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Pojo's Pokemon Card of the Day

 

 Ampharos #14/123

HeartGold & SoulSilver

Date Reviewed: 02.11.10

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 3.00
Limited: 3.60

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst. 
3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Back to the main COTD Page

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)

 

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.

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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