Gloom Movesets & Competitive Sets

With Chlorophyll shoring up Gloom's terrible Speed, it can make full use of its high Special Attack and great bulk to be a potent sun sweeper. In sun, Solar Beam can even 2HKO some foes that resist Grass such as Ponyta and Quilava. Hidden Power Fire hits Grass-types such as Tropius and opposing Gloom as well as Magnemite. It also threatens certain Poison-types such as Koffing, Ariados, and Beedrill. Synthesis provides Gloom with recovery to help it remain healthy while it trades blows with foes such as opposing Gloom and Koffing. The given EV spread maximizes Gloom's Special Attack while allowing it to outspeed base 95 Speed Pokemon, such as Elekid, while in sun. The longevity provided by Leftovers can be eschewed in favor of Lum Berry preventing a foe such as Porygon from paralyzing Gloom once. Gloom best fits on offense teams looking for a potent sun sweeper, being mandatory on dedicated sun teams and excellent on semi-sun teams. Gloom and other Chlorophyll sweepers such as Tropius and Exeggcute are able to weaken and remove each other's shared checks. Sun setters, such as Ponyta, can help Gloom by setting up sun and luring in Pokemon it checks such as Corsola and Seaking. Gloom is notably very effective at removing Water-types such as Corsola, making it a natural teammate for Pokemon such as Aipom, Doduo, and Ponyta. Gloom struggles with Fire-types such as Ponyta and Quilava; while sun is active, Gloom can deal heavy damage to them with Solar Beam, but is usually OHKOed back; outside of sun, Gloom is completely helpless. Checks to them such as Flash Fire Ponyta and Chinchou make for great partners as a result. While it also hates taking Fire-type moves, Tropius can take advantage of Gloom's sun with Chlorophyll and, depending on its Attack investment, even OHKO most Fire-types with Earthquake. Offensive variants of Tropius can serve as potent checks to Gloom, outspeeding it even in sun and 2HKOing it with Hidden Power Flying or Fire, making checks to it such as Porygon good partners. Castform is a danger to most sun teams due to its good bulk and ability turning it into a Fire-type while in sun, making checks to it such as wallbreakers in Aipom and Doduo and bulky Pokemon in Noctowl and Koffing good teammates. There are a few special walls such as Porygon and Noctowl that can wall Gloom, making it appreciate support from strong physical wallbreakers such as Aipom and Doduo.

Gloom is a great bulky setup sweeper in ADV ZU thanks to its defensive typing and reliable recovery. Gloom's defensive profile grants it plentiful setup opportunities against passive Pokemon like specially defensive Gloom, Delcatty, and Lileep. STAB Sludge Bomb breaks down common physically defensive Pokemon like Tropius and Mightyena, and it has solid neutral coverage to prevent fast attackers like Ponyta and Quilava from switching in freely. Hidden Power Grass destroys Corsola and other Pokemon resistant to Poison, like Cubone and Rhyhorn. Full investment in HP and Defense creates more setup opportunities for Gloom, makes it more resilient to Pokemon unable to 2HKO it such as Castform and Volbeat, and prevents physically offensive wallbreakers like Aipom and Meditite from OHKOing Gloom. Gloom reliably answering Corsola benefits Aipom, Ponyta, and Doduo. Corsola benefits from Gloom checking Meditite, Tropius, and opposing Gloom, while Gloom gains from Corsola, checking threats to it like Choice Band Aipom and Doduo. Gloom can almost never break Koffing on its own, so it appreciates partners that can handle Koffing, such as Seaking, Corsola, and defensive Noctowl. Fast cleaners like Abra, Quilava, and Volbeat greatly benefit from Gloom breaking holes in teams so they can more easily finish off weakened targets. Psychic-type moves from Pokemon like Abra, Drowzee, and Smoochum chew through Gloom, so Mightyena and Magnemite are helpful to mitigate these threats. Fast Fire-types like Ponyta and Quilava are a threat to Gloom, and teammates like Wartortle, Castform, and Lileep manage these foes for it. Gloom struggles to prevent Beedrill from setting up freely on it, so it benefits from partnering with Quick Attack users like Ponyta, Quilava, and Doduo to prevent Beedrill from sweeping. Flaaffy threatens to 2HKO Gloom with Fire Punch, so partners that check it, such as Chinchou, Dustox, and Delcatty, are all helpful.

