Mega Gengar Counter

[Zaiato]

Not sure if this is the right section for this but I need to know what counters this pokemon I was thinking Alakazam or mega Alakazam a guy at my local tournaments thinks he is god or something because he has the super charged Gengar he got through wonder trades he gave it a mega stone and now he is on a winning streak I just need some help taking him down.

 

[Nah]

Mega Alakazam is a good check, but isn't a counter. It can't switch into anything Mega Gengar throws around. You get it into the field safely though, and it can kill it. Mega Kangaskhan can also check it to some degree because of Sucker Punch.

It's a bit difficult to counter Mega Gengar because of Shadow Tag and it getting perfect neutral coverage between Shadow Ball+Focus Blast. If nothing is banned at your tournament, Kyogre works alright as a counter. It's only 3HKO'd by the attacks Mega Gengar commonly runs, and has a high chance of OHKOing with Surf. Ho-oh can also tank its moves and deal plenty of damage back. Actually, Ho-oh works pretty well:

Ho-oh w/Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 72 Attack, 180 Sp.Defense
Moves: Sacred Fire, Roost/Recover, Substitute, Earthquake/Brave Bird

 

[Brendino]

Hey Zaiato, I'm just going to move your question over to our Battle Center forum, since Pokemon General doesn't deal with any topics relating specifically to the games.

MOVED.

 

[Onicon]

It depends on the format, really; In 6v6 Singles you can't counter Gengar in practise because it picks its opponent. Any kind of team that relies heavily on switching is suspectible to Perish Song, anything that is slower is suspectible to Destiny Bond. Probably the only kind of style that is mostly unaffected by it is Hyper Offense with emphasis on priority.

We recommend something like the popular Double Bird. You utilize a powerful Flying type SD-MegaPinsir or CB-Staraptor until the opponent is able to wall you with something like Rotom-W, break it, then clean up nicely with Talonflame. Pinsir needs to forgo SD when dealing with Gengar, but a Return + Quick Attack will kill it any time. Talonflame can straight up SD and Brave Bird it. SD-Scizor is another nice choice that can OHKO it at +2. None of them is a counter but a hyper offensive team should apply enough pressure that it rarely becomes a point. However, all of them require Life Orbs, so start farming points when you want to use it.

About Mega-Alakazam: There isn't much point in using it. Focus Sash Alakazam is more versatile, Life Orb Alakazam is more powerful and in Uber Mewtwo-Y is stonger, bulkier and still faster than almost anything else. Its hidden ability is just too good to pass.

 

[Zaiato]

Mega Alakazam is a good check, but isn't a counter. It can't switch into anything Mega Gengar throws around. You get it into the field safely though, and it can kill it. Mega Kangaskhan can also check it to some degree because of Sucker Punch.

It's a bit difficult to counter Mega Gengar because of Shadow Tag and it getting perfect neutral coverage between Shadow Ball+Focus Blast. If nothing is banned at your tournament, Kyogre works alright as a counter. It's only 3HKO'd by the attacks Mega Gengar commonly runs, and has a high chance of OHKOing with Surf. Ho-oh can also tank its moves and deal plenty of damage back. Actually, Ho-oh works pretty well:

Ho-oh w/Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP, 72 Attack, 180 Sp.Defense
Moves: Sacred Fire, Roost/Recover, Substitute, Earthquake/Brave Bird

If I remember correctly he uses Hypnosis Dream Eater Shadow Ball and I cant remember his 4th all he does is hypnosis the shadow ball how can you counter if he always goes first and always hits with sleep?

 

[Onicon]

If I remember correctly he uses Hypnosis Dream Eater Shadow Ball and I cant remember his 4th all he does is hypnosis the shadow ball how can you counter if he always goes first and always hits with sleep?

Really? Hypnosis? Dream Eater?

Anyway, you almost got us. We though it would be something like Perish Song and/or Destiny Bond, that would be something to be scared of. In that case its only threatening moves are Shadow Ball and that mysterious last move it has not used. It can be either Focus Blast, Sludge Bomb or Thunderbolt.
Forget Thunderbolt because it does not offer any notable coverage. Scizor is a good check either way. Try to revenge kill it with a Choice Band Scizor. When you can come in safely, just Pursuit; it is a OHKO regardless of him switching or not. When the last move is Sludge Bomb, then Tyranitar, Ferrothorn and Bisharp steamroll Gengar into oblivion.

