What is a good moveset for Infernape?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Infernape, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Infernape Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Answer 1

Well, Pb gave a DW set, so this is what I use without his DW ability.

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot / Hidden Power [Grass]

Nasty Plot is because I prefer special Infernape. Vacuum Wave is priority and Flamethrower is STAB. HP [Grass] is for PO, but in standard, Grass Knot works better, because getting a good HP is hard as crap.

OR

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-Turn

Swords Dance is for the physical set. Mach Punch hits first and is priority. Fire Punch is STAB. U-Turn takes explaining. It's coverage against Psychic, but also if your Life Orb is about to finish you off, its good to use this to deal more damage, switch, and then have 1 turn of use in the future

Comments

Nothing warms my heart like seeing this reformatted with Infernape's nickname edited out 9 years later.

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Look I get this comment was made 11 years ago, but for the physical route, you should most likely give Infernape Iron Fist so Fire Punch can actually be good

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Bro why priority it has 108 speed!?

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To revenge kill faster foes?

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hmmm, I thought Infernape is a Physical attacker vacuum wave could be Mach Punch, flamethrower is fine but I would have gone with flame wheel or fire punch

Answer 2

Infernape (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch / Close Combat
- Blaze Kick
- Acrobatics

A different Infernape set. The idea of the set it to Swords Dance until your Sash is gone. Infernape is frail, and will most likely go down to 1 HP. Therefore activating Blaze and the power boost for Acrobatics.
Swords Dance is to boost that already decent attack to amazing levels.
Mach Punch is for Priority, and Close Combat has dat POWA.
Blaze Kick is STAB, and the highest Physical base power Fire move next to Flare Blitz that Infernape knows. Boosted by Blaze when Sash is broken.
Acrobatics gains massive power when the Focus Sash is gone.

Comments

You can only use static sprites on these kind of questions.

Answer 3

Gen 7 UU

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch

Explanation: Although Close Combat doesn't get an Iron Fist boost, it's still a strong STAB move, and gets a Life Orb boost. Fire Punch is STAB that also gets boosted by Life Orb and Iron Fist, meaning it gets a base power of 176 (rounding to the nearest whole number (75)(1.5)(1.3)(1.2)=175.5). Thunder Punch covers Infernape's Water type weakness that gets a Life Orb and Iron Fist boost. Mach Punch is for priority, finishing off weakened opponents, and will have a base power of 94 (rounded to the nearest whole number, ((40)(1.5)(1.3)(1.2) = 93.6) due to the STAB, Life Orb, and Iron Fist Boost. Sorry for the math, but thank you for reading this.

Answer 4

Infernape (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
- Close Combat
- Earthquake / Thunder Punch / Stone Edge
- U-turn

Flare Blitz is for a powerful stab
and If you dont want recoil take Fire Punch.
Close Combat is a very powerful stab.
Earthquake is just a good move.
ThunderPunch for Water types and Flying types.
Stone Edge is more powerful against Flying types than ThunderPunch.
U-turn is nice for scouting and some coverage.

Comments

That's off smogon just with thunder punch

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I have had this set for a long time on Pokemon online when i didn't even know about smogon
and btw smogon's set is choise band mine is life orb.

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That's the only change but still it's a good set :D

Answer 5

RainApe

Kicking Ass in and out of the Rain

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RainApe (Infernape) (M) @ Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe or 228 Atk / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-turn / Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Hidden Power [Water]

An Infernape set designed to "Kick Ass in and out of Rain", despite it's Fire typing. RainApe should be played by intermediate competitive players with a Hit-and-Run playstyle, possible through pivoting with a powerful, Choice Band boosted U-turn. The objective of this set is to provide Rain Teams with a Pokemon that remedy its sun weaknesses, while also checking many offensive threats in the sand (Terrakion).

The Choice Band is what makes this set viable, as it is capable of firing off decently powerful Flare Blitz against Fire weak Pokemon even if the Rain is pouring, while using Infernape's Dream World Ability in Iron Fist to it's fullest with Mach Punch. Hidden Power [Water] makes use of Infernape's respectable Special Attack by receiving a boost from the Rain, and is also used for coverage.

Alternate Set: SD RainApe

A very dangerous alternate set once given the opportunity to Set Up Swords Dance, allowing it to reach or soar beyond the offensive prowess of the Choice Band set. This set can be played by patient players who know who, what, and when to begin setting up, and should be played offensively as a late game sweeper. In this version of RainApe, swap the Choice Band for the Life Orb for decent damage without setting up Swords Dance.

