Why Damage Isn't Everything - The Rampardos Theorem

[@TalkingVidya]

What I love about Regigigas is that the moment it could dispose of it's ability with relative ease (Neutralizing Gas) it made it to worlds in VGC

[@justinchoy476]

that’s more of a compliment to weezing-g than Regigas tbf

[@marcoasturias8520]

If only the flawed thing was flawless...

[@TalkingVidya]

@@justinchoy476 Not really, in the first days it felt like having a light restricted in your side with the drawback of having a mostly pasive companion

[@felipedantas8153]

I did the damage calculation in the pokemon showndown damage calculator and the garchomp takes more hp than the landorus therian, even attack on the same pokemon both trained in adamant atk, this logic is incomprehensible or the calculator was defective.

[@wilhelmkreis6578]

@@marcoasturias8520 if only the flawed thing's flaw didn't make it unusably bad

[@reginlief1]

Rampardos is the Anvil in a looney toon. Realistically, such a specifically small item is never going to land on your head. But my GOD, if it did you’d be paste.

[@Lassoloc]

well said

[@donjuan6996]

*Looney Tune

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

You know Regigigas is permanently married to it’s Ability when even Legends Arceus (a game with NO Abilities) still forced it to keep Slow Start.

[@IgnitedQuils]

Sad how a game with no abilities decided to make it limited even more

[@bradyanderson1229]

yeah that was a giga L

[@rickyterheege20duitseherde36]

Abilities are coded like regigigas but only regigigases is active kinda strange wished abilities exsisted

[@jaspermidnight850]

regiLLLLLL

[@cin2110]

@@rickyterheege20duitseherde36 there was one pokemon that kept it's form change ability forgot the name of it but it's a rare tree find

[@SomniaCE]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about why Trick Room Rampardos still can't cut it, because that's the obvious retort to a glass cannon having speed issues

[@matthewporter7871]

Can I ask why it doesn’t work?

[@deltastar7113]

@@matthewporter7871 Trick Room is a high gimmick in singles. It requires a pokemon to use Trick Room and then safety switch to Rampardos, which is already a challenge, but at that point there is only few Trick Room turns left. And even then, Priority moves and Protect exist.

[@butteredsalmonella]

I wish Trick Room was more prevalent in Singles. An ability that summons the room, an item that extends the move, pokemon theoretically capable of switching out and setting the room reliably. The catch is, to buff trick room leaves it even more powerful in Doubles. A concept that helps one but potentially hurts another.

[@robbylawlor4259]

Because Trick Room isn't that great as a strat overall in singles and Rampardos isn't slow enough to make full use of it. Under Trick Room conditions it would get outsped by a lot of walls.

[@theaegislash8249]

@@matthewporter7871 basically, rampardos' speed is very awkward, being too slow even with scarf, and still being fast enough where it would get outsped by most walls in trick room.

[@butteredsalmonella]

Kartana is the Rampardos everyone on this video wishes to be. Being brutally strong, with the capacity to be even stronger, actual defensive typing (and even physically defensive stats), ability that allows it to snowball and sweep and an actual speed stat to which it outspeeds Garchomp and everything else below. Special mention to how some specific Pokemon in Gen 7 ran HP Fire just so they wouldn't get walled/lose to this thing.

[@MedicalBillz]

Kartana, the attack mode Ferrothorn.

[@facade6927]

people ran HP fire for ferrothorn more than anything. kartana is strong and decently physically bulky but its sp.def is trash as even something like a resisted flash cannon from magnezone would be too much for it. not to mention, its still hard walled by certain pokemon, most notably zapdos and mega scizor but also mega charizard y, celesteela, skarmory and buzzwole. of course it can lure its counters with certain sets like swords dance normalium z with giga impact but that isnt always guaranteed to work, and it has no set that can lure in and destroy m-scizor and skarmory. don't get me wrong, i know how formidable a threat kartana is but no one really ran hp fire for it specifically lol, except maybe ferrothorn.

[@butteredsalmonella]

@@facade6927 I forgot to mention Ferrothorn altogether. Still, something like Skarmory and Ferrothorn, whom doesn't have special attack to take on opposing Ferrothorn and loses to Kartana runs it.

[@michelzwiers7742]

Kartana can pull a funny if you engineer it's stats in such a way that it gets speed from Beast Boost. Getting a Swords Dance up with Kartana isn't that difficult to do, and once you have one set up, you usually only need one boost in speed to outspeed most threats. Although I guess Regieleki could take it out, it would need a free switch against Kartana to pull it off. People also don't generally expect to see a Kartana used that way, so you might be able to get some surprise knock outs with it

[@randomgamer2949]

@@michelzwiers7742 well, regieleki isn't really used anymore in OU, he's cockblocked way too easily. Zeraora is more flexible.

[@gengarzilla1685]

You could also argue towards the existence of a "counterpart" Bastiodon Theorem, when defensively built Pokémon are hindered by being far too passive or lacking good recovery or just having a bad defensive typing. Comparing the namesake Bastiodon to Toxapex is a strong case of the latter two points; Bastiodon needs Rest if it wants its own quick recovery and doesn't have Regenerator either, and Rock/Steel happens to be one of the most surprisingly abysmal defensive pairings out there. Just as you need more than a really good attacking stat, you also need more than a really good defensive stat.

[@Smallsmallrose]

A video on this theorem would be quite interesting in itself

[@LittleRedWood]

WolfeyVGC calls this AMFAD (All My Friends Are Dead) but Bastiodon Theorem has a nice sound to it.

[@grunkleg.2934]

@@LittleRedWood AMFAD is strictly a Doubles thing, specifically when you can afford to ignore a certain slot because that Pokemon can't do anything. Compare Bastiodon to Toxapex once again. Both suffer from AMFAD, since neither one of them can output strong damage, offer meaningful support, or completely invalidate key Pokemon in the meta

[@LittleRedWood]

@@grunkleg.2934 I mean, I dont think it's strictly Doubles, just that Doubles and Singles have different definitions of "passive." Regardless, the concept is still the same, in that a Pokemon is too passive to really do anything meaningful. That doesn't mean that AMFAD and the theorem are different, just that Singles and Doubles have different values and needs. The extra clause of needing to target the partner just feels like a result of Doubles being different rather than AMFAD being more or less true for Singles.

[@mariojordan9543]

That exolains why rhamoardos and Bastiodon extinguish

[@deltalord6969]

I feel like rampardos would actually be usable if gamefreak cared enough to give it priority moves. Like seriously Accel rock would be amazing on rampardos.

[@IgnitedQuils]

Or just make it faster. Base 58 speed with low defenses make it hard to use as an offensive Pokemon.

[@insertobligatoryreferenceh489]

@@IgnitedQuils Maybe switch its HP & speed stats?

[@JilanAHmed]

give it 90 speed so at least it can see some places in RU with a scarf

[@beanmaster4680]

It would become like crawdaunt

[@ronin4303]

Facts. Rampardos either needs a massive stat boost like maybe a held item like what pikachu (light ball) or Marowak (Bone Club). Like give him something like say like a item called “Hard helmet”- which would double rampardos defenses and lower damage taken from recoil moves. Idk something like that I just like Rampardos I just want dude to shine😭

[@alexanderst.7993]

Can't wait for the Bastiodon Theorem

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

That’s a weird way of saying “The Shuckle Theorem.”

[@NobodyDungeons]

You mean the theorem of how pokemon with amazing defensive stats require some way to threaten opposing pokemon, and recovery to not be widdled down overtime.

[@speedypichu6833]

@@NobodyDungeons Yeah that

[@Maelmc_]

Add Dusclops in there too

[@gravethestampede3454]

@@NobodyDungeons if by "whittled down over time" you mean "KO'd immediately because of its crippling x4 weaknesses" then sure

[@halfaheartbongobongo]

A theorem on "defensive" ice types. Any ice type that wants to be defensive is inherently flawed because ice is such a bad defensive typing. Even though you kind of already did that in the ice type video itself.

[@woodlefoof2]

Isn’t defensive the general theme for most ice Pokémon too?

