Rampardos [QC 0/3]

[Iura]

It's a dinosaur! Nom Nom.

Overview
########

• Has a monstrously high Attack, one of the top in the entire game
• In NU, it's basically the highest Attack Stat, next to maybe Thick Club Marowak
• Has a plethora of moves to cover typing
• Can set up rocks relatively easily on Xatu due to it being afraid of getting OHKOed
• Has Thin Defenses (97/60/50)
• Speed isn't fast enough to compliment Attack (58)
• Mono Rock typing isn't the best typing for its bad Defenses
• Unsalvageable Special Attack

Anti-Lead
########
name: Anti Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Endeavor
move 3: Stone Edge / Rock Slide
move 4: Superpower / Earthquake / Fire Punch
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

Moves
========

• Stealth Rock is a good move for Rampardos because some people don't expect it and if they try to stop it, they will die
• However, Stealth Rock can be stopped by Taunt, a flinch, a paralyze, sleep, and Magic Coat ofc.
• Endeavor for when Rampardos hits 1 HP with the sash to bring the enemy down with him
• Stone Edge is for the STAB move and OHKOing Xatu and Crustle, but Rock Slide has better accuracy and can flinch. However it won't always OHKO Crustle
• Fire Punch kills Ferroseeds and is able to destroy more types with Stone Edge/Rock Slide than Earthquake or Superpower. For example, it hits Leavanny hard and doesn't have the chance to miss like Stone Edge or Rock Slide
• Superpower can hurt Probopass badly and also covers Ferroseeds quite nicely
• Earthquake gives Rampardos a nice neutral coverage while still hitting Probopass hard, but not Ferroseeds.

Set Details
========

• 252 Atk / 252 Spe is the fastest possible stealth rock set up and then doing the most amount of damage. We throw 4 into HP as the remainder.
• Focus Sash allows for an almost guaranteed Stealth Rock(The thing that stops Sash are Multi Hitting moves such as Bullet Seed)
• Jolly Nature is to be the fastest Rampardos possible, do NOT run Adamant
• Jolly ties with neutral 100s.

Usage Tips
========

• Since Rampardos is known more for his Scarf set, try to force them to switch when you SR
• If you can predict Endeavor correctly, it helps your team immensely by making one Pokemon basically dead
• If you don't Stealth Rock first, don't take too long to because before you know it, you're dead.
• With Mold Breaker, Rampardos can kill Sturdy and Wonder Guard Pokemon in one hit and Magic Bounce doesn't work. Go crazy.
• Pokemon who set up on Rampardos are stupid, they can't one shot you when you have sash(usually). Endeavor them or just kill them
• Against other setup Pokemon, don't set up, kill them.

Team Options
========

• Rampardos enjoys Pokemon who can sweep up weakened opponents that were endeavored, like Floatzel or Physical Samurott with Aqua Jet.
• Spinblockers are great for saving his rocks. Someone like Mismagius or Haunter works.
• Rampardos also works well with Special Attackers who can set up on a forced switch from the weakened Pokemon or just outright sweep like Vilvillon or Jynx
• Any Pokemon who can cripple the enemy works well too, Pranksters like Murkrow

Choice Scarf
########
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Zen Headbutt / Superpower / Crunch
ability: Sheer Force / Mold Breaker
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

Moves
========

• Head Smash is your go to move to to destroy everything, but it has recoil
• Use Rock Slide if you don't want recoil and you can get a Sheer Force to work or with Mold Breaker you can flinch
• Earthquake provides great neutral coverage with Head Smash or Rock Slide. It can hit levitaters and balloons with Mold Breaker.
• Fire Punch destroys Grass Types which is what the other 2 moves can't really touch
• Zen Headbutt is the best move to round out to beat those pesky Fighting types and floating Poison Types(if no Mold Breaker)
• Crunch can hit Psychic and Ghost types hard and is probably better if Rampardos is carrying Mold Breaker

Set Details
========

• 252 Atk / 252 Spe is the fastest possible dinosaur with the most amount of damage. We throw 4 into HP as the remainder.
  
• Choice Scarf allows you to outrun more of the unboosted meta, allowing Rampardos to use that monstrous 165 base Attack
• Jolly is used to outrun more of the meta, but Adamant can be viable to do more damage. However, it would be slower and able to be outspend by some other Pokemon that wouldn't outspend it if Rampardos was Jolly.
• This Rampardos beats fully invested positive nature with 111 if Jolly and speed ties fully invested positive nature with 97 if Adamant

Usage Tips
========

• Mold Breaker is so Earthquake can hit Levitators, Air Balloon, and maybe Flash Fire
• Sheer Force is for the Power added to Fire Punch and Zen Headbutt/Crunch
• Do not hesitate to call Rampardos back if the Pokemon is something that walls you, just don't sacrifice too much in the process
• Even if it's resisted, if the Pokemon is frail enough, Rampardos can OHKO it regardless

Team Options
========

• Rampardos serves as a fantastic wallbreaker and can beat out stall, so teams that require a wallbreaker love Rampardos
• Rampardos likes Pokemon who cripple the opponents even more with this set, so using Pranksters like Volbeat is good for paralyzing or Drifblim for burns
• Rampardos still likes priority to clean up whatever mess he left in his wake or a good setup on the weakened Pokemon forced switch
• Rampardos doesn't like to be slowed any further or hazards chunking at his health, so keeping a Defogger or Spinner around is good
• Spinners are better so Rampardos can have Hazard Support, so someone like Avalugg or Cryogonal are good

Other Options
########

• Rock Polish LO Sheer Force works well enough if you have something to switch into.
• It's faster than our Scarfed set
• Unfortunately, Rampardos's stats are too low to make use of a Mixed Attacking set, so that good movepool is wasted
• Assault Vest Rampardos is a good surprise factor, but it can only live 2-3 hits regardless

Checks & Counters
########

**Taunters** For the Sash set, Taunters who are faster or Cripplers like Murkrow can annoy Rampardos.
**Status** Anyone who can put Rampardos to sleep is also annoying like Vivillon or Butterfree. Anyone who can burn him like Drifblim or Mismagius.
**Good Physical Tanks** For Scarf, a good tank can handle Rampardos, like Bastiodon with Metal Burst or Avalugg with Avalanche
**Faster Pokemon** Anyone faster or other scarfers are also likely to destroy Rampardos like Accelgor, so decide to attack, switch, or setup.

 

[Ares]

I'm thinking lead Rampardos should be going first, from what I've seen and heard it puts in a lot of work compared to the other sets.

Rampardos @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
- Earthquake

 

[Iura]

I'm thinking lead Rampardos should be going first, from what I've seen and heard it puts in a lot of work compared to the other sets.

Rampardos @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
- Earthquake

Honestly the problem I have with this set is that Rampardos is extremely slow, but I'I'll try it more thoroughly. TY ^_^♧

 

[Punchshroom]

That Rampardos is meant to be used as a lead/anti-lead, and does a fine job. It doesn't need much speed to perform, and should indeed be the first set.

Rampardos has virtually no need for Iron Head, so cut it from the Scarf set; Zen Headbutt is useful for striking Fighting-types.

 

[Water Drone]

Your sets are off, specifically formatting-wise, they should look like this:

Choice Scarf
########
name: Scarfed Dinosaur
move 1: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: Zen Headbutt
ability: Mold Breaker / Sheer Force
item: Choice Scarf
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

Rock Polish
########
name: Polished Dinosaur
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Fire Punch
ability: Mold Breaker / Sheer Force
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Adamant / Jolly

I'll leave the rest to qc, good luck!

 

[Iura]

Woops. Those were just placeholders for now, I'll do the rest today

 

[Raseri]

I think the lead set should definitely be the first set, its the best Rampardos can do because it can set-up Stealth Rocks easily even on teams with Xatu. And most teams that rely on Xatu really dont want hazards up.

I havent see any other set used well in XY, particularly the RP set. So I'd like to see some logs of what it can do, because theorymonning it, I don't really like it at all.
Scarf looks a bit better, but I'd still like to see some logs of it in action to see if its worth keeping

 

[skies]

Agreeing with ras that a set of SR / Endeavor / Stone Edge / Fpunch (or Crunch) should definitely be first set because of how effective it is.

 

[boltsandbombers]

Agreeing with ras that a set of SR / Endeavor / Stone Edge / Fpunch (or Crunch) should definitely be first set because of how effective it is.

Or maybe superpower for probopass leads, probably slashed with fire punch because they both hit ferroseed.

 

[Iura]

Crunch doesn't hit as much, Fpunch hits Ferro hard, Superpower can hit Probo. Earthquake brings good neutral coverage. I'll slash it Fire Punch / Superpower / Earthquake

Edit: Added Lead, Removed Polish. I'll add Polish to OO because even though it's viable, there are many pokemon that cannot switch into. Your best bet is to try to force the pokemon you're switching into out by bluffing a Scarf.

Edit 2: I called it Anti-Lead since it kinda acts like the Infernape with Sash and Fake Out, Overheat, Close Combat, and Stealth Rock and that was called Anti-Lead, so eh.

 

[Punchshroom]

You meant to put Sash on the lead (otherwise Endeavor is worthless), plus Mold Breaker exclusively; being able to trump Sturdy Crustle and Magic Bounce Xatu are big reasons why Rampardos is useful as an anti-lead.

cellgoondude Also when mentioning its Attack stat, don't make references of Pokes that aren't NU. You can pretty much safely claim that Rampardos has the highest Attack in NU after Thick Club Marowak, or something along those lines.

 

[Iura]

You meant to put Sash on the lead (otherwise Endeavor is worthless), plus Mold Breaker exclusively; being able to trump Sturdy Crustle and Magic Bounce Xatu are big reasons why Rampardos is useful as an anti-lead.

cellgoondude Also when mentioning its Attack stat, don't make references of Pokes that aren't NU. You can pretty much safely claim that Rampardos has the highest Attack in NU after Thick Club Marowak, or something along those lines.

Woops I didn't notice. Thanks!
As for the not mentioning NU, I basically made another point because the one comparing to non NUs just make it sound better in general. I just like making people more interested if they're new so "One of the highest in the entire game" sounds good tbh

Anyways, I think it's ready for QC. Come shred my Analysis everyone!

 

[Water Drone]

You dont have to put 'Rampardos' in the set name, we know its a Rampardos. Just rename the two sets to Anti-lead and Choice Scarf, respectively.

 

[Iura]

You dont have to put 'Rampardos' in the set name, we know its a Rampardos. Just rename the two sets to Anti-lead and Choice Scarf, respectively.

Fixed that, but... Is that it ;_;

 

[Water Drone]

yeah gj. And idk if you just forgot or didnt get to it yet, but Ubers mentions should probably be cut out. This looks pretty good

 

[scorpdestroyer]

^ for the record I think this analysis needs a lot of work

have you tested out Rampardos? A lot of the analysis didn't give me any information about Rampardos, or are incorrect. For example in the Usage Tips in Anti-Lead, I learned absolutely nothing about how to play with Rampardos, apart from obvious information like "cripple something with Endeavor" and "use SR". You'll need to include important information like when to use Rampardos, what kind of matchups does it do well / not do well in.

Team Options is also really lacking. "Any Pokemon that works well with entry hazards" isn't going to cut it because literally every Pokemon appreciates entry hazards. Give us some good examples of Pokemon that benefit especially from it due to achieving certain KOs or having counters that are easily worn down. Your other Team Options are really weird as well. Are you really going to tell a new player "Floatzel pairs really well with Rampardos because it can kill 1 HP opponents"? That point is really irrelevant as well. you'll need to be a lot more specific. "Pokemon that can cripple the opponent" isn't giving any information. How will they cripple the opponent? Why do they work well with Rampardos? Btw Volbeat isn't very good outside of weather teams while Whimsicott isn't even in NU. You also didn't include the important teammates that help keep entry hazards up, which is valuable for a suicide lead. No mention of spinblockers? Pawniard?

The same applies for the rest of the analysis. Be more specific and relevant with your examples. I suggest you go play a bit of NU and test out Rampardos before getting back to this.

