not be as desirable as Shadow Tag, but we can make due.
We are creating the Scenario!
We are trying to get Gengar in vs. Low Damage Dealing Support.
Than we are trying to prevent it from running away.
Gengar doing Gengar Stuff.
It’s completely fine.