message to Ambipom users

So most people just slap Ambipom on their team without a second thought, thinking that Fake Out + high Speed + neutral coverage should cover them nicely against offense. In practice however, the amount of mons that Ambipom can safely / reliably revenge is INCREDIBLY limited (and even some of them can be very shaky cases), with the list of RU mons below, assuming Life Orb Ambipom with Fake Out, Return, Low Kick, and Knock Off:

- Choice Specs Meloetta [Fake Out + Knock Off] (SubCM is too bulky, while Scarf Meloetta can only be Faked Out)
- +1 Dragon Dance Scrafty [Fake Out + Return]
- Non-Choice Scarf Emboar [Fake Out + Return, Return if -1 Def Emboar] (Sucker Punch can make things tricky)
- Special / Choice Band Flygon [Fake Out + Return] (defensive Flygon can avoid the KO if healthy enough, while Scarf Flygon is too fast)
- Mega Glalie [Low Kick]
- Sigilyph [Knock Off, or Fake Out + Knock Off if Flame Orb Sigilyph]
- Virizion [Fake Out + Return, Return if -1 Def Virizion]
- Non-Choice Scarf Delphox [Knock Off]
- LO Hitmonlee [Fake Out + Return, Fake Out if -1 Def Hitmonlee] (LO Mach Punch can nearly KO Ambipom, Endure Unburden sets cannot be revenged, Scarf Hitmonlee needs -1 Def before engaging)
- Houndoom [Return] (LO Sucker Punch stings)
- Non-Choice Scarf Rotom-C [Fake Out + Return]
- Sneasel [Return] (risk speedtie, Fake Out won't flinch because of Inner Focus)

Doesn't look too bad right? Now these are just Pokemon in the S to A Ranks, and you can see that the large majority of them require Fake Out first before Ambi can finish them off, which you can apply to most of whatever lies in the B Ranks and below. Chipping them with Fake Out before actually going for the KO is a less than reliable method to revenge kill threats, as they can switch to another teammate that can better absorb the hit; even IF the teammate goes down, the threat that was forced out by Fake Out prior can come back in and not risk getting KOed by Ambipom. Anything faster than Ambipom requires multiple Fake Outs to bring down (which is a problem when these are usually the kinds of mons you want to bring down with your priority user), and getting forced out / failing to KO the threat is not a desirable trait you want to have with your "blanket offense check" (which Ambipom really isn't). Plus, if you're going to rely on pivot switching just to be able to Fake Out the threat again, you'd be better off just running a more solid counter / check at that point. This is where Ambipom's lack of specialization becomes its greatest folly: Ambipom isn't designed to revenge kill any one specific threat any better than other alternatives that can do so more effectively while covering more significant threats at the same time. That goes for the threats Ambipom can OHKO without the help of Fake Out as well.

Here are some alternatives I can offer for now:

SNEASEL: Sneasel shows you what can be done with natural base 115 Speed when it is utilized by two killer STABs in Dark and Ice, instead of Normal STAB which targets nothing. Sneasel can KO a majority of what Ambipom can with just one strike, rather than needing to mess around with Fake Out first. While Sneasel's matchup against Fighting-types is less than stellar, it trades that by being able to snipe down fast Dragons such as Scarf / Rock Polish Tyrantrum and Scarf Flygon, which are mons that most teams would actually appreciate being able to snipe down with strong priority. Sure, Tyrantrum may not take THAT much from Ice Shard, but it's better than being totally helpless against it like Ambipom is. Finally, Sneasel's STABs give it a far better matchup against bulkier teams, while access to STAB Pursuit can ensure that Sneasel can snag the KO on its intended target, such as Meloetta, Delphox, and Sigilyph (which are significant enough threats for this to be a substantial benefit). Basically Sneasel can usually outperform Ambipom on any team ~9/10 of the time. Also DON'T RUN FAKE OUT ON SNEASEL >.>

SCARF HITMONLEE / GALLADE / TYRANTRUM: These Scarfers are no-nonsense, hard hitting powerhouses that come in and blast / force out whatever they need to. They have little issues taking down mons that Ambipom already handles while also being more readily equipped to tackle threats out of Ambipom's league, such as Durant, Rock Polish Rhyperior and Scarf Tyrantrum (with the Fightings), Fletchinder (with Tyrantrum), etc. And of course their sheer power means that the opponents needs the bulkiest of resists to survive their onslaughts, instead of simply sending in any physically bulky Pokemon, such as Alomomola, Tangrowth, and Aromatisse, to weather Ambipom's assaults (Gallade can use Trick to utterly ruin the walls it cannot break). The Scarfers' advantage over Ambipom becomes even more apparent when you consider that the Scarf doesn't even hinder them all that much:
- While the Scarf restricts their moves, warrants greater prediction, and forces them out, it's not like Ambipom is in a much better position; the Fake Out can get predictable and Ambipom is pressured to go for it or it would be unable to actually revenge the threat in question, and Fake Out is much easier to switch into than the Scarfers' STABs.
- Tyrantrum may face trouble with Rock resists, but most of the popular Rock resists have little issues with Ambipom anyway.
- The Fightings may be vulnerable to Ghost-types (Spiritomb in particular) unless they make some predictions, but again Ambipom is in the same boat should it whiff the Fake Out.

To sum it up, Ambipom's advantages are moot and offers very minimal benefit compared to more specialized alternatives that may suit your team better; I haven't even begun to cover other possible priority users, such as Fletchinder or even a goddamn Kecleon. Ambipom is a classic case where its lack of specialization in any role gives it only adequate matchups at best, but in practice you only really need your priority user / Scarfer (anti-sweeper basically) to RELIABLY / EFFECTIVELY revenge kill a couple of threats that bother your team instead of trying (and failing) to blanket check every offensive sweeper in the tier; it just doesn't work.

Unless you INSIST on using Ambipom; I mean I can't physically stop people from using Ambipom or Magikarp or Unown or whatever, so if you really want to hinder yourself in battle for the sake of it then be my guest~.