Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Way too many different pokemon - pokeymonism7

2 Lapras (for Call for Family)
1 Articuno
3-3 Tangrowth
1 Virizion (NV)
1 Druddigon
2 Tornadus (1 FA)
3 Thundurus (1 FA)
2 Zekrom
1 Reshiram
1 Reshiram EX (FA)
1 Mewtwo EX
1-1 Suicune Entei Legend
Pokemon Total = 23

4 Sages Training
3 Communication
2 PONT
3 Twins
1 Cilan
1 Cheren
1 Rock Helmet
1 Dual Ball
1 Max Potion
1 Potion
Trainer/Supporter Total = 18

3 DCE
4 Rainbow
3 Grass
4 Water
5 Lightning
Energy total = 19

Strategy
I honestly have no clue what the strategy of this deck could be.  There's so many different attackers and different types of pokemon that you'd pretty much just be attacking with whatever you drew into.

Pokemon Analysis
There's many different ways to go about making this more consistent.  First, stick to one primary type.  All lightning, grass or water, but not all three.  If you want a second type as a tech, like a lightning type to combat the water types that would knock out your fire type if you made that a primary, that's easy to make room for.  Since you're so spread out, I'm not going to suggest you try one thing and let you decide what you want your main attackers to be.  However, keep that Mewtwo EX in as a counter to other Mewtwo EXs.  I'd also keep tornadus in since it can power up the bench while attacking.

Once you have your type figured out, you'll want to consider if you want any energy acceleration.  If you don't have any energy acceleration like typhlosion or emboar for fire decks, or pachirisu/shaymin or eelektrik for lightning decks, then you'll want to choose low cost attackers.

Energy Analysis
As long as you run Mewtwo and Tornadus, I'd max out your DCE.  The rest of the energy should be a basic energy that matches your main attacker.  If you have a different type tech'd attacker, you can consider running 2-3 prism or 2-3 of that basic.  Try to stay around 13 or less energy (total).

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
If all of your pokemon are basics, then run 4 collector and 2-3 dual ball.  If you decide to have some stage 1's, then take out the dual ball and add in a combination of level ball, communication and heavy ball, depending on what your pokemon are.  WIthout knowing exactly what pokemon you'll decide on, I can't get too specific, but just make other general suggestions.  A combination of around 10 draw cards like PONT, juniper, cheren and N.  Trainers would include a few catcher, a switch, 3-4 junk arm and a super rod.

Overall
Since this deck has so much going on, I can't really do a proper deck review on it.  But once you decide what you want your pokemon lines to be, feel free to resubmit it! :D

Zekrom Eelektrik Dodrio Serperior - Arunnereon

3 Zekrom EX
4-4 Eelektrik
1 Thundurus
2-1-1 Serperior
2-2 Dodrio
1 Cleffa
1 Manaphy
Pokemon Total = 19

3 SkyArrowBridge
3 Pokemon Collector
2-3 Catcher
2 Junk Arm
1 Super Rod
3 Oaks
1-2 Elms
1 Twins
1 Eviolite
2-4 Plus Power
4 Communication
1 Switch
Trainer/Supporter Total = 26

14 Lightning
1 DCE
Energy Total = 15

Strategy
For the most part this is your typical Zekrom EX/Eelektrik deck.  Hit them hard, discard the energy, reattach it with eel and repeat.  Arunnereon adds in dodrio and serperior to make it more of a rogue deck.  Serperior heals and dodrio gives free retreat with skyarrow in play.

Pokemon Analysis
Serperior isn't going to be effective without reuniclus to move the damage around so you can effectively heal.  Healing 60 per turn would make serperior worth keeping.  You already play quite a few more supporters rather than collectors, so if you really want to be rogue, and have a chance at making this deck work, I'd add in vileplume.  The increased disruption will slow down your opponent, give you access to twins, and will also protect your dodrio from just being catchered. up. I'd drop the serperior for a 3-1-2 vileplume line.  I'd drop either the manaphy or cleffa (I'd recommend sticking with cleffa) for another thundurus.  This may seem like a bit of bench space, but I picture the ideal with 1 vileplume, 1 dodrio, 2 eel, 1 zekrom and 1 active zekrom (or thundurus until it's KO'd).

Energy Analysis
With zekrom EX as your main attacker, you want 4 DCE in the deck to ensure that you can hit for 150 each turn without necessarily having to rely on reattaching energy with eel.This deck should be able to work with only 13-14 energy, so I'd decrease your lightning to 10 for now, dropping it further if you find you need the room later.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
To get the vileplume up early I'd keep your trainers to 3 candy and 3 communication, and max out your twins to 4.  The rest of the deck should be supporters (after keeping your stadiums of course), like 4 collector, 3-4 sage, 2-3 juniper, 1-2 elm, and 2-3 PONT.

Overall
The problem that I see with this rogue version is that without vileplume to protect dodrio, it's going to be easily catchered up, destroying your free retreat plan. Serperior's healing ability only effectively works with reuniclus and that's another pokemon that is easy catcher bait.  You'll lose a few prizes trying to get up the vileplume, but I'm sure that it'll win more games than the current deck list here.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Kyurem Electrode Cobalion - meshaun3

1 Cleffa
1 Shaymin Celebration Wind
3 Voltorb
3 Electrode
4 Cobalion
3 Kyurem
Pokemon Total = 15 cards

4 Pokemon Collector
1 Professor Elm's Training Metho
1 Switch
2 Twins
3 Junk Arm
3 Research Record
3 Pokemon Communication
2 Cheren
3 Pokemon Catcher
2 N
3 Eviolite
2 Super Rod
Trainer/Supporter Total = 29 cards

4 Water Energy
4 Metal Energy
4 Rainbow Energy
4 Metal Energy (Special)
Energy Total = 16

Strategy
This energy acceleration engine of this deck is the electrode prime.  You give up a prize to use it, but then get to discard several cards from your deck, attaching any energy you find.  This lets you do several different strategies depending on what you're playing against.   Kyurem spreading damage will let you take many prizes late in the game while cobalion can prevent key pokemon from attacking.

Pokemon Analysis
With lightning being a huge part of the meta, I'd include terrakion as one of the main attackers. I'd probably drop 2 coballion and add in 2 terrakion.

Energy Analysis
With terrakion being a new attacker, you can drop the basic metal in exchange for basic fighting energy.  Since all of your pokemon are basic, you can now use the new prism energy instead of rainbow and not have to take the damage counter that rainbow energy forced on you.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Increase your twins to 4 to take advantage of the prizes that you'll be giving with electrode prime.  That will help you finish getting set up early in the game and will help ensure that you make a comeback. I'm not a fan of elm unless you have an extremely heavy trainer lock area.  You have quite a few heavy retreaters, so an additional switch should be added to make sure you can get your pokemon out of a bind without giving up the energy.  This deck doesn't really work well on low hand sizes, so it should be safe to drop the N in favor for another draw supporter like PONT.  You should only need one super rod in the deck since you can reuse it if you need to with junk arm (which I'd also max out to 4).

Overall
CaKE/CoKE was a top tier deck in this past cities.  It's still easily in the top 10 decks, but with all the speed of the lightning decks, it'll be interested to see whether it can remain a top deck.  The reason why I didn't suggest adding in any EX pokemon was because you're already giving up multiple prizes with electrode and EX's will ensure your opponent victory by cutting their work to earn prizes down by half.

Raichu Eelektrik - ZEKROM7685

1 cleffa
2 thunderus
2 zekrom
1 cryonogal
3-3 eelectric
3-3 raichu prime
Pokemon Total = 18

2 pont
2 judge
3 sage
3 n
4 collector
2 rare candy
2 swich
3 junkarm
3 communication
1 super rod
3 catcher
Trainer/Supporter Total = 28

12 lightning energy
2 water energy
Energy total = 14

Strategy
Eelekrik adds energy from the discard pile to your benched pokemon, making it easy to build up a pokemon rather than having to wait several turns for energy attachments.  Raichu lets you bring those benched energy to the active position, allowing it to remain active, but still hit turn after turn.  Cryogonal is a donphan counter, able to KO a donphan in one hit because of weakness.  Donphan is a significant threat to this deck because of the lightning pokemon's weakness to fighting.  Thundurus is a great starter, searching out energy and zekrom is a great additional attacker with it's powerful 120 bolt strike.  It's always good to have one cleffa in the deck to stall or get a fresh hand.

Pokemon Analysis
Many people have switched from Donphan Prime to Terrakion, so you can drop the cryogonal since it will rarely be effective anymore.  I'd add in 2 zekrom EX since it can one-shot terrakion as well as several other heavy pokemon in the format.  A Mewtwo EX just to counter other Mewtwo EXs wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Energy Analysis
Zekrom EX works much faster with DCE, so I would add at least 2, if not 3 to the deck.  The remaining energy should be lightning.  14 total should be a good number, however, you could probably go as low as 12 and still be safe.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Rare candy has been errata'd so that it can no longer be used on stage 1 pokemon, so dropping it will give us a few more spaces in the deck.  Since you can easily take advantage of throwing away lightning energy into the discard pile, it's safe to max out your sage and junk arm.  This deck doesn't run very well on N and judge since you don't have something like Magnezone to help you recover.  So I'd drop them in favor of maxing out your PONT and adding 2-3 juniper.

