Which of Incineroar and Cinderace is better for Sw/Sh competitive (Singles)?

Question

Im building a Sw/Sh competitive team for singles, and wanted one of these fire starters on it. Problem is, I don't know which one. Cinderace seems to be the better option, with a good ability, speed, pivot moves, and a signature move, But Incineroar has decent bulk + extra coverage, so which is better?

Comments

Is this for VGC?

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They have very different uses on a team.  You can't really compare them apples-to-apples.

Cinderace thrives on pivot-play.  Switch in against a favorable target, probably via Volt Switch or U-Turn.  Pummel something for super effective damage.  Opponent changes to something favorable against Cinderace.  Use U-Turn to pivot Cinderace out.  It's inherently high speed also makes it a good revenge killer.  This does, however, all but require Cinderace to hold the Heavy Duty Boots, or have a teammate who can reliably remove entry hazards.  Cinderace is fairly fragile, and being a Fire type suffers greatly from Stealth Rock specifically, and like most pivot-centric Pokemon from entry hazards generally.

Incineroar has broader coverage and better bulk, allowing it to take more hits and hang in tougher situations than Cinderace.  Being a Dark type, most of its STAB options have a lot of interesting utility effects that can be used to manipulate the situation  (disable voice moves, ignore stat raises, etc).

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Please specify exactly what battle format you are playing. The answer is highly dependent upon this.

E: If you don't know what we're talking about, this page might help you. https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/398312

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Is for Battle Spot or Smogon singles? If it's smogon Ubers, you should use neither. If you really had to though, use Cinderace.

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3v3 or 6v6 singles?

Answer 1

I've played competitive for awhile and I gotta say it really depends on what your team needs.

Cinderace is great with Libero as it can have STAB from stuff like Gunk Shot or Sucker Punch. It can also boost its attack with Max Knuckle and even use Max Airstream if you want. Additionaly it can either setup sun or deal huge damage with G-Max Fireball. So more of a come in and deal huge damage. It can also be really hard to deal with late game or if it sets up.

Incineroar is good if you wanna weaken a good physical attacker with Intimidate (Zacian or smth like that) and it could weaken something further with Parting Shot. I'd say you can't go wrong with an Intimidate user.

So if you need something that can hit hard, go with Cinderace, but Incineroar is also a good option. Though it'd be more helpful if you can provide team info and what format you're playing in.

(It could also sweep if you wanna give it Weakness Policy and Flame Charge, but that's more of a gimmick)

Hope this helps. Have a good day!

Comments

Is this meant for Battle Spot or Smogon Ubers?

Edit: Never mind, it mentions Dynamax, so it's propably for Battle Spot.