Gengar is one of the strongest Ghost-type Pokemon in the franchise, and it was also one of the first Ghost-type Pokemon to be introduced in Generation 1. Fans love Gengar not only because it is a very cool Pokemon in design, but also because it is extremely powerful and has many different attacks that it can employ while battling other Pokemon.
Players that are looking for some of the best move sets should try some of these out because they will add a unique spin to the powerful and fan-favorite Ghost type. Gengar has a lot of potential, and these move sets will bring it front and center!
Updated on March 27th, 2023, by Jeff Drake: This article has been updated. This list will now only feature ten of the best move sets for Gengar, an often overlooked Pokemon, probably because it's a Generation 1 Pokemon. Power creep hasn't been much of an issue with the main Pokemon series, but it's still an issue since newer Pokemon always seem just a tiny bit better than the previous generation. Gengar, though, is one of the Generation 1 Pokemon that can contend with the newer Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet.
10 Giga Drain, Thunder, Hypnosis, Hex
This move set is centered around the Hex move, which is normally a so-so move. If the target has a major status ailment, Hex doubles in power to 130. Thunder is one of the best Electric-type moves, and has a 30% chance to Paralyze (major status ailment) the target.
Hypnosis also inflicts a major status ailment on the target, in this case, Sleep. This allows Gengar to deliver punishing attacks on an incapacitated opponent. Giga Drain is included as a means of healing Gengar. A good strategy is to put the opponent to sleep, hit them with Giga Drain, then repeat Hex until the Pokemon awakens.
9 Sludge Bomb, Toxic, Gunk Shot, Venoshock
Poison isn't a widely popular move type; this is mainly due to these moves being weaker than most other move types. The trade-off is that they have a chance of inflicting the Poison status ailment on the target. A poisoned Pokemon takes a small amount of damage every turn. It's often better to just take moves with a higher overall power score. When done right, however, Poison-type moves can be incredibly effective.
Toxic "badly poisons" the target. Badly poisoned Pokemon take increasing poison damage every turn. Sludge Bomb and Gunk Shot both deal extremely high amounts of damage and have a chance of poisoning the target. Venoshock does double damage (125 Power) when targetting a poisoned Pokemon.
8 Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Sucker Punch, Hyper Beam
This move set is a stable, reliable move set for Gengar. Shadow Ball and Sucker Punch are both moves with above-average power scores. Shadow Ball has a small (20%) chance of lowering the target's Special Defense by one stage. Sucker Punch is a high-priority move to ensure Gengar doesn't take one last hit before making the opponent faint.
Dazzling Gleam is one of the better moves for double and triple matches; it hits the target, and all Pokemon adjacent to the target. This attack acts as two or three attacks during double or triple matches. Hyper Beam is one of the best all-around damage-dealing moves in the series. It's included to make this move set capable of taking down even the toughest foe.
7 Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Curse, Destiny Bond
Putting the opponent to sleep almost guarantees a victory. It gives your Pokemon, generally, one to three turns of free attacks on the opponent. Hypnosis puts the opponent to sleep - if it hits. With an accuracy of 60, the chances of this happening are above average. Dream Eater is there to punish sleeping Pokemon.
Curse is an interesting move. When Ghost-types use it they sacrifice 50% of their maximum hit points to curse the enemy; this curse damages the target by 25% of it max hit points a turn. Destiny Bond is included just in case the curse turned out to be worse for Gengar than the opponent.
6 Curse, Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Giga Drain
Here's another move set that makes use of the Curse move. The problem with Curse is the loss of 50% of Gengar's hit points. This move set seeks to minimize this negative as much as possible. Giga Drain is an obvious choice, it does great damage and heals Gengar 50% of the damage dealt.
Dream Eater also heals the user 50% of the damage dealt, but hits much harder than Giga Drain - providing a better healing boost. The caveat is that Dream Eater must be used on a sleeping target. This is accomplished with the last move in this move set, Hypnosis.
5 Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Curse
This move set will give Gengar an attack that is more strategic than straight-up powerful; however; it will also allow Gengar to use three attacks that center around punching the enemy.
Moves such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch can be combined in a powerful combination that will allow for lots of different types of moves with one cool effect. Curse will also be indispensable when battling enemies that are weak towards these punch attacks.
4 Dark Pulse, Payback, Sucker Punch, Self-Destruct
This move set is the ultimate Dark-type arsenal for Gengar with an extra Self Destruct attack thrown into the mix just in case Gengar is not capable of taking down the enemy with Dark-type attacks alone.
Self Destruct deals a lot of damage; however, it will cause Gengar to faint, which could become troublesome if it is the last Pokemon in the trainer's party. The Dark-type attacks such as Dark Pulse will deal large amounts of damage and be very useful against creatures that are weak to Dark-type moves.
3 Rest, Destiny Bond, Curse, Shadow Ball
Gengar can utilize many different attacks within this move set and the most useful of which will be Rest and Shadow Ball. Shadow Ball will deal lots of damage, and Rest will heal the Pokemon back up to its full health.
However, Curse and Destiny Bond will also be interesting choices when attacking enemies that won't go down easily because they will deal lots of damage under certain conditions. If players are looking for a unique move set with attacks that can do lots of different things, then they should go with an arsenal such as this one.
2 Giga Drain, Phantom Force, Brick Break, Hypnosis
This move set for Gengar will add a diverse group of attacks that will use more than just the traditional Ghost-type attacks to damage enemies. One never knows what Pokemon a trainer will throw into battle. This move set allows Gengar to be prepared to face off against many types of Pokemon with success.
Giga Drain and Brick Break are moves that will change up the dynamic that usually develops as Gengar battles. Fans can also use Hypnosis to put Pokemon to sleep and Phantom Force to deal out lots of Ghost-type damage all at once.
1 Shadow Ball, Curse, Phantom Force, Toxic
Gengar is capable of many different varieties of Ghost-type attacks to take down Pokemon that are weak against the Ghost-type. Gengar is also a Poison-type Pokemon, which many players often forget, and as such Toxic will be an attack that will deal a lot of damage over the course of a battle.
This is a very powerful move set, and players should teach their Gengar Curse because it will deal a lot of damage at once under the right conditions. Phantom Force also deals a ton of damage at once, and Shadow Ball is one of the strongest Ghost-type moves in the franchise.