OU Ampharos

The Shellder Smuggler

Banned deucer.
Overview
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Ampharos never shined in the higher tiers in the past generations, but with the advent of XY, Ampharos gained a Mega Evolution. This brought with it many new things, most notably a huge raise in its Special Attack. Better yet, it got a boost to its overall bulk and now has an Electric / Dragon typing, allowing it to switch into threats such as Rotom-W and Talonflame. It is now one of the best counters to Electric-types in OU, and it is an especially good counter to Pokemon such as Thundurus and Mega Charizard Y. Mega Ampharos is also not weak to Pursuit, which is great, as most Mega Charizard Y counters are. After Mega Evolving, Ampharos gains the ability Mold Breaker, which is helpful for bypassing Skarmory's Sturdy, negating Dragonite's Multiscale, and hitting Thundurus-T with Thunderbolt. However, after Mega Evolving, it's weak to common attacking types such as Dragon and Ground, and its base Speed drops down to 45. Despite it being a Dragon-type, it doesn't get Draco Meteor, limiting its Dragon STAB move to Dragon Pulse. However, if Mega Ampharos's great Special Attack and defensive stats are used correctly, it can be a huge threat.

Specially Defensive
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name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Volt Switch
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Rest
move 4: Sleep Talk
ability: Static
item: Ampharosite
evs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
nature: Calm

Moves
========

Volt Switch is a decently powerful STAB attack, but more importantly, it keeps up momentum, which is good, as Mega Ampharos is usually slower, which allows you to switch into a more favorable matchup. Dragon Pulse is the most powerful move on the set and is Mega Ampharos's main Dragon-type STAB attack. With Volt Switch and Dragon Pulse, it gets great neutral coverage, only resisted by Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Magnezone. Rest and Sleep Talk form the RestTalk combo, allowing Mega Ampharos to recover health as well as shrug off status, which is why it is a good counter to Rotom-W. Focus Blast can be used instead of Sleep Talk if there is a cleric on the team, but Sleep Talk is generally better.

Set Details
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248 HP EVs helps max out HP and take hits much better, but it is more importantly a Stealth Rock number, allowing Mega Ampharos to switch into Stealth Rock as many times as possible. The Special Defense EVs with a Calm nature allow Mega Ampharos to avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Thundurus, Modest Mega Charizard Y, and Life Orb Aegislash that threaten with Shadow Ball. The rest of the EVs are put in Special Attack to give a small boost to Mega Ampharos's attacks.

Usage Tips
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Ampharos should be Mega Evolved as soon as possible, as it is considerably less bulky before it Mega Evolves, taking away its niche as a good tank. This set should neither be played as a wall nor as a completely offensive Pokemon; it is supposed to switch into certain Pokemon and hit hard back while gaining momentum. RestTalk keeps it from being worn down and allows Mega Ampharos to consistently wall Pokemon such as Talonflame and Thundurus. Volt Switch is Mega Ampharos's most spammable move, as it will at least get switch initiative on every Pokemon that isn't a Ground-type. Thundurus cannot absorb Volt Switch, as Mold Breaker negates Volt Absorb.

Team Options
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Landorus-T can form a great VoltTurn core with Mega Ampharos, deals with most Ground-types and physical Dragon-types, and can deal with Mega Mawile. It also lures Pokemon such as Skarmory, making Mega Ampharos a good switch-in. Skarmory is also a good teammate, as it can form a defensive core with Mega Ampharos because it can switch into Dragon- and Ground-type moves that threaten Mega Ampharos, while Mega Ampharos can switch into Electric-type and Fire-type moves that threaten Skarmory in return. Mega Ampharos is threatened by Landorus-I's Earth Power, which makes Assault Vest Tornadus-T a good teammate, as it counters Landorus-I nicely. Stealth Rock setters are also helpful, as Mega Ampharos can force Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y and Thundurus out to take Stealth Rock damage when they switch back in.

Agility
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name: Agility
move 1: Agility
move 2: Thunderbolt / Thunder
move 3: Dragon Pulse
move 4: Focus Blast
ability: Static
item: Ampharosite
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Modest

Moves
========

Agility boosts Mega Ampharos's Speed, allowing it to sweep everything up to Timid Greninja after being used. Thunderbolt is Mega Ampharos's main STAB move, while Dragon Pulse is the secondary and weaker STAB move. Focus Blast is in the last slot as a filler that provides super effective coverage against Steel-, Rock-, Dark-, and Normal-types. If being used on a rain team, Thunderbolt can be replaced with Thunder.

Set Details
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4 HP EVs gives Mega Ampharos's HP a Stealth Rock number, allowing it to switch into Stealth Rock more times. 252 Special Attack EVs and a Modest nature max out Mega Ampharos's Special Attack, allowing Mega Ampharos to hit as hard as possible. 252 Speed EVs max out Mega Ampharos's Speed for a neutral nature, allowing it outspeed everything up to Timid Greninja after an Agility boost. Timid can also be used instead of Modest to outspeed more Pokemon, but the power drop from Mega Ampharos's Special Attack makes it inferior.