Mach Punch is RainApe's STAB + Iron Fist + LO + SD Priority utility, KOing speedy threats (considering prior damage) before they have the chance to defeating him themselves. Flare Blitz is a decently powerful STAB that becomes acceptable after a SD Boost, while Hidden Power [Water] is a coverage move that is boosted under the Rain and from the Life Orb.

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So give this unique set a spin, it will not fail to disappoint!

Answer 6

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist / Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz

Offensive Swords Dance.
Swords Dance powers Infernape up, and with STAB + Iron Fist boosted Mach Punch, it becomes pretty dangerous.
Mach Punch is again STAB, and nice priority as well.
Close Combat is a more powerful alternative, and is STAB as well. Just as a side note, it's not boosted by Iron Fist.
Flare Blitz is also STAB, and rounds out the coverage nicely.
Blaze is if you want to make Flare Blitz very powerful as a last hit, but Iron Fist most likely works better.

Comments

Offensive Swords Dance as opposed to Defensive Swords Dance? :P

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Good set, but beware of things like Jellicent, Starmie, Slowbro, and Tenecruel who resist you.

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Those Pokemon wouldn't beat ape anyway?
trachy you're not serious I assume with the defensive SD?

Answer 7

Suicide Hazard Setter Lead

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Flare Blitz / Close Combat

Focus Sash ensures that he stays on the field 2 turns if he started first. Fake Out breaks Sash. Taunt prevents setting up and Stealth Rock is hazard. Flare Blitz and Close Combat has awesome power, enough to use and OHKO if you survive.

Answer 8

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb / Black Belt / Focus Sash
Ability: Iron Fist (Blaze is still ok)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch / Close Combat
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz / Blaze Kick / Fire Punch
- Earthquake

Mach Punch has higher power after boost by Iron Fist, and it can always move first, and is also boosted by Black Belt. U-Turn is for switching to other Pokemon if opponent is a Water/Ground type. Flare Blitz, Blaze Kick and Fire Punch are STAB. On case you don’t want to get recoil + Life Orb damage, go with Blaze Kick or Fire Punch. Blaze Kick can also leave the opponent with a burn, Fire Punch is boosted by Iron Fist. Earthquake is a nice move which hits Ground-types and is a great option for Infernape.

This is the best one I've used in competitive battles, hope this helps!

Answer 9

Stealth Rocks

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Overheat
- Close Combat

Taunt other leads. Set rocks. When at low HP, Overheat gets a good boost from Blaze, so use that for a huge hit. Close Combat is also STAB.

Comments

You shouldn't have 0 Ivs in attack if your going with close combat

Answer 10

This is my Mixed Sweeper Set I use for my ATFP (All Time Favorite Pokemon):

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Water]

EVs make each Attack 276, which is pretty good if I do say so myself. Nature to keep the stats equal. Mach Punch for STAB and priority. Flare Blitz is good when Blaze activates, and even helps you get there faster. Grass Knot covers bulky Water types, like Swampert and Milotic, while covering Ground types too. Hidden Power [Water] is more for DW Chandelure than anything, but can also cover Ground types.

Comments

I believe the Hidden Power is actually Ice type; however it would be equally useful against Ground types, such as Garchomp (with 4x power!) and against flying types to protect yourself from them getting in super effective attacks.

Answer 11

This Infernape is the lead of my ultimate Battle Tower team:

Infernape @ Shell Bell
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz / Fire Punch
- Close Combat

Fake Out: Cheap damage...that is all.
U-turn: See description below.
Flare Blitz / Fire Punch: STAB, good accuracy, only difference is power and recoil damage.
Close Combat: STAB, awesome power and type coverage

So this is the lead of a 3 man team I made mainly because he's fast, powerful and somewhat annoying. Ok, so start off with Fake Out first, unless of course the foe is a Ghost type, to get rid of the effects of Sturdy or Focus Sash. Then, if you think your can KO the foe, hit 'em hard with a STAB move. If not, here comes the strategy: use U-turn if you think the foe will use a super-effective move. Switch to a Dark type if you think it'll use a Psychic type move or to a Flying type in case of Ground types.

I teamed this guy up with my Gyarados and my Metagross, seeing as Metagross is resistant to Flying and Psychic attacks and Gyarados is resistant to Water and Ground. Look up the movesets for the other members of this team.

Find a flaw in this team if you can...not to be cocky if not to see if it can improved.

