Gen 1 Gengar (OU) [QC 1/1, GP 1/1]

[Deezcastforms]

[OVERVIEW]

Gengar makes a name for itself in RBY OU as the tier’s fastest sleep inducer, giving it a prominent role in the lead metagame, as it threatens every other sleep-inducing lead in the game. Gengar is the only Pokemon immune to Body Slam and Hyper Beam. Its high Special allows it to deal solid damage with Thunderbolt, and access to Explosion allows it to threaten walls and bulky foes like Chansey and Exeggutor. In addition, its 21.48% critical hit rate makes these offensive tools all the more dangerous.

However, Gengar’s secondary Poison-type, frailty, shaky accuracy with Hypnosis, and lower Speed relative to its threats all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable. Its Poison-type allows Tauros and Snorlax, which would otherwise be walled, to threaten it with Earthquake. It also allows Alakazam and Starmie, which both outspeed Gengar, to severely threaten it with Psychic. This poor defensive typing is exacerbated by Gengar’s poor bulk, which leaves it 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic user barring Jynx, which has a 98.8% chance to 2HKO, and Slowbro, which rarely carries Psychic. Gengar also has reliability concerns as a sleeper, as its frailty combined with the 60% accuracy of Hypnosis means it may fail to put a foe to sleep before it is KOed or forced to use Explosion.


[SET]
name: Sleeper
move 1: Hypnosis
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Night Shade / Psychic
move 4: Explosion

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Hypnosis is necessary to facilitate Gengar’s role as a sleep inducer. Thunderbolt is Gengar’s primary attack, allowing it to put immense pressure on the Water-types of the tier. Explosion, despite coming off of a poor 65 Attack stat, still manages to hit extremely hard. It is used to break physically frail Pokemon, such as Jynx, which is almost always OHKOed, as well as Chansey and Alakazam with prior chip damage.

The remaining move is mostly a choice between Night Shade and Psychic. Night Shade deals consistent damage to everything, while Psychic can critically hit and drop Special but is worse against Psychic-types. Night Shade’s main notable targets are Exeggutor, which resists Gengar's other moves, and Zapdos, which takes considerably more damage from Night Shade than Psychic or Thunderbolt. Psychic, meanwhile, is more useful for opposing Gengar, and it also threatens Rhydon as it switches in or if it's at low health. Psychic also serves to better pressure Snorlax and Chansey.

Gengar’s unreliability in securing sleep makes a second sleep inducer strongly recommended. Sing Chansey is the most common partner for Gengar, but Exeggutor is also frequently seen alongside it. Jynx is also possible to use as a backup sleeper but is much rarer. Gengar is most commonly run as a lead. If it can land Hypnosis, it can then be used to pressure Water-types, wall variants of Snorlax and Tauros lacking Earthquake, or as a sacrifice to the opposing sleep inducer. If Gengar cannot put something to sleep before being forced out, the backup sleep inducer can try to induce sleep later. Gengar's best opportunity to switch in to try to land Hypnosis is on Snorlax. It can either try to switch into an expected Body Slam or against a Snorlax confirmed to not be carrying Earthquake.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=============

Mega Drain is the most common other option and is used for the purpose of hitting Rhydon. It is not recommended because its low Base Power means it only 2HKOes Rhydon, doing just under 63% on a maximum damage roll, while Gengar is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Mega Drain therefore only works if Rhydon is significantly chipped, asleep, or if Gengar critically hits.

Anything else that Gengar can use is either extremely niche or luck-reliant. Confuse Ray is primarily used to prevent Chansey from healing and to generally increase the opportunities for favorable RNG. Counter can be used to catch switches if Gengar is brought in against something it forces out by utilizing the Counter damage storing mechanics. Submission 3HKOes Chansey and is an additional way to threaten it beyond Explosion, but Gengar will take 60% in recoil damage to KO a Chansey from full HP. Seismic Toss is a worse alternative to Night Shade, as the 8 extra PP is not worth making it vulnerable to Counter, and Gengar should not be getting into PP wars. Gengar is also an effective user of Toxic on teams utilizing partial trapping strategies.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Psychic**: Gengar is 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic in the tier, and Gengar with Psychic strongly threatens a Gengar without it. Exeggutor deserves special mention, as it can come in on Gengar for momentum and cannot be significantly threatened in turn. Even Explosion is a poor deterrent unless Exeggutor has already sustained significant damage. However, Starmie and Slowbro, OU’s two Psychic-types that do not always run Psychic, are both favorable matchups for Gengar if they are not carrying the move, since they are weak to Thunderbolt. A paralyzed Starmie can be especially vulnerable to Gengar if it cannot threaten with Psychic.

**Rhydon**: Gengar cannot OHKO Rhydon without a Mega Drain critical hit nor threaten it with Explosion, and it is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Gengar should only fight a Rhydon that is either asleep or in KO range. Even if sleep is available, Gengar should not try to fight a healthy Rhydon unless the situation is desperate or as a sacrifice when switching out would allow a KO anyway.

**Earthquake Snorlax**: Earthquake variants of Snorlax are the only sets that seriously threaten Gengar. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar, which can only 5HKO in return. Against an Earthquake + Reflect Snorlax, the best way for Gengar to handle it is to force Snorlax to Rest with other team members, come in as it uses Rest, and pressure with Psychic or Thunderbolt Gengar can fish for critical hits and Special drops until Snorlax is forced out; if it wakes up, Gengar is usually forced out if it did not get any critical hits or Special drops. If the opposing Snorlax does not have Reflect set up, then using Explosion to either KO Snorlax or put it into range of a revenge killer is also a valid counterplay option. Amnesia Snorlax will usually force Gengar to use Explosion to handle it, but Gengar should still have enough turns to chip Snorlax down into range of Explosion or a revenge killer. Amnesia Snorlax variants with Reflect and Rest wall Gengar and use it to set up, but that set is rather rare.