Overall
You have an excellent deck and once you add the new zekrom EX to it, you'll find that you have a much easier time KO'ing your opponent.  You'll likely find that that you can rely less on raichu and more on the basics as your attackers.  Good luck!

Kingdra Cincinno - HoundoomGuy

4 -4 Cinccino
4-2-3 Kingdra Prime
3-2 Zoroark
1 Cryogonal
Pokemon Total = 23

4 Collector
2 Sage
2 Interviewer
3 Candy
3 PONT
1 Judge
4 Catcher
3 Communication
3 Pluspower
Trainer/Supporter Total = 25

4 DCE
4 Rescue
4 Water
Energy Total = 12

Strategy
Cincinno is the primary attacker, hitting for 100 with a full bench.  With multiple kingdra prime, you can use it's pokepower to add one damage counter each turn, meaning that could be doing up to 130 per turn.  Zoroark is an all around excellent attacker, being able to copy its opponents attacks.

Pokemon Analysis
I'm not sure why the cryogonal is in the deck.  If you wanted an actual water attacker, the non prime kingdra is perfect and would easily fit in the deck.  If you don't go with adding a non prime kingdra, I'd add in another prime since kingdra will often be catcher'd and KO'd with the many lightning pokemon in the format.

Energy Analysis
I would cut down the rescue by 1-2 and add in a few more water in its place.  There's more lost remover around, which can easily be reused with junk arm, so you don't want to keep losing your special energy because of it.  Basic energy are also recoverable, meaning that the chances of you running out of energy are slim.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
I would drop both interviewer.  With enough draw support, you shouldn't need anything to search out energy.  Increased draw support includes maxing out your PONT and adding at least 3 juniper.  I'd keep the sage in if you have the room.  I'd drop the judge since that could hurt you just as much as help you.  Since you have a strong stage 2 line, I'd max out your candy.  1 super rod will let you recover energy and pokemon back into the deck.  4 junk arm will let you reuse anything you've already used.  1 switch will save you the energy from the retreat cost (you'd hate to discard a DCE because you had no other way to retreat!)

Overall
This deck was much better at the end of battle roads and possibly at the beginning of cities.  But now that lightning decks are dominating the current format, I think it'll be hard getting your kingdra set up and keeping them in play for very long.  If you're finding this is the case, then perhaps adding in some twins will help you recover (or black belt).  Typically though, this is an extremely fast deck because of how simple it is to get a cincinno going early, so it may be that you can just rely on early KO's to win your games!  Good luck!

Durant - TheThePokemonFan

4-Durant
1-Mime Jr.
1-Rotom
1-Spiritomb
1-1 Hypno
Pokemon Total = 9

4-Pokemon Collector
2-Dual Ball
4-Twins
1-N
1-Juniper
2-Lost Remover
2-Pokemon Catcher
4-Junk Arm
4-Revive
4-Eviolite
3-Defender
2-PONT
3-Team Rocket's Trickery
1-Sage's Training
1-Super Rod
2-Crushing Hammer
Trainer/Supporter Total = 40

Special Metal-4
Basic Metal-6
Rescue energy-1
Energy Total = 11

Strategy
It's been a while since I've reviewed a durant deck which is surprising since they're cheap to build and are one of the top decks in the format.  "Devour" lets you discard a card from your opponents deck for each durant in play, so with 4 durant on the field, you can discard 4 cards per turn.  You win the game by decking your opponent out.

Pokemon Analysis
The most consistent build is 1-2 rotom and 4 durant.  However, some players will also put in cobalion to take KO's on pokemon that are proving to be too strong for durant to constantly endure.  I prefer 2 rotom and 4 durant just for it's simplicity.  You'll mulligan a lot, but your opponent drawing more typically just helps you go through their deck more.

Energy Analysis
I would drop the rescue and consider adding in 2 prism for rotom.  Zekrom is the pokemon that should be feared by durant.  2 bolt strikes puts the damage on itself that it needs to just outrage for knockouts. But with a prism on rotom, once zekrom bolt strikes twice, it can KO it.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
To consistenly get 4 durant out on turn 1, I'd max out your dual ball to 4.  I'd also add at least 2 more juniper and 3 more N.  N will consistently hurt your opponent, but help you. 1 alph lithograph (the one that lets you look at your prizes) will let you effectively use rotom (mainly for when durants are prized).  3-4 pokemon catcher will let you keep bringing up heavy retreaters to give you time to devour more cards.  To make room for these changes I'd take out the defender, sage, team rockets trickery and pont. Reducing your revive to around 2 will help. In case you go up against trainer lock, you'll need a flower shop lady as well as the super rod for recovery.   Many decks are running special energy, so 2 lost removers are essential for slowing their attacks down.

Overall
Durant is my least favorite deck just because of the play style.  I think it's a cheap way to win, however, it works, so every player entering a tournament should be prepared to face a durant or two.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Mewtwo Emboar Typhlosion - VictoryForVictini

1 Mewtwo EX
1 First Contact Elgyem
2-2-1 Emboar
2 Ability Onix
2-2-1 Typhlosion Prime
Pokemon Total = 14
 
3 Switch
1 Pokemon Catcher
3 Communication
3 Heavy Ball
4 Eviolite
4 Cilan
1 Twins
4 PONT
2 Battle City
Trainer/Supporter Total = 25
 
12 Fire
7 Psychic
2 Rescue Energy
Energy Total = 21
 
Strategy
Elgyem is to help get the bench full by using it's first attack to put pokemon onto the bench. Ability emboar and typhlosion prime are used to keep a steady stream of fire energy on any pokemon.  Mewtwo EX is your strongest attacker, using primarily X Ball to attack with the attack increasing in power for more energy attached to the defending pokemon and active pokemon.  Onix's ability lets you heal when you attach energy, however, it only works on Onix, so you can't use it on other pokemon.  (This was a card that they made an 'errata' for, clarifying the ability). 
 
Pokemon Analysis
It's more effective to use pokemon collector or pichu to fill up your bench rather than elgyem, so I'd drop it.  Mewtwo EX is an excellent attacker and since it's a primary attacker, I'd increase it to 2. Since ability Onix cannot be used to heal other pokemon, I'd drop it.  Adding a cleffa will get you a fresh hand if you need it, and possibly allow you to stall.  I'd change up your typhlosion prime and ability emboar line to 3-1-2 each, relying on rare candy to help evolve.  I might even increase typhlosion prime to 4-2-3 and use it as an excellent secondary attacker as well as disrupter since it discards your opponents energy too.  Reshiram EX would also work in this deck and would be easy to set up with both typhlosion and emboar as energy acceleration techs.  If you have room, you can also add ninetales for a draw engine, but I doubt with the two stage 2 lines that you'll have room. 
 
Energy Analysis
21 energy is was too much, even in mewtwo decks.  13-15 should be what you aim for.  I would focus only on Mewtwo's first attack, allowing you to focus only on the fire energy aspect. Dropping all the psychic energy will allow you to fit quite a few other cards in.  Rescue energy is excellent, especially if you don't have a second mewtwo.  If you can't get a second Mewtwo, I'd increase your rescue to 3.   
 
Trainer/Supporter Analysis
4 pokemon collector will ensure that you get your bench set up fast.  I'd increase your pokemon catcher to at least 2, if not 3. You can easily go down to 2 switch as long as you include 4 junk arm.  This will let you reuse any trainer, giving you more option for the deck.  For a deck with 2 stage 2 lines, you'll need 4 candy to ensure that you can get those pokemon going as soon as possible.  I dont think battle city is going to help you very much, and will help your opponent out just as much.  Increasing your draw support is going to be extremely important.  2-3 juniper and 2-3 cheren along with the PONT will help you get what you need.  With only 1 mewtwo, there's no need to have 4 eviolite, so you can easily reduce it to 2.  Since heavy ball will only search out emboar, you can drop it down to 2.  While Cilan is helpful, I think you can easily go down to 2, possibly 3.  The draw support is going to be more effective for drawing into energy that relying on drawing into Cilan.  1 super rod will let you recover pokemon and/or energy back into the deck.  Since typhlosion forces you to discard an energy card (as well as Ninetales if you decide to include it), I'd also include some additional energy recovery like 1 fisherman and/or 1-2 energy retrieval.
 
Overall
This deck is going to be a bit difficult to get going with both of the stage 2 pokemon.  Relying on typhlosion as an attacker rather than just a tech to attach energy will help you do damage, disrupt your opponent and help you keep the prize count close since you don't want to give your opponent too much of an advantage by just taking KO's on Mewtwo's.  Reshiram EX would also be an excellent alternate attacker that can take quite a few hits, especially since many people are running a mewtwo counter.

Ho-oh Reshiram Emboar - TheFreaksOfPokemon

1-1 ho-oh legend
1 zekrom
2 reshiram
2-2-1 emboar ability
2-1 darmanitan
1 plusle
1 minun
2-1 pupitar
1 stunfisk
Pokemon Total = 19
 
10 lightning enegy
10 fire energy
Energy Total = 20
 
3 professor oak
1 energy returner
2 interview questions
2 dual balls
1 pokemon communication
1 eviolite
1 cheren
Trainer/Supporter Analysis = 11
 
Strategy
The fire pokemon are the strongest attackers in this deck for the most part, so several ligthning pokemon are included to cover that weakness. The ability emboar is for attaching as many fire energy per turn as possible while reshiram and ho-oh legend are the strongest attackers.  There's quite a few different lightning pokemon in this deck, but I think the best attacker is the zekrom.  You only have 50 cards in the deck, and you'll need 60 for a tournament legal deck.  There's plenty that we can add to this deck, so that will be quite easy!
 
Pokemon Analysis
I left quite a few pokemon out of the strategy section because I think many of them aren't needed.  I think it would be better to focus on about half of your current pokemon and strengthen those lines.  I'd drop the stunfish, pupitar, minum, plusle and darmanitan.  I'd increase your emboar ability line to 3-1-2, your ho-oh line to 2-2, add 2 reshiram EX and increase your zekrom to 2.  With the reshiram EX, you can also include 1-2 fliptini. 
 
Energy Analysis
20 energy in the deck is too much, so I'd try to stick around 12-14 energy.  By reducing your reliance on lightning energy, you can drop the lightning down to 4.  You could also run 4 prism rather than any lightning, allowing you to let those energy work for either type.  If you need more room in the deck, you can also reduce your fire energy to 8 rather than 10.
 
Trainer/Supporter Analysis
There's quite a few cards that would add, so I'm just going to suggest what trainers/supporters you should run.  4 pokemon collector will fill up your bench early in the game.  4 communication will get specific pokemon out.  2 rare candy will help you get that emboar up a bit faster.  1 super rod will let you get pokemon and energy from the discard.  3 cilan will let you search for basic energy.  1 fisherman and 2 energy retrieval will let you recover any energy directly from the discard pile to your hand.  2-3 catcher will let you drag up your opponents bench pokemon.  4 junk arm will let you reuse any trainer in your discard pile.  The rest of the deck should go to draw power.  3-4 professor oaks new theory, 2-3 juniper and 2-3 cheren depending on how much room you have left in the deck. 
 
Overall
Focusing your pokemon line on just a few different ones and sticking primarily to one energy type will help you keep to a specific strategy.  Increasing your trainers and supporters will let you get set up faster and be more consistent.
 
 
 

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Eelektrik Magnezone - Flamely36

3-3 Eelektrik (1 free retreat tynamo)
4-2-3 Magnezone Prime
2 Thundurus
1 Cleffa
2 Zekrom
1 Zekrom EX
Pokemon Total = 21

3 Rare Candy
3 Junk Arm
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Pokemon Communication
2 Switch
3 Sage's Training
1 PONT
4 Pokemon Collector
3 N
Trainer/Supporter Total = 25

14 Lightning Energy

Strategy
I've reviewed quite a few of these decks, so I'm sure everyone knows by now how it works - eelektrik attaches energy from the discard pile, magnezone is a heavy hitter and draw engine, thundurus is a starter to get energy out of the deck and zekrom is the big attacker.

Pokemon Analysis
I can't think of anything that I would change to your current lines of pokemon.  Depending on your area meta, you may want to consider a Mewtwo EX counter, fighting counter or mirror counter.

Energy Analysis
If you find you need room in the deck for something else, you should be safe dropping down to 13 lightning energy.  If  you decide to add in anything to counter other decks, 2 of that energy type (fighting, DCE, etc....) is all that's needed.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
I typically favor the 4th junk arm instead of the 3rd catcher.  It lets me put more energy in the discard pile for Eelektrik early in the game and gives me the option to use it for something else (like extra switches against durant).  I would probably take out your PONT for another N.  With a heavy magnezone line, the chances of you using N without Magnezone to rebuild your hand are slim.  The extra disruption to your opponent is always awesome too.

Overall
This is another deck deserving of a video review and I just wish I had more time to do them.  I still may be able to come back and do a video review of this deck (hopefully).  Nevertheless, thanks for submitting!

Magnezone Eelektrik - dragonflare2000

1 cleffa
3-2-3 magnezone
4-3 elektrik
2 zekrom
1-1darmanitan ND
1fliptini
Pokemon Total = 21

2 switch
3 candy
1 super rod
3 communication
2 catcher
4 junk arm
1 judge
2 N
4 collector
4 sages training
Trainer/Supporter Total = 26

12 lighting energy
1 dce
Energy Total = 13

Strategy
Eelektrik lets you attach lightning energy from the discard pile to your bench pokemon, quickly powering up your pokemon.  Magnezone is great draw card, allowing you to use judge and N without hurting yourself. It's an amazingly strong attacker, hitting for 50 per energy you decide to put in the lost zone.  You want to be careful not to use all of the energy this way, so zekrom is a primary attacker to get as many KO's as possible before magnezone is needed.  The new darmanitan is an awesome mewtwo counter, hitting for 50 times the number of heads on a coin flip, flipping a coin for each energy attached to darmanitan. Fliptini is to reflip darmanitan's attack if it doesnt go as planned.

Pokemon Analysis
I tend to play either a 3-1-2 or 4-2-3 magnezone line, depending on how much trainer lock is in the area.  With cleffa in the deck to act as your free retreater, I dont know if there's a need for the 4th tynamo.  If you're looking for room in the deck, that might be an easy one to drop. I really like thundurus in this deck as my starting pokemon, searching out energy from the deck and then feeding the discard pile for Eelektrik when it attacks.

Energy Analysis
With lost remover becoming more prevalent, if you want to use special energy, I'd recommend increasing it to at least 2.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
I prefer N over judge in Magnezone decks, because it hurts your opponent more to draw into only 1-2 cards rather than 4.  With Magnezone, you'll always be able to recover from a low N.    Other than that, there's really no other suggestions I have for the deck.  I would love to see more supporters in it, but there just isnt the room.  If you decide to drop the tynamo though, that would give you room for an additional N.  You could also consider dropping the fliptini and just taking your chances.  To KO a Mewtwo, you'd only need two heads, which should be easy if you can get 4-5 energy on darmanitan.

Overall
You have an excellent version of Magnezone Eelektrik.  If you can get a Mewtwo EX, that would be a better Mewtwo EX counter since it would be able to be set up in one turn and also give you more room in the deck. You should do very well in tournaments!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Kingdra Donphan Feraligatr - stevenwalker11

3-2-3 kingdra (1 prime, 2 non)  
3-2-2 feraligater prime
3-2 donphan prime
1 shaymin
1 cleffa 
Pokemon Total = 22

2 rare candy 
2 pokemon communication 
1 bill 
2 professor oak,s new theory 
1 cilan 
1 level ball
2 switch
2 cheren 
2 great ball 
1 pokemon center
Trainer/Supporter Total = 16

2 double colorless energy
12 water energy
6 fighting energy 
2 grass energy
Energy Total = 22

Strategy
This decks primary attacker is kingdra, which can hit harder if you return one energy attached to it to your hand.  That's not a problem with feraligatr prime, who can attach as much water energy as you want per turn, as long as you have it in your hand.  Kingdra prime is great to have on the bench since it can put a damage counter on your opponents pokemon each turn.  Donphan prime is to counter this decks primary weakness which is lightning and is quite a popular deck right now.  Shaymin lets you move your energy around any way you like when it's played on the bench and cleffa lets you get a new hand or stall.  

Pokemon Analysis
With lightning being so prevalent in our meta, I'd increase your donphan line to 3-3.  Adding another kingdra prime and basic horsea should make your deck more consistent.  If you can get two kingdra prime on the bench, you can hit for 100 per turn, which will really start to add up, even against the EXs.  I'm not sure if you need the shaymin or not.  With feraligatr adding as much energy as you have, I don't see shaymin being very useful. With rare candy, you can reduce your feraligatr line to 3-1-2 to save some room. 

Energy Analysis
22 energy is way too much for this type of deck.  13-14 should be more than enough.  If you do decide to keep shaymin, there's no reason why you would ever use it to attack since kingdra, donphan and even feraligatr are better attackers. So the 2 grass energy can easily be dropped.  I'd drop your fighting down to 5, your water down to 9 and drop the DCE.  While it could be helpful for setting kingdra up fast, it's better to stick with more water energy.  I wouldn't want to drop your fighting down any more and risk not being able to draw into it when you need it.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Now that we've cut down on the energy, we can increase the trainers and supporters to get this deck set up much faster.  There's some cards that I'd drop like the pokemon center, bill and great ball.  4 collector will get your bench set up early in the game.  Since you run 2 stage 2 pokemon, you'll need 4 rare candy so those basic aren't targeted.  1 fisherman and 1 energy retrieval will get energy back from the discard pile back into your hand for immediate reattachment.  4 communication will ensure that you get out exactly what you need. Adding in another 1-2 PONT and possibly 2 juniper will help you draw through your deck and help you get set up.  1 super rod will get pokemon/energy back into the deck for you.  You'll need 2-3 catcher to drag up your opponent's bench and 4 junk arm to reuse any of your trainers that you've already used.  Most importantly, I'd add in 4 twins.  You're going to have a hard time setting up those stage 2 pokemon, and twins will help you get set up and back into the game. If you're struggling to find room, you can reduce your energy line to 12, put in only 3 communication and 3 junk arm.