 

[Iura]

Yeah sorry dude it's like 4 AM and I was trying to cram it in before class *cough* I have 2 hours. I'll fix that stuff later
To play Rampardos I can do in a jiffy
The teammates part I was racking my brain so I kind of didn't put smart enough things for it.
Whimsicott, I completely derped. Volbeat was for Prankster T-wave.
What I meant for Floatzel is that they can easily pick up kills after a Rampardos is done rampaging, yeah Ill definitely make that better. The reason I don't really mention a Spinblocker is because Defog is EVERYWHERE, but I guess a Gourgeist-Super should be added or something.
Uh Pawniard, as a teammate? Mmm I'm stupid for not putting that Defiant Pawn in.

I really hope I have time for this, I'm busy this whole week, Don't reassign my Rampardos ;-;

 

[soulgazer]

Why Fire Punch on the Anti Lead set? Earthquake / Superpower offers better coverage than Fire Punch lol. and Stone Edge is needed on lead Rampardos to OHKO Crustle 100% of the time (unless it misses).

Anti-Lead
########
name: Anti Dinosaur
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Endeavor
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower / Earthquake
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

 

[Iura]

Why Fire Punch on the Anti Lead set? Earthquake / Superpower offers better coverage than Fire Punch lol. and Stone Edge is needed on lead Rampardos to OHKO Crustle 100% of the time (unless it misses).

Anti-Lead
########
name: Anti Dinosaur
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Endeavor
move 3: Stone Edge
move 4: Superpower / Earthquake
ability: Mold Breaker
item: Focus Sash
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly

It's because I usually hate Ferroseeds. That's why Fire Punch is first.
Also, I need help centering out my mistakes everyone!

 

[boltsandbombers]

It's because I usually hate Ferroseeds. That's why Fire Punch is first.
Also, I need help centering out my mistakes everyone!

The set should not reflect how you feel about the pokemon, it should be what is viable in the metagame. You should really change the anti-lead set to Soulgazers.

 

[Iura]

The set should not reflect how you feel about the pokemon, it should be what is viable in the metagame. You should really change the anti-lead set to Soulgazers.

Fine. I just see a ton more Ferroseeds, so I assumed it would be better

 

[Punchshroom]

In NU, it's basically the highest Attack Stat, next to maybe Thick Club Marowak

Be accurate with your analysis. Just say Rampardos has the second highest Attack stat in NU, after Marowak.

However, Stealth Rock can be stopped by Taunt, a flinch, a paralyze, sleep, and Magic Coat ofc.

Don't mention this in "Moves'. If you must, you can move it into 'Usage Tips' as the moves Rampardos should watch out for (and even then paralysis is hardly reliable).

Crunch can hit Psychic and Ghost types hard and is probably better if Rampardos is carrying Mold Breaker

I....fail to see how this is relevant: how is Crunch better on Mold Breaker Rampardos than on a Sheer Force one? In fact, judging by the relevant Ghosts and Psychics in NU (Mismagius, Mesprit, and Rotom) which have Levitate cancelled out by Mold Breaker Earthquake, I'd say Crunch is less useful on Mold Breaker Rampardos, plus you can Head Smash / Stone Edge them anyway. Remove Crunch from the Scarf set.

Unfortunately, Rampardos's stats are too low to make use of a Mixed Attacking set, so that good movepool is wasted

Mixed Rampardos is actually viable back in 5th Gen due to the lopsided defenses of the physical walls back then. Instead focus on how most targets aren't hit hard enough by these attacks.

Rock Polish LO Sheer Force works well enough if you have something to switch into.
It's faster than our Scarfed set

The fist sentence makes hardly any sense at all, and what is this 'our' Scarf set? Just say 'the', and also elaborate that it needs a turn of setup to be fast, which is not easy to do.

Assault Vest Rampardos is a good surprise factor, but it can only live 2-3 hits regardless

Remove this set; even if Rampardos survives more than 2 hits (hint: it never does), Rampardos makes a horrible AV user due to its lack of special resistances, numerous special weaknesses, and reliance on a recoil-inducing move.

Has Thin Defenses (97/60/50)
Speed isn't fast enough to compliment Attack (58)

We don't need numbers, the Dex shows the stats for us.