[@staringcorgi6475]

Regice is a special defense pkmn but fails because mainly physical types like rock fighting steel can make it a pushover I’d guarantee that all teams have pokemon with those types or physical moves with those moves being used

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

@@woodlefoof2 it may be but there is basically no good ice type which doesn’t play offense

[@woodlefoof2]

@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 yeah, poor ice Pokémon lol. They should beef up their stats quite a bit in order to make them ACTUALLY defensive I think. Just double checked the type chart too, it doesn’t have many weaknesses but it’s just weak to all the most popular attacks lol Hmm, weird, only ice for half damage too. Definitely needs some beefier stats. even avoiding meta data a defensive Pokémon with only 1 strength isn’t very defensive

[@williamjarvis3295]

Abomasnow is decently bulky to anything not super effective

[@skulltothebone5003]

I feel like a lot of Pokémon who shouldn’t fall in the rampardos theory actually end up doing so because of the power creep, a really good exemple of this would be Lucario who was a feared set up sweeper but ended up becoming way too slow for the meta and not even that threatening once he is set up

[@haaendaaz3619]

DPPT Doesn’t even seem that far from now

[@jamesdinius7769]

Speed is one of the most important stats in the game. Deoxys Speed is a testament to that, where its massive speed and utility move pool compensate for its lackluster offense and defense. A fast Rampardos would have potential as a devastating sweeper (or just give Aerodactyl the Head Smash and Brave Bird it so rightfully deserves).

[@bluegum6438]

If you have a mon on one side that deals 99% of the opponent's HP in one hit with 100 Speed, and the mon on the other side deals 51% per hit with 101 Speed, the second mon wins every time barring critical hits. Speed makes or breaks an offensive mon, especially these days.

[@Drakorre]

It's pretty Much why garchomp 102 Speed was such a troll

[@gengarzilla1685]

A great example is how losing just 10 Speed utterly gutted Mega Garchomp right out of the gate. Now it would be outsped and shanked by stuff that the base form can actually take on.

[@skullerclawerbandicoot7966]

All the stats are important honestly

[@USSFFRU]

Aerodactyl with Head Smash and Brave Bird would instantly make it a terrifying sweeper

[@gasparperalta3725]

Theres also the opposite. The Shedinja theorem, in which shedinja consistently underperforms in every singles tier, because if the abundance of coverage moves for it's very common weaknesses yet several times it has performed exceptionally well in ubers paradoxically whilst being unviable in any tier below it due to its extreme niche at absolutely walking very specific threats

[@AlbRomano]

DPP ubers Ariados gang rise up

[@DampWetstew]

Shedinja also covers weird gimmick sets that a team needs to have some basic answer too. It could also cover the niche Fire and Grass has offensively in competitve with the 4x weaknesses (Ferrothorn/Swampert)

[@ayubious]

yep while watching this i was thinking about almost exclusively metagame-reliant mons like quag, ditto, shedinja, wobuffet, etc... like they are low tier but against certain threats they become OU/Uber staples

[@juleeO6183]

What about a Pachirisu Conjecture? Whereas pokemon of no significance competitivewise perform a very specific role for a unique team.

[@onewaysaintlaika]

@@juleeO6183 I feel like youre onto something here but you need to broaden it. Pachirisu fulfilled a very specific form of supportive role for a doubles format, but the idea of a dedicated support role in VGC is by no means new or unique. A video either dedicated to explaining the history of a support/utility dedicated member in competitive doubles, or to the nature of how an overly predictable meta can lead to lab rats bringing in a Pachirisu and shake it up--either of those might be better.

[@pokegon100]

I feel sorry for Rampardos. I always thought it looked cool, and the Pachycephalosaurus is cool dinosaur. I remember when I was once drawn in by the allure of Rampardos' "power potential", only to soon realize it was basically unusable. Truly heartbreaking.

[@agentblackbird9435]

Same, I pretty much agree with all of this. I also like Roark and he’s had Rampardos in some incarnations instead of Cranidos, so that also makes it sting more than it’s really bad.

[@gio9255]

If Rampardos was just in the 60-70 speed tier it could be a solid threat with a scarf

[@EmeralBookwise]

Yeah... I can still remember how imposing Roark's Rampardos seemed in the anime, but then being so disappointed after looking up its actual in game stats. This seems to be a recurrent problem with first badge gym leaders specializing in the rock-type, see also Brock and Onix

[@alexholmes8714]

@@gio9255 tyrantrum is basically what you get if you take 40 attack away from rampardos and put a bit in speed and bulk. Not an amazing Pokémon, but damn if he isn’t cool, and I’ve swept plenty of people with dragon dance on him in OU

[@IgnitedQuils]

@@alexholmes8714 And Tyrantrum has a higher BST so there’s no reason not to buff Rampardos

[@Evan-mt7bc]

I feel like this can also apply to Shedninja who has the most broken ability theoretically, even if he has like 9 weaknesses that's still a massive amount of pokemon he could theoretically checkmate If literally everything else didn't completely dominate him like entry hazards, status, weather and even some items

[@gengarzilla1685]

5 weaknesses, actually. Shedinja is no Tyranitar, Celebi, or Abomasnow when it comes to that defensive typing.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Thing is, having 5 weaknesses while every move is an OHKO makes it the single worst defensive pokemon in the game. Pretty much anything can be expected to have a move that KO's Shedinja. Especially when you remember that Wonder Guard only protects from damaging attacks. The sad part is, Bug/Ghost is actually a decent defensive typing without Wonder Guard. If Shedinja was a non-gimmick pokemon without the gimmick stats and ability, it'd be pretty strong.

[@Zer-bv9nw]

@@dontmisunderstand6041 I absolutely agree. Even if he had only 2 or 3 weaknesses weathereffects and status effects etc would make him redundant

[@FireBirdTheEpic]

Shedinja is awesome in randoms battles

[@tysondennis1016]

Shedinja hard counters Kyogre

[@JulianimeIsAmazing]

Rampardos's counterpart, Bastiodon, is also a perfect example. It came in with a duo of two of the most defensive types in the game, it had the sky high defense stats to back up the coveted steel resistances, it had moves to boost defense, it could set hazards and status, it could phase with roar and yet it was another example of the on paper good qualities being overshadowed by the glaring, crippling weaknesses. Bastiodon's typing left it DOUBLY weak to two of the most powerful and prominent offensive types in the game, ground and fighting, it was weak to water and didn't resist many of the types you expected each one of its own types to resist because the other counteracted it, like steel not resisting grass or steel, and rock not resisting fire, and it didn't have a particularly high health pool to actually sponge multiple hits with its high defenses. Having mitigated damage doesn't change much when you still get 1-2hkod by attacks by virtue of your low health inhibiting how long you can tank. Since it had no reliable recovery, poor offensive stats, and inconsistent damage output through passive damage by status and hazards, it wasn't able to capitalize on its good defensive traits like its raw stats and the few good situational type matches like being a steel not weak to fire, or a rock not weak to grass.

[@Hyperneosonic97]

I mean, everybody was already aware that Steel/Rock was not the best defensive typing around (Just look at Aggron).

[@sephikong8323]

Also, Rock is definitely not "one of the most defensive types in the game", people think that because Rock type gym leaders tend to be early in the game when you generally only have the water and grass starter (or the rare early fighting type) that can take it out, but in practice it's one of the best offensive typing and it ranks amongst the 3 WORST defensive types

[@corocoronene]

from a sort of in-universe perspective you could say that these guys are fossil pokemon for a reason - if they didn't have all these flaws they'd still be around in the modern age, right? thats my theory on why game freak will never give us a good fossil pokemon

[@sephikong8323]

@@corocoronene Dracovish Nuff' said

[@Hyperneosonic97]

@@corocoronene ...I mean, they already have. A couple of times, actually. Aerodactyl has been great for multiple generations, only really dropping off in Gen 5. And while I know you may not count these last three, Arctozolt and Dracozolt have been pretty great since their debut, and of course, Dracovish proved to be entirely too strong for Smogon's liking, and as such banned it for its ability to ravage even its bulkiest resists like Ferrothorn and Toxapex.

