Competitive Information for Gengar [Diamond/Pearl]


Ghost / Poison
Abilities:
Note: Pokemon with the Levitate ability are immune to Ground attacks.
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Gengar? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Diamond/Pearl Single Battles. The movesets and EVs have been specifically calibrated to deal the most amount of damage to the largest group of potentially common opponents and typing threats for the Diamond/Pearl generation metagame.
Gengar is an outstanding Ghost and Poison-typed Pokemon. It's normal to see Gengar show up as a Diamond/Pearl opponent. Gengar can usually be found in the OU tier (Overused). Gengar is weak to Dark, Ghost, Ground, and Psychic-typed attacks.
Item: Life Orb / Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
Special Sweeper Gengar (Popular/Trending)
Gengar is a fabulous Special Sweeper. It was designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Life Orb boosts the power of Gengar's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Substitute is a status move (Gengar takes 1/4 its max hp to put in a substitute).
♦ Will-O-Wisp is a status move (burns the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/es10a5e
Item: Focus Sash / Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 92 Hp / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Moveset:
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball / Ominous Wind
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Special Sweeper Gengar (Levitate)
Gengar is an outstanding Special Sweeper. This moveset is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Gengar from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Choice Specs will increase the damage of Gengar's special moves by 1.5x but will lock you into the first move you pick. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Ominous Wind is a special STAB-boosted 60-base power Ghost-type move (10% chance to raise all stats by 1 stage (not acc/eva)).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 95-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
♦ Psychic is a special 90-base power Psychic-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/es11a5e
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball / Taunt
- Substitute
- Disable
Gengar Special Sweeper (Oppa Gengar Style)
Gengar is a remarkable Special Sweeper. This moveset attempts to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Gengar last longer regaining it's stamina every turn. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it. The goal of this build is so once they've taken down your Substitute, Disable ruins the move that likely had the best chance of getting Gengar out of the way. Substitute is to give you a buffer against Paralysis, Pursuit users, and make Disable far easier to pull off. It also helps ruin mono-attacking walls (such as Ferrothorn, Blissey, Chansey, etc) and offensive Pokemon that only have one or two coverage moves. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast give Gengar perfect neutral coverage (with Shadow Ball getting a nice STAB) making it all the easier to either cripple an opponent by removing it's only method of Gengar annihilation or KOing them with a powerful attack that is going to hit them for either normally effective or super effective damage.
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Taunt is a status move (for 3-5 turns, the target can't use status moves).
♦ Substitute is a status move (Gengar takes 1/4 its max hp to put in a substitute).
♦ Disable is a status move (for 4-7 turns, disables the target's last move).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/es12a5e
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Mild (+SpA, -Def)
EVs: 57 Hp / 213 Atk / 240 SpA
Moveset:
- Focus Blast
- Mean Look
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Gengar Mixed Tank (Gastly Evil)
Gengar is popular Mixed Tank. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Gengar last longer regaining it's life every turn. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Mean Look is a status move (prevents the target from switching out).
♦ Toxic is a status move (badly poisons the target).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 95-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/es13a5e
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 152 Def / 252 SpA / 104 SpD
Moveset:
- Confuse Ray
- Dream Eater
- Hypnosis
- Toxic / Shadow Ball
Gengar Special Tank (Status Offender*)
Gengar is a remarkable Special Tank. It's primary goal is to take a hefty amount of hits from special attacks while dealing some decent damage. Leftovers are always a great recovery option to ensure Gengar last longer regaining it's it's life every turn. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Dream Eater is a special 100-base power Psychic-type move (Gengar gains 1/2 hp inflicted. sleeping target only).
♦ Hypnosis is a status move (causes the target to fall asleep).
♦ Toxic is a status move (badly poisons the target).
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/es14a5e
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Gengar? These builds have been optimized for Diamond/Pearl Double Battles. They have movesets and EVs specifically calibrated to generally work best versus multiple Pokemon at once as well as helping to support other team members and allys in the Diamond/Pearl generation metagame.
Item: Focus Sash / Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 92 Hp / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Moveset:
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball / Ominous Wind
- Icy Wind
- Thunderbolt
Doubles Special Sweeper Gengar (Levitate)
Gengar is a fabulous Special Sweeper. It is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Focus Sash helps protect Gengar from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. Choice Specs will increase the damage of Gengar's special moves by 1.5x but will lock you into the first move you pick. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Ominous Wind is a special STAB-boosted 60-base power Ghost-type move (10% chance to raise all stats by 1 stage (not acc/eva)).
♦ Icy Wind is a special 55-base power Ice-type move (100% chance to lower the foes speed by 1 stage).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 95-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/ed10a5e
Item: Focus Sash / Poison Barb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 220 Hp / 36 Def / 252 SpA
Moveset:
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball / Ominous Wind
- Thunderbolt
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Gengar (Levitate)
Gengar is a remarkable Offensive Trick Room. Focus Sash helps protect Gengar from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Levitate, Gengar is immune to ground; gravity/ingrain/smack down/iron ball nullify it.
♦ Shadow Ball is a special STAB-boosted 80-base power Ghost-type move (20% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
♦ Ominous Wind is a special STAB-boosted 60-base power Ghost-type move (10% chance to raise all stats by 1 stage (not acc/eva)).
♦ Thunderbolt is a special 95-base power Electric-type move (10% chance to paralyze the target).
♦ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. for 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/ed11a5e
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Gengar learn? Here is the list of moves this Pokemon can learn in this selected generation.
Sort and organize the learnset by move type, category, accuracy, and power. Bolded moves will gain the same-type attack bonus (STAB) if this Pokemon uses them.
Damage Modifiers:
Combo List
These are a list of several common move combinations Gengar can perform in Diamond/Pearl. Not every combo going to be game-changing, but some can be pretty fun to play with. Sometimes these can be easily overlooked or forgotten, hence why we find and list them here. Discover what items, abilities, and moves this Pokemon can use in combination with each other to gain a strategic advantage in competitive battles.
Competitive DP Move and Ability Combos for Gengar
- Moves: Swagger + Psych up
- Moves: Psych up + Haze
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Substitute + Drain punch
- Moves: Perish song + Protect
- Moves: Pain split + Toxic
- Moves: Pain split + Will-o-wisp
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Fling + Item: King's Rock
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Dynamic Punch
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Snatch, Sucker Punch
- Moves that Break Screens: Brick Break
- Moves that inflict status: Toxic, Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp
Moves that boost Gengar's stats
- Curse
- Ominous Wind
Most notable and possible best moves for Gengar
- Destiny Bond
- Explosion
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Fire
- Knock Off
- Pain Split
- Protect
- Psychic
- Rest
- Shadow Ball
- Sleep Talk
- Substitute
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
Common Effort Values for Gengar in Diamond and Pearl
- Timid Nature ( 0/0/0/252/4/252/ )
- Timid Nature ( 4/0/0/252/0/252/ )
- Optimize Gengar's EV spread for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
Related Videos
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Here are the best movesets for Gengar. Top rated Gengar Diamond/Pearl movesets. You can find Gengar builds Diamond/Pearl. Gengar movesets Diamond/Pearl are listed here. VGC Gengar Competitive Movesets can be found here. Find various EV spreads, find the best nature for Gengar in Diamond/Pearl along with competitive movesets. Basic info and Movesets for evolution