Gengar
Shadow Pokémon
It hides in shadows. It is said that if Gengar is hiding, it cools the area by nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
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Evolution Chain
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Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
Gengar is a unique Pokemon in the STABmons metagame. Its Ghost / Poison typing and its ability, Levitate, provide it with resistances to three common types in Bug, Fairy, and Grass and immunities to three other types in Fighting, Normal, and Ground, making it a good switch-in to notable threats like Landorus-T and Excadrill. Its typing also allows it to have good neutral coverage with its STAB moves alone and perform as a switch-in to most Fake Out + Extreme Speed users; however, the prevalence of Scrappy Fake Out + Extreme Speed users such as Mega Lopunny and Stoutland makes it more difficult for Gengar to stay on the field for long periods of time. Sadly, Gengar has terrible 60 / 60 / 75 bulk, meaning that it will get KOed from almost any neutral hit. Not only that, it is extremely predictable, as it will always either attack or use its utility move. Gengar's Speed tier isn't the most impressive in a metagame where priority and Choice Scarf users are common; however, base 110 Speed lets Gengar outspeed non-Choice Scarf Keldeo and Landorus-T, as well as unboosted Kyurem-B, and Speed tie with Latios and Latias. Additionally, Gengar has the ability to run a coverage move such as Focus Blast to take care of a plethora of Pokemon that resist its STAB moves. It can also run a utility move, giving it some variety depending on what its team needs. Overall, Gengar faces little to no competition thanks to the lack of any other offensive Ghost-types in the STABmons metagame.
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc