(Quality Control) Infernape (QC 2/3)

[PK Gaming]

[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)

[Chou Toshio]

Maybe some weird DPP-throwback lead-set should get a set?

[SET]
name: Lead
move 1: Fire Blast / Endeavor
move 2: Close Combat / Endeavor
move 3: Stealth Rock
move 4: Taunt / Encore
item: Focus Sash
ability: Blaze
nature: Naive / Hasty

AC: Mach Punch

I've actually seen these types of sets used to some success. It's surprisingly hard to stop this thing from doing what it's going to do, since most players don't think "I need to lead with E-Speed Dragonite or Hippowdon because his Infernape might be one of those stupid Endeavor abusers." Even if the enemy has hippowdon, he'll probably go ahead and SR not thinking about Encore. Infernape can Taunt Deoxys-D and doesn't care about Rocky Helmet since it'll be using Fire Blast against Deo-D. Politoed/Ninetales obviously let it get a big advantage on them too.

Anyway, this is obviously not a great set nor accomplishes anything incredible; but it can potentially set up a really good early game and I wouldn't say it's inferior to the similar Mamoswine set.

[Seth Vilo]

Originally Posted by Fat Chou Toshio

Maybe some weird DPP-throwback lead-set should get a set?

[SET]
name: Lead
move 1: Fire Blast / Endeavor
move 2: Close Combat / Endeavor
move 3: Stealth Rock
move 4: Taunt / Encore
item: Focus Sash
ability: Blaze
nature: Naive / Hasty

Monkey fo' sho' doesn't get Flash Fire.

[Chou Toshio]

^Yeah that, brain fart

Obviously, Sash + Blaze has potential-- and again obviously, if you aren't using Fire Blast (as CC is more reliable with Drizzle running around, and Endeavor competes with them), ability doesn't matter.

[alexwolf]

I don't know Chou. Lead Infernape definitely has merit, as we have lead sets such as Aerodactyl and Azelf, but Infernape seems worse than both of them. Azelf can outspeed and Taunt SR Terrakion, while Starmie and Tentacruel are not so fond of switching into it. Lead Infernape is helpless against the best spinners in the tier, Starmie and Tentacruel. Azelf can also set-up SR and prevent Hippowdon from doing so without any fear, while Infernape has to play a 50-50 game, which is not cool at all, as Hippo is a common lead. Aerodactyl outspeeds lead Terrakion too, and can beat Starmie and Tentacruel (and Forretress if it wants, but Infernape does that too). And Aerodactyl can prevent both Tyranitar and Hippowdon from setting up SR, while getting up SR itself, due to the sandstorm immunity.

So all in all, lead Inferanpe seems somewhat outclassed as a lead, except from a few specific sutuations. However, if some people have experience with this set, we better hear them too first before making any final decision.

[Chou Toshio]

I know we don't like justifying sets based on surprise factor, but if someone has an Aerodactyle / Azelf in their team, I'm 100% going to assume it's some lead set and choose my lead accordingly. Infernape, not so much-- of if we WANT players to have that expectation (expecting this set), than we should have it in the analysis.

This ability to anticipate obvious leads and shut them down at team preview is what basically killed the lead game/distinguishes DPPt from BW in terms of leads (downfall of over-dedicated lead sets). Infernape is still Infernape, with fast/powerful STAB attacks to benefit the team even after SR is put up. Plus, having cool options like Endeavor, Counter, Taunt, Encore, and Mach Punch is what sets Infernape apart.

Personally, I don't think lead ape is a game-breaking (or even great, just barely "good") set by any means-- but then, that can be pretty much said about ALL of Infernape's sets this metagame. IMO, this is one of its better options. I'm not going to defend it though if others disagree.

[alexwolf]

Here is how i suggest the mixed set to look:

name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Close Combat
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Stone Edge
move 4: ThunderPunch / Mach Punch / U-turn
item: Expert Belt / Life Orb
ability: Iron Fist
nature: Naive / Hasty
evs: 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe

The SpA EVs allow Infernape to always OHKO Garchomp after SR, and the rest are put into Attack. I will first talk about the item choice, and then about the moveset.

Why Expert Belt slashed first? Well i think that Infernape benefits from it a lot. First, the monkey has great super effective coverage, and most of the Pokemon it kills, it does with super effective hits. Also Expert Belt allows Infernape to function much better in Sand teams, in which it actually fits in very nicely. The reason it fits on sand teams very nice is that CB Tyranitar is an awesome partner for Infernape, taking care of Lati@s, Starmie, Jellicent, and even the rare Reuniclus. Having Infernape on a sand team also means that Infernape will not be handicaped in the whole game when facing a rain team, a common problem for Infernape in weatherless teams. So generally, Infernape cannot fit in rain teams, and has troubles fitting into weatherless and sun teams because the of the possibility of facing a rain team and because of the lack of pokemon slots respectively. This leaves Sand teams as the best enviroment for mixed Infernape, and LO really sucks with sand damage. This duo (CBTar and MixApe) is capable of bringing many defensive cores to their knees, as most teams only have one counter to Infernape (and wate-types can be deal with by ThunderPunch anyway).

tl;dr Expert Belt is superior to LO because Nape kills most things with super effective hits and he best fits in sand teams, where the LO recoil sucks.

Now for the moveset. Hidden Power Ice seems as the best option for the third slot, because it OHKOes Pokemon such as Gliscor, Landorus-T, Dragonite, Intimidate Salamence (wallbreaking and defensive sets), and Garchomp, which is neat. Stone Edge not only has worse accuracy, but leaves Infernape unable to OHKO Garchomp, and to 2HKO Gliscor and defensive Landorus-T with Expert Belt, meaning that it must use LO to avoid getting walled by the defensive Flying/Ground mons. Also with 160 SpA EVs and no LO, Infernape will 2HKO physically defensive Hippowdon after SR 88.28% of the time, while with max Atk it must use LO in order to 2HKO with the same attack. In the last slot T-Punch seems as the best attack, as it lets Infernape to deal with Tentacruel, Starmie, Jellicent, Gyarados, and Politoed, all important targets. U-turn is not really needed if you pair Infernape with CBTar (which you should) and the utility of Mach Punch seems more important to me, possibly saving you from a Terrakion sweep, or even allowing you to 2HKO faster Pokemon that switch into you, such as Scarf Keldeo or Scarf Garchomp, with a combo of CC + Mach Punch. Mach Punch works well with max Attack and LO, as it will more often hit neutrally. U-turn just doesn't seem as such a good move to use on a wallbreaker, especially if it uses LO, as then the opponent can take advantage of this to easily wear you down.

Finally here are some calcs with my spread and EB:

• CC vs Blissey: 107.05 - 126.22%
• HP Ice vs Garchomp: 93.85 - 111.17%
• HP Ice vs Gliscor: 104.51 - 123.44%
• HP Ice vs 200 HP Landorus-T: 94.85 - 113.27%
• ThunderPunch vs 252 HP / 236 Def+ Tentacruel: 46.7 - 55.49%, 2HKO after SR outside of rain
• ThunderPunch vs defensive Jellicent: 41.19 - 48.88%, 75.78% chance to 2HKO after SR in sand (did i mention that Infernape loves to be in sand?)
• ThunderPunch vs offensive Starmie: 78.16 - 91.95%, 68.75% chance to OHKO after SR and sand
• CC vs SpD Rotom-W: 45.39 - 53.61%, sure 2HKO after SR and sand
• CC vs 248 HP Heatran: 86.75 - 102.85%, 93.75% chance to OHKO after SR
• CC vs 252 HP Gastrodon: 47.41 - 55.86%, 80.86% chance to 2HKO after SR
• Fire Blast vs defensive Hippowdon: 47.85 - 56.42%, 88.28% to 2HKO after SR

But damn, Infernape has so many viable ev spreads and moves combination that it is going to take us a while to figure out how the mixed set should look like.