[@foreverfromhell]

Rampardos: Who are you? Tyrantrum: I’m you, but stronger Rampardos may arguably be the 15th most viable fully evolved fossil Pokémon, however Rampardos still finds a place in my heart to be my favorite fossil Pokémon. It’s just so cool regardless

[@arranisnailo7795]

Whats your list?

[@galvsparks6295]

I’d say it’s 14th, it’s Pal Bastiodon having the honor of 15th. At least rampardos does have a comically large damage output (obviously it’s not good I’m not saying that it’s still 14th goddammit) whereas Bastiodon is just a sitting duck who sets ups rocks and that’s it nothing more, probably less. You quite literally wasted a team slot to a pokemon who just sets up rocks

[@Metaknighttheloneswordsman]

@@galvsparks6295 Completely facts.

[@climbhazzrd4313]

@@galvsparks6295 i would say it's the other way around, since Rampardos, while it does have that comically large damage output, it never gets to use said damage output. Bastiodon on the other hand can be used as utility or it can actually pick up a kill with Sturdy + Metal Burst by taking advantage of quad weakness

[@robinsimon4176]

@@climbhazzrd4313 slap a scarf onto it and or have webs up, yes rampardos needs help, but it can be devastating

[@rubiconprime1429]

How about a video on Pokémon who went from worthless to weapon-grade after the addition of one or a few attributes like Politoed and Drizzle, or Beedrill and Mega evolution? I’m sure there are other examples with moves, items, the physical special split, new tiers, etc.

[@14fluffies]

Venamoth intensifies

[@somebloke9067]

pelipper loves this discussion as well

[@cornonjacob]

Definitely incineroar, rillaboom, and cinderace with their hidden abilities, at least in VGC

[@jaspermidnight850]

volcarona and heavy duty boots

[@RohanJoshi910]

@@cornonjacob correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Cinderace considered decent at best in VGC?

[@fjkdjal2504]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention flareon syndrome. Sometimes, you have a Pokémon with an amazing attack/special attack, but little to no moves that rely on it. Flareon had amazing attack and guts, but for many generations, its only usable move was return. The introduction of the physical-special split and eventual access flare blitz helped. But at that point, power creep made it an afterthought.

[@IgnitedQuils]

Entei can also be added, yet it slowly gained more options later on.

[@shreyanshbehera8550]

kyerum black before gen 8 had 1 ice move freeze dry which is garbage

[@bluegum6438]

It's too slow on top of everything else. If it had even 130 Speed, 95 Attack with Guts it would be very good, but its stats are extremely poorly distributed. A lot of romhacks etc. leave Attack at 130 and bump Speed up to 95, but it's still way too slow and frail to be useful at that point, the 110 Special Defense still only means it can sort of take one neutral special hit at full HP. The only way I could see it being competitively powerful is with a spread along the lines of 65 HP/110 Attack/65 Defense/65 Sp. Attack/95 Sp. Def/130 Speed. Waste of one of the best designs, sadly. Wish my boy could have a day in the sun.

[@noukan42]

Because flareon is more of a rampardos. If you give it V-create, earthquake, drought and solar blade it would remain bad because of vad speed and bad bulk. On the other hand with either mkre hp ot more speed it would actually be able to threaten things

[@IgnitedQuils]

@@shreyanshbehera8550 *Freeze Shock

[@iantaakalla8180]

While everyone else is talking about the Rampardos Theorem’s counterpart in the Bastiodon Theorem, I would like to propose a corollary to the Bastiodon Theorem. The Aurorus corollary would be that it does not matter what your stats are; a Rock typing or an Ice typing will screw you over. There is also the Calyrex-Ice Rider corollary, which is that if your Pokémon need legendary stats to be bulky then there is no way your typing can ever be bulky.

[@ethanwallis5678]

Tyrannitar disproves the rock typing part

[@IronDino]

Grass/Rock is a pretty good combination.

[@determineddaaf3]

@@IronDino While I agree that the types complement each other decently to where both types combined actually have one less weakness than either of these types does when it's alone (for a total of 4 weaknesses instead of 5), it also only has two resistances, to normal and electric. 4 weaknesses and 2 resistances is not particularly something to write home about.

[@NotSpecialDude]

Funny enough, I feel like there's a sister theorem that Rampardos' fossil counterpart embodies. The Bastrodon Theorem. Just having High defensive stats does not make you bulky. Typing and abilities matter too.

[@xionfighter4273]

do you mean the shuckle Theorem?

[@SteveScapesYT]

Clefable lols inversely

[@NotSpecialDude]

@@xionfighter4273 shuckle technically would be better, but Bastrodon is worse case than shuckle and its the fossil counterpart to Rampardos in gen 4.

[@spindash64]

@@xionfighter4273 Not quite. While Shuckle has even worse attacking stats, it actually does more things to threaten enemies, because it can remove held items with knock off, slow the opponent’s team down with sticky web, and so on. Bastiodon isn’t really that good of a team player despite its defenses.

[@thisisaname3099]

@@NotSpecialDude *Bastiodon, you're kinda merging its name with Gastrodon

[@jayb.6705]

I think Flareon can somewhat be considered under the rampardos theorem, having great attack especially with a toxic orb, but being weak to rocks and being slow makes it really hard to use. JUSTICE FOR FLAREONNNNN IT COULDVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE

[@goGothitaLOL]

not to mention also frail

[@skinnysnorlax1876]

It's a tragic case of a mon having a great attack stat, but also a solid special attack stat. If one of those stats was replaced by literally ANY other stat, it could either wallbreak safely against either physical or special attackers, or be a fast attacker. Having mixed attack stats high, but no other stats being very useful is about the worst stat distribution you can get

[@zoruafox7512]

No that’s the mixed attacker theorem that’s an entirely different problem. When the majority of your base stat total is used on 2 stats that are pretty much mutually exclusive to being used together you tend to not have a way to make use of whichever of those stats you try to use.

[@MrZahsome]

I feel like Flareon would have at least had some niche if it just had a better movepool in the early gens. Maybe not gen 1 or 2 simply because fire types just couldn't cut it in OU aside from Charizard and Moltres in gen 2 who was BL but were threats in OU but it would have been good in UU.

[@zoruafox7512]

@@MrZahsome flareon’s at least got decent options like shadowball ( even univested it’s useful because psychics and ghost tend to have low defense) and quick attack solid utility options like wish and hidden power is a thing. I’d say it’s movepool is at least decent. The problem is it’s entirely outclassed by arcanine who’s got similar issues caused by being a mixed attacker but trades quick attack for extreme speed so it’s priority is stronger can invest in its anti ghost and psychic coverage and it’s stabs because it’s crunch and has intimidate. And arcanine’s not even really a niche thing in gen 3 ou. Not even on camerupt level which I do adore my beloved exploding fire even if it’s not the most splashable fire type

[@sonofhades57]

One mustn't forget Hoopa's default form when thinking about this theorem. It's got frankly staggering special attack coupled with decent physical attack, but it's very slow, insanely physically brittle, and saddled with two quad weaknesses due to its Psychic/Ghost typing.

[@gengarzilla1685]

And then there's the Unbound form proving that a double Bug weakness and low physical defense is not a nice concept when U-Turn exists.

[@ispeakcockney5387]

I think the main problem faced by Hoopa is its 4x weakness to pursuit. It should be better after the removal of the move

[@jordantatata155]

@@ispeakcockney5387 it got so good its not even in swsh!

[@jordantatata155]

@@ispeakcockney5387 unbound isn't 4x dark weak but psychic dark typing does mean it has 0 Resists which ain't good

[@animeanime7849]

Hoopa Un-bound too getting one shot by u-turn sucks

[@VersusThem]

And abilities too, Adaptability makes Porygon Z STAB slightly stronger than Mewtwo Y (although 80 base dmg is weak, it has access to a surprise hyper beam), the same way darmanitan outdamages Mewtwo X by a laarge margin, thanks to flare blitz too, which is the equivalent of almost a non stab explosion (234 base damage)

[@thamidmolla2796]

Now imagine a Mewtwo X with huge power and choice band

[@VersusThem]

@@thamidmolla2796 You can in the Mayhem ladder in pokemon showdown, though not exactly with Mewtwo X since it's not in gen 8

[@thamidmolla2796]

@@VersusThem unfortunately I can't do this even in hackmon cuz they banned huge power

[@USSFFRU]

@@thamidmolla2796 Choice Band can't work but Huge Power? Good god...

[@Dillama002]

@@thamidmolla2796 balanced or pure’

[@aQrator]

A potential video idea might be "the lifeblood of a generation", where you go over what makes each generation tick and unique. This of course is generally covered by the how good were they actually series, but showcasing deep dives into each metagame could be a nice addition to this channel.

[@mafiousbj]

In chess there is this theory (backed by stats) that the player that makes the first move has always an advantage over the one moving second, with first movers winning 52 to 56% of the time (rather than 50-50). Therefore Speed being king more than ever in modern Pokemon (and old games too, just remember how relevant Jolteon was in RBY), specially with so many damage boosting items going around, is not surprising. All rounder Pokemon have been thrown to the wayside, save for those with really good abilities.

[@justinherrera3722]

I’ve always had this idea of chess players just moving a piece at the same time only at the start

[@alexjames7144]

@@justinherrera3722 What? It's turn based? Wdym at the same time?

[@dudono1744]

Yeah all rounders are meh even mew (who benefits from being an all rounder because of its huge movepool) is falling offin competitive

[@johnpauljonesisabadass8134]

@@justinherrera3722 then it's literally the same case because after that, a player still has to move first before the other

[@GIR177]

​@@alexjames7144Unlike chess, players pick their moves at the same time in Pokémon and react to what happens afterward, so the analogy isn't quite apt.

[@atmosdwagon4656]

And then there's the opposite case of Rampardos Theorem: what I'll tentatively call "The Zacian Principle". Instead of a Pokemon with immense power but a crippling (even comical) drawback, you get a pokemon that gets just enough of everything to be a mindless threat against any team that doesn't run a hard counter defacto.

[@ewereosayimwen8821]

Sheesh that art tho

[@VillainousHanacha]

Another great example of the Rampardos Theorem is Absol, particularly in gens 4-5 when it actually had usable dark stab but before mega evolutions. It had a great 130 base ATK, access to swords dance, a ton of coverage moves and at least one useable ability in super luck for crit hax. The problem was it had the lethal combination of poor speed AND poor bulk. Poor bulk meant that it couldn't switch in whenever it wanted and poor speed meant you couldn't just lead off with it. Also its other 2 abilities, pressure and justified, were poor fits on such a glass cannon of a pokemon. Granted, Absol was not Rampardos or Slaking bad, it has ways around its flaws. It actually had access to priority in the form of sucker punch, getting around the problem of just never being able to launch an attack. Also its speed stat, while not good was also not so terrible as to be unable to run choice scarf, which combined with it's coverage meant it could function as a revenge killer. I would say it's about on par with Porygon-Z. However like with the other Rampardos Theorem mons, if one were to just take a cursory look at Absol (130 ATK, swords dance, good coverage) it looks a lot better than it actually is.

[@denizmergen418]

also crawadaunt and chandelure

[@IgnitedQuils]

@@denizmergen418 At least Chandelure has good enough defenses (60/90/90) and speed. Its low HP and common weaknesses hold it back though.

[@VillainousHanacha]

@@IgnitedQuils Chandelure does also fall into the Rhampardos Theorem, but it's in an even better place than Porygon-Z or Absol. I would say it's on par with Haxorus, genuinely useful and dangerous but not the second coming of the antichrist that it was thought to have been in gen 5 speculation days.

[@AverageHandle_]

@@denizmergen418 nah crawdaunt doesn’t count just because it has aqua jet and is very viable in OU

[@gengarzilla1685]

Bear in mind, however, we never did see Chandelure's true potential. Remember that it never got access to that hidden ability Shadow Tag in Gen 5 which was then replaced with Infiltrator afterwards. Unofficial formats that did allow unreleased hidden abilities really did send Chandelure to their Ubers.

[@sumongus]

With the Mega Mewtwo Y situation at the start, you could have matched it up against Croagunk, Toxicroak, Sneasel-Hisui, or Sneasler instead of Infernape because of their 4x weaknesses to Psychic-type attacks.

[@michaelgum97]

Already checked with Toxicroak and it's 44.2 - 52.1% with a one base power Psychic attack. I just checked with Croagunk and here are the results: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psycho Boost vs. -6 0 HP / 0- SpD Croagunk in Psychic Terrain: 176-216 (74.2 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO Hisuian Sneasel has a base 75 special defense. 252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psycho Boost vs. -6 0 HP / 0- SpD Nidoking in Psychic Terrain: 120-144 (39.6 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO Sneasler has a base 80 special defense. 252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psycho Boost vs. -6 0 HP / 0- SpD Amoonguss in Psychic Terrain: 112-136 (30.3 - 36.8%) -- 27% chance to 3HKO I know that I used Nidoking and Amoonguss as a substitute, but they have the same base special defense as Hisuian Sneasel and Sneasler.

[@ElRousey]

Rampardos is such a shame to me. I instantly fell in love with the pokemon when I evolved it in the original Diamond version. It hit like a TRUCK but was so frustratingly frail. As much as I liked him I had to knock him off my team for the rest of the game.

[@musicsheep9816]

Wait, as in for main game? But your stats should be boosted for min game AND you should have a level advantage over everyone

[@theinterruptedlife1783]

@@musicsheep9816 he was probably nuzlocke

[@gengarzilla1685]

Staraptor gave the false impression that all of Gen 4's early game mons would become good.

[@musicsheep9816]

@@gengarzilla1685 What do you mean? Kricketune has the best cry and Bibarel has the best ability. Clearly Uber tier Pokemon

[@SlothofBangkok]

I love Bastiodon too, but after dying to ground moves too many time. I have to hit the book

[@sharkronical]

14:23 Reshiram and Rampardos: "is it possible to learn this power?" Mega Rayquaza, Zacian: "the dark side is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural"

[@spindash64]

“Are you familiar with the tragedy of RBY Mewtwo the wise?”

[@shouryasanjeev9284]

0:38 nine year old me spamming blast burn because it has the biggest number: YOU TAKE THAT BACK

[@IschmarVI]

fun fact: blast burn actually has a small niche on charizard in adv OU because once fully setup, sunny day petaya charizard in blaze can use it to threaten Blissey because it is the only move that is strong enough to potentially OHKO the blob. It also destroys literally everything else that isn't flash fire houndoom (Salamence goes down, bold Suicune goes down after spikes, offensive Tyranintar can go down after spikes despite sandstream removing the sun, even *Milotic* is at risk of death after spikes damage. Everything else gets completely destroyed. Thick Fat Snorlax barely survives after spikes but Snorlax cannot really afford dropping Immunity because even with it, it already struggles with passive damage and without it, it gets destroyed by toxic)

[@StuPop1274]

I would love to see how the rampardos theorem affects VGC, because Regigigas did have a small niche in Series 12 with Galarian Weezing being able to neutralize slow start

[@gengarzilla1685]

That's honestly more a compliment to Weezing's toolkit than Regigigas's, if you ask me.

[@RandalfElVikingo]

@@gengarzilla1685 But if you D Max Regigigas he basically turns virtually invincible.

[@vinny4765]

@@RandalfElVikingo But if you KO G-Weezing then they're basically down 2 Pokemon already. We already did this theorizing way back when Gen 8 VGC was brand new and when then again FT came out.

