Community POTW #31

[Serebii]

Reno's busy writing the last one so here's the next one



This week we'll be doing Rampardos, one of the Sinnoh Pokémon

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/409.shtml

Rampardos is a very strong Pokémon and capable of quite a lot of destruction

[SazandoraMASTER]

JUST TO TELL SOME SUGGESTERS, FIRE PUNCH IS ILLEGAL WITH SHEER FORCE

Scarf-Dos
-Head Smash / Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Crunch
-Fire Blast / Ice Beam
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EV's and Nature:
EV's: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SpD)
Ok I based this set over RU threats aka Cresselia, Durant, Ferroseed and Gligar. Head Smash to do overkill damage or Stone Edge to avoid the recoil. You also get a Sheer Force boost. Earthquake to handle Rhyperior and Aggron. Crunch to hurt Ghosts and Psychics especially Cress. Fire Blast to kill Durant and Ferroseed, or Ice Beam to handle Gligar.

Rock Polish
-Rock Polish
-Head Smash / Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Crunch / Fire Blast / Ice Beam
Item Attached: Lum Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EV's and Nature:
EV's: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd l l 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA) / Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SpD)
Similar to the Choice Scarf set but you would want to run an offensive Nature for better results I guess. Rock Polish allows you to outspeed some stuff (not sure which but it gets Rampardos to better Speeds). Head Smash or Stone Edge. You decide. Earthquake to hit Aggron and Rhy blah blah. The last move for which poke you want to cover.

Trick Room Partner
-Head Smash / Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Crunch
-Fire Blast / Ice Beam
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EV's and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
Rampardos is a great Trick Room sweeper cuz of its sluggish Speed and massive Attack. Same moveset as the Choice Scarfed one but you would want to run max HP to extend survivability and a Brave Nature to make you stronger and faster in Trick Room.

[mushroomnews157]

ok let's start

rampagedos

Ramp@life orb
Nature:jolly
252 Att 252 Spd 4 Hp
ability:mold breaker/sheer force
-Rock polish
-Earthquake
-Stone edge/Rock Slide
-Iron head/Zen headbutt/Crunch/Brick break

trick room sweeper

Ramp@Leftovers
Nature:relaxed/adamant
252 Att 128 Def 128 Hp
ability:mold breaker/sheer force
-Curse
-Rock slide/Stone edge
-Dragon tail
-Earthquake

ummm ok?

Ramp@Choice specs/Life orb
Nature:Modest
252 Spatt 252 Spd 4 Hp
ability:sheer force
-Ice beam/Blizzard
-Flamethrower/Fire blast
-Thunderbolt/Thunder
-Focus blast/Ancientpower

i dunno just put it in here

Cranidos@eviolite
Nature:Carefull
252 Spdef 252 Hp 4 Hp
Ability:sheer force/mold breaker
-Curse
-Head smash
-Earthquake
-Crunch

tell me what you think

[twcopal]

Sheer Forcer
-Rockslide
-Rock Polish
-Fire Punch
-Crunch
Ability: Sheer Force
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (+SPD - SPATK)
IVs 4HP 252 ATK 252SPD
This set is ment to do massive damage, 194 base power rockslides and up to a 429 atk stat is nothing to laugh at. Crunch, and Fire Punch also get sheer force life orb boosts. Go max speed so Ramparidos is still semi fast, and if the oppurtunity presents itself Rockpolish to double you speed.

[UsernameSayWha?]

Ninjasks big monster.
Rampardos @ Life Orb
Sheer Force/Mold Breaker
252 Atk/252 Spe/ 4 HP
Jolly/Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge/ Rock Slide
- Earthquake
If you get some speed underneath this guys size 100 belt you have a clean sweep. Use Rock Slide if you're gonna use Sheer Force. Swords Dance and eat the whole universe at hyper-speed. You can also ShellPass to him and get rid of Swords Dance.

[TimmahX]

Sheer Firepower

Nature and EVs: Adamant / Jolly, 252 Atk | 252 Spd | 4 HP
Item: Choice Scarf / Band
Ability Sheer Force

- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake

Sheer Force gave Rampardos quite a boost this generation, though it would be substantially better if it had more Special Attack to go with it. The boost mainly helps with Rock Slide, giving it a more accurate and reliable alternative to Stone Edge thanks to the power boost Sheer Force provides. Now it needs some coverage options. Fighting types are a common response to Rampardos, so boosted Zen Headbutt is actually more viable than it usually is. Crunch gives some extra coverage. Finally, Earthquake is Earthquake.

