7-star Tera Rock Infernape raid event (Oct 4-6, 11-13)

doipy hooves

doipy hooves

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Not what I would have picked, I thought Torterra might have been Rock.

I think Azumarill will be fine unless it has the specific non-STAB coverage slot to deal with it.
 
oh man is that a jojo Son Wukong reference

Rock attacks are...Rock Tomb (eh...), Rock Slide (could see this hitting everyone at set intervals?), Stealth Rocks (I mean, could be a Turn 0?), Smack Down (doubt we see this) and Stone Edge. could see Stone Edge be its primary move, so maybe accuracy spam is the way to go. Especially since I bet it also spams Bulk Up

It has Iron Fist so I'd be shocked if it didn't opt for Thunder Punch as well.
 
Rock makes some sense when you consider the match-ups:
  • Grass & Steel are Types it can easily counter.
  • Water & Ground it learns both Grass Knot & Solar Beam (wouldn't be surprised if it does a pre-battle Sunny Day). Of course it also has Thunder Punch for Water-types (would be funny if they patch it to learn Ice Punch too).
  • And finally Fighting it has Flying-type Moves for, notably Acroabtics.
 
Pikachu315111 said:
Rock makes some sense when you consider the match-ups:
  • Grass & Steel are Types it can easily counter.
  • Water & Ground it learns both Grass Knot & Solar Beam (wouldn't be surprised if it does a pre-battle Sunny Day). Of course it also has Thunder Punch for Water-types (would be funny if they patch it to learn Ice Punch too).
  • And finally Fighting it has Flying-type Moves for, notably Acroabtics.
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I personally would have doubled down on Fighting because I feel like it won't have the moveslots for all that, assuming it will take all 3 STAB first, though I could even see a case for dropping Fighting at this point since it doesn't really cover a new Rock weakness.

Infernape has a really wide movepool for potential mixed coverage that seems potentially scary for everything at once ahead of time, but I feel like the simplest spread would be something like Flare Blitz/Aura Sphere/Stone Edge/Thunder Punch with some various boosts sprinkled around, since it can boost on both sides and then some with Focus Energy. I still don't think Solar Beam is going to show up because people wouldn't understand recharge moves in raids. Overall I feel like this would be a lot scarier if it could just have more moves.
 
With Iron Fist as the Hidden Ability I can see him running Thunder Punch for Water types, but I can't think of any other punching moves for him to use. Maybe Fire Punch, but the odds of seeing that over Flare Blitz are pretty low I'd say. There is also Mach Punch, but I question that one too, especially if he's gonna be mixed. Both his offensive stats are the same.

Of course, that's not the most important question. The real most important question is if we're gonna have 3 consecutive events where the boss spams stat boosts. ... I just realized, Torterra has Curse (unless he's ghost, which I highly doubt) and Body Press and Feraligatr has Dragon Dance. Ugh, Arceus have mercy.
 
Just a few observations:

1) Fire fighting rock alone gives perfect neutral coverage.
2) Mixed infernape is a thing.
3) Holy shit his coverage.
4) So many boosting options. The only one he really lacks is work up.

Personally, I forsee its moveset being something like: Flare Blitz, Stone Edge, Aura Sphere/FocusBlast, [Thunder Punch? Scorching Sands for mixed edgequake? Grass knot?]. GF normally prioritizes the strongest move that has no turn-based or stat-based drawback, regardless of accuracy. Mach Punch might be a random bonus move. I do not expect it to boost in the main moveset, because I suspect it would be way too strong (as GF tends to do that when the mon itself has less firepower). But a T0 boosting move (or Overheat? CC then clear?) is forseeable.
 
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Watch it have both Bulk Up AND Calm Mind in its moveset just to piss us all off :psywoke:

Regardless of whether it has Thunder Punch, I think Azumarill still has a good chance to beat it.
0+ Atk Iron Fist Tera Rock Infernape Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Azumarill: 124-146 (30.6 - 36.1%) -- 47.7% chance to 3HKO

Personally I'm tempted to bring out ol' Appletun from the Tera Rock Chesnaught boss, unless it's running Gunk Shot.
 
Original Dragon Arkvelza said:
With Iron Fist as the Hidden Ability I can see him running Thunder Punch for Water types, but I can't think of any other punching moves for him to use. Maybe Fire Punch, but the odds of seeing that over Flare Blitz are pretty low I'd say. There is also Mach Punch, but I question that one too, especially if he's gonna be mixed. Both his offensive stats are the same.

Of course, that's not the most important question. The real most important question is if we're gonna have 3 consecutive events where the boss spams stat boosts. ... I just realized, Torterra has Curse (unless he's ghost, which I highly doubt) and Body Press and Feraligatr has Dragon Dance. Ugh, Arceus have mercy.
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Drain Punch is probably the most relevant fighting move if they don't want to just give it Close Combat.
 
The only past 7* raid that didn’t have all STABs in the regular moveset was Dragonite, iirc. So we can be pretty confident that Nape will have Fire, Fighting, and Rock moves in the moveset. Considering it’s Iron Fist, Thunder Punch appears to be a great choice, at the expense of a boosting move in the moveset, which would be great for once in a long while. With Nape’s balanced attacking stats and vast movepool, I think MixApe makes a lot of sense. And scripted physical AND special boosts also seems fitting too. As doipy hooves said, as scary as this could be in the overall sense, the only saving grace is 4MSS. Infernape has so much that it COULD do, but it simply CAN’T do everything it has in its kit. Thank goodness. But I expect this to be a tough one…
 
:kommo-o:
Kommo-o @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Bulletproof
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 68 Def / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum / Swords Dance
- Breaking Swipe
- Drain Punch
- Iron Defense

or in the case of Bulk Up spam:

:kommo-o:
Kommo-o @ Shell Bell
Ability: Bulletproof
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Def / 188 Spe
Impish Nature
- Taunt
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Breaking Swipe

Very similar to what I used during the Emboar raid, just with way more Speed. Kommo-o should take anything Infernape can do. Resists Fire, Rock, and potential Thunder Punch, while only neutral to Fighting. Bulletproof has the benefit of being immune to Aura Sphere and Focus Blast. Even if Infernape doesn't go for those, Iron Defense and Breaking Swipe should help you ward that off. Covert Cloak is good post-Tera to prevent Flare Blitz burns. In case of Bulk Up spam, I'll likely go with Taunt + ID-BP instead.
 
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R_N said:
Drain Punch is probably the most relevant fighting move if they don't want to just give it Close Combat.
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Focus miss is still stronger, and aura sphere is equally strong as drain punch after iron fist. It really comes down to how they want to tackle mixed ape.
——-
The astrogoth will probably make some rounds later with OHKO strats (Until we find another astrogoth, this one will have to do). This should be pretty simple with one of the standard bull strats.

+6 252+ Atk Choice Band Tauros-Paldea-Aqua Atk Cheer with 1 Power Spot boost Wave Crash vs. -2 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Rock Infernape: 11828-13916 (115.3 - 135.6% of 35x hp boss) -- guaranteed OHKO
 
If they give it rock slide in regular moveset I think we'll kinda be forced to either make sure to use faster mons (which isn't as easy as infernape is actually pretty fast) or covert cloak.

Or well, use something that resists rock so it uses its other moves, but the secondary effect of those can be equally bothering (burns from fire moves, paralysis from Thunder Punch).

I do expect a mixed set as well though. if anything cause the potential is there.
 
flamewizzy21 said:
Focus miss is still stronger, and aura sphere is equally strong as drain punch after iron fist. It really comes down to how they want to tackle mixed ape.
——-
The astrogoth will probably make some rounds later with OHKO strats (Until we find another astrogoth, this one will have to do). This should be pretty simple with one of the standard bull strats.

+6 252+ Atk Choice Band Tauros-Paldea-Aqua Atk Cheer with 1 Power Spot boost Wave Crash vs. -2 0 HP / 0 Def Tera Rock Infernape: 11828-13916 (115.3 - 135.6% of 35x hp boss) -- guaranteed OHKO
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I like the look of this build. Is it 252/speed too?
 
flamewizzy21 said:
You only need 68 Spe for neutral speed nature, or 168 Spe for +Spe ape (eg Hasty/Naive). The hard part is getting a crit pokemon that doesn’t get KO’d. Depending on how it goes, Urshifu-Rapid might be the necessary crit support for anger point.
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In terms of accessibility for those without VGC Bear, Focus Sash Meowscarada probably has the best chance for the one-turn kill strategy thanks to being the fastest, but the chance for Flare Blitz burn is there which makes it a bit sus. Same kinda goes for the Frost Breath mons, sadly. Wish Throh and Storm Throw was in the game :psycry:

If you want to spend an extra turn for better consistency, you could opt for a bulky Hitmontop using Focus Energy + Scope Lens + Mach Punch.

:hitmontop:
Hitmontop (M) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk or as low as possible
- Focus Energy
- Mach Punch

Assuming no weird t0 bs, you survive two Focus Blasts thanks to naturally high SpDef, and two Flare Blitz especially thanks to Intimidate.

Edit: ends up with a build like this:

Tauros-Paldea-Aqua (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Anger Point
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wave Crash

Stonjourner @ Focus Sash
Ability: Power Spot
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

Kommo-o @ Wide Lens
Ability: Bulletproof
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Def / 188 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Screech

Hitmontop (M) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Energy
- Mach Punch

Taunt is there on Kommo-o in case of Bulk Up spam, but should be standard Anger Point OHKO procedure nonetheless.
 
Vengeance417 said:
In terms of accessibility for those without VGC Bear, Focus Sash Meowscarada probably has the best chance for the one-turn kill strategy thanks to being the fastest, but the chance for Flare Blitz burn is there which makes it a bit sus. Same kinda goes for the Frost Breath mons, sadly. Wish Throh and Storm Throw was in the game :psycry:
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Occa Berry Meowscarada could work. It should be fast enough to go protean grass right before Infernape, and survive a Focus Blast crit.

0 SpA Tera Rock Infernape Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Chopple Berry Meowscarada on a critical hit: 268-316 (75.2 - 88.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

…Assuming no T0 boosting/overheat/mach punch etc.
———
Chopple berry meowscarada + Politoed (instead of stonejourner) might be viable vs T0 mach punch (252/0-/100+/0/156/0)

0 Atk Iron Fist Tera Rock Infernape Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Tera Grass Meowscarada on a critical hit: 87-103 (24.4 - 28.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 4HKO

Then go protean grass before ape.

0 SpA Tera Rock Infernape Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 156 SpD Tera Grass Meowscarada on a critical hit: 220-261 (61.7 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Tera Rock Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Tera Grass Meowscarada in Rain on a critical hit: 212-252 (59.5 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This is sensitive to infernape’s nature, but to die here, you’d need double crit high roll from Mach+FocusMiss (while getting hit with focus miss), or Mach+Flare blitz double high roll crit + burn. Depending, there might be a way to make Meowmix work.
 
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flamewizzy21 said:
The hard part is getting a crit pokemon that doesn’t get KO’d. Depending on how it goes, Urshifu-Rapid might be the necessary crit support for anger point.
Click to expand...
Vengeance417 said:
In terms of accessibility for those without VGC Bear, Focus Sash Meowscarada probably has the best chance for the one-turn kill strategy thanks to being the fastest, but the chance for Flare Blitz burn is there which makes it a bit sus. Same kinda goes for the Frost Breath mons, sadly.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that burn damage is only applied at the end of each group of 4 moves performed by raiders, so if a OHKO on the first turn is possible, Infernape should go down before any supports take their burn damage.

Paralysis/Freeze/Flinch would still throw things off, but low-level supports with a Focus Sash might still be okay even if there is a Burn chance as long as there isn't a damaging T0 move and we don't have to worry about outspeeding (which is a *big* if).
 
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One last piece of the puzzle that might be handy is Bruxish.

1727720128946.png

Bruxish @ Zoom Lens
Dazzling
252/0-/252+/0/4/0
-Screech
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Chilling Water/Taunt

Bruxish is the only screecher that can provide blanket protection against Mach Punch (and other priority ig). Bruxish would fit into T1 OHKO strats as a screecher in the event that we need protection against Mach Punch.

0 Atk Tera Rock Infernape Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Bruxish on a critical hit: 153-180 (45 - 52.9%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO

In the event of T0 Mach Punch, the Politoed Meowscarada setup from before goes from being very close (depending on ape’s nature), to sash being guaranteed. (or Occa berry Meowscarada survivin comfortably without needing rain support)
 
As long as he doesn't buff spam, this could be another win for Koraidon.

:SV/Koraidon:
Covert Cloak
Tera Fighting
252 Atk / 252 Def / 6 HP
Adamant Nature

Collision Course
Drain Punch
Breaking Swipe
Swords Dance.
 
Oh man this is gonna be a headache... Anyway, I think imma try support whiscash!
:sv/whiscash:
Whiscash @ Float Stone
Ability: Oblivious
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA
- Chilling Water
- Mud Shot/Body Slam
- Amnesia
- Rest
The only move they fear is grass knot, and even then float stone and amnesia boosts actually help out a lot here!
0 SpA Infernape Grass Knot (40 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Float Stone Whiscash: 160-192 (37.7 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Infernape Grass Knot (40 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 0 SpD Float Stone Whiscash: 84-100 (19.8 - 23.5%) -- possible 5HKO

I was also considering maybe trying a dragon dance set, but I think I'll wait to see how this one does.
 
Assuming no Bulk Up spam, perhaps this can also work.

:SV/Urshifu-Rapid-Strike:
Covert Cloak
Tera Water
252 Def / 92 Speed / 166 Atk
Adamant Nature

Surging Strikes
Chilling Water
Drain Punch
Swords Dance

0+ Atk Iron Fist Tera Rock Infernape Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 116-138 (34 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
 
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