A Gastly past! Gengar through the ages!

Art by Litra.

Gengar, a creepy gassy ghost since 1995; the days where most of us were playing our Game Boy Color after school and getting creeped out by the music of Lavender Town. Who wouldn't be creeped out when they read its Pokédex entry? "Deep in the night, your shadow cast by a streetlight may suddenly overtake you. It is actually a GENGAR running past you, pretending to be your shadow."

One of Gengar's earliest appearances was in the first season of the Pokémon anime, episode 23. If you remember this episode, Gengar wanted nothing more than someone to play with in his very own playroom. You'd never think it would become one of the most feared Pokémon in the game, would you?

RBY

In the first generation of Pokémon, Gengar's main selling point was its immunity to Normal- and Fighting-type attacks; not only this but it also was one of the fastest Hypnosis users in the game. With good prediction, Gengar could switch into Explosion users and ruin their fun. Thanks to its high Speed and Special, Gengar made the likes of Kingler and Pinsir less viable, as it could take a hit or two and outspeed them easily. Running a set of Hypnosis, Explosion, Thunderbolt, and Mega Drain would at least provide it with decent coverage against most foes. Put things to sleep, hit the likes of Golem and Rhydon with Mega Drain, and Explode on anything that it can't hit with anything else. There's no wonder Agatha wanted to break Species Clause in the Elite Four!

Gengar: - Hypnosis; - Explosion; - Thunderbolt; - Mega Drain

GSC

A few years later, Game Freak introduced Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and along with it, a few surprises for Gengar. With the addition of Perish Song, Destiny Bond, and hold items like Leftovers, Gengar could take on a more "annoying" approach to battles. From here, Gengar became a very hard Pokémon to deal with; you had no idea what it was going to do! While most commonly seen running "BoltBeam" coverage in Ice Punch and Thunderbolt, a Perish Song set could send the likes of Snorlax on their way. If you check out Smogon's analysis for Gengar, you'll find the popular Perish Trapper set as shown below.

Gengar @ Leftovers: - Perish Song; - Mean Look; - Protect; - Thunderbolt

RSE

Next in the timeline comes Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. This is where things really got interesting: Gengar had now gained the ability to levitate! No longer was Gengar plagued with a weakness to the ever-so-common Earthquake. In addition to Levitate, this is the generation where natures and IVs became the new "thing". You wouldn't be seen dead with an Adamant 0 Speed Gengar, would you? The theme of "BoltBeam" continued well into this generation, hitting most of the metagame very very hard. Blissey started to show her fat pink behind in this generation, and this is where Gengar users started getting creative. The use of Focus Punch, Explosion, Taunt, and Perish Song started to gain popularity, and Gengar became more and more fearsome. Here's a set you can try if you really want to get on your opponent's nerves:

Gengar @ Leftovers: Ability: Levitate; EVs: 172 HP / 148 SpA / 188 Spe; Timid Nature; - Thunderbolt; - Ice Punch; - Will-O-Wisp; - Hypnosis

DPPt

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum were a blessing and a curse for our favorite little ghost. The physical / special split meant that Ice Punch was no longer viable on Gengar, and the likes of Scizor and Tyranitar were a lot more threatening because of Pursuit being physical. Instead of Ice Punch, Gengar opted for more offensive moves with good coverage, such as Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Fire, Explosion, and Focus Blast. Other moves such as Trick and Pain Split were Gengar's answer to the likes of Blissey and other defensive walls. New items also made an appearance in these games; Choice Scarf Gengar was a monster of a revenge killer, while Life Orb gave it that little extra "oomph". Another, massively important, aspect of this generation was the addition of numerous priority moves, such as Aqua Jet, Ice Shard, Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, and Bullet Punch. All of these moves made Gengar's life very difficult, especially with its dreadful Defense stat. In order to overcome this, Gengar had a trick or two up its sleeves: Substitute, which almost guaranteed Gengar a free hit if the opponent decided to switch, or Hidden Power Fire, to deal with a tier crawling with Scizor.

Gengar @ Life Orb: Ability: Levitate; EVs: 4HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe; Timid Nature; - Substitute; - Shadow Ball; - Focus Blast; - Pain Split

BW

In Pokémon Black and White, Gengar took on a whole new persona. Gone were the days of Gengar being an all-out offensive threat, gone were the days of "BoltBeam" combinations, and gone were the days of Gengar going boom; this is a whole new generation. Here, Gengar took on sets such as "SubSplit" and "SubDisable", using more of its support options and acting as a pivot rather than a threat. Again, Gengar was a great Pokémon to block Rapid Spin, but it definitely had its rival in Jellicent for the role. The idea behind the listed set is to burn Gengar's switch-in, stall for as long as possible, and run. Gengar struggled to do a lot more with the prevalence of Tyranitar and Jirachi in this generation. This isn't the only thing Gengar is useful for, though; it can use a massive variety of items, such as Choice Scarf, Life Orb, Choice Specs, and more.

Gengar @ Black Sludge: Ability: Levitate; EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe; Timid Nature; - Will-O-Wisp; - Shadow Ball; - Focus Blast; - Substitute

XY

In the games X and Y, Mega Stones were introduced, boosting the power of many already powerful Pokémon. In its Mega forme, Gengar's Special Attack rocketed to a whopping base 170—rivaling that of some top-tier Ubers. On top of the massive stat gains, Mega Gengar received Shadow Tag as its ability; and along with Gengar's great coverage, it was capable of destroying pretty much any threat in the tier, making way too broken for the standard OU metagame, and was voted uber. Back to normal, non-mega Gengar, it still continued to confuse opponents with its combination of offense and support. Not a lot has changed since the last generation. A common OU set would consist of:

Gengar @ Life Orb: Ability: Levitate; EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe; Timid Nature; - Shadow Ball; - Sludge Wave; - Focus Blast; - Taunt

SM

We are now in the seventh generation with Sun and Moon, and this time things haven't been too kind to our shadowy friend. Loss of its ability, Levitate, means it can no longer switch into Earthquake freely, and now it also has to suffer the pain of taking damage from Spikes as well. It isn't all bad, however, as Gengar can now absorb Toxic Spikes instead. Another new addition to these games is Psychic Terrain; this blocks any attempt to use priority moves to beat Gengar, which means it has a way better chance against the likes of Mega Scizor and Bisharp. Again, like in previous generations, Choice items, Life Orb, and Black Sludge will be seen in their dozens.

In conclusion, Gengar always has been, and always will be, a dangerous top tier threat. You can be sure to face one in battle and be sure to take some abuse from it.

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