Ampharos ex

 

Another nice card from Dragons. When I first saw this card, I though it was the best card in the set. (‘Coure, it was the first Dragons card I saw ~_^ ) Now, like most ex’s, it is a combination of two earlier versions of Ampharos… In this case, Dark Ampharos and Revelation Ampharos were chosen. This card in it’s metagame status is truly a little overrated… I’m saying just a little because I know a few people who think it’s awesome and some who think it stinks… lol.  But in my humble opinion, I do believe that a good player has many ways to sneak around behind it and defeat it. First of all, the power, while being a nice thing to have, is not the best thing to rely on. Most advanced players have some kind of healing in their deck and about 30 damage on a Pokémon is nothing (I say three energy is an average energy count for good Pokes…). Also… I see this card often played with Scyther ex (resistance), and Low Pressure system. This version completely collapses against Wobbuffet. A player can put three energies on a Wynaut, evolve and remove all of the damage, and then mize the whole deck with ‘Wobbu. A nice fact of Amphy’s is that he is a stage two ex with more than 120 HP and only one weakness, but that weakness is fighting… so Golem decks are appearing, especially Golem ex/Xatu, and they pack a few regular Golem (from Expedition) to fight off Scyther ex. And Flygon gives it problems also…

PPPR: 14     Lol Latias is even better than this……….

 

            Modified: 3.5/5 – Can be good if played well…  Really has to cover it’s weaknesses though. And watch out for Rayquaza’s!

 

            2 on 2: 3/5 – When one is paralyzed the other can still attack.

 

            Team: 3.8/5 – More people to nail with Conductivity.

 

            Draft: 3/5 – Too hard to get, and then get out… GG if you do, as is with most stage two’s and ex’s in draft.

 

 

            Written by:  ~Hedge

            Written December 10^th, 2003

Name: Ampharos ex

Set: EX Dragons

Type: Lighting (Electric)

Stage: 2 (Evolves from Flaaffy)

HP: 150

Weakness: Fighting

Resistance: Metal

Retreat: CCC

Poké-BODY: Conductivity

As long as Ampharos ex is in play, whenever your opponent attaches an Energy card to his or her Pokémon from hand, put 1 damage counter on that Pokémon.  You can’t put more than 1 damage counter even if there is more than 1 Ampharos ex in play.

Name: Flaaffy

Set: EX Dragons

Type: Lighting (Electric)

Stage: 1 (Evolves from Mareep)

HP: 80

Weakness: Fighting

Resistance: Metal

Retreat: C

Attack#1: (L) Energy Recall

Attach up to 2 basic Energy cards from your discard pile to Flaaffy

Name: Mareep

Set: EX Dragons

Type: Lighting (Electric)

Stage: Basic

HP: 50

Weakness: Fighting

Resistance: Metal

Retreat: C

 

Attributes:  As the only Ampharos ex in existence, so it does not compete with itself per se.  Since it shares a common lower-stage (Mareep and Flaaffy), it could compete with Ampharos (and Dark Ampharos), but as we will see, it really compliments them.  Speaking of lower stages, for modified, I would go ahead and use the EX Dragons version of the line-the other Modified Mareep have lower HP and the other Flaaffy have good attacks… but this Flaaffy can power itself up.  For Unlimited, unless you use a Memory Berry, Recall, or Neo Aerodactyl to use lower stages attacks, I’d go with the same versions for the same reasons… well there is one other 50 HP Mareep, but it just does 10 for (C), and if its attacking, you probably are on the Defensive anyway.  Oh, and Rare Candy is good for either format, of course. ;)

 

As an Electric Stage 2 Pokémon ex, it is currently unique, so let’s look at other Stage to Electric Pokémon and other Stage 2 Pokémon ex.  On the Stage 2 Pokémon ex front, we have some real killers: Aggron ex (haven’t seen it in action, but have heard some people vouch for it), Gardevoir ex (quite likely the best), Kabutops ex (I don’t like it, but other people do), Kingdra ex (again, heard good things), Typhlosion ex (don’t see or hear about it anymore), and the others are too new to really rate.  There are also two other large Stage 2 Electric Pokémon, both Ampharos.  In terms of HP, Ampharos ex matches the other Stage 2 Pokémon ex except Golem and Typhlosion ex.  It naturally beats out the normal Ampharos, by 50 HP.  150HP is acceptable for 2 prizes, I guess: I would like this to be more than two 70-80 HP Pokémon, but since they started changing these fundamentals, it’s awkward to judge.  In terms of Weakness, it gets Fighting, which can be nasty, but is also rarely encountered in Modified.  In Unlimited, it’s possibly the worst (almost every other type that is used as much as Tyrogue does enough damage that the Weakness wouldn’t make much difference).  Resistance is Metal, which is obviously better than nothing, fits the type, and is just nice overall.  Some of the other Stage 2 Pokémon ex lack Resistance, as do all other Ampharos.  Retreat is 3, which for a Pokémon ex like this is a bit more than normal, but only by one (most that fit the criteria have just a cost of 2).  It is also more than any other Ampharos (but Neo Revelation, which is also three).  It’s high enough that you should avoid paying for it, but if you absolutely must, you can.

 

Abilities: Gigavolt is a great attack.  For (LCC), which should yield 30 damage, and maybe a small effect, you get Paralysis half the time.  This is fair.  What makes it great is that half the time, on heads, you get an extra 30 damage free!  Its cost actually makes it feasible to power it up second turn (either through Boost in Modified or DCE in Unlimited).  Now go we’ll back to its Poké-Body.  This is incredibly sweet.  That damage can add up real fast.  It turns the popular Rainbow into something nasty, and everything else into Rainbow sans the good part! =P This effect has been seen before, but as a Pokémon Power, on Dark Ampharos.  Unlike Dark Ampharos, this a) works while affected by a Special Condition, b) does not stop working if multiple copies are in play (it just doesn’t stack), and c)places a damage counter instead of doing damage (getting around certain things).  This can really shake up the playing environment.

 

Uses/Combinations: Ampharos ex has both a fantastic attack and Poké-Power.  It screams to be the focus of a deck.  I have two ideas as of writing this for Eon: pair it up with something for more Bench damage, or plug it into my Gojira decks (SS Xatu for major healing is the part that matters).  Anyway, with the low (L) Energy requirements, you can stick in another “color” with ease.  As for Unlimited, we can, with some effort, run it with Dark Ampharos.  Together, that’s 20 per energy attached.  That means a Sneasel using a Rainbow Energy is half dead just from that!  Raindance is just out of luck.  I recommend a Chaos Gym to disrupt their Trainer flow, and perhaps Jungle Scyther and Tyrogue for some offense (though the Ampharos do hit hard themselves).

 

Ratings

 

Unlimited: 3/5-I really think that deck would be nasty, what with all the low HP basics.

 

Modified: 4/5-Probably the best Lighting deck available.  Also, think of how much energy most Pokémon need.

 

Limited: 3.5/5-If you can draft what you need, it’s great.  Gigavolt will KO a lot of drafted Basics and Stage 1s, and if they try to build anything big on the bench, then its going to be half dead when they bring it up.  Just remember if it dies that’s half your opponent’s prizes!

 

-Otaku