SD Infernape rampage

[sora13]

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Jolly
252 HP/ 252 Spd /4 sp Def
-Spore
-Thunder Wave
-Stealth Rock
-Magic Coat

So basically, you start of by using Spore if it's something like a Metagross lead. As it breaks your focus sash, it's slept. Then you t-wave the switch in. Next you set up SR and die in most cases. By now, you have 1) two pokemon crippled and 2) SR up. Magic Coat is for status and taunt, and it reflects it back right where it came from. I don't know if this is a bug or not, but it even reflects status and taunt through a sub, which I find a great help for something like Breloom.


Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic

Flashstorm does the explaaining better....

I'm really worried about how your team can handle Lucario, as everything bar Salamence is OHKOed by a boosted Close Combat, Extremespeed, or Crunch in the case of Rotom-h. In order to help patch up this weakness, I recommend that you replace Skarmory for SubRoost Zapdos with Toxic in the final slot. Zapdos provides a useful Fighting and Ground resist which also has access to recovery for your team. By adding Zapdos, you can help weaken your opponent through Toxic similarly to using Spikes through Skarmory.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 148 HP/252 Spd/108 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)

• Recover : To heal off some damage I take while CMing.
• Calm Mind : To set up on those
• Refresh : Because if you can heal status, why not do it?
• Dragon Pulse : For normal STAB.

This thing is my late game cleaner and it really works wonders after steels are taken out by the rest of my team. It can CM on a lot of pokemon that give my team trouble like Suicune and then be able to pull off a sweep with Dragon Pulse. Refresh and Recover also give her more bulk and the ability to take status for the team and heal them off. EVs give me enough speed to outspeed Infernape and enough HP to survive 4 Seismic Tosses from Blissey.


Salamence @ Choice Band
Intimidate
248 Atk / 8 Sp Atk/ 252 Speed
Naughty
-Outrage
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast

Salamence makes fantastic use of Choice Band due to its impressive stats and accommodating move pool. HE IS BEING USED AS A LURE FOR BULKY WATERS AND GROUNDS, HE DOESN'T AIM TO KILL, HE AIMS TO WEAKEN. It is also very effective because most opponents will be anticipating the more common Dragon Dance or Mixed sets allowing Salamence to use the element of surprise to its advantage. Outrage is expected for the high base power, Dragon Claw for scouting, EQ for steel, and Fire Blast for Skarm.


Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
Technician
180 HP/252 Atk/80 Sp Def
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Scizor takes care of the usual suspects that completely shut down Infernape such as Starmie, Tentacruel, Slowbro, Gengar….. you name it he OHKOes or puts the opponent in Infernape’s KO range. He works great as a trapper and for scouting giving me the advantage in tight situaitions. THe synergy with SD Infernape is too great to pass up.


Infernape @ Life Orb
Jolly
6 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Speed
-Swords Dance
-Fire Punch
-Stone Edge
-Close Combat

The second star of the show, SD Infernape has so much potential, I even think it's a better poke than SD Luke. A +2 Close Combat OHKOs Vaporeon with Stealth Rock, as well as OHKOing 252 HP / 0 Def Tentacruel 79% of the time with Stealth Rock. It OHKOs 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross, easily. Hurts the Rotom formes with Fire Punch. A lot of the time, when I SD, they switch to Salamence, Gyarados, or Zapdos. Big mistake. Stone Edge KOes them all with Intimidate factored in and no Stealth Rock needed. It needs more attacking power compared to SD Luke, but, half the time, they to switch two times because they think it's MixApe, giving him two SDs. SDApe has tons of surprise value, and it doesn't lack in power too much and is still faster.

 

[CntTchtis]

Hi, well your team needs some MAJOR revamping, since you only have one Special Attacker and hes more of a wall, you really lack a dedicated Special Attacker. Also you have 2 CHoice Banders which are both meant to weaken teams, I reccomend putting SpecsLatias over your Salamence as it as more place in your team right now, try the bulky CM set this can be your special wall as well as special sweeper.

A good alternative to Rotom would probably have to be Gengar which is always a solid choice for any team, despite Scizor running wild, its gives another strong Special Attacker, and some speed, as well as a chance to ruin something with Trick, a set like this should work:

Gengar@Choice Scarf
Timid
Moves:
Shadow Ball
Trick
Thunderbolt
HP Fire
252 SpA/ 252 Spe/ 6 Def

Hope I helped, btw cool Smeargle lead

Cnttchtis

 

[sora13]

Hi, well your team needs some MAJOR revamping, since you only have one Special Attacker and hes more of a wall, you really lack a dedicated Special Attacker. Also you have 2 CHoice Banders which are both meant to weaken teams, I reccomend putting SpecsLatias over your Salamence as it as more place in your team right now, try the bulky CM set this can be your special wall as well as special sweeper.

A good alternative to Rotom would probably have to be Gengar which is always a solid choice for any team, despite Scizor running wild, its gives another strong Special Attacker, and some speed, as well as a chance to ruin something with Trick, a set like this should work:

Gengar@Choice Scarf
Timid
Moves:
Shadow Ball
Trick
Thunderbolt
HP Fire
252 SpA/ 252 Spe/ 6 Def

Hope I helped, btw cool Smeargle lead

Cnttchtis

I think I will try Bulky CM Latias over Rotom, it will give me special attacking as well as a special wall.