Overall
With the addition of twins, you can take advantage of your opponent taking easy prizes off of your basics.  You're still going to struggle with the current lightning meta, but hopefully you can keep getting those donphan set up to face them.  In case you face lightning decks, I'd stick to donphan and feraligatr as your attackers.  Your pokemon lines are already fairly strong, so it's just tweaking the rest of your deck to help get them set up as fast as possible.  

Zekrom Mewtwo Eelektrik - RayPokemonMaster

3 Zekrom
2 Zekrom EX
2 Mewtwo EX
4-4 Eelectrik
1 Cleffa
Pokemon Total = 16

4 Pokemon Collector
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
4 Professor Juniper
3 Plus Power
2 Pokemon Catcher
2 Switch
2 Eviolite
1 Pokegear 3.0
Trainer/Supporter Total = 30

10 Lightning Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy
Energy Total = 14

Strategy
This is one of the biggest contenders for States since it sets up quickly with only one stage 1, easily attaches energy with eelektrik and hits extremely hard with two different zekroms.  This deck was around for Cities, but what makes this deck work better now is the addition of Zekrom EX. Hitting for 150 it can take out many pokemon in one hit.

Pokemon Analysis
I really like thundurus in eelektrik based decks to be able to "charge" on the first turn and hit for 80 on the second turn.  At least 2 thundurus would make this a good possibility for many of your games.  Is your mewtwo ex intended to be an attacker or just a tech against other mewtwo's?  If it's just a tech, you can easily go down to one of them, but if it's a main attacker, I'd be careful of how often you use it.  With 4 EX's in the deck, only three of them need to hit the field throughout a game for your opponent to win.  For Magnezone decks, lost burning 4 to take 2 prizes is worth the cost.  To save some space in the deck, you may be able to safely drop the cleffa since you have so many draw supporters.  Running at least one 30 HP tynamo will give your deck a free retreater if you need it to power up something with the eels.

Energy Analysis
If you need one more space in the deck for another card, you should be safe to drop one lightning.  Other than that, there's nothing I would change about your energy line.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Let me just start off by saying how nice it is to see a deck that has an excellent trainer/supporter line already!  I love seeing maxed out lines of crucial cards like collector and junk arm!  I'd like to see one more pokegear in the deck since it's incredibly useful.  I think you could safely drop 1 juniper, 1 communication or 1 plus power to make room for it.  I wonder why you don't play sage.  It's perfect for getting energy in the discard pile and fairly close to juniper.  You miss out on 2 cards, but you don't have to get rid of your entire hand or run through too much of your deck at once.  Perhaps looking into finding room for 2 of them might help.  With juniper, I certainly wouldn't max them out, but 2-3 juniper and 2 sage should help you get whatever you need in your deck.

Overall
I think you have an excellent deck that will do well in upcoming States.  The biggest change that I think the deck would really benefit from is adding thundurus.  Everything else are just slight tweaks that suit more my playing style and may not make the deck any better or worse.  This is a deck that I'd like to do a video review of if I have the time later.

Gothitelle Gardevoir - 2r3tard3d

1 Mewtwo EX
2-2-2 Gothitelle Ability
3-2-3 Gardevoir
2-2 Darmanitan
2 Cleffa
1 Tyrogue
Pokemon Total = 22

13 Psychic
Energy Total = 13

4 PONT
2 Juniper
3 Collector
2 Sage's Training
1 Twin
3 Rare Candy
3 Catcher
2 Super Rod
3 Junk Arm
2 Communication
Trainer/Supporter Total = 25

Strategy
This deck strives to set up a gothitelle as soon as possible to prevent its opponent from using trainers.  Once that's done, gardevoir can be set up on the bench.  Its ability doubles the psychic energy attached to pokemon meaning that gothitelle can hit much harder and faster than previously.  Cleffa is for a hand refresher and staller, while Mewtwo EX can be used for a few different things.  It can be a great starter to take some easy prizes while a gothitelle is set up for the trainer lock, or can be a late game attacker once all the gothitelle's are KO'd.  Darmanitan is another strong attacker that hits for 50 for each heads on a coin flip for each energy attached.

Pokemon Analysis
I'd start by dropping the darmanitan.  While it's a strong attacker, it's more suited for a deck with fliptini and gardevoir in it, rather than goth, mewtwo and gardevoir.  The more poekmon you have, the more difficult it's going to be to get what you want running.  You're going to want a heavy gothitelle line of 4-2-4 or 4-2-3 to ensure that you get the trainer lock up as soon as possible.  Once you have the trainer lock, you won't need to worry about your gardevoir being targeted by catcher, so you can safely bring it down to 2-1-2.  I'd probably drop the tyrogue just to make extra space as well.  If you're able to get a second mewtwo EX, this deck could benefit from it, but with it being so expensive, having one in there should suffice.

Energy Analysis
Since each energy counts for double, you could probably safely go down to around 10 energy.  I'd look at it as each energy counts for 2, so 10 x 2 = 20, meaning that you have more than enough energy in the deck.  This will help make room for more trainers and supporters.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Maxing out your collector will ensure a full bench early in the game.  I'd consider adding a few more draw cards, like 2-3 cheren and possibly some N.  You don't really benefit from discarding your cards with sage's, so I'd drop that.  If you're going to discard anything, you might as well increase your juniper and get a fresh hand.  I'd add one Cilan in the deck since I cut your energy down quite a bit.  That should ensure that you don't run into any energy droughts.  You shouldn't need more than one super rod, so I'd drop one.  I'd max out your junk arm to 4, your rare candy to 4 and add one more communication.  1-2 switch will help you move your active out of the way without having to get rid of your energy.  If you have any extra room, adding in more twins and another catcher should be all that you need.

Overall
I think once you change up your pokemon lines a little bit, focusing on getting gothitelle's trainer lock up first, then looking at the gardevoir, you'll find you're disrupting your opponent more, giving you more time to build the energy on your pokemon up.  In testing, if you find that you're often behind during the beginning of the game, I'd make room for more twins.  Before Next Destinies, gothitelle was typically paired with reuniclus, who could ensure that you were always behind on prizes giving you access to twins.  Without that, you just have to guess at how your deck will work against most match-ups.  Testing should help you predict this much better!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Liligant Meganium - iaia126

2 Stantler
2-1 Mandibuzz
2-3 Liligant
2-2 Metapod
3 maractus (BW)
3-2-1 Meganium
Pokemon Total = 23

2 potion
2 pokeball
2 energy search
2 Switch
2 energy retrieval
2 P.O.N.T
2 pokemon reversal
2 pokemon comunication
Trainer/Supporter Total = 16

14 grass energy
5 fighting
1 darkness
1 rainbow energy
Energy Total = 21

Strategy
Stantler is for searching out basic pokemon to help you set up your bench as fast as possible.  Liligant is a quick attacker for little energy.  For only 1 energy it damages and inflicts status conditions depending on a coin flip.  Mandibuzz snipes the bench as long as a pokemon has damage counters on it.  Metapod removes any weakness to grass pokemon.  Meganium is a stronger pokemon with more HP, yet can still attack for only one energy and inflict sleep.  Maractus is a nice basic pokemon with a good amount of HP that can start hitting with just one grass energy.  This deck's low cost is what gives this deck potential.

Pokemon Analysis
A couple of your pokemon depend on a flip to get the desired result, so I'd recommend adding in two fliptini.  Instead of stantler, I'd add pokemon collector which is faster and more consistent.  Metapod can easily be brought up with pokemon catcher, so there's no point in keeping it.  I'd focus on liligant/fliptini to paralyze your fire opponents.  I'd drop the mandibuzz so that you can keep your energy lines more consistent.  Liligant's attack to paralyze is your best shot against fire decks, so I'd increase the number to 3-3. You need to have rare candy in a deck with a stage 2, which will allow you to skip the stage 1, and have a line of 3-1-3.

Energy Analysis
You don't have fighting pokemon in the deck, so there's no reason for fighting energy.  Now that there's no mandibuzz, we can also drop the rainbow and darkness energy.  I'd drop your grass energy down to 10 and add in two rescue energy, mainly to reuse your fliptini.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
There's lots of changes that I'm going to suggest for this section, so it's probably easier to just list out what I think you need rather than going through what you need and what to drop.  4 collector will give you a full bench early in the game.  You'll need plenty of draw support like 2-3 juniper, 4 PONT and 2-3 cheren.  You'll probably be behind on prizes as you get set up, so 3-4 twins should help you get back into it.  2-3 catcher will help you target key pokemon throughout the game.  1 super rod will put pokemon and energy back into your deck.  2-3 communication and 2 level ball will help you search out the pokemon that you need. 2-3 rare candy will help you get your meganium up as fast as possible.  1 switch will let you get a pokemon out of the active position without having to pay the energy cost. 3-4 junk arm will let you reuse any trainer.

Overall
While reshiram variants have fallen in popularity over the past few months, they're still a huge threat to your deck.  A metapod would only temporarily shield you, if at all, depending on how soon your opponent could draw into a catcher. Focusing on paralyzing your opponent with liligant while getting other attackers set up on the bench is the best way to defeat your fire foes.

