Infernape

Infernape is an effective attacker in DPP OU due to its combination of good offensive stats, great base 108 Speed, extensive movepool, and excellent offensive typing. These flexible stats allow it to focus on whatever attacking style is needed for the team: it can be mixed, purely physical, or purely special. This flexibility is made possible by its excellent Speed, as it outspeeds Flygon, Jirachi, and Zapdos and forces Gengar and offensive Latias to run maximum Speed to outspeed it. Its Fire / Fighting typing lets it combat many prominent defensive Pokemon in the tier such as Clefable, Tyranitar, Empoleon, Heatran, Bronzong, Skarmory, and Jirachi. Additionally, with its access to U-turn and neutrality to Stealth Rock, Infernape is an effective pivot; it can use U-turn on foes such as Latias and Starmie to maintain momentum. Infernape's movepool is vast; its excellent coverage options such as Grass Knot, Stone Edge, Thunder Punch, and Hidden Power Ice can hit almost every Pokemon in DPP OU super effectively, while it also has both offensive setup moves like Nasty Plot and Swords Dance and strong utility moves such as Taunt and Slack Off. Infernape even has strong priority in Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave, allowing it to revenge kill weakened Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Tyranitar and Swords Dance Lucario before it can use Extreme Speed. Infernape's ability, Blaze, also gives its Fire-type moves a 50% boost in power when Infernape is at 33% health or lower.

Infernape's issues stem from its subpar longevity, the existence of Latias, four-moveslot syndrome, and its defensive stats. Although it is neutral to Stealth Rock, Infernape is otherwise vulnerable to Spikes and Toxic Spikes as well as sand. Infernape's poor defensive typing, in conjunction with its low defensive stats, causes it to struggle to switch in safely, and it is easily worn down when it does get on the field. Although Infernape's attacking stats are solid, oftentimes they are not exceptional enough to OHKO bulkier targets without a boosting item such as Expert Belt, Life Orb, or Choice Band. A notable example is that maximum HP Jirachi is not OHKOed by maximum Special Attack Infernape's Fire Blast without a boosting item. Life Orb and Choice Band either make it faint exceptionally quickly or lock it into an attack, respectively, meaning it needs to take even more residual damage to switch back in if it is walled. Infernape's defensive stats mean that it already is at least 2HKOed by much of the metagame even before residual damage (e.g. sandstorm damage), making it easy prey for various revenge killers such as Gengar, Starmie, Choice Scarf Rotom-A, Choice Scarf Flygon, and Choice Scarf Lucario. As such, Infernape often relies on either Leftovers or Expert Belt to minimize this residual damage. However, the power output of these items, mainly Leftovers, can be disappointing, and this is made worse by Latias, which outruns and effortlessly walls most Infernape sets without U-turn or a boosted Hidden Power Ice. Furthermore, with U-turn alongside an obligatory Fire-type move and Fighting-type move, Infernape frequently cannot fit all of the moves it wants, whether it be Grass Knot for Hippowdon, Swampert and Quagsire, Hidden Power Ice for Dragonite and Gliscor, Slack Off to offset residual damage, or Mach Punch to hit Lucario, Agility Empoleon and Dragon Dance Tyranitar.