Monkey Business
I haven't tested this team out yet but I really wanted to make a team based around Infernape since it is one of my favorite Pokemon. I'm a big fan of balanced teams so I tried to make the team balanced, despite Infernape's main role in offensive teams to break walls.
Creating the Team:
The reason why I decided to revolve my team around Infernape was because I wanted to create a team based on a sweeper. Lucario and Mence have already been seen way too much so I thought Infernape would be something new.
Here I took some time to recall my past experiences with Infernape and what kind of Pokemon countered it. I decided that a majority of these pokemon were primarily faster physic/ghost/dragon types, Weavile was my choice.
Then I realized how difficult it was to switch Weavile into these special sweepers, but I still needed a Pokemon who could scare away dragons. Also walls that Infernape cannot break are not generally OHKOed by Weavile and thus will only cripple and heal, my solution to both these problems was Snorlax.
Now I think about the types of Pokemon Weavile normally lure out, Steels. Magnezone works perfectly to trap these steel types.
Now look at my team, a huge weakness to both Fighting and Ground attacks. With only 2 slots left I needed something that could set up SR and wall these two types, Gliscor.
Lastly, I found my team to be very vunerable to Infernape and Gyarados. Not only that but I didn't feel that Gliscor alone could handle repeated fighting attacks, so I chose Latias.
In Depth:
Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 208 HP / 88 Atk /216 Spe
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Roost
-Stealth Rock
Gliscor makes an excellent lead and for good reasons too. First of all Gliscor is fast, bulky, and has access to U-turn allowing it to scout and break focus sash leads. Stealth Rock on Gliscor was almost absolute because it allows Infernape to score some OHKOs. The EV spread is there so that Gliscor may 2HKO the typical lead Metagross. He is also on this team to counter the many powerful fighting types that would otherwise ruin Snorlax. His useful typing helps cover for 2/3 of the team.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Nasty Plot
-Fire Blast
-Vacuum Wave
-Grass Knot
First of all I decided to drop close combat and replace it with vacuum wave because I already have 2 pokemon that deal with those problems (which I will explain later). Vacuum Wave is primarily there for SD Luke and Scarfed Heatran. Fire Blast, I have to admit it a risky choice because of the accuracy, but it allows for certain OHKOs again. Grass Knot of course helps deal with the bulky water types such as Swampert and Suicune who think they can wall you (and the latter will if invested with SpD EVs).
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
EVs: 168 HP / 120 Def / 220 SpD
-Body Slam
-Curse
-Rest
-Fire Punch
Snorlax fits perfectly on this team. First of all he can switch into the many special walls that will block Infernape. Fire Punch has been added because it allows Snorlax to put a nice dent on Steel during the switch. Next Snorlax's Thick Fat allows him to take incoming Ice attacks aimed at Gliscor and Latias and incoming fire attacks aimed at Weavile and Magnezone. Body Slam is a good STABBED attack with that 30% para chance. Curse is the main reason why he works against Blissey (a reason why I do not need CC with Infernape). Rest is there generally for recovery, he needs to constantly have HP to take incoming attacks.
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
-Pursuit
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick
-Night Slash
If there's something I hate, it's being sweeped by a DD Mence. Really my team was very vulnerable to DD set up and I needed something that could take those dragons on, regardless of how many DDs they pulled off. Ice Shard is a must because it stops all dragons that rely on speed to sweep. Pursuit is the bread-and-butter of Weavile, helps revenge kill Gengar and Starmie. Low Kick is just pure awesomeness, it is my main tool to defeating Tyranitar and Snorlax (the second reason why I did not go CC with Infernape). Night Slash is just a filler to take down weakened Dusknoir and Cresselia. I picked Life Orb because I hate being locked into a move. For example I low kick a Tyranitar, but he switches to a Mence and now I'm forced to switch. Weavile is good for luring out style types especially Scizor because they resist Weavile's attacks and threaten with Bullet Punch.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Fire
-Flash Cannon
-Explosion
This is the main reason why Weavile was added, so it can be bait for steel types. People would normally believe that either Gengar or Latias was more suitable for Scizor bait, but I find those two to not be effective at all. First of all Gengar has to worry about either bullet punch or pursuit, if Scizor does use Pursuit as you anticipate Bullet Punch, you have yourself a 1-for-1 as you kill with Magnezone but you have a dead Gengar. Latias on the other hand will have the same 1-for-1 deal if she doesn't pack HP fire, die if pursuited or scouted out with U-turn. What I like about Weavile is that it doesn't have a dark weakness and attracts Bullet Punches. Normally I would switch out anyways to Magnezone in hopes of a bullet punch instead of U-turn. The only thing Weavile also gets brownie points in is that it attracts pretty much ALL the steel types. Now to Magnezone: Thunderbolt is there just for powerful STAB. Hidden Power Fire helps deal with Luke, Fort, Scizor, steels blah blah blah. Flash Cannon helps against Tyranitar. I picked Explosion over Toxic because status moves + choice items are bleh IMO, also once all the steels are gone I can eliminate a potential threat with ease.
Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
-Dragon Pulse
-Thunderbolt
-Roar
-Recover
Latias takes the last slot for her useful resistance and ability to counter Gyarados and Infernape. With the new EV alteration and added Thunderbolt, Latias will be able to threaten Gyarados and force it to switch. Roar is an amazing attack for Latias, it allows her to phaze baton passers, scout for her threats, and rack up SR damage. Recover is pretty much standard for any bulky set.
