Old Gens [RBY OU] Gengar

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emma

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Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Night Shade
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion

Lead Gengar is nothing new to the RBY OU metagame, but its ability to force out lead Starmie is! Historically, Gengar has always been immediately forced out by Starmie due to Starmie's higher base Speed and STAB Psychic that almost always OHKOes Gengar if it lands a critical hit. Since lead Gengar always switches out, lead Starmie players started opening with Blizzard or switching to Exeggutor to get the upper hand against the likely incoming Chansey. However, in the most recent edition of Smogon Premier League, we have seen Gengar players take advantage of this by staying in and using Hypnosis or Thunderbolt against Starmie or the incoming Exeggutor to gain a massive advantage early on. While nothing has fundamentally changed about Gengar's set, this new way to utilize it tears open massive holes in the early-game and gives the user a huge advantage right off the bat. Outside of this new trick, Gengar is still a strong choice in RBY OU as the fastest viable sleep inducer and lone usable Ghost-type, which lets it switch into Body Slam, Hyper Beam, and Explosion from enemy Tauros and Snorlax.

Check out lead Gengar flipping the lead Starmie matchup on its head in replays from SPL XIII:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-600424
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-602540
 
Last edited:
add remove conjecture
Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Night Shade
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion

Lead Gengar is nothing new to the RBY OU metagame, but its ability to force out lead Starmie is! Historically, Gengar has always been immediately threatened forced out by Starmie because of its due to Starmie's higher base Speed and STAB Psychic that almost always OHKOes Gengar if Starmie it lands a critical hit. Since lead Gengar is always switching always switches out, lead Starmie players have started clicking using Blizzard or switching to Exeggutor to get the upper hand against the likely incoming Chansey. However, in the most recent edition of Smogon Premier League, we have seen Gengar players take advantage of this by staying in and clicking using Hypnosis or Thunderbolt against Starmie or the incoming Exeggutor and to gain a massive advantage early on. While nothing has fundamentally changed about Gengar's set, this new way to utilize it has torn tears open massive holes early in the game and given in the early-game and gives the user a huge advantage right off the bat. Outside of this new trick, Gengar is still a strong choice in RBY OU as the fastest viable sleep inducer and lone usable Ghost-type, which lets it switch into Body Slam, Hyper Beam, and Explosion from enemy Tauros and Snorlax.

Check out lead Gengar flipping the lead Starmie matchup on its head in replays from SPL XIII:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-600424
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-602540
GP 1/1!

cRqvJU2.gif


GP Team done
 
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