Eelektrik Luxray Zekrom - McCloud326

2-1-2 Luxray ND
2 Zekrom
1 Tornadus
3-3 Eelektrik
1 Thundurus
1 Shaymin EX
Pokemon Total = 16

3 Junk Arm
4 catcher
3 level ball
2 eviolite
4 PONT
2 Juniper
4 Sages
3 collector
1 switch
2 cilan
1 Skyarrow bridge
Trainer/Supporter/Stadium Total = 29

10 Lightning
3 DCE
2 Rainbow/Prism
Energy Total = 15

Strategy
This deck uses the energy acceleration ability of Eelektrik to attach lightning energy from the discard pile to benched pokemon.  This can power up many attackers extremely fast.  Thundurus is an ideal starter to attach energy from the deck as well as put it in the discard pile after it attacks.  Shaymin EX is a late game attacker that hits harder for each prize taken by your opponent. Luxray is an excellent attacker, needing only one energy to do 60 and has a second attack that can discard your opponents energy.

Pokemon Analysis
I'd drop the tornadus and add in another thundurus. At the moment, it's the only pokemon that can consistently utilize DCE, and by cutting it out, you can also cut the DCE out of the deck as well.  I might add in one more shinx to increase the chances of you being able to set up a luxray without falling to early to catcher.

Energy Analysis
Without tornadus, the DCE can be dropped.  I would probably swap the rainbow/prism for grass energy so that you don't lose them to lost remover and can recover them later in the game with super rod if you need to.  12 energy in the deck may seem like little, but since you don't have magnezone for lost burns, it should be more than enough.

Trainer/Supporter/Stadium Analysis
You already have an excellent build to this deck, so my suggestions are going to be more fitting for my playstyle, but may help you as well.  While you do have a few pokemon that can be searched out with level ball, you have many that aren't, so I'd include 2-3 communication as well and may drop 1 level ball. With eelektrik having such a heavy retreat cost, I find that I often like 2 switch.  1 super rod is a must for getting back basic grass for shaymin, pokemon that you may have lost and need to reuse, or even putting energy back into the deck if your eels are KO'd.  I also prefer to max out the collector and junk arm, cutting back on the catcher.  With all the draw support, you shouldn't have issues drawing into energy, so I'd drop at least 1, if not both, Cilan.

Overall
You have an excellent build of an eelektrik deck already, so I hope some of my suggestions will help you out.  Other things you might want to consider adding are mewtwo ex with a couple of DCE to take care of opposing Mewtwo's, terrakion or other fighting pokemon for the mirror match, or something like zapdos for fighting match-ups.

Cobalion Vileplume Cincinno - MagicalAces24

4-4 Smooth Coat Cinccino
4-1-3 Vileplume
4 Cobalion
4 Fliptini
Pokemon Total = 24

4 DCE
4 Metal Energy
8 Steel Energy
4 Rescue Energy
Energy Total = 20

4 Collector
4 Eviolite
2 Rare Candy
2 Twins
4 PONT
Trainer/Supporter Total = 16

Strategy
This is what MagicalAces24 says the strategy of the deck is: Vileplume to stop catcher disrupting Cinccino, Fliptini to help Cinccino avoid damage, Cobalion to stall until fully set up.  There's one major flaw with this plan.  Fliptini only allow reflips for attacks, not for abilities.  However, it's still an excellent attacker, so it's certainly worth keeping in the deck.  There's lots of other pokemon that depend on flips like vanilluxe, scrafty, liligant and others.  You just have to decide if you want to add something like that along with Cincinno or swap it out.

Pokemon Analysis
You should be safe with a 3-1-2 Vileplume line.  That will give you a bit more room in the deck to add in a 'flippy' attacker.  I'd recommend a stage 1 that's easy to set up like liligant or scrafty, keeping it to a single 2-2 line.  With vileplume, your victini will be safe, so you can reduce it to 2.  A cleffa wouldn't be a bad addition either to give you a fresh hand or stall.

Energy Analysis
Metal and steel energy are the same thing, but I'm thinking you mean metal and special metal.  If you decide to add another attacker, I'd include some of the basic energy to go with it.  For example, if you add liligant, I'd add in 4 basic grass.  20 energy is way too much in the deck, so I'd recommend 4 of the basic energy for your flippy attacker, 4 DCE, 4 special metal and 1-2 basic metal.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
With vileplume you won't be able to use eviolite, which is only good on basics anyways.  3 rare candy and 3 communication typically ensure an early Vileplume.  4 sage will help you get rid of those useless trainers later on.  Since we've made quite a bit more room in this deck by reducing energy, I'd consider adding a few other cards.  1 flower shop will give you some recovery options.  1 cilan will help you search out those basic energy.  2 juniper will increase your draw power.  I'd max out your twins so you can ensure that once one of your pokemon is KO'd, you can get that vileplume out.  And if you have any more room, I'd recommend adding in some N.  By forcing them to shuffle into a low hand late in the game, you have a high likelihood of them drawing useless trainers, giving you more time to catch up.

Overall
This deck would be much better if fliptini worked on abilities, but since it doesn't, there's lots of changes needed to make it more competitive.  The biggest downside to the stage 1 attackers is that it takes a while to get KO's, meaning that in a timed tournament, you're going to be at a disadvantage.    However, with cincinno able to hit fairly hard, hopefully you can keep up with the KO's to stay in the game.

Gengar Mime Jr. - SuperWildfire28

3-2-2 Gengar Prime
2 Mr.Mime
2 Mime jr.
2-2 Muk
2-1cinccino
Pokemon Total = 18

2 twins
2 trickery
2 interviewers
2 sage
1ruins of alph
1 lost world
4 pluspower
2 life herb
2 switch
3 energy retrieval
2 poke ball
1 great ball
Trainer/Supporter Total = 24

16 psychic
3 dark
Energy Total = 19

Strategy
This deck focuses on Gengar Prime putting pokemon in the lost zone, then winning by declaring  yourself the winner with the lost world stadium.  While this deck has attacker that can take prizes, it would be more effective to not necessarily rely on them.  Mr. Mime lets you see your opponents hand to see if there are any pokemon in it that can be put into the lost zone with gengars attack.  Mime jr puts the top card of the deck into the lost zone, but the chances of there being a pokemon are slim without something like slowking to stack the deck.  Muk brings up benched pokemon, confuses and poisons them, giving gengar time to work.  Cincinno is a back up attacker that can hit for 100 with a full bench.

Pokemon Analysis
If you're going to run Muk, I would suggest that you go with Mew Prime that can 'see off' Muk, then use the attack as its own.  This will give you the free retreat to get back to gengar easily to attack.   Mew can do the same thing with Gengar, so I'd suggest adding 2-3 Mew Prime to the deck.  If you do this, I'd add in another gengar prime.  I'd add in a 2-2 line of slowking so that you can control what your opponent draws into, potentially slowing them down, as well as stacking the deck so that you can put a pokemon into the lost zone with mime jr.  To make room for these changes I'd drop the cincinno line.

Energy Analysis
I'm not sure why you have dark energy, but it's not needed.  Your pokemon have low energy costs, so you should only need about 8 psychic energy.  Including 2 rescue is an option to reuse your pokemon when they get KO'd.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
The benefit of Gengar decks is that since they don't rely on taking prizes to win, they can really utilize Twins and N, so I'd max out both of them to 4 each.  You'll need 4 collector to get your bench set up early in the game.  With enough shuffle power, you shouldn't need so much energy search and recovery, so I'd drop the energy retrieval and the interviewers.  More shuffly power means 3-4 PONT, 2 juniper and possibly 2 cheren if you can find the room.  You'll need more than one lost world too, so I'd increase it to 2-3, dropping the ruins of alph.  You'll need 4 seeker to ensure that your opponent has a pokemon in their hand to send off to the lost zone.  You won't be attacking much , so there's no need for plus power.  I'd also drop the trickery, sage, poke ball, great ball and life herb.  3-4 communication is much more reliable than pokeball and great ball for getting the pokemon that you want.  1 super rod will let you reuse your pokemon and energy, just in case you run low throughout the game.

Overall
I've had a few Gengar decks submitted recently which makes me wonder if they're going to be making a comeback. It would be fun to play one at a tournament.  I think once this deck focuses on putting pokemon in the lost zone rather than just taking prizes, it should be much more consistent.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Mewtwo EX Mew Gengar - PokemonArceus1000

3 Reshiram EX FA
4 Mewtwo EX FA
3 Kyurem EX FA
3 Gengar Prime
4 Mew Prime
2 Gastley
2 Hunter
2 Mine.Jr
Pokemon Total = 23

3 cilan
2 Skyarrow Bridge
3 Lostworld
2 Xtransceiver
2 Rocky Helmet
2 Eviolite
2 Pokemon Catcher
2 Seeker
2 Potion
Trainer/Supporter/Stadium Total = 20

2 Fire
2 Water
13 Psychic
Energy Total = 17

Strategy
I'm not quite sure what the exact strategy of this deck is other than to be expensive.  With 10 EXs, all FA, and 4 of them Mewtwo, this deck's cost is already over $500.  Oddly enough, it lacks the 'expensive' trainers and supporters necessary to make this deck have a chance at working.  I see multiple strategies. The first is a lost world deck with gengar prime, mew prime and mime jr.  Each of the EX's, in the numbers present, would constitute it's own deck.  So I could go quite a few different ways with this deck analysis, but I think the most probable would be a lost world deck with mewtwo tech.  The goal is to get your opponent pokemon in the lost zone either by putting them there from the deck with mime jr, knocking them out with gengar as the active, or using gengar's attack to put them there from your opponent hands.

