
[OVERVIEW]
Incineroar is a decent defensive pivot in the UU metagame because its typing, Intimidate, and overall solid bulk allow it to check multiple Pokemon such as Victini, Chandelure, and Jirachi. Its support options in Knock Off, Will-O-Wisp, and Toxic can provide a lot of utility for teams and cripple other Pokemon. Knock Off combined with Parting Shot or U-turn prevents Incineroar from being too passive, as it can dish out respectable damage and keep up momentum. Incineroar's good matchup against other bulky pivots in the tier, such as Amoonguss, Slowking, and Tangrowth, creates many opportunities to generate momentum and remove items. Although Incineroar is a good defensive Pokemon, it is extremely vulnerable to many common top-tier Pokemon, such as Terrakion, Nidoqueen, and Keldeo. It ironically struggles to check Alakazam as a Dark-type due to the risk of Focus Blast and Scizor as a Fire-type due to easy U-turn chip and Superpower. Incineroar's lack of recovery and pivoting role mean it can get worn down very quickly and is very vulnerable to Toxic. An overreliance on Heavy-Duty Boots makes Incineroar susceptible to the incredibly common Knock Off as well. Incineroar's low Speed in a relatively fast metagame means it oftentimes gets hit before it can make any progress, which wears it down further.
[SET]
name: Defensive Pivot
move 1: Knock Off
move 2: Overheat
move 3: Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
move 4: Parting Shot / U-turn
item: Heavy-Duty Boots
ability: Intimidate
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Knock Off removes important items such as Heavy-Duty Boots from Salamence and Rotom-H. It also punishes bulkier pivots Incineroar pressures, such as Slowking and Tangrowth, for switching out. Overheat is a decently strong STAB attack that cleanly OHKOes Scizor and Bisharp, always OHKOes Skarmory and Tangrowth after Stealth Rock damage, and does a great deal of damage to Amoonguss. Flare Blitz can be used instead for more damage to Celesteela, but the recoil damage worsens Incineroar's weakness to being worn down; Flare Blitz also does less damage to Skarmory and Tangrowth. Will-O-Wisp is the preferred status move because it cripples physical attackers such as Terrakion, Azumarill, and Kommo-o. Toxic can more quickly wear down bulkier Pokemon such as Rhyperior and make more progress against special attackers such as Primarina and Keldeo. Parting Shot can create setup opportunities for teammates such as Scizor. U-turn has the benefit of chipping switch-ins that don't have reliable recovery such as Primarina. The EVs maximize special bulk while outspeeding Celesteela. Intimidate allows Incineroar to take physical attacks better and makes up for the lack of EV investment in Defense. Heavy-Duty Boots is crucial due to Incineroar's vulnerability to Stealth Rock.
Incineroar fits best on balance and bulky offense teams. Grass-types Amoonguss and Tapu Bulu have great defensive synergy with Incineroar, checking Pokemon that threaten it such as Azumarill, Keldeo, Primarina, and Rhyperior. Amoonguss also sponges Knock Off from Pokemon such as Krookodile and Tangrowth—which Incineroar checks, but can't pivot into due to the risk of losing its Heavy-Duty Boots—and Tapu Bulu can set Grassy Terrain, which marginally helps Incineroar's lack of recovery. Incineroar returns the favor to both by checking Chandelure, Victini, and, in Tapu Bulu's case, Jirachi. Zeraora forms a VoltTurn core with Incineroar and pressures Water-types such as Azumarill, Keldeo, and Primarina (RC) while also being able to pick off weakened Incineroar checks such as Kommo-o and Terrakion. Zeraora also can lure in Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Tangrowth for Incineroar. Jirachi forms a pivoting core with Incineroar and can use Wish to aid with Incineroar's lack of reliable recovery. Incineroar helps in return by checking Chandelure and Victini. Slowking forms a pivoting core with Incineroar through Teleport, has generally good defensive synergy with Incineroar, and checks many Pokemon that threaten Incineroar such as Kommo-o, Nihilego, and Nidoqueen. Slower wallbreakers, such as Crawdaunt and Nidoqueen, appreciate Incineroar getting them into the match safely. Skarmory can check Scizor decently for Incineroar; Incineroar returns the favor by checking Chandelure and Victini while also pressuring and using Knock Off against users of Heavy-Duty Boots, such as Slowking, to make Skarmory's entry hazards more effective.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
A Swords Dance set with Heavy-Duty Boots, Knock Off, Close Combat, and Flame Charge is an option on fast-paced and hyper offense teams. However, this set requires two turns to properly set up, and it is still shut down by many common Pokemon such as Azumarill, Kommo-o, and Primarina. A similar set using Bulk Up, Flame Charge, and Power Trip holding Weakness Policy can be used on hyper offense teams, but it requires many boosts to do significant damage and therefore can be an unreliable choice. Taunt is an option on the listed set to prevent Pokemon from setting up, using status moves on Incineroar, or getting entry hazards into play, but the other listed moves are far more useful the majority of the time. RestTalk is an option to patch up Incineroar's lack of recovery, but a RestTalk set can be somewhat passive and does less for a team without Incineroar's usual utility options. Using a faster spread on the listed set with 216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature allows Incineroar to outspeed all of Scizor's standard spreads, turning it into an actual Scizor check, and use a faster Parting Shot on Azumarill and Modest Primarina; this spread, however, is much less effective defensively and gets 3HKOed rather than 4HKOed by Choice Specs Chandelure. Swords Dance sets that utilize U-turn can make for usable offensive pivots but are outclassed by Scizor.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fighting-types**: Fighting-types such as Terrakion, Conkeldurr, and Keldeo can potentially OHKO Incineroar with their STAB attacks. Kommo-o can heavily dent Incineroar with Close Combat or Body Press.
**Ground-types**: UU's premier wallbreaker Ground-types, Mamoswine and Nidoqueen, can take away a lot of Incineroar's HP or OHKO it with STAB attacks. Rhyperior can also 2HKO Incineroar with Earthquake or High Horsepower.
**Toxic**: Incineroar lacks any type of recovery and can be easily worn down after having Toxic used on it, making it a less effective defensive pivot.
**Water-types**: Azumarill, Primarina, Keldeo, and Volcanion can potentially OHKO Incineroar. Primarina especially can use Incineroar as setup fodder with Substitute sets.
**Rock-types**: While Rock-types are overall rare in UU, Terrakion, Nihilego, and Rhyperior do a lot of damage to Incineroar, although the latter does fear Toxic.
**Item Removal**: While any Pokemon dislikes losing its item, Incineroar is especially impacted by losing its Heavy-Duty Boots as a pivot weak to Stealth Rock. Incineroar's reliance on Heavy-Duty Boots makes it wary of switching into Pokemon with Knock Off it should otherwise be able to check such as Scizor and Tangrowth. Trick users can also remove Heavy-Duty Boots from Incineroar, which can give Jirachi, another Pokemon Incineroar should be able to check, some leverage.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[bb skarm, 235692]]
- Quality checked by: [[Martha, 384270], [Twilight, 344575], [Estarossa, 461329]]
- Grammar checked by: [[CryoGyro, 331519], [Finland, 517429]]
Last edited: