Battle Spot: Mega Ampharos Trick Room and Doubles strategy

Build as of Gen 6

• Ability – Static → Mold Breaker
• Stats – HP (252), Special Attack/SpA (252), Special Defence/SpD (4)
• Nature – Quiet/Modest
• Item – Ampharosite
• Move set – Thunderbolt (stab), Dragon Pulse (stab), Power Gem, Protect

Ampharos has always been one of my favourite Pokemons during the Gold/Silver era, so when I read that it was getting a mega-evolution I got really excited. Ampharos is prolly the reason that got me into Trick Room in the first place because of its horrendous speed. So anyway...

Strength

With the gift of mega-evolving, its SpA shot rocket sky high to an overwhelming 165 stats; making the sheep (or giraffe?) a beast inside Trick Room. Defence and SpD stats were also boosted, but in return of the slow Speed. In addition, by turning into part Dragon type it also gained element resistance as well against fire, water, grass and electric (x4!). Really love using it against a Sunny team especially.

Mold Breaker ability may seem like a weird ability, but it's actually quite useful against those Pokemon with abilities such as Lightningrod (Mega Sceptile), Volt Absorb, Motor Drive, Marvel Scale (Milotic), Multiscale (Dragonite) and especially Sturdy. With such high SpA stat, it could OHKO those Pokemons that are weak to its Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse move.  

Weakness

Again, by simply becoming part dragon, that also means it's weak to Dragon (every single one of them), Ice (Ice Beam, and a Blizzard from Mega Abomasnow) and Fairy (Sylveon) too. Also not forgetting the ever present Ground type Pokemons roaming around like Garchomp and Landorus, these four weaknesses are common threats in the current metagame so you will need good partners to cover up those weaknesses.

Another problem about using Mega Ampharos is that it has a lack of move pool, aside from Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse; you only have one SpA move left to fill up and you don't really have that many option (mor eon tht later) as a Trick Room powerhouse player. Thus, this makes it quite predictable and a lot of mind games are needed to make it work.

I should also mention that although Mold Breaker ability has its uses, there are times that the ability is feels kind of wasted when no used. In fact, I think Static ability still seems like a better option with the given boosted Defence stat. But oh well.

Moveset

As mentioned earlier, Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse are the bread and butter of Mega Ampharos. I like using Power Gem as my last SpA move because of its wide coverage to adapt to various situations, making it an all-rounder. Focus Punch is also a good option but the shaky accuracy is quite a turn off otherwise. Signal Beam is a good alternative too since electric moves aren't that great against grass types (like Ferrothorn). Any three of these moves come in pretty handy as a surprise attack, depending on what your team is lacking. The last move slot is reserve for Protect, it's very important in Doubles format. 

You can also go for Hidden Power Ice but the power is too low, I don't really favour Volt Switch because it's not suitable for Trick Room. Should you use it in a Rainy team or any Pokemon that can cast Rainy Day, then Thunder is a no-brainer. Lastly, Discharge is another move to consider as well, it saved my ass a couple of times by paralyzing the opponent when I'm not in Trick Room lol 

Closing thoughts

(image credit to Alfred Kamon)

Mega Ampharos is a very powerful Pokemon under Trick Room, but because of its 4 common weaknesses and limited move pool; it needs a lot of support and 2-3 Pokemons could easily take your team's slot without realizing it so you need to plan properly. 

Having a partner that knows Wide Guard would be most beneficial as it will protect your team from Earthquake, Blizzard and Pixelated Hyper Voice, also sometimes you don't always need to mega-evolve first because you can make use of Static ability if possible, like against a Mega Kangaskan using Fake Out or playing mind games.

One last thing, the only reason you're using Mega Ampharos is because of Trick Room and nothing else. You can try other gimmick builds like a supporter or the Agility build but that's not its true calling, might as well make the best of it. So Mega Ampharos, I choose you! Glhf!