Lampent Movesets & Competitive Sets

Lampent acts as an uncommon but threatening Calm Mind sweeper capable of overwhelming passive defensive cores of Clefairy, Wormadam-S, and Solrock thanks to its unique typing and threatening combination of STAB moves against everything but Munchlax. Pokemon unable to touch Lampent enable it to set up, letting it exploit Persian and Mienfoo lacking the right coverage moves, Choice item users like Grumpig and Mr. Mime locked into Focus Blast, and defensive Grass-types like Meganium and Ivysaur. Substitute shields Lampent from Thunder Wave from Clefairy and Dragon Tail from Meganium as it sets up and gives Lampent some leeway against revenge killers such as Emolga, Kingler, and mixed Simisear. Substitute can also give Lampent a way to play around Pawniard's Sucker Punch, though it should be wary of Night Slash. Taunt completely shuts down Clefairy by disabling Encore while still protecting Lampent from Clefairy's Thunder Wave, and it can enable Lampent to deny Munchlax from using Rest or Whirlwind and leaves it otherwise unable to stop Lampent unless it's running Earthquake. Leftovers lets Lampent recoup health lost from Substitute and Stealth Rock while it sets up on Clefairy and Ivysaur. Flash Fire enables Lampent to wall and exploit Simisear lacking Dark-type coverage moves, and it can let Lampent further take advantage of switching into Frillish's Will-O-Wisp. Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature let Lampent outspeed and threaten defensive Pokemon like Solrock, Meganium, and Staryu. It also outspeeds slower offensive Pokemon like Lairon and Shelgon and Speed ties Adamant Mienfoo. Lampent's ability to break past bulkier Pokemon makes it a great fit for offense teams in need of a wallbreaker that doubles as a stallbreaker. Lampent's capacity to take advantage of Clefairy is greatly appreciated by special cleaners like Simisear, Choice Scarf Grumpig, and Raichu. Persian and Emolga tend to lure in defensive Pokemon Lampent threatens like Wormadam-G and Solrock, so they can put Lampent into good positions with U-turn. Offensive Pokemon weak to Fighting such as Lairon, Pawniard, and Glaceon appreciate Lampent as a check to Mienfoo, and Lampent can capitalize on these Pokemon luring Mienfoo in. Lampent enjoys Staryu providing entry hazard removal given its Rock weakness and lack of recovery, and in turn, it threatens Grass-types like Meganium, Leafeon, and Ivysaur that would deter Staryu. While Lampent shouldn't be its team's only check to Persian given its poor bulk and vulnerability to coverage moves like Bite, fast and frail Pokemon Mr. Mime and Grumpig are grateful for Lampent as a partner that isn't as vulnerable to Persian.

Lampent's potent STAB combination, access to Trick, and just good enough Special Attack and Speed allow it to don a Choice Scarf. Lampent can differentiate itself as a Choice Scarf user from Grumpig thanks to a largely superior STAB combination and its unique defensive profile while having significantly better bulk than Gastly, which allows it to take stray resisted attacks without fearing itself being KOed. With the Speed boost, Lampent is able to outrun the entire tier unboosted, aside from Persian that often cannot harm Lampent, as well as some common setup sweepers after a boost such as Adamant Whiscash and Shelgon. Flamethrower and Shadow Ball are the requisite STAB attacks, which are notable for their excellent synergistic coverage and the selling points of this set compared to Choice Scarf Mienfoo, which shares a similar Speed tier and generally more desirable traits as a Choice Scarf user. STAB Flamethrower hits a huge part of the tier at least neutrally while seriously threatening staples like Leafeon and Wormadam-S, while STAB Shadow Ball also has strong neutral coverage and dispatches Pokemon that resist Flamethrower such as Frillish, Solrock, and Grumpig. Trick allows Lampent to unload its item onto a foe, hampering setup sweepers with a detrimental item and ruining walls when the Choice Scarf is no longer needed. The most common final move is Energy Ball, which allows Lampent to directly dispatch a boosted Whiscash regardless of HP as well as more significantly damage Staryu and Walrein. If said Water-types are no concern, Fire Blast and Overheat are good pairings for Flamethrower when higher damage is necessary, such as potentially OHKOing Persian after Stealth Rock. A Timid nature is necessary to outrun Emolga, Simisear, Raichu, and boosted Adamant Whiscash. Flash Fire is a much more consistent ability than Flame Body, forcing Simisear to reconsider using its STAB moves. Choice Scarf Lampent fits on exclusively offensive teams that appreciate its powerful STAB combination and immunity to Persian and Mienfoo's STAB moves. However, Lampent's Speed tier for a Choice Scarf user is the slowest in the tier, necessitating backup speed control such as Pawniard, Persian, Muk, or even an additional Choice Scarf user such as Grumpig or Mienfoo. Lampent is quite difficult to switch into, as the boost to its Speed allows it to 2HKO regular checks such as Staryu and Walrein after Stealth Rock, so it is an excellent lure to hamper Clefairy and Vullaby with Trick. Teammates such as Calm Mind Grumpig, Swords Dance Leafeon or Meganium, Arbok, and Agility Kingler can break open games once these targets are crippled by Choice Scarf. Besides the previously mentioned specific immunities, Lampent is a very poor switch-in to just about everything else. Offensive Pokemon with important defensive profiles such as Muk, Shelgon, Lairon, and the previously mentioned Grumpig are key partners. Good switch-ins to Water-types, such as Meganium and Clefairy, are great partners in order to lessen Lampent's struggle with Staryu, Whiscash, and Pelipper.