[@facade6927]

rampardos itself, wasn't all terrible in vgc because it can function under trick room as a devastating nuke with protect letting it bypass any hits it'd take while its teammate sets trick room up. it also has two amazing spread moves that it can use, rock slide and earthquake with rock slide being boosted by sheer force. I haven't used rampardos in vgc but i do know about the meta and besides i did use it in showdown gen 7 double battles and its been great since being a physical attacker that destroys incineroar is always amazing. of course its still very flawed, as any priority move would kill it, like scizor's bullet punch or hitmontop's mach punch. And not to mention, the flaws of the trick room playstyle like being stopped by taunt and opposing offensive teams that carry trick room themselves to nullify trick room teams. and that's why tyranitar is more preferred in the metagame since it can function in other playstyles and not just trick room. Still though, rampardos can be made to work and I'd really like to see someone get top cut with it in gen 9 if it's ever released since i can't do it myself i don't have a switch and my country doesn't host any pokemon related events or tournaments.

[@RandalfElVikingo]

@@vinny4765 Good luck beating G-Weezing in the first place.

[@sriansumishra6028]

I like how everyone is coming up with their own unique theorems. Videos on these would be similarly amazing as this one.

[@rubadub15]

I would recommend an honorable mention to RBY machamp. His attack stat was amazing for its time, and seemingly a great threat due to how good normal types were that generation. But it ends up getting destroyed by status and the psychic types roaming the tier

[@stetsonherrick8090]

Cross Chop only having 80 Accuracy, just like Submission didn't make this a foolproof Normal counter, either.

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

@@stetsonherrick8090 It didn't have Cross Chop in Gen 1. It became stronger in Gen 2 with it. Actually Kicklee is a better example in Gen 1. Access to High Jump Kick, High Attack, but no bulk at all, and not fast enough.

[@spindash64]

@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 Hitmonlee is actually completely defensively outclassed in RBY by ODDISH

[@EuroMIX2]

At least Machamp gets to be amazing in Pokèmon Go.

[@nidohime6233]

Gen 1 Fighting type Pokémon wheren't great because of its small movepool.

[@thunderhog45]

Really love these kind of videos. Obviously the normal "How GOOD was ____ ACTUALLY" are top tier, but these videos are also a lot of fun to switch it up sometimes.

[@DoodleWill]

Xurkitree imo actually benefits from having most of their other stats be more well rounded. Ignoring his special attack, its overall stats look like something you'd see on a Nidoking. Alot of the other Ultra Beasts have big enough weaknesses that one chance to hit them usually is the way of KO'ing them. Xurkitree meanwhile i've seen plenty of times been able to shrug off a powerful hit just because their stats were just enough to survive a hit and win the exchange, (kinda like that one deoxys normal vs deoxys attack example.)

[@ddgnp1057]

It's the nature of Smogon in general that often a Pokemon or strategy is seen as a joke until one innovative soul demonstrates the contrary months, years or even decades down the line.

[@Jollofmuncher2000]

Xurkitree is surprising it don't really have that many good moves that aren't electric type it looks very generic at first glance . Nidoking got like a bajillion moves of every single typing with secondary effects

[@gengarzilla1685]

On the other hand, Xurkitree's stat spread means it can't boost any other stat besides Special Attack with Beast Boost. This is robbing it of an important level of flexibility that the more lopsided Ultra Beasts get. Surely something with Tail Glow would prefer Speed boosts on KOs?

[@joeschmoe5063]

Fun fact: regigas is actually fairly good in PMD explorers. It still has its monstrous stats and slow start, but the ability is much less hindering. Given that you usually spawn in room without any enemies nearby, you can comfortably wait it out then start tearing mons apart. Even if there's something in the room, you can usually use some items to crowd control the enemies. However, he's only bad if you spawn in a monster house (not super common)

[@rjante2236]

If you spawn in a Monster House with it you will die at least once guaranteed. It has fantastic coverage though.

[@zyella277]

@@rjante2236 or just spawn near a enemy/enemies, not even monster house needed

[@gengarzilla1685]

Regigigas's exclusive item protects it from all bad status conditions, which includes the Slow Start effect. I don't think a PMD comparison works here when that series actually allows you to remove Regigigas's flaw without gimmicks.

[@gespenst0083]

I run into monster houses every time in post game though.

[@jemdhar4603]

pmd ignores base stats completely, since you can get the 255 limit in all 4 stats with every pokemon (using drinks, gummies and stuff) so regigigas is still incredibly bad cuz its just ome random pokemon with bad moves (talking about pmd standards) here are some trades that make a monster good in pmd good accuracy (either from moves, abilities or IQ skills) alot of PP (moves and ID, to not run out of pp) good typing (stab and typing is as in the main series very important) can idealy levitate over terrain, best scenario is ignoring terrain completely has at least 1 usefull and good moner room attack ranged attacks are also pretty usefull idealy small size to allow recruiting big mons sooo in conclusion considering that you have reached 255 in all 4 ststs with like 400hp+ and max iQ points, here are the "strongest" pokemon of pmd imo pmd1 butterfree ability allows to have 100% accuracy with all moves strongest monter room move (silverwind) alot of other high pp moves with some ranged ones as well pmd2 flygon (if we dont count palkia) strong IQ group good moves and several monster room moves levitates over terrain strong typing for most cases

[@adzard-wd1pj]

These sort of bigger picture documentary type videos are exactly what I want. I love the humor you added with the figures and plushes too. More of this please!

[@francishong7948]

14:30 "That's why the strongest pokemon in the game are balanced by severe weaknesses" Zacian Crowned:

[@SneakTheOcto]

Regigagis: Pretty good stats, has slow start. Mega Rayquaza: Has higher base stats than Regigagis, can hold an item, and has an ability that isn’t detrimental. *Seems fair.*

[@MarceloLitometeoro5E]

Zacian-Crown: You are all jokes

[@matthewburton342]

Gen 1 mewtwo has entered the chat

[@NeviTheLettyFan]

RBY Mewtwo: You guys have weaknesses?

[@IgnitedQuils]

And Regigigas is a legendary too, so there’s no reason to cripple it.

[@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy]

I swear so many people saying "Regigigas just woke up from its temple so it needs 5 turns to fully wake up" buddy the trainer already woke him up and caught him, even in PLA you can see that he doesn't just go back to sleep in his pokeball.

[@zappelins8942]

I think another example of the Rampardos Theorem in Ubers could be Zamazenta Crowned. It has great defensive stats, good speed, and good attack. Yet it is hampered by it's shallow movepool and need to hold an item. It has no recovery moves and lacks any form of passive recovery due to needing to hold the rusted shield. Even if you just use Zamazenta it is outclassed by other pokemon due to it's shallow movepool. It is also another example of Gamefreak screwing a pokemon over for no reason as it is a fighting type with amazing defensive stats, yet it doesn't have access to Body Press which was introduced in Gen 8 and uses a pokemons defence stat to calculate damage. Even it's signature move just uses it's attack stat to calculate damage.

[@halberd-3291]

I’d say that’s more similar to a “bastiodon theorem,” where a defensive Pokémon doesn’t have the right tools to be sufficiently sturdy against offense.

[@IgnitedQuils]

What’s weird is that Zacian and Zamazenta nearly have the same physical movepool but since Zacian has a more spammable STAB, its ability and alternate form benefit it more, it’s a lot more preferred. Zamazenta is an example of a counterpart that while is identical movepool wise, isn’t differentiated enough. Examples being most of the Swords of Justice.

[@cheddarsmith6568]

Bastiodon theory

[@Ropalme1914]

Eh, not really - Zamazenta-Crowned was considered bad a long time ago, but today, it's a solid B tier Pokémon, using it as an example of bad Pokémon doesn't work anymore when it has a solid typing that most notably lets its answer Yveltal, is the best Knock Off absorver of the tier, can be threatening late-game setting up, etc

[@whatamidoing725]

I love these types of videos, id hope to see more of them discussing the other side of the coin where pokemon with minimal checks and balances are the most difficult to check and are legitimate threats to the meta

[@rpaplham14]

Slaking was legitimately terrifying in pokemon colosseum when its partner slowking swaps abilities with it

[@nicholasbrozowski3558]

I've love to see some videos on particular items that made massive changes, like "How meta-game transforming was Eviolite actually"? (For little cup anyway) Because I recall in several little cup episodes there were a lot of pokemon that instantly dropped out of the meta because of it.