**Tauros**: Gengar and Tauros Speed tie, but Tauros 2HKOes Gengar with Earthquake, while Gengar cannot 2HKO in turn. If Gengar is out of KO range and Tauros is in Explosion range, attempting to land Explosion may be worthwhile, especially if the opponent has nothing to switch into Explosion. Eliminating Tauros is always incredibly valuable, and Gengar wins the interaction unless it loses the Speed tie and Tauros critically hits with Earthquake, a 10.74% chance. Using Hypnosis against a Tauros out of Explosion range is possible as well, but it's much riskier. Notably, Earthquake is the most commonly dropped move when Tauros doesn't use the standard set. A Tauros without Earthquake is no longer able to check Gengar.

**Chansey**: Assuming Chansey cannot be put to sleep, Gengar will have difficulty breaking through it, as all of Gengar’s attacks except Explosion are walled by Chansey. If Chansey uses Reflect, then even Explosion will likely be healed off with ease. Depending on Chansey’s set and the game state, it can then threaten Gengar with Sing, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, or Ice Beam. The best way for Gengar to deal with Chansey is to use Explosion. Gengar can KO Chansey with a critical hit Explosion or after some chip damage, or it can at least get Chansey to low HP and allow a revenge killer to take advantage. Chansey can potentially bait Explosion and switch to something less valuable or capable of taking the hit, but as long as something has been put to sleep, attempting to land Explosion on Chansey is almost always worthwhile.

**Paralysis**: Gengar’s Speed is one of its most powerful tools, so being paralyzed hinders it drastically. If it has not put something to sleep by the time it is paralyzed, it will struggle to induce sleep, as Hypnosis only becomes more unreliable with a full paralysis chance added on top of an already shaky 60% accuracy. This does, however, allow Gengar to serve as good paralysis bait.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deezcastforms.423085/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amaranth.265630/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Deezcastforms]

I've made some edits to my original post based on suggestions from QC members in the RBY Discord, and I decided to keep a running list so people know what has been changed.

On shiloh's suggestion:
Added in mentions of Gengar primarily serving as a lead (which I had meant to do, I just ended up missing it and shiloh was the one to remind me of it).
Reordered Checks and Counters to better reflect the degree to which they counter Gengar, rather than simply following the order of the old Gengar page. Though I ordered the list slightly differently from his suggestion based on my own opinions.
Added to the Tauros section of Checks and Counters that it cannot check Gengar if it drops Earthquake.

At Sabelette's request:
Editing the formatting to better conform with the RBY analysis skeleton, which had been lost somewhat in the transfer from the Google Doc I originally wrote this on to my forum post.

 

[Amaranth]

Gengar makes a name for itself in RBY OU as the tier’s fastest sleep inducer, giving it a prominent role in the tier's lead metagame.

i think it's important to mention this is good because it beats the slower sleepers. something like "a prominent role in the tier's lead metagame, as it dominates Jynx, as well as other slower lead sleepers such as Exeggutor and Chansey."

Gengar’s typing also allows it to limit opposing partial trap strategies, as it takes no damage from Wrap or Bind due to its Normal immunity. Gengar will still be trapped by those moves however, as well as still taking damage from Clamp and Fire Spin like any other Pokemon, so it is by no means an end all be all solution to that teamstyle.

this whole thing isn't such an important niche that deserves being mentioned in the overview, and not at this length. actually playing a gengar vs wrap spam match up would give you an idea of how shaky the match up is anyways - you do put a hard stop to victreebel but you don't really deal a lot of damage to dnite and it can twave you which you don't enjoy at all, for example, and on every wrap you have to fear tauros coming in for free, it's really not pleasant
not actually true that he's particularly good there + not even important at all, pull this from the analysis entirely imo or at best leave it as a sidenote somewhere

all prove to be significant flaws that hold Gengar back from the upper echelons of OU.

i would say this is misleading; sure he isn't S rank but he's damn good and one of only 12-13 mons that are perfectly totally viable, i'd reserve this language for things that are actually on the edge of viability and a mon with 20% usage definitely cant be considered that
"all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable" is a more accurate description of the situation i'd say

Hypnosis, Thunderbolt, and Explosion are effectively mandatory moves on Gengar.

I think this wording is again misleading; they're obviously far and away Gengar's best moves but TBoltless (Psychic+MegaDrain) has minor niche viability, and you can certainly toy with surprise factor moves on occasion. We're talking <1% of the time occasions, but, I still think something like "... are Gengar's bread and butter" is more fitting because people have ran plenty of wacky Gengars that dropped some or all of these moves and done well.

Thunderbolt is Gengar’s strongest spammable attack.

it's important that you state it allows Gengar to dominate the tier's Water-types offensively. it's not really about how spammable it is, it's not that scary of a neutral hit and plenty of things resist it and get momentum by switching into it - but it pressures the hell out of Mie/Cloy/Bro and that's why it's the default attack instead of Psychic

pre-nerf Explosion.

i am based and rbypilled i do not know what post-nerf explosion looks like
(i do actually, but the point is not to reference other gens' mechanics when writing for rby - people who are only familiar or interested in rby should be able to understand everything)
you can remove this without really altering the meaning of the sentence
but the list of Explosion calcs that follows is really really unnecessary too. just say that its Explosion isn't the strongest, given it comes from 65 Attack, but it still allows Gengar to take down physically vulnerable Pokemon like Jynx, or with some prior chip damage Alakazam and Chansey, as well as allowing Gengar to bail itself out of difficult situations and land significant damage on Pokemon that can otherwise quickly KO it, like Exeggutor or Tauros. that's about all that needs to be said, nobody cares that it OHKOs Slowbro with a crit lol you don't explode assuming that you will crit anyways


the whole Night Shade vs Psychic paragraph can be simplified to: Night Shade is most important to chip Exeggutor which otherwise resists Gengar's Thunderbolt and Psychic, as well as helping slightly with Zapdos (the others you mention - jynx should be tbolted for the crit chance and i'll take drop and crit chance from psychic on jolteon over the marginally higher roll from nightshade), while Psychic helps with the Gengar mirror, makes Rhydon think twice before switching in, and occasionally the Spc drop can come in handy for harsher pressure on Snorlax and Chansey.

Gengar’s unreliability in securing sleep mandates a second sleep inducer on the team.

again, not wrong that it's recommended, but "mandates" is strong wording. I've ran gengar only sleep teams before, they do fine, you just need to plan accordingly. "usually means you'll want a second sleep inducer" is more accurate

Even running both alongside Gengar for a triple sleep team is viable

i guess people do it but they probably shouldn't lol. i certainly wouldn't rush to talk about a build like this as one of the first things you mention in strategy comments, and really it doesnt need to be mentioned at all. it's super super niche and usually only works if you can make the surprise factor of sing chansey stick on something important like a lax or w/e. delete all this triple sleep stuff imo.
just say sing chansey is the preferred partner, but exeggutor is also viable, and jynx is much rarer but possible - that's the most accurate way to describe the situation here i think

This set, along with any other Gengar set that one may run, is most commonly used as a lead.

most of my wacky gengars are actually best saved for the midgame lol. the wacky gengars usually have one specific thought in mind ("wall lax forever" or "lure and kill chansey with submission after it's been weakened") which makes them much more effective in the back.
just say "Gengar is most commonly used as a lead" and move on

the following paragraph is kind of a mess too, it should be rewritten from scratch pretty much. i think the general idea when describing sleep games with gengar teams is: you landed the match up against a slower sleeper, congratulations, you got your sleep. you didn't, back up to your teammates, and when enemy lax comes in gengar can come in on a body slam to get another chance, or otherwise you can simply sleepsack it.
gengar is actually one of the better sleepsacks in the tier as for the most part it takes care of its defensive duties (= walling snorlax and eqless tauros) even while dead asleep, it probably should be mentioned there


in Other Options:
Confuse Ray's main quality imo is the potential to deny healing from Chanseys. you end up functioning kind of like a Cloyster in that sense where the enemy Chans switches in at lower HP wishing to softboiled up but you Clamp/CRay and -some/most of the time- you deny the heal as you pivot out to Lax or whoever else to keep up the pressure. "paraspam teams" is not really a thing (every team in rby needs paralysis) - CRay is an unreliable tool to increase pressure on Chansey, for the most part, rather than a generic rng fish like you wrote

Counter sentence is, like, correct but really hard to understand the way you've worded it lol, see if you can improve it

Submission it's important to mention that it 3HKOs Chansey, and also that Gengar takes almost 60% from recoil in the process lol, but otherwise is a fine tool to scare Chansey yes

Toxic should be here too, Gengar is one of the preferred Toxic spreaders for teams that play that way as it frequently lures in special walls like Alakazam and Chansey for partial trappers like Cloyster or Moltres

in checks and counters, mention that Rhydon, on top of everything else, is also an excellent tool to neutralize Gengar's Explosion

Exeggutor should get a special note, maybe within the Psychics paragraph if you like, as it takes absolute jack shit damage from anything Gengar throws out bar Night Shade, and uses Gengar to get momentum for its own sleep powder / stun spore / offensive pressure through psychic, and doesn't even really fear Explosion much due to its bulk (contrary to something like Alakazam that also pressures with status and Psychic stab, but can be traded with evenly through Explosion)

 

[Deezcastforms]

QC 1/2, courtesy of Amaranth

i think it's important to mention this is good because it beats the slower sleepers. something like "a prominent role in the tier's lead metagame, as it dominates Jynx, as well as other slower lead sleepers such as Exeggutor and Chansey."

Gengar certainly has the advantage in this matchup, but I hesitate to say "dominates." So I worded it slightly differently.

this whole thing isn't such an important niche that deserves being mentioned in the overview, and not at this length. actually playing a gengar vs wrap spam match up would give you an idea of how shaky the match up is anyways - you do put a hard stop to victreebel but you don't really deal a lot of damage to dnite and it can twave you which you don't enjoy at all, for example, and on every wrap you have to fear tauros coming in for free, it's really not pleasant
not actually true that he's particularly good there + not even important at all, pull this from the analysis entirely imo or at best leave it as a sidenote somewhere.

This felt shaky to me as well. I thought it was worth a mention, but I have no real issue with just cutting it.

i would say this is misleading; sure he isn't S rank but he's damn good and one of only 12-13 mons that are perfectly totally viable, i'd reserve this language for things that are actually on the edge of viability and a mon with 20% usage definitely cant be considered that
"all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable" is a more accurate description of the situation i'd say

This, and I'll also just cover my improper uses of "mandates" and "pre-nerf Explosion" here as well, was just me being unfamiliar with general Smogon wording as a first time writer for the forums.

i guess people do it but they probably shouldn't lol. i certainly wouldn't rush to talk about a build like this as one of the first things you mention in strategy comments, and really it doesnt need to be mentioned at all. it's super super niche and usually only works if you can make the surprise factor of sing chansey stick on something important like a lax or w/e. delete all this triple sleep stuff imo.
just say sing chansey is the preferred partner, but exeggutor is also viable, and jynx is much rarer but possible - that's the most accurate way to describe the situation here i think

Yeah, looking back this is something I gave way too much attention to relative to its usage. I think this was just me trying get on a soapbox to say Gar Mie Chan triple sleep teams are actually really good, since I lot of people I mention it to aren't believers. You included, apparently.

the following paragraph is kind of a mess too, it should be rewritten from scratch pretty much. i think the general idea when describing sleep games with gengar teams is: you landed the match up against a slower sleeper, congratulations, you got your sleep. you didn't, back up to your teammates, and when enemy lax comes in gengar can come in on a body slam to get another chance, or otherwise you can simply sleepsack it.
gengar is actually one of the better sleepsacks in the tier as for the most part it takes care of its defensive duties (= walling snorlax and eqless tauros) even while dead asleep, it probably should be mentioned there

I kinda panic wrote that after shiloh pointed out that I forget to mention Gengar was commonly a lead. Not surprised that wasn't my best.

Counter sentence is, like, correct but really hard to understand the way you've worded it lol, see if you can improve it

I think I took care of this well enough. Counter is just one of those things that's a lot easier to understand than it is to actually explain imo.

in checks and counters, mention that Rhydon, on top of everything else, is also an excellent tool to neutralize Gengar's Explosion

Thought I had, thanks for catching that I didn't.

Thanks for the QC. It's clear a lot of effort went into this.

 

[Amaranth]

OUQC has no further objections so I'm moving this along to GP Team

 

[Sabelette]

GP 1/1 GP Team done

Ping me when implemented to double check because there were a lot of sentence fragments to change and I'm not sure I got everything on first pass.

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Gengar makes a name for itself in RBY OU as the tier’s fastest sleep inducer, giving it a prominent role in the tier's lead metagame, (AC) as it threatens every other sleep-inducing lead in the game. As well as being the only immunity to the Body Slams and Hyper Beams that are littered throughout the tier on account of being the only Ghost-type in the game except for its pre-evolutions. (Sentence fragment and hard to follow) Gengar is the only Pokemon immune to Body Slam and Hyper Beam. Its Gengar’s high Special stat allows it to deal solid damage with Thunderbolt, and access to Explosion allows it to threaten walls and bulky foes like Chansey and bulky resists such as and Exeggutor. In addition, its 21.48% critical hit rate serves to makes these offensive tools all the more dangerous for opponents.

However, Gengar’s secondary Poison-type, frailty, the shaky accuracy of with Hypnosis, and its speed tier lower Speed relative to its threats all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable. Being part Its Poison-type allows Tauros and Snorlax, who which would otherwise be walled by Gengar, to threaten it with Earthquake. It also allows Alakazam and Starmie, who which both outspeed Gengar, to severely threaten it with Psychic. The this poor defensive typing of Poison is exacerbated by Gengar’s poor bulk, (AC) which leaves . Leaving it 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic user in the tier, (RC) barring Jynx, who which has a 98.8% chance to 2HKO, and Slowbro, which rarely carries Psychic. Gengar also has reliability concerns as a sleeper, as its frailty combined with the 60% accuracy of Hypnosis may cause it to be unable to secure a (this meanders a bit so made it more direct) means it may fail to put a foe to sleep before it is KOed or forced to boom use Explosion.

Despite these shortcomings, Gengar strengths have allowed it to blossom. It has earned significantly higher tournament usage in recent years that has remained steady to this point, while boasting the success to justify this usage. Gengar is a rising threat in the RBY OU metagame that must be respected for the unique tools that it brings to a battle. (We don't want to talk about trends since they come and go and we want this analysis to last. First and last sentence also don't really add anything)

[SET]
name: Standard Gengar (this is a pretty unconventional name, perhaps "Lead" or "Lead Sleeper")
move 1: Hypnosis
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Night Shade / Psychic (add spaces around slash, also generally people put the slashed moves last stylistically. It would also fit well with the order you introduce things below)
move 4: Explosion

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Hypnosis, Thunderbolt, and Explosion will be seen the large majority of Gengar sets, as they are its bread and butter. (This is a "Crux of the set" type sentence, you can remove or rephrase to state how these cover the majority of situations Gengar runs into instead) Hypnosis is necessary to facilitate Gengar’s role as a sleep inducer. Thunderbolt is Gengar’s primary attack, allowing it to put immense pressure on the Water-types of the tier. Explosion, despite coming off of a poor 65 Attack stat, still manages to hit extremely hard. It is used to break physically frail Pokemon, such as Jynx, (AC). As well as Chansey, (AC) and Alakazam with prior chip damage.

The remaining move on Gengar is mostly a choice between Night Shade and Psychic. Night Shade does a deals consistent 100 HP of damage (dex info) to everything, while Psychic can critically hit, drop Special drop, and is subjected to stats and type effectiveness. (this last part should just be rephrased to say it's worse against psychic-types, it's difficult to parse)) Of the OU Pokemon that Thunderbolt is not the strongest option against, Night Shade’s main notable targets are Exeggutor, which resists Gengar's other moves, (AC) and . As well as (sentence fragment) Zapdos, who which takes considerably more damage from Night Shade than Psychic or Thunderbolt. While Psychic, (AC) meanwhile, (AC) (trying to preserve the "While" but this was a sentence fragment) is more useful for opposing Gengar, and it also threatens threatening Rhydon on a as it switches in or if it's at low health. Psychic also serves to better pressure Snorlax and Chansey. Neither option is objectively better than the other, and the The choice between the Night Shade and Psychic should be made based on what threatens the Gengar’s team the most. (idt the first part adds anything, if you're slashing the moves you're already saying they both have merit on the set)

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Gengar’s unreliability in securing sleep makes a second sleep inducer strongly recommended. Sing Chansey is the most common partner for Gengar, but Exeggutor is also frequently seen alongside it as well. Jynx is also possible to use as a backup sleeper alongside Gengar, but is much more rare. (merge these paragraphs) Gengar is most commonly run as a lead. If it can land sleep Hypnosis, it can then be used to pressure waters Water-types, wall variants of Snorlax and Tauros lacking Earthquake, or as a sleep sac sacrificed to the opposing sleep inducer. If Gengar cannot get put something to sleep before being forced out, then simply try to get sleep with your second inducer the backup sleep inducer can try to induce sleep later. Gengar's best opportunity to switch in for additional opportunities to get sleep to try to land Hypnosis is on Snorlax. It can either try to switch into Either on an expected Body Slam, (RC) or against a Snorlax confirmed to not be carrying Earthquake.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=============

Mega Drain is the most common other option used on Gengar not listed above, (RC) and is used for the purpose of hitting Rhydon. It is not recommended because the its low Base Power of the Mega Drain causes it to means it only 2HKOes Rhydon, doing just under 63% on a maximum damage roll, while Gengar is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. So Mega Drain therefore only works if Rhydon is significantly chipped, slept asleep, or if Gengar is aided by luck critically hits. (fragment + may as well be specific)

Anything else that Gengar can use is either extremely niche or cheesy. (I think "cheesy" is a bit informal, maybe we can go with "luck-reliant") Confuse Ray is primarily used to try preventing Chansey from healing, (RC) and to generally increase the opportunities for favorable RNG. Counter can be used to catch switches if Gengar is brought in on against something it forces out by utilizing the Counter damage storing mechanics. Submission 3HKOes Chansey, (RC) and is an additional way to threaten it beyond Explosion, (AC) but . Though Gengar will take 60% in recoil damage alone. (it may be better to note the recoil per hit because this makes it sound like it takes 60% every time it uses submission) Seismic Toss is a worse alternative to Night Shade, as the 8 extra PP is not worth making yourself it vulnerable to Counter, (RC) since and Gengar should not be getting into PP wars. Gengar is also an effective user of Toxic on teams that desire to use strategies involving it. (this is really vague and based on what amaranth suggested i'd say "on teams utilizing partial trapping strategies" instead)

Checks and Counters
===================

**Psychic**: Gengar is threatened with a 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic in the tier, and Gengar with Psychic strongly threatens a Gengar without it. Exeggutor deserves special mention, as it can come in on Gengar for momentum, (RC) and cannot be significantly threatened in turn. Even Explosion is a poor deterrent unless Exeggcutor Exeggutor has already sustained significant damage. However, Starmie and Slowbro, OU’s two Psychic-types that do not always run Psychic, are both favorable matchups for Gengar if they are not carrying the move, (AC) since they are weak to Thunderbolt. So if one is confident that an opposing Starmie or Slowbro is lacking Psychic, they should not be afraid to try threatening them with Gengar. (this doesn't add anything new to the prior sentence and is a sentence fragment) A paralyzed Starmie can be especially vulnerable to Gengar if it cannot threaten with Psychic.

**Rhydon**: Gengar cannot OHKO Rhydon without a Mega Drain critical hit nor threaten it with Explosion, and it is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Gengar should only fight a Rhydon that is either slept asleep or low enough on health to be in KO range. Even if sleep is available, Gengar should not try to fight a healthy Rhydon unless its user the situation is desperate, (RC) or will lose a Pokemon if they switch out anyway as a sacrifice when switching out would allow a KO anyway and consider Gengar their most expendable team member. (this gets really hard to follow so i had to reword significantly)

**Earthquake Snorlax**: Earthquake variants of Snorlax are the only sets that seriously threaten Gengar. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar, who which can only 5HKO in return without luck. If one is facing Rest Reflect Snorlax with Earthquake as its coverage move Against an Earthquake + Reflect Snorlax, the best way for Gengar to handle it is to force Snorlax to Rest with other team members, come in as it uses Rest on the rest turn, and pressure with Psychic if Gengar is running it, (RC) or Thunderbolt if Gengar is Night Shade. Fishing Gengar can fish for crits critical hits and Special drops until Snorlax is either forced out; (semicolon or is allowed to faint if Gengar got lucky, (RC) (we don't need to talk about every critical hit calc and mention luck everywhere, luck is in all of Pokemon and it makes this clunky to read) or until it wakes and if it wakes up, Gengar is usually forced out if it did not get any crits or drops critical hits or Special drops. If the opposing Snorlax is not does not have Reflect set up, or has not set it, then using Explosion to either KO Snorlax or put it into revenge range of a revenge killer once enough chip damage has been dealt is also a valid counterplay option. Amnesia Snorlax will usually force Gengar to trade with use Explosion to handle it, but one Gengar should still have enough turns to chip Snorlax down into revenge range once Gengar does boom into range of Explosion or a revenge killer. Rest Reflect Amnesia Snorlax variants with Reflect and Rest will wall Gengar and use it to set up, (space in "set up" and AC) barring an Explosion crit, or repeated Psychic/Thunderbolt crits, but that set is rather rare.

**Tauros**: Gengar and Tauros have the same Speed tie, but Tauros can 2HKOes Gengar with Earthquake, while Gengar cannot do the same 2HKO in turn. If Gengar is out of KO range of EQ, (RC) and Tauros is in Explosion range, attempting to blow it up land Explosion may be worthwhile, especially if the opponent has nothing to switch into an Explosion. Eliminating Tauros is always incredibly valuable, and you would have to be very unlucky by both Gengar wins the interaction unless it loses losing the Speed tie and getting crit Tauros critically hits with by Earthquake, a 10.74% chance, (RC) to lose the exchange. Using Hypnosis against a Tauros out of Explosion range is possible as well, but it's much riskier. As along with carrying the same risk as the Explosion line, you can win the speed tie but still risk being hit or crit KOed with Earthquake for nothing if Hypnosis misses. (this doesn't add anything that wasn't covered in the boom line and its a sentence fragment) Also of note is that Notably, Earthquake is the most commonly dropped move when a different Tauros set is used than the standard one doesn't use the standard set. If one is fighting a Tauros that has dropped Earthquake, then it will A Tauros without Earthquake is no longer be able to check Gengar.