 

[Zaiato]

Really? Hypnosis? Dream Eater?

Anyway, you almost got us. We though it would be something like Perish Song and/or Destiny Bond, that would be something to be scared of. In that case its only threatening moves are Shadow Ball and that mysterious last move it has not used. It can be either Focus Blast, Sludge Bomb or Thunderbolt.
Forget Thunderbolt because it does not offer any notable coverage. Scizor is a good check either way. Try to revenge kill it with a Choice Band Scizor. When you can come in safely, just Pursuit; it is a OHKO regardless of him switching or not. When the last move is Sludge Bomb, then Tyranitar, Ferrothorn and Bisharp steamroll Gengar into oblivion.

Yes well that sounds good but with its maxed speed he always goes first so it goes like this hypnosis sleep for minimum 2 turns while being shadow balled how can I out speed Gengar to stop the hypnosis loop and Im sorry for the weird question Im still a noob and this is giving me trouble. I though Mega Alakazam would be faster so I could kill him before hypnosis.

 

[Nah]

Yes well that sounds good but with its maxed speed he always goes first so it goes like this hypnosis sleep for minimum 2 turns while being shadow balled how can I out speed Gengar to stop the hypnosis loop and Im sorry for the weird question Im still a noob and this is giving me trouble. I though Mega Alakazam would be faster so I could kill him before hypnosis.

What Onicon is saying is that outside of outspeeding Mega Gengar, Mega Alakazam is generally not as useful as regular Alakazam because regular Alakazam has Magic Guard and can hold an item that isn't a mega stone. And this guy's reliance on Hypnosis is a bit of a waste of Mega Gengar's capabilities. 60% accuracy isn't a reliable strategy, and the missing coverage move can really bite him.

Also, Mega Mewtwo Y has Insomnia as its ability and outspeeds Mega Gengar (and is very powerful), so that's a good check too.

 

[Zaiato]

What Onicon is saying is that outside of outspeeding Mega Gengar, Mega Alakazam is generally not as useful as regular Alakazam because regular Alakazam has Magic Guard and can hold an item that isn't a mega stone. And this guy's reliance on Hypnosis is a bit of a waste of Mega Gengar's capabilities. 60% accuracy isn't a reliable strategy, and the missing coverage move can really bite him.

Also, Mega Mewtwo Y has Insomnia as its ability and outspeeds Mega Gengar (and is very powerful), so that's a good check too.

Thank you all for the help but I try not to use legendarys I think there a bit cheap my opinion but I wish I could get a magic guard Alakazam but I have a hard time with hidden abilities.

 

[Nah]

Thank you all for the help but I try not to use legendarys I think there a bit cheap my opinion but I wish I could get a magic guard Alakazam but I have a hard time with hidden abilities.

Regular Alakazam can't take out Mega Gengar because of the speed. Onicon did provide some good ideas though; its probably best to go hyper offensive on his ass with priority attackers, particularly Scizor and Bisharp. Especially if he doesn't have Focus Blast. If he lacks Focus Blast, its so much easier to deal with it.

 

[MoxieInfinite]

Regular Alakazam is better than Mega Alakazam.

Hypnosis + Dream Eater is a terrible strategy considering Hypnosis' bad accuracy and Sleep Clause.

Legendaries are in no way cheap, and Mega Gengar is way cheaper.

Back to topic. Mega Gengar has no counter. A well buildt team has designed his Mega Gengar to deal with whatever Pokemon/Tactic that worries the original team. You struggle with Ferrothorn? Use M-Gengar with HP Fire. You struggle with cleric Xerneas? Use M-Gengar with Sludge Wave. You hate support Arceus defoging your hazards away? Use M-Gengar with Taunt, or use CM Gothitelle. Mega Gengar is fantastic on hyper-offense, and it can deal with pretty much whatever you want it to deal with.

