Yes but it's largely outclassed by Mega Altaria (expect for ESpeed really). My point was that there aren't many reasons you'd want to pick DNite over Mega Altaria if you wanted a strong DD'er (unless your Mega slot is already taken). What's keeping DNite in the B ranks imo is the fact that it's not a Mega, and therefore has much lower opportunity cost. But that still doesn't change the fact that it's outclassed in that role. Also, just a nitpick but DNite is B+ rank, not in the As. Hence why we're discussing it :p
I'd like to nominate Mega Ampharos to B-
+Nothing wants to switch into attacks coming off base 165 Spa, except for Chansey
+Slow Volt Switches allow for safe switches
+Mold Breaker bypasses abilities like Shell Armor, Magic Bounce, Unaware, Lightning Rod and Sturdy
+Solid 95/105/110 bulk
+Can run an Agility set to bypass speed issues
-No reliable recovery - needs to run Rest or have Wish support for longevity
-45 speed leaves it weak to threats, especially bulky fairies
-Uses a Mega slot
-Struggles against Rain and Sand teams
-Special movepool isn't great - has to rely on Focus Miss and Hidden Power in some cases
I find this is quite effective against Stall right now as it can deal with Unboosted Sableye, Skarmory, Heatran, Mega Altaria (if HP Ice), Clefable, Slowbro, Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Hippowdon, Amoonguss, Alomomola, Phys Def Quagsire, Defensive Landorus-T, Rotom-W and there are only a small number of threats it struggles with.
It's also quite good against Offense aswell, since barely anything can switch in
tl;dr I find Mega Ampharos is really underrated despite being pretty slow and taking up a Mega Slot and imo, it is not on the same level as any of the other C+ ranks and it deserves a raise to B-
- Mega Metagross can't switch in since it's 2HKOd by Thunderbolt and cannot OHKO back
- Greninja can't switch in and Ampharos can check it since it can take an Ice Beam and OHKO with Thunderbolt or Dragon Pulse after LO recoil
- Landorus-T doesn't want to take an HP Ice and Defensive sets can't switch in 4 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 288-338 (77.6 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- Lati@s don't want to take a Dragon Pulse
- Thundurus can only 3HKO with HP Ice or Focus Blast 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Mega Ampharos: 153-182 (41.2 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- AV Azumarill can be speed crept and dropping bulk increases the chance of Ampharos OHKO'ing
- Gyarados, Slowbro, Bisharp, Mega Scizor, Keldeo, Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Gengar, Clefable and Manaphy all lose to Thunderbolt
- Excadrill, Heatran, TTar, Mega Lopunny all lose to Focus Blast
- Gliscor loses to HP Ice
- Garchomp struggles to OHKO 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 314-372 (84.6 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Fairies aren't really that safe from Band-Nite because of Iron Head/Tail and even EQ does a cool 41-48% to max def Clef so only a small amount of prior damage, especially against the Unaware set, is needed for the 2HKO. Even without any prior damage, EQ still forces a Softboiled/Moonlight giving you a free turn to go into something like Heatran to set rocks or w/e, so Clef isn't really that big of a deal for D-Nite since you're going to profit as long as you didn't click Outrage which you obviously shouldn't while they have a Fairy. You don't even need to run Outrage on the set either and can just run coverage for nailing all the usual suspects that think they can switch in.
It nets a guaranteed OHKO even on Sdef Gliscor which Dragon Pulse struggles to do and it catches off Offensive Landorus that think they can come in and get an easy kill with EQ and that alone warrants use of Hidden Power Ice imo. It also stops it from being dead weight against Mega Altaria since it can take off 55~% with HP Ice which can threaten it since it can take an unboosted Return or Hyper Voice
I have to say, in my experience laddering with BandNite, it works really well until about 1400-1500ish, at which point the predictions just get too risky. As the opponent gets better and better, the importance of clicking the right move gets a lot higher. And BandNite's coverage options all suffer from not being that spammable. It's a super dangerous set, don't get me wrong, but nowhere near as easy to use as other 'mons.
The thing with Ampharos is that it's actually a viable Agility sweeper. It has enough Speed to make use of it, unlike Mega Camerupt. It's also got a pretty cool typing and great bulk as well. I'm not saying that's ever going to save Ampharos from the pool of mediocrity, but it's probably one of the better Agility sweepers, and it's a niche that should probably keep it at the ranking it is now.
Sorry but this replay is not proving anything. Umbreon was useless because Ferro and Keldeo shut it down or took advantage of it, while it couldn't even wall Thundurus because it had Superpower. Even Tentacruel beats Umbreon one on one, as after a couple of Acid Spray hits Scald 2HKOes, and a Pokemon as passive as Umbreon hates losing Lefties from Knock Off. Umbreon has three very common weaknesses, unreliable recovery which can be taken advantage of or simply shut down by phazing (btw all the common phazers have no problem at all switching into Umbreon, namely Heatran, Skarmory, and Hippowdon), lack of power, and Foul Play doesn't even help against the special attackers that Umbreon wants to deal with. Plus, most of the best special attackers in the tier can get past it, such as Thundurus with any of Focus Blast, Superpower, or NP, Keldeo, Gengar (LO Focus Blast), Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Taunt Heatran, and Mega Diancie. The only thing it has going for it is the ability to beat Greninja, but i would pick Alomomola or Chansey any day over it.
If I'm going to be honest I've felt Ampharos should be at least B- for a while. I think that it has enough bulk,power and unpredictability to at least be enough for that, especially with it's typing which is pretty solid. It has the rest talk specially defensive set, the cotton guard set and the agility set which are all viable enough to use in OU in my opinion. It seems like it would just be even more useful with all the new megas around. However this is for later discussion I suppose. I'll wait to suggest to raise it haha.
I disagree. One thing is that Mega Ampharos it can run enough speed to outspeed notable threats like Tyranitar with 128 Speed EVs and is still bulkier than Mega Camerupt with 90/105/110 Defenses compared to 70/100/105. Camerupt can only hope to outpace base 30s without sacrificing too much bulk, which may not be quite as bad since it's a nuke, but it gets in much less than Mega Ampharos and gets worn down easier. Volt Switch is also a huge pro over Camerupt since Camerupt is a huge killer of momentum, whereas Ampharos provides momentum with its slow Volt Switch. Low speed is actually desired in Ampharos' case.
I'm sure he knows as much, but Jaguar360 please edit your post to be more clear.
Without disagreeing with the entirety of your post: the problem with nominating Hippowdon as a check to Mega Gallade and Altaria is with the 'unboosted.' There aren't really that many circumstances where Hippowdon will get a free switch against a +0 Gallade or a +0 DDing Altaria, and both Pokemon roll over it handily with their requisite boosts. Actually, bulky DD Altaria handles Hippowdon even if it does get in a free switch at +0, taking 36% max from EQ. Special attacking variants also have possible 2HKOs with Hyper Voice.
-----> A+
I don't think this needs an explanation, but if it does, its basically broken. Mega Slowbro has 180 Defense and access to Calm Mind, making it a bulky sweeping wall. It also has something that the other bulky sweepers don't: Recovery. With such a supportive ability and move set, this thing can singlehandedly sweep through teams with a single Cm. Did I also mention he is one of those megas that everyone hates to see but loves to use? that itself brings it up to A+.
Ill add more as time goes.
Honestly, the LO variant is heavily dependent on what spread the Bro has. If it has 16 Def it can 2HKO, however, if it's 252 Def it has a relatively low chance of 2HKO'ing meaning it could recoil stall it. Virizion is. . . Virizion. Although ZardY is decent.
Is Virizion even used in OU at all? It's decent, but I've never seen one. And Char Y is ok, but if you let it get up just a few Calm Minds, it can just stall out the sun
