Community POTW #111

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon and we're continuing our Sinnoh throwback!

It's Infernape!

Infernape #392 - Serebii.net Pokédex

Infernape Pokémon Serebii.net Pokédex providing all details on moves, stats, abilities, evolution data and locations for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl & Pokéemon Legends: Arceus

www.serebii.net

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
Jolly nature
252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Defence
- Fake Out
- Blaze Kick
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch

Doubles Infernape. I run this next to Cherrim in gen 7, Fake Out allows Cherrim to set up Sunny Day and activate its ability, giving Infernape a 125% boost to Blaze Kick, enabling it to KO most foes on neutral hits with it. Blaze Kick is chosen over Flare Blitz as it combines with the Blaze ability and the Focus Sash, while Flare Blitz recoil would break the Sash making it much harder to survive and activate Blaze. Close Combat is the other STAB move and is more accurate than Blaze Kick, and Mach Punch is priority to finish off weakened foes. It's fairly straightforward, but a Sun + Flower Gift + Blaze boosted Blaze Kick hits incredibly hard considering Infernape's high speed. I run it in gen 7 doubles but I imagine it working just as well in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl doubles. EVs and nature are also straightforward maximum speed maximum attack sweeper build. Jolly for maximum speed as Infernape is quite frail, especially in Blaze range and/or after using Close Combat, you want to KO enemies before they get a chance to hit you.

Other options: Mach Punch can be replaced with several other options. Feint is an option, sacrificing power from Mach Punch for a higher priority bracket and Protect removal. If you commonly see Focus Sash users on the enemy side Feint can be good to finish them off in a more robust way than Mach Punch as they can't avoid it with Protect. Thunder Punch is also an option to hit Water and Flying types. Note that under sunlight Blaze Kick hits harder than Thunder Punch against most flying types, and the difference is even more pronounced if Blaze is also active. Against water types Thunder Punch is usually still inferior to Close Combat in damage, so in practice it won't actually offer that much outside of specific targets like Gyarados. Thunder Punch lacking STAB and having relatively poor base power hurts its viability as coverage.

 

[XaelOstigian]

It seems it wasn't coincidence that we have done the gen 4 starters 3 weeks in a row! Anyways, it seems we end this sequence with arguably the most popular of the gen 4 starters, Infernape. Based off of Sun Wu Kong, also known in Japan as Son Goku, also known in anime as:

Needless to say that is quite a pedigree to live up to, and Infernape lives to the title pretty well thanks to a diverse movepool, mixed offensive stats, and a pretty high speed stat. However it is still held back thanks to neither of its offensive stats or speed quite landing in superb territory. But Infernape still makes for a good sweeper both early and late in the game.

Kaio-Ken
Ability: Blaze
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Jolly (+Speed -Sp.Att)
EVs: (HP 4) (Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Swords Dance
Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick
Close Combat
Stone Edge/Thunder Punch

Set Details:
A physical set up sweeper. Lay down Swords Dance, spam Close Combat and your choice of Fire STAB with Flare Blitz having more power but at the severe cost of recoil and Blaze Kick having less power but no recoil. Finally for coverage we have Stone Edge for Flying coverage and Thunder Punch for Water coverage. Invest in attack and speed, then slap on a Life Orb for extra damage.

Kamehameha
Ability: Blaze
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid (+Speed -Att)
EVs: (HP 4) (Sp.Attack 252) (Speed 252)

Moves:
Nasty Plot
Fire Blast
Focus Blast
Grass Knot

Set Details:
Same as the previous set but with special attack instead. Set up Nasty Plot, incinerate foes with Fire Blast or launch off a powerful but inaccurate Focus Blast, and finally for coverage we have Grass Knot for Water coverage and a means to counter heavy Ground and Rock types that could dodge Focus Blast.

 

[BillyBobJoe]

As much as I want to recommend an Iron Fist set, I can’t. Yes, Infernape gets both STABs and a coverage move, but that’s it and the Fighting options it does get (outside of Focus Punch) only have 40 BP.

 

[Mestorn]

Infernape, one of the longtime kings of Gen 4 OU -while it is true that other Pokémon were far more dominant, few possessed as varied sets that adapted to such a rapidly evolving metagame, and hasn't dropped below UU in the generations that followed. Infernape's expansive movepool is thanks to that -Excellent STABs on both ends of the spectrum, coverage moves in Grass Knot, Stone Edge, U-Turn, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Poison Jab, support options in Fake Out, Endeavor, Taunt, Stealth Rock, Infernape can do anything except tanking (it does have Slack Off, but its Base Stats are a bit too high of a hurdle there).