Gloom's typing and Special Defense stat make it one of the best choices against common threats like Corsola and Seaking, and it can even survive super effective attacks at full health from threats like Abra and Ponyta. Sludge Bomb is used to hit defensively weak Pokemon for respectable damage, scoring an OHKO on Abra and a 2HKO on Ponyta and Doduo. Hidden Power Grass is used to hit opposing Water-types like Chinchou, Wartortle, Seaking, and especially Corsola. Razor Leaf is a more niche alternative Grass-type STAB move that can be a strong option versus Calm Mind-boosted Corsola by threatening with a higher chance of a critical hit. Leech Seed can enable progress on threats that resist Gloom’s attacks like Ariados and Koffing, and it also provides safer switches for Gloom’s team. Stun Spore provides Gloom and its team speed control, which can make common threats like Ponyta, Aipom, and Beedrill much more manageable and also enable slower partners like Cubone to outspeed and OHKO foes. Moonlight is chosen over Synthesis because it is compatible with Leech Seed. Leftovers is chosen to give Gloom additional recovery and longevity. This Gloom set fits best as a defensive backbone on balance teams that need support against specially offensive threats like Seaking, Flaaffy, and Corsola. Intimidate Mightyena has strong defensive synergy alongside Gloom, helping to deal with otherwise threatening physical attackers like Anorith, Aipom, and Volbeat. Mightyena can also serve to check certain special attackers that threaten Gloom such as Abra as well as other Psychic-types like Drowzee, Exeggcute, and Smoochum. Heal Bell on Mightyena is a great option that can patch up a statused Gloom. Heal Bell Flaaffy is an alternative cleric that can allow Gloom to stay in on more threats like opposing Fire Punch Flaaffy without fear of permanent burn. Gloom’s reluctance to stay in versus Quilava makes bulky Water-types such as Corsola, Seaking, and Wartortle as well as Flash Fire Ponyta strong pairings alongside Gloom. Corsola is another excellent defensive ally that fits nicely on Gloom teams, since the two cover up each other’s weaknesses with their typings. Corsola can be especially useful for helping Gloom switch out from strong Choice Band users like Aipom, Ponyta, and Doduo. Ponyta and Quilava both appreciate a strong switch-in against Water-types like Corsola and Seaking and thus pair nicely alongside Gloom. Stun Spore is an excellent way to enable slower offensive attackers like Meditite, Cubone, and Rhyhorn. Poison-types like Koffing, Dustox, Ariados, and Beedrill can wall Gloom, especially when it's not running Leech Seed. This makes heavy hitters like Abra and Anorith great teammates to break walls that otherwise slowly deal with Gloom one-on-one. Other physical walls like Flamethrower Koffing can also be great partners to help Gloom better manage Poison-type and Bug-type threats alike. Swords Dance Tropius is another great option that can help manage Pokemon that resist Gloom's attacks, but it can expose the team with a greater Fire weakness. Specially defensive Gloom can unfortunately be exploited as setup fodder in the face of Anorith, Beedrill, and Abra. This makes priority attackers like Ponyta, Volbeat, Doduo, and Meditite great teammates that can alleviate this weakness. Gloom’s weakness to Noctowl offers another reason why certain physical attackers pair nicely with it, like Anorith and Rhyhorn.

Set Description A setup move is vital to making Gloom a real threat in games. Swords Dance is a strong option, allowing Gloom to 2HKO Pokemon like Octillery and Stantler with Sludge Bomb after only one boost. Curse is a decent alternative, as it makes Gloom much sturdier against Stantler, Fearow, and non-Fire Blast Weezing, but it boosts slower, as Gloom is notably unable to 2HKO a paralyzed Xatu with Sludge Bomb at +1 and can't break through Wigglytuff. Sludge Bomb is Gloom's main attacking option, dealing decent damage and having a solid chance to poison foes, which can even ruin Pokemon like Porygon and Thief Xatu. Stun Spore lets Gloom force paralysis on Pokemon like Xatu, Weezing, Rapidash, and Pineco. Additionally, Gloom can paralyze Xatu as it switches in with Stun Spore and switch out, and the next time Gloom enters the battlefield, it can use Swords Dance as Xatu switches in and eliminate Xatu if it's fully paralyzed. Razor Leaf allows Gloom to act as a backup switch-in to Ground-types like Pupitar and Graveler, and it 3HKOes Sudowoodo, 2HKOes Dugtrio, and does decent chip damage to Dewgong. Hidden Power Ground trashes Magnemite and can chip away at Weezing over time, though its DV requirements decreases Gloom's bulk. Alternatively, Gloom can use Sleep Powder, which temporarily shuts down Weezing, Pineco, and Porygon. However, if not used carefully, Sleep Powder can thud into a RestTalk user like Xatu or a Fire-type and activate Sleep Clause, becoming useless. Team Options Octillery and Dewgong are best friends of Gloom, as Gloom handles Primeape and Chinchou and is a more reliable switch-in to opposing Hidden Power Electric Octillery. In return, Octillery with Hidden Power Electric and Dewgong are able to switch into Ice Beam Octillery and Fire-types, which Gloom struggles with, though Dewgong cannot deal with Ninetales if it has Sunny Day. Fire-types like Ninetales, Rapidash, and Flareon are effective stops to Xatu, Weezing, and Magnemite, and the latter two Fire-types also wall opposing Ninetales. Fire-types also appreciate Gloom handling Octillery for them and in tandem can form a strong defensive core. Graveler walls Fearow and can use Rapid Spin to clear Pineco's Spikes; these two Pokemon otherwise take advantage of Gloom. Graveler also helps against Weezing, Magnemite, and Fire-types and can use Explosion to remove an annoyance like Dewgong, Wigglytuff, or Pineco. Other Rock-types like Pupitar and Sudowoodo also help against Normal-types, but they lack Rapid Spin. Tentacool can also use Rapid Spin and importantly is not susceptible to Pineco using Toxic or Giga Drain, but it doesn't help against Normal-types and is significantly more passive than Graveler. Primeape can switch into and take advantage of Dewgong, and it can wear down Weezing for Gloom. Primeape is also additional support against Curse Normal-types like Wigglytuff, which Gloom struggles with if it is using Curse or didn't use Swords Dance prior to their entry. Normal-types themselves like Porygon and Stantler enjoy partnering up with Gloom for its ability to check Primeape. Gloom is also a decent option on Pineco Spikes teams with Rapidash, since it shuts down Hidden Power Electric Octillery.