[tehy]

Maybe mention GK? Demolishes Gastro hard, hits Jellicent, Politoed, and Starmie P. hard. Oh and it beats SpD Hippo which, as I'm sure you know from writing the analysis, takes that core of CBtar and Mixnape hard. (My spread avoids the 2hitko from CB Crunch, although the onsite set may not. But either way, still p.bad.)

Oh yeah, and Azelf+Aero have one big problem as SR leads-Sableye. (Not THAT common but still). Nape doesn't really have this problem, so that's cool.

[alexwolf]

PK any opinion on my mixed set, now that you finished with Haxorus?

[alexwolf]

After a bit more testing i agree with you PK, LO and a focus in Attack is better for the mixed set. However, isntead of max Atk i propose this EV spread: 180 Atk / 76 SpA / 252 Spe. Here are some cool OHKOes/2HKOes that those SpA EVs get:

• 76 SpA Life Orb Infernape Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus-T: 226-266 (75.58 - 88.96%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
• 76 SpA Life Orb Infernape Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 338-400 (94.67 - 112.04%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
• 76 SpA Life Orb Infernape Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Hippowdon: 183-216 (43.57 - 51.42%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Spikes
• 76 SpA Life Orb Infernape Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 60 SpD (SubDD) Dragonite: 276-328 (71.5 - 84.97%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

Btw Infernape doesn't lose any OHKO/2HKOes with 76 less Atk EVs on Atk.

Also i think that a NP set should be added as it is literrally unwallable in sun with a simple moveset of Fire Blast/Focus Blast/Grass Knot. I haven't tested it yet though so i may be wrong, as setting up with such a frail mon is surely not gonna be easy.

[Hemp Man]

Nasty Plot set is countered Chandelure, but he's not too common in OU anyway.

[PK Gaming]

Skeleton up!!!

Thanks for that awesome spread Alexwolf. I haven't touched Nasty Plot since BW1, but I have a got feeling that it's bad in BW2. That said, I can't be 100% sure, so i'll test it whenever I get the chance.

[Christotheb]

So I'd like to weigh in with a niche set that Ape can run which abuses his access to Flame Charge:
Infernape (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 160 Atk / 76 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Flame Charge
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast/Shadow Claw/Grass Knot
- Stone Edge/ThunderPunch

This set focuses more on clearing up late game, by forcing a switch and using Flame Charge on that turn to gain a Speed boost.
Fire Blast is slashed first as it is the most commonly used attack in that slot. Fire blast is a reliable option when this Pokemon is in clear skies (as it is in the team I use).
However, in the case of him being used on a Sun team, more unorthodox options can be utilized to cause havoc with would-be counters, namely non-scarfed Latis in the case of Shadow Claw.
Grass Knot is, as always, an option to take out opposing Water and Ground types who threaten Ape with their STAB.

As with most Ape, this guy is destroyed by priority, but he is also countered by Scarfed Latis, and doesn't really want to be risking the speed tie with Scarf Terrakion/Keldeo/other Ape.

[Hemp Man]

Should Earthquake get an OO mention? 2HKO's Tentacruel, then again that is all it is good for, and its easy to switch out when the foe is using Earthquake.

[alexwolf]

Why use Earthquake when you have Iron Fist Thunderpunch?

[Hemp Man]

Whoops, forgot he had Iron Fist now.

[Landscape]

Shouldn't you add Iron Fist as the ability because it doesn't have the ability listed in it. Who needs useless Blaze anyways when Iron Fist boosts Mach Punch and Thunderpunch which Blaze fails to do and Infernape won't be living an attack most likely to abuse Blaze and with Drizzle roaming around, the boost from Thunderpunch is much more useful now as it can now get some stronger KOs against water types. Blaze sucks. Those lame starter ability things are only good on Empoleon and Feraligatr, the latter will use Sheer Force when released.

