Baby Mario
Top 4 UK Nats |
Ampharos (HGSS)
At this point in our reviews, I just want to say how
much I like the artwork and design for the HGSS set.
Ampharos is one of my favourites: he looks so happy,
dancing in front of the Lighthouse in Olivine City after
you fetch the medicine (yep, I’m talking about the video
game again).
But enough of all this retro stuff. Will you actually
want to see Ampharos’s smiling face when you are at a
tournament? That’s what really counts.
Ampharos has 120 HP which is . . . just about OK for a
Stage 2. That double Fighting Weakness is not so OK
though. Being OHKO’d by any Fighting Pokémon that can
manage to do 60 damage (*cough*Donphan Prime*cough*) is
not fun at all. The Metal Resistance is better than no
Resistance (just about),and the Retreat cost of one
seems quite generous for this Pokémon (Ampharos SW’s is
three and Ampharos PL’s is two).
Ampharos has a low-cost attack, which is always a good
thing. For [L] you do 30 damage (already not bad) and
get to search your deck for two Basic Energy and attach
them to a Pokémon. The good thing is that you are not
restricted to a certain type of Energy, which means
Ampharos can be paired with other attacking Pokémon. The
bad is that you have to attach both Energy to the same
Pokémon, but that isn’t too much of a drawback. The
second attack, Thunder, does 80 damage for [L][C][C]
with a coin flip for 20 self-damage. If it wasn’t for
that coin flip, this would actually be a pretty good
attack, but that 50% chance of hurting yourself is a bit
of a worry as a bad flip or two can make Ampharos rather
easy to knock out.
As a main attacker, Ampharos is mediocre and a bit
frail. As a means of Energy acceleration, it is doubtful
whether he would see play outside of an Ampharos deck as
having to evolve a Stage 2 and using an attack means
that this is not the fastest or most efficient way to
power up a Pokémon. In a deck with a heavy Ampharos
line, he may be worth a slot, but there is quite a lot
of competition amongst Ampharos with both the SW and PL
versions and the new Ampharos Prime having useful
PokePowers or PokeBodies. Even so, Ampharos decks
haven’t been all that competitive, and I don’t expect
this card to change that.
Rating
Modified: 2 (not terrible, just . . . nothing special
really)
Limited: 2.5 (The first attack is nice, but getting out
Stage 2’s is tough)
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virusyosh |
Greetings, Pojo! Our HGSS reviews continue today with
the review of Ampharos (non-Prime). In terms of
playability, how does this one compare to its Prime
counterpart?
Ampharos is a Stage 2 Lightning Pokemon. Aside from
Luxray GL Lv. X and a couple of random Raichu,
Electivire, and Magnezone decks, Lightning really
doesn't see a whole lot of play. Ampharos has 120 HP,
which is fairly standard for a Stage 2 at this point in
the game. Weakness to Fighting isn't so bad as Machamp
SF is the only real Fighting-type threat commonly seen
in the current metagame, but with the release of HGSS
and Donphan Prime, that may change sometime soon.
Resistance to Metal is nice to have, with all of the
Dialga G running around. A Retreat Cost of one is
decent, not requiring a lot if you absolutely must
retreat.
Ampharos has no Poke-Powers or Poke-Bodies to speak
of, but simply two attacks. The first attack,
Acceleration Bolt, deals fairly nice 30 damage for [L]
and then allows you to search your deck for two basic
energy cards and attach them to one of your Pokemon.
Although the damage is a bit low for a Stage 2, the
setup effect of fetching energy from your deck and
attaching it somewhere is great. In this way, Ampharos
can Acceleration Bolt to get two more energy for the
next turn, going into a Thunder. It's also a great way
to power up your benched Pokemon, even though Lightning
has many other good ways of attaching energy quickly,
such as Magnezone SF, Electivire SW, and Electivire FB
Lv. X.
Speaking of Thunder, it deals 80 damage for [LCC] and
has a chance for 20 damage to yourself if you flip
tails. 80 for three energy may not seem worth it when
you could use something like Raichu (HGSS or SF, take
your pick), but an important note is that the attack
requires no discard, which is very uncommon for the
Lightning-type. That being said, self-damage is not
great, and can easily get you in trouble. A possible
combo with Ampharos is Blissey Prime, who can remove
damage counters at the cost of Energy, which can be
re-obtained in two turns using Acceleration Bolt anyway.
Such a deck would probably be too weak to make any sort
of splash in the metagame, though.
Modified: 3/5 Even though Ampharos Prime is probably
better, I think this Ampharos can possibly have a place
in the metagame as well. Acceleration Bolt is a
wonderful setup move even on a Stage 2, and Thunder is
great because it doesn't require a discard. Then again,
damaging yourself could end up being a gigantic problem.
Limited: 4/5 As with most Stage 2s in Limited, if you
get it out, you're probably going to win. Acceleration
Bolt is ridiculously good here, as powering up your
bench while thinning your deck is fantastic. Just watch
out for Donphan Prime, as it can easily one-hit KO you
for a single Energy.
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BoDragon |
Ampharos
HeartGold & SoulSilver. #14
Today we examine the Lightinig-type Light Pokémon
Ampharos from HeartGold
& SoulSilver.
Its first attack is Acceleration Bolt, dealing 30 damage
for {L}, and searches your deck for up to 2 basic Energy
cards to attach to 1 of your Pokémon. This effect
of the attack is useful to add additional Energy to your
Pokémon with high attack or retreat costs or owning
attacks that deals additional damage dependent on the
amount of Energy attached. Ampharos can benefit
from this effect as its next attack costs 3 Energy, 1
being {L}.
That attack, its second, is Thunder. It does 80
damage for {L}{C}{C}. Ampharos has a 50%
probability of self inflicting 20 damage. The
attack cost is fitting for a good heavy damaging attack.
Ampharos has x2 weakness to Fighting-type Pokémon.
It will be vulnerable against Pokémon like Machamp.
Its single Energy Retreat Cost is good to escape damage.
Ratings:
Modified: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
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