[COMPLETED] Ampharos

[alexwolf]

[Pros]

<ul>
<li>Mega Ampharos has a great typing, both offensively and defensively.</li>
<li>It has solid mixed bulk.</li>
<li>It is very powerful.</li>
<li>It is a fantastic pivot due to low Speed and Volt Switch.</li>
</ul>

[Cons]

<ul>
<li>Mega Ampharos is very slow, to the point that even most defensive Pokemon can outspeed it.</li>
<li>It lacks reliable recovery.</li>
<li>It has weaknesses to Ground-, Ice-, Dragon-, and Fairy-type moves, all relatively common attacking types.</li>
</ul>

[Set Recommendations]

<p>name: RestTalk<br />
move 1: Rest<br />
move 2: Sleep Talk<br />
move 3: Volt Switch<br />
move 4: Dragon Pulse<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 252 HP / 44 SpA / 192 SpD / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

<p>This set makes for a great switch-in to Water-, Grass-, and Fire-types, such as Trevenant, Gourgeist, Rotom-W, and Talonflame. Rest and Sleep Talk give Ampharos a form of healing and make it a decent status absorber. Volt Switch gets STAB, provides free switches for Ampharos's teammates (especially when coupled with Ampharos's low Speed), and destroys most of the common Fairy-types that would otherwise wall Ampharos: Azumarill and Togekiss. Dragon Pulse is Ampharos's hardest hitting move and 2HKOes many bulky Pokemon, including max HP Hippowdon after Stealth Rock; it also provides perfect neutral coverage with Volt Switch, except against Ferrothorn and Excadrill.</p>

<p>The EV spread gives to Ampharos enough power to 2HKO 252 HP Hippowdon after Stealth Rock and enough Speed to outspeed it. The rest of the EVs max out Ampharos's special bulk, as most of the Pokemon it checks are specially based. Talonflame can beat the Grass-types that Ampharos attracts. Lucario can OHKO Tyranitar and Ferrothorn, which both trouble Ampharos. Both Talonflame and Lucario also outspeed and can OHKO Excadrill outside of sand, one of the best counters to Ampharos. Defog Mandibuzz is another good teammate, walling variants of Excadrill without Swords Dance and checking even those with Swords Dance; it can also get rid of the entry hazards that Ferrothorn sets up and use Taunt to shut it off. Trevenant and Gourgeist are also good checks to Excadrill and can burn Ferrothorn with Will-O-Wisp, but can't get rid of its entry hazards.</p>

<p>name: All-Out Attacker<br />
move 1: Volt Switch<br />
move 2: Dragon Pulse<br />
move 3: Focus Blast<br />
move 4: Discharge / Thunderbolt<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

<p>With a great typing, solid bulk, and wide coverage, Ampharos makes for a good tank. Ampharos can come in against the plethora of Grass- and Water-types found in OU and start dishing out pain. Volt Switch is the best move to use in the early-game to wear down Ampharos's checks and gain momentum. If Ground-types are present on the opponent's team, Dragon Pulse should be used as it can OHKO or 2HKO all of them with the exception of specially defensive Hippowdon. Focus Blast covers the few Pokemon that wall Ampharos's STABs; namely Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Excadrill, 2HKOing the first and OHKOing the latter, with the help of Stealth Rock. Discharge gives Ampharos an Electric-type STAB move that doesn't force it out and has a handy 30% chance to inflict paralysis; Thunderbolt on the other hand, hits harder and should be used if Ampharos's team doesn't benefit from paralyze support.</p>

<p>The Speed EVs enable Ampharos to outspeed Hippowdon and 2HKO it with Dragon Pulse. The rest of the EVs are thrown into bulk and power. Fire-types are good partners as they can deal with the Grass-types that check Ampharos, whereas Ampharos takes care of Water-types for them. Strong checks to Ground- and Dragon-types are appreciated, making Skarmory and Gliscor fine partners. Finally, strong physical attackers that can deal with special walls such as Sylveon and Blissey are good to have. Aegislash is one of the best switch-ins to both of them, and it can also take advantage of most Grass-types by setting up on them.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Specially defensive Hippowdon is the best and only true counter to Ampharos, as it blocks Volt Switch, walls it, and 2HKOes it with Earthquake. Special walls such as Florges, Sylveon, Blissey, and Chansey can easily wall Ampharos but are easy to take advantage of with Volt Switch. Excadrill, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar wall sets without Focus Blast; Excadrill has the added benefit of being immune to Volt Switch and being able to OHKO with Earthquake, making for a great check. Mega Venusaur walls Ampharos, taking even a couple of Dragon Pulse hits, but can't do back much to it and can be easily worn down with Volt Switch and potentially Stealth Rock. Lastly, any faster Pokemon with strong super effective STAB moves can easily revenge kill Ampharos.</p>

 

[AccidentalGreed]

In the cons section, mention that Mega Ampharos is fairly obvious in Team Preview.

Also, I'm surprised there isn't a bulky set mentioned here ala Goodra. I haven't exactly tested anything out yet, but imo I think there should be a set that takes advantage of the fact that Ampharos has base 165 SpA, and that it has some perks over other Electric-types such as Focus Blast, which takes care of its Tyranitar and Ferrothorn problem somewhat. It also helps that it can take care of the latter easily due to its resistances to its STABs, amongst other things.

 

[alexwolf]

AccidentalGreed, the RestTalk set is the only way i have found to take advantage of Mega Ampharos's unique traits. It is slow and has good bulk and defensive typing, which means that it wants to run HP EVs to check Pokemon such as Talonflame and Rotom-W, but on the other hand it lacks Leftovers and is prone to all kinds of passive damage. Add to this that the Pokemon it wants to check either spam Volt Switch and status moves(Rotom-W) or have reliable recovery (Talonflame) and you will find Mega Ampharos not managing to hold them back as long as it is needed without RestTalk.

I also put max SpA investment because Mega Ampharos has the benefit of being a very hard Pokemon to switch into even with just its STABs, thanks to its huge SpA, the good coverage its STABs get (and the fact that Volt Switchs fucks up the two best Fairies), and the switch initiative that Volt Switch provides. As i mentioned, Dragon Pulse is strong enough to 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon, which is an impressive feat for a 85 BP move on such an all around bulky Pokemon without any boosting item. So, between Volt Switch's respectable damage output and switch initiative, Dragon Pulse's good power, and the combined coverage of those two moves, you will find that not much else is needed and not many things can switch into Ampharos without breaking a sweat. Excadrill and Ferrothorn are admittedly problems, but this is why you should have good checks to them.

 

[GrislyBear]

Would an agility set have use as the mega evolution puts ampharos' special attack stat sky high?

 

[ginganinja]

Would an agility set have use as the mega evolution puts ampharos' special attack stat sky high?

Its really slow, in my testing it just wasn't that great.

In other news, this thing worked ok on a Rain team i tested as a defensive pivot. I ran 4 Attacks with Modest and when it got in (not difficult with its nice resistances), it would do some serious damage. Want more QC input on this set.

 

[col49]

Oh hey, I like Ampy. However, I do believe your primary set currently has two individual Speed investments friend '-'

Also, seconding the idea of a pivot set gingninja mentions. Aside from the lack of recovery, it really is quite good, the extra damage output, Dragon STAB, and slower Volt Switch give it a sustainable niche over Rotom-W. Personally, I enjoyed a set of Volt Switch / DPulse / (Thunder / TBolt) / (Focus Blast / Heal Bell), though it could be optimized? As for Agility, I've found it to be a complete monster with Sticky Webs support, since beats out basically everything speed-wise from there, eats up most priority, and can even threaten most Defog / Rapid Spin users pretty nicely, though idk if the level of support it requires merits a set haha.

 

[alexwolf]

Added an all out attacking set. We could also merge the two sets into something like this:

<p>Ampharos @ Ampharosite<br />
Ability: Static<br />
EVs: 236 Spe / 252 SpA / 20 Spe<br />
Modest Nature<br />
- Volt Switch<br />
- Dragon Pulse<br />
- Rest / Focus Blast<br />
- Sleep / Thunderbolt / Heal Bell</p>

 

[Fuzznip]

QC 1/3

 

[dragonuser]

QC APPROVED 2/3

 

[Kavatika]

This could use more specific teammates, such as Blaziken and other physical/mixed fire-types, given their ability to force out grass types and set up whilst Ampharos softens up physical walls for them. Skarmory can be an asset as well, resisting or being immune to all of Ampharos's weaknesses bar ice, and Ampharos easily doing the same.

 

[TheMantyke]

Unless Ampharos has gained Heal Bell as an egg move this generation (which I haven't seen evidence of yet, so this is unlikely), it is an HGSS / B2W2 exclusive tutor attack and unavailable as of now.

 

[Stone RG]

I wonder if Toxic can be used in the All Out attacker set? Seeing Mega Amphy's most common switch ins, like SpD Hippo or Assault Vest Ttar, and other more obscure ones such as quagsire or gastrodon, seems to me Toxic is much more worrysome to most of them, and definetely a much more reliable at wearing down Hippo in general. I dont know if it deserves a slash, but its most probably useful against defensive teams.

 

[alexwolf]

I wonder if Toxic can be used in the All Out attacker set? Seeing Mega Amphy's most common switch ins, like SpD Hippo or Assault Vest Ttar, and other more obscure ones such as quagsire or gastrodon, seems to me Toxic is much more worrysome to most of them, and definetely a much more reliable at wearing down Hippo in general. I dont know if it deserves a slash, but its most probably useful against defensive teams.