Focus Sash allows for an almost guaranteed Stealth Rock(The thing that stops Sash are Multi Hitting moves such as Bullet Seed)

Move this point in 'Usage Tips' as some of the moves Sash Rampardos should avoid.

Jolly Nature is to be the fastest Rampardos possible, do NOT run Adamant
Jolly ties with neutral 100s.

Specify reasons why Rampardos should run Jolly; outspeeding Pawniard's Iron Head can be important, as well as not being surprised by the likes of Jolly Bullet Seed Torterra / Cacturne or max Speed Sandslash. The only neutral uninvested base 100 is Miltank, and you don't need to mention that.

Jolly is used to outrun more of the meta, but Adamant can be viable to do more damage. However, it would be slower and able to be outspend by some other Pokemon that wouldn't outspend it if Rampardos was Jolly.
This Rampardos beats fully invested positive nature with 111 if Jolly and speed ties fully invested positive nature with 97 if Adamant

These two points can be merged into one, and list examples of Pokemon that each nature allows Rampardos to outspeed.

Fire Punch destroys Grass Types which is what the other 2 moves can't really touch

The only Grass-types where Rampardos's Rock STAB won't tie/outdamage against are Torterra and Ferroseed, so just mention these two are Fire Punch's targets.

**Taunters** For the Sash set, Taunters who are faster or Cripplers like Murkrow can annoy Rampardos.
**Status** Anyone who can put Rampardos to sleep is also annoying like Vivillon or Butterfree. Anyone who can burn him like Drifblim or Mismagius.
**Good Physical Tanks** For Scarf, a good tank can handle Rampardos, like Bastiodon with Metal Burst or Avalugg with Avalanche
**Faster Pokemon** Anyone faster or other scarfers are also likely to destroy Rampardos like Accelgor, so decide to attack, switch, or setup.

This C&C section is just shoddy imo, as most of the examples used here are irrelevant or outright bad. First off, if these counters can only stop one set and not the other, it should be noted.

'Taunters' section can probably be lumped into a general 'Anti-lead' section as far as I am concerned. Yes, I know it is somewhat ironic that the anti-lead Rampardos can be anti-leaded against, but yes that happens. The Taunt users should either be Pokemon that can survive Rampardos's attacks (Samurott) or Pokemon that can outspeed and stop Rampardos while performing their own duties (Kricketune, Qwilfish); Magic Coat Leavanny can also fit that latter category. Bullet Seed Torterra dispatches of Rampardos in one turn. Sleep users such as Vivillon and Jynx can also be mentioned here.

Good physical tanks should not include Bastiodon and Avalugg, which can very easily get KOed by Rampardos (Sturdy won't save them from Mold Breaker either). Pokemon such as Seismitoad, Torterra, Sandslash, Gourgeist, Tangela, Rhydon, Steelix, Gurdurr, Poliwrath, Carracosta, etc. seem like far better examples of Pokemon that can keep Rampardos in check.

Of all the faster attackers you chose, I have no clue why you chose Accelgor as an example when its traditional lead cannot even guarantee a OHKO on Rampardos with Energy Ball. Choose Pokemon such as Feraligatr, Sawk, Sceptile, Klinklang, anything, just skim through the viability rankings for the huge list of Pokemon that can check Rampardos, though you can make a not on how some are threatened by the Scarf variant.

Priority attackers should get their own section in Checks and Counters too, since Rampardos is very vulnerable to almost all of them.

 

[Politoad]

Remove the xatu mention in the overview imo, its completely unrelevant.

Or change it, cause setting up rocks on xatu will only bounce dem back? I get your point but still...

 

[Water Drone]

Remove the xatu mention in the overview imo, its completely unrelevant.

Or change it, cause setting up rocks on xatu will only bounce dem back? I get your point but still...

It's not really irrelevant because Rampardos has Mold Breaker Stealth Rock, which gets past Magic Bounce.

 

[Politoad]

It's not really irrelevant because Rampardos has Mold Breaker Stealth Rock, which gets past Magic Bounce.

is that so? AH, i dienst know. thx