I think that Gengarite (and stag Wobbuffet)
should not be banned, but STag Goth
should be banned. I'll explain a little bit more with this post.
I believe that bans in Ubers should be based on two criteria.
- The item/ability/move/whatever in question must be uncompetitive. (I don't think I need to define this any more than everyone else already has)
- The item/ability/move/whatever does not contribute positively to the metagame.
So where do the current bans fit in?
Sleep Clause: it fulfills both criteria - it is uncompetitive, makes teambuilding restrictive and contributes nothing to the metagame. Everyone is forced to play a certain way.
Species Clause: similar story to sleep clause.
Swagger, OHKO and Moody Clauses: these are uncompetitive, and they contribute negatively to the metagame. Every battle turns into dice rolls or coin flips, and skill no longer is a factor in the outcome of the match.
So how does STag and Gothitelle and Mega Gengar fit into all this?
I'll talk first about Gothitelle. Unlike mega gar, it doesn't require spending a turn to mega evolve. That means that it can immediately switch in and trap any Pokemon of its choice. This means that if a player sees a Gothitelle on the enemy team, they must be extremely cautious in playing their defensive Pokemon, or they may risk losing their support arc, defensive kia, or whatever, and potentially lose their xern/ogre/ekiller/whatever check, immediately putting them into a highly disadvantageous position. For an example scenario: if the enemy sends in Kyogre, it's pretty much a 50/50 to send in something like Grassceus - if the enemy double switches into Goth in that turn, the game is practically over right there. Grassceus is more or less guaranteed to be eliminated, putting the enemy at a one mon advantage, and allowing Kyogre to clean up afterwards. I must stress that the
immediate trapping potential of Gothitelle is what sets it apart from Mega Gengar. It is certainly uncompetitive, easily putting one player at an advantage with a factor entirely out of his/her control. Furthermore, it does not contribute positively to the metagame - players lose the element of choice when they are faced with it. Skill is no longer a factor when you have a support arc and the enemy has a gothitelle, and the battle turns into a guessing game.
Again, Mega Gengar
needs that one turn to mevo in order to be truly threatening. Without that one turn, it would undoubtedly be the most broken threat in ubers. But it isn't. Gengar's frailty limits the chances where it can mega evolve. It has a number of interesting immunities, true, but that does not mean it can safely switch into anything. If the opponent predicts a switch into Gengar and uses the appropriate move to prepare for this, Gengar can take serious damage, and it can be neutralized as a threat. Gothitelle, on the other hand, does not need to fear this - it can safely switch into moves like normal or resisted judgement from uninvested arc, and continue wreaking havoc. Furthermore, Gengar's lack of immediate trapping presence means that players can play relatively freely before Gengar mega evolves - they can use Blissey, Xerneas, etc. without having to worry about being trapped and immediately put into a disadvantageous position. Even after it mega evolves, Gengar's lack of bulk once again means that it is limited to few situations where it can switch in.
Futhermore, Mega Gengar often
trades one for one with other mons. Flamethrower Blissey cannot be taken down without Mega Gengar falling as well, unless Mega Gar happens to be running Focus Blast, and it manages to hit at least 3 Focus Blasts in a row (which has a 34.3% chance of occurring), or it gets a high roll on every sludge bomb hit while poisoning on the first turn (again, unlikely). Against Lugia, Mega Gengar must run Shadow Ball, and even then, Lugia must not have Multiscale up. Against support Arceus, if Judgement is not resisted by mega gar (water, rock, fire, steel, etc.), and mega gar does not have a super effective move to hit Arceus with, Arceus cleanly 2HKOs, again, a one for one trade. Compare this to Gothitelle, where the result is almost always a one mon advantage for the Gothitelle user.
Additionally, Mega Gengar
often is forced into 50/50s. This means that against a Pokemon like ekiller, Mega Gengar must successfully choose between Taunt and Destiny Bond, and in some cases, attacking. Assuming Mega Gengar has already mega evolved, both mons are at full HP and both are healthy, there are a number of possibilities.
Ekiller uses Earthquake, Mega Gengar uses Taunt. Mega Gengar loses.
Ekiller uses Earthquake, Mega Gengar uses Dbond. One for one trade.
Ekiller uses Swords Dance, Mega Gengar uses Taunt. Ekiller loses a turn, and is forced to attack the next turn, either resulting in a one for one trade, or Mega Gengar may choose to switch out.
Ekiller uses Swords Dance, Mega Gengar uses Dbond. Mega Gengar loses a turn, Ekiller gets a boost, and the 50/50s continue.
Other examples of mons that force megagar into 50/50s are Groudon (offensive sets can set up, while support sets can twave or roar out if mega gengar makes a mistake), Ho-oh, Palkia, Rayquaza and countless others.
It is uncompetitive, yes. But I believe that it contributes positively to the metagame - it gives players another tool to use in their arsenal, and adds diversity and depth to the metagame. Mega Gengar is one of two viable poison types in the Ubers metagame (the other being Poison Arceus), and provides an interesting offensive check to a number of Pokemon, while possessing a very unique defensive typing.