Best way to use special sweeper with low speed? Baton pass?

Question

I am trying to build a competitive team using Mega Ampharos. I've bred a 5IV (-Attack) Ampharos with a Timid nature but am considering throwing the speed boost out the window and breeding another Ampharos with a Modest nature for a special attack boost. I want to use Ampharos as a special sweeper because it is my favorite Pokemon but its speed is awful. I'm new to competitive battling, so I'm not entirely sure how Baton Pass works and if a Pokemon with baton pass with agility would be useful or not, or if I should try another approach. And would I need to use taunt if I used the baton pass/agility combo on a lead?

Comments

You can breed Agility onto Ampharos itself. That would be the way to go if you want to sweep with it.

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This question has effectively already been asked. https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/4845/what-is-a-good-moveset-for-ampharos

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It's not asking what a good moveset for Ampharos is, it's asking if Baton Pass is the best way to sweep with Ampharos. This is fine, it's not really asking for a moveset at all.

Answer 1

Mega Ampharos is really slow, so a SpA boosting nature is much better than Timid. If you're set on using it as a sweeper, Trick Room is your best bet. Speed boosts aren't very effective unless you can get them consistently (like with Speed Boost) or the Pokémon's counters have been eliminated. Ampharos can't learn Trick Room, so you'll need a teammate to set it up. Bronzong is a great teammate since it can set up Trick Room, is immune to Ground-type attacks (with Levitate), and resists Ice- and Fairy-type attacks, all of which Ampharos hates. Other good teammates are bulky Water-types like Quagsire and Milotic since they can handle Ground- and Steel-types and don't fear Ice-types too much. You could use something like

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static --> Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature (+SpA, -Spe)
IVs: 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Power Gem / Volt Switch

Having 0 Speed IVs isn't required, but it is helpful if you can somehow get it. Use Power Gem if you want Ampharos to be a late-game sweeper after its checks are taken out and use Volt Switch if you want it to send it in earlier. If you're on the fence, Volt Switch is better overall.

Answer 2

Trick room requires a teammate to set up and lasts only 5 turns. If these are ever problematic, then you should try a resttalk set so you can let your opponents hit you and heal up any damage. This is what I would recommend.

Ampharos @ ampharosite
Ability: static
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA
Modest nature
- dragon pulse
- volt switch
- rest
- sleep talk

Dragon pulse is Ampharos's main STAB attack. Rest is for healing, and sleep talk is to attack while Ampharos is sleeping. Ampharos will usually move after the opponent, so by using volt switch, you can switch to a Pokemon based on your opponent's last move. For example, you can try using Ampharos to check an opposing Galvantula. The opponent may want to keep his/her/its Galvantula, so it might switch to a Doublade or Roserade or something like that. If you tried to predict the switch, then you might predict wrong. However, if you used volt switch, then you can make your decision after the opponent does, and send in a perfect check for the opponent's switch-in.