Pokemon Analysis
Drop all of the EX's except for 2 Mewtwo.  That will be your counter to hit other mewtwo's and take some prizes early in the game while you get your bench set up.  Mime jr. works best with slowking on the bench to stack your opponents deck, ensuring that you can put a pokemon in the lost zone.  You'll need a 2-2 line of slowking to do this.  If you have the room, you can also add in Mr. Mime with trick reveal to look at your opponents hand, ensuring that there is a pokemon there before you use gengar's attack to try and put one in the lost zone.

Energy Analysis
17 energy is a bit too much for the deck.  It should run just fine with around 13.  I'd add in 3-4 DCE to be able to attack early in the game with mewtwo for easy prizes while you work on getting set up.  The rest of the energy should be psychic.  You should be able to easily go down further in energy since gengar and mew have such a low energy cost, but I wouldn't go down lower than 9-10.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Here's where I have the most advice for tweaking.  4 collector will get your bench set up fast. With lost world, you won't have any need for skyarrow bridge and it takes up room that you need for other cards.  4 seeker are essential for making sure that your opponent will have a pokemon in your hand to throw in the lost zone.  You shouldn't need to have so many cards to search out energy.  Enough shuffle cards should ensure that you draw into the energy like 4 N, 4 judge, 2-3 PONT and possibly 2-3 cheren.  The cards like N and judge are most important because by forcing your opponent to shuffle, that increases the chance that they have a pokemon in their hand.  If you decide to decrease your energy, adding in 1 cilan will help you get what you need.  I'd add in 2 switch in case your mime jr are sleeping too long and 4 junk arm so you can reuse them and any other trainer.  One super rod will get pokemon and energy back into the deck.  3-4 communication will help you get out the pokemon you need.  2 rare candy will help you evolve those gengar without having to take 3 turns.  Things to drop to make room for these suggestions are potion, rocky helmet, xtranciever and likely eviolite.  While it can be very helpful on Mewtwo, it's not essential, and there are many more important trainers and supporters that need to go into this deck than eviolite.

Overall
I think a lost world deck with mewtwo tech could be a sucessful deck.  If you can use mewtwo early on to get a few KO's, slowing your opponent down, you can retreat into mime jr, mew or gengar and hopefully in a few turns be able to get six pokemon in the lost zone and declare yourself the winner with lost world.  Reducing your number of EXs will not only signficantly lower the cost of this deck, but make it a bit harder for your opponent to win.  With so many EX's, your opponent only has to KO 3 pokemon, rather than 6, to win.  Hopefully my suggestions will help your deck run much better!

Mewtwo EX Regigigas EX Zekrom EX - 803dax

2 mewtwo EX
3 regigigus EX
3 zekrom EX
3-3 elektrik
Pokemon Total = 14

4 pokemon collector
3 twins
4 junk arm
4 max potion
4 N
3 switch
2 eviolite
2 plus power
2 communication
Trainer/Supporter Total = 26

4 prism energy
4 double colorless
10 electric energy
Energy Total = 18

Strategy
Eelektrik is the energy acceleration engine, allowing you to attach energy from the discard pile to your benched pokemon.  This allows you to be able to power up the bench fairly quickly.  Zekrom EX is the main pokemon that can utilize this ability since it does 150 damage, but forces you to discard 2 energy.  Mewtwo EX is a powerful attacker with no damage cap. It does more damage for each energy attached to it and the defending pokemon.  Regigigas EX is easy to attack with since it only needs colorless energy, and acts similar to the previous dragon's 'outrage'.  It does more damage for each damage counter on it.  With a high HP, this means that leaving damage on regigigas can be extremely dangerous.

Pokemon Analysis
It concerns me that there are only EX pokemon in your deck.  That means that your opponent only has to KO 3 of your pokemon to take all 6 prizes.  A lot of pokemon in this format can take out EX's in one shot like magnezone lost burning 4 energy or any of your pokemon being hit for weakness. A pokemon with the type advantage has to do 90 to you to KO you.  This means you need to be careful of the fighting and psychic pokemon.  I'd consider adding in some attackers that won't lose you two prizes, like thundurus to search and attach energy or tornadus to attack while moving energy to the bench.  A cleffa would also be useful in case you need a new hand, time to stall or need a free retreater.

Energy Analysis
You should be sticking to around 13 energy for the deck.  You'll need your maxed out DCE, but you shouldn't need prism, relying only on mewtwo EX's first attack rather than it's second.  Dropping the prism energy will give you room for other cards (either additional attackers or more trainers/supporters).

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
With such powerful pokemon, especially Mewtwo EX, I wouldn't think that you would consistently be behind on prizes.  I see this deck as taking prizes early in the game, but struggling later in the game once your opponent starts taking multiple prizes from an EX knockout.  Keeping 1, possibly 2, twins could be helpful though, if you're finding yourself behind quite often.  This deck doesn't have much draw support, so I'd add in 3-4 sage and at least another 2-3 draw supporters like PONT, cheren or juniper.  With zekrom you may be discarding more energy than you can keep reattaching if you don't have 2 eel in play (they're going to be targets for your opponent), so I'd add in a super rod to put energy and/or pokemon back.  You may find that some of your crucial pokemon are prized, making it more important to have a super rod to get something back in case you only have access to one of them for the game.

By relying on max potion to heal, you're also going to be discarding more energy.  While 3 switch may be enough to get a pokemon powered back up with Eelektrik, then back into the active position, it may be safer to add a 4th switch, just in case.  To make room for some of my suggestions, you can easily drop the plus power since it's a situational card and may be able to reduce the max potion by 1, relying on the junk arms. I'd add in 2 catcher to bring up your opponents bench, especially early in the game to get easy KO's with mewtwo or to stall to help you get your eels set up.

Overall
If you can get some early KO's with mewtwo and DCE, slowing your opponent down, your deck may stand a good chance. However, my thought it that by relying only on EX's as your attackers, your opponent is going to invest a lot of resources just to KO 3 of them, likely in one hit, which is all they need to win the game.  Any other time, investing a lot of resources early in the game would be a downfall (like using Magnezone's lost burn early), but against this deck, it would be an easy way to win.

Mewtwo EX Celebi Tornadus - RotomOverHeatz

4 Celebi Prime TR
3 Tornadus EPO
2 Mewtwo EX NDE
2 Terrakion NVI
1 Shaymin EX NDE
Pokemon Total =  12

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
2 N
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Junk Arm
3 Switch
2 Eviolite
2 Pokegear 3.0
1 PlusPower
1 Super Rod
3 Skyarrow Bridge
Trainer/Supporter Total = 32

8 Grass
4 Double Colorless
4 Fighting Energy
Energy Total = 16

Strategy
This is going to be one of the bigger decks for upcoming States tournaments.  Celebi prime is the ideal starter, allowing you to attach an additional energy as long as it's in the active position.    Tornadus is your first attacker since after you attack, you move an energy back to the bench, powering up Mewtwo EX.  Mewtwo EX is the big hitter, dealing more damage for every energy attached to both it and the defending pokemon.  Terrakion is to help counter all the lightning decks that are currently in the format.  Shaymin EX is a late game sweeper, dealing more damage  for each prize your opponents taken.

Pokemon Analysis
I can't think of much that I would change to your pokemon list.  Since you lose 2 prizes with Mewtwo EX, it's a card that you probably won't want to have more than 2 of (my first thought was to increase it to 3, in case one was prized).  If you can find the room, a single shaymin might also help you move your energy around.  This would decrease your reliance on having mewtwo on the board early, making it vulnerable to catcher.

Energy Analysis
Instead of running fighting energy, have you considered running prism instead?  Or running 2 fighting and 2 prism?  This would give you more options for your energy attachment rather than being restricted to only certain pokemon to be most useful, however, it would make you more vulnerable to lost remover.  With 4 DCE though, I'm thinking that those would be the lost remover targets anyways.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
With skyarrow bridge, I don't see why you need the heavy switch count, even with the heavy retreater terrakion.  2 switch and 4 junk arm should be more than enough.  The biggest card missing is the pokemon collector.  With a deck of basics, collector is important not only in helping you get your bench going early in the game, but to search out for pokemon at any point in the game.  While I typically recommend 4, since you can deal with a small bench early and by running pokegear, you could easily run 3.  To make room for these 3, I'd drop one switch, 1 juniper and 1 catcher.

Overall
This deck is something that every player needs to build, if for no other reason than to playtest against it.  It will be seen at the upcoming States tournament and is probably going to be a deck that will be around for a while.  This is an excellent build that I'm sure is already seeing great success in practice!  Good luck!

