Baby Mario
2010 UK
National
Seniors
Champion |
Infernape (Plasma Storm)
Today we review another one of Team Plasma’s Pokémon.
This one got a little bit of attention when first
revealed via spoiler translations, but hasn’t had much
since then.
There are probably two major reasons for this. Firstly,
Infernape is a Stage 2, and they are tough to use in an
EX dominated format. Sure, it’s worth playing the
amazing ones like Hydreigon DRX or Klinklang PLS as
Bench sitters, but as a main attacker? It’s just too
hard to keep them powered up and attacking when they are
being OHKO’d left and right by the far more efficient
Basics. The second reason? The popularity of Blastoise/Keldeo-EX
decks that can hit it for Weakness and make it
even more
difficult to constantly stream attackers.
So, why did it get any attention in the first place?
That would be because of its semi-decent attacks. The
first, Torment, only costs a single Colourless Energy
and does 30 damage (hardly devastating, but good value)
and has the effect of stopping the Defending Pokémon
from using one of its attacks (your choice) on the next
turn. It may seem as though this would be great against
Pokémon with a single attack (Darkrai-EX, Keldeo-EX),
but in reality it is easily worked around simply by
switching between attackers. It could buy you a turn
early game, but after that your opponent is going to
have answers.
The second attack, Malevolent Fire, promises even more
of a return on your investment. For the low cost of a
Fire and a Colourless Energy, it will hit for 120
damage, but then discards all Energy attached. There are
various ways of dealing with this discard cost, such as
acceleration via Colress Machine (because Infernape is a
Plasma Pokémon), Eelektrik NVI (if you run Lightning and
Fire), or Ability Emboar BLW. Unfortunately, even though
120 for two is good, it will only two-hit KO a clean EX
Pokémon (assuming you have the acceleration available),
and this isn’t going to be enough when a lot of them
will one-shot Infernape (Darkrai with Dark Claw,
Hypnotoxic Laser and Virbank Gym, Tornadus-EX with Laser
and Gym, Keldeo-EX with no help whatsoever). Still, at
least it seems like it would be good against Plasma
Klinklang decks.
Like most Infernapes we have seen since its debut in the
Diamond and Pearl Block, this one is a bit of a glass
cannon. Unfortunately, there’s too much glass and not
enough cannon for it to really be a contender in today’s
format.
Rating
Modified: 2.25 (good value attacks, but not enough raw
power or durability to trade with EX Pokémon)
Limited: 3.5 (Not a fan of Stage 2s here, but the cheap
attacks make it one of the better options)
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virusyosh |
Greetings, Pojo readers! Today we're
reviewing another new and possibly
interesting card from Plasma Storm, a
Stage 2 that's well-loved throughout the
Pokemon community. Today's Card of the
Day is Infernape.
Infernape is a Stage 2 Fire Team Plasma
Pokemon. Playing a Fire Pokemon is a bit
of a risky proposition right now, as
Blastoise/Keldeo decks are still quite
popular. In addition, Stage 2 attackers
are very uncommon right now, given the
fact that the metagame is very fast and
hard-hitting, so any Stage 2 attackers
will need to either hit very hard or
have some way to control the playing
field. Finally, as a Team Plasma Pokemon,
Infernape gets all of the Team Plasma
support, such as Colress Machine. 130 HP
is slightly below the 140 gold standard
for Stage 2s in the metagame, but
shouldn't make that much of a difference
(as most 140 HP Pokemon are 2HKOed
anyway). Water Weakness is once again
not so good against the ever-present
Keldeo-EX, no Resistance is equally
unfortunate, but a free Retreat Cost is
quite excellent, and should be taken
advantage of whenever necessary.
Infernape has two attacks. Torment does
30 damage and disables one of the
Defending Pokemon's attacks for a single
Colorless Energy, which is quite
powerful in Limited but probably doesn't
quite make the cut in Modified, as your
opponent will be much more likely to
switch out after this attack in the
competitive format. Malevolent Fire is
Infernape's second attack, dishing out
120 points of damage for a Fire and a
Colorless while discarding all Energy
attached to Infernape. 120 damage for
two Energy is excellent (even with the
total discard), and this Infernape would
likely be quite playable in a format not
dominated by Pokemon-EX. As it is, there
are generally better options.
Modified: 2/5 Infernape isn't bad, but
it's more or less a victim of the
current format. Keldeo and Blastoise
both annihilate it, and its lower HP and
Stage 2 status make the card not worth
the resources to get it out. Most
Evolutions commonly played are generally
used for their Abilities, and in this
case, Infernape's lack of a
game-changing Ability likely lets it
down.
Limited: 4.5/5 Infernape, however, is
great in Limited. Both attacks are
absolutely brutal for your opponent, and
having free Retreat is always great
here. Like most powerful Stage 2s, if
you can get Infernape out, you'll
probably win.
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