**Chansey**: Assuming an opposing Chansey cannot be slept due to either Sleep Clause or having already been paralyzed put to sleep, Gengar will have difficulty breaking through it, as all of Gengar’s attacks except Explosion are walled by Chansey. And if the Chansey is If Chansey uses Reflect, then even an Explosion will likely be healed off with ease. Depending on the Chansey’s set and the game state, it can then threaten back Gengar with Sing, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, or Ice Beam. The best way for Gengar to deal with Chansey is to blow it up use Explosion. Either KO it outright with a crit Explosion or chip from another Pokemon, or at least get Chansey low with a boom and then try to take advantage with a revenger. Gengar can KO Chansey with a critical hit Explosion or after some chip damage, or it can at least get Chansey to low HP and allow a revenge killer to take advantage. While one must be careful of an opponent baiting Explosion with Chansey and then switching out to something that is either less valuable or can take the hit, if sleep has been secured, and Gengar is in on Chansey, it is almost always worthwhile to trade them if possible. Chansey can potentially bait Explosion and switch to something less valuable or capable of taking the hit, but as long as something has been put to sleep, attempting to land Explosion on Chansey is almost always worthwhile. (these sentences meander a lot and are hard to follow, plus the first is a fragment, so I had to rephrase. I tried to preserve the original wording where possible.)

**Paralysis**: Gengar’s Speed is one of its most powerful tools, so being paralyzed hinders its ability to perform drastically. Especially so if If it has not gotten put something to sleep at by the time it is paralyzed, it will struggle to induce sleep, as Hypnosis only becomes more unreliable with a 25% chance to not move a full paralysis chance added on top of an already shaky 60% accuracy. This does, however, allow Gengar to serve as good paralysis bait.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deezcastforms.423085/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amaranth.265630/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Deezcastforms]

Implemented Sabelette
Also once you go back over it, isn't there like a bot or something I have to activate to post the analysis to SmogDex? I feel like I remember there being something I'm supposed to do.

 

[Amaranth]

Implemented Sabelette
Also once you go back over it, isn't there like a bot or something I have to activate to post the analysis to SmogDex? I feel like I remember there being something I'm supposed to do.

it's me i'm the bot
i am watching this thread so i'll get a notification and do it whenever sabelette confirms the double check, dw

 

[Deezcastforms]

cool, ty

 

[Sabelette]

My dumb ass forgot about this, lets get it done

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Gengar makes a name for itself in RBY OU as the tier’s fastest sleep inducer, giving it a prominent role in the lead metagame, as it threatens every other sleep-inducing lead in the game. Gengar is the only Pokemon immune to Body Slam and Hyper Beam. Its high Special allows it to deal solid damage with Thunderbolt, and access to Explosion allows it to threaten walls and bulky foes like Chansey and Exeggutor. In addition, its 21.48% critical hit rate makes these offensive tools all the more dangerous.

However, Gengar’s secondary Poison-type, frailty, shaky accuracy with Hypnosis, and lower Speed relative to its threats all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable. Its Poison-type allows Tauros and Snorlax, which would otherwise be walled, to threaten it with Earthquake. It also allows Alakazam and Starmie, which both outspeed Gengar, to severely threaten it with Psychic. This poor defensive typing is exacerbated by Gengar’s poor bulk, which leaves it 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic user barring Jynx, which has a 98.8% chance to 2HKO, and Slowbro, which rarely carries Psychic. Gengar also has reliability concerns as a sleeper, as its frailty combined with the 60% accuracy of Hypnosis means it may fail to put a foe to sleep before it is KOed or forced to use Explosion.


[SET]
name: Sleeper
move 1: Hypnosis
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Night Shade / Psychic
move 4: Explosion

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Hypnosis is necessary to facilitate Gengar’s role as a sleep inducer. Thunderbolt is Gengar’s primary attack, allowing it to put immense pressure on the Water-types of the tier. Explosion, despite coming off of a poor 65 Attack stat, still manages to hit extremely hard. It is used to break physically frail Pokemon, such as Jynx, which is almost always OHKOed, (AC) . As as well as Chansey and Alakazam with prior chip damage.

The remaining move is mostly a choice between Night Shade and Psychic. Night Shade deals consistent damage to everything, while Psychic can critically hit and drop Special, (RC) but is worse against Psychic-types. (period) Night Shade’s main notable targets are Exeggutor, which resists Gengar's other moves, (AC) (you left these in by accident) and Zapdos, which takes considerably more damage from Night Shade than Psychic or Thunderbolt. Psychic, (AC) meanwhile, (AC) is more useful for opposing Gengar, and it also threatens Rhydon as it switches in or if it's at low health. Psychic also serves to better pressure Snorlax and Chansey.

Gengar’s unreliability in securing sleep makes a second sleep inducer strongly recommended. Sing Chansey is the most common partner for Gengar, but Exeggutor is also frequently seen alongside it. Jynx is also possible to use as a backup sleeper, (RC) but is much more rarer. Gengar is most commonly run as a lead. If it can land Hypnosis, it can then be used to pressure Water-types, wall variants of Snorlax and Tauros lacking Earthquake, or sacrificed as a sacrifice (parallelism, i think this works) to the opposing sleep inducer. If Gengar cannot put something to sleep before being forced out, the backup sleep inducer can try to induce sleep later. Gengar's best opportunity to switch in to try to land Hypnosis is on Snorlax. It can either try to switch into an expected Body Slam or against a Snorlax confirmed to not be carrying Earthquake.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=============

Mega Drain is the most common other option and is used for the purpose of hitting Rhydon. It is not recommended because its low Base Power means it only 2HKOes Rhydon, doing just under 63% on a maximum damage roll, while Gengar is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Mega Drain therefore only works if Rhydon is significantly chipped, asleep, or if Gengar critically hits. (fragment + may as well be specific)

Anything else that Gengar can use is either extremely niche or luck-reliant. Confuse Ray is primarily used to prevent Chansey from healing and to generally increase the opportunities for favorable RNG. Counter can be used to catch switches if Gengar is brought in against something it forces out by utilizing the Counter damage storing mechanics. Submission 3HKOes Chansey and is an additional way to threaten it beyond Explosion, (AC) but Gengar will take 60% in recoil damage to KO a Chansey from full HP. Seismic Toss is a worse alternative to Night Shade, as the 8 extra PP is not worth making it vulnerable to Counter, (AC) and Gengar should not be getting into PP wars. Gengar is also an effective user of Toxic on teams utilizing partial trapping strategies.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Psychic**: Gengar is 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic in the tier, and Gengar with Psychic strongly threatens a Gengar without it. Exeggutor deserves special mention, as it can come in on Gengar for momentum and cannot be significantly threatened in turn. Even Explosion is a poor deterrent unless Exeggutor has already sustained significant damage. However, Starmie and Slowbro, OU’s two Psychic-types that do not always run Psychic, are both favorable matchups for Gengar if they are not carrying the move, (AC) since they are weak to Thunderbolt. A paralyzed Starmie can be especially vulnerable to Gengar if it cannot threaten with Psychic.

