Infernape is Top Rate! (OU Offense)

Wretched Waltz

Wretched Waltz

Hodur, people! This is my first crack at an OU team. So I've been using this on PO and it's been turning out pretty good for me so well. However, I would like some creative input for this.

Infernape @ Air Balloon
Trait: Iron Fist
(EVs: 148 Atk, 108 Sp. Atk. 252 Spd)
Hasty (+Spd,-Def)
Heat Wave/Close Combat/Grass Knot/Thunderpunch

Heat Wave is a compromise between Fire Blast and Flamethrower: it has higher accuracy than FB and higher BP than Flamethrower. Grass Knot is for Gastrodons and the uncommon Swampert. Thunderpunch is for pretty much every other Water, especially Politoed.

Zoroark @ Expert Belt
Trait:Illusion
Timid (-Atk, +Spd)
(EVs:252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Flamethrower/Grass Knot/Dark Pulse/Focus Blast
The Ape set I'm using is walled by Gastrodon/Ferrothorn cores and Latios. Zoroark can deal with both. Dark Pulse is STAB and hits Psychics good. Focus Blast is for coverage/T-tar. Flamethrower is for Ferrothorn and Grass Knot is for Gastrodon. Expert Belt over LO because LO recoil killed me one too many times.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait:Natural Cure
Timid (-Atk, +Spd)
(EVs:252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Surf/Rapid Spin
Starmie is a credible threat and the best Spinner in the game. Pretty standard set, with a high emphasis on Speed. Surf over Hydro Pump because Surf is really reliable.

Scizor @ Leftovers
Trait:Technician
Jolly (-Sp. Atk, + Spd)
(EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd)
Bullet Punch/Pursuit/Superpower/U-turn
Bullet Punch and U-turn are self-explanatory. Pursuit is for Jellicent. Superpower is for when it needs to burst through an enemy. I don't like SD sets: they're too time-consuming.

Mamoswine @ Choice Band
Trait: Snow Cloak
Jolly (-Sp. Atk, + Spd)
(EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd)
Ice Shard/Earthquake/Superpower/Stone Edge
Ice Shard is priority STAB. Earthquake prerequisite for all Ground-type powerhouses. Superpower is for Chansey, I guess? Stone Edge is for coverage.

Jolteon @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
Timid (+ Spd, -Atk)
(EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Volt Switch/Shadow Ball/HP Fire/Rain Dance
Jolteon is my weather canceler. It can use RD to troll the fuck out of sand teams. Volt Switch is STAB. Shadow Ball is for Psychics, which I have had trouble with in the past. HP Fire is for things like Scizor and Ferrothorn.

Threatlist:

Herdier: Faster than ALL of my team and powerful to boot. I had Jolteon drop Specs specifically to counter it.

Politoed: Weather canceling does jack shit to it. Bulky variants can take an Iron Fist-boosted ThunderPunch and retaliate with double-STABd Scald.

Genesect: Unbelievable, isn't it? Scarfed versions outspeed and KO my Infernape before it can do anything.

So that's pretty much it for my first OU team.
 
Heatran > Infernape

Higher Special Attack, OHKO/2HKOs pretty much everything in OU, and is the best canditate for Air Balloon. Infernape may be faster but its not speedy enough to come out as a great contender in the Speed category of the metagame. What Heatran lacks in speed it makes up for in bulk, as it can tank off most attacks that aren't Ground as it is quad effectiveness, but that's what balloon is for. A floating Heatran spits on Infernape and burns its customs.
 
Alright. Time to rate. First off, it appears that sand teams are a huge problem for you to deal with, even with Rain Dance Jolteon in your team. Since you mentioned that Stoutland is a problem, I'd recommend trying out Choice Scarf Infernape over your current set. CS Infernape outspeeds Stoutland by one point and OHKOes with Close Combat, and Scarf Landorus is outsped and OHKOed by HP Ice. This change also allows you to take on Scarf Genesect more easily. With that change established, you're free to make some other modifications to your team. One modification I'd like you to consider is the use of Life Orb Mamoswine over your current set. While you may object to this solution due to the slightly reduced power it has, this set gives you Stealth Rock, which your team desperately needs, as well as another Breloom check. I'd also recommend using a Choice Band Scizor over your current set. This gives you more power and another source of priority.

