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**PK Gaming** · Jan 31st, 2013, 4:41:59 PM

[Overview]

Fast, strong and has good coverage, Infernape will always be decent a choice with those characteristics.
Effective sun sweeper. Opposing weather starters have a hard time switching into its STAB and it lacks a SR weak, unlike the other Fire-type sweeper.
Mixed set is surprisingly good, made even better by the buffed ThunderPunch
Flawed, because its main stab is crippled and existence of Lati@s hurt its ability to do damage, but not terrible.
HEAVILY prediction based. You will have difficulty utilizing Infernape against a good player.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Flare Blitz
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: U-turn
move 4: ThunderPunch / Mach Punch
item: Choice Band
nature: Jolly
ability: Iron Fist
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Choice Band turns Infernape into a powerful offensive threat from turn 1, and is an absolute terror on sun teams. Despite facing competition from Darmanitan and Victini, Infernape actually has several notable advantages over either sun attacker. The first advantage is Infernape's neutrality to Stealth Rock, which allows it switch into battles more often. (a fairly significant advantage on a Choice Band user) The second advantage is Infernape's Fighting STAB; unlike Darmanitan or Victini, Infernape does not have to consider using coverage moves to deal with opposing weather starters like Politoed or Tyranitar, it can deter them from switching in with just its STAB alone. Despite its lower fire power (pun intended) Infernape is still capable of demolishing most switch ins with its sun boosted Flare Blitz. Notably, bulky Water-types such as Tentacruel, Jellicent and Rotom-W all face 2HKOes from sun boosted Flare Blitz. Close Combat is a powerful STAB move, and can deal heavy damage if it manages to hit the right targets. In addition to being useful against weather starters, it's a useful move to fall back on when Flare Blitz isn't ideal. U-turn is primarily used for keeping momentum on your side in situations where attacking would prove detrimental (ie when Infernape is not operating under sun) though you should focus on attacking when Infernape is on the field. ThunderPunch deals with bulky Water-types are tricky to deal with, such as Gyarados (who is capable of taking sun boosted FlareBlitz due to Intimidate) and other Water-types in general when the sun isn't shining. If you're confident in your ability to deal with water-types, Mach Punch gives Infernape access to semi powerful priority.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

At the cost of some Speed, an Adamant nature can be used for a significant power boost. For example, when the Adamant nature is used, Infernape has a guaranteed chance of OHKOing Latios and Jellicent with with U-turn and Thunderpunch respectively. (after Stealth Rock damage) The loss in Speed is generally not worth the boost in power however, especially since Infernape is in an important Speed tier. It goes without saying, but Choice Band Infernape absolutely needs to Ninetales as a partner to succeed, as its an unremarkable attacker otherwise. While the sun is up, Choice Band Infernape makes for a fantastic wallbreaker, so it's important that you bring it out as early as possible to weaken your opponents team so that your other sun sweepers can sweep at a later point in time. There are a few roadblocks that get in the way of Choice Band Infernape and prevent it from doing its job. First and foremost; rain absolutely kills this sets effectiveness, so having a Ninetales that can stick around and anti Stealth Rock support is important. Latias and Latios are roadblocks to this set; despite taking insane amounts of damage from sun boosted Flare Blitz and U-turn, Latias and Latios are capable of at least taking one hit from sun boosted Flare Blitz and retaliating with a swift OHKO. Worse still, they're perpetual revenge killers to Infernape, and if the sun isn't up, they'll have a much easier time switching into Infernape and forcing it out. Specially Defensive Heatran makes for a great sun team mate, as it happens to excel at checking Latias and Latios and it has access to Stealth Rock. Physically Defensive Hippowdon is also difficult Pokemon to bypass, as it cleanly avoids the 2HKO from Flare Blitz and Close Combat, and it can change the weather upon switching in. U-turn works best here, and fortunately you have a several Pokemon that can switch into Hippowdon, such as Xatu and Forretress.

