One solution is using Hidden Power Ice.
When I play GSC UU (which is ridiculously hard to come by these days) and use Ampharos, I’ll generally run something like Thunderbolt/Fire Punch/Hidden Power Ice/Thunder Wave as an all-out offensive moveset. I know a lot of people like the Rest/Sleep Talk set, but I prefer offense and paralysis when it comes to Ampharos.
God, I love talking about competitive Pokemon.
Oh yes.
GSC UU is the obscurest of the obscure. I doubt we’ll find 10 people that actively play it today lol. And GSC UBER?! Forget about it…
3 attacks + t wave, I can see that working out. My problem with it is that the only reason for going with Ampharos over Electabuzz is (mostly) the longevity, so the resttalk is good to have, especially when combined with cleric support from Granbull, and the advantages of running fire punch are few except smacking Piloswine and Magneton (and a slightly harder hit against things like Pinsir and Bellossom).
HP ice is the meta, and has been in every gen except ADV and DPP (a bit more even distribution in DPP). That is really speaking volumes as to just how dominant Swampert is in those gens. The more viable Water/ground types a tier has, the more HP grass we see.
Oh for sure. If I’m doing RestTalk Ampharos, I’ll generally go something like Thunderbolt/Rest/Sleep Talk/HP Ice. Some people like to use Reflect over HP Ice to make it even bulkier, but the problem with that is that you then only have a 1 in 4 shot of Sleep Talking an actual physical attack. And believe it or not, Fire Punch has actually won me a few battles. Ampharos has enough Special Attack to make it viable. But yes: I completely understand the idea of trying to make Ampharos a wall to make it worthwhile over Electabuzz.
I’m also so glad you brought up Granbull. Granbull is a MONSTER in UU. He is basically Miltank lite: solid Normal typing, meaty Attack stat for STAB Return (base 120 Attack; a lot of people don’t realize this) and Heal Bell.
As for Swampert, there are some players who actually consider it the greatest starter Pokemon of all-time, and it’s fairly difficult to argue otherwise. Yes, it has the 4x weakness to grass, but that’s literally its only weakness, and the only Grass types you’re probably seeing in OU regularly are Celebi and Breloom anyway. Non-STAB HP Grass isn’t even going to OHKO Swampert in most cases, and it can hit some of those HP Grass-running Pokemon (like Zapdos) really hard on switch-ins. Swampert is just a monster.
First time I’ve ever felt lost in a Pokémon discussion
Competitive battling can make you feel that way at first. It’s a different beast. Some people really enjoy it, but it’s definitely not for everyone.
I’m not 100% sure what was the team but the first time I beat it was in Emerald.
It was probably something like this: Salamence, Flygon, Gardevoir, Manectric, Sceptile, Aggron
@mjs61290, I’m interested in it, but what held me back so far was the tedious breeding for perfect ivs and breed moves, and the ev training. Fortunately it gets easier and easier to get competitive Pokemon with each gen, at least that they are doing right. Also Hidden Power is gone in Gen8, not sure how much that would affect your Ampharos set
Breeding and dealing with DVs in Gen 2 and IVs in gen 3 and 4 is downright awful (Gen 5 is the tipping point). In fact, in 2nd gen it is so awful that Hidden Power was banned for a long time, because the chance of a player making a Pokemon with the right Hidden Power combined with the right stats in real life is like winning a decent lottery prize.
That is the beauty of online simulators like Pokemon Showdown (and the now dead Pokemon Online and the shortlived Pokebattle). You build a team, or use a prebuilt one, and go. With constantly improved graphics and much more stablility than they had in the elder days. No 1000 hour grind to make 4-5 Pokemon with perfect stats. This works with cartridge simulators as well, but they’re much more fickle and prone to crashing, and don’t have the same competitive communities around them.
True, most HP grass won’t be enough even after spikes.
It does everything. MonoPert, EndeavorPert, CursePert, RoarPert, standard Pert with Ice Beam/EQ/Protect/toxic or roar. Hell, I’ve been using banded Pert with great success. Adamant 252 atk/240 hp and 16 speed to creep on other Perts and the occasional creeping Blissey. Focus Punch/HP Bug/EQ/Rock Slide with Salamence Wish support. Ohkoing anything but the most defensive Celebi on the switch in (and everyone after sand or spikes), hammering Snorlax that think they can setup Curse in peace, Focus Punch laying into Skarmory. Lots of fun!
And Granbull is great, totally agree. The only thing relegating it to GSC UU is the lack of instant recovery like Miltank has in Milk Drink. If Granbull had that, I think we would actually see it just as often as Miltank in GSC OU, because Granbull has Charm over Miltank’s Growl to stall out Snorlax and the rare Rhydon, and the special defense drop is not too bad because Miltank usually loses to Zapdos and Raikou anyway.
Just a Lv 100 Alakazam, Hypno and Lv 69 Venusaur bebe.
But on Stadium it was something like Alakazam, Zapdos/ Swords Dance Charizard and all coverage mvp Nidoking.
Stadium 2… Machamp, Tyranitar… Alakazam? Yeah, deffo.
Ruby I went for Groudon… because seriously fuck Full Restore I wanted Fissure/Earthquake/Solarbeam/Eruption OHKO fun.
Fire Red might have been the same for the other Kanto themed games but with Dragon esque mons though I remember using Pidgeot.
HeartGold included all of the above available at the time including Typhlosion & Steelix.
Yeah not the most interesting of answers. 
Tastes have safely considerably changed for the better. Games after was trying out whatever was exclusive to the regions to my liking.
Haha, this made me laugh. Some Pokemon have power, Groudon is power.
Oh I was only talking about using Ampharos in Gen 2 UU. I haven’t really used him since. Competitive Pokemon has changed an awful lot since then with abilities, a wider variety of held items, power creep, etc.
Most Pokemon that were dominant in early Gen competitive battling (e.g. Tauros, who was the king of the Gen 1 competitive scene) are afterthoughts at this point due to all of the changes.
I have no idea… it was probably on pokemon red so I probably had a charizard but I have no idea what else I would have used lmao
the first one I partially remember was on crystal where I had a super overleveled meganium
@mjs61290,yeah, the only one who has always been doing great since Gen I is Gengar. Most versatile trickster ever
1: Charizard
2: Mewtwo
3: Gyarados
4: Hitmonchan
5: Snorlax
6: Kabutops
Charizard was my starter, Mewtwo was who I used my Masterball on, Gyarados was the red one which I thought was the coolest thing, Hitmonchan because you could only get one so I thought he must be rare, Snorlax because he is my favorite Pokemon, and Kabutops because you could only get him from a fossil so I thought he was rare.
Terribly over leveled like in the 80s-90s
Charizard
Dugtrio
Pidgeot
Dewgong
Kingler
Forgot who #6 was, got replaced by Mewtwo after the elite 4 
Love to see the variety in the squads. The first time I beat Pokemon Red my squad was:
Venusaur
Zapdos
Snorlax
Gyarados
Nidoking
Kadabra
Damn, you’re gonna make me pop some batteries in the ol’ Gameboy pocket and check!