[Magcargo 2]

For the CB set, Fire punch deserves a mention over flareblitz because it lacks the insane recoil and is boosted by iron fist. Infernape dislikes priority and flare blitz only adds to that woe, unlike fire punch.

[Lavos Spawn]

ok talked with the rest of c&c and we mostly agreed that lead ape should get a set. it's actually pretty great for dealing with the current metagame trend of sash/custap leads. some notable ones it beats are sash terrakion, custap skarm/forry/crustle, and sash breloom, among others. i played around with it on po's ladder for a while and it worked out. not the greatest ever but it's pretty good, plus i enjoy making pkgaming do more work. here's the recommended set:

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fake Out
- Overheat
- Close Combat

that's what i used and it does a good job beating most other leads. stealth rock because it's a hazard lead. fake out is really awesome for breaking sash and sturdy of other leads, combined with overheat/cc it creates a one-two punch that few dedicated leads can withstand. i chose to just run dual stab because it hits the most stuff. overheat will always ohko skarm, forry, and breloom leads, also does a decent chunk to crustle but the plan against that is usually just cc twice in order to not activate custap. cc ohkos terrakion, tyranitar, whatever else you care to list. evs are basic, cc is what you use most in terms of attacking moves so i maxed out attack. satk doesn't need a boost because you're only targeting stuff that dies easily. max speed to outspeed everything under base 108 and also speed tie with terrakion, which means 50% of the time you prevent it from getting any hazards, which is cool. also lets you maybe hit keldeo before dying! add this set pls

[Pocket]

Was there any reason to change the Scarf Infernape set? The original spread gave it just enough Atk to OHKO offensive Volcarona with Flare Blitz in the Sun (and Bulky Volcarona is a 2HKO / OHKO with Rocks + turn of lefties).

Also why did you replace Stone Edge with ThunderPunch? Stone Edge is necessary to check Volcarona without Flare Blitz while still allowing Infernape to check both Dragonite, Thundurus-T, Tornadus, and Gyarados. ThunderPunch revenge-kills... Gyarados? Close Combat does more damage to Keldeo than ThunderPunch, btw (same damage with Iron Fist), so I don't understand the changes here.

You should AC mention that it needs max Atk investment if it wants to make use of Stone Edge (and Close Combat).

Worth mentioning that Infernape would appreciate an Ice Shard user to help complement his revenge-killing capacity, since Infernape has trouble taking out Dragonite / Landorus / Landorus-T / Garchomp. A solid Gyarados and Keldeo check would also be desirable (defensive Rotom-W or Dragonite, for instance).

[alexwolf]

ThunderPunch allows Infernape to 2HKO Tentacruel, Jellicent, Gyarados, and Starmie, all Pokemon that wall it check it better or wall it with Stone Edge. Tentacruel, bulky Starmie, and Jellicent are very important if Infernape wants to have any chance of getting past common defensive cores, which is his duty as a wallbreaker. As you said yourself Stone Edge's sole target is Volcarona, which while it is good to cover, is not more important than breaking common defensive cores.

[Pocket]

alexwolf, Scarf Infernape isn't a wallbreaker, it's a revenge killer. It's primary concern is to stop top offensive threats from ravaging your team. Against defensive mons, it simply needs to U-turn out - its job is accomplished by forcing out or killing threatening sweepers.

[alexwolf]

Sry Pocket, thought you were talking about the mixed set...

[alexwolf]

You say that Hippowdon is a problem for the Band set and that sun teams can't do a lot to fix this, but this is not true. Xatu can come in via U-turn and threaten Hippo with Toxic or grab momentum with U-turn and Gothitelle can just trap his sorry ass, so make sure to mention those two.




QC Approved 1/3

[shrang]

QC Approved 2/3