Choice Band Infernape is prediction heavy; even if your STAB moves do ridiculous amounts of damage, it won't matter if your opponent can switch the right Pokemon into Infernape and kill your momentum. It's important to scrutinize each your moves before attacking, as a mistake leave you open to getting set up on or it might give your opponent a free attack. Overall Choice Band Infernape's ability to crush Pokemon who are well suited to tanking sun boosted Flare Blitz with its coverage moves, makes it a handful to deal with, but it's reliance on prediction makes it difficult for it to utilize its full potential.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: ThunderPunch
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / U-turn / Mach Punch
item: Life Orb / Expert Belt
ability: Iron Fist
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 180 Atk / 76 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

The original mix-master returns in BW2. It's nowhere near as good as it used to be, but if you're good at predicting you can do some serious damage with this set.
This set is shines against stall teams or teams with durable cores, but a significant amount of prediction is required, as LO recoil (and extra damage from SS and entry hazards) will seriously cut in Infernape's ability to stay in play.
Fire Blast is strictly used for Steel-types, so it's damage isn't impressive against neutral targets.
Close Combat compliments Fire Blast nicely by smacking around most of the Fire-type resists, and being a strong move in general. You probably won't be able to spam this move in the early game, but rather in the mid-to-lategame where everything is at 50% or lower.
Thunderpunch is arguably Infernape's most important tertiary coverage move, as it allows Infernape to deal noticeable damage to its bulky checks (Jellicent and Tentacruel) and lets it beat the shit out of Gyarados.
Hidden Power Ice is exclusively used to smash Landorus-T and Gliscor (who are decent checks to this set otherwise) and target Dragon-types (especially those that are 4X weak to Ice-type moves, like Garchomp and Dragonite).
U-turn and Mach Punch are ok alternatives to Hidden Power Ice. The former gives Infernape the ability to scout and offer switch advantage, while the latter can pick off weakened threats (particularly Terrakion).

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

The main spread guarantees that Infernape will always OHKOs Garchomp after SR with HP Ice, usually bulky Dragonite, OHKO Thundurus-T with Fire Blast after SR, and 2HKO SpD Hippowdown with Fire Blast after SR + Spikes.
A completely different spread exists if you decide to use Expert belt. 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe; This specifically gives you Infernape enough Special Attacking juice to OHKO Garchomp, Landorus-T and Gliscor.
Expert Belt strengthens Infernape's performance on sand teams, since its capable of staying in play much longer than it ordinarily would if it were using Life Orb. Though this comes at a significant decrease in power, especially against neutral targets.
Grass Knot wrecks 4X grass weaks like Gastrodon, and does a decent amount of damage to Jellicent & Hippowdon (you will need to pump more EVs into SpA to guarantee a 2HKO)
Mixed Infernape is oddly at its best on Sandstorm teams. Tyranitar is capable of trapping its best offensive checks (Lati-twins), and the extra recoil from sand makes it easier to net kills. It's fine to use to Weatherless and Sun teams (though Sun teams much prefer the CB set).
On the other hand, Sandstorm negatively compounds with LO, guaranteeing that Infernape will burn out(lol) faster than most Pokemon. That said, Mixed Infernape should not concern itself with staying alive; its primary goal is to deal as much damage as it can in a short amount of time. Still, a spinner like Starmie or Forretress couldn't hurt to take some of that pressure off.
Entry hazards help push most Pokemon into the 2HKO range.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Close Combat
move 2: Fire Blast / Flare Blitz
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stone Edge
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Blaze
nature: Naive
evs: 36 Atk / 220 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Your run of the mill choice scarfer with U-turn.
Still has basic offensive utility (the ability to OHKO Tyranitar and Blissey for example) but overall, its power output is noticeably weaker than the other sets.
Works well on sun team as a lategame sweeper / utility scarfer, but still decent on regularly teams.
It has good enough coverage to target most of OU for SE damage.
U-turn is a staple on this set, you shouldn't replace it.
HP Ice let's you revenge kill 4X weak to Ice threats, and Stone Edge can used to check +1 Volcarona.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Since Scarf Ape actually outspeeds +2 Modest venusaur, it's probably not a good idea to deviate from the listed natures.
Thunderpunch covers most of the pokemon that are hit for SE by Stone Edge, is more accurate and does decent damage to bulky-water types.
The listed EVs allow Infernape to OHKO Garchomp, Salamence, Landorus and Offensive Dragonite with HP Ice (After SR). If Stone Edge is used in its place, use a physically oriented spread (252atk/252spe) and with Flare Blitz over Fire Blast. 36 Atk EVs guarantee the OHKO on Terrakion after SR.
You need to have counters to bulky-water types and dragons since this Infernape is usually dead weight against them.

