I have spent the last two months working on an SP deck for the Worlds 2010 (DP-UL) format that I believe is really strong, and more importantly, really fun! I have finally reached a point where I think the list is ready enough to share with everyone. When I went to go write a Twitter thread about the deck, I realized I had too much to say, so I am instead putting those thoughts in this article.
Here it is: Garchomp/Infernape/Luxray
Pokemon (22)
2x Garchomp C
2x Garchomp C Lv.X
2x Infernape 四
1x Infernape 四 Lv.X
2x Luxray GL
1x Luxray GL Lv.X
2x Uxie LA
1x Uxie Lv.X
1x Crobat G
1x Lucario GL
1x Ambipom G
1x Dragonite FB
1x Roserade GL
1x Toxicroak G DP41
1x Bronzong G
1x Unown Q
1x Azelf LA
.
Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums (27)
4x Poke Turn
3x Energy Gain
3x Power Spray
2x SP Radar
2x Premier Ball
1x Night Maintenance
1x Expert Belt
4x Cyrus’s Conspiracy
2x Pokemon Collector
2x Roseanne’s Research
1x Bebe’s Search
1x Aaron’s Collection
1x Judge
.
Energy (11)
4x Double Colorless Energy
4x Fire Energy
2x Lightning Energy
1x Psychic Energy
You could call this deck Luxchomp if you want, but Infernape 四 is the true star of the show. There were versions of this deck with no Luxray, or with a 1-1 Luxray line, but this deck only works because of Infernape. Instead, I personally treat this as a separate SP archetype entirely.
Alright, so let’s talk about the monkey in the room. I’m sure one of the first questions you have is “Why aren’t you running Blaziken, isn’t it just better?” Infernape is shockingly strong, moreso than I initially anticipated when I first tried it out. Here are the pros and cons of playing Infernape over Blaziken :
Pros:
- Intimidating Roar is a phenomenal Poke-Power. It can move an active Spiritomb, forcing your opponent to either abandon the Trainer lock strategy or dedicate a bench slot to second Spiritomb. Intimidating Roar is also strong against tanky decks that rely on forcing you to attack into a massive Regigigas, Torterra, or Steelix. This is especially strong in the Regigigas matchup, since every time you force the Gigas to the bench, they will have to promote a smaller support Pokemon that can be easily knocked out.
- The ability to use Intimidating Roar every turn allows for consistent, low-cost disruption, and ensures that your opponent’s board is never safe.
- Fire Spin’s 100 base damage is higher than any other attack on any (good) SP Pokemon (sorry, Rayquaza C Lv.X). Meanwhile, Blaziken FB caps out at 80 damage, which is merely equal to Dragon Rush’s damage. With at least three Special Metal Energy attached, a Steelix Prime would survive a Jet Shoot even after weakness. Fire Spin, on the other hand, is guaranteed to KO a Steelix Prime wearing four Special Metal and an Expert Belt. Fire Spin can also KO a Belted Torterra Lv.X (with a Lucario GL in play), which Jet Shoot also misses.
- Fire Spin’s high damage output also allows Infernape to pressure or knock out the higher-HP non-Fire weak Stage 2 Pokemon that litter this format, especially if Infernape is wearing an Expert Belt. In particular, Fire Spin can KO one of these high-HP Pokemon that has been softened up by a Split Bomb earlier in the game. Speaking of….
- Split Bomb is a surprisingly useful attack, especially in the early game. Split Bomb is the ideal attack to use on your first turn of the game, and probably on the second turn as well. The ability to sprinkle damage around the board allows you to set up for much easier KOs down the line, either KOing an active Pokemon with a Fire Spin or Flash Impact, or setting up damage on a 90+ HP Pokemon to be KOed with Dragon Rush. Split Bomb is particularly useful against an active Spiritomb. You can start harassing their bench while they slowly set up. One of the deck’s best lines against Gardevoir is to Split Bomb their Ralts, and then later Fire Spin the now-damaged Gardevoir for a KO. Ideally you would either pull off this play before they get a Nidoqueen, or you Split Bomb twice so the damage can stick around long enough.