 

[sora13]

I'm running a similar team, CM cresselia works wonders on it, try it out in place of rotom.

Also, use scizor to scout for bulky waters, uturn into mence if they send in some other counter

Ok, I'll test both Cresselia and Latias in Rotom's place.

 

[sora13]

BUMP!

 

[Flashstorm1]

I'm really worried about how your team can handle Lucario, as everything bar Salamence is OHKOed by a boosted Close Combat, Extremespeed, or Crunch in the case of Rotom-h. In order to help patch up this weakness, I recommend that you replace Skarmory for SubRoost Zapdos with Toxic in the final slot. Zapdos provides a useful Fighting and Ground resist which also has access to recovery for your team. By adding Zapdos, you can help weaken your opponent through Toxic similarly to using Spikes through Skarmory.

In case you need it, here is the Zapdos set I recommend:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic / Heat Wave

* Note the analysis recommends you run Special Defenses EVs over Defense EVs. The Defense EVs allow you to take physical hits much easier.

Now, if you decide to add Zapdos to your team, Rotom-h can easily be replaced for another Pokémon. In particular, I'd like to recommend you run Swampert, since it not only forms excellent synergy with Zapdos, but helps patch up holes that Pokémon such as Gyarados and DDBabiriTar might cause for your team.

For Swampert, the standard MixPert set should be sufficient, but with a tailored moveset which comes out to...

Swampert @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Roar / Surf

This Swampert allows you to effectively counter Gyarados with HP Electric and hit other Flying-types such as Skarmory if you need to.


I'm glad to have suggested these changes to your team, so let me know if they work out, ok? Feel free to ask for further help if you need it.

 

[sora13]

I will try out Zapdos, but I will not try out Swampert as my lack of Special Attacking is hurting me and I am deciding what to put there.

UPDATE! Zapdos has been edited in after testing.

 

[Flashstorm1]

I will try out Zapdos, but I will not try out Swampert as my lack of Special Attacking is hurting me and I am deciding what to put there.

The problem here is, if Tyranitar gets in a Dragon Dance (which it easily can on Rotom-h), your team is completely susceptible to a sweep.

Now, in my last post, I forgot to specify that your team, where you to opt for Swampert, would add an increased weakness to MixApe, and your current counter to it is shaky at best, in my opinion.

A simply solution to this problem would be to replace Choice Band on Salamence for Choice Scarf. Running a Choice Scarf gives you a second option in handling Gyarados, Tyranitar, and Salamence should your main option of dealing with them fail.

This set could work well...

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 208 Spe / 48 Atk
Naughty Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Outrage / Hydro Pump

You stated you needed a soilid special attacker, so I think this Salamence can fill that particular role. Salamence heavily dents physical walls with Draco Meteor, increasing the chances of Infernape being able to sweep. Max Special Attack increases power, and the given speed outspeeds +1 Jolly Gyarados.

 

[sora13]

The problem here is, if Tyranitar gets in a Dragon Dance (which it easily can on Rotom-h), your team is completely susceptible to a sweep.

Now, in my last post, I forgot to specify that your team, where you to opt for Swampert, would add an increased weakness to MixApe, and your current counter to it is shaky at best, in my opinion.

A simply solution to this problem would be to replace Choice Band on Salamence for Choice Scarf. Running a Choice Scarf gives you a second option in handling Gyarados, Tyranitar, and Salamence should your main option of dealing with them fail.

This set could work well...

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 208 Spe / 48 Atk
Naughty Nature (+SpA, -SpD)
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Outrage / Hydro Pump

You stated you needed a soilid special attacker, so I think this Salamence can fill that particular role. Salamence heavily dents physical walls with Draco Meteor, increasing the chances of Infernape being able to sweep. Max Special Attack increases power, and the given speed outspeeds +1 Jolly Gyarados.

I have tried Choice Scarf Salamence before and it just doesn't seem to work on me. Every time I revenged something with it, something would just come and set up and sweep.

If this changes anything, I have added Latias over Rotom for special bulkiness and special attacking. I think putting Reflect on Latias over Refresh may make T-tar a lot easier to handle.

 

[XxBlueCleric.xX]

Hey,

For a team aiming to sweep with Infernape, you don't account for what is possibly one of it's greatest counters: Gyarados. Gyarados easily 6-0s this team after switching in on 1 of your many Choice'd attacks or after Scizor KOs something and Dragon dancing. Even Stone Edge can take out your Latias.

Also, your team will have a pretty tough time against Swampert. It can phaze Latias. You really don't want to waste your CB Salamence trying to weaken it. It won't even be OHKO'd by a +1 LO Outrage, so CB Mence will fail as well.

Zapdos is nice and all and has a reputation for being an awesome Scizor counter, but in your case, Scizor can roost off all damage your Zapdos deals to it. That means you lack a solid scizor counter. (Nape is decent, I guess, but it'll need some good prediction to get in)

The best thing you can do to fix this would be to put in a Swampert. I'd probably throw it over your Smeargle because although it gets you a decent advantage, Swampert could help more. Smeargle is also not very useful later on in the game, which could be important in pulling off your sweep. First off, it can easily get the Rocks off on this metagame since it scares Jirachi and Metagross (somewhat). It handles most Dragon Dance sweepers (Salamence,Gyarados, AND Tyranitar). It has nice synergy with this team as well. Lastly, it also can switch on T-Wave, something that could annoy this team a lot. (Scizor COULD take it, but I hate having my CB Scizors taking T-Wave anyways....) I think you should probably playtest that.

Other than that, you got everything else covered decently.

 

[sora13]

Hey,

For a team aiming to sweep with Infernape, you don't account for what is possibly one of it's greatest counters: Gyarados. Gyarados easily 6-0s this team after switching in on 1 of your many Choice'd attacks or after Scizor KOs something and Dragon dancing. Even Stone Edge can take out your Latias.

Also, your team will have a pretty tough time against Swampert. It can phaze Latias. You really don't want to waste your CB Salamence trying to weaken it. It won't even be OHKO'd by a +1 LO Outrage, so CB Mence will fail as well.

Zapdos is nice and all and has a reputation for being an awesome Scizor counter, but in your case, Scizor can roost off all damage your Zapdos deals to it. That means you lack a solid scizor counter. (Nape is decent, I guess, but it'll need some good prediction to get in)

The best thing you can do to fix this would be to put in a Swampert. I'd probably throw it over your Smeargle because although it gets you a decent advantage, Swampert could help more. Smeargle is also not very useful later on in the game, which could be important in pulling off your sweep. First off, it can easily get the Rocks off on this metagame since it scares Jirachi and Metagross (somewhat). It handles most Dragon Dance sweepers (Salamence,Gyarados, AND Tyranitar). It has nice synergy with this team as well. Lastly, it also can switch on T-Wave, something that could annoy this team a lot. (Scizor COULD take it, but I hate having my CB Scizors taking T-Wave anyways....) I think you should probably playtest that.

Other than that, you got everything else covered decently.

Gyarados isn't a problem, a Stone Edge from Infernape easily finishes them off and a lot of gyaras don't have Stone Edge so Zapdos can take them on reliably.

Smeargle is quite useful later on in the game as I can sleep random threats if I need to and disable them. I really haven't had any problems with Dragon Dancers overall even though I am theoretically weak to them.

Thanks for the advice though.

 

[XxBlueCleric.xX]

But here's the problem:

How does Infernape outspeed +1 Gyarados? Your Zapdos isn't too reliable since it isn't running Bold or Max. Def meaning Ice Fang could easily KO with Rocks. 66.7% chance to OHKO with Rocks against your Zapdos. Gyarados will easily pull off a DD after Scizor takes something down.

After a DD:

Smeargle ~ Waterfall OHKOs (obviously)
Zapdos ~ OHKOd by Stone Edge, Ice Fang OHKOs 66.7% of the time with Rocks down.
Latias ~ OHKOd by Ice Fang (it can't do much back anyways)
Salamence ~ OHKOd by Ice Fang or Stone Edge
Scizor ~ OHKOd over 1/2 the time by Waterfall (it can't do much back)
Infernape ~ Outsped and OHKOd

Gyarados can run DD and any moveset to 6-0 this team. That's actually very threatening.

 

[Darkmalice]

CB Salamence should have Aqua Tail in place of Dragon Claw. Aqua Tail will 2HKO Hippowdon and other bulky grounds. It will also lower the chance of enemy Heatran attempting to take advantage of a Dragon Attack or Fire Blast. It should be be Naughty with 248 Atk / 8 SpA / 252 Speed. This increases the damage output of Fire Blast, and scores a 2HKO on 252 HP / 0 SDef Celebi with SR in play.


I agree with xxBlueClericxx. If Gyarados manages to get a DD against Scizor or Salamence locked into the wrong attack, you are in a lot of trouble. You could replace Zapdos with this Rotom-H.

EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Will o Wisp
+1 Gyarados would be foolish to stay in on Rotom-H. The Speed EVs enables Rotom-H to outspeed Adamant Lucario. Other than the speed, this is a standard Rotom-H. Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball for STAB, Overheat for Scizor and Lucario. Will o Wisp is for physical threats, most notably Tyranitar. Works well in conjunction with Latias' Reflect.

 

[sora13]

Ok, I will test Swampert and Rotom-h out and see how they work out.

I won't change to Aqua Tail because I only need do 35% to bulky Grounds and waters to put them in Infernape's KO range and thhus beat them. He doesn't NEED to kill, he wants to st least WEAKEN. Dragon Claw isa decently powerful move and is used for scouting their bulky water and weakening him so Infernape can sweep. Overall it is much better than Aqua Tail.

 

[Darkmalice]

Salamence has an extra 4 EVs. I recommend taking them from Atk for a guaranteed 2HKO on Celebi with Fire Blast and SR damage.

 

[sora13]

I'll fix it in a second.