With access to Fake Out and U-turn, a great ability, as well as a terrific Speed stat, Ambipom is simply one of the premier leads in UU. Although Ambipom can Nasty Plot and attack from the special side, Ambipom's Attack stat is too impressive to waste a lead set on his mediocre Special Attack. Fake Out is mandatory on Ambipom, providing a guaranteed flinch attack with priority. With Technician and STAB backing it up, Ambipom can take a hefty amount of health from most common leads with it. Fake Out is also a great move for later on in the game, especially if you find yourself in trouble against a fast sweeper. Be warned that Fake Out will only work once until Ambipom switches out and switches back in again. The second attack is also Normal-type, abusing STAB as well as Ambipom's high base Attack. Don't be tempted to use Double Hit over Return as your STAB attack. Double Hit's 4 base power increase does not make up for its 90% accuracy, and it has very little use on Ambipom anyway: the most common Substitute users are Rotom and Mismagius, both of whom are immune; Ambipom can't break the Substitute of the most common SubPuncher, Hariyama, with Double Hit's first strike; and there is no need to break Focus Sashes with Double Hit seeing as you are using Fake Out first anyway. Return is a strong and reliable STAB attack, and can finish off a surprisingly large number of foes after being hit by Fake Out. U-Turn is always great on a lead, allowing Ambipom to make a quick escape if he doesn't match up well to an opposing lead. Taunt is very helpful for stopping opposing Stealth Rock leads and can shut down many strategies, such as weather and Baton Pass, early on. Payback's 50 Base Power will always receive the Technician boost and can be used to hit Ghost-types such as Mismagius and Rotom extremely hard. Taunt is usually the best option but Payback does have its merits. As a "hit and run lead", Ambipom does not need to invest in any stats besides Attack and Speed. Ambipom has incredible frailness anyway and should focus on attacking. Silk Scarf will power up Ambipom's STAB moves, while Life Orb will power up all its moves. Unless you need Life Orb's extra power to get some specific KOs, Silk Scarf is probably the better choice, since Ambipom won't need to lose 20% of its health for using Fake Out + Return, and since U-turn and Payback don't really need to be boosted anyway. Although this is usually best as a lead, it can be used in later stages of the game as well, as a revenge killer or just a general sweeper. However, the Choice Band set can often revenge kill better as Fake Out will do much more damage. Brick Break can be used on this set if you intend on using it as a general sweeper. If you plan on doing so, using it in slot four is usually the best idea, and Life Orb might be a better item choice than Silk Scarf if you decide to run extra coverage moves. This lead works best with bulky Pokemon waiting in reserve, who can withstand attacks and retaliate against the bulkier leads Ambipom doesn't want to take on. Lead Ambipom can add some very welcome Speed and revenge killing potential to the slower balanced team, and can serve the team's revenging needs throughout the game. Magneton also works extremely well with Ambipom, taking out Steel-types and bulky Water-types that could otherwise wall Ambipom.
Although the moves do not differ from the Lead set, with the exception of Focus Punch, the power and restriction from both sets are very different. With this set, Ambipom tries to inflict as much damage as possible with only one move, instead of being able to vary all 4. However, Ambipom receives a boost of 1.5x making this trade well worthwhile, especially if used as a quick revenge killer. The only different move on this set from the last is Focus Punch, an attack that can actually deal very heavy damage to Steel-types who previously walled this set such as Steelix or Registeel. If you plan on using Focus Punch over Pursuit, be sure to predict correctly as you do not have freedom of selection with Choice Band. Fake Out should not be the move of choice on this set. Although it should have a spot, Fake Out should only be used in dire situations as Ambipom has to quickly switch out after one use. Your main moves should be U-Turn and the Normal-type attack you choose. This set's counters and usable teammates are much like the Lead sets; however, Magneton is more stressed as a teammate. Steel-types can absolutely ruin this set if they are let free which is where Magneton comes in. If you can eliminate them, Ambipom's STAB attacks can leave the opponent helpless. This set is also walled by Ghost-types if you don't run Pursuit, which is why another Pursuiter such as Drapion would also be an excellent partner.