[@heartofthefluft8541]

3:59 I bet you are the only person in the world to buy a Rampardos Poké Doll just to make the points in this video 😅😅 I love your dedication

[@JaimeAGB-pt4xl]

This kind of exploratory videos about the franchise are AWESOME, thanks for the great content 👍🏻

[@Discordual]

Honestly, a slow, powerful breaker CAN work, but with just one caveat: it has to ALWAYS break. The problem with Pokémon like Rampardos is that after all the effort you get into putting it on the field, it still doesn’t always get a KO against a slow opponent.

[@ExpandDong420]

At the very least they need bulk to withstand the attack of the Pokémon it can't break

[@matteofaccin6636]

Yep, but this also assumes that you're facing the right kind of team. If you put a slow AND frail, but immensely powerful breaker, on your team, it means you have a great matchup against stall and ONLY stall. Meaning odds are against you before you even begin the battle

[@IgnitedQuils]

I agree that it doesn't always have to KO, it can come close to it. Like you said, it can't come into the field due to low defenses and mediocre defensive typing. If it was fast and/or bulky, that could've been solved.

[@Sunaki1000]

It might be good in Doubles whit Trickroom, turning it somewhat into a Alakazam, just more fragile and harder hitting. Sadly, or happily, Ninjask, and Batton Pass is banned, otherwhise Rampardos would be quiet threatening.

[@chrisdono9897]

Just look at crawdaunt: slow and frail but will almost always break something with a free turn, and has priority to bypass its speed issue if the break comes up just short of a ko

[@p.zansei3280]

I'm actually curious about a video that can describe the different ways "power creep" had surfaced across the generations. We hear it all the time from our beloved FSG narrator - "Like for many pokemon, Gen 5 powercreep led to... "Unfortunately, the gen 6 power creep wasn't kind to..." "Gen 7 UU was an amazing one for X, despite the power creep that made so many older pokemon struggle..."

[@hykalia7650]

I like the direction you guys are taking fsg, these new videos are pretty interesting and fun to watch!

[@erikaz1590]

'Theorem' is one of those words that turns any subject into something that sounds like you could teach it at university.

[@swampy725]

"it sounds sciency enough to make me interested" kind of word

[@zacattac9498]

Aggron also seems to be an example of this imo. Great defense and good attack, but that doesn’t matter when that STAB earthquake obliterates it before it can hit.

[@HowlingOneify]

Aggron doesn't fall under this because it has has a great lower tier career, and actually is a lot more well rounded compared to Pokemon like Rampardos.

[@bryanc1772]

It’s also bulky

[@IgnitedQuils]

Aggron has good physical defense and isn’t insanely strong, as its attack stat is decent, so it’s not hot trash.

[@stetsonherrick8090]

It also can do Sturdy Metal Burst just like Bastiodon. And with a higher HP than Bastiodon, this makes Metal Burst hit even harder.

[@spindash64]

Rock Head Head Smash

[@CosmicNebula444]

This was very fascinating, I hope this kind of video gets turned into a series. I feel like it'd be a good guide for people trying to get into competitive, or just some nice meta analysis that's more general instead of being focused on 1 single mon.

[@CaeliaMillenart]

This video was on my plan to watch list for two months, but I really enjoyed watching it! The demonstration part was really good and satisfying to watch, and you talked about Pokémon that are kinda popular because their case isn't unknown, like, we've all tried to play Regigigas or Slaking... But regrouping them allow us to understand more about how they are designed. I really like how you pointed out that each Pokémon in these examples don't like to switch in due to their ability/entry hazards!

[@BigManWithAGun794]

PLEASE keep these coming. Ngl, was skeptical about these at first but so far they're all wonderful.

[@CyanicCore]

Thanks for making this video - the team's been confusing for a while! Seeing Reshiram tossed in the garbage hurt a little, but the segment as a whole was quite enlightening.

[@HMZeroTwo]

The immediate mic quality shift when you said "active schadenfreude" cracked me up

[@stetsonherrick8090]

On that note, you have to wonder just how titanic GameFreak's balls are to commit schadenfreude toward things as dangerous as Slaking and Regigigas. I mean, do you really want to see what happens if Slaking decides to get up and deal with you physically and personally if you've annoyed him/her *THAT* much?! *Shudders* Or Regigigas awakening from deep slumber just to foot squash your obnoxious ass into the Pokemon equivalent of a Crepe? Ouchie Ouchie.

[@shisuiedits]

Really solid video. Usually when youtubers try to do new stuff it starts off very rough. This seems nice right off the bat. Maybe because it's similar and doesn't try to change the way information is presented but change what is presented.

[@paskehttii]

And then there’s Zacian-Crowned, who absolutely flips the table and just ignores the entire theorem.

[@davemeister4647]

7:10 The mental image of a Clefable yeeting a Regigigas into space is really funny to me.

[@funwithcoding2818]

This was an awesome vid. While your content is always awesome due to your writing and performance, the how good series has started feeling a little samey, so branching out is awesome

[@SaviorSwords]

At this point, I feel that Rampardos is almost like a second mascot of the channel. By the virtue of a theorem with it's namesake.

[@beebobber546]

The only way to fix Rampardos is give it a mega with all the 100 stat buff going into Attack. Full send

[@rjante2236]

Give it Accelrock as well

[@Lrizu]

And his ability would be "attack: attack" and the effect is attack

[@atlegaczbsgsbcesbg]

how would that fix it though? it just gets more attack, no speed or defense buffs

[@Kaleidophoenix]

Funnily enough, that's not actually possible. The max stat possible is 255, which means at most you could add 90 to its Attack. We can just throw the other 10 in Special Attack.

[@tabbune]

+100 Base Attack AND Huge Power as its ability. There's nothing else that fits it.

[@IkarosLanding]

Been really enjoying these types of videos. As someone who was completely ignorant of the pokemon competitive scene growing up this channels always been a way of going "Huh. I never thought of that." When it comes to pokemon and move choices

[@Qualli96]

I remember a community-post back when you uploaded the Stealth Rock video and asked which move should be covered next and I believe Trick Room won. I would looove to see that video since it's one of my favorite moves in Pokémon. :) Awesome video btw, really like the fact that you're willing to experiment

[@ranchosdelnorte]

I feel like you can include Flareon to a lesser extent. It was tied for 2nd highest attack stat in the first gen, and even by the 4th gen its stat would have been tied as top ten. Unfortunately, not only was fire limited to being only special in the first 3 gens, but Flareon didn't even get any other good physical attacks. Even after the physical-special split, they didn't bother to allow access to flare blitz until later generations, and by then the power creep had become too much to make it worth while. But the biggest detriment would be it's very low speed. Wish they would have gave it a priority physical fire move similar to aqua jet, mach punch, shadow sneak, ice shard, or bullet punch as those moves allowed certain Pokemon to be competitive. Then they also still gave it moderately high special attack instead of going into defenses and making it more bulky, though fire isn't a good defensive typing to begin with but it would at least have some kind of identity. All of their decisions ended up making Flareon the most useless Eveelution. By the way, I feel like Luxray is Flareon's electric equivalency

[@natnew32]

Flareon's coverage is also horrific. Once it got Flate Blitz, it had access to Normal via Return/Double Edge, Fighting via Superpower, and... uhh... uhhhhh... Bite I guess?

[@AceTrainerRaf]

@@natnew32 Superpower too

[@natnew32]

@@AceTrainerRaf true, but that's by an event from ages ago and as such isn't compatible with guts I think.

[@IgnitedQuils]

It’s also due to the fact that Flareon’s an Eeveelution, in which almost all of them have lack of coverage moves. It’s sad how hacks have to redistribute Flareon’s stats to make it usable (switching speed with special defense). Honestly, Flareon fights against Glaceon due to how Glaceon has the worst typing out of all of the Eeveelutions and shallow coverage.