[SET]

name: Anti-Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Fake Out
move 3: Overheat
move 4: Close Combat
item: Focus Sash
ability: Blaze
nature: Naive
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

An effective SR user that also happens to be very effective against opposing hazard stacking leads.
Specifically, Infernape is capable of beating every single common lead hazard leads in the game (Cutsap users, Terrakion, etc)
Fake Out effectively removes Sturdy / Focus Sash, which puts Infernape at an advantage against SR leads since they risk being OHKOed by it. Close Combat and Overheat OHKO most of the common in leads in the game.
Crustle is the exception, since its bulky enough to avoid the OHKO from any of Infernapes moves. However, Infernape is capable of 2HKOing it without letting it activate Cutsap and limiting it to just 1 layer of Spikes OR SR.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Hippowdon will destroy ape, so make sure you have a Pokemon that takes advantage of it.
This Infernape is effective on HO teams that want SR on the opponents side/ don't want SR on their side.
After you've done your job, you're still a decent offensive Pokemon that can smack things around with 108 base Speed!

[Other Option]

Nasty Plot
Swords Dance
Work Up
Lead set
Vacuum Wave
Encore
Focus Blast
Calm Mind
Slack Off

[Checks & Counters]

Latias & Latios
Politoed
Jellicent
Tentacruel
Gyarados
Salamence
Hippowdon
Landorus-T
Good prediction on your opponents part (seriously)

Jan 31st, 2013, 4:41:59 PM	#1
PK Gaming Quiet Thunder God Moderator Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 4,530 Izanagi	Infernape (QC 2/3) [Overview] Fast, strong and has good coverage, Infernape will always be decent a choice with those characteristics. Effective sun sweeper. Opposing weather starters have a hard time switching into its STAB and it lacks a SR weak, unlike the other Fire-type sweeper. Mixed set is surprisingly good, made even better by the buffed ThunderPunch Flawed, because its main stab is crippled and existence of Lati@s hurt its ability to do damage, but not terrible. HEAVILY prediction based. You will have difficulty utilizing Infernape against a good player. [SET] name: Choice Band move 1: Flare Blitz move 2: Close Combat move 3: U-turn move 4: ThunderPunch / Mach Punch item: Choice Band nature: Jolly ability: Iron Fist evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe [SET COMMENTS] <p>Choice Band turns Infernape into a powerful offensive threat from turn 1, and is an absolute terror on sun teams. Despite facing competition from Darmanitan and Victini, Infernape actually has several notable advantages over either sun attacker. The first advantage is Infernape's neutrality to Stealth Rock, which allows it switch into battles more often. (a fairly significant advantage on a Choice Band user) The second advantage is Infernape's Fighting STAB; unlike Darmanitan or Victini, Infernape does not have to consider using coverage moves to deal with opposing weather starters like Politoed or Tyranitar, it can deter them from switching in with just its STAB alone. Despite its lower fire power (pun intended) Infernape is still capable of demolishing most switch ins with its sun boosted Flare Blitz. Notably, bulky Water-types such as Tentacruel, Jellicent and Rotom-W all face 2HKOes from sun boosted Flare Blitz. Close Combat is a powerful STAB move, and can deal heavy damage if it manages to hit the right targets. In addition to being useful against weather starters, it's a useful move to fall back on when Flare Blitz isn't ideal. U-turn is primarily used for keeping momentum on your side in situations where attacking would prove detrimental (ie when Infernape is not operating under sun) though you should focus on attacking when Infernape is on the field. ThunderPunch deals with bulky Water-types are tricky to deal with, such as Gyarados (who is capable of taking sun boosted FlareBlitz due to Intimidate) and other Water-types in general when the sun isn't shining. If you're confident in your ability to deal with water-types, Mach Punch gives Infernape access to semi powerful priority.</p> [ADDITIONAL COMMENTS] <p>At the cost of some Speed, an Adamant nature can be used for a significant power boost. For example, when the Adamant nature is used, Infernape has a guaranteed chance of OHKOing Latios and Jellicent with with U-turn and Thunderpunch respectively. (after Stealth Rock damage) The loss in Speed is generally not worth the boost in power however, especially since Infernape is in an important Speed tier. It goes without saying, but Choice Band Infernape absolutely needs to Ninetales as a partner to succeed, as its an unremarkable attacker otherwise. While the sun is up, Choice Band Infernape makes for a fantastic wallbreaker, so it's important that you bring it out as early as possible to weaken your opponents team so that your other sun sweepers can sweep at a later point in time. There are a few roadblocks that get in the way of Choice Band Infernape and prevent it from doing its job. First and foremost; rain absolutely kills this sets effectiveness, so having a Ninetales that can stick around and anti Stealth Rock support is important. Latias and Latios are roadblocks to this set; despite taking insane amounts of damage from sun boosted Flare Blitz and U-turn, Latias and Latios are capable of at least taking one hit from sun boosted Flare Blitz and retaliating with a swift OHKO. Worse still, they're perpetual revenge killers to Infernape, and if the sun isn't up, they'll have a much easier time switching into Infernape and forcing it out. Specially Defensive Heatran makes for a great sun team mate, as it happens to excel at checking Latias and Latios and it has access to Stealth Rock. Physically Defensive Hippowdon is also difficult Pokemon to bypass, as it cleanly avoids the 2HKO from Flare Blitz and Close Combat, and it can change the weather upon switching in. U-turn works best here, and fortunately you have a several Pokemon that can switch into Hippowdon, such as Xatu and Forretress.</p> <p>Choice Band Infernape is prediction heavy; even if your STAB moves do ridiculous amounts of damage, it won't matter if your opponent can switch the right Pokemon into Infernape and kill your momentum. It's important to scrutinize each your moves before attacking, as a mistake leave you open to getting set up on or it might give your opponent a free attack. Overall Choice Band Infernape's ability to crush Pokemon who are well suited to tanking sun boosted Flare Blitz with its coverage moves, makes it a handful to deal with, but it's reliance on prediction makes it difficult for it to utilize its full potential.</p> [SET] name: Mixed Attacker move 1: Fire Blast move 2: Close Combat move 3: ThunderPunch move 4: Hidden Power Ice / U-turn / Mach Punch item: Life Orb / Expert Belt ability: Iron Fist nature: Naive / Hasty evs: 180 Atk / 76 SpA / 252 Spe [SET COMMENTS] The original mix-master returns in BW2. It's nowhere near as good as it used to be, but if you're good at predicting you can do some serious damage with this set. This set is shines against stall teams or teams with durable cores, but a significant amount of prediction is required, as LO recoil (and extra damage from SS and entry hazards) will seriously cut in Infernape's ability to stay in play. Fire Blast is strictly used for Steel-types, so it's damage isn't impressive against neutral targets. Close Combat compliments Fire Blast nicely by smacking around most of the Fire-type resists, and being a strong move in general. You probably won't be able to spam this move in the early game, but rather in the mid-to-lategame where everything is at 50% or lower. Thunderpunch is arguably Infernape's most important tertiary coverage move, as it allows Infernape to deal noticeable damage to its bulky checks (Jellicent and Tentacruel) and lets it beat the shit out of Gyarados. Hidden Power Ice is exclusively used to smash Landorus-T and Gliscor (who are decent checks to this set otherwise) and target Dragon-types (especially those that are 4X weak to Ice-type moves, like Garchomp and Dragonite). U-turn and Mach Punch are ok alternatives to Hidden Power Ice. The former gives Infernape the ability to scout and offer switch advantage, while the latter can pick off weakened threats (particularly Terrakion). [ADDITIONAL COMMENTS] The main spread guarantees that Infernape will always OHKOs Garchomp after SR with HP Ice, usually bulky Dragonite, OHKO Thundurus-T with Fire Blast after SR, and 2HKO SpD Hippowdown with Fire Blast after SR + Spikes. A completely different spread exists if you decide to use Expert belt. 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe; This specifically gives you Infernape enough Special Attacking juice to OHKO Garchomp, Landorus-T and Gliscor. Expert Belt strengthens Infernape's performance on sand teams, since its capable of staying in play much longer than it ordinarily would if it were using Life Orb. Though this comes at a significant decrease in power, especially against neutral targets. Grass Knot wrecks 4X grass weaks like Gastrodon, and does a decent amount of damage to Jellicent & Hippowdon (you will need to pump more EVs into SpA to guarantee a 2HKO) Mixed Infernape is oddly at its best on Sandstorm teams. Tyranitar is capable of trapping its best offensive checks (Lati-twins), and the extra recoil from sand makes it easier to net kills. It's fine to use to Weatherless and Sun teams (though Sun teams much prefer the CB set). On the other hand, Sandstorm negatively compounds with LO, guaranteeing that Infernape will burn out(lol) faster than most Pokemon. That said, Mixed Infernape should not concern itself with staying alive; its primary goal is to deal as much damage as it can in a short amount of time. Still, a spinner like Starmie or Forretress couldn't hurt to take some of that pressure off. Entry hazards help push most Pokemon into the 2HKO range. [SET] name: Choice Scarf move 1: Close Combat move 2: Fire Blast / Flare Blitz move 3: U-turn move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stone Edge item: Choice Scarf ability: Blaze nature: Naive evs: 36 Atk / 220 SpA / 252 Spe [SET COMMENTS] Your run of the mill choice scarfer with U-turn. Still has basic offensive utility (the ability to OHKO Tyranitar and Blissey for example) but overall, its power output is noticeably weaker than the other sets. Works well on sun team as a lategame sweeper / utility scarfer, but still decent on regularly teams. It has good enough coverage to target most of OU for SE damage. U-turn is a staple on this set, you shouldn't replace it. HP Ice let's you revenge kill 4X weak to Ice threats, and Stone Edge can used to check +1 Volcarona. [ADDITIONAL COMMENTS] Since Scarf Ape actually outspeeds +2 Modest venusaur, it's probably not a good idea to deviate from the listed natures. Thunderpunch covers most of the pokemon that are hit for SE by Stone Edge, is more accurate and does decent damage to bulky-water types. The listed EVs allow Infernape to OHKO Garchomp, Salamence, Landorus and Offensive Dragonite with HP Ice (After SR). If Stone Edge is used in its place, use a physically oriented spread (252atk/252spe) and with Flare Blitz over Fire Blast. 36 Atk EVs guarantee the OHKO on Terrakion after SR. You need to have counters to bulky-water types and dragons since this Infernape is usually dead weight against them. [SET] name: Anti-Lead move 1: Stealth Rock move 2: Fake Out move 3: Overheat move 4: Close Combat item: Focus Sash ability: Blaze nature: Naive evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe [SET COMMENTS] An effective SR user that also happens to be very effective against opposing hazard stacking leads. Specifically, Infernape is capable of beating every single common lead hazard leads in the game (Cutsap users, Terrakion, etc) Fake Out effectively removes Sturdy / Focus Sash, which puts Infernape at an advantage against SR leads since they risk being OHKOed by it. Close Combat and Overheat OHKO most of the common in leads in the game. Crustle is the exception, since its bulky enough to avoid the OHKO from any of Infernapes moves. However, Infernape is capable of 2HKOing it without letting it activate Cutsap and limiting it to just 1 layer of Spikes OR SR. [ADDITIONAL COMMENTS] Hippowdon will destroy ape, so make sure you have a Pokemon that takes advantage of it. This Infernape is effective on HO teams that want SR on the opponents side/ don't want SR on their side. After you've done your job, you're still a decent offensive Pokemon that can smack things around with 108 base Speed! [Other Option] Nasty Plot Swords Dance Work Up Lead set Vacuum Wave Encore Focus Blast Calm Mind Slack Off [Checks & Counters] Latias & Latios Politoed Jellicent Tentacruel Gyarados Salamence Hippowdon Landorus-T Good prediction on your opponents part (seriously) __________________ Last edited by blarajan; May 17th, 2013 at 12:45:42 PM.