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Pojo's Pokémon Card of the Day

 

Infernape  

- Plasma Storm

Date Reviewed:
February 26, 2013

Ratings & Reviews Summary

Modified: 2.13
Limited: 4.00

Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale.
1 being the worst. 
3 ... average.  
5 is the highest rating.

Back to the main COTD Page

Combos With: See Below

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) 

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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