SV OU Return of Hazard Monke - Infernape Hazard Stack HO (Peaked #93 @1863)

[SittinGamer]

Lookin Like Gen 4 With Da Lead Ape In Da House...

This is how it feels to click Overheat just imagine a REALLY loud splashing sound as you are launched into Hell.​

Proof of Peak:

The Process: First of all, big shoutouts to JackRG for work-shopping this with me months ago. Despite this, the core of 5 pre Zama was concocted by yours truly, but the sage guidance helped me identify how to play the team better, as well as insight into other options, so again, props. I was pretty bad at trying to identify a team type back when starting, and didn't see a HO for what it was, but yeah this team is pretty offensive unless you're dealing with hard stall. Either way, I always liked the idea of Hazard Stack, making any game a possibility as long as you can play the long game with Knock Off and phasing, so that was the initial goal. Alongside trying to explore hazards, I thought Infernape would be a neat place to start, as it has a lot of useful traits when looking at the most common removers and spinblockers. All this is to say, I started with the monkey, Samurott because it exerts pressure pretty much any turn, and Ghold, the titular blocker. From there, the team went through a few iterations, though the most notable that wouldn't realistically be covered in the lower mon descriptions is the final slot, which ended up being Roar Zama, but had went through choices like Okidogi and Latios (as said, not the brightest at knowing what fits on what team when building in December).

The Team
https://pokepast.es/8661a45bbe9ee309

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Vacuum Wave
- Will-O-Wisp
​

There is no high in the world like hitting Blaze boosted Tera Fire Modest Overheats. Can other Mons do this better? Yes. Is it still funny watching mons like Landorus, Ogerpon, Tusk, Zapdos, Pecharunt, or Weezing Galar get NUKED from full? Yes. That said, its role IS the rocker. I chose Infernape because I felt that its profile inherently threatened many of the options that aim to either spin or defog. Even without Timid, Infernape still notably outspeeds mons like Tusk, Pecharunt, Excadrill, Landorus, and ties against lead Tinkatons. The added damage can really be felt when in Blaze range or while Tera'd, and you really only lose out on the Iron Crown matchup, as most Zapdos don't seem to run past 301 speed anyway. You also weren't outspeeding base 350s even with Timid. Realistically, many games Infernape will just need to do the job of getting rocks up, burning something, and dying. If this mon can be preserved though, it puts in so much more work than one would think. Burn utility is always nice to allow other mons to set up and become win cons, Vacuum Wave is Solid Chip and makes the Ape become an aight revenge killer against prominent mons like Roaring Moon, Darkrai, and Kyurem pre tera. Sash also does Sash things, as it can get you out of a bind if you managed to preserve your health earlygame, and a surpising amount of leads just switch out or set up their own hazards while not doing immediate damage. That all said, it IS still kinda a gimmick and the use I get out of this mon is certainly impacted by no one in the world using this mon, let alone its old rocker lead set. Seriously though it is great watching this thing do like 60% to physically defensive resists when in Blaze range like Moltres or Dondozo.

Samurott-Hisui @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 216 HP / 112 Atk / 56 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Razor Shell
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
​

I went with the CTC spread because I just assume he is smarter than the Smogon suggested AV spread. The combination of Ceaseless Edge, Knock, and Priority pretty much forces every turn to be SOME kind of progress, whether it be chipping into revenge killing a Tusk/Valiant/what-have-you, setting up spikes, or de-iteming other guys, its hard to make complete waste of a turn when Rott is on the field. Many times, it just comes out early game, sets up a spike, knocks off, and trades if it can, but preserving this guy seems pretty needed against bulkier teams, as you need the omnipresent threat of knocking more items or reapplying hazards.

Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Make It Rain​

Bulky Nasty Plot Ghold is Bulky Nasty Plot Ghold. EVs can almost certainly be tweaked, as well as tera options like fairy or something, but JackRG went with Ghost, and figured losing the weakness to Headlong IS usually why one Tera's this thing anyway, so pumping up Shadow Ball's damage lets you keep the spinblocking while assuring you won't get memed on the Headlong turn. Gholdengo does as he does, blocking Defog and Spin, getting stupid chip for its bulk, and staying alive against slower teams. It isn't terribly hard to get in and Recover up on the types of teams it tends to annoy most anyway, and in faster games it only needs to prevent removal and chip said option enough to make it unable to reliably come in later.

