Battle Spot and You October: Halloween Party

Background and Rules

Last month, we ventured into the world of Fairies in Fairy Face-Off, the Battle Spot competition that limited players to the use of Fairy-type Pokémon. For October, the Battle Spot competition was known as Halloween Party, a walk through a haunted carnival that only permitted the use of Ghost-type Pokémon and the mandatory inclusion of a Gourgeist-XL on every team. During the competition, all Pokémon were level 50 and Rotom-A, Giratina, and non-Kalos-born Pokémon were disallowed.

Common Usage and Threats

Halloween Party was a singles format, and one could bring six Pokémon to the match, though only three were allowed to be chosen for battle. This format, like most Battle Spot tournaments, was fairly straightforward, with a shallow pool of Pokémon to choose from. This normally would lead to some threats making their presence known more prominently than the rest, but in the case of Halloween Party, most everything in the format would hit one another super effectively, so everything had the chance to shine. Regardless, there were some Ghost-types that proved to be more frightening than the rest.

Spiritomb

Spiritomb was a prominent threat in the metagame that had few, but dangerous, tools at its disposal. It's graced with Ghost / Dark typing, meaning that it was one of the only two Pokémon in the metagame that didn't take super effective damage from either Ghost- or Dark-type moves. It has a very decent base 92 Attack, as well as STAB Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak. As both of these hit every Pokémon in the metagame super effectively, aside from Sableye and other Spiritomb, many were left unprotected in the face of its powerful +1 priority STAB moves. While priority was what Spiritomb should've focused on first and foremost, its Special Attack is equally strong, and it has Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball to play with, if the team called for moves that hit a bit harder its priority ones. Spiritomb also gets Will-O-Wisp, a valuable support move for crippling strong physical threats such as Aegislash, Mega Banette, Dusknoir, and other Spiritomb. Some other neat toys include Curse, which deals a hefty 25% to targets each turn at the cost of 50% of Spiritomb's maximum health, and Calm Mind, which could be used in tandem with Substitute and Spiritomb's strong STAB moves to deal frightening amounts of damage to foes. However, the metagame was rather fast-paced, so there was little time to set up effectively; Spiritomb was better off making use of its priority moves.

Banette

Banette, or more appropriately, Mega Banette, has an incredible Attack stat, as well as both of the priority attacks that hit 99% of the metagame super effectively, Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak. Mega Banette also has access to Prankster and Will-O-Wisp for screwing over opposing physical Ghost-types such as Spiritomb, Aegislash, and opposing regular Banette. This was crucial, because it meant the difference between winning and being swept by opposing Sucker Punch and Shadow Sneak users. Prankster also meant that Mega Banette's Destiny Bond had priority, so in a clutch situation, it could fell a strong offensive threat on the same turn that it was KOed.

Gengar

Gengar and Mega Gengar were the fastest Pokémon in the metagame, allowing them to get rid of as many Pokémon as they could as quickly as possible. Although they're frail, they definitely pack a punch. Unfortunately, Mega Gengar wasn't able to OHKO Aegislash-Shield, which could then switch into Blade forme after being attacked and knock it out, so the better option was usually to use regular Gengar. Gengar didn't need to hold Choice Scarf for any reason other than to outspeed opposing Mega Gengar and sometimes Choice Scarf Chandelure. However, Choice Scarf Gengar did outspeed +2 Autotomize Aegislash and wasn't KOed by a Shadow Sneak. As there were ways of getting around the aforementioned Pokémon aside from giving Gengar a Choice Scarf, Gengar could take advantage of power-boosting items such as Life Orb and Choice Specs in order to supplement its already great Special Attack, especially because Life Orb Gengar is already more powerful than Mega Gengar. These would allow boosted STAB Shadow Balls to get nearly assured KOs on most everything in the metagame, and anything not KOed by Shadow Ball, such as Sableye and Spiritomb, would get destroyed by Dazzling Gleam. Gengar could also try to outsmart the likes of King's Shield Aegislash or Mega Banette/Sableye by using a utility move to set up Substitute and attack from behind it, or by using Disable.

Chandelure

Chandelure was quite a fun Pokémon in the metagame. It has two extremely useful abilities that both got their time in the limelight. Flash Fire allows Chandelure to absorb Fire-type moves, usually from opposing Chandelure, and bite back with a boosted Fire-type move of its own or a STAB Ghost-type move. Chandelure also has Infiltrator, an ability useful for breaking through the likes of SubDisable Gengar. Both abilities were great in tandem with a Choice Scarf, as Chandelure could switch into an opposing Chandelure's Fire-type attack, being immune to it thanks to Flash Fire, whether the foe also carried a Choice Scarf or not, and retaliate with Shadow Ball, likely OHKOing either the opposing Chandelure or whatever the opponent switched Chandelure out for. Choice Scarf Chandelure with generous HP investment was also not often OHKOed by an unboosted Shadow Sneak from anything.

Aegislash

The ghostly blade wreaks absolute havoc wherever it goes, and the Halloween Party metagame was no exception. Aegislash brought back its old tricks in taking advantage of its unique ability, Stance Change, to take virtually any physical or special hit and retaliate with a devastating STAB move. Thankfully for Aegislash, its devastating STAB moves hit the majority of the metagame super effectively, leaving very few able to sustain the brunt of a Shadow Ball or Shadow Claw from its base 150 offenses after changing into Blade Forme with Stance Change. As a result of its astronomical defenses in Shield forme, Aegislash can take the opportunity to hold a Weakness Policy, allowing it an insane offensive boost when struck by a super effective attack after using King's Shield to withstand the brunt of a STAB attack. A great offensive STAB move in Shadow Sneak could then be used to sweep the entirety of the opponent's team. Also, Autotomize alongside the boosts granted by Weakness Policy was useful in making Aegislash nigh impossible to outspeed and KO. Of course, Aegislash came with its downfalls, primarily the likes of Chandelure and Sableye, the latter able to burn Aegislash at will via Prankster and Will-O-Wisp.

Sableye

Sableye was a mischevious critter because, like Spiritomb, it was blessed with a Ghost / Dark typing, allowing it to remain neutral to the STAB Ghost-type attacks flying around the metagame. Sableye could also pretty much wall whatever it wanted, aside from the strong specially offensive threats that carried Dazzling Gleam, such as Gengar and Mismagius. Neither were particularly affected by Will-O-Wisp burns, given that they were special attackers, and they could bring Sableye down with no trouble. Also, an Aegislash that had been given a Weakness Policy boost feared nothing from Sableye, as its strong STAB moves, which hit Sableye for neutral damage, could take it down in a heartbeat. If the player was in a position to predict potential switches, Sableye also had Knock Off to play with, giving it a chance to remove a foe's item on a switch.

Honorable Mentions

There wasn't a lot of room for creativity, as the metagame was incredibly fast-paced and full of powerful sweepers, but there were a few wildcards here and there. Dusknoir, being the exceptionally powerful wall that it is, was able to make use of a Kasib Berry, weakening the power of STAB Ghost-type moves—while holding one, it could survive a couple of Aegislash's Shadow Sneaks with no problem—in conjunction with Curse to wear down its foes quickly. Mismagius, while not nearly as good as either Gengar or Chandelure but still with a great Special Attack and Speed, could set up a Substitute and proceed to boost with Nasty Plot and sweep with its powerful STAB Shadow Ball, with Dazzling Gleam for Sableye and Spiritomb.

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