Creating the Team:
The reason why I decided to revolve my team around Infernape was because I wanted to create a team based on a sweeper. Lucario and Mence have already been seen way too much so I thought Infernape would be something new.
Here I took some time to recall my past experiences with Infernape and what kind of Pokemon countered it. I decided that a majority of these pokemon were primarily faster physic/ghost/dragon types, Weavile was my choice.
Then I realized how difficult it was to switch Weavile into these special sweepers, but I still needed a Pokemon who could scare away dragons. Also walls that Infernape cannot break are not generally OHKOed by Weavile and thus will only cripple and heal, my solution to both these problems was Snorlax.
Now I think about the types of Pokemon Weavile normally lure out, Steels. Magnezone works perfectly to trap these steel types.
Now look at my team, a huge weakness to both Fighting and Ground attacks. With only 2 slots left I needed something that could set up SR and wall these two types, Gliscor.
Lastly, I found my team to be very vunerable to Infernape and Gyarados. Not only that but I didn't feel that Gliscor alone could handle repeated fighting attacks, so I chose Latias.
In Depth:
Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 208 HP / 88 Atk /216 Spe
-Earthquake
-U-turn
-Roost
-Stealth Rock
Gliscor makes an excellent lead and for good reasons too. First of all Gliscor is fast, bulky, and has access to U-turn allowing it to scout and break focus sash leads. Stealth Rock on Gliscor was almost absolute because it allows Infernape to score some OHKOs. The EV spread is there so that Gliscor may 2HKO the typical lead Metagross. He is also on this team to counter the many powerful fighting types that would otherwise ruin Snorlax. His useful typing helps cover for 2/3 of the team.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Nasty Plot
-Fire Blast
-Vacuum Wave
-Grass Knot
First of all I decided to drop close combat and replace it with vacuum wave because I already have 2 pokemon that deal with those problems (which I will explain later). Vacuum Wave is primarily there for SD Luke and Scarfed Heatran. Fire Blast, I have to admit it a risky choice because of the accuracy, but it allows for certain OHKOs again. Grass Knot of course helps deal with the bulky water types such as Swampert and Suicune who think they can wall you (and the latter will if invested with SpD EVs).
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
EVs: 168 HP / 120 Def / 220 SpD
-Body Slam
-Curse
-Rest
-Fire Punch
Snorlax fits perfectly on this team. First of all he can switch into the many special walls that will block Infernape. Fire Punch has been added because it allows Snorlax to put a nice dent on Steel during the switch. Next Snorlax's Thick Fat allows him to take incoming Ice attacks aimed at Gliscor and Latias and incoming fire attacks aimed at Weavile and Magnezone. Body Slam is a good STABBED attack with that 30% para chance. Curse is the main reason why he works against Blissey (a reason why I do not need CC with Infernape). Rest is there generally for recovery, he needs to constantly have HP to take incoming attacks.
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
-Pursuit
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick
-Night Slash
If there's something I hate, it's being sweeped by a DD Mence. Really my team was very vulnerable to DD set up and I needed something that could take those dragons on, regardless of how many DDs they pulled off. Ice Shard is a must because it stops all dragons that rely on speed to sweep. Pursuit is the bread-and-butter of Weavile, helps revenge kill Gengar and Starmie. Low Kick is just pure awesomeness, it is my main tool to defeating Tyranitar and Snorlax (the second reason why I did not go CC with Infernape). Night Slash is just a filler to take down weakened Dusknoir and Cresselia. I picked Life Orb because I hate being locked into a move. For example I low kick a Tyranitar, but he switches to a Mence and now I'm forced to switch. Weavile is good for luring out style types especially Scizor because they resist Weavile's attacks and threaten with Bullet Punch.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Fire
-Flash Cannon
-Explosion
This is the main reason why Weavile was added, so it can be bait for steel types. People would normally believe that either Gengar or Latias was more suitable for Scizor bait, but I find those two to not be effective at all. First of all Gengar has to worry about either bullet punch or pursuit, if Scizor does use Pursuit as you anticipate Bullet Punch, you have yourself a 1-for-1 as you kill with Magnezone but you have a dead Gengar. Latias on the other hand will have the same 1-for-1 deal if she doesn't pack HP fire, die if pursuited or scouted out with U-turn. What I like about Weavile is that it doesn't have a dark weakness and attracts Bullet Punches. Normally I would switch out anyways to Magnezone in hopes of a bullet punch instead of U-turn. The only thing Weavile also gets brownie points in is that it attracts pretty much ALL the steel types. Now to Magnezone: Thunderbolt is there just for powerful STAB. Hidden Power Fire helps deal with Luke, Fort, Scizor, steels blah blah blah. Flash Cannon helps against Tyranitar. I picked Explosion over Toxic because status moves + choice items are bleh IMO, also once all the steels are gone I can eliminate a potential threat with ease.
Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
-Dragon Pulse
-Thunderbolt
-Roar
-Recover
Latias takes the last slot for her useful resistance and ability to counter Gyarados and Infernape. With the new EV alteration and added Thunderbolt, Latias will be able to threaten Gyarados and force it to switch. Roar is an amazing attack for Latias, it allows her to phaze baton passers, scout for her threats, and rack up SR damage. Recover is pretty much standard for any bulky set.