**Rhydon**: Gengar cannot OHKO Rhydon without a Mega Drain critical hit nor threaten it with Explosion, and it is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Gengar should only fight a Rhydon that is either asleep or in KO range. Even if sleep is available, Gengar should not try to fight a healthy Rhydon unless the situation is desperate or as a sacrifice when switching out would allow a KO anyway.

**Earthquake Snorlax**: Earthquake variants of Snorlax are the only sets that seriously threaten Gengar. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar, which can only 5HKO in return. Against an Earthquake + Reflect Snorlax, the best way for Gengar to handle it is to force Snorlax to Rest with other team members, come in as it uses Rest, and pressure with Psychic or Thunderbolt Gengar can fish for critical hits and Special drops until Snorlax is forced out; if it wakes up, Gengar is usually forced out if it did not get any critical hits or Special drops. If the opposing Snorlax does not have Reflect set up, then using Explosion to either KO Snorlax or put it into range of a revenge killer is also a valid counterplay option. Amnesia Snorlax will usually force Gengar to use Explosion to handle it, but Gengar should still have enough turns to chip Snorlax down into range of Explosion or a revenge killer. Amnesia Snorlax variants with Reflect and Rest wall Gengar and use it to set up, but that set is rather rare.

**Tauros**: Gengar and Tauros Speed tie, but Tauros 2HKOes Gengar with Earthquake, while Gengar cannot 2HKO in turn. If Gengar is out of KO range and Tauros is in Explosion range, attempting to land Explosion may be worthwhile, especially if the opponent has nothing to switch into Explosion. Eliminating Tauros is always incredibly valuable, and Gengar wins the interaction unless it loses the Speed tie and Tauros critically hits with Earthquake, a 10.74% chance. Using Hypnosis against a Tauros out of Explosion range is possible as well, but it's much riskier. Notably, Earthquake is the most commonly dropped move when Tauros doesn't use the standard set. A Tauros without Earthquake is no longe able to check Gengar.

**Chansey**: Assuming Chansey cannot be put to sleep, Gengar will have difficulty breaking through it, as all of Gengar’s attacks except Explosion are walled by Chansey. If Chansey uses Reflect, then even Explosion will likely be healed off with ease. Depending on Chansey’s set and the game state, it can then threaten Gengar with Sing, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, or Ice Beam. The best way for Gengar to deal with Chansey is to use Explosion. Gengar can KO Chansey with a critical hit Explosion or after some chip damage, or it can at least get Chansey to low HP and allow a revenge killer to take advantage. Chansey can potentially bait Explosion and switch to something less valuable or capable of taking the hit, but as long as something has been put to sleep, attempting to land Explosion on Chansey is almost always worthwhile.

**Paralysis**: Gengar’s Speed is one of its most powerful tools, so being paralyzed hinders it drastically. If it has not put something to sleep by the time it is paralyzed, it will struggle to induce sleep, as Hypnosis only becomes more unreliable with a full paralysis chance added on top of an already shaky 60% accuracy. This does, however, allow Gengar to serve as good paralysis bait.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deezcastforms.423085/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amaranth.265630/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

 

[Deezcastforms]

My dumb ass forgot about this, lets get it done

Hide

[OVERVIEW]

Gengar makes a name for itself in RBY OU as the tier’s fastest sleep inducer, giving it a prominent role in the lead metagame, as it threatens every other sleep-inducing lead in the game. Gengar is the only Pokemon immune to Body Slam and Hyper Beam. Its high Special allows it to deal solid damage with Thunderbolt, and access to Explosion allows it to threaten walls and bulky foes like Chansey and Exeggutor. In addition, its 21.48% critical hit rate makes these offensive tools all the more dangerous.

However, Gengar’s secondary Poison-type, frailty, shaky accuracy with Hypnosis, and lower Speed relative to its threats all prove to be significant flaws that make Gengar somewhat unreliable. Its Poison-type allows Tauros and Snorlax, which would otherwise be walled, to threaten it with Earthquake. It also allows Alakazam and Starmie, which both outspeed Gengar, to severely threaten it with Psychic. This poor defensive typing is exacerbated by Gengar’s poor bulk, which leaves it 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic user barring Jynx, which has a 98.8% chance to 2HKO, and Slowbro, which rarely carries Psychic. Gengar also has reliability concerns as a sleeper, as its frailty combined with the 60% accuracy of Hypnosis means it may fail to put a foe to sleep before it is KOed or forced to use Explosion.


[SET]
name: Sleeper
move 1: Hypnosis
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Night Shade / Psychic
move 4: Explosion

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Hypnosis is necessary to facilitate Gengar’s role as a sleep inducer. Thunderbolt is Gengar’s primary attack, allowing it to put immense pressure on the Water-types of the tier. Explosion, despite coming off of a poor 65 Attack stat, still manages to hit extremely hard. It is used to break physically frail Pokemon, such as Jynx, which is almost always OHKOed, (AC) . As as well as Chansey and Alakazam with prior chip damage.

The remaining move is mostly a choice between Night Shade and Psychic. Night Shade deals consistent damage to everything, while Psychic can critically hit and drop Special, (RC) but is worse against Psychic-types. (period) Night Shade’s main notable targets are Exeggutor, which resists Gengar's other moves, (AC) (you left these in by accident) and Zapdos, which takes considerably more damage from Night Shade than Psychic or Thunderbolt. Psychic, (AC) meanwhile, (AC) is more useful for opposing Gengar, and it also threatens Rhydon as it switches in or if it's at low health. Psychic also serves to better pressure Snorlax and Chansey.

