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Ambipom
- Thread starter sax king
- Start date
Beat up is much better for hitting ghosts than payback for Ambipom, its a stable 90 Damage move.
Does anyone else find it amusing that he didn't get rock blast (even though that was his move in Pokepark Wii)??
They could've at least given him tail slap (those things on his body are tails, right??).
They could've at least given him tail slap (those things on his body are tails, right??).
...This thing. Seriously. I used it as my lead all throughout the 4th generation from my first competitive battle to the very end. What's really great about Ambipom is how it can be both an effective lead and a revenge killer later on in the match.
Depends on how you define 'effective' when people see ambipom in the lineup, people will almost expect it in the 'lead' position and can stategise accordingly. Its definitely worse than it was in Gen 4. The UU teir is much bulkier than it was back then and tbh Ambipom doesnt hit hard enough for it to be even worth a slot on the team.
Sorry, I was getting nostalgic over the 4th gen. Haven't attempted to use it in the 5th gen yet.
you can also choose to improvise and NOT use it as a lead, for example?
I found Ambipom doesn't fare too well in lead matchups. Other leads are mostly bulky like Donphan or simply resist Fake Out like and Aerodactyl. It's screwed against Crobat, too, since most people forget about Inner Focus and take Brave bird or Acrobatics in the face (for myself I can say, I haven't met any Ambipom lead not trying to make Crobat flinch the first time). It has a fair run on Azelf but has to live with a speedtie.
^this
people need to remember that this isn't DPP UU where Azelf/Aerodactyl don't exist. With so many things now, Ambipom imo works a lot better as a CB user (Switcheroo/Return/U-turn/Low Kick anyone?)
I have found that using a normal gem for fake out basically kos 1 poke per game. The best thing is that even if it doesn't ko, it will flinch and then be taken out by a u-turn to what you would normally start with. If they switch to a ghost, you can u-turn out to a counter until the ghost is dead, after which you can do what you were going to do before.
RAZOR FLINCH AMBIPOM
Item: King's Rock/Razor Fang
Ability: Technician
EV: 252 Speed, 252 Attack, 4 HP
Nature: Jolly (-Sp.Attack, +Speed)
Moves: Fake Out, Covet, U-Turn, Fling
I created this set today when experimenting with some of the more gimmicky item combinations (i.e. Unburden + Fling/Herbs) and ended up falling in love with it. What you're looking at is a treacherous monkey who offers an amazing lead with its consecutive flinching strategy. You will start with Fake Out, causing the first flinch with priority as well as STAB and Technician boosts. Ambipomb's significant speed should then allow him to start the next turn with Fling, which although only deals a mere 45 damage even with boost (perhaps twice that against the right typing), it will annoyingly flinch your target for the second time if a King's Rock or Razor Fang was thrown. Now that you have no item, you're free to snatch your opponent's with Covet, which is one of the most damaging Technician-influenced move Ambipom can have, thanks to its perfect 60 base power and STAB. This consecutive pattern in itself is enough to knock out some of the less bulky Pokemon, but even if they aren't defeated, you now have their item, which in itself will screw over plenty of strategies. As long as you didn't nab unwanted Choice items or something damaging, you've done yourself well. Now you can U-Turn out of there, signifying the start of Ambipom's hit-and-run routine.
Besides against Ghost-types (and even then, Fling delivers 2x effectiveness in most cases), the initial strategy doesn't really have any downsides. Even against types that resist or Pokemon that are more bulky, in the end you still manage to steal their item, which will definitely ruin the more common threats such as Scizor that rely on Life Orb. Now, this set sort of restricts Ambipom from consistently battling for any decent amount of time, but Ambipom was never really the sort to hold its ground, even with moves such as Low Kick or Return. Let me know your thoughts!
That seems pretty neat. I've faced an Ambipom similar to this and it annoyed me to death. I just might have to try it out.
Let's not forget, guys, that return is ambipom's most powerful stab. Double hit beats it by 3 points but has meh 90% accuracy.
Anyways, pom is absolutely fantastic and, when steels+rocks are gone, can take out a crap ton of pokes. with fake out+last resort, is one of the best clean uppers in the game. and it gets both fire punch and 90bp low sweep for coverage
Anyways, pom is absolutely fantastic and, when steels+rocks are gone, can take out a crap ton of pokes. with fake out+last resort, is one of the best clean uppers in the game. and it gets both fire punch and 90bp low sweep for coverage
Honestly, in most metagames I feel that many straight-up Life Orb attackers fare poorly if they don't have a way to compensate for the recoil (There are a few exceptions such as Gen 4 Mence and ExtremeKiller), and Ambipom in UU is no exception. It's having to shell out 10% of its health with Fake Out, another 10% to either attack or scout with U-Turn, another 0-37.5% to switch in depending on the number of hazards (usually either 12.5 or 25, but it varies of course), and etc. It's lucky to get four switch-ins per match, and that's only off of a KO or a U-Turn/Volt Switch, because it doesn't have the bulk or durability to take even a neutral non-STAB hit. No resistances, either.
I feel Ambipom just fares poorly in UU. It can't hit hard without Life Orb, it can't stay alive with Life Orb, and the Last Resort set is well...gimmicky at best.
I feel Ambipom just fares poorly in UU. It can't hit hard without Life Orb, it can't stay alive with Life Orb, and the Last Resort set is well...gimmicky at best.
Ambipom is perfectly suited for UU, so long as you're using it right. It may not be as stable a lead as it was in the previous gen, but it still has its matchups (ie in most instances, Amipom>Azelf). There is also match preview, so you can simply start with something else.
Life Orb is still the best set. No other set takes advantage of Amipom's qualities better; Choice Band renders Fake Out/Technician useless, and Baton Pass makes it a one trick pony. There are also plenty of other Pokemon that can utilise such sets that have better speed, attack, or bulk, making it redundant to pick any other set. Sure, Life Orb means taking around a third of its hp (assuming SR) with every successful entry and KO. This is an issue that every LO user has though, and can be remedied with Wish support, or just being conservative with its entries. After all, the ideal Ambipom strategy is to initiate and read the opponent, to revenge kill when it is most desperate, and at the end finish everything off. When you include Amipom's high speed and punch, there is really no need to worry about LO recoil.
Life Orb is still the best set. No other set takes advantage of Amipom's qualities better; Choice Band renders Fake Out/Technician useless, and Baton Pass makes it a one trick pony. There are also plenty of other Pokemon that can utilise such sets that have better speed, attack, or bulk, making it redundant to pick any other set. Sure, Life Orb means taking around a third of its hp (assuming SR) with every successful entry and KO. This is an issue that every LO user has though, and can be remedied with Wish support, or just being conservative with its entries. After all, the ideal Ambipom strategy is to initiate and read the opponent, to revenge kill when it is most desperate, and at the end finish everything off. When you include Amipom's high speed and punch, there is really no need to worry about LO recoil.
Because Last Resort is a niche move and can't be used with U-Turn, one of Ambipom's best qualities, at all? I'd say that's a pretty good reason to not give it Last Resort. Last Resort would really only be good for a gimmick set.
Ambipom @ Silk Scarf
Technician
Jolly Nature
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Fake Out
- Last Resort