Gengar is a Tier 3 raid boss in Pokémon GO with a raid boss CP of 21207. Gengar counters are mostly strong Ghost, Psychic, Dark and Ground Pokémon like Shadow Ball Mewtwo, Groudon, Zen Headbutt / Psychic Metagross, Bite / Crunch Tyranitar and Psychic Latios.
As Mega Gengar is available in Pokémon GO, Gengar can be shiny from raids.
A Gengar raid boss can have these Combat Power values when caught through raid encounters:
- 1420 – 1644 CP at Level 20, without weather boost
- 1776 – 2055 CP at Level 25, under Fog or Cloudy weather boost
A Tier 3 Gengar raid can be solo’d by the prepared, high level trainer. Lower level trainers, or those without ideal counters, may want to bring a friend or two.
Gengar Raid Counters
Since Shadow Pokémon are extremely expensive to power up and require specific events to remove Frustration with a Charge TM, they will NOT be listed as raid counters in this article. That being said, if you have the shadow form of a listed raid counter Pokémon powered up and TMed, use it.
Reminder: Mega-Evolved Pokémon give other Pokémon special bonuses when brought to a Raid Battle. While a Mega-Evolved Pokémon is on the battlefield, all Trainers’ Pokémon receive an attack boost to all their attacks and gain an additional attack boost if their attack types match the Mega-Evolved Pokémon’s type(s).
| # | Attacker | Fast Move | Charge Move | Faints | TTW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Groudon (Primal)
|
Mud Shot Ground | Precipice Blades Ground | 2 | 84.4s |
| 2. |
Tyranitar (Mega)
|
Bite Dark | Brutal Swing Dark | 2 | 90.7s |
| 3. |
Gengar (Mega)
|
Lick Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost | 4 | 89.1s |
| 4. |
Alakazam (Mega)
|
Confusion Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 5 | 92.1s |
| 5. |
Mewtwo
|
Psycho Cut Psychic | Psystrike Psychic | 4 | 94.3s |
| 6. |
Latios (Mega)
|
Zen Headbutt Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 4 | 96.2s |
| 7. |
Gardevoir (Mega)
|
Confusion Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 5 | 98.4s |
| 8. |
Rayquaza (Mega)
|
Dragon Tail Dragon | Dragon Ascent | 3 | 100.9s |
| 9. |
Banette (Mega)
|
Shadow Claw Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost | 6 | 100.5s |
| 10. |
Hoopa (Unbound)
|
Confusion Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 4 | 100.7s |
| 11. |
Houndoom (Mega)
|
Snarl Dark | Foul Play Dark | 4 | 107.1s |
| 12. |
Tyranitar
|
Bite Dark | Brutal Swing Dark | 3 | 110.2s |
| 13. |
Latias (Mega)
|
Zen Headbutt Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 4 | 109.1s |
| 14. |
Hydreigon
|
Bite Dark | Brutal Swing Dark | 3 | 109.5s |
| 15. |
Groudon
|
Mud Shot Ground | Precipice Blades Ground | 3 | 110.8s |
| 16. |
Lunala
|
Confusion Psychic | Shadow Ball Ghost | 5 | 109.0s |
| 17. |
Gyarados (Mega)
|
Bite Dark | Crunch Dark | 3 | 115.6s |
| 18. |
Darkrai
|
Snarl Dark | Shadow Ball Ghost | 4 | 115.0s |
| 19. |
Absol (Mega)
|
Snarl Dark | Dark Pulse Dark | 6 | 114.7s |
| 20. |
Giratina (Origin)
|
Shadow Claw Ghost | Shadow Force Ghost | 4 | 115.9s |
| 21. |
Gholdengo
|
Hex Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost | 5 | 116.8s |
| 22. |
Excadrill
|
Mud-Slap Ground | Scorching Sands Ground | 5 | 117.5s |
| 23. |
Swampert (Mega)
|
Mud Shot Ground | Earthquake Ground | 3 | 119.8s |
| 24. |
Garchomp
|
Mud Shot Ground | Earth Power Ground | 4 | 120.2s |
| 25. |
Chandelure
|
Hex Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost | 6 | 118.6s |
| 26. |
Hoopa (Confined)
|
Confusion Psychic | Shadow Ball Ghost | 8 | 120.9s |
| 27. |
Gengar
|
Lick Ghost | Shadow Ball Ghost | 8 | 120.8s |
| 28. |
Latios
|
Zen Headbutt Psychic | Psychic Psychic | 5 | 119.6s |
| 29. |
Deoxys (Attack)
|
Zen Headbutt Psychic | Dark Pulse Dark | 20 | 152.0s |
| 30. |
Landorus (Therian)
|
Mud Shot Ground | Earthquake Ground | 4 | 121.6s |
No matter if you try to solo Gengar or raid with friends, keep in mind that Gengar is dual typed: ghost and poison.
Gengar Raid Move Analysis
Gengar is notorious for its varied move pool, with moves like Shadow Ball and Focus Blast eliminating certain counters in their respective match ups. Let’s see how they stack up.
| Fast move | Charge move |
|---|---|
|
|
*Denotes moves only available via Elite TM.
If you take a deeper look at Gengar’s fast moves, you’ll soon realize that they’re not that different in a raid environment. All of them are dangerous against your Mewtwo and Gengar teams, where they deal Super Effective damage, but you will likely keep Gengar energy capped for the better part of the encounter, so it doesn’t really matter that much.
Charge move analysis
- Shadow Ball is Gengar’s most dangerous charged move, as it eliminates Mewtwo as a viable counter and deals a ton of damage to other Gengar counters. Best counters against this move are Tyranitar and Gengar, with Tyranitar being a potion friendly option.
- Focus Blast is another interesting move, as it eliminates Tyranitar from the list of viable counters. Although Gengar doesn’t benefit from STAB when using Focus Blast, the sheer damage output is too high for Tyranitar. Best Gengar counters versus Focus Blast are Mewtwo and Gengar.
- Sludge Bomb is a two bar Poison type move which we consider to be a easy Gengar raid move: it’s not super effective against any of the top counters and the damage output is not that high. Best counters against a Sludge Bomb Gengar are Mewtwo, Gengar and Tyranitar, but Groudon, Espeon and Meteor Mash Metagross are also viable.
Quick Gengar Solo Raid Tips
Gengar Solo raids are possible and have been already achieved using the Pokémon highlighted above.
- Stock up with a healthy amount of Mewtwos and any combination of the above mentioned Pokémon
- Do not attempt if you’re under Level 30 and your Pokémon are not decently powered up, you will just waste resources
- Do not enter the raid unless you have proper movesets. Movesets are everything against Gengar. A focus blast Gengar can ruin a Tyranitar for example, but at the same time it just makes the already godly Mewtwo and frail Gengar that much better.
