Ghost-Type Team

[Thergox]

Okay, I'm sort of new to competitive battling with /real/ people, but I am at least a veteran of sorts to Pokemon as a whole. Since X and Y have a really open and helpful internet stream (Thank you, 3DS), I've been sucked into the idea of designing a Ghost-Type team (Call it affinity or obsession) and throwing it in competitively.

I need quite a lot of help, especially from experts, about what sorts of items my Pokemon will need, what sorts of natures and characteristics they ought to have, and just if it will work at all. Maybe even a few fighting sessions, if anyone is interested in that. So far, my team consists of:

Aegislash
- Iron Head
- King's Shield
- Shadow Claw
- Sacred Sword

Golurk
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Shadow Punch
- Hammer Arm

Gengar (With Gengarite)
- Hypnosis
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Dark Pulse

Chandelure (Not fully ready)
- Energy Ball
- Hex
- Flame Burst
- Inferno

That's what I actually have. I hope to throw in Jellicent as an anti-dragon and Dusknoir as a tank (Though I have no shortage there with Aegislash and Golurk) once Pokemon Bank is ready. I have a few battle strategies that have never failed me when battling with friends (Aegislash's King's Shield + Gengar's levitate + Golurk's Earthquake = easy sweeping), but that is only with friends, and that strategy won't always work.

Please let me know of your thoughts, and thanks for taking your time to help me!

 

[Nah]

Fer singles, right?

Hex is a slightly gimmicky and unreliable thing to use, since its dependent on the opponent being statused, which might not always happen. And the way you have to inflict status effects is not very reilable at all (Hypnosis and Inferno are not accurate). Shadow Ball is generally the better attack here.

For Chandelure, this is a better set than what you got:

-Chandelure w/Choice Scarf
Nature: Modest
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
Moves: Fire Blast, Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Fighting (if its Hidden Power isn't Fighting, Ground works ok too. If its not that either, throw in Psychic or something)

And Gengar:
-Gengar w/Gengarite
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate ---->Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
Moves: Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Destiny Bond, Focus Blast

Jellicent is a good Ghost type to add to your team for sure.
-Jellicent w/Leftovers
Nature: Bold/Calm
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defense or Special Defense (depending on which way you want it to go), 4 Special Attack
Moves: Scald, Will-o-Wisp/Toxic, Recover, Shadow Ball/Hex (Hex works in this case because Jellicent has a better way to status the enemy and can take hits unlike Gengar and Chandelure)

And I think Golurk gets Shadow Sneak? If it does, replace Shadow Punch with that; Golurk's slow, so its a nice way to get the jump on weakned enemies.

Not entirely sure what to do with your last slot...

 

[Dark Azelf]

If you are playing competitive, Gengarite is banned, unless you are playing ubers.

Also you are going to want something to beat Dark and foe ghost pokes. As im sure you're aware, they utterly ruin you.

 

[trainer swil]

If you are playing competitive, Gengarite is banned, unless you are playing ubers.

Also you are going to want something to beat Dark and foe ghost pokes. As im sure you're aware, they utterly ruin you.

Gengarite is still legal in VGC format, depends what you intend to play. Most people follow smogon, except when preparing for official VGC matches.

 

[Nah]

Like Dark Azelf said, you need something to deal with opposing Dark and Ghost types (now I know what to do with your last slot). Unfortunately, on an all Ghost team, there's not a whole lot you can do about that. Spiritomb and Sableye are the only Ghosts that are not weak to Dark or Ghost (since they're part Dark themselves). So try one of those.

 

[Thergox]

Thank you all, especially to Zekrom for that very detailed run through. Dark types are the entire reason why I've been trying to suit my Pokemon up with fighting type moves, though dark moves are very common in any type so simply beating things in with Hammer Arm and Sacred Sword won't always work. Hex has only sat around in my attack slots because (For some reason) Shadow Ball and sorts have not appeared. Considering Ghost types are very good at throwing statuses on things, I figured it might be beneficial, especially since it rarely fails in wiping out anything whenever I battle. However, it is something I will gladly get rid of in place for other attacks.

I'll see about getting a Spritomb somewhere, as well. I appreciate all of you coming to help!

 

[Nah]

If you need the TM for Shadow Ball (TM 30), its in Terminus Cave. IDK where exactly in there, but that's where you'll find it.

 

[Thergox]

Excellent! Thank you, again, Zekrom.

 

[PlatinumDude]

EVs would totally be appreciated here.

I second what everyone else said. For Aegislash, King's Shield is relatively easy to play around, and a physical King's Shield set leaves it helpless against bulky Ground Pokemon like Donphan and Hippowdon. A mixed King's Shield set helps it deal with them. Aegislash can also choose not to opt for King's Shield to act as an offensive pivot:
-King's Shield
-Shadow Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head/Sacred Sword
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SAtk
Item: Leftovers

or
-Swords Dance
-Autotomize
-Shadow Claw
-Iron Head/Sacred Sword
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 88 HP/252 Atk/168 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Shadow Ball
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head
-Sacred Sword
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SAtk
Item: Life Orb/Spooky Plate/Spell Tag

or
-Swords Dance
-King's Shield/Shadow Claw
-Shadow Sneak
-Iron Head/Sacred Sword
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Autotomize
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power (Ice)
-Iron Head/Sacred Sword
Nature: Rash
EVs: 88 Atk/252 SAtk/168 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy

 

[Nah]

That makes me think, we still haven;t given you sets for Golurk; all the other Pokes have a set listed but that one. So:

-Golurk w/Choice Band or Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Speed (this probably works better than Smogon's EV spread because you're doing tier-less WiFi battles)
Moves: Shadow Punch, Ice Punch/Thunder Punch, Earthquake, Drain Punch

Note that Drain Punch, Thunder Punch, and Ice Punch are all Black2/White2 move tutor moves. If you can't get those moves on a Golurk, then your current moveset will do.

You can also try this for the lulz:

-Golurk w/Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Speed
Moves: Substitute, Focus Punch, Earthquake, Shadow Punch/Drain Punch

 

[Thergox]

These are excellent :) Some things are still a little difficult for me to catch and understand (I can see how "Choice" things are helpful, but their restriction of one move is slightly irritating) but much of the help you are offering me is wonderful and easy to put into action. Golurk, of course, is going to take some time to figure out, considering I don't have Black/White 2 (Though that move set sounds killer). . .

Aegislash is an interesting case. The move set I have now is really helpful -- I can King's Shield away any threats and enable some defense when I need it and put it away at a whim, and such things as Sacred Sword can batter away any Dark types coming my way. However, I can understand that some special moves would be needed in case something huge gets in my way, so I'll tag something out with one of your suggestions.

Oh, yes, that said -- would Shadow Sneak be a better move for my slower Pokemon, or should I keep something with more punch? I've always found Shadow Sneak excellent whenever I need to take out something before it has the chance to knock me out, but things such as Shadow Claw seem to eat things alive.

 

[Nah]

I think the only things on your team that can learn Shadow Sneak are Aegislash and Spiritomb (if you're using one). Niether of them absolutely has to have it (some of their sets use it, some don't, so it depends on what set they're using), but it can be nice.

 

[Thergox]

All right. Thanks for the input, everybody!