Competitive Information for Gastly [Sword/Shield]
Ghost / Poison
Abilities:
Note: Pokemon with the Levitate ability are immune to Ground attacks.
Movesets for Singles
What is a good competitive moveset for Gastly? These builds have been optimized for Pokemon competing in Sword/Shield 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 Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Gastly is a remarkable Ghost and Poison-typed Pokemon. Gastly is not a Pokemon anyone usually expects sees on the battlefield. Gastly is weak to Dark, Ghost, Ground, and Psychic-typed attacks.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball / Hex
- Foul Play
- Energy Ball
Special Sweeper Gastly (Levitate)
Gastly is a wonderful Special Sweeper for single battles. This moveset is designed to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Choice Specs will increase the damage of Gastly's special moves by 1.5x but will lock you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Gastly's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Gastly is immune to damaging Ground-typed moves (except Thousand Arrows). Levitate also makes Gastly unaffected by the effects of Spikes, Arena Trap, Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web, Rototiller or terrain effects. Keep in mind that Ingrain, Gravity, Smack down and the Iron ball item will nullify Levitate's effect.
◆ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison 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).
◆ Hex is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Ghost-type move (power doubles if the target has a status ailment).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
◆ Energy Ball is a special 90-base power Grass-type move (10% chance to lower the target's special defense by 1 stage).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/is10a5c
Movesets for Doubles
What is a good doubles moveset for Gastly? These builds have been optimized for Sword/Shield 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 Sword/Shield generation metagame.
Item: Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball / Hex
- Foul Play
Doubles Special Sweeper Gastly (Levitate)
Gastly is a fabulous Special Sweeper for double battles. It's primary goal is to take down the opponent's team with high-damaging special attacks. Choice Specs will increase the damage of Gastly's special moves by 1.5x but will lock you into the first move you pick. Life Orb boosts the power of Gastly's damaging moves by 1.3x but it then loses 1/10 its max HP immediately after the attack. With Levitate, Gastly is immune to damaging Ground-typed moves (except Thousand Arrows). Levitate also makes Gastly unaffected by the effects of Spikes, Arena Trap, Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web, Rototiller or terrain effects. Keep in mind that Ingrain, Gravity, Smack down and the Iron ball item will nullify Levitate's effect.
◆ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison the target).
◆ Dazzling Gleam is a special 80-base power Fairy-type move (no additional effect. Hits adjacent foes).
◆ 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).
◆ Hex is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Ghost-type move (power doubles if the target has a status ailment).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id10a5c
Item: Focus Sash / Poison Barb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
EVs: 136 Hp / 80 Def / 252 SpA / 40 SpD
Moveset:
- Sludge Wave / Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball / Hex
- Foul Play
- Trick Room
Offensive Trick Room Gastly (Levitate)
Gastly is pretty popular Offensive Trick Room for single battles. Focus Sash helps protect Gastly from being one-shotted and allowing it to atleast use a crucial move when brought out. With Levitate, Gastly is immune to damaging Ground-typed moves (except Thousand Arrows). Levitate also makes Gastly unaffected by the effects of Spikes, Arena Trap, Toxic Spikes, Sticky Web, Rototiller or terrain effects. Keep in mind that Ingrain, Gravity, Smack down and the Iron ball item will nullify Levitate's effect. With a Poison Barb equipped to it, Gastly's poison-type attacks have 1.2x power.
◆ Sludge Bomb is a special STAB-boosted 90-base power Poison-type move (30% chance to poison 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).
◆ Hex is a special STAB-boosted 65-base power Ghost-type move (power doubles if the target has a status ailment).
◆ Foul Play is a physical 95-base power Dark-type move (uses target's attack stat in damage calculation).
◆ Trick Room is a status move (goes last. For 5 turns, turn order is reversed).
Link (click to copy):
https://hohoushome.com/b/id11a5c
Movepool
Wondering what moves can Gastly 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 Gastly can perform in Sword/Shield. 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 SS Move and Ability Combos for Gastly
- Moves: Swagger + Foul play
- Moves: Swagger + Psych up
- Moves: Psych up + Haze
- Moves: Rain dance + Thunder
- Moves: Rest + Sleep talk
- Moves: Rest + Snore
- Moves: Perish song + Protect
- Moves: Pain split + Toxic
- Moves: Pain split + Will-o-wisp
- Move: Swagger + Item: Mirror Herb
- Move: Facade + Item: Flame Orb
- Move: Facade + Item: Toxic Orb
- Item: Blunder Policy + Move: Zap Cannon
- Moves with Priority: Endure, Protect, Sucker Punch, Ally Switch
- Moves that inflict status (and combo with the move Hex): Toxic, Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp
Moves that boost Gastly's stats
- Curse
Most notable and possible best moves for Gastly
- Destiny Bond
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Rest
- Taunt
- Toxic
Common Effort Values for Gastly in Sword and Shield
- Adamant Nature ( 0/252/0/0/0/252 )
- Modest Nature ( 0/0/0/252/0/252 )
- Optimize Gastly's EV spread for Pokemon Sword and Shield
Related Videos
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