Infercatty (TCG)

Infercatty


Delcatty ex and Infernape

Types used

Major cards	Delcatty ex, Delcatty, Infernape

Era	2007-2008

Infercatty is a deck archetype in the Pokémon Trading Card Game based around the cards Delcatty ex, Delcatty, and Infernape. It saw widespread use in Play! Pokémon due to its ability to get Infernape onto the field quickly, and then continuously lay heavy damage on an opposing Pokémon each turn. Delcatty provided drawing support, while Delcatty ex recycled Infernape's discarded Energy and minimized both players' hand size.

History

After the release of the Diamond & Pearl expansion, the deck rose in popularity when it saw great success during the 2007 Spring Battle Road season. However, the deck saw a sharp decline in use after the 2007 National Championships, when that year's National Champion, Chris Fulop, inflicted several top-ranked Infercatty players major defeats, including John Kettler, a major deck theorist behind Infercatty's success. The reason behind the deck's decline is due to the increased number of counters in the National Championship and World Championship metagames, including Empoleon, Cessation Crystal, Cursed Stone, and the Lunatone/Solrock combo from EX Legend Maker.

Strategy

To maximize Budew's potential, it is the ideal starter. Then, a player can be setting up the rest of their strategy by searching out any crucial Trainer cards, such as Castaway while your opponent is attaching Energy to attack Budew. Budew's Errand-Running attack is free, so a player may use it immediately. Using Castaway, a player would want to search out a Fire Energy, another Castaway, and a Strength Charm. When the player is on their last Castaway, Scott should be searched. From then on, Trainers and Supporters should be used as a player sees fit. It is good to get Chimchar and Skitty onto the Bench as soon as possible and evolve them into their final forms. Infernape or Infernape LV.X should be used for most of the deck's attacking, but, if needed, Delcatty ex could take a Prize card or two. This is only effective if there are many Energy cards in the discard pile. Ideally, Delcatty should only be used to provide drawing support from the Bench for as long as possible.

Cards

Key cards

Delcatty

Delcatty - In the deck to sit on the Bench and provide drawing support with its Energy Draw Poké-Power.
Delcatty ex - A dual-purpose addition to the deck. First of all, its Constrain Poké-Power can be used to put Energy in the discard pile for Infernape LV.X's Flare Up attack, and it can recycle Energy back into the deck that Infernape loses with its Flare Blitz attack.
Infernape - Infernape is the deck's main attacker, being able to attack quickly for large amounts of damage with Meteor Punch, and then dealing a lot of damage with Flare Blitz.
Infernape LV.X - Infernape LV.X is the deck's big finisher, dealing 150 damage for only two Energy. The downside is that it only works if a player has eight Fire Energy in their discard pile, and then they are shuffled back into the deck. It also recycles Energy lost with Flare Blitz and Energy Draw.

Other Pokémon

Chimchar - Only in the deck for the purpose of evolving into Infernape.
Monferno - Despite possessing cheap, fast attacks, is in the deck for the same purpose as Chimchar.
Skitty - Skitty cannot hold its own in battle and is only useful to evolve into either Delcatty ex or Delcatty.
Budew - Quickly searches any needed Trainer card out of the deck. It is the deck's consistency crutch, and is primarily meant to fetch out key Trainers, such as Holon Transceiver, Rare Candy, or Windstorm (in order to counter then-metagame threats Cursed Stone and Cessation Crystal).

Other Trainer cards

Rare Candy - Used to skip the Monferno evolution in the Infernape line, speeding up the deck.
Celio's Network - Can search out any Pokémon in the deck except Delcatty ex.
PlusPower and Strength Charm - Both cards add 10 extra damage to any attack, which can be just enough for a crucial Knock Out.
Holon Transceiver - The backbone behind the deck's consistency, being able to search out all of your crucial Holon Supporter cards.
Holon Mentor - Used to search out any three Basic Pokémon in the deck.
Holon Scientist and Holon Adventurer - Used as the primary Supporter card draw power.
Holon Lass - Used to draw several Fire Energy cards from the top of your deck, so as to subsequently discard them for either Delcatty's Energy Draw or Delcatty ex's Constrain.
Windstorm - Kept in the deck to discard cards like Cessation Crystal, which can make this deck slow and hard to use.
Warp Point - Used to retreat a Pokémon with a Special Condition, because most Pokémon in the deck have free retreat costs.
Professor Elm's Training Method - Primarily used to search for Delcatty ex, due to the inability of Celio's Network to search for Pokémon-ex.

Energy cards

Double Rainbow Energy - For quickly attaching two Energy of any type to a Pokémon; however, damage done by that Pokémon is reduced by 10. This card is critical to Infernape's ability to deal quick Knock Outs.
Fire Energy - Crucial to the deck's success. In fact, a lot of the deck revolves around discarding Fire Energy.

Typical deck list

The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building his or her own version.

Quantity	Card	Type	Rarity
4×	Chimchar
2×	Monferno
3×	Infernape
1×	Infernape LV.X
4×	Skitty
3×	Delcatty
1×	Delcatty ex
1×	Budew
4×	Rare Candy	T
4×	Celio's Network	T [Su]
2×	PlusPower	T
4×	Holon Transceiver	T
2×	Holon Mentor	T [Su]
1×	Holon Scientist	T [Su]
1×	Holon Lass	T [Su]
1×	Holon Adventurer	T [Su]
2×	Windstorm	T
2×	Warp Point	T
1×	Professor Elm's Training Method	T [Su]
1×	Strength Charm	T [PT]
4×	Double Rainbow Energy	E
12×	Fire Energy	E	—