Lampent is a unique special wallbreaker in BW ZU thanks to its high Special Attack and good offensive typing pressuring defensive Pokemon like Clefairy, Frillish, Meganium, and Wormadam-S. Lampent's several immunities to Normal, Fighting, and Fire give it opportunities to take advantage of Choice item users like Simisear, Grumpig, Mr. Mime, Mienfoo, and Slaking and defensive Pokemon reliant on Seismic Toss such as Clefairy and Hypno. Persian, one of the best Pokemon in the tier, often creates windows for Lampent to easily come in given it may choose not to run coverage like Bite. Lampent can also take advantage of Pokemon with not very effective coverage, such as Wormadam-S and Ivysaur, to switch in, though Lampent must be careful around their status and disruption moves, respectively. Lampent's Fire Blast is super powerful, being strong enough to 2HKO Muk and only needing a bit of chip damage to 2HKO specially defensive Clefairy. Energy Ball is Lampent's strongest coverage move for Water-types like Walrein, Whiscash, and Staryu. Trick restricts defensive answers to Lampent like Clefairy and Munchlax with a Choice Specs to make them much more exploitable by Lampent and its teammates. With a Timid nature, Lampent outspeeds base 50 Speed Pokemon like Beartic and Shelgon as well as uninvested Staryu and Meganium while tying with neutral nature base 65 Speed Pokemon like Walrein and Glaceon. Choice Specs Lampent is a good fit for balance teams that can support such a strong wallbreaker, and it has decent defensive utility despite its poor bulk thanks to its many resistances and immunities. Lampent threatening Grass-types like Leafeon, Meganium, and Ivysaur is greatly appreciated by Water-types like Whiscash, Staryu, and Kingler. Persian is an excellent partner, luring in defensive Pokemon like Wormadam-S, Solrock, and physically defensive Clefairy for Lampent to take advantage of. Mienfoo is another offensive pivot that can bring Lampent in safely and brings in targets like Frillish, while Lampent appreciates it pressuring Clefairy and Munchlax. Lampent has very mediocre Speed and poor bulk that leave it easily revenge killed, so fast teammates like Emolga, Choice Scarf Grumpig, and Raichu are helpful partners. Grass-types like Meganium and Leafeon can manage Water-types like Kingler and Walrein that threaten Lampent, and in return, Lampent can intercept Simisear lacking Dark coverage and Ivysaur for them. Restricting defensive Pokemon like Clefairy and Munchlax with Trick can open the door for sweepers like Raichu, Simisear, and Mr. Mime.

Lampent's unique typing and access to Calm Mind allow it to fulfill a role as a very specific stallbreaker. Despite its poor stats in every stat besides Special Attack, Lampent's Ghost typing makes it immune to Fighting- and Normal-type moves, most notably Seismic Toss. Thanks to this and the resistances provided by its Fire typing, Lampent with Substitute and Calm Mind can turn the metagame staples Clefairy, Wormadam-S, and many Mienfoo variants into setup fodder. Calm Mind allows Lampent to potentially run away with the game, forcing the opponent to potentially give up two Pokemon just to handle it once Lampent has accrued Calm Mind boosts from behind a Substitute. Flamethrower and Shadow Ball are uniquely great STAB options in the tier, as Flamethrower scares out the staples Leafeon and Meganium, while Shadow Ball provides great neutral coverage, hitting Frillish, Solrock, and Grumpig in particular. Fire Blast is a good option to threaten specially defensive Meganium with an OHKO after one Calm Mind, which Flamethrower cannot do, but this comes with a notable drop in accuracy. Leftovers's passive recovery is valuable so that Lampent's HP isn't permanently crippled whenever it makes a Substitute or switches into Stealth Rock. A Timid nature is preferred to reliably outrun defensive Meganium, Solrock, and Mienfoo while also being faster than the commonly Adamant Whiscash and Pawniard. A Modest nature is a greedier option that makes the most of Lampent's good Special Attack and benefits from the fact that Meganium and Solrock very rarely are faster than even a Modest Lampent. The boost in power allows Lampent to always OHKO Persian after Stealth Rock unboosted as well as Meganium with Fire Blast after a Calm Mind. However, the Speed is usually more critical than the power. Lampent is most commonly seen on offensive and bulky offense teams, as those structures can both set up situations for Lampent to set up on Clefairy and Mienfoo as well as cover for its poor defensive profile. Persian is an excellent partner; it has the requisite speed control to revenge kill a huge portion of the metagame while also luring Solrock, Wormadam-S, and Mienfoo to be taken advantage of by Lampent after a U-turn. While both of these Pokemon lack meaningful defensive utility, Persian appreciates Lampent's ability to pivot into a Choice Scarf Mienfoo, severely limiting its ability to put the offensive teams they fit on into a bad position early-game. While Lampent does have an immunity to Normal, it is unable to reliably answer Persian due to its terrible bulk. Both Solrock and Lairon provide a crucial Persian check while providing a valuable Stealth Rock user. Similarly, Lampent cannot switch directly into Clefairy due to Thunder Wave and Knock Off, so having a reliable check to it such as Emolga or Muk is still important for Lampent's team. Staryu is the only viable user of Rapid Spin, providing an option to maximize Lampent's health to survive attacks such as Persian's Bite and Muk's Shadow Sneak and KO back. Their typings are also complementary, allowing Staryu to bait in Meganium in particular to be set up on by Lampent.