The return to BDSP OU has been a mixed blessing for Infernape. On one hand, many of the faster Pokémon that were introduced are unavailable, enabling Infernape to wreak havoc as the pool of Pokémon that natively outspeed it is relatively small (Lati@s, Gengar, Alakazam, Dugtrio, Crobat, Azelf, Aerodactyl, Jolteon). On the other hand, Infernape hasn't changed that much, while its competition has. Clefable, once a wall that Infernape could nuke with its Fighting STAB is now a Fairy type that requires coverage or serious chip damage for Infernape to overcome. Azumarill is a veritable nightmare, being a lightweight Water Fairy type that requires Thunder Punch or Poison Jab to be seriously threatened and can OHKO with Aqua Jet. Other Pokémon that greatly benefit from their Hidden Abilities like Gliscor, Feraligator, Nidoking/Nidoqueen, Crawdaunt all give Infernape trouble or stop it before it can start. Additionally, the loss of Hidden Power means that Garchomp and Gliscor are solid answers to Infernape, though its Fighting/Fire STABs respectively will still sting.

Make no mistake, Infernape is on everyone's watch lists. It just can't carry every tool it wants and will always have fatal gaps in its coverage.

Mixed Monkey Melee
Infernape
Ability: Blaze
Item: Life Orb
-Fire Blast/Overheat
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot
-Stone Edge/U-Turn
Nature: Naive (+SPE, -SDEF)
EVs: 168 ATK / 88 SATK / 252 SPE

This Infernape set is meant as a potent revenge killer, breaking through popular defensive answers. Fire Blast + Close Combat eats the classic SkarmBliss Core alive, while hitting other potent threats like Scizor, Heatran (Attack EVs are to guarantee OHKO on Heatran), Magnezone, Tangrowth, Breloom, Weavile, Tyranitar, Bronzong, etc. Grass Knot is in general the best anti Water answer -crushing Gastrodon, Swampert, Quagsire, Blastoise, as well as Hippowdon. Last move is up to personal preference. Stone Edge punishes flying types like Dragonite, Salamence, Togekiss, and Gyarados, while U-Turn enables Infernape to scout and is the best option against Lati@s.

Other Options
Thunderpunch -Hits many of the lightweight Water types not bothered by Grass Knot as well as Gyarados and several Flying types
Poison Jab -Punishes Clefable, Azumarill, Ludicolo and Togekiss.
Slack Off -Recovers Damage from Entry Hazards and Life Orb, in case your opponent tries to wear Infernape down passively.

 

[BillyBobJoe]

Mixed Monkey Melee
Infernape
Ability: Blaze
Item: Life Orb
-Fire Blast/Overheat
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot
-Stone Edge/U-Turn
Nature: Naive (+SPE, -SDEF)
EVs: 168 ATK / 88 SATK / 252 SPE

This move set is almost exactly what I am using in my Brilliant Diamond play through (though only the moves). I have Flamethrower instead though, due to better Accuracy.

 

[BillyBobJoe]

I would like to note that the past 9 POTW posts have not been locked (that’s 102 to 110). Just wanted to let the admins know.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Infernape is an incredibly versatile Pokemon capable of running dozens of different sets and fulfilling a huge number of roles on offensive teams.

So let's slap a Choice Band on it and click buttons.

Infernape @ Choice Band
Jolly - Blaze
252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Sp. Def
-Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-U-Turn / Poison Jab
-Thunder Punch / Poison Jab / Stone Edge

As I said, Infernape is capable of fulfilling a huge number of very complex roles such as playing prediction games with opposing leads thanks to Taunt and Fake Out or acting as an offensive Pokemon with a variety of coverage moves. But those roles require thinking, and sometimes you don't want to think. Sometimes thinking is hard and you just want to click buttons and watch things take lots and lots of damage. That's okay, Infernape can do that too.

This set is about as basic as it gets. Flare Blitz and Close Combat are both extremely powerful STABs. You don't need to worry too much about the drawbacks, Infernape isn't going to survive long anyways so it's best for him to put as large a hole in the enemy team as he can before he goes down. Flare Blitz's recoil actually works quite well with Blaze, as after a few Flare Blitzes he often puts himself in Blaze's activation range, letting him fire off one or two more supercharged Blitzes.

You've got some options for the last two moves. U-Turn is a pretty standard option on any Choice-locked Pokemon and Infernape is no different, especially on a set designed to require the user to use as few of their brain cells as possible. Thunder Punch is a nice filler move to catch out Gyarados and Mantine, but Poison Jab can be carried over either one if doing massive damage to bulky Fairies like Azumarill and Clefable is preferred. Stone Edge is also an option, retaining a solid hit on Gyarados and Mantine but also doing more damage to Salamence and Dragonite, and it hits the admittedly rare Moltres who otherwise shrugs off most of what Infernape can throw at it.​