[@ranchosdelnorte]

@@natnew32 Flare blitz wasn't available for it until gen 6, and by then you had to contend with all those megas. Superpower could be learned through move tutor in HGSS, Platinum, and ORAS, so it could be combine with Guts using ORAS. Strong normal moves were available for Flareon since gen 1: double edge, hyper beam, take down, body slam, skull bash as well as bite(was normal first gen then dark type and therefore special from 2-3), and later got return/frustration and giga impact. Though normal moves are usually only used if you have no other options. There was curse and flail as egg moves, but defense is too low to make curse work and can't use flail properly with such low speed. Perhaps the best option was combining guts with facade.

[@justarandompurplefox3243]

This is why I love Scizor. None of its stats are super high, but it’s solid on both offense and defense, with more than plenty of tools to succeed move-wise

[@spindash64]

Base 130 attack isn’t super high anymore. Good grief

[@scrubbytheslime7703]

@@spindash64 they just said none of it's stats are super high, your not even listening.

[@spindash64]

@@scrubbytheslime7703 that’s my point. He said that base 130 attack isn’t super high anymore

[@scrubbytheslime7703]

@@spindash64 its hard to tell what mood your message was in, I apologize

[@spindash64]

@@scrubbytheslime7703 Sorry. I’m bad at tone

[@sampollack8464]

Love that you’re calling it a theorem like it’s established fact and not up for debate

[@kingblue2632]

What would be up for debate?

[@xxscrublordxxx5652]

Rampardos: UN-LIMITED POWERRR...ittybittylivingspace

[@EvilApple567]

I really thought you guys were going for a Focus Sash setup with that first bit, I was not ready for the terror of 4 base Sp Atk Mewtwo

[@brainfreeze9952]

I’d like to see more of the type overview videos. It feels like a bit of a bummer that we got to see that kind of thing with only the ice-types

[@frankwest5388]

I will never get over why Gamefreak gave Rampardos Sheerforce and Bastiodon Sturdy. Both of these abilities are either useless overkill or in the case of Bastiodon an active gameplay contradiction.

[@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy]

Smh bro imagine wasting over half your stats into 2 areas and you still get an ability that's meant to block off kos if those stats are too low Edit: I forgot it didn't work like sash until Unova, Sturdy is good for Assist Sheer Cold strat walling

[@twirlypanda]

In gen 4, Sturdy only stopped OHKO moves. Imagine sending out a bastiodon to wall the enemy articuno just to immediately get killed by sheer cold.

[@gengarzilla1685]

The idea is that Bastiodon could be hit by OHKO moves if it didn't have Sturdy. Of course though, it's an irrelevant benefit in competitive play because those moves are banned regardless.

[@AnglosArentHuman]

@@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy Keyword: Imagine

[@stetsonherrick8090]

@@twirlypanda It also meant that Battle Frontier OHKO Bullshit didn't work on you. And you know full well that Battle Frontier can and will cheat if you give it long enough.

[@omniultimate]

I think a video on the history of the weather conditions would be an interesting topic considering Tyranitar's affect on Gen 3 OU and the Weather Wars of Gen 5 maybe could even staple on the terrains from Gen 6

[@limitless_j]

The Rampardos Theorem is an example of why I love Trick Room

[@skyblock64]

I use Rampardos in ORAS with Trick Room Claydol and I somehow sweep every single team I find online. It can be somewhat inconsistent though due to Head Smash’s 90% accuracy.

[@Perry....]

I mean it's online dude. I wouldn't really call randoms online "good" lol...

[@skyblock64]

@@Perry.... I never called it “good”. I called the somewhat inconsistent.

[@Perry....]

@@skyblock64 Dude.. I'm talking about the players. Sigh...

[@skyblock64]

@@Perry.... Ok, now I understand.

[@lyzder7298]

Imagine being so hilariously bad that the fans name a theorem after you about what NOT to do

[@LesbianWitchAcademia]

And then Dracovish happened. The crazy thing about Dracovish is that it's almost as if GF learned from their Rampardos mistakes when making it. Dracovish actually has fantastic stats and typing for OU, being insanely naturally bulky paired with it having one of the best typings in the game. It was really funny how much it was discounted at first, and then people saw what Fishious Rend did to Toxapex in the rain. Dracovish was so unbelievably powerful that it made SEISMITOAD an OU staple and present on almost every single team.

[@IgnitedQuils]

If it didn’t have Fishous Rend, it’d probably be in NU or RU at most. Interesting how a single move can make it threatening, aside from good bulk, typing and Strong Jaw.

[@O-01-04]

Fisheous Rend is such a silly move tbh. It makes me wonder how good Brine would've been if it had its doubled BP effect trigger on opponents above 50% HP instead of below 50%.

[@LesbianWitchAcademia]

@@IgnitedQuils It'd definitely be a solid UU Wallbreaker even if it had to use Waterfall over Fishious Rend. It's just so damn bulky that it can trade hits with just about anything in UU that isn't hitting it super effectively multiple times.

[@bluegum6438]

I find everything about Dracovish irrationally annoying. Looks stupid, Fishious Rend is a stupid move, it has one of the best type combos in the game, complete one-trick but you often still can't stop it from caving in something's skull. Like bro, why did you give this thing that looks like it came out of a seafood restaurant dumpster more raw power than a thermonuclear warhead.

[@LesbianWitchAcademia]

@@bluegum6438 Because he is a perfect baby, and if you will not insult him again

[@tm0254]

have not watched the video yet but that thumbnail absolutely ROCKS. pun definitely intended

[@ModernAegis]

I'd nominate Mega Diancie. That special attack stat is nothing to sneeze at, but every time I bring it out, it always seems to go down in one or two hits, even if I focus on its defense.

[@jabarithegoldenlucario8841]

“I may have great power, but what good is it if I can't catch my enemy? It takes more than brute strength to win a fight.” - Goku, after achieving Super Saiyan Grade 3.

[@TheGBZard]

This video is great, it really helps explain topics like these and is good to show to new players trying to make a good competitive team

[@SemiHypercube]

Could Deoxys Attack be considered part of this or is it too fast to count (since it has some of the highest attacking stats in the game but has the defenses of like Magikarp)

[@noxheart896]

Would not count. The main problem with Rampardos is not that it is slow, or that it lacks bulk, it is that it has BOTH of these issues. You can have one flaw or the other, but having both at once is the core failure here.

[@Puffindefenceforce]

funnily enough, deoxys is way worse defensively than magikarp. Magikarp actually has decent phys def for a first form pokemon. It's its second best stat after speed

[@N12015]

@@Puffindefenceforce And why people say Magikarp is just scales and bones.

[@georgecortes3416]

Nowadays, Deoxys-Attack CAN count, but only because Necrozma-Dusk Mane makes it obsolete in Ubers. But if we pretend Necrozma-DM doesn't exist, the Rampardos Theorem doesn't apply because Deoxys' Attack Form is all about hitting hard with its 180 Attack/Special Attack and hitting first with 150 Speed & Extreme Speed for priority. It might be comically frail, but at least it'll tear a nasty hole if not get a KO or two with moves like Psycho Boost or Superpower. Rampardos only has its Attack stat and decent HP with really nothing else: It's frail and it's slow, two things an attacker CANNOT be! Even in Trick Room, it still fears Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, etc. so there's that too!

[@ZorotheGallade]

Deoxys Attack is a step up from Deoxys Neutral. The normal form has 50 Defense, and in higher tiers 50 or 20 defense doesn't make the slightest difference, especially with a paltry 50 HP to complement it. So it's the equivalent of choosing whether you want a glass cannon, or a glass cannon loaded with nukes. Also yes, 150 speed means anything without priority will get trounced.

[@HereticsRight]

I'd love to see a lower tier awards show, where you pick some nominees and then a winner for best pokemon from UU,RU, etc. through all the generations. Charizard comes to mind, I'm sure there are plenty more for each tier.

[@mariokarter13]

Textbook example of a Glass Cannon. Hits like a Mack Truck, shatters instantly.