- Lastly, Infernape 四 Lv.X’s 0 retreat cost allows you to easily level up at little cost, and makes it a great pivot. I always feel comfortable opening with an active Infernape, because even if it won’t be a useful attacker in that game, I can easily level it up and leave the active for free. I definitely find this play a lot safer than opening an active Toxicroak and hoping to flip a Leap Away heads.
Cons:
- Fire Spin requiring two Fire Energy is a steep deckbuilding commitment. By choosing to play Infernape, you are forfeiting several energy slots, which likely means having to cut Call Energy to make room. You likely noticed that my list does not play Call Energy. I believe Call Energy is a card that any Luxchomp variant should play, but it just does not fit when you need to play a minimum of three Fire Energy as well as Lightning and Psychic. As such, I had to make a deliberate choice to exclude Call Energy, and all the benefits that come with it, from my list. A deck choosing to play Blaziken only needs to play one or two copies of Fire Energy, which commits far fewer decklist slots and allows you to save enough room to continue to run Call Energy.
- Fire Spin costing {R]{R}{C} means it cannot be powered up by a single energy attachment. You will need to either attach twice, or attach an energy and use Galactic Switch and Energy Gain.
- Blaziken FB’s Luring Flame is an incredible disruptive attack that becomes unavailable if you choose to play Infernape.
In short, Infernape is incredible and exceeded my expectations. SP decks are already capable of extremely dynamic games, but the addition of Infernape takes this aspect to a whole new level. It serves a unique role, and playing it makes me feel like I have more options in my toolbox than if I were playing Blaziken.
I want to stress that this article is not a Blaziken FB hit piece. Blaziken is a phenomenal card, and its ability to be more easily teched into any SP list is by far its strongest asset, and one that Infernape lacks. This list makes a conscious, deliberate choice to play Infernape, and the rest of the deck had to be built around it from the bottom up. I am not advocating for people to toss out their Blazikens in favor of Infernape. Instead, my goal is to demonstrate that Garchomp/Infernape is yet another possible SP archetype that sits alongside Luxchomp (with or without Blaziken).
I am not comparing Infernape with Entei/Raikou LEGEND because I believe these cards fill entirely different niches. ERL is a great card, and is a great way to play Luxchomp. It has its own pros (Thunder Fall baby!!!!) and cons (LEGENDs are harder to get into play, does not synergize with the SP engine). I support whichever of these three fire type Pokemon you may choose to add to your SP deck.
Infernape as a card is not some sudden revelation, of course. Luxape was one of the most popular decks during the 2009 season, including leading Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich to win 2009 US Nationals. Even with the release of Garchomp C and Blaziken FB in Supreme Victors, Infernape continued to hang around. Wai Kit Lam famously played an Inferape 四 in his Luxchomp list at Worlds 2010, which allowed him to defeat Erik Nance’s rogue Steelix Prime deck in Top 32. Some say that that if Erik had not run into the only Infernape in the room, he would have been in prime position to win Worlds.
While this article is mainly focused on Infernape, I want to briefly discuss the rest of my deck list choices, and some possible additions you could consider making.
2-2 Garchomp: The 2-2 vs 3-1 Garchomp line debate has raged on for 14 years, and will probably continue to be debated in nursing home 50 years from now. I do not feel strongly about playing a 2-2 or 3-1 line in this deck. I have found that playing a 2-2 Garchomp alongside an Ambipom G and Dragonite FB is sufficient enough to prepare me for the SP mirror. Having Infernape as another big-damage attacker means that I am not hindered as badly if my Garchomps get Dragon Rushed. Additionally, Infernape 四’s 90 HP prevents it from being Dragon Rushed, which is another benefit of the SP matchup. Feel free to play whichever split you prefer. For me personally, I’d rather play a 2-2 if I can get away with it.
2-1 Uxie: I played three Uxie for a long time, but I had also been playing without an Azelf. I was finally convinced to add Azelf (it was worth it, but I still think it wouldn’t be too insane to not play an Azelf here), and the third Uxie ended up being the cut. I haven’t found this to hurt too much, but if you emphasize consistency, a third Uxie would be a good place to look first.
1 Roserade GL: Poison Bind is one of the most frustrating attacks to deal with. While I don’t pull it off often, this card has singlehandedly won me several games. I want to take this time to highlight a nasty combo that I first witnessed the great James Gillespie pull off:
- Have a Lucario GL, Roserade GL, and Luxray GL in play. Use Luxray to Bright Look up a Claydol into the active.
