Which is better: Blaziken (not mega) or Infernape?

Question

Which Pokemon is better competitively?
Formats: 1v1 and 2v2 Double Battles

Comments

They're both almost completely outclassed by mega Charizard X. Don't use either of them when you can use Charizard.

Answer 1

Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the King of the Hill Challenge! Today, in the red corner, we have Blaziken, the Chick King. And, in the other red corner, we have Infernape, the Chimp Champ!

In today's heated battle we get to see the challenger, the Chimp, try to dethrone the Chick King as supreme Fire Fighter (haha). Get ready for a seat-edger as we guarantee a nail-biting match which is sure to set temperatures soaring! Can the Chimp take on the Uber Chick King? Or will he burn out and be booed for his monkey antics?

First off, we have the Chick King, who boasts of
Speed Boost
and
hard hitting moves in the form of Flare Blitz, High Jump Kick and Brave Bird
and
A seat in the Ubers Hall-of-fame.

On the other hand, we have the Chimp, who shows great promise in the following areas:

• Iron Fist is a great ability which supports both Thunder Punch and Mach Punch.
• Speed Boost is useful only for one or two turns. At +2, further boosts to Speed aren't of much help in the 1-v-1 format, whereas the utility of Iron Fist is constant, and might even increase as the battle progresses as boosted Mach Punch can be used for the KO
• Infernape has better speed right off the bat, and can do damage from turn 1. Blaziken generally likes to Swords Dance or Protect Turn 1, allowing set up by opponent.
• Fake Out is an excellent move that Infernape has but Blaziken doesn't. It's massively helpful, in breaking Sturdy or Focus Sash.
• Close Combat + Flare Blitz is a great combination, which in the given format is worth the risk.

tl;dr : Blaziken is a Wallbreaker with Speed Boost. Infernape is a Glass Cannon from turn 1. In 1-v-1, therefore, it closely beats out the chicken.

There you have it, folks! In a classic underdog story, the Chimp has become the Champ, dethroning the Chick King! Fans of the Chimp, and the Chimp himself, have now donned on masks of Col. Sanders, in a brutal humiliation for Blaziken, who now crosses the road, wondering what the meaning of life is. Remember folks, you got to K-F-See it here first!

Stay tuned for another King-of-the-Hill challenge, where Ubers are dethroned and Gorilla warfare sets the trends!

Comments

I'm not so sure about 2-v-2 doubles, sorry. Maybe someone else can add that in another answer?

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Suddenly, the chick king causes an earthquake and falls like a brave bird. And now, the chick king takes the throne again and it kicks the a** of the chimp champ.

Answer 2

Well, both starters are fairly similar stat-wise, and they're both the same typing. So, the moves they learn are probably what's gonna influence your decision.

Blaziken

With Blaziken's HA speed boost, it can be very dangerous to the opponent later during the battle, but very vulnerable early in the battle. Blaziken's speed is moderate at the start of the battle, so you do have a high chance of moving first. However, if the opponent moves first, Blaziken can very easily be knocked out - otherwise very close to death. Therefore, Blaziken should be your choice of Pokemon for 1v1 battles. So, you definitely want the move protect to start the battle off with - therefore triggering speed boost at the end of the turn. With this speed, moves you can follow up with moves like Flare Blitz or Brave Bird. For it's last move, you may choose either Bulk Up if you really care about it's defense, otherwise definitely learn Earthquake. Even though Blaziken can be very useful later on in 2v2 battles, it's low defense will definitely be a problem - so I think Blaziken is best used for 1v1. If you do however want to use it for 2v2 battles, have a Greninja who knows Mat Block first turn. Therefore, Blaziken can start the game using Bulk Up (give +Atk, +Def, and +Spd from speed boost).

Infernape

Infernape however is much faster than Blaziken, but Infernape too does have moderately low defenses. With it's Iron Fist ability, who definitely want to take advantage of it using moves like Mach Punch, Fire Punch, or Thunder Punch. I've used Infernape in 2v2, and a fast HA one is great, but chances are, if you don't protect first turn and let your ally attack, you have a higher probability for it to be knocked out. So, Infernape is much better off using it 1v1 than 2v2.

Overall, as you no, both Pokemon will end up being much better in 1v1, unless you have a Pokemon such as Greninja to protect it, and land a good attack. So, it you want to asign one Pokemon to 1v1 and one Pokemon to 2v2, I would recommend using Infernape = 1v1 and Blaziken = 2v2.

Hope I helped! :)