Ghost-type moves are some of the most underhanded and trickiest in all of Pokemon. Many of them rely on screwing over your opponent in crafty ways rather than doing direct damage. Back in Generation One, Ghost types didn't have many good damage-inflicting moves. Their three choices were limited to Lick, which only had 30 Base Power, Night Shade, which has fixed damage, and Confuse Ray, which causes confusion and doesn't deal an ounce of damage.
Related: Pokemon: The Strongest Steel-Type Moves, Ranked
Since then, Game Freak's gradually remedied the situation by adding Ghost-type moves consistently across the series. These days, Gengar and friends have access to a much worthier number of moves. If you're wondering how they stack up, here's a list of the best Ghost-type moves.
Updated on December 14, 2022 by Doruk Kaptan: As with each new generation of Pokemon games, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet also introduced a lot of interesting new moves to the franchise. Since Game Freak seems keen on improving competitive battling and focusing on balance, the new moves are all at least situationally useful. Despite the middling reception of Generation Nine, people's love for the franchise and the gameplay loop itself has not petered out by any means. At its core, it's still Pokemon, and Ghost types are just as mischievous as ever. These are the strongest Ghost-type moves you should consider using.
20 Shadow Sneak
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Physical
40
100
30
Moving first in a Pokemon battle is extremely important, and can sometimes mean the difference between victory and defeat. With that being the case, moves with priority are incredibly useful. If you've played competitively even a little, you'll have encountered the likes of Aqua Jet and Extreme Speed already.
Shadow Sneak fills that gap in the Ghost-type move selection. While 40 Base Power is not that high, priority on a Ghost-type move alone makes Shadow Sneak extremely useful. Slower Ghost-types appreciate this move a lot, such as Dusknoir and Aegislash.
19 Rage Fist
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Physical
50
100
10
Rage Fist is a new move introduced in Generation Nine, and it's the signature move of the iconic Kanto Pokemon Primeape, and its new evolution Annihilape. The move is among the best physical Ghost-type moves, as it can rack up in damage fast. The move has 50 Base Power to begin with, and it increases by 50 each time the user is hit during the battle.
This means you can switch Annihilape in on moves that it resists, and after just two hits taken, Rage Fist becomes an incredible 150 Base Power attack with no drawbacks. The ceiling is 350, but few opposing teams will live to see it become that strong anyway.
18 Last Respects
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Physical
50
100
10
Speaking of signature moves that grow in power, Last Respects rivals Rage Fist in terms of usefulness. This is the signature move of the new dog Pokemon Houndstone, and it also begins with 50 Base Power. Last Respects' Base Power increases by 50 each time a Pokemon on Houndstone's team faints.
That means that if you send out Houndstone as your last Pokemon, it can use Last Respects with a Base Power of 300 without any hassle. This move has already created some stir in the competitive scene, as many deem it too good to be allowed. Scarlet and Violet really didn't pull their punches with new moves.
17 Spirit Shackle
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Physical
80
100
10
Spirit Shackle may not have the gargantuan damage capabilities of some other moves on this list, but it's still really useful. This move was introduced in Generation Seven as the signature move of Decidueye. The move has the side effect of preventing the target from fleeing or switching out.
Related: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: All Regional Variants, Ranked
While it's not a bombastic effect that will instantly turn the battle, Spirit Shackle can allow you to considerably weaken a problem Pokemon. It works much better if you manage to predict a switch and trap a Pokemon that cannot hurt Decidueye meaningfully.
16 Night Shade
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Special
-
100
15
Night Shade, despite being a Generation One move, most of which are useless by today's standards, manages to carve out a niche for itself. Dealing fixed damage is not many Pokemon's initial ide of attacking, as high-damage moves are preferred in most cases. However, Night Shade is an excellent move for walls.
When your Pokemon's stats are leaning towards defenses so much, it can be hard to find a move to give them some damage potential. This is important, because you don't want your Pokemon to be too passive even if their role is to wall attacks. As such, Night Shade is quite nice to teach to a bulkier Pokemon that might lack in offense, such as Sableye, Dusclops and Cofagrigus.
15 Poltergeist
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Physical
110
90
5
This Ghost-type move is called Poltergeist, and it's strong. It has a 90 percent accuracy rating and 110 Base Power. The problem with this move is that it will fail if the target isn't holding an item, has Klutz as an ability, or if Magic Room is in effect. Klutz and Magic Room won't spring up too often, but held items are commonplace, especially online.
This is the go-to physical move for many Ghost types, especially since many moves that came before fail to live up to its damage potential. Overall, it's a reliable option.
14 Curse
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Status
-
-
10
Few questions are asked so frequently in Pokemon by newer players than the following: is Curse a good move? We can blame Game Freak for not making it as clear as it could be, or we can just tell you what Curse does for Ghost-types and why it's so different for everybody else. For non-Ghost Pokemon, Curse drops the user's Speed stat and raises its Attack and Defense. This isn't bad, especially on Pokemon that don't care about their Speed stat to begin with, such as Steelix.
For Ghost types, the user will cut its HP in half, placing a titular curse on the opponent. A Pokemon that has been cursed will lose a quarter of its maximum HP every turn. This continues happening until the Pokemon is switched out, faints, or the battle ends. This is not that great for competitive battles, as your opponent can easily play around it, but it can wreck a whole team in a regular playthrough.
13 Ominous Wind
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Special
60
100
15
With a bone-chilling name, this move is quite obviously going to be Ghost type. Introduced in Generation Four, this spooky move is a reliable damaging attack for special Ghost types. With a Base Power of 60 and 100 percent accuracy, it's already a solid choice for inflicting a steady amount of damage.
Related:The Strongest Bug-Type Pokemon, Ranked
However, this move also has a ten percent chance to raise all the user's stats by a stage. That's an amazing side effect, even with such a low occurence, as an omniboost can allow you to sweep the opposing team. Unfortunately, it's been removed from Generation 8 onwards. For older games, though, this one is surely one of the best.
12 Confuse Ray
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Status
-
100
10
Despite Generation One being scolded for only having three Ghost-type moves, they can actually be excellent under the right circumstances. Confuse Ray is a non-damaging Ghost-type move that confuses its target, with a powerful 100 accuracy.
Confusion will cause the afflicted Pokemon to strike themselves for damage one-third of the time (50 percent in Generations One to Six). This damage is calculated as a 40 Base Power Physical Attack. Being able to inflict confusion on top of another status such as Paralysis condition is fantastic, making Confuse Ray a very reliable move. Just make sure not to fully rely on it, as it's based on chance.
11 Trick-Or-Treat
Category
Base Power
Accuracy
PP
Status
-
100
20
Introduce a bit of Halloween spirit into your battle strategy with the move Trick-or-Treat. It's unfortunate that this move is exclusive to Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, because it's pretty fun. The move will add Ghost type to the target. If they're dual-type, it'll make them have three types. It's a shame that it doesn't overwrite the existing types like the move Soak, though.
The reason this is so great is that Ghost-types are super-effective against each other. If you use your Ghost-type Pokemon to add Ghost to your opponent, they then become weak to your other Ghost-types attacks. Why ghosts are cursed with a weakness to their own kind is a question for another day.