- Retreat into Roserade and use Poison Bind. Lucario’s body causes the attack to do 20 damage instead of 30. After posion, your opponent’s Claydol will have 30 damage on it going into their turn. Since Claydol is poisoned, it cannot use Cosmic Power. When the opponent passes, Claydol is at 40 HP remaining.
- Use Poison Bind again, which deals another 20 damage. After poison, their Claydol is now at 10 HP remaining.
- Claydol is knocked out going into your turn, giving you the initiative to either begin another Poison Bind loop, or to just otherwise continue attacking their board.
- A similar loop occurs with any 60 HP Pokemon (like Spiritomb!), as Poison Bind deals a total of 30 damage going back into your turn. So, two turns of Poison Bind will KO a 60 HP Pokemon going back into your turn.
2 Collector/2 Roseanne: I am of the firm belief that an SP deck should only play Roseanne’s Research if it plays five or more basic energy. You already have four Cyrus to fetch your four basics. That Roseanne being a Collector instead is a much more beneficial change to your early game, especially if you play Call Energy. With that said, this list plays a whopping seven basic energy. Having Roseanne allows you to fetch them as you need, which can be crucial. All of my other SP lists play a split of 3 Collector/0 Roseanne, but this is the one time where I am fine with playing 2 Collector and happy to have Roseanne join the team.
1 Night Maintenance: I don’t think Night Maintenance is a necessary card in SP lists. Aaron’s Collection is a strong supporter, and you could probably argue that playing a VS Seeker to get back the Aaron and have utility elsewhere is just better than playing Night Maintenance. My choice to play Night Maintenance is mainly driven by the sheer amount of energy this deck plays, as well as Fire Spin and Dragon Rush both requiring me to discard energy. I have found myself churning through energy quickly, so having a way to replenish them at a greater scale is appreciated. With that said, this is likely one of your first cuts.
1 Expert Belt: This card is so strong in this list. Belt letting your Fire Spin swing for 120 is a magic number that can singlehandedly win games. Belt also lets Luxray one-shot a Belted Gyarados, which is super helpful for the matchup. I highly recommend playing one!
1 Judge: This is just a personal tech. Having this kind of hand disruption is great in a pinch, and can be crucial in the SP mirror to shuffle away Power Sprays or to disrupt a Cyrus chain. I like having a single Judge, but you can do whatever you like with this slot.
Some of the cards I would consider adding to this list include Professor Oak’s New Theory, Chatot MD, a third SP Radar, a third Uxie, and a second Psychic Energy. As mentioned above, VS Seeker could also be a decent inclusion.
In lieu of a deck-by-deck matchup breakdown, I will give some general thoughts: Infernape is as strong as it looks against Fire-weak decks. It will kneecap them even harder than a Blaziken will. And with many popular Fire-weak Pokemon at the top, you will feel very comfortable against them.
Luxchomp is already capable of going fast, and that does not change with this deck. You should still try to attack and disrupt your opponent’s setup as quickly as possible. In case your opponent can escape the early game, Infernape’s presence will improve your late game, especially against tankier high-HP decks. Sometimes a Fire Spin is enough to set up a checkmate KO, or you can pull off a cheeky Intimidating Roar when your opponent has a low bench to force them to bring up Claydol or Uxie.
There are still many games to be played, and possible changes to be made to the deck. But for now, I am satisfied enough to say that this deck is fun, and is effective. I recommend giving it a try, perhaps it will surprise you the way it surprised me. I had never found a Luxchomp list that truly resonated with me. After years of tinkering with lists, I gave up in 2019 and just played Dialgachomp for the next five years. I still love my Dialgachomp list, but I am also happy to now have a “Luxchomp” list that I thoroughly enjoy. All I had to do was add a main attacker other than Luxray!
I want to give a shoutout to my friend Taro, who gave me the Infernape idea after showing me his own Luxchomp list that featured a 1-1 Infernape. He inspired me to buy an Infernape and give it a try!
If you would like to connect with me, you can find me on Twitter. I also have a Youtube channel where I talk about retro and upload gameplay videos.