Rampardos(BW2 Revamp)[GP 2/2]

[Kingler]

I'm a dino yadayadayada

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[Overview]

• High attack
• Powerful STAB move in Head Smash
• Ability to act as a Choice Band wallbreaker and a mixed attacker
• Two great abilities in Sheer Force and Mold Breaker
• Slow as fuck which sucks with its defenses, but can outspeed most relevant walls
• Terrible defenses
• Rock-typing sucks
• Takes massive recoil from Head Smash, which along with its poor defenses, means that it won't be sticking around for long
  
• Can be good when supported right

[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naughty
evs: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• While Rampardos usually uses its massive Attack stat to pummel through the opposition, it can run a viable mixed set
• This set lures in its best checks and does heavy damage to them
• Head Smash nukes shit but is basically a suicide button, but importantly OHKOes Slowking and Amoonguss
• Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and hits extremely hard with Rampardos' Attack stat
  
• Thunderbolt OHKOes 252 / 0 Alomomola after Stealth Rock, Qwilfish and does heavy damage to Poliwrath, which would otherwise tank any hit Ramp could throw at it
• Focus Blast deals heavy damage to Rhydon, Steelix and Aggron, things that dgaf about anything else on the set
• Ice Beam messes up ground types such as sandslash golurk and torterra

• Hence this set is an excellent weapon against stall

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• Fairly straightforward EV spread
• Earth Power can be used because missing sucks, but misses out on important KOs
• A Rash Nature lets it OHKO Rhydon and Torterra most of the time, which it cannot do with a Speed-boosting nature, and the extra Speed does not let it outrun anything anyway
• Zen Headbutt hits Fighting-types, but loses out on a lot of coverage, and Rampardos cannot affore to give up any of its moves
• While this set can easily break through stall, it struggles against offense due to its poor Speed and common weaknesses
• Uxie and Slowking provide para support and latter can bring it in with a slow U-turn
• Again, Swellow makes for a great partner, as it can severely damage teams after Steelix and Rhydon have been eliminated
• Rotom-C and Entei struggle against cores and can clean up

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Head Smash
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: ThunderPunch / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Hits hard as fuck
  
• Choice Band allows it to plow through most of the tier
• Head Smash destroys everything, easily 2HKOing defensive behemoths such as Alomomomola
  
• Superpower lets Rampardos do a huge chunk of damage to Ferroseed, Steelix and Rhydon
  
• Fire Punch gives coverage against Durant, Escavalier and Ferroseed
• ThunderPunch lets it hit Pokemon such as Alomomola and Poliwrath hard
  
• Rock Slide is an additional reliable STAB and hits hard with Sheer Force boost

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• Straightforward EV spread, max Attack and max Speed
• Mold Breaker can mess up Pokemon with Sturdy but Steelix still survives a hit so it's only useful against Crustle; still good though
• Stone Edge can be used but Rampardos needs Head Smash to wallbreak better; also Rock Slide in conjunction with Sheer Force hits just about as hard
• Ice Punch can be used to lure in and KO Torterra, but with Choice Band, Rampardos can 2HKO it anyway, so it sucks
• Paralysis support appreciated; Uxie, Qwilfish and Slowking are good for this role
  
• Swellow makes for a good partner as Rampardos can lure in Steelix and Rhydon and 2HKO most variants with Superpower
• Mesprit is able to defeat the Fighting-types that Rampardos hates, and can use Healing Wish to heal it back to full health and get rid of pesky status
  
• Magneton can trap and defeat Steel-types so Rampardos can freely spam Head Smash
• Fast, powerful Pokemon such as Sceptile and Aerodactyl appreciate Rampardos' ability to break through most walls and can late-game clean with those walls removed
• Emboar and Entei appreciate its ability to lure in bulky waters and KO them

[Other Options]

• Choice Scarf but can't even fucking outspeed Sceptile
  
• TR sweeper here imo
• HP Grass for Quagsire and Rhydon, but the former is kinda rare, and the latter is hit hard enough by Sheer Force-boosted Focus Blast
• Stealth Rock usable but it is slow and frail, meaning it will not set 'em up reliably
• SubPunch, but anything breaks its subs lol
• Dragon Tail shouldn't even be mentioned here imo
• Outrage sucks, Double Edge sucks, etc
• Focus Sash+Endeavor but that's pretty lol

[Checks and Counters]

• Almost impossible to 100% counter; best bet for the opponent is to prevent it from switching in on a slower Pokemon, which can be hit hard by it

• Alomomomomomomomomola can scout for the set and switch into respective counter or just counter it
  
• Fighting-types like Poliwrath and Hariyama are bulky and resist Head Smash
• Ferroseed vs non fire punch variants
• Golurk(?)
• Rotom-C, faster Gallade variants, Kabutops and other faster Pokemon can easily revenge kill
• Priority from Spiritomb and Kabutops fucks it up

[Overview]

<p>Rampardos is primarily seen as a wallbreaker in the RU tier, and accomplishes this with two main sets: one is that of a Choice Band wallbreaker and another is that of of a mixed core-breaker that can lure in its checks and counters and defeat them with the appropriate coverage move. Thus, between its colossal Attack stat and surprisingly generous special movepool, Rampardos is a truly great weapon against stall. However, it is let down by its poor Speed stat, which along with its horrible defensive typing and quite average bulk means that it won't be sticking around for long. It also faces competition from Aggron as a Rock-type with access to Head Smash, and unlike Rampardos, Aggron does not have to take massive amounts of recoil thanks to its Rock Head ability, meaning that Rampardos is often passed over in favor of it. Nevertheless, Rampardos separates itself from Aggron through its superior Attack and the ability to utilize its movepool well by going mixed.

[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Ice Beam
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Rash
evs: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While Rampardos would normally be thought of as a one-dimensional wallbreaker, pummeling through the tier with its massive Attack, it also has the ability to go mixed due to access to Sheer Force and an expansive special movepool. The purpose of this set is to lure in Rampardos's checks and counters and destroy them with the appropriate coverage move. Head Smash is Rampardos's signature move for good reason; coming off base 165 Attack, it can OHKO relatively bulky threats such as Amoonguss and Slowking even with minimal investment. However, the massive recoil it takes means that Head Smash should only be used when you are not sure of a switch-in or where its coverage moves would otherwise not OHKO the target. When using Head Smash, Rampardos will usually not survive for long enough to KO more than one or two Pokemon on a given team. Rock Slide is an alternative option, and while it does not hit nearly as hard as Head Smash does, it comes with the benefit of negating Life Orb damage, does not make Rampardos take additional recoil, and hits quite hard when boosted by Sheer Force, although it misses out on the OHKOs mentioned earlier. Thunderbolt OHKOes Qwilfish, OHKOes Alomomola after Stealth Rock, and hits Poliwrath hard, letting Rampardos hit three important targets that would give it trouble; although Rampardos can 2HKO the former two with Head Smash, the recoil it would take makes this less than ideal. Focus Blast is yet another Sheer Force-boosted coverage move that lets Rampardos deal with important threats that would otherwise wall it: Steelix, Aggron, and Rhydon. Ice Beam is in the last slot as it lets Rampardos hit Druddigon and Torterra hard, as well as get an accurate hit on Rhydon. In addition, it forms a BoltBeam combo with Thunderbolt, granting near-flawless reliable coverage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EV spread lets Rampardos outspeed Adamant Torterra (which Rampardos can then proceed to destroy with Ice Beam), while Special Attack is maximized to let Rampardos hit hard with its coverage moves and guarantee the OHKO on Rhydon, Steelix, and Alomomola after Stealth Rock. The rest of the EVs go into Attack to power up its STAB move. Rash is suggested for the nature as a Speed- or Attack-boosting nature does not let Rampardos outspeed or KO anything significant, and the extra special power is helpful to net the previously mentioned OHKOs, and while Mild seems like a viable alternative, the extra Defense gained can prove to be handy against priority attacks. Zen Headbutt is an option to hit Fighting-types, which Rampardos despises, most notably Hariyama, but the moves on the set offer more coverage against more threats to Rampardos in general. While this set is able to rip through common stall cores, offense is a playstyle Rampardos struggles with a lot because of its horrible defensive typing, average bulk, and the fact that most offensive Pokemon outspeed it and can easily OHKO. As far as partners go, Uxie, Slowking, and Qwilfish make for good partners as they can provide paralysis support; some of these Pokemon help it in more than one way (Qwilfish provides Spikes support while Uxie can bring Rampardos in with U-turn). Swellow also makes for a good partner as it can clean through weakened teams while Rampardos can break through stall cores that give it trouble. In addition, it also provides a fast hitter, which makes up for Rampardos's poor Speed. Choice Scarf Rotom-C can outspeed and KO Pokemon such as Poliwrath that give this set trouble and appreciates Rampardos's ability to destroy more defensively-oriented Pokemon.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Head Smash
move 2: Superpower
move 3: Fire Punch
move 4: ThunderPunch / Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>While Rampardos's most effective set is that of a mixed wallbreaker, this set takes a more straightforward approach to said role, although with more prediction required. Head Smash is the main move on this set and hits most of the tier for good damage. Superpower is run in the second slot to hit Pokemon that would otherwise easily stomach a Head Smash, such as Steelix, Aggron, and Rhydon (and it OHKOes Aggron). Fire Punch gets the Sheer Force boost and OHKOes threats such as Ferroseed and Escavalier without the stat drops from Superpower in the former's case or taking the massive recoil from Head Smash in the latter's case. It also hits the previously mentioned Steelix hard, albeit a lot less hard than Superpower. In the last slot, ThunderPunch hits problematic Pokemon such as Poliwrath, Alomomola, and Qwilfish for good damage, 2HKOing all of them. Alternatively, Rock Slide is a reliable STAB move that is boosted by Sheer Force, is more accurate, and doesn't force Rampardos to take massive recoil.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Sheer Force is the preferred ability as it gives Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, and Rock Slide a much-needed boost. Alternatively, Mold Breaker can be used to allow Rampardos to screw over Custap Berry Crustle leads. Stone Edge can be used as an alternative STAB, but Head Smash is generally better and Rock Slide with a Sheer Force boost hits about as hard. Ice Punch can be used on the set to hit Ground-types such as Golurk and Torterra harder, but Rampardos generally cannot spare a moveslot for it. This set especially loves having paralysis support due to its poor Speed; Uxie, Qwilfish, and Slowking make for excellent candidates to spread paralysis. Swellow and Accelgor make for a good cleaners that can wreck the opposing team after their checks are gone and clean up after Rampardos has done its job. Mesprit can cover up Rampardos's Fighting weakness and learns Healing Wish, which can heal Rampardos up to full health and get rid of pesky status. Magneton can trap and get rid of the Steel-types that Rampardos despises. Fast, powerful Pokemon such as Sceptile and Aerodactyl can form a potent offensive core with Rampardos and appreciate its ability to break through defensive Pokemon.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>While a Choice Scarf set might seem perfect due to Rampardos's Speed, it is still very slow and can be outsped by Sceptile and Cinccino even when holding said item. It is also easily revenge killed and unlike its wallbreaking counterparts, struggles against defensively oriented teams. Rampardos can fit quite well on Trick Room teams, and is a good candidate for a wallbreaker on such teams with the appropriate IV and nature adjustments. Hidden Power Grass is an option on the mixed set to hit Quagsire while retaining coverage on Rhydon, but it cannot OHKO the latter (unlike a Sheer Force-boosted Focus Blast) and the former is quite rare. Stealth Rock can be utilized in an offensive lead set, but Rampardos is quite frail and not a very reliable entry hazard setter. Substitute + Focus Punch can be used, but Rampardos has a hard time setting up Substitutes and the moveslots required cut into its coverage. Outrage and Double-Edge are two seemingly appealing moves, but provide no coverage and are both usually a waste of a moveslot.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Countering Rampardos is almost impossible due to its great coverage, high Attack, and strong STAB moves. A very effective way of stopping it is to simply prevent it from switching in on a slower Pokemon, meaning that it will have to take a hit before attacking. Fighting-types, especially bulky ones such as Hariyama and Poliwrath, can stomach any hit from Rampardos and OHKO with a STAB move of choice, though the former has to watch out for a Zen Headbutt and the latter will be hit hard by Thunderbolt or ThunderPunch from the respective sets. Ground-types such as Torterra and Golurk work as well. Golurk warrants a special mention due to its ability to hard counter the Choice Band set and take one Ice Beam (unlike Torterra). However, checking Rampardos is quite easy for most teams. Ferroseed stands out as a good check due to its overall bulk, allowing it to take at least one coverage move and proceed to OHKO Rampardos. Alomomola can take a Head Smash from Rampardos, and although it is 2HKOed, Rampardos in turn takes massive recoil due to Alomomola's high HP stat. However, Alomomola is OHKOed by a Sheer Force-boosted Thunderbolt after Stealth Rock.</p>

<p>The best way to check Rampardos is to simply revenge kill it, due to the fact that it is quite slow and not exactly sturdy. Pokemon such as Rotom-C, faster variants of Gallade, and Sceptile can easily end Rampardos with their STAB moves. Almost any Pokemon faster than it with decent attacking prowess can OHKO it. Finally, users of priority such as Spiritomb, Absol, Kabutops, Gurdurr, and Hitmonlee can ruin Rampardos's fun very quickly indeed.</p>

 

[Swamp-Rocket]

Kingler12345 you're going to have to post what you think the viable sets are set comments and all because I have no way of knowing if you've ever used Rampardos. The sets may change but you need to take some initiative.

 

[Kingler]

Swamp-Rocket
Ok, but I just wanted QC opinion on the sets. Atm I'll just add the onsite ones with the exception of TR because imo it's OO stuff.

 

[Kingler]

Ok, after thinking a little, I'm not sure about the viability of any set except for Choice Scarf, which it still stopped as many teams prepare for CB Aggron. I'll try out a mixed set, though.

 

[Kingler]

Ok, the skeleton is done. While it does oversell Rampardos, I'm gonna make sure this doesn't happen in the writing, ready for QC checks hopefully

 

[Oglemi]

I would slash Rock Slide next to Zen Headbutt on the CB set; better accuracy and you don't simultaneously annihilate yourself using it. Plus with the Sheer Force boost it's still very acceptable power-wise.

Make Sheer Force the ability on the CB set too; Sturdy isn't too common (there's Steelix who you can't OHKO anyway) and you don't have Earthquake for negating Levitate. It also boosts Zen Headbutt (iirc) and Rock Slide along with Fire Punch so yeah.

I'd honestly slash Earth Power next to Focus Blast on the mixed set, just for the accuracy issue since Fire Blast, Focus Blast, and Head Smash are all iffy accuracy-wise and sometimes you just need to land the hit. I'd also add Thunderbolt to AC here; idk how much you're doing to Alo, Qwil, and Poli, but it's gotta be way more than your other stuff.

 

[Kingler]

Oglemi
Done, but I'm gonna give Mold breaker a heavy AC mention as it messes up Custap Crustle. Focus Blast is needed to hit Rhydon really hard, but if you still think EP needs a slash, I'll do it.
Did the rest.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

I'm thinking Thunderbolt should be slashed next to Ice Beam, if not the primary slash altogether. What exactly are you hitting with Ice Beam? Thunderbolt almost always OHKOs 252/4 Alomomola after SR. It's also your best shot at 2HKOing Poliwrath, and it's a guaranteed OHKO against Qwilfish. It also does respectable damage to Slowking, so while Head Smash out damages it, Thunderbolt lets you pick off a weakened one without taking large amounts of recoil.

 

[atomicllamas]

Okay, I know I am not QC, but hear me out, Agent Gibbs is definitely right that t-bolt needs a mention somewhere on the mixed set as it nails not only Alomomola, but physical Rampardos's best counter, Poliwrath. I personally think that it should be the primary slash over both Focus blast or Earth Power, not ice beam, as Ice Beam hits Rhydon just as hard as Earth Power does, and is way more reliable than Focus Blast. For your calcs on this set you should also use Ice Beam vs Torterra since it is a OHKO, not a 2HKO, and ice beam is also a more reliable way to hit tangrowth, in case you don't want to miss with Fire Blast. Can a QC member please confirm or deny that a set of Head Smash/Fire Blast/Thunderbolt/Ice Beam is better, thank you.

Edit: Also put the extra 4 EVs in Attack, Rampardos isn't surviving a hit regardless.

 

[EonX]

Ok, looking at the Mixed set, it definitely needs some work. I'd like more QC members to weigh in on this, but I feel the mixed set should look something like this (it also should be the primary set imo):

name: Mixed
move 1: Rock Slide / Head Smash
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Earthquake
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naughty
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe

Ice Beam looks cool, but it's actually outdamaged by neutral Rock Slide vs. Druddigon, the primary target of Ice Beam. Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and doesn't totally reveal your set since it won't activate LO (although smart players will admittedly catch on) TBolt crushes Momo, Wrath, and Qwilfish. It also hits Slowking, but Rock Slide still 2HKOes it anyway. Fire Blast smashes Steelix, Tangrowth, and Torterra. It hits Amoonguss, but again, you 2HKO it with Rock Slide as it is. EQ is there generally due to the fact Ramp doesn't have anything else noteworthy, but it is nice to crush Aggron and get that more secure hit on Lanturn. If it's decided Ice Beam should be slashed with EQ, Rash should be slashed with the nature so it actually beats out Rock Slide in damage against Druddigon. Head Smash gets the slash with Rock Slide (though it can maybe be slashed with EQ as well I guess) since it nukes shit, but p. much makes Rampardos become suicidal with the 50% recoil + LO recoil. This can hurt considering stuff like Tangrowth, Momo, and Slowking are quite resilient. Naughty is used to up damage with Rock Slide on neutral targets like Slowking and Druddigon. This basically lets you click your STAB move if you're in doubt as to what the opponent might bring in (a la Nidoqueen) since any defensive threat switching in (think Slowking, Druddigon, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, etc.) will either be 2HKOed by it or outsped and hit with the appropriate coverage move before they can strike back. 16 Attack EVs hits the first boost point and buffs the power of your STAB move and EQ. Max Speed to get in front of Torterra and Qwilfish. (Qwilfish is the primary Speed target, so I guess this could be lowered since Qwilfish usually sits at 210 Speed and max Speed Ramp hits 215) Rest in Special Attack for obvious reasons.

 

[Kingler]

Just saying that this isn't dead and I'm waiting for other QC members to weigh in on the post above.

 

[col49]

Ok, so I recently took a look into mixed Rampardos for the sake of exploration, and if I may, I'd like to give my two cents on the matter.

Essentially, I ended up running a set very similar to the one EonX- posted, with some minor exceptions. My set consisted of Head Smash / Fire Blast / Zen Headbutt / HP Grass, and I'll explain why. Personally, I feel as though Head Smash is somewhat of a necessity, since the difference is power makes it unable core-break nearly as effectively (failing to OHKO standard Clefable, standard defensive Slowking after SR+1 turn of lefties recovery, standard SpDef 'Tomb, etc.), which to me is huge, since the reason anybody is going to be using Mixed Rampardos is that it can totally dismantle defensive cores (being a solid Steelix / 'Growth / Rhydon bait is a secondary to me, since if that was all it was doing, then there are definitely generally better 'mons to fill this role). While the hefty recoil is an issue, and does give stall a window to recoil stall it with proper switching, it stands to reason that if the wall-breaker in question is incapable of actually breaking through these walls in the first place, then it wasn't doing its job in the first place. That said, Fire Blast needs secondary slash, as it's one of the most quintessential moves for Rampardos, breaking down Steelix (about 91% min to 252 HP / 160 SpD variants, the on-site spread gets OHKOed), Ferroseed, and most other Steel-types safely, as well as popping Tangrowth without having to rack up Head Smash recoil (which should be stressed throughout the set comments, it is important to note Head Smash isn't something to spam without taking the necessary precautions, especially in a match-up v.stall. this moveset allows rampardos leniency to the point where it can actually function w/out having to use it's stab in excess for this reason). Zen Headbutt is there as an answer to incoming Fighting-types (notably 2HKOing Poliwrath), a decent move to hit Ground-types (Golurk is 2HKOed), and a solid "middle ground" attack. Even without STAB, LO Sheer Forced-boosted Zen Headbutts are fairly strong, and offer Rampy a move that it can click safely for decent damage on a widespread amount of 'mons, without having to burn itself out with Head Smash. It also 2HKOs Qwilfish through Intimidate (which, again, Head Smash would do, but it kills Rampy faster), which is chill as well. HP Grass, while unfortunately not grabbing the Sheer Force boost, is pretty necessary for rounding coverage off, hitting Rhydon+Seismitoad / Quag (the latter of whom, while generally bad, has enough of a niche on stall to warrant mention imo), as well as hitting Momo w/out dying off to Head Smash. Unfortunately, it only rolls from 45-50% on Momo iirc, but it's a hit that needs to be taken I guess.

Anywho, couple more things. For one, I think it'd be fine to just go for 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe as the main spread (which means outpacing Adamant Torterra), since, barring Speed creep, the extra Speed only amounts to tying other Rampardos, but idk. In the AC, it'd be nice to see some options to use over HP Grass, since it's basically the least consistently valuable move. I'd probably go for IBeam (hits Drudd w/out recoil, OHKOs Torterra, still covers Rhydon decently) and TBolt (basically for Momo), maybe Rock Slide if you really feel you need it. Since you say it struggles against offense, it might be nice to see some mentions of 'mons that can capitalize on some offensive checks to it (Sigilyph, Fraxure, OTR Slowking, etc. can do some work on most 'mons that come in to check / RK Rampy).

edit: oh, and I'd actually advocate a mention of Spikes support here, if only for the fact that it really dissuades stall teams for attempting to switch around in order to rack up Head Smash recoil.

 

[Kingler]

Thanks for the input, col49 . Once QC has reached a consensus(and because atm I'm fucking lazy), I'll change the set l8r

 

[EonX]

Honestly, I'm wondering how I ever missed HP Grass. Anyway, I guess I should go into greater detail with why I used Rock Slide during most of my testing with the set.

For starters, Rampardos has an insane Attack stat (neutral uninvested is actually just 5 points lower than max Adamant Druddigon) that allows it to get away with opting for Rock Slide a lot of the time, However, I don't use Rock Slide because I want Rampardos to perform better against offense. I do it because of the fact that many of the cores that Rampardos attempts to break are made up of Pokemon that are quite resilient and have really high HP (think Slowking, Amoonguss, Alomomola, etc.) Now, imagine the amount of recoil Rampardos would take from using Head Smash against just one of these targets.... I can clue you in. It won't be pretty. And after using it, Rampardos will usually not last long enough to break down the other part(s) of the core successfully. Zen Headbutt is interesting, but I'd hardly call Psychic a safe attacking type in RU with the many Dark- and Psychic-types roaming about in RU (Spiritomb, Mesprit, Sigilyph, Uxie, etc.) especially when TBolt is doing the same thing to Poliwrath while OHKOing Qwilfish unconditionally and Momo with SR. It just seem more efficient to me to use Thunderbolt over Zen Headbutt unless I'm not seeing something (which has happened before!) Anyway, back to Rock Slide. Here are some calcs on it against some bulky offensive and defensive Pokemon:

Rock Slide calcs

16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 144 Def Slowking: 242-285 (61.57 - 72.51%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Druddigon: 259-305 (73.16 - 86.15%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Amoonguss: 282-333 (65.27 - 77.08%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mesprit: 226-266 (75.08 - 88.37%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Spiritomb: 220-261 (72.6 - 86.13%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 161-191 (52.96 - 62.82%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
16+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 152+ Def Uxie: 153-181 (43.22 - 51.12%) -- 63.67% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

So, basically, the only major defensive threat you even have a chance of missing out on is Uxie. Everything else is outsped and either 2HKOed by Rock Slide or KOed by the appropriate coverage move (Fire Blast, TBolt, EQ, or even HP Grass) after Rock Slide. So, yes, Head Smash is definitely usable (which is why I slashed it next to Rock Slide) but I find that Rock Slide is more than good enough in most situations due to the safety it brings and the fact that it lets Rampardos have more than one shot to take out these resilient, high HP Pokemon. Also, the tidbit on Spikes support can apply to Rock Slide as well as it makes it even less of a need to run Head Smash.

 

[Kingler]

I'll change the set later. EonX- seems to be right, while Head Smash destroys everything, in reality it's only taking down one Pokemon at best, and that's against stall.

 

[Kingler]

Ok, I've changed up the set to what I believe it should be. Atm I'll add hp grass to OO, and Zen Headbutt to AC I guess.
Also idk about main set being mixed, it's quite effective, but I'll leave that up to QC as both hit quite hard.

 

[EonX]

Ok, going to go a bit more in-depth than just the Mixed set this time:

[Overview]

• Remove mentions of Scarf and TR as neither is going to be an on-site set. Can add the bit about being a CB user though
• I wouldn't say it's "slow as fuck" since it can outspeed quite a few defensive threats. Maybe reword it to say it's slow for an offensive mon? Idk. Just saying "slow as fuck" seems a bit misleading imo since that kind of implies it's as slow as Slowking or Escavalier.

[Choice Band]

• I would honestly use ThunderPunch over Zen Headbutt. The only Fighting-type that you're going to come close to missing out on is Hariyama. Thunderpunch lets you hit Wrath and Momo in one move.
• Adamant over Jolly. You even say in the Mixed set that the extra Speed from a positive nature doesn't let Ramp outspeed much of anything.
• Add Fire-types such as Entei and Emboar. With the addition of ThunderPunch, you can lure in and KO the bulky Waters that give these two so many problems.

[Mixed]

• Focus Blast doesn't hit much of anything noteworthy imo. HP Grass, EQ, and even Ice Beam are better options imo.
• Make the nature Naughty with the EV spread col49 posted.
• Uxie and Slowking for paralysis support to boost effectiveness against offensive teams
• Core breaker, so stuff like Rotom-C and Entei that may struggle against parts of Regenerator cores are nice teammates.

[Other Options]

• For now, mention Rock Polish here. I still need to get around to testing SF Rock Polish to see if it has a niche, but for now, put it here
• Remove Superpower since it's on the CB set

[Checks and Counters]

• My god, remove Gallade. It's incredibly frail on the physical side. Jolly CB Head Smash does 95.41% MINIMUM to Bulky SD Gallade. Also remove Himtonlee and Hitmonchan for the same reasons (both are straight OHKOed by Jolly CB Head Smash 100% of the time)
• Hariyama is a bulky Fighting-type that can actually tank a STAB move.
• Not much straight up counters due to Ramp's power. Aim to outspeed it
• Basically anything with better than 215 (236 for positive natured Ramp) can KO it as long as they have a strong STAB move or super effective coverage move
• Rotom-C, Moltres, Braviary, Manectric, fast variants of Gallade. Really, anything that outspeeds it is going to do major damage or flat out KO it.
• Priority from Spiritomb, Hitmonlee(chan) Absol, and Kabutops.

 

[Kingler]

Ugh sorry for being so lazy, but I edited it in. However, I am adamant(lol) about Focus Blast staying on the set, HP grass only hits quaggy which is ehh, EQ doesn't do nearly nuff damage to steelix and rhydon, and ice beam can't hit steelix. I'm fine with slashing ice beam with fire blast, but i really don't want to add EQ or HP grass for aforementioned reasons.

 

[EonX]

HP Grass slams Rhydon and you have Fire Blast for Steelix. If you're really worried about hitting Rhydon, just use HP Grass. HP Grass KOes after Rhydon switches into any move other than Thunderbolt (basically, any move that can hit Rhydon for damage) Otherwise, you'd be using Focus Blast to hit Normal-types such as Clefable and Rock Slide already hits it harder. I mean, maybe I'm just missing the point entirely, but I don't see the use of Focus Blast over Fire Blast + HP Grass. Combined, those 2 moves hit everything Focus Blast seems to be hitting.

252 SpA Life Orb Rampardos Hidden Power Grass vs. 88 HP / 84 SpD Eviolite Rhydon: 276-328 (73.99 - 87.93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock. It will be KOed after a switch into Rock Slide or Fire Blast relatively often.

Also, I haven't been too impressed with Rock Polish at all. Even with the ultimate setup mon (imo) in Yawn+U-turn Uxie, I've had a pretty hard time successfully setting it up and sweeping with it, so I'm leaning more toward an OO mention on it. Finally, add ThunderPunch to CB for reasons I mentioned in my last post.

 

[Kingler]

Focus blast ohkoes both rhydon and steelix, and hp grass forces you to take recoil as well. I'm fine with slashing it or AC, though. As for tpunch, i'll add that later.

 

[Swamp-Rocket]

252 SpAtk Life Orb Sheer Force Rampardos (+SpAtk) Focus Blast vs 88 HP/84 SpDef Eviolite Rhydon: 89.28% - 105.36% (31.25% chance to OHKO)

I'd rather have any chance of OHKOing Rhydon than get a guaranteed failure to OHKO and then die immediately after while being stuck with a move that does less than half the damage of Focus Blast that doesn't even prevent recoil. It's also a generally better coverage move overall. It's not even worth AC imo.

 

[SilentVerse]

I agree that Fire Blast and Focus Blast offers very redundant coverage; however, I think I'm going to have to agree with Swamp-Rocket that I feel Focus Blast is very good on Rampardos. However, a lot of what coverage moves are good on Rampardos also depends on whether or not you use Rock Slide or Head Smash as your primary Rock move, so I think the primary set should be as follows:

[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Head Smash
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Rash
evs: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe

Tbolt + Ice Beam give boltbeam coverage, and hits most of the stuff that can take a Head Smash like Poliwrath, Alomomola, Tangrowth, Torterra, Sandslash, Golurk, etc etc. Focus Blast hits the Steel-types like Ferroseed, Aggron, as well as Rhydon really hard, and doesn't really miss out on anything Fire Blast offers when you have Ice Beam + Tbolt and Head Smash; like, Amoonguss is OHKO'd by Head Smash (and I mean you can still smack it around with Ice Beam too), Escavalier is OHKO'd by Head Smash (and you can slap it with Tbolt / Fblast if it's weakened enough), so you only really miss out on lolMetang by not having Fire Blast. Also, with Head Smash, I think the EVs should really just be 16 Atk / 252 Spatk / 240 Spe, since Head Smash is still killing whatever you need without a positive nature, but your coverage moves are so much weaker without Rash. The Rock Slide variant of this set can be slashed alongside this one, but since I haven't used that version, I'll let more knowledgeable people like EonX- figure out which slashes would be best :).

 

[Kingler]

Posting again just to say that i haven't been inactive, qc doesn't seem to be reaching a conclusion.
SilentVerse definitely has a point tho, I'll add ice beam later.

 

[EonX]

I'm not totally sure on a primary spread, but I will chime in with this:

Both Rock Slide and Head Smash need to be slashed. Rock Slide should get the primary slash with Naughty and Head Smash should be used with Rash. So, basically, the nature will determine the primary slash for the STAB move. I'm not as experienced with the variation SV posted, but I will comment on the Rock Slide variant. Basically, when I use the Rock Slide variant (the set I posted) I play it like I did Nidoqueen. Once I get in, I click Rock Slide and react accordingly. (Rock Slide will either 2HKO every defensive Pokemon or they'll be slower and you have the right coverage move to KO after Rock Slide) Also, keep in mind that most of the Pokemon Mixed Rampardos is trying to break have high HP and usually come with Regenerator (think Amoonguss, Alomomola, Slowking, Tangrowth, etc.) so that recoil from Head Smash just gets amplified (although Slowking and Amoonguss do get OHKOed) To me, I think it needs to go something like this:

[SET]
name: Mixed
move 1: Head Smash / Rock Slide
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Rash / Naughty
evs: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe

Fire Blast to AC with Naughty for the stronger hit on Ferroseed and Escavalier. (Head Smash murders Escavalier and Focus Blast hammers Ferroseed hard enough with Rash) Head Smash with Rash. Rock Slide with Naughty. Rash is more aggressive while Naughty lets you play a bit safer.

 

[Kingler]

Done, eonx, lgi