Iron Valiant @ Booster Energy
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Calm Mind
​

Literally that one meme of I do not know what is in the box. In the same vein, you can probably do almost anything with Valiant and have it work, as I've experimented with Encore, Dark Knock, Psyshock, and Destiny Bond all to varying degrees of success. Without much in the way of special force (that doesn't necessitate a switch after like with Ape), Valiant seemed an easy way to get a special attacker that can be molded to the metagame's needs, acts as consistent speed control, and can force mindgames before the set is revealed. I settled on Thunderbolt as it is basically a lifeline against rain, can punish stall staples like Dozo and Pex while still exerting pressure on Blissey, and helps against Moltres/Corviknight alongside Rott's Knocks. It's also nice that Glowking's most common tera is weak to Electric, as a fair few have tera'd to avoid a Knock Off, only to get slammed with a +1 stab Thunderbolt. I doubt this is the best set for Valiant, but its been the one that I feel either wins games or forces SOMETHING on the enemy team that I dont have answers for at full to eat 40-70% chip.

Great Tusk @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
​

Originally this was just a boots spinner, but I was recommended Roaring Moon by JackRG to better fit the slam buttons nature of this team. I was spooked by a lack of hazard removal inherently, so he then suggested good ol reliable Booster Speed Bulk Up. Higher ladder has had less moments of this guy just winning a game, but being able to get the jump on Dragapult and DDers pre DDing is really nice, and bro usually does still slam something pretty hard with only one boost. Tera Steel was chosen over Fire to prevent Pech from doing Pech things, and if it wants to pivot, it has to accept that the defense boosts still stack. Head Smash is fun to just own araquanid turn one, Booster Attack and boots also exist, alonside I'd imagine Rocky Helmet as options, but I'm using this build as the one in the writeup because this is the current iteration of Tusk and the one that facilitated my most recent climb.

Zamazenta @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Roar​

This is maybe the most sample member of the team and linear in what it does, so there is little to say for a classic Roar Zama. That said, there is still some maleability on the EVS that could make Crunch hit Ghold and Pech a little harder at the cost of def and like 4 points of speed to stay above Weav and Darkrai. Fire is for when Moltres is the only answer, but that's less common at real levels of play. Still, it helps earlygame to stop physical attackers, phase out greedy sweepers you don't otherwise have an answer to, phase slow and knocked team for chip, and PRESS.

Goob Threats: I fly to the sun and drop to the floor many times, so I'd say I'm a ~1500-1600s player who will lose perfectly winnable games to throwing, so I'm not super qualified to say real threats, but two come to mind, aside from inherently flippy teams like Psyspam or Veil. Sun is pretty difficult, as Samurott is basically THE special defensive backbone of the team, and a wrong guess to Wake means you're packed pretty early, so you just have to decide which sacks are most viable and hope you can get Val or Tusk in at an opportune time. Pech can also be annoying if the team is too battered, as its usually paired with an answer to Tusk, so I find myself needing to really make sure Ape doesn't get sacked early in games with the peach around. Moon demands respect in the way everyone knows it demands respect when it hits the field. As one would imagine with an offensive team, you REALLY need to outmaneuver stall and keep Samurott alive as a backstage threat. Thankfully, Infernape Overheat forces progress or threatens most things outside of like Toxapex and Blissey, and most Blissey tend to fear Close Combat and switch.

Replays: Despite every good player ever saying to save your replays to improve, I simply am not him, and did not even intend on making an RMT for a while. I then realized that upon hitting top 100, this could be what those in the business call an Icarus Moment, so I did this now rather than try to go closer to the sun for replays and then get owned silly style.

Conclusion: This team is just fun, man. Any time I try to build to current meta trends or use well made RMTs, it pales in comparison to the comfort I have playing these guys. I am well aware this is by no means the most sound team, but it has felt fun for months, and mons like Samurott, Valiant, Tusk, and Gholdengo can pretty much always be tweaked about to deal with what's propping up more. Thanks to Savouras prompting the RMT as well in the other thread (check out the Paldea Tauros-Blaze team posted earlier too). Just kinda feels wild to actually be playing against people who I'd watch content of or at least know about from forumposting in the final stretches of this climb.

 

[LEGENDARY.EXE4]

Good job on the peak! Also thank you for making funni monke go so high :0

 

[Savouras]

There it is, pure heat!

 

[SittinGamer]

There it is, pure heat!

Pure Overheat 100%

 

[Nitro611]

My boy Infernape in the top 100! I gotta use this team. Congrats on peak.

 

[pinkstork]

So this is the team that smoked me twice on ladder while playing semi-stall.