252+ SpA Mega Ampharos Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Quagsire: 258-304 (65.48 - 77.15%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mega Ampharos Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gastrodon: 216-255 (50.7 - 59.85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Mega Ampharos Focus Blast vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in sand: 224-264 (55.44 - 65.34%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

But i guess i can mention Toxic in AC, as crippling SpD Hippowdon, an otherwise perfect counter, is nice.

 

[toshimelonhead]

Consider Discharge on the All-Out Attacker set, 30% paralysis is wonderful with this thing.

 

[Unowninator]

[Set Recommendations]

< p>name: RestTalk<br />
move 1: Rest<br />
move 2: Sleep Talk<br />
move 3: Volt Switch<br />
move 4: Dragon Pulse<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 252 HP / 44 SpA / 192 SpD / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

• Good switch-in to Water-, Grass-, and Fire-types. Counters Talonflame
• RestTalk gives it reliable recovery
• Volt Switch + Dragon Pulse gets perfect neutral coverage outside of Ferrothorn, Excadrill and Magnezone
• Dragon Pulse 2HKOes physically defensive Hippowdon after SR. Special bulk is then maxed to better deal with Water-types, which are mainly specially based, as well as Electric-types
• Great pivot thanks to its slow Volt Switch
• Enough Speed to outrun Hippowdon
• Use teammates that can take advantage of Grass-types and special tanks
• Strong checks to Excadrill and Ferrothorn

• 
  How is this a strong check to either of them? Especially Excadrill because it's immune to Volt Switch & it has Super effective Earthquake.

 

[Kavatika]

• 
  How is this a strong check to either of them? Especially Excadrill because it's immune to Volt Switch & it has Super effective Earthquake.

He's saying that you need checks to excadrill and ferrothorn :o

 

[alexwolf]

Consider Discharge on the All-Out Attacker set, 30% paralysis is wonderful with this thing.

True, totally forgot about it. Will probably slash it first, thx!

 

[Count Serperior]

Yeah I second the Discharge comment.
I've been using it on my glorious dragon and losing -10 power to gain +20 paralysis chance has been working wonderfully for me. He's slow as hell, but with the listed 20 spe EVs it can manage to outspeed paralysed 130s and Discharge all over their faces again. (ew)


(well, -15 after STAB)

 

[alexwolf]

Ready for the third QC check.

 

[SOMALIA]

3/3

 

[asterat]

<p>Specially defensive counter is the best and only true counter to Amphatos, as it blocks Volt Switch, walls it, and 2HKOes it with Earthquake. Special walls such as Florges, Sylveon, Blissey, and Chansey can easily wall Ampharos but are easy to take advantage of with Volt Switch. Excadrill, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar wall sets without Focus Blast, and Excadrill has the added benefit of being immune to Volt Switch and being able to OHKO with Earthquake, making for a great check. Mega Venusaur walls Ampharos, taking even a couple of Dragon Pulse hits, but can't do back much to it and can be easily worn down with Volt Switch and potentially Stealth Rock. Lastly, any faster Pokemon with strong super effective STAB moves can easily revenge kill Ampharos.</p>

I'm going to guess you meant to say gastrodon but it isn't clear.

 

[alexwolf]

I'm going to guess you meant to say gastrodon but it isn't clear.

No, i meant Hippowdon but thanks for catching that. Fixed.

 

[CavemanCossy]

<p>name: RestTalk<br />
move 1: Rest<br />
move 2: Sleep Talk<br />
move 3: Volt Switch<br />
move 4: Dragon Pulse<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 252 HP / 44 SpA / 192 SpD / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

...

The EV spread gives to Ampharos enough power to 2HKO 252 HP Hippowdon after Stealth Rock and enough Speed to outspeed it. The rest of EVs max out Ampharos's special bulk, as most of the Pokemon it checks are specially based. Greninja, Lucario (both formes), and Charizard (both formes) can all beat the Grass-types that Ampharos attracts, hit hard and are difficult to wall once they get in, and all outspeed and OHKO Excadrill outside of sand, one of the best counters to Ampharos.

Is it worth mentioning other megas as good partners? Based on what I've played, it doesn't seem like Charizard is worth using in OU if it's not a Mega, which is the same case with Ampharos; both need their Mega forms in order to get the most out of them in OU environment. The problem is you can only have one mega per match.

Lucario I get, of course, as in either forme it wastes Tyranitar. But wouldn't it be better to mention Talonflame instead of Charizard as a good partner for this set?

 

[Fuzznip]

CavemanCossy is absolutely correct. Remove Lucario from beating Grass-types because that is not necessarily true; mention that it defeats Tyranitar instead. Swap out Charizard for Talonflame because no one wants to use regular Charizard as a teammate.