Usage Tips
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When Mega Ampharos is on the field, generally the first thing to do is set up Agility. This is best executed when threats such as ScarfChomp are eliminated, as they outspeed after an Agility boost and can potentially OHKO. Another good time to set up is when you can force switches against Pokemon such as Mega Charizard Y and Rotom-Wash, as Mega Ampharos can set up on their switch. Lastly, after setting up an Agility with all potential threats gone, Mega Ampharos only needs to worry about attacking.

Team Options
=========

Clerics are very helpful, as this set lacks a way to regain health and is easily crippled by poison or a burn. This set can also make use of teammates that can beat special walls, as this set struggles to take them down and is easily stalled out. Any physical attackers, such as Scizor or Terrakion, make great partners. Pokemon such as Keldeo, Landorus, and Bisharp also make great partners, as they can resist Mega Ampharos's weaknesses together, and they each hit Mega Ampharos's threats hard as they switch in. If Mega Ampharos is running Thunder, Politoed can be a good rain inducer to fully maximize its accuracy. To help Mega Ampharos set up by taking less damage, dual screen users and Memento Latios can boost Mega Ampharos's defenses or force switches. Lastly, entry hazard setters such as Landorus-T can be helpful to wear down special walls, giving Mega Ampharos an easier time.

Other Options
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Discharge is a great move on Mega Ampharos, especially on a defensive set, as it provides a greater chance of paralysis and can stop Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar from sweeping. Mega Ampharos can run a specially defensive set; although it sacrifices power, it can tank hits from Pokemon such as Landorus-I much more easily. Other attacking options Mega Ampharos can use are oft-forgotten moves such as Power Gem and Signal Beam, but each only has a small niche and wastes a moveslot that can be used for something better. Lastly, Mega Ampharos can run a fully defensive set with Toxic or Thunder Wave and Cotton Guard, but it's gimmicky and Mega Ampharos has better things to be doing.

Checks & Counters
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**Special Walls**: Special walls such as Chansey and Sylveon can easily stall it out, although they end up in a stall war with the RestTalk set, while Mega Ampharos can pivot out with Volt Switch. Tyranitar and Ferrothorn counter the RestTalk set, although they should be cautious of taking a Focus Blast from the Agility set.

**Status**: Status conditions such as burn or poison put a timer on Mega Ampharos's life, as it can only get rid of these by using a moveslot for Rest or Heal Bell.

**Revenge Killers**: Most relevant Choice Scarf users can outspeed and KO with Earthquake, unless Mega Ampharos boosts twice with Agility.

*Specially Defensive Hippowdon* Hippowdon invested in Special Defense is usually the best counter to Mega Ampharos, refusing to be 2HKOed by anything in its arsenal, while it can 2HKO back with Earthquake. It also blocks Mega Ampharos's Volt Switch.
 
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Rotosect

Banned deucer.
I would use Discharge instead of Volt Switch on the RestTalk set.
In fact I'm confused at why you would run a switching move on a RestTalk set at all, since it could lead to awkward scenarios where M-Ampharos is forced out at a bad time, forcing another team member to take a potentially fatal special attack that M-Ampharos could have absorbed.
Either run RestTalk or a pivot set, they don't mix well together.
 

The Shellder Smuggler

Banned deucer.
I would use Discharge instead of Volt Switch on the RestTalk set.
In fact I'm confused at why you would run a switching move on a RestTalk set at all, since it could lead to awkward scenarios where M-Ampharos is forced out at a bad time, forcing another team member to take a potentially fatal special attack that M-Ampharos could have absorbed.
Volt Switch builds momentum for the team, and due to Mega Ampharos's low speed, you can switch into a favorable matchup, it is much more preferred than Discharge on the RestTalk set.
 
I'm pretty sure most of QC agreed that Agility was good enough to get a set. Add it in. Make sure you follow the formatting for the analysis.

Can you beef up the Team options a bit more? You've only mention Skarmory as a specific team mate be add more pokemon that have good synergy with it.

You mention VoltTurn cores, what are some good partners for that?

I would mention that it's a good check to things like Zard Y and Keldeo (not a Secret Sword switch in btw) that can't be pursuitted trapped by Bisharp which is a big thing at the moment.

Add in the Agility set and fix that things stated above and I'll take a second look at it.
 

The Shellder Smuggler

Banned deucer.
I'm pretty sure most of QC agreed that Agility was good enough to get a set. Add it in. Make sure you follow the formatting for the analysis.

Can you beef up the Team options a bit more? You've only mention Skarmory as a specific team mate be add more pokemon that have good synergy with it.

You mention VoltTurn cores, what are some good partners for that?