[@j-koster1258]

Glastrier also really suffers from this. Too slow, too many weaknesses, and also a surprisingly underwhelming movepool. It does have goed defences but even down in pu it's only gonna be enough to tank 2 to 4 hits. And no reliable recovery makes it so it can't really be a tank either. So all in all kinda sad

[@GKplus8]

At least it has room to breathe in doubles/vgc, where trick room is a bit more viable so it can at least be "fast"

[@HowlingOneify]

What? Glastrier's movepool is anything but underwhelming.

[@j-koster1258]

@@HowlingOneify i mean yeah but it can't really use a lot of its moves effectively which I guess is more of an issue of stats then movepool

[@JoeSmith-xp5ll]

Here's a suggestion; a video series on gimmicks/new meta considerations in general and how they shifted the game at the time. Phys/Spec Split, Gems, Megas, Z-Moves, D-/G-Max, etc etc.

[@sweetac3217]

i feel like a great video could be made on the HP stat and why mons like wailord are trash while mons like blissey are consistently ou for multiple generations.

[@TheHero136]

Holding out hope for an epic remake. How Tyrannical was Tyranitar actually? Attempt number 2.

[@juanokug4]

In the scenario of complete overkill at the start i just imagined Mewtwo Dr. Manhattan-ing infernape

[@goblinshark6847]

I like the change in style! I hope to see more, also nice thumbnail, dusty did great

[@ZorotheGallade]

For me, competitive Pokémon theory comes down to three distinct phases: judging the Pokémon in a vacuum, then judging its potential contribution to a team, and finally look at how it matches up against common threats and tactics in the tier. In a vacuum, Rampardos' flaws are plain for all to see: glass cannon with a type that doesn't lend itself to much defensively and abysmal speed. In a team, you can technically slot him in as a wall breaker, but that speed means it needs support in the form of Trick Room. Tailwind isn't enough, as even with its speed doubled, a 100-tier Speed mon will still outspeed it after a Speed Boost or Dragon Dance. And that's even assuming Rampardos is invested in Speed, when it'll usually need HP investment to survive its own recoil moves. It becomes a catch-22 where it has to choose whether to have the slimmest chance to get an attack off on any Pokémon slow enough to let it, or have the chance to survive taking down an enemy and keeping more than half its hit points (or, in the best case scenario, survive being hit by a weak enough attack and kamikazing to force a double switch). And then the final part is asking yourself, "would Rampardos improve my team's chances if I used it in the place of another wall breaker with the bulk to take at least some damage?" and the answer most of the time is no. Even with the best circumstances, anything who can either outspeed Rampardos or tank one hit and retaliate will almost always oneshot it. The few defensive advantages it has (sandstorm immunity/spdef boost and stealth rock resistance) don't mean anything if there isn't a single matchup in its tier where that chip damage actually matters. meaning the opponent team doesn't even need any specific counter besides literally hitting it with anything. A Pokémon that not only doesn't put pressure on the opponent during the battle, but can't even muster up enough of a theoretical threat to have players put in an effort to counter its possible presence, is really going to be the worst of any tier it's put in.

[@Fear910]

Sadly, Rampardos does not resist stealth rock =/ Other than that you are 100% right, such a shame, Rampardos has such a cool design and it COULD work if it got a decent ability

[@jouheikisaragi6075]

I actually believe this applies in-game as well(be it a casual run or a challenge run). Some pokemon are only good in a vacuum even for main story due to a lack of availability(areas to catch or evolution requirements and even rarity in some cases), incredebly intrusive movepool requirements(this is particularly harsh in games with single use TMs) and game context(the common opponents you fight can sometimes make certain mons very unviable even for in game use). My favorite example of this is Blaziken: Great Availability, wonderful stats and even a decent movepool. It has a singular issue: Blaziken kinda fucking sucks against most in-game enemies. Unless you spam items and overlevel, Blaziken is pretty frail and either affords nothing or gets stomped by 7/8 Gym Leaders(though it also kinda sucks at Norman because unless you overlevel, Combusken lacks the punch or I guess kick, to beat most of his team) what more: Both Team Aqua and Magma tend to carry Pokemon that Wall Blaziken pretty hard. Blaziken kinda becomes the "Deal with specific things" kinda mon, not a reliable switch-in, supporter, staller, heck it struggles to sweep in the main game. Unless you're using the Mega, Blaziken is just very underwhelming for a fully evolved starter as it kinda fails at everything(even Meganium has a very limited niche in throwing status and sweeping Pryce's gym barring a singular Jynx). These get even more exasperated in Challenge runs like Nuzlockes where suddenly glass cannons are very gimmicky and not worth resource investment because they lack switch-in situations to actually afford anything. Similarly, tanks struggle due to a lack of earlygame recovery and Leftovers not being the most common item unless you permit the use of items.

[@spindash64]

In Gen IV OU, Mold Breaker EQ CAN catch some Bronzongs and Rotoms offguard, since so few Pokemon have Mold Breaker in Gen IV. It's not a GOOD Pokemon to use in Gen IV OU still, but it's something

[@samuell8721]

This video is quite interesting talking about theories on competitive Pokémon, not just a certain Pokémon, but as a general in mechanics and choices that can effect outcomes

[@N12015]

An example i can think of is Ganondorf in smash Bros. If you want raw power, Why would you play him over Snake or Roy? Exactly, YOU DON'T, because sheer power isn't going to cut it.

[@combro7096]

Regieleki is another good example. It’s got ridiculous speed, incredibly strong electric stab in volt switch, thunderbolt, and rising voltage combined with its ability, priority with extremespeed, and passable bulk. The issue is it has absolutely nothing to hit ground types, so it fails to become a meaningful offensive threat

[@christianbuffum-robbins8904]

"Damage is, in fact, not everything" ANGRY UNGA BUNGA NOISES

[@williamstrickler8673]

How about the Bastiodon theorem? A theory on how even if you have good defenses doesn't mean you can be a good defensive Pokémon. Bastiodon, aggron, mega Audino, avalugg jus for examples.

[@hart7668]

Glaceon and Flareon are interesting examples due to their status of being Eeveelutions. Glaceon having a mono-Ice type and slow completely offsets its 130 special attack while Flareon suffered from its STAB not matching its stats for three generations. Then, when it finally got some physical Fire moves, it was either weak (Fire Fang) or it was a double edged sword (Flare Blitz)

[@stetsonherrick8090]

Baton Pass some Speed to Flareon and give it a Shell Bell to aid in countering the recoil for Flare Blitz. It might last long enough to get at least 2-3 Flare Blitzes off unless they have a wall or Flash Fire.

[@Randroth]

Flareon also majorly suffered because it only got Flare Blitz in Gen VI, despite Flare Blitz and the Phys/Special split both debuting in Gen IV. This is just pure cruelty on GameFreak's part. (And yes I know it would have not been great even if it got Flare Blitz earlier, but it might have at least done SOMETHING. Getting Flare Blitz in Gen VI was waaay too late, power creep got ridiculous by that point)

[@mauroperez2848]

Alternative title: power isn't always everything. I enjoyed this video and what was explained. I do wish that Rampardos and other pokemon like it got some form of buffs. That's not to say having wallbreakers is bad. Far from it. Wallbreakers have just as much importance as leads, sweepers, tanks, and pivots. There are many factors that make certain pokemon be great at wallbreaking like Garm, Dracovish, and Mega Mawile. The point here is raw strength isn't enough without being complimented by speed, typing, and defenses.

[@xionfighter4273]

Your last sentence is the Rampardos Theorem in a nutshell. Having a large (special) attack stat and nothing else is uselss without bulk or speed (preferably both). Effective wallbreakers have the bulk to take a hit even if they are outsped. Rampardos doesn't have that. Sweepers have the speed to not need to take a hit since they are almost always first. Rampardos doesn't have that. Therefore, the title doesn't need changing.

[@Cerberuswaltz]

Love this series!!! Hope to see more, they’re beyond fascinating in learning meta stuff I never knew!

[@droozyyy]

If GameFreak can create Mega Rayquaza and Zacian then they really can just give Regigigas Pressure and Slaking any other ability and it wouldn’t break the game

[@DPedro3]

If it wasn't for aqua jet, crawdaunt would probably be a ramparados-like pokémon