 

[P2X7]

Amateur GP Check below.
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[Pros]

<ul>
<li>It has a great typing, both offensively and defensively.</li>
<li>It has solid mixed bulk.</li>
<li>It is very powerful.</li>
<li>It is a fantastic pivot due to low Speed and Volt Switch.</li>
</ul>

[Cons]

<ul>
<li>It is very slow, to the point that even most defensive Pokemon can outspeed it.</li>
<li>It lacks reliable recovery.</li>
<li>It has weaknesses to Ground-, Ice-, Dragon-, and Fairy-type moves, all relatively common attacking types.</li>
</ul>

[Set Recommendations]

<p>name: RestTalk<br />
move 1: Rest<br />
move 2: Sleep Talk<br />
move 3: Volt Switch<br />
move 4: Dragon Pulse<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 252 HP / 44 SpA / 192 SpD / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

<p>This set makes for a great switch-in to Water-, Grass-, and Fire-types, namely Trevenant, Gourgeist, Rotom-W, and Talonflame. Rest and Sleep Talk give Ampharos a form of healing and make it a decent status absorber. Volt Switch gets STAB, provides free switches for Ampharos's teammates (especially when coupled with Ampharos's low Speed), and hits the most common Fairy-types that would otherwise wall Ampharos, Azumarill and Togekiss, hard. Dragon Pulse is Ampharos's hardest hitting move and 2HKOes many bulky Pokemon, including max HP Hippowdon after Stealth Rock, while also providing perfect neutral coverage with Volt Switch, except against Ferrothorn and Excadrill.</p>

<p>The EV spread gives to Ampharos enough power to 2HKO 252 HP Hippowdon after Stealth Rock and enough Speed to outspeed it. The rest of EVs max out Ampharos's special bulk, as most of the Pokemon it checks are specially based. Greninja, Lucario (both formes), and Charizard (both formes) can all beat the Grass-types that Ampharos attracts, hit hard and are difficult to wall once they get in, and all outspeed and OHKO Excadrill outside of sand, one of the best counters to Ampharos. Lucario can also OHKO Tyranitar, a solid counter to Ampharos. Defog Mandibuzz is another good teammate, walling variants of Excadrill without Swords Dance and checksing even those with Swords Dance, and can get rid of the entry hazards that Ferrothorn sets up and use Taunt to shut it off. Trevenant and Gourgeist are also good checks to Excadrill and can burn Ferrothorn with Will-O-Wisp, but can't do get rid of its entry hazards.

<p>name: All-Out Attacker<br />
move 1: Volt Switch<br />
move 2: Dragon Pulse<br />
move 3: Focus Blast<br />
move 4: Discharge / Thunderbolt<br />
ability: Static<br />
item: Ampharosite<br />
evs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe<br />
nature: Modest</p>

<p>With a great typing, solid bulk, and wide coverage, Ampharos makes for a good tank. Ampharos can come in against the plethora of Grass and Water-types found in OU and start dishing some pain. Volt Switch is the best move to use in the early-game, to wear down Ampharos's checks and gain momentum. If Ground-types are present on the opponent's team, Dragon Pulse should be used, which OHKOes or 2HKOes all of them, with the exception of specially defensive Hippowdon. Focus Blast covers the few Pokemon that wall Ampharos's STABs, namely Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Excadrill, 2HKOing the first and OHKOing the latter, with the help of Stealth Rock. Discharge gives Ampharos an Electric STAB move that doesn't force it out and has a handy 30% paralyze chance, while Thunderbolt hits harder and should be used if Ampharos's team doesn't benefit from paralyze support.</p>

<p>The Speed EVs enable Ampharos to outspeed Hippowdon, in order to 2HKO it with Dragon Pulse. Then, the rest of the EVs are thrown into bulk and power. Fire-types are good partners as they can deal with the Grass-types that check Ampharos, while Ampharos takes care of Water-types for them. Strong checks to Ground and Dragon-types are appreciated, meaning that Skarmory and Gliscor are fine partners. Finally, strong physical attackers that can deal with special walls such as Sylveon and Blissey are good to have. Aegislash is one of the best switch-ins to both of those, and it can also take advantage of most Grass-types by setting up on them.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Specially defensive Hippowdon is the best and only true counter to Ampharos, as it blocks Volt Switch, walls it, and 2HKOes it with Earthquake. Special walls such as Florges, Sylveon, Blissey, and Chansey can easily wall Ampharos but are easy to take advantage of with Volt Switch. Excadrill, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar wall sets without Focus Blast, and Excadrill has the added benefit of being immune to Volt Switch and being able to OHKO with Earthquake, making for a great check. Mega Venusaur walls Ampharos, taking even a couple of Dragon Pulse hits, but can't do back much to it and can be easily worn down with Volt Switch and potentially Stealth Rock. Lastly, any faster Pokemon with strong super effective STAB moves can easily revenge kill Ampharos.</p>