Liepard Gengar

 Analysis

I began experimenting with Liepard Gengar almost immediately after XY came out. My idea was to use Fake Tears, Fake Out, and Encore support from Liepard coupled with Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb from Mega Gengar’s huge Special Attack stat. As I continued testing on Showdown and eventually wifi, it occurred to me that if I used Disable on Mega Gengar, I would be able to Prankster Encore any move and then immediately disable it with Gengar. With this revelation, I expected I would be unbeatable. I got the Pokemon in game and proceeded to battle spot to claim my place at the top. However, in practice I noticed a fundamental error. The combo was extraordinarily weak to offensive Pokemon. And the state of the current Metagame is extremely offensive. I was often forced to rely on my prediction rather than my team, which was the reverse of what I expected to happen. Random scarf Pokemon caught me off guard and lost me games immediately with no chance of recovery. Smart players saw through my tricks and did major damage without me being able to respond. Even struggle from Mega Kangaskhan does a lot of damage. Despite being able to play around sucker punch with Gengar, I grew less and less enthralled in Liepard Gengar and eventually dropped them from my team. I think a large flaw in the theory is that because Liepard is so well known in what it does, specifically in Encore, it forces opponents to not protect or use defensive moves in order to not be rendered useless by Encore. This is precisely the opposite of what Liepard was intended to do, forcing them to play more offensively because it works so well when facing defensive strategies. Furthermore, Shadow Tag actually lessens skill because opponents lose the possibility of switching, whereas without shadow tag an opponent could choose to protect one turn and switch the other, which good playing could punish by not using Encore on the switch turn. The worst part about Liepard Gengar is the fact that usage has become widespread and is no longer an interesting, unpopular strategy. I ran into 3 opponents on Battle Spot in a row with Liepard Gengar and decided it was likely time to retire it. It is absolutely an interesting theory, and I am sure with the right support it could work far better than I was able to utilize, but in terms of combos that are able to break apart a majority of the Metagame, it is just a little too slow and a little too frail.

-Wolfe

EV Spreads and Moves

  Liepard @ Focus Sash/Safety Goggles

 Trait: Prankster

EVs: 132 Def / 124 SDef / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Fake Tears/Charm

- Encore

- Taunt/Snarl

- Fake Out

Other options include but are not limited to: Captivate, Foul Play, Growl, Knock Off, Pursuit, Rain Dance, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Yawn

The given EV's maximize overall bulk and should be a decent starting point for anyone who wishes to experiment with Liepard. Depending on the team Liepard is used on, and the support of the team as a whole, more EV's can be dedicated to surviving one end of the spectrum. More details in the individual analysis.

 

Gengar (F) @ Gengarite

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 60 HP / 20 Def / 220 SAtk / 4 SDef / 204 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Shadow Ball

- Sludge Bomb/Perish Song

- Disable/WoW

- Protect

 Other Options include: Dazzling Gleam, Destiny Bond, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Substitute, Trick Room

The EV's in this scenario provide enough speed to outpace timid Greninja 100 percent of the time after mega-evolving. The spread also outpaces scarf Tyranitar and Abomasnow, which is essential. The defensive EV's are given to survive adamant Talonflame's Life Orb boosted Brave Bird 13/16 times before an intimidate drop. The Spread was also designed to take Adamant Tyranitar Crunch 15/16 times after an intimidate. The remaining EV's were placed into Special Attack. Additional Special Attack can be removed if Talonflame is a primary concern.