Why is Ambipom RU???

Question

Why? I see it being used in a TON of UU matches and even some OU matches, why is it so far down??? Its a really good fake-outer, especially with technician, so... why?

Comments

Cos it gets killed by everything and isn't powerful enough to justify being used as a Glass Cannon over far more powerful and better offensively typed mons like Gengar

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Frail, has limited coverage, not impressive power wise, outclassed by Mega Lopunny etc. Smogon also hates it which doesn't help.

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Not to mention the poor coverage and myriad of better physical attackers.

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You must be pretty low on the ladder also if you see Ambipom as much as you go. You've got to play lots and lots of matches to start playing real OU.

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Thats pretty insulating. I do play a lot of OU, theres a reason I said "Some". Ive only seen it in a few and usually by someone who loses. Also, I play a lot of UU and I personally use it in my UU team. What I was really asking was for thoughts on if it should be put higher. Dont make assumptions, especially if they're supposed to be insulating, and dont tell me it wasnt - read it back and you'll see that it was.

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"Insulating" or "insulting"?

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i think we know what he means...
anyways why should ambipom be higher? think about it. it'll get outclassed

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Insulated xD

Answer 1

Ambipom is good with fake out, maybe even double hit, but there are a LOT of reasons why it is down in RU. Sure, it can be good for leads and cleaning up, but in mid-game, its not that good.

• Ambipom is only good for one turn. Fake out, then switch out-it is EASILY defeated by scarfed or bulky attackers, and it's frail 75/66/66 defenses don't make it up
• Ambipom has no good recovery. Dream Eater is probably it's only recovery, and Ambipom is NOT a special attacker. Life Orb doesnt help as well, as it is proabably one of Ambipom's only useful held item in competitive, not counting silk scarf
• It gets walled a lot. Defensive walls like eviolite ferroseed or alomomola walls it completly, and Ambipom is forced to switch out on these Pokemon.
• Poor coverage. Ambipom doesn't have that much of a good coverage, and its moveset is pretty limited. Knock Off, Double hit, Fake Out, and U-turn is the pretty basic moveset, and it doesn't hit that much. Again, no recovery so life orb brings it down, and possibly rocky helmet from opponent. Ambipom relies a lot on it's teammates because of its poor coverage.
• Steel types, fighting types, and scarf users, and maybe even foes with pirority can do HEAVY damage on Ambipom and/or stall its Life Orb out. Even if Ambipom is silk scarfed, it limits the damage of its coverage moves and these foes can do more damage to Ambipom compared to Ambipom to them.

I'm pretty sure that there is more reasons to why Ambipom is RU. Maybe next gen Ambipom can get a chance to shine.

Hope I helped!

Comments

Agreed, but I actually use ambipom and it's right up there for sweepers along with chomp and m-pidgeot for me. Why? low kick breaks walls fast. U-turn is replaced by return for nice STAB. Priority foes like aqua jet crawdaunt easily get ok'd with low kick. But i have to agree that recovery could be a whole lot better. possibly used with cleric umbreon wish passer+substitute? hard to set up but a straight beast

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Low Kick does break walls, like heavy steel or rock types, but consider this: When Ambipom is up against walls like ferrothorn and Mandibuzz, it has no way of winning. Ferrothron will live the hit (at max hp) and OHKO Ambipom with gyro ball, along with Iron Barbs. Ambipom cannot touch Mandibuzz whatsoever. Even walls in UU (say, gligar) can stall out Ambipom with toxic stall, even with its eviolite knocked off.

Often times, opponents lead off with Ambipom to get nice damage and to scout, so U-turn is a nice swtich move. Some people do like to carry low kick, all dpends on a team. Double Hit does more damage than return, with technician. Crawdaunt  usually carries focus sash or life orb, and a aqua jet or knock off, with adaptablility will most likely kill Ambipom. Wish pass can be easily predicted, and field set ups like stealth rocks or spikes or even toxic spikes can seriously make Ambipom's play time on the field limited a lot. No recovery and being too fragile and limited movepool is reasons why Ambipom is in RU.

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What about this set up?

Ambipom@ King's Rock
Fake Out
Fling
U-Turn
Low Sweep/Double Hit
With max speed and attack EV's

Use fake out for flinch, then fling King's Rock for flinch, then U-Turn to another pokemon.