Frankly, I wish Rampardos' physical move pool had a little more excitement too it. It has so many special moves that will likely only show up to just barely cover some Steel types if anything with Flamethrower. Though I would like to edit this post later on with more details. If someone can confirm which moves on the 4th Gen Only movepool are legal with Sheer Force (If any), that would be great for contributors.

[mushroomnews157]

isn't fire punch with sheer force illegal?

[briguin]

Overview
Rampardos. The more attack based fossil Pokemon of 4th gen. It has a pretty large amount of health, which is good. Too bad it has some bad defenses. But it's biggest advantage, is it's attack. Special Attack? Nope. Physical Attack? Yes please! And what's better is that 5th gen brought it a new ability: Sheer Force! A stronger Head Smash. Without recoil! Now THAT'S, a scary thought.

Abilities
Mold Breaker: A good ability, nevertheless. It let's Earthquake hit Levitating Brongzongs and Hydreigons. But with Rampardos, Sheer Force is better.

Sheer Force: A much cooler ability. As said before, it makes Head Smash do 33% more damage without recoil. An amazing ability. This could get Rampardos into OU pretty well, I can imagine.

Movesets

Head Smash is safe now!
Head Smash
Earthquake
Iron Head
Hammer Arm
Ability: Sheer Force

Head Smash does big STAB damage without Recoil thanks to Sheer Force. Earthquake is a great way to sweep, Hammer Arm does bigger damage without lowering Rampardos' already low speed. Finally, Iron Head can take on Hard Rock types that resist Rock Smash.

Partners

Electric Types. They take out water types. Some good ones would be Magnezone, Zebstrika, and Galvantula. Also Ice types like Beartic or Glalie could defeat Ground types. Basically, what I'm saying is; Get rid of weaknesses.

Countering Rampardos.

Easy. Have Water and Ground types. Swampert, Gamergoroge, Suicune and Groudon can easily take him out. Grass types work too. Serperior, Sceptile, and other fast Grass types are ideal. That's about it.

[UsernameSayWha?]

I think you should test the Head Smash thing out. Same with Hammer Arm. Iron Head will work though.

[TimmahX]

Head Smash is safe now!

Head Smash does big STAB damage without Recoil thanks to Sheer Force.

Part of me wishes Sheer Force worked like that, but it doesn't. It only removes the effects of moves that cause status conditions (Burn, Paralysis, Flinch, Freeze, Sleep and Poison) or moves that lower stat of the opponent (Crunch). Moves with negative effects, such as Recoil and Self Stat Reductions are not affected by Sheer Force (Superpower, Hammer Arm, and most importantly, Head Smash). It isn't safe now, he would need Rock Head for that, and that's why I love Relicanth.

The full list of affected moves is here: http://serebii.net/abilitydex/sheerforce.shtml

[Serebii]

Feel free to include stuff for Cranidos too so we can determine its viability in pre-evo corner

[SS_Ａｐｐｅｎｄ]

Rampardos

Overview
Rampardos.Capable of mass destruction in the right hands.That MASSIVE attack stat caping out at 471.wow,no not just wow,WOW!.Sadly, its other stats (except HP)are ... downright unusable.A Rampardos itself can do massive damage,but it needs boosts.Speed Boosts.Or Trick Room.Basically what it needs is a good partner/s.

Ninjask Baton Pass
Ability:Sheer Force/Mold Breaker
Nature:Adamant
Item:Focus Sash
EVs:252Attack,252Speed,4HP

-Rock Slide/Stone Edge
-Earthquake/Fire Punch
-Crunch/Fire Punch/Iron Head/Zen Headbutt
-Crunch/Fire Punch/Iron Head/Zen Headbutt

After a +2 speed boost from a Baton Passer,you're ready to sweep.Rock Slide and Stone Edge get STAB.Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost.Earthquake and Fire Punch hit Steels.Last two moves for coverage.Crunch,Iron Head and Zen Headbutt get the Sheer Force boost.Crunch hits Ghosts and Phychics.Iron Head hits Rock-Grounds if you're not running Earthquake.Zen headbutt hits Fighting types

Focus Sash lets you survive a hit on the turn Baton Pass is used.Sheer Force is currently illegal,so stick with Mold Breaker for now.

Trick Room

Ability:Sheer Force/Mold Breaker
Nature:Brave
Item:Life Orb/Choice Band
EVs:252Attack,252Hp,Defence

-Rock Slide/Stone Edge
-Earthquake/Fire Punch
-Crunch/Fire Punch/Iron Head/Zen Headbutt
-Crunch/Fire Punch/Iron Head/Zen Headbutt

Fine.It's the same.Well the attacks and abilities are.The differences are the nature,item and EV spread.Brave= +Attack -Speed.But you already know that.Life Orb lets you do more damage at the cost of HP.Choice Band gives you another massive power boost, but you get locked into only 1 move,unless you switch.

Other options are Pursuit,Head Smash,Toxic,Roar/Whirlwind/Dragon Tail,ResTalk,mixed (Ice Beam,Thunderbolt,Flamethrower etc.),Rock Polish,Swords Dance,Thunder Punch,Stealth Rock.

Counters

Bullet Punch?Mach Punch?Vacuum Wave?Aqua Jet?Revenge Killing?I'm not really good at this...

[_Calm|Mind_]

Reno's Super Sexy Dinosaur!

Rampardos @ Pink Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force / Mold Breaker
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naughty Nature (+Atk, -SDef)
- Captivate
- Rock Polish
- Focus Energy
- Slam

This is Reno's newest love interest, who I must add is rather effective! Captivate hits Reno's sweet spot (his heart). Rock Polish is so that Reno can get his "Stealth Rocks" up. Focus Energy is so that Slam hits for massive damage!

[your boss]

RamScarfdos

Ability sheer force
Nature:Jolly EVs 252 Attack 252 speed
4 HP
moves:
zen headbutt
earthquake
brick break
Head smash

zen headbutt hits machamp and other slow fighting types and is boosted with sheer force. Earthquake ruins steel and rocktypes brick breaks kills blissy. Head Smash gets stab The Choice Scarf lets be faster than some pokemon that try to outspeed you and kills a lot of pokemon.

[svenosman]

Stop, Hammertime!
- Hammer Arm
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Pain Split
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Sdef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)

Hammer Arm makes you slow if you use it a lot, but Rampardos is already so slow, it doesn't matter. But wait, what if we put it in a Trick Room Team? It gets faster on every hit with Hammer Arm. +1. Rock Slide gets STAB and leaves (almost) no survivors left. You can also use Stone Edge, but concidering the fact that Trick Room teams are mostly used in Double or Triple and it can make your opponent flinch, I prefer Rock Slide. +2. Earthquake hits everyone on the field, except Flying-type Pokémon and Pokémon with the ability Levit... What? Mold Breaker? It can break through Levitate? Oh, this is getting better! +3 .Increase the power of this moves with Life Orb, and the HP of your opponent flushes away. +4. The recoil of the Life Orb is the only bad thing. This is were Pain Split comes in: after making 3 or 4 Pokémon faint, Rampardos wants some of it's HP back. Use Pain Split on a fresh victim to share your HP, and than make it faint. +5. What else can I say, EVs boosts your Special Defense to keep you alive from Surf n stuff, the Nature boosts your Attack.

Double & Triple Battle Options
Trick Room covers the entire field, so use it on Triple. Because Trick Room needs to be set up, you will be vulnerable for 1 turn. Give it a Focus Sash or use after one of your Pokémon faints. Not a very good option, but it is a option.

Partners
Levitating Bronzong. Allows you to set up Trick Room and can't be hurt by Earthquake. For some extra fun, ad a Skarmory. It helps you taking down Fighting Pokémon and is a great physical wall.

Countering Rampardos
Since Trick Room doesn't influance Speed priority, Vacuüm Wave will be used before you can take it down, and being super effective, it ruins you. Same for Bullet Punch, Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, enz.

[TimmahX]

Big Headed Baby- Cranidos Set

Adamant / Jolly, 252 Atk | 252 Spd | 4 HP
Life Orb / Choice Scarf or Band, Sheer Force

- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Thrash / Double Edge

Cranidos has huge power in the Little Cup, and it's Defenses are just as trashy by this tiers standards. Anyway, it makes for a great Choice sweeper here, since it's Speed actually stays the same as Rampardos and most things around you have less speed in their Pre-Evolved forms.

Rock Slide and Crunch abuse Sheer Force, and Earthquake gets sweet coverage. That just leaves 1 hole for possibilities. Thrash has high power, but leaves Cranidos locked in it for 2-3 turns and confuses after. Double Edge is consistently strong against Fighting and Ground types that would try to wall you.

[Gallo]

Nature: Naughty
EVs: 252 Attack/252 Special ATtack/4 Defense
Item: Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
Movestet: -Stone Edge
-Head Smash
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
___________________________________
Naughty already raises the good, 2nd place attack it has, and 252 EVs of it will sky rocket it.
For Flying types and Levitate abilitaters, Earthquake's no problem because of Mold Breaker, perfect for those Steel-Psychic types
Since Choice Band's in progress, might as well have powerful moves like Stone Edge and Head Smash, altough Head Smash takes a lot of HP from you. And Stealth Rock keeps switchers away

[twcopal]

Overview
...Sheer Force! A stronger Head Smash. Without recoil! Now THAT'S, a scary thought.

...

Sheer Force: A much cooler ability. As said before, it makes Head Smash do 33% more damage without recoil. An amazing ability. This could get Rampardos into OU pretty well, I can imagine.

Movesets

Head Smash is safe now!
Head Smash
Earthquake
Iron Head
Hammer Arm
Ability: Sheer Force

Head Smash does big STAB damage without Recoil thanks to Sheer Force. Earthquake is a great way to sweep, Hammer Arm does bigger damage without lowering Rampardos' already low speed. Finally, Iron Head can take on Hard Rock types that resist Rock Smash.

Sorry to rain on your parade but sheer force DOES NOT REMOVE THE RECOIL FROM HEAD SMASH OR THE HAMMER ARM SPEED REDUCTION however it does take away life orb reciol, but only on moves that get the sheer force boost. Sheer force boosts attacks with POSITIVE EFFECTS ONLY (such as stat increase, reduction of oppents stats, may cause a satus, for exapmle burn, flinch, ect.) It does not boost or remove the effects on any attack that Has a negetive effect on the user, has a high critical hit ratio, has reciol damage, needs to recharge, hits all pokemon on the field, takes more than one to complete, that takes proirity, ect. However if the attack also has a positive effect on the user as well as the negative effect, such as flare blitz, the posiive effect will be removed but the negative effect will remain. Also sheer force seems to negate effects of items and some abilities (such as color change) that have an effect that takes place after attacking.

[Gelatino95]

Choice Scarf

- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Crunch
Item Attached: Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) / Jolly Nature (+Spd,-SAtk)

Choice Scarf compensates for Rampardos' lackluster speed stat. With the EV investment, you might not need the Jolly nature, but I don't feel like doing the math right now. Rock Slide has the same base power as Stone Edge thanks to Sheer Force, except with much better accuracy. Earthquake doesn't get the Sheer Force boost, but is still pretty darn powerful and gets pseudo QuakeEdge coverage with Rock Slide. Brick Break gets the Sheer Force boost, making it just as strong as Hammer Arm except with no speed drop. Crunch also gets the Sheer Force boost, so that helps a lot.

If you're really worried about the speed, go with Jolly nature, but otherwise, Adamant works just fine.

[Soperman]

I love Rampardos. He's crazy strong. In fact, he has the highest non-legendary attack stat in the game. Just one slight problem: that's his only good stat. His Hp is average, his defenses worse than mediocre, and his speed prevents him from going faster than a Magikarp. However, he was the first to receive Mold Breaker, which is a kick-*** ability. Also, Sheer Force makes him abnormally strong. The accurate term for this pokemon is a "glass cannon." Hits hard, but dies harder (does that make sense?).

Glass Cannon
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
- Giga Impact
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker / Sheer Force
EVs and Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

This set is basically all Rampardos is good for. He has decent speed with Jolly and Choice Scarf, and he'll only survive to hit once anyway. Head Smash is STAB, as well as his best attack, with a whopping 225 base power. Earthquake takes advantage of Mold Breaker for Levitaters. Zen Headbutt is filler. Giga Impact has a nice 150 base power, and he won't survive the next hit anyway, so it doesn't matter that he skips his next turn.

The little Rampardos that almost could
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
Item: Life Orb / Muscle Band
Ability: Mold Breaker / Sheer Force
EVs and Nature: Jolly (+Spd, -Sp. Atk)
200 Hp / 52 Atk / 252 Speed

This set is basically to set up for Rampardos. Rock Polish alows him to outspeed a Magikarp (who by the way has a base Speed of 80). Swords Dance for that ridiculous Attack boost. Then hit hard with your amazing Smashquake coverage. The 200 Hp is for potentially surviving something.

Partners
Wow. This pokemon has such bad stats overall... Well, actually, a Baton Passer would be incredible. Using Rock Polish or Agility, then maybe something to raise defenses or Attack, Baton Pass and BAM. You've got a Rampardos who can utterly ravage teams.

Double and Triple options
Being weak to Earthquake and Surf is bad. Having STAB Rock Slide and Earthquake is good. Having crippling Speed is bad. Having immense Attack is good.

Countering Rampardos
At first, when your opponent sends out Rampardos, you think, "HOLY CRAP RAMPARDOS IM SCREWED." But then you realize his only threatening stat is Attack, and you can out-speed it with virtually anything. Any Ground type can beat this guy. Any Water type, Grass type, Fighting type, Psychic type, Steel type, and even some Ghosts can destroy Rampardos. But do not underestimate this guy, because he could potentially cripple your team.