Eelektrik Raichu Zekrom Electrivire - champsau2012

2-1 electivire
4-3-2 eelektross
3-2 Raichu (1 prime, 1 non)
2 thunderus
2 zekrom
Pokemon Total = 21

14 lightning energy

2 max potion
2 sages trainings
2 life herb
2 emcees chatter
2 engineers adjustments
1 great ball
2 energy returners
2 interviewers quetions
2 pokemon communicatoins
2 switch
2 cheren
Trainer/Supporter Total = 21

Strategy
This deck relies on eelektrik to to attach energy from the discard pile to benched pokemon.  This lets you power up your pokemon very fast, letting you continue to hit hard over and over.   Thundurus is the ideal starter since it can search out cards from the deck to attach to itself, powering it up as well as proving the discard pile with lots of energy during its attacks. Electivire is an interesting attacker.  While it has a high cost of 3 lightning, it does 50 to each of your opponents pokemon with energy on it.  If they play a deck that spreads the energy out, this could do quite a bit of damage.  Eelektross is a great attacker itself and its acid attack prevents it's opponent from retreating, helping against the chandelure match.  Raichu prime can bring up electric energy to itself when active, making it easy to power up, which is necessary since it has to discard that lightning energy when it attacks.  Zekrom is just a great all around attacker.  For pokemon that can't one-shot it, it can do some heavy damage with outrage, but can also do quite a bit with it's 120 bolt strike.

Pokemon Analysis
I'd increase  your line of electivire to 2-2.  I don't think you'll always need elekross, so I'd only include one rather than 2, which means you can safely decrease the whole line to a 3-3-1.  I'd make your Raichu line 2-2 and only include the prime since it's the better attacker.  I'd consider adding a cleffa in just in case you need a better hand or need to stall, but it can also be a great free retreater while you power up your eels.

Energy Analysis
Sticking to lightning is the best idea for this type of deck. If you find that you're having trouble fitting in other essential cards, you can easily drop your energy count to 12-13.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Here's where I think your deck needs the most work.  You'll need 4 collector to get your bench up fast.  I'd increase your sage to 4 since you can use it to put energy in the discard pile.  I'd include 4 junk arms to help you get energy in the discard pile to be able to attach multiple energy per turn early in the game.  I'd drop the interviewers since you have a fairly high energy count. If you find that you're having a hard time drawing into energy, 1 cilan could help (much more reliable than interviewers).  I'd add in a few shuffle supporters like 3-4 PONT.  Increasing your communication to 4 will ensure that you can get the pokemon that you need throughout that game (since you run so many different pokemon).  2 catcher will let you bring up your opponents benched pokemon.  1 super rod will let you get energy and/or pokemon back into the deck.  To make room for these suggestions I think you can drop max potion, life herb, emcees chatter, great ball, energy returner and possibly the engineer's adjustments as well.  If you find that you have room for engineers though, keep it.

Overall
Once you tweak your trainers and supporters, I think you'll have a very strong deck. Some things you might consider adding to it would be a zapdos against the fighting match-ups, mewtwo EX to counter other mewtwo's and possibly your own fighting pokemon like terrakion for other lightning decks.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Hydreigon Scizor- solprps

3-2-3 Hydreigon
3-3 Scizor Prime
3-3 Zoroark BW
1 Cleffa
1 Skarmory
Pokemon Total = 22

3 PONT
3 Sage
3 Collector
2 Juniper
3 Rare Candy
3 Junk Arm
3 Communication
2 Switch
2 Catcher
Trainer/Supporter Total -24

4 Special Dark
4 Special Metal
4 DCE
2 Metal
Energy Total = 14

Strategy
When I first looked at this rogue deck, I didn't think it was anything spectacular, but when I began to think about it, I realized the synergy between the pokemon and how they do work very well together.  Skarmary is the energy acceleration for the deck, attaching a metal energy to the bench for it's attack.  This can build up scizor prime or hydregion.  Despite hydregion's dark type, it's ability says that any energy attached to it counts as dark. Scizor can be treated as a tank, piling special metals on it which not only reduces damage done to it, but adds to scizors attack.  Hydregion's attack hits not only the active, but also two of the benched pokemon, making it a formidable sniper.

Pokemon Analysis
Skarmory is a card you want to start with, so I'd increase it to 2-3 to ensure that you can use it early in the game.  I'd also consider adding in a single shaymin.  That way you can move your special energy around to benefit the pokemon of it's type.  Since your running so many different types of energy, it could be useful to have the option to change things around, especially later in the game.  To make room for this, I'd reduce your zoroark line to 2-2.  I'd add in one more basic for your hydregion, just in case you lose a few early in the game to catcher.

Energy Analysis
I wouldn't change a thing.  DCE will help hydregion get powered up as well as allow zoroark to attack. Special dark adds more damage output to hydregion and special metal helps protect scizor as well as increasing's its damage output too.  If you needed to drop anything to find room for one more card in the deck, you could probably drop a regular metal.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
I'd max out your collector to ensure a full bench early in the game.  4 junk arm will also help you reuse your trainers, especially your switch and catcher.  While you don't run much basic energy, 1 super rod could still be helpful for getting lost pokemon back.  Having that card makes it safer to reduce your pokemon lines as well for more space.  To make room for this, I'd suggest dropping the sage. With the juniper, there's already the potential of you discarding a lot of cards throughout the game, and with all the special energy, the chances of you discarding too much and not being able to attack are high. If you have any room, adding in more draw support like another PONT, a couple of N or a couple of cheren would help.

Overall
This is one of my favorite decks that's been submitted so far because while it's something that's not in the current meta, it seems like it could work very well against current top tier decks.  I've tried to suggest a few things that might make it a bit more consistent, but since you're already had some great success with it, you may not even need my suggestions! Hope it continues to work well for you!

Samurott Feraligatr - FieryPhoenix511

4-2-3 Samurott Ability
2 Cleffa
1 Mantine
2-1-2 Ferligatr Prime
Pokemon Total = 17

3 Pokemon Communication
1 Switch
2 Fisherman
4 Collector
4 PONT
3 catcher
3 Cheren
3 Candy
4 Junk Arm
Trainer/Supporter Analysis = 27

13 Water Energy
3 Rescue
Energy Total = 16

Strategy
Samurott is the main attacker.  It's ability to reduce damage done to it by 20 helps keep it alive and the more water energy on it, the harder it hits.  Feraligatr prime allows you to attach as many water energy as you want per turn, meaning that you can easily power up anything as long as you have the energy in hand.  Mantine is for searching out water pokemon and cleffa is for a hand refresher/stalling.

Pokemon Analysis
I'd increase your line of feraligatr prime to 4-2-3. Not only can it be a great secondary attacker, but with lightning dominating the meta right now, you'll often need to focus on feraligatr as an attacker rather than samurott.  I'd drop the mantine and a cleffa in exchange for either more trainers/supporters, or possibly some kyurem to spread damage or be an additional hitter that's not weak to lightning.

Energy Analysis
I'd try to keep your energy count down to around 14.  With strong lines, you shouldn't need rescue, so they can easily be dropped.  13-14 water energy is probably the most consistent for this deck.

Trainers/Supporters
Your deck relies on getting energy out fast and consistent, so that means having several cards to get your energy.  In addition to the fisherman, I'd also add in a retrieval or 2.  3-4 Cilan will ensure that you always have energy in hand.  Since feraligatr is a heavy retreater, you'll need an additional switch.  1 super rod will help you get any pokemon that you may need back in the deck (or energy).  To make room for this, I'd probably reduce your catcher by 1 and your cheren by 1.  Keeping to 13 water energy should help as well.  It may not be a bad idea to focus on kyurem and reduce the samurott line to be able to drop a candy, as well as having the extra space from fewer samurott (3-1-2 line).

Overall
With the release of the supporter Cilan, feraligatr prime decks may be better than ever.  Their previous weakness was that while they could attach as many energy as they wanted per turn, they didn't always have the energy in hand to do that.  Cilan fixes that problem!  I hope my suggestions help the deck be a little more consistent.

Eelekross Volcarona Zoroark - zoroark555

3-3 zoroark (2 BW, 1 EP)
3-2-1 electross
4-2 escavalier
2-1 volcarona
2-1-1 stoutland
Pokemon Total = 25

2 N
2 bianca
1 cheren
4 rare candy
1 pokedex
1 revive
1 switch
4 energy search
2 pokemon communication
2 super rod
Trainer/Supporter Total = 20

3 rainbow energy
5 dark energy
3 metal energy
2 fire energy
2 lightning energy
Energy Total = 15

Strategy
This is essnentially a combination of two theme decks and a trainer kit, meaning that we have 4 different energy types.  These pokemon don't really work together, so it's essentially just building up whatever you happen to draw into.

Pokemon Analysis
I'd first reduce your pokemon to 2 types.  Zoroark from BW can stay because it's mainly used for its second attack which is colorless (make it a 2-2 line).  Stoutland just isn't that great of an attacker, so there's no reason for it to stay.  Eelektross is not a bad attacker, but it's stage 1 form is more useful for attaching energy from the discard pile.  So I'd increase your eelekross line to 4-3-2.  I'd plan on having 2 eelektrik (the stage 1), on the bench to attach energy and 2 eelekross in play to attack.  Volcarona isn't a bad attacker either since it can burn your opponent as well as attach energy from the discard pile as well.  So I'd make this a 4-4 line.  I'd drop the escavalier so that you can drop an energy type.  I'd also add in a cleffa to refresh your hand.