Ambipom has access to Nasty Plot to boost his otherwise forgettable Special Attack stat as well as Baton Pass to gladly pass the Nasty Plot to a teammate. Not many Pokemon can pass Special Attack in UU very well, and so this is something Ambipom can excel at. Nasty Plot is the wheels behind the set and keeps Ambipom moving forward with attacks or Baton Pass. Even with Technician, Ambipom would have no reason to use this set if it didn't have Nasty Plot in its movepool. Baton Pass allows Ambipom to pass Nasty Plot boosts to other recipients. Baton Pass can also help scout for switches if you need a quick switch as well. The main STAB attack is Swift, an attack that never misses which can come in handy if you ever fight a Pokemon that relies on you missing your attacks, for example, Cacturne with Hippopotas support. Swift also receives a handy Technician boost giving it 90 Base Power, 135 total when factoring in STAB. The other attack is there for coverage, although Water Pulse is the preferred option, allowing Ambipom to hit Rock and Ground-types for super effective damage. Yanmega makes a great recipient as do the previously mentioned bulky Water-types such as Milotic. Yanmega can actually boost its own speed, and is usually the best choice. This set has immense troubles with Taunt, Roar, and Haze. Having Taunt in the last slot is another great choice to block all of these and allow Ambipom to pass freely.
With Light Screen and Reflect becoming more and more common, Ambipom can abuse a pure Baton Pass set to set up a sweeper to completely destroy the opponent. The difference in this set from the last is the fact that no attacks are present. This is simply because Ambipom does not need them. Instead, this set will only focus on using Agility or Nasty Plot, Taunting anyone who attempts to Perish Song or phaze you out, and then passing your boosts to an appropriate target. This set works best with Uxie setting up the screens and hopefully using Memento as well. This strategy can give Ambipom two or three boosts very quickly. For the Pokemon you plan to pass to, many of the previous ones are great choices such as Tinted Lens Yanmega or bulky Water-types. The reason Tinted Lens Yanmega is listed is because you should hopefully be passing +2 Speed to Yanmega as well as a Nasty Plot. Any Pokemon who resists Fighting-type attacks or are immune to them, such as Mismagius, also make great targets. Team OptionsThe best aid of Ambipom are bulky Water-types and Magneton, no doubt about it. With the heavy usage of several Steel-types in UU, Ambipom needs a partner to deal with them, otherwise, it just won't be able to get going. Milotic is one of the greatest choices to pair with Ambipom as it can Rest off any status it might receive from Fire or Steel-types and receive a Defense boost. Milotic can then knock out all of these, allowing Ambipom an open road to sweep. Choice Band Ambipom should be reserved for late game, and entry hazard support helps him greatly. With entry hazards, almost nothing will be able to switch in or out of Ambipom without taking a load of damage. Drapion is probably the best partner for Ambipom as he can lay Toxic Spikes, Whirlwind out troublesome foes, and then Pursuit any Ghost-types intent on walling you. Other helpful partners include Steelix, Claydol, and Roserade; the latter two can set up entry hazards and take Fighting-type attacks, while the former can Stealth Rock and Roar away foes. Light Screen and Reflect are both helpful for the Nasty Plot set as Ambipom needs some durability to pull it off. Claydol and Uxie are great at providing them, and can support sweeper teammates with Stealth Rock as well. Claydol can also Rapid Spin to help set up Yanmega with some Nasty Plots, and both it and Uxie resist Ambipom's Fighting weakness. Other OptionsAmbipom has a plethora of moves but none of them are generally too helpful. Ambipom can use a strategy of Fake Out and Last Resort that relies on using Fake Out to make Last Resort the only usable move. However, if you wish to use this Ambipom, your team should be built around it, otherwise, it is dead weight. Ambipom gets Seed Bomb, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, and Aerial Ace. However, none of these are very helpful in UU when compared to his other options. Aerial Ace can help with Fighting-types though. Ambipom is decent at using Rain Dance and has plenty of support moves to go with it such as Thunder, Water Pulse, and Taunt. However, Electrode is generally a better user of Rain Dance than Ambipom. Uproar can be used on the Nasty Plot attacker, preventing sleep and still receiving a Technician boost. However, Ambipom will be stuck using it for two to five turns, making Swift the much better choice. EVsAmbipom should just simply max out its attacking stats and Speed. Ambipom is just too frail to invest EVs into his defenses. OpinionAmbipom has always been considered a great lead and it is not hard to see why in UU. With the power of Technician Fake Out backing him up, he can be a big pest to many other Pokemon. Ambipom has plenty of surprises too which can always make playing him an ordeal. Ambipom should stay away from OU though as other leads can take him on fairly well and there are much better revenge killers. CountersSteel-types such as Registeel and Steelix can take many hits from Ambipom; just Stealth Rock and attack. Milotic and other Water-types will usually just soak up hits from Ambipom before recovering. Hitmontop is an excellent counter as well, Intimidating Ambipom to lower its Attack and then following up with strong Fighting-type attacks. After Fake Out has been used, it is quite easier to deal with Ambipom, especially with Choice Scarfers. |
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