Rampardos
Head Butt Pokémon
The result of repeated headbutts is a skull grown thick and hard. However, its brain has shrunk in size compared with Cranidos’s.
Base Stats
Type Effectiveness
Abilities
Evolution Chain
Moves
Details
Sprites
Competitive
Strategy Overview
Rampardos fills a tiny niche in the PU metagame due to its monstrous Attack stat that complements its ability Sheer Force. Head Smash's overwhelming power combined with coverage moves such as Zen Headbutt gives Rampardos the minuscule niche of a Choice Scarf user. However, Rampardos faces massive competition from Lycanroc, which is naturally fast, has priority, and can utilize Swords Dance if it gains the opportunity. Rampardos also has competition against Aggron as a wallbreaker due to its ability able to spam Head Smash with zero drawbacks. While a Choice Scarf is able to patch up Rampardos's middling Speed, it still fails to outspeed faster threats like Lycanroc, Alolan Persian, Floatzel, and other Choice Scarf users like Primeape and Kabutops. Furthermore, Rampardos's primary attack, Head Smash, racks up recoil damage fairly easily, which further hinders its longevity. Rampardos is also rather susceptible to priority moves like Mach Punch and Aqua Jet, which aren't too uncommon to come across in PU.
Most Used Moves
Common Teammates
Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc