What Intimidate does, exactly
When the Pokémon enters battle, it lowers the Attack of each opponent next to it by one stage. One stage less Attack leaves physical damage at two thirds; special damage doesn't change. It only activates on entry, so repeating it means switching: Incineroar does that with Parting Shot, which lowers the target's Attack and Special Attack and takes Incineroar out.
An opponent behind a Substitute doesn't get the drop. And drops stack: two Intimidates in a row leave a physical attacker at -2, half its damage.
The abilities that ignore it or bounce it back
Since Generation 8, four abilities ignore Intimidate specifically: Inner Focus, Oblivious, Own Tempo and Scrappy. Clear Body goes further and blocks any drop caused by an opponent, while Hyper Cutter protects Attack only.
Mirror Armor, Corviknight's hidden ability, sends the drop back: Incineroar is the one that loses the Attack stage. Rattled turns it into one extra stage of Speed, though Attack still drops.
| Ability | What happens with Intimidate |
|---|---|
| Inner Focus, Oblivious, Own Tempo, Scrappy | Attack doesn't drop |
| Clear Body | Nothing an opponent causes drops |
| Hyper Cutter | Attack doesn't drop |
| Mirror Armor | The drop goes back to the Intimidate user |
| Rattled | Attack drops and Speed rises |
| Defiant | Attack drops and then rises two stages: +1 overall |
| Competitive | Attack drops and Special Attack rises two stages |
| Contrary | Attack rises one stage |
Defiant and Competitive: when Intimidate costs you
Defiant raises Attack by two stages every time an opponent lowers any of its stats, and Competitive does the same with Special Attack. Against Intimidate, Defiant ends at +1 Attack overall, and Competitive ends at -1 Attack and +2 Special Attack, which is a pure gain on a special attacker.
In the simulator only drops caused by an opponent count. If your own ally lowers your Kingambit's stats, for example with an attack that also hits its partner, Defiant doesn't trigger.
In Reg M-C the examples are Kingambit with Defiant, which Pikalytics records as its tournament ability, and Milotic with Competitive. Add Mega Staraptor to the list: once Mega Evolved, with Contrary, an opposing Intimidate raises its Attack instead of lowering it.
Items: what works in Champions
Checked in Showdown's Champions mod: Clear Amulet, which blocked opposing drops, and Mirror Herb are not in the game. White Herb is: it undoes the drop as soon as it happens, only once, and then it is used up.
Our read: White Herb is worth it on a physical attacker that has no other obvious item and will face Intimidate almost every game. If the team already has Kingambit or Milotic, it pays more to let the opposing Intimidate hand them the boost.
How to play with Intimidate on the table
If you bring Incineroar, check at team preview whether the opponent can have Defiant, Competitive or Mirror Armor. With the open team lists of official tournaments you see it on the list itself; in games without one, Kingambit and Milotic are the two that punish leading with it the most. In that case it can pay to keep Incineroar in the back and bring it in later, once the Pokémon that punishes it is gone.
If you face Incineroar, switching is your tool: bring the physical attacker in after Intimidate has gone off, or bring Kingambit in right when Incineroar is about to come back via Parting Shot. Counting how many times the opponent can switch it in is part of the game.