Gengar’s unreliability in securing sleep makes a second sleep inducer strongly recommended. Sing Chansey is the most common partner for Gengar, but Exeggutor is also frequently seen alongside it. Jynx is also possible to use as a backup sleeper, (RC) but is much more rarer. Gengar is most commonly run as a lead. If it can land Hypnosis, it can then be used to pressure Water-types, wall variants of Snorlax and Tauros lacking Earthquake, or sacrificed as a sacrifice (parallelism, i think this works) to the opposing sleep inducer. If Gengar cannot put something to sleep before being forced out, the backup sleep inducer can try to induce sleep later. Gengar's best opportunity to switch in to try to land Hypnosis is on Snorlax. It can either try to switch into an expected Body Slam or against a Snorlax confirmed to not be carrying Earthquake.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]

Other Options
=============

Mega Drain is the most common other option and is used for the purpose of hitting Rhydon. It is not recommended because its low Base Power means it only 2HKOes Rhydon, doing just under 63% on a maximum damage roll, while Gengar is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Mega Drain therefore only works if Rhydon is significantly chipped, asleep, or if Gengar critically hits. (fragment + may as well be specific)

Anything else that Gengar can use is either extremely niche or luck-reliant. Confuse Ray is primarily used to prevent Chansey from healing and to generally increase the opportunities for favorable RNG. Counter can be used to catch switches if Gengar is brought in against something it forces out by utilizing the Counter damage storing mechanics. Submission 3HKOes Chansey and is an additional way to threaten it beyond Explosion, (AC) but Gengar will take 60% in recoil damage to KO a Chansey from full HP. Seismic Toss is a worse alternative to Night Shade, as the 8 extra PP is not worth making it vulnerable to Counter, (AC) and Gengar should not be getting into PP wars. Gengar is also an effective user of Toxic on teams utilizing partial trapping strategies.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Psychic**: Gengar is 2HKOed by every STAB Psychic in the tier, and Gengar with Psychic strongly threatens a Gengar without it. Exeggutor deserves special mention, as it can come in on Gengar for momentum and cannot be significantly threatened in turn. Even Explosion is a poor deterrent unless Exeggutor has already sustained significant damage. However, Starmie and Slowbro, OU’s two Psychic-types that do not always run Psychic, are both favorable matchups for Gengar if they are not carrying the move, (AC) since they are weak to Thunderbolt. A paralyzed Starmie can be especially vulnerable to Gengar if it cannot threaten with Psychic.

**Rhydon**: Gengar cannot OHKO Rhydon without a Mega Drain critical hit nor threaten it with Explosion, and it is OHKOed in return by Earthquake. Gengar should only fight a Rhydon that is either asleep or in KO range. Even if sleep is available, Gengar should not try to fight a healthy Rhydon unless the situation is desperate or as a sacrifice when switching out would allow a KO anyway.

**Earthquake Snorlax**: Earthquake variants of Snorlax are the only sets that seriously threaten Gengar. Earthquake 2HKOes Gengar, which can only 5HKO in return. Against an Earthquake + Reflect Snorlax, the best way for Gengar to handle it is to force Snorlax to Rest with other team members, come in as it uses Rest, and pressure with Psychic or Thunderbolt Gengar can fish for critical hits and Special drops until Snorlax is forced out; if it wakes up, Gengar is usually forced out if it did not get any critical hits or Special drops. If the opposing Snorlax does not have Reflect set up, then using Explosion to either KO Snorlax or put it into range of a revenge killer is also a valid counterplay option. Amnesia Snorlax will usually force Gengar to use Explosion to handle it, but Gengar should still have enough turns to chip Snorlax down into range of Explosion or a revenge killer. Amnesia Snorlax variants with Reflect and Rest wall Gengar and use it to set up, but that set is rather rare.

**Tauros**: Gengar and Tauros Speed tie, but Tauros 2HKOes Gengar with Earthquake, while Gengar cannot 2HKO in turn. If Gengar is out of KO range and Tauros is in Explosion range, attempting to land Explosion may be worthwhile, especially if the opponent has nothing to switch into Explosion. Eliminating Tauros is always incredibly valuable, and Gengar wins the interaction unless it loses the Speed tie and Tauros critically hits with Earthquake, a 10.74% chance. Using Hypnosis against a Tauros out of Explosion range is possible as well, but it's much riskier. Notably, Earthquake is the most commonly dropped move when Tauros doesn't use the standard set. A Tauros without Earthquake is no longe able to check Gengar.

**Chansey**: Assuming Chansey cannot be put to sleep, Gengar will have difficulty breaking through it, as all of Gengar’s attacks except Explosion are walled by Chansey. If Chansey uses Reflect, then even Explosion will likely be healed off with ease. Depending on Chansey’s set and the game state, it can then threaten Gengar with Sing, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, or Ice Beam. The best way for Gengar to deal with Chansey is to use Explosion. Gengar can KO Chansey with a critical hit Explosion or after some chip damage, or it can at least get Chansey to low HP and allow a revenge killer to take advantage. Chansey can potentially bait Explosion and switch to something less valuable or capable of taking the hit, but as long as something has been put to sleep, attempting to land Explosion on Chansey is almost always worthwhile.

**Paralysis**: Gengar’s Speed is one of its most powerful tools, so being paralyzed hinders it drastically. If it has not put something to sleep by the time it is paralyzed, it will struggle to induce sleep, as Hypnosis only becomes more unreliable with a full paralysis chance added on top of an already shaky 60% accuracy. This does, however, allow Gengar to serve as good paralysis bait.

[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/deezcastforms.423085/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/amaranth.265630/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sabelette.583793/

Implemented

 

[Amaranth]

I uploaded this a while ago but never posted in this thread. Oops. Uploaded!