I would mention that it's a good check to things like Zard Y and Keldeo (not a Secret Sword switch in btw) that can't be pursuitted trapped by Bisharp which is a big thing at the moment.

Add in the Agility set and fix that things stated above and I'll take a second look at it.
On it.

Formatting is off because I copied + pasted from Tesung's format, sorry.
 
Along with everything that's been said in this thread, in the previous thread, there were checks and such that Tesung never implemented, so please read through the thread and implement those.
 
I think Chansey should be under teammates for the tank set, as lack of reliable recovery is the only thing holding it back, and Chansey + Skarmory form a nice defensive shield around Amph that collectively wall every threat to him, ranging from Excadrill to Greninja to Landorus.
 

CyclicCompound

is a bicycle person thing
is a Contributor Alumnus
Some things to fix:

Firstly, PLEASE fix the formatting promptly. It takes literally 30 seconds and makes the analysis a lot easier to read. I know you just copy/pasted this but it's been a couple of days since then.

Secondly, on the specially defensive set, I would move Focus Blast from Moves down to OO. It's nice to be able to hit Ferrothorn and Excadrill, but Dragon Pulse already does enough damage to Excadrill (3HKOs 4/0). Ferrothorn is still annoying, but pulling off a Cleric-Rest combo is usually extremely hard and impractical to pull off in practice, and a helpless sleeping Ampharos is very easy setup bait.

Thirdly, make a note that if you have a Trick Room team you should be running Thunderbolt in the last slot of the Tank set, not Heal Bell or Discharge.

Lastly, for this:
It can be easily revenged killed that has a super effective STAB move due to its low speed
Note some common users of said super effective STABs. Landorus is definitely a good choice here.

That's all for now. Fix up the formatting and I'll probably be able to find some more things.
 
i still want the bulky attacker set to be removed

it's kinda like trying to do two things at once and just stretches out ampharos too much
 

The Shellder Smuggler

Banned deucer.
i still want the bulky attacker set to be removed

it's kinda like trying to do two things at once and just stretches out ampharos too much

Tank? That's arguably one of ampharos best sets. It has the bulk to tank hits and packs the firepower to wreck teams that don't resist it
 
nah.................. without resttalk it can't reliably check talon / zard-y / rotom-w / whatever and without agility you cannot do much damage to any team

you lose out on offensive and defensive capabilities in order to gain heal bell which is hard to pull off several times without dying quickly

resttalk can similarly absorb status and is far more effective
 

The Shellder Smuggler

Banned deucer.
nah.................. without resttalk it can't reliably check talon / zard-y / rotom-w / whatever and without agility you cannot do much damage to any team

you lose out on offensive and defensive capabilities in order to gain heal bell which is hard to pull off several times without dying quickly

resttalk can similarly absorb status and is far more effective
Yeah I see what you mean, I'd like QC input on this on wether I should add/remove
 
Dice pretty much covered why it's not worth running. I would remove it. It's main niche is check Keldeo / Zard Y / Rotom-W / Talonflame etc without recovery you can't do that effectively and wastes its potential just for the sake of running Heal Bell.
 
Ampharos is considerably less bulky before Megavolving and doesn't have his Dragon resistances yet, so I would certainly mention in Usage Tips how and when to Megavolve Ampharos safely.
 

alexwolf

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You must mention that Ampharos should be MEvolved as fast as possible, because otherwise it can't check the things it wants to check, such as Keldeo and Mega Charizard Y. You should also mention some U-turn partners that have good synergy with it, in order to bring it in safely before MEvolving. Landorus-T is an excellent teammate, being able to deal with most Ground-types, physical Dragon-types, and Mega Mawile, while also providing SR to make the Volt-turn chain more effective. Landorus-T also attracts Pokemon such as Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Thundurus, for Mega Ampharos to take advantage of. Mega Scizor is another good choice, being able to check most Ground, Dragon, and Fairy-types, while attracting Mega Charizard Y, Keldeo, Gyarados, and Talonflame like no other Pokemon.

Finally, cleric support is very appreciated, so Clefable, Sylveon, and Chansey are all good choices.
 
Mega Scizor is another good choice, being able to check most Ground, Dragon, and Fairy-types, while attracting Mega Charizard Y, Keldeo, Gyarados, and Talonflame like no other Pokemon.
While I completely agree that Scizor is a perfect teammate for Mega Ampharos, MEGA Scizor is not for obvious reasons. Also, what Ground-types is Scizor checking, exactly? The common OU ones I can think of are Hippowdon, Gliscor, Excadrill, Landorus-I, Landorus-T, Quagsire, and Garchomp (maybe Krookodile thanks to TFL). Scizor checks only Landorus-I and Krookodile with Bullet Punch and U-turn respectively, but doesn't want to take neutral Ground hits from any of them, especially thanks to the severe bulk decrease from having to stay non-Mega. Scizor is still great though for checking threats and U-turns, but since it has to not go Mega it's not AS great.
 

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