Let’s Go Nuts! The Craziest Rogue Decks in BCR-On!
Hello, everyone! I’m Luis F. López, finally back with another article for the site. I really appreciate all the comments and support both from the PokeBeach Staff and members alike! So, before going into any details, those of you who know me either in real life or around the forums, I’m a fan of non-meta decks. One of the reasons being that the metagame here in Costa Rica varies a lot from other ones since two players rarely play the same deck, and we often like to use something different to what everyone else does. Another reason is because the player base across the whole country is around 50 players, with only about 23 that are considered active and are constantly taking part in sanctioned tournaments. But also, and perhaps the main reason, is that I love to use crazy decks that either nobody plays because they’re too bad, or things that people didn’t even think about, which you might have already seen from my previous article about M Gallade-EX. A few decks I remember playing were [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Flashfire” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Forretress” set=”Flashfire” no=”60″ c=”name”], back when [card name=”Beartic” set=”Furious Fists” no=”22″ c=”name”] was good because Pyroar was too; and more recently a [card name=”Bibarel” set=”Primal Clash” no=”118″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Victini” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”23″ c=”name”] deck that was goofy enough to actually work. However, the decks I’m here to talk about are way more competitive and are the ones I’ve been testing the most, and with some pretty good results. I’m also going to talk a bit about a recent sanctioned tournament I attended with one of the following decks, in a small tournament report.
Mew-EX / Shedinja
This is a deck that a lot of people have been testing with and has shown a lot of success, basically because its strategy is fairly straightforward and is relatively easy to set up. Before we move on to discuss the deck, let’s look at a list:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”16″]
4x [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”11″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Nincada” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”9″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”RC24″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”33″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Repeat Ball” set=”Primal Clash” no=”136″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”XY” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Frozen City” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”100″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Team Magma’s Secret Base” set=”Double Crisis” no=”32″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”7″]
4x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”XY” no=”131″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”XY” no=”132″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
Free spots – 4
[cardimg name=”Shedinja” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”11″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]One of the most disturbing attack names in recent cards.[/cardimg]
This deck’s focus is to inflict yourself damage in order to maximize Hopeless Scream’s power, but doing so with [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”] in order to do so reliably, since poor [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”11″ c=”name”] only has 30HP. The cards we’re using to damage ourselves are [card name=”Frozen City” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”100″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”XY” no=”131″ c=”name”]. After attaching a Rainbow Energy with Frozen City in play, you’re already hitting for 150 with Hopeless Scream, a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] away from OHKO’ing most Basic Pokemon and every non-EX in the format (excluding [card name=”Training Center” set=”Furious Fists” no=”102″ c=”name”] shenanigans and Mega Evolutions)! Also, the versatility this deck brings is lovely, because playing Rainbow Energy lets you use practically any attack in the field if you need to, and I included a single copy of [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”] just to take advantage of this. However, another route you might want to take is to use [card name=”Team Magma’s Secret Base” set=”Double Crisis” no=”32″ c=”name”] in order to get up to five damage counters in one turn. If you have the Stadium since the beginning of your turn, you can put down a Mew-EX and receive two damage counters, then replace the Stadium with Frozen City and attach a Rainbow Energy to Mew to achieve 50 damage, resulting in potentially 270 damage with Hopeless Scream, which OHKOs everything in the format, including that pesky [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”]! The Team Magma’s Secret Base can come in very handy when dealing with Mega Evolutions. And one of the things I like the most of the deck is the fact that if you have a Frozen City in play and attach a basic Grass Energy to a Shedinja, you OHKO a [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] without the risk of leaving a Mew-EX in the Active spot. [card name=”Trevenant-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”19″ c=”name”] is there to have a backup attacker or even as a good starter, and [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”] to prevent Special Conditions from affecting our Pokemon.
Good Additions
This deck’s basic focus is already covered, and I’ve tested a lot of different combinations to fill in those four missing spots. Here’s some cards that might help you out and can give you an edge depending on your local metagame:
2-2 Floette FLF
[cardimg name=”Floette” set=”Flashfire” no=”64″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Free fertilizer from the Fairy Realm![/cardimg]
This card might sound like too much of a setup to get going, and you’re probably right. However, if you’re afraid your poor 30 HP Shedinja is going to get KO’d by anything that does the lamest snipe damage, or even have a lot of [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] decks in your area, you might want to try [card name=”Floette” set=”Flashfire” no=”64″ c=”name”]. With this card, your Shedinja won’t be as fragile as before, giving you a bit more of a fighting chance against things like [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”].
Enhanced Hammer
With the recent ban of [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”], discarding Special Energy is even more dreadful than before, as fellow PokeBeach writer Treynor Wolfe stated extensively in one of his most recent articles; and it’s really easy to do so with [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”]. With no way to recover Special Energy except by crazy things like [card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Primal Clash” no=”121″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Milotic” set=”Primal Clash” no=”44″ c=”name”], you can ensure Special Energy are gone once they hit the discard pile. This is something that doesn’t benefit this particular deck, but I can already see most decks, if not all, running at least one of them.
Trainers’ Mail
Sometimes when testing, I could see myself having a lot of dead draws or missing a single Trainer that could give me a win or a crucial KO. With [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”], you have the chance to look a bit further into your deck for that final piece of the puzzle that this deck certainly is. Its added consistency is amazing, as a lot of other decks have proven.
Sacred Ash
Let’s be honest here, more than one [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”11″ c=”name”] can, and will, die as the battle goes on. That’s certain, given the low HP it has. [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”name”] can give you a recycling option if you lose too many of them, or if you had to play an awful [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”] discarding a lot of Pokemon.
Wally
[card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”] is a nice tech if you want to attack turn one and can’t copy any other attack in the field for whatever reason that is. It can even be useful against [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] to KO it when under Item lock. It’s a nice thing to have for sure, and it never hurts to have it.
Final Thoughts
Is this a competitive, tier one deck? Definitely not, that I can assure you. However, it’s a rather fun deck to play with and it’s a nice gimmicky attack that’s not difficult to pull off (unlike something like [card name=”Cradily” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”4″ c=”name”]’s Lifesplosion), so I’d say that if you have the chance to build this deck at least for Leagues, go ahead and do it!
Aegislash-EX / Klinklang
[card name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ c=”name”] has always been a force to be reckoned with. As the modern re-incarnation of [card name=”Scizor” set=”Undaunted” no=”84″ c=”name] Prime, Aegislash now stands in a format where practically every deck that’s viable relies on Special Energy, or at least has them in their deck. However, we can take Aegislash’s damage denial a step further with an old favorite. Let’s take a look at a list.
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”17″]
4x [card name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Klinklang” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Klang” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”89″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Klink” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”88″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Bronzor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”60″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Cobalion-EX” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”93″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Cobalion” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”91″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”32″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Skyla” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”134″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Flashfire” no=”94″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”XY” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Primal Clash” no=”135″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Steel Shelter” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”105″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”11″]
8x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”XY” no=”139″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Thou shall not pass![/cardimg]
This deck’s main skeleton was built by my friend Joshua S. (who I played in the tournament I’ll talk to later), who has quite a lot of experience when it comes to Metal decks, We were talking about some popular decks that we’ve heard of and we came to the conclusion that this particular deck might work pretty well, so he decided to give it a shot and we worked on the list. The results were both hilarious and impressive, since more often than not the opponents were unable to attack at all! If set up properly, this deck can be devastating and can be a greater wall than [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”] is (Wall-ord? Get it?). Actually, Dylan Bryan managed to get top 8 at the U.S. National Championship using a deck with a focus really similar to this one, so you know this deck can really make a good performance. There are quite a lot of decks that will be stalled for a while waiting to charge any non-EX attacker with basic Energy, such as:
- Colorless [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”] relies on [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”] to pull off attacks faster, and the few non-EX attackers it runs are too fragile to waste two plus turns attaching to.
- Dragon [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”61″ c=”name”], which often uses [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”] to cover its single Lightning Energy cost or play only a single basic Lightning; and [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”63″ c=”name”] isn’t the most ideal attacker even if it’s loaded manually.
- Night March, [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] decks runs very few basic Energy cards, since they attack with Double Colorless Energy, and Night March also bases mostly in [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”].
- [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] decks run almost no basic Energy at all, and the other Pokemon in those decks are either EXs, like [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”], or support Pokemon that still can’t handle Aegislash, such as [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”], [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”], with the latest being the only one that can have a chance IF it runs any basic Energy and dares to 5HKO it (not counting other Bat’s damage).
- [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”] decks often use [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name”] to boost damage, and the only non-EX attacker that’s worth something in this matchup is [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”], since [card name=”Landorus” set=”Furious Fists” no=”58″ c=”name”] would deal damage way too slow. And still, even if the opponent sends in a Hawlucha, it would be OHKO’d immediately.
This deck definitely has potential as a somewhat competitive alternative to the main decks currently around, and only things borderline playable like [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] can have a chance against this sort of deck. Will it be any good as a tier two deck, at least? Doubtful, because it really struggles to set up properly fast enough to avoid everything. But if you’re looking for a hard counter for the current metagame, this could be your deck of choice.
Reshiram / Crobat
Both this deck and the next one are the ones I believe are the more competitive of the four. At first, [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”28″ c=”name”] was a card highly used because of its sheer power, coupled with things like [card name=”Emboar” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”27″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Typhlosion” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver Black Star Promos” no=”HGSS09″ c=”name”] Prime. You could simply attach to Reshiram and unleash 120 damage of fiery flames, and Outrage is a great attack even to this day. However, with more and more Pokemon-EX and, furthermore, Mega Evolutions being released in the last years, Reshiram’s damage output just wasn’t enough. However, on one of my crazy theory nights before the Lavaridge Gym League Season began, I came across my old Reshirams while looking for Emboar. I tested for a couple hours, and before giving up, I tried something just for fun, but it turned out to be fairly viable:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”15″]
4x [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Next Destinies” no=”21″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Zubat” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”53″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”33″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Switch” set=”XY Trainer Kit” no=”29″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″] / [card name=”Scoop Up Cyclone” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”95″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Scorched Earth” set=”Primal Clash” no=”138″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”12″]
9x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”XY” no=”133″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Reshiram” set=”Next Destinies” no=”21″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Good old Reshiram.[/cardimg]
This deck is crazy enough that it works quite well! The basics of the deck is to hit hard with Reshiram, who can deal 140 with a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”]ed Blue Flare. From there, you use [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] to take those numbers to the 170-180 you need to OHKO a Pokemon-EX, and repeat with the [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name”]s. The deck has the sheer power Reshiram gives and the added bonus from the Bats’ Bites, plus the pivot the free retreat gives when you get KO’d or your opponent plays an [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”].
Now, how does this deck does currently in the metagame? I’d have to say not that great. Needless to say, this is an auto-loss to [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] decks, mostly because of the Water Weakness. Also, the last couple of months gave this deck a hard time with the rise of Mega Evolutions, mostly both Mega Rayquazas: one rolls it over and another one resists it. The deck does well against a Metal-heavy metagame or one with a lot of [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] based decks; the damage they deal isn’t going to be enough to OHKO a Reshiram on most cases, so a big Outrage can 2HKO, or even OHKO with enough luck. I don’t really recommend to play this deck if you know your metagame is highly competitive, but if you want to have some fun or all you ever see are [card name=”M Aggron-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”94″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Dialga-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”62″ c=”name”] decks, this might be for you.
Seismitoad-EX / Manectric-EX / Garbodor / Drifblim
This could be the most competitive deck out of the ones I discuss in this article. From the last U.S. Nationals, we saw that [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”] proved to be a great partner for [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] because of the coverage it gave against [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”] decks. And don’t forget the disruption can go past the Item lock by playing [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”] to cancel the opponent’s Abilities. But I felt the deck could go a step further, so there’s where our forgotten Balloon buddy comes in.
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”14″]
3x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”67″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Drifblim” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”51″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”34″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”39″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Switch” set=”XY Trainer Kit” no=”29″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”7″]
7x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”XY” no=”135″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Drifblim” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”51″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Remember me, guys? I’m still legal. [/cardimg]
I can’t say how much of a joy I had when I found [card name=”Drifblim” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW64″ c=”name”] going through my binder. I remember when I once played a [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”] / Stage 1’s deck a year ago with Drifblim and it saved me more than once. Now, with the great amount of Dragon-type decks that could abuse [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”], a lot of decks with [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”], and even the Fighting decks with [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name”], Drifblim could have a great time as a late game sweeper or as a surprise attacker. During playtesting, I found myself hitting for 170-220 really often thanks to the heavy Energy disruption this deck has. We all know that [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”]’s Item lock combined with [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”]’s Ability is a great combination, especially with Jason Klaczynski taking first place piloting a deck focused on them, and it’s what really makes the deck shine. Another thing I wanted to maximize was consistency, and as you can see, the deck has really thick lines of Trainers. This ensured me I could have a [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”], [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”], or [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”name”] every time I needed one. And speaking of Hammers, the heavy Crushing Hammer line really helps out, since you can potentially leave your opponent without any Energy in play almost indefinitely. And the [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”] really helps out with decks that have a lot of support from Basics, like [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”61″ c=”name”] that needs [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”63″ c=”name”]’s Turboblaze and [card name=”Hydreigon-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”62″ c=”name”]’s Dragon Road to function properly. And if you ever need to hit something big for the game, or a revenge KO after a Toad goes down, there’s where Drifblim comes in, hitting for a lot of damage thanks to the Energy disruption.
From recent U.S. Nationals, we saw that in all three age divisions, four decks were a [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”] variant. It’s rather surprising that one of those are in the Masters division, though, especially since the winner of the whole Championship was a Seismitoad-EX deck. However, seeing that many Toad / Manectric decks did so well in a big tournament like U.S. Nationals can give you a nice idea of how good the deck is. If you happen to play this deck, add Drifblim if you’d like to have some fun. I definitely did in the tournament I played!
Grassroots Tournament Report
Our local league likes to run a sanctioned tournament every month or two in preparation for when we get League Challenges in our country, and these tournaments are the most competitive and hyped our community attends, with people coming from over 100km to attend (with Costa Rica being a small country, that distance is considered long), and it was to be run July 19th in the Expanded format. Most of us couldn’t see benefits for decks other than Dark with the addition of [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”], so most of us played roughly Standard decks with slight modifications (like changing a [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”] for a [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”]). The attendance was quite standard for our zone, with 12 players playing in a single age division (just two Seniors that have always played at our level), and was four rounds long. I decided to play [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] because it was the deck I had the most confidence with and I knew how to play almost perfectly, when my other choices were Night March, [card name=”M Gallade-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”35″ c=”name”], or [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”], and I couldn’t feel comfortable playing any of those. So without further ado, let’s go into the rounds.
Round 1 – Pablo R. w/ Dragon M Rayquaza-EX: WW
[cardimg name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”61″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Can’t hit 300 constantly under Item Lock.[/cardimg]
I almost felt bad for him the moment we got paired up, since the time I tested the deck with him it didn’t go quite well for poor Ray. First game he went first, I begin with a [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”34″ c=”name”] and a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”] as my only Basics, so I open with Drifloon; while he opened with a [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”63″ c=”name”] and placed a [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”60″ c=”name”] on the Bench. He played another Reshiram, benched a [card name=”Hydreigon-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”62″ c=”name”] and loaded a Rayquaza with a Fire from Turbo Blaze and a [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name”]. Once in my turn, I was lucky enough to draw a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”] off the top of my deck and I attach it to the Balloon, I [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”] away his DDE and a [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”name”] heads gets rid of the Fire Energy before I Set Up, draw the Seismitoad and promote it to the Active spot. I attach a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] to the Active Seismitoad-EX, [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”] for the [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”], a [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”] goes into the same Rayquaza and attach a Float Stone to a [card name=”Trubbish” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”67″ c=”name”] I bench before I Quaking Punch for 50. My opponent does barely nothing the next turn and passes, and I proceed to evolve to [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”] for a full lock to his deck, and eventually win. A hilarious turn of events was when I used [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”], his M-Ray fell Asleep, didn’t wake up for four turns and when he woke up going into my turn, I HTL again and a heads sent the Dragon back to bed.
Game two he begins as well and starts the same, while I started Toad with a [card name=”Trubbish” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”67″ c=”name”] and a Drifloon in the Bench. He gets a turn quite similar to the one in the first game, except he played a Fire as his turn attachment instead of a DDE before he passed. On my turn, I attach a DCE to the Toad, a Band, and [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”name”] to get more cards, and I find the Float Stone for the Trubbish. The lock went on smoothly since I had my sole [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”] in play, but in a great turn from him he replaced the Stadium with a [card name=”Scorched Earth” set=”Primal Clash” no=”138″ c=”name”], [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”]’d my Garbodor and KO’d it with Rayquaza’s Dragon Strike and got himself out of the Ability lock for the rest of the game. I still went and [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”]ed away a DDE he had in the Active, Poison him and Quaking Punch, but he got the chance to attach a DDE to a Benched Rayquaza and evolved the Active for the turn. I however, see the opportunity of a lifetime by [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”name”]ing to [card name=”Drifblim” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”51″ c=”name”], Hammer away the DDE he had in play, attached a Lightning to Drifblim and hit a 120 Shadow Steal. He promoted the other Rayquaza and Mega Evolved once again, but I had a Lysandre in hand to bring up his [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”] and take my final two Prizes and the game. I do want to note that I was Pablo’s only loss, and he came in 3rd in the end of the tourney by overcoming a difficult mirror match, so congrats!
Round 2 – Alonso C. w/ Yveltal-EX / Seismitoad-EX / Garbodor: LL
I was playing next to him my previous round, so I knew immediately that [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”] would be useless in this match. First game he opens with a [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] and an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”], while I start with a lone [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”]. He attached a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”] and a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] to the Toad, benched a [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”88″ c=”name”], placed a [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”] on my Manectric, and passed, while my hand was quite dead. A [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”name”] that I missed, a DCE to Manectric and I [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name”] hoping to find another Basic and what I get is a [card name=”Trubbish” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”53″ c=”name”]. I bench it and hit both the Active and an Yveltal-EX I placed a Head Ringer on. From there, things get really nasty, since he proceeded to lock me with his own Toad. It came a time where I had 11 cards in my hand… and nine were Items. By the time I managed to KO his Toad he is already on top of me and, with [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”] at his disposal, managed to set up two Yveltal-EX, and a Darkrai-EX was on its way as well, so I concede and move on to game two.
Game two I begin with a lone [card name=”Drifloon” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”34″ c=”name”], but with a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”] in hand, and he opens with a Seismitoad in the front and an Yveltal-EX on the Bench. On my first turn I immediately [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name”] for Seismitoad and attach a DCE and Muscle Band I had in hand, then [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”] to find a Head Ringer to place on his Seismitoad, bench a Manectric, and pass the turn. I thought I saved myself from the lock on turn one, but he managed to get a [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”name”] and another Toad, played a Supporter to get a DCE and Quaking Punched me into the lock. Even though the match went a bit like the last round for me, the fact that he was locked too was really helpful. We trade Prizes evenly, Toad after Toad keeps falling, until I whiff a crucial attachment onto a Manectric, which gave him a chance to use a [card name=”Cassius” set=”XY” no=”115″ c=”name”] and heal off all the damage his Toad had, taking away my chances of taking at least a tie. It was quite a tough match, and Alonso played wonderfully.
Round 3 – Alberto S. (Ratpool on the Forums) w/ Primal Groudon-EX / Wobbuffet / Hawlucha: LL
[cardimg name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”custom”]A freaking steamroller![/cardimg]
If there was any deck that I wanted to avoid that day, this was it. The match was literally a wreck, and not even under Item lock I managed to go on top, and the fact that he didn’t even need a Stadium to OHKO the [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”] I started both games with wasn’t helpful for me either. Both games went up like this: we start the match, I discard an Energy or two before he evolves into [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”], I try to do something to the [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”] he has Active and once he has the Groudon ready he literally steamrolls me. A bit short of a match, but that was all that happened. He then went to win his fourth match against a [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] and win the tournament undefeated, so congratulations, Alberto! And sorry that my Toads stained your Groudons, by the way.
Round 4 – Joshua S. w/ M Latios-EX / Greninja-EX / Absol: WW
After I resigned myself with the fact that I won’t be making the top three, we get the final pairings of the day. Game one was painfully slow, with me getting some subpar hands and he getting slowed down by the [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”]s on both of his [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name”]. He still managed to KO the only two Pokemon I had in play with another Latios before I got to search for another one, so he took the first game.
Game two I had a decent start at last and kept the disruption going, even though he started really strong drawing cards with a [card name=”Deoxys” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”33″ c=”name”]; and we exchanged Prizes evenly until I manage to stop him by removing all of his Energy and has to promote a lone [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”] to gain some time, but I just keep attacking until the game is over.
Luckily for me, the third game went pretty much the same way, and managed to apply pressure since the very beginning. I ended up taking all my KOs with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] and Quaking Punch my way into my second victory of the day. While his deck had a nice strategy, he didn’t manage to set up consistently, and he ran out of Energy most of the time because [card name=”M Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”59″ c=”name”]’s attack isn’t easily streamed (especially under Item lock) and Latios’ second attack isn’t as Energy efficient as you’d like.
At the end of the tournament, I ended up 7th, way below of my initial expectations of the day. I have to say that I don’t regret playing what I did and I’d do it again if I were to participate in that very same tournament. However, luck did ended up weighing a lot, and I would have probably ended up at least 4th if my second round match went a little bit better. Still, I learned a lot from the tournament and I’m looking forward to another one of these!
Conclusion
All of the decks I discussed in this article have strong points in their favor, but they’re mostly meant for League play or a very specific metagame. But still, this decks can surprise you. Actually, if I were to go to the World Championships this August, I’d personally play the same deck I played on this last tournament. I can assure you they are the decks I’ve had the most fun playing with, and I hope that with future releases more of this type of strategies can come to life.
Thank you all for reading my article! It really means a lot to me and I hope to keep bringing more content like this. Hope you all enjoyed the article, and if you have any comments or even suggestions on my next article you may drop by the comment section below and leave all you have to say, and I’ll be glad to answer any of your questions. Thanks again, and I’ll see you next time!