Comments

A flaw was found so my Infernape had improve, here goes.
Adamant/Jolly Nature
Attack and Speed EVs to the max.
Iron Fist Ability
Focus Sash held item

Fake Out: Cheap damage to get rid of the foe's Focus Sash and Sturdy ability.
U-Turn: Get the hell outta there if you can't 1hko the foe,second chance for a Fake Out.
Close Combat: STAB, sick power, great accuracy and its side effect won't matter 'cause of Focus Sash, seeing that its defences arent so good.
Fire Punch: STAB, great accuracy, chance to burn, Iron Fist power up, no recoil damage to mess with Focus Sash.

Well the strategy works the same just fixing the flaw that was found, though it's still not perfect.

Answer 12

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Mach Punch
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch

As every Infernape that is used, it's of course a physical sweeper. (Though there are mixed and special sweepers as well)
Iron Fist boosts priority Mach Punch and coverage Thunder Punch.
A Focus Sash for his low HP and Defense / Special Defense.
Adamant Nature ups Attack and lowers the Special Attack that is useless in this set.
Max Attack EVs and Speed EVs.

Set up a Swords Dance, then sweep faster Pokemon with priority Mach Punch, Water and Flying types with Thunder Punch, and all others with Close Combat.

Answer 13

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Mach Punch
- Earthquake

Fire Punch - STAB plus boosted by Iron Fist
Thunder Punch - Deals with weakness. Also boosted by Iron Fist
Mach Punch - STAB, Priority and again, boosted by Iron Fist
Earthquake - Adds coverage and its Earthquake.....it hurts

Total coverage for this set:

• 0 No Effect
• 0 Not Very Effective
• 179 Normal Damage
• 595 Super Effective

Answer 14

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Punch
- Mach Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Close Combat

Fire Punch: STAB, boosted by Iron Fist
Mach Punch: STAB, priority, boosted by Iron Fist
Thunder Punch: Coverage, boosted by Iron Fist
Close Combat: STAB, base 120 power

Answer 15

YOLO (Infernape) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Mach Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch

U-turn (Scouting)
Mach Punch (A last attack, should hit hard)
Thunder Punch (Bye bye Water and Flying types)
Fire Punch (Good STAB and power)

Answer 16

Infernape @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day

Flamethrower has good power, accuracy, STAB, and is boosted by Sunny Day. Focus Blast is STAB, coverage and high power. Solar Beam covers Ground and Water, and activates in one turn from Sunny Day. Sunny Day boosts Flamethrower power, makes Solar Beam one turn too.
Open up with a Sunny Day, you are guaranteed to survive whatever attack the opponent uses because of your Focus Sash, then you start sweeping. With your high Speed, you can outspeed most Pokemon. You can OHKO most Pokemon, besides special walls like Tentacruel and Blissey.

Answer 17

As Infernape is my mascot Pokémon, as well as my favorite, I have quite a few sets for him. One is:

LO Specialnape

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast
- Nasty Plot

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Intellectual Monkey

Infernape @ Choice Specs
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Flamethrower / Fire Blast / Overheat
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [WHATEVER] / Vacuum Wave

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AV Flaming Psycho Monkey

Infernape @ Assault Vest
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
- Close Combat
- U-turn / Stone Edge / Shadow Claw

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Sniper Ape

Infernape @ Wide Lens
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty / Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Focus Blast
- Blaze Kick

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If you want descriptions, post in the comments and I will oblige if 3 people want them.

Answer 18

Infernape is a BOSS in Physical Attack so I'll choose it:

Infernape @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz

Fake Out
Close Combat (STAB)
Mach Punch (STAB)
Flare Blitz (STAB)

Fake Out always hits first and gets rid of the target's Focus Sash, 100% flinch too.
Close Combat has really high damage but will lowers user Defense and Special Defense by 1, just use it if you know your Infernape can OHKO the target.
Mach Punch to kill the targets have low HP, +1 priority.
Infernape is a Fire type so it needs a Fire move, I choose Flare Blitz, it deals really high damage but has 33% recoil damage.

Answer 19

This set is specifically for the Battle Tree. This doesn't fail me yet!

Wu-Kong (Infernape) @ King's Rock
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Fling
- Acrobatics
- Flare Blitz

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Basically, the double flinch combo. Biggest flaw is that you get walled by Rock types. xD

Answer 20

Infernape moveset

Infernape @ anything
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Close Combat
- Earthquake

Fire Punch is STAB and 90 BP with Iron Fist. Thunder Punch covers Flying- and Water-types. Close Combat is a very strong STAB and is boosted by Iron Fist. Earthquake is a good move, deals with Rock, other Fire types, Electric, Steel, and Poison types.