Now, for some nitpicks. I'd like you to try out Sucker Punch over Grass Knot on Zoroark. Gastrodon isn't being used as much as before, so you can afford to drop the coverage. This change also allows you to surprise opposing Latios and Starmie looking to get a free kill. For Jolteon, I'd recommend using a Life Orb over Leftovers and Thunderbolt over Rain Dance. The former change increases Jolteon's power quite a bit, and the latter gives it a reliable STAB which can take out all variants of Politoed without batting an eyelash. A summarized list of changes can be found below.

Sets:
392.png

Infernape @ Life Orb | Blaze
Hasty | 108 Atk / 148 SpA / 252 Spe | 30 HP / 30 Def
Close Combat | Fire Blast | Hidden Power [Ice] | U-turn

473.png

Mamoswine @ Life Orb | Thick Fat
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Earthquake | Ice Shard | Icicle Crash | Stealth Rock

212.png

Scizor @ Choice Band | Technician
Adamant | 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
U-turn | Bullet Punch | Pursuit | Superpower

Nitpicks:
571.png

Grass Knot ----> Sucker Punch
252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid ----> 32 Atk / 252 SpA / 224 Spe Naive

135.png

Rain Dance ----> Thunderbolt
Leftovers ----> Life Orb

Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
Took your suggestions.


Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
(EVs: 148 Atk, 108 Sp. Atk. 252 Spd)
Hasty (+Spd,-Def)
Heat Wave/Close Combat/HP Ice/U-turn

Zoroark @ Expert Belt
Trait:Illusion
Timid (-Atk, +Spd)
(EVs:252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Flamethrower/Grass Knot/Dark Pulse/Focus Blast

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait:Natural Cure
Timid (-Atk, +Spd)
(EVs:252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Surf/Rapid Spin

Scizor @ Leftovers
Trait:Technician
Jolly (-Sp. Atk, + Spd)
(EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd)
Bullet Punch/Pursuit/Superpower/U-turn

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Snow Cloak
Jolly (-Sp. Atk, + Spd)
(EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd)
Ice Shard/Earthquake/Stealth Rock/Stone Edge

Jolteon @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
Timid (+ Spd, -Atk)
(EVs: 252 Sp. Atk/252 Spd)
Volt Switch/Shadow Ball/HP Fire/Thunderbolt

It's been doing dandy against sand teams, but it's met its match in the form of John Wayne Gacy on steroids. Nothing on this team can accurately counter Conkeldurr, and it can retaliate with powerful Mach/Drain Punches.
 
Re: Infernape

I would think Fire Punch/Iron Fist is an obvious choice. In fact, the question I have is what takes the place of your Grass Knot. Ice Punch is solid for dragons, but Dual Chop offers similar coverage with the added benefit of sub-busting. If you're going to use Grass Knot, Thunderpunch offers "redundant coverage"... although I don't expect Grass Knot to OHKO everything Thunderpunch would...

Edit: See here for CC calcs:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4405082&postcount=30
 
If Infernape is going to be scarved, I would use Overheat over Heat Wave for the immensely superior immediate power.

Thundurus-T should also be considered over Jolteon, as he also packs Volt Absorb and has altogether superior typing and bulk. He also gives you a fighting resistance.
 
Your team sees nice, but have a big Fighting weakness. Scizor can nock out Starmie, Zoroark and Mamoswine with easy.

SD Scizor and Heracross are big problems. Conkeldurr can sweep your whole team, too.
Jolteon, Scizor and Infernape have a nightmare namely Earthquake Stab. The Air ballon is easy to handle with Bullet Punch, Fake Out, Sucker Punch and faster U-Turn/ Volt Switches.
 
Hello Mate!

Mad props for using Infernape! To whom that said Heatran is the better choice I'd like to say they are two completely different pokemon, the speed is a huge part of the meta so Infernape has a decent niche in it.

On to the rate,

With this Meta I noticed your team really lacks a viable tank. Honestly, having stealth rock damage along with spikes REALLY helps with OHKO/2OHKO. I'd say test the MixApe...this allows you to go nuts on Sun team with over heat or CC on rain teams (e.g. Politoed/Ferrothorn).

Your Scizors nature is honestly not needed. Scizor is based around priority moves so you can invest in an Adamant nature for boosted attacks.

Look which tank suits you. I can see Bronzong with Heat proof and Air balloon doing well. Even a Jirachi to slow down and annoy the opponent.

As for the Mamoswine, if you want STAB Ice moves Id suggest testing out Weavile. Its faster and learns low sweep. Weavile is one of the deadliest sweepers with a Speed of 125 along with an attack of 125. Basically one Ice punch + Life orb can kill a DNite

252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 315-374 (97.52 - 115.78%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO

Best of luck!
 
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