Competitive Pokemon History - Infernape Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At first glance, Infernape seems completely inferior to third generation starter Blaziken. Blaziken has the same exact typing, also has a big movepool, and hits a lot harder than Infernape does. However, Infernape was actually definitely the better option of the two, and was a prominent member of fourth generation standard play as a result. What notable advantage did Infernape have over Blaziken?

Answer: Higher Speed

Both Infernape and Blaziken were immensely frail, so neither was exactly being used as a wall. While both Blaziken's Attack and Special Attack were superior, Infernape had a whopping 28 points of advantage for its Speed stat. This advantage entirely offsets Infernape's slightly weaker offenses, enabling it to outclass Blaziken rather than the other way around.

2. Infernape was a deadly threat to stall teams in particular. It was particularly dangerous because it was the only Pokemon who could naturally do which of the following?

Answer: Break up the most common defensive core in the game

The most popular defensive core in the game, per Smogon usage statistics, was the tandem of Skarmory and Blissey or, SkarmBliss. The idea was that the physically defensive Skarmory took physical hits for the physically frail Blissey, then ran for the hills in favor of Blissey so that the pink blob could absorb special attacks for the metal bird.

Infernape completely dismantled this core. Its Fire type attacks annihilated Skarmory, while its Fighting type attacks tore Blissey apart. It had the stats to be an elite mixed attacker, so brainlessly switching one of these into it like a player could with any other offensive threat would not work.

Therefore, Infernape immediately placed tons of pressure on stall teams from the moment it touched the battlefield.

3. Nearly every Pokemon in every metagame across history has what are known as counters. A counter is defined as a Pokemon who can reliably switch into the target and win. Did Infernape have any of those in the fourth generation?

Answer: No

Infernape received a jaw-dropping amount of goodies in its movepool, and it had excellent attacking stats and great Speed with which to abuse this with. A Fire and a Fighting type attack were a given due to them both getting STAB, but the next two moveslots could be filled with practically anything. Thunderpunch and Stone Edge kept Water and Flying types at bay. Grass Knot ensured Swampert couldn't contend with Infernape reliably as it switched in either. Dragonite then seems like it could counter Infernape, but a timely Hidden Power Ice would render Dragonite a non problem. Suicune, Vaporeon and Starmie come close, but an Infernape with Nasty Plot can pressure Suicune and Starmie heavily, while Vaporeon would also have immense difficult absorbing Swords Dance-boosted Thunderpunches.

Simply put, Infernape cannot reliably be countered.

4. While it may seem like the presence of other brutalizing Fire type attackers, like Volcarona, would push Infernape out of the spotlight, this was not the case for the fifth generation. Infernape boasted one particularly important advantage over any other relevant Fire type in standard play, and it was a defensive advantage of all things that made it stand out. What advantage was this?

Answer: Not being weak to Stealth Rock

Moltres was far more effective than Infernape under rain, with its STAB Hurricanes to supplement that. Infernape was also not capable of countering Tyranitar; it could check the second generation pseudo legendary for sure, but switching into it was difficult considering T-Tar's high offenses, Infernape's poor bulk, and T-Tar's access to numerous attacks that could maim the ape.

However, where Volcarona and Moltres lost half their health to Stealth Rock, and Fire types in general lost a quarter of their health to it, Infernape's neutrality to Stealth Rock was definitely unique to itself. This made it a good fit on hyper offensive teams that didn't have the ability to provide entry hazard removing support, support which would be practically mandatory if said team decided to instead use Volcarona or Moltres over Infernape.

5. In the fifth generation, Infernape did indeed run into a counter here. Which of the following could reliably switch into it and win?

Answer: Latios

Latios, and its sister Latias, had the perfect typing and bulk to pull this off. They resisted or were neutral to everything Infernape could run except Hidden Power Ice, which didn't do enough damage to properly deter them despite hitting super effectively.

They notably resisted both of Infernape's STAB attacks, giving them clear points of entry. They were also both particularly common in fifth generation standard play, which could prove problematic.

6. Infernape received an interesting ability from the fifth generation's Dream World. What was it?

Answer: Iron Fist

Iron Fist provides a 20% damage boost to punch-based attacks, which would pretty much be any physical Fighting type attack and Thunderpunch that Infernape could run. This was definitely more appreciable than the inconsistent boost Blaze offered, so it immediately slotted in as Infernape's go-to ability most of the time.

7. Infernape may have dropped to UnderUsed in the sixth generation, but it undoubtedly remained viable in standard play still. Bizarrely, a new, incredibly unconventional set for it in standard play was discovered that Infernape pulled off better than any other Fire type in the tier. What role did this set aim to fill?

Answer: Physical Wall

Infernape's bad 76/71/71 bulk makes any sort of walling set seem incredibly amusing on paper. However, Infernape's unbelievably deep movepool and typing actually made the set work, and work quite well. Its Fire/Fighting typing conveniently allowed it to resist both STABs boasted by Mega Scizor and Weavile, while enabling it to easily deal with Ferrothorn, Forrettress and most variants of Jirachi.

It also could bait in threat such as Gyarados and Gliscor and cripple them immensely with Will-O-Wisp.

However, the true selling point to this set was its ability to effortlessly counter stallbreaking Heatran sets, which would obliterate stall teams otherwise. Being able to stave off such a deadly threat was the selling point to including Infernape onto an average stall team for sure, which was a fairly shocking development considering its competitive history up to this point.

8. In the generation which introduced the Fairy type, Infernape was one of few Fighting types to not be too troubled by them. Only being neutral to Fairy, due to its Fire typing, helped, but access to a new move in the sixth generation helped Infernape directly deal with them as well. What move was this?

Answer: Gunk Shot

Gunk Shot was a powerful Poison type move that hit Fairy super effectively. Infernape could leverage its lack of type disadvantage and access to this move to reliably defeat most Fairy types one-on-one, which gave it a strong niche over Fighting type competition.

9. While Infernape's mixed offenses had been pretty good up to the sixth generation, they began to decline with the advent of more and more power creep, and Infernape was subsequently no longer standard play viable in the seventh generation. What is Infernape's Attack and Special Attack stat?

Answer: 104

104 in both stats was below average for an offensive Pokemon. Infernape's strong attacks, good offensive typing and incredible movepool served to effectively mitigate this in standard play, until power creep just became too much, and Infernape dropped out of the tier entirely. It was still a top tier threat in UU, though, so it wasn't all that bad.

10. Infernape's ability to counter the king of the tier in seventh generation UnderUsed gave it great viability, and supplemented its status as a top tier threat itself. Who was the best Pokemon in seventh generation UU, who trembled at the sight of an Infernape switch in?

Answer: Scizor

Infernape resisted both of Scizor's STABs, frequently carried Slack Off so it could take a neutral hit from Scizor if need be, outsped it, and destroyed it with any Fire type attack of its choosing. Switching in to a U-Turn could become a little dicey, but otherwise, Scizor had no way to deter Infernape from switching straight into it. Scizor was incredibly problematic in UU at the time, so this was an excellent threat for Infernape to cover.

Source: Author cavalier87

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Competitive Pokemon History - Infernape Quiz

The Sinnoh starting Pokemon representative for the Fire typing, it's Infernape! See if you can blaze through this quiz about its competitive history, from generations 4-7.

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