Energy Analysis
Now that we've focused our energy to 2 types, we can change the energy a bit.  All of your pokemon can use double colorless energy, so I'd add in 4.  The rest of the energy I'd split between lightning and fire, focusing more on the lightning since you can get those back with eelekrik.  6 lightning and 4 fire should work.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
You'll need 4 collector to get your bench full early in the game.  If you have trouble searching out energy, add in 1 cilan (dropping the energy search).  For draw support, increase your cheren to 2-3, add 3-4 PONT and 2-3 juniper.  Drop the bianca since you're going to typically have larger hand sizes in this format.  Increase your pokemon communication to 3 and add in a couple of level ball since most of your pokemon have less than 90 HP.  Drop the revive and a super rod (one super rod should be all that you need).  You'll need 2-3 pokemon catcher to bring up your opponent's bench and 4 junk arm to reuse any of your trainers.  I'd drop the pokedex as well.

Overall
This is a much better deck that the theme decks/trainer kits that these pokemon came from, however, it needs quite a few changes to be able to set up in a tournament.  By focusing on fewer types of pokemon, you should have a much easier time getting set up and having the correct energy type in hand for your turn's attachmement.

Samurott Carracosta - fottballplayer54

4-3-2 Ability Samurott
3-2 Simipour (BW)
1-1 Carracosta
Pokemon Total = 16

20 water energy
1 double colorless energy
1 multi energy
Energy Total = 22

4 potion
2 rare candy
2 fisherman
2 bill
2 pokeball
2 revive
2 switch
2 energy search
1 great ball
1 flower shop lady
1 energy switch
1 cover fossil
2 prof.juniper
Trainer/Supporter Total = 24

Strategy
The strongest attack in this deck is ability samurott, which has an ability that reduces all damage done to it by 20 and hits for more damage for each energy on it.  Another great attacker is Carracosta, whose ability reduces damage done to it by 50 if a heads is flipped.  It may have a high energy cost, but it does a good amount of damage and also discards an energy card attached to the defending pokemon.  This could be huge disruption for decks that have to be careful with their energy attachments.

Pokemon Analysis
I personally don't like simipour as an attacker in this deck.  If you focused on making the samurott and carracosta lines stronger, you'd probably set up much easier.  I'd change your samurott line to 4-2-3 and make your carracosta 4-3.  Since it's a fossil card, you'll need to max out the basic tirtouga to ensure that when you play that fossil trainer, you have a better chance of hitting it.  I'd also add in a single cleffa to refresh your hand or possibly stall.

Energy Analysis
You have way too much energy in the deck which is taking away from crucial trainers and supporters.  Since both of your attackers can benefit from DCE, I'd max that out to 4.  Multi energy is no longer legal in tournaments, so it should be dropped.  10 water energy (you should even be easily able to go down to 9), should be more than enough to keep your pokemon powered up.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
There's a lot of things that I would change to your trainer/supporter line, so I think it would be easier to just list out what I would recommend.  4 pokemon collector to get your bench full early in the game.  Add other draw support like 3-4 PONT, 3-4 cheren and 2-3 juniper.  If you think you're going to have a hard time drawing into energy, add in 1 cilan.  3 rare candy will help get your samurott up, 2 switch will help you get back to the bench without having to pay a retreat cost, 1 super rod will recover pokemon and energy from the discard pile, 2-3 pokemon catcher to bring up your opponents bench, 3 pokemon communication to get out the pokemon that you need and 4 junk arm to reuse any trainer.   To help get your fossil tirtouga out, I'd add in 4 cover fossil and 4 research record.  Research record lets you rearrange the top 4 cards of your deck as well as moving anything you see down to the bottom of the deck if you want.  This means that you increase your chances of finding a tirtouga while playing a cover fossil if you use research record first.  If you find a tirtouga, you put it on the bottom and easily get it with cover fossil.  Since your stage 2 and fossil are going to be difficult to set up, I'd add in at least 2 twins to help get you back in the game if you're behind.

Overall
I really like the new fossil pokemon, but find that since they're so difficult to get up, they usually don't see play.  It's good to see someone trying to get it working!  Good luck!

Illumise Volbeat - aquajet8

1x cleffa
4x illumise
4x volbeat
1-1 sunflora
1-1 cinccino
1 victini (flip)
Pokemon Total = 14

2 defender
3 pluspower
3 pokemon communication
4 junk arm
1 energie retrieval
1 super scoop up
1 revive
1 switch
1 sages training
1 flower shop lady
1 judge
3 PONT
3 catcher
4 collector
Trainer/Supporter Total = 29

9 grass energy
4 rescue energy
4 DCE
Energy Total = 17

Strategy
Two of this deck's attackers rely on each other - volbeat and illumise.  They both have attacks that are dependent on the other being in play.  Volbeat can snipe as long as illumise in on the bench, and illumise does 30 times a coin flip for each volbeat in play.  This is where flip-victini helps.  If those coin flips go poorly, fliptini lets you try again.  The sunflora line helps you get your grass pokemon out while cincinno is a back up attacker, being able to hit for  a strong 100 with a full bench.

Pokemon Analysis
Since volbeat and illumise are basic pokemon, you shouldn't need sunflora to search them out.  Maxing out collector, dual ball and even level ball should be more than enough to get those pokemon out.  A 2-2 line of cincinno would be a much stronger, as well as 2 victini in case your first victini is catcher'd up.

Energy Analysis
17 is way more than you'll need.  I'd drop the rescue and rely on super rods/revives to get your pokemon back.  13 energy should be more than enough considering you have low cost attackers.  If you need more room in the deck, you should be able to safely drop your grass energy down to 7.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
Your pokemon are very easy to knockout, so you're likely going to be behind on prizes throughout the game.  I'd include 2-3 black belt and 2-3 twins so that you can not only finish setting up, but add in a bit more damage to your attacks (especially with the EX's in the format now).  I'd add in 4 level ball since all of your pokemon have less than 90 HP and possibly 2-3 dual ball to help you get more of those basics.  With those, you should be able to drop the communication.  Instead of the flower shop lady, I'd put in a super rod, which can be reused with junk arm and doesn't waste your supporter for the turn.  You shouldn't need your energy retrieval either.

Something I would try with this deck is trying to continuosly disrupt your opponent.  You don't need much to keep going as far as energy and pokemon, so you should be able to do well with a low hand.  That means 3-4 N and 3-4 judge.  Dropping the defender, pluspower and sage should help you find room.  If you can't fit that many in, as many as you can should help. I might also consider adding another revive to ensure that you have a full bench of volbeat in play to maximize your flips from illumise.

Overall
The big weakness of this deck is the low HP of all the pokemon.  But since it's so quick to get set up, by constantly disrupting your opponent, you may have a good shot!  Even so, this is probably more of a fun deck more than anything, especially with the new EX's in the format.  Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Eelektrik Raichu - OCGKing

4-4 Raichu
3-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
2 Tornadus
Pokemon Total = 19

4 Junk Arm
2 Great Ball
3 Cheren
2 Super Rod
3 Pokemon Communication
2 Professor Juniper
1 N
3 Pokemon Collector
3 Pokemon Catcher
2 Professor Oak's New Theory
1 Black Belt
1 Professor Elm's Training Method
1 Switch
Trainer/Supporter Total = 28

12x Lightning Energy
1x Double Colorless
Energy Total = 13

Strategy
The tech of this deck is eelekrik which recovers lightning energy from the discard pile and attaches them to a benched pokemon.  Unlike typhlosion, no damage is taken for this free energy attachment.  The downside is that it can only attach to the bench, which is where raichu comes in.  It's pokebody says that it can bring lightning energy up to the active position, easily powering it up for 120 each turn.

Pokemon Analysis
With raichu decks that force you to discard all the lightning energy, I prefer to have 3 eelektrik on the bench.  That way I can attach 4 energy per turn, which not only allows me to attack, but also gets another of my pokemon ready in case I don't have another raichu to promote.  To help make room for this, I think you can safely take out one zekrom.  I might also consider swapping the tornadus for thundurus.  With only one DCE in the deck, the probability of it being able to attack turn 2 is slim, where with thundurus' attack allowing it to search out energy, it's relatively easy to get a turn 2 80 attack.  If you decide to make this switch, I might also increase your thundurus to 3, increasing the chances of starting with it.  You may also be easily able to go down to a 3-3 line of raichu if you find that you're running out of space in the deck.

Energy Analysis
You mentioned that your DCE is only there as a retreat cost for eelekrik.  I prefer to increase my switch rather than adding DCE to a deck that doesn't really need it.  Zekrom could use it for outrage, but to bolt strike it would still need 2 more energy. The only time this would be a problem would be in trainer lock (lampent/aipom combo) in which case you just make sure that you spread your energy out, keeping some on each eel at all times.

Trainer/Supporter Analysis
As I mentioned earlier, I'd add in another switch to help get that eel out of the active position if it's catcher'd up.  Maxing out your collector will ensure a full bench early in the game.  Since you can easily use any energy in the discard pile, 4 sage's training is perfect for this deck.  Some cards I'd consider dropping are the great balls, 1 super rod (you can always reuse it with junk arm if needed), black belt (this deck sets up/attacks very quickly, so you shouldn't need it),  and elm (unless you have a lot of trainer lock in your area, and even then, I still don't think it's necessary with enough draw support).  If you have any more room in the deck, increasing your N could really help you out late in the game.  You can pretty much work off the field with eelektrik and raichu, so a hand size of 1-2 won't necessarily hurt you.

Overall
This is a great variant of an eelektrik deck and you should be able to do well with it.  Hopefully my suggestions help!