 

[Dark Azelf]

Assault Vest Goodra (or even Sp.Def Rest Talk Goodra or Rain Dance/Rest Hydration Goodra) seems to be your best friend here. Talonflame can also outspeed and OHKO with Brave Bird thanks to Gale Wings. Specially bulky Rest Talkers like Milotic also do amazingly well against it.

Milotic@Leftovers
252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Sp.Def
Calm Nature
Trait: Marvel Scale
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Toxic / Dragon Tail /Ice Beam

Timid Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs this spread: 29.2% - 34.5%

Only thing you need to be careful is Thunderbolt but lol who runs Thunderbolt?

 

[brenegade]

My life orb protean Greninja just dark pulses him :)

 

[Onicon]

My life orb protean Greninja just dark pulses him :)

Greninja isn't even a check. Mega-Gengar easily outspeeds Greninja and OHKOs it with Focus Blast. Even Sludge Bomb is a OHKO 75% of the time after SR. The only time Greninja checks Gengar is when it has not evolved which will not happen because those kind of Gengars almost always mega-evolve right away.

 

[LuckyLucario2000]

You'll want something that can outspeed Gengar and still take at least one hit from him. My shiny Lucario knows Crunch, which is a great counter to Special sweeping monstrosities like Alakazam and Gengar. But it's a double edge sword. Gengar and Alakazam have dreadful defense and special defense. But if they hit you, there's a good chance they'll 1HKO you too.

The only way I think you could 1HKO them is if you got a fair switch in, so one of your Pokemon would have to die for you to outspeed Gengar M or the pokemon you're using to take them out would have to be first in your party.

That or you could use a normal tanky Pokemon, if normal is still immune to ghost this gen. I'm kinda new to competitive battling though. :\ I did hear Gengar M got banned on smogon if you guys use those rulesets.

 

[srinator]

best mega gengar counter?
imo dragonite

fe (Dragonite) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance

252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 80-95 (24.6 - 29.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 90-106 (27.7 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Mega Gengar Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 40-47 (12.3 - 14.5%) -- possible 7HKO
252 SpA Mega Gengar Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 60-71 (18.5 - 21.9%) -- possible 5HKO

it is very unlikely but if it does carry hp ice
252 SpA Mega Gengar Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 160-190 (49.3 - 58.6%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Mega Gengar Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 107-127 (33 - 39.1%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO


also earthquake is a 100% ohko

 

[Gible]

I'd recommend Bisharp with Swords Dance and Sucker Punch/Foul Play. Bisharp is immune to poison (Sludge Bomb/Sludge Wave/Toxic) and is immune against Dream Eater. Against an offensive set Mega Gengar, Sucker Punch does the job. Against a Perish Song set, Foul Play does more than enough during the turn Perish Song is used.

 

[Master Kavar]

Hey there I think alakazam too because he is a great special attacker

Alakazam / w alakazamrite
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: mild
Move set:
Psychic
Calm mind
Reflect
Disable

 

[Master Kavar]

Hey there I think alakazam too because he is a great special attacker

Alakazam / w alakazamrite
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: mild
Move set:
Psychic
Calm mind
Reflect
Disable

Sp.atk 252 / sp.def 252 / speed 4

 

[PlatinumDude]

You'll want something that can outspeed Gengar and still take at least one hit from him. My shiny Lucario knows Crunch, which is a great counter to Special sweeping monstrosities like Alakazam and Gengar. But it's a double edge sword. Gengar and Alakazam have dreadful defense and special defense. But if they hit you, there's a good chance they'll 1HKO you too.

The only way I think you could 1HKO them is if you got a fair switch in, so one of your Pokemon would have to die for you to outspeed Gengar M or the pokemon you're using to take them out would have to be first in your party.

That or you could use a normal tanky Pokemon, if normal is still immune to ghost this gen. I'm kinda new to competitive battling though. :\ I did hear Gengar M got banned on smogon if you guys use those rulesets.

Normal is still immune to Ghost.

And Lucario is a somewhat shaky check, as Mega Gengar still outspeeds it, even in Mega form; it's outright KOed by Focus Blast and Crunch doesn't OHKO Mega Gengar. The best Lucario can do against Mega Gengar is if the latter is weakened enough.

252+ Atk Lucario Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gengar: 206-244 (78.6 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO