Great Caesar’s Gengar! Ghosts of Generations Past
Hello again, Beach goers! What’s up? Steve here, back after a rather long absence and getting ready for the City Championships now! I’ve taken roughly a month off from the Pokemon TCG and it’s time for me to kick it into high gear again! With the release of BREAKthrough we have lots of new cards that I believe will impact the meta. In fact, this is arguably the most diverse set introduced to the Pokemon TCG meta since Phantom Forces was released a year ago. BREAKthrough offers a combination of new deck archetypes as well as cards to help existing decks while the meta continues to evolve as quickly as Caterpie evolves into Butterfree!
Throughout Cities I expect to see a variety of decks and a quickly changing meta due to players responding to and countering decks that have succeeded. It is important to note that because Cities are single game rather than best-of-three, players will be able to afford fewer losses than they could to make the top cut at Regionals. However, in the best-of-one tournament format, ties are statistically less common, which many players would consider beneficial. After going 4-0-5 at Lancaster Regionals, I’ve learned that some decks are simply not designed for the “50-plus-three” time format, but many of these decks are capable of succeeding in “30-plus-three” single-game matches. That said, consistency remains important in both types of events, and BREAKthrough offers several consistency-increasing cards to go along with the new deck types it creates. It was rather difficult to choose only 10 cards from the set as my personal favorites because of the extreme level of diversity in the set! This article will eventually focus onto the new Gengar deck specifically, but first I’d like to count down my personal top 10 cards from BREAKthrough and the impact I believe they will have on the game. So without further ado, I give you…
My Top 10 Cards From BREAKthrough
(Please note that I will not be including obvious reprints such as [card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Fisherman, [card name=”Town Map” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”136″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”XY” no=”131″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in this list.)
10. Glalie-EX
[cardimg name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Seismitoad-EX makes a great partner for Glalie-EX[/cardimg]
What a seemingly underrated Pokemon-EX we have here. In fact, if I recall correctly, this card was jokingly referred to as “Useless-EX” when it was originally revealed right here on PokeBeach! Talk about a reversal of fortune! Now you might be curious as to what reversal of fortune I’m talking about, or exactly why I have this card in my number 10 slot, so, I will explain. While M Glalie-EX may be a certified piece of junk, its unevolved form, Glalie-EX, is actually a pretty solid attacker, and it doesn’t even need to be the star of his own deck to function. Even better, it can be useful in both Standard and Expanded due in large part to its Instant Freeze attack. With [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], this guy can dish out a OHKO on many of the game’s popular Pokemon-EX with just two Energy cards and a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] attached.
As for the hand-size condition, that can be manipulated rather easily with Supporters such as [card name=”Battle Reporter” set=”Furious Fists” no=”88″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and the newly re-released [card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Now you might wonder why I’d even mention Battle Reporter when you’d expect better Supporters in the game, but I invite you to take a moment and consider our current draw Supporters for Standard. Yes, there is [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and after that there is… not much. While [card name=”Professor Birch’s Observations” set=”Primal Clash” no=”159″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Shauna” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”104″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and Giovanni’s Scheme offer some draw options, none of these cards compare to Professor Sycamore. So, although Battle Reporter and Judge aren’t always the most reliable draw sources, they aren’t much worse than the majority of the secondary draw Supporters, and they can work well with Glalie-EX. The main deck I can see Glalie-EX fitting into is [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], as it meshes well with the Energy already in the deck and it provides a solid backup attacker that is capable of taking out bulky Pokemon like Giratina-EX with relative ease. This card doesn’t belong in every deck, but it has tested very well for me so far, usually as a single-copy heavy-hitter in decks that lack a big OHKO machine when going up against EX-heavy decks. Overall, this card is better than advertised and I expect it to see some play.
9. Giovanni’s Scheme
The leader of Team Rocket has returned after many years in training with a new scheme that offers us a pair of solid options. Cards like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] grant us slightly better draw than the first effect of Giovanni’s Scheme, but it is never a bad idea to have extra draw power handy, especially due to the short supply of draw Supporters in the Standard format. Giovanni’s second option is the real deal, though. While [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] already offers the same effect in a Pokemon Tool card, the current meta suggests this effect could be very useful as a Supporter card, given the popularity of [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX decks which can lock down Item cards as early as the first turn. Supporters, on the other hand, are much more difficult to take away and therefore are much more reliable in a pinch. Because of its reliability and ability to surprise opponents, Giovanni’s Scheme is a very solid support and is worth testing out in any deck that isn’t already taking OHKOs at will.
8. Raikou
Raikou is an interesting card in that it is powerful both offensively and defensively. With both [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and the new Magnezone in Standard, in addition to Eelektrik in Expanded, this card has plenty of type support and Energy acceleration to work with. Its attack is identical to [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”45″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]’s Secret Sword, only with Lightning Energy instead of Water. Similar to Keldeo-EX, Raikou will often be dealing 110 base damage, increasing as you attach more Lightning Energy. There isn’t much else to say about Raikou besides that. Expect to see this card played at Cities. We won’t be seeing much of [card name=”Zekrom” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”51″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”23″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on the tables now that we have this card!
7. Gallade
Hey, look everybody! We finally have a legit target for [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in Standard! What a card it is, too. As Andrew Mahone mentioned in his most recent article, Gallade is an absolute powerhouse of a Pokemon, capable of fitting into [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] decks easily and providing them with a gorgeous answer to their dreaded [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] matchup. One could even use this guy in Vespiquen / Eeveelutions, where it allows you to take full advantage of its Premonition Ability. After rearranging those five cards to your heart’s content, use any copies of Unown you have available to pick up the top card(s) immediately! This makes Unown much more powerful than it already was, allowing it to choose between the five top cards of your deck instead of having only a single option. Finally, we come to Gallade’s Manectric-slaying attack. While it isn’t much on its own, if you’ve played a Supporter during the turn — which you almost always will have — an additional 70 damage is added for a total of 130 damage, or 260 to a Fighting-weak Pokemon like Manectric-EX. That’s more than enough firepower to OHKO anything in the game with a Weakness to Fighting, in addition to many things without Fighting Weakness.
6. M Mewtwo-EX (Psychic Infinity)
You might recall my previous article in which I talked about a speed variant of a deck based around this big bad Mega Evolution from BREAKthrough. I’ve continued testing this beast in both Standard and Expanded with excellent results against everything besides Night March. While [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] doesn’t present a problem, [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] frustratingly hits Mewtwo-EX and M Mewtwo-EX for Weakness, totaling over 200 damage easily in this matchup. As for other matchups, Vespiquen can be dealt with by using Parallel City‘s damage-reducing effect, while EX-based attackers can be dealt with an old-fashioned slugfest that is almost always in Mewtwo’s favor due to its sheer damage output. Finally, the regular Mewtwo-EX can handle [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] by reducing the damage it takes from the opponent’s Active Pokemon by 30 via Photon Wave. You can further reduce the damage you take from Seismitoad-EX by utilizing Parallel City, which adds onto Photon Wave to reduce the damage by a total of 50. So, your opponent can continue to Quaking Punch you, even with a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], but they won’t be doing any damage. Then, if Giratina-EX, their only damage option, comes up front to swing, simply drop a Hex Maniac and proceed to use M Mewtwo-EX and wipe it out with Psychic Infinity!
5. Gengar
As you might recall from Pokemon Red and Blue (or Base Set and Fossil), there is only one original Ghost Pokemon family: Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. Finally, the stars of Pokemon Tower and the TV episode “The Tower of Terror” have all returned for the first time since Triumphant was released in Fall of 2011! In other words, it’s been a while since we’ve seen these beloved pranksters and their trickery here in the TCG. Gengar comes with an interesting concept and the potential to be absolutely devastating — but we’ll go more in depth on that later. For now, he offers two attacks: the first dealing Poison as well as placing one damage counter on each of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon, and the second dealing an instant KO to your opponent’s Active Pokemon as long as that Pokemon has at least three damage counters on it. Yes, you read that correctly — an instant Knock Out. This will be the concept for the featured deck list in this article, so I’ll leave Gengar’s description at that for now.
4. Magnezone
Apparently [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Feraligatr Prime, and [card name=”Emboar” set=”Next Destinies” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] found a new brother: Magnezone. Similar to its older siblings, Magnezone has an Ability — Magnetic Circuit — which allows you to attach as many Lightning Energy cards from your hand to your Pokemon as you like during your turn. While this was considered “broken” in most regards around the Base Set era, the game almost feels weird if we don’t have a Pokemon like this nowadays. Unlike the Worlds format, however, we can’t use something like [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”157″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to bring this powerful motor into play. This means you will have to use Magneton as a mid stage or play [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Primal Clash” no=”135″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to skip from Magnemite to Magnezone, the latter likely being the preferred method of building this Stage 2 Pokemon. Magnezone has received excellent support from this set, gaining allies in the forms of Raikou, Fisherman, and a homerun-hitter, Pikachu-EX, who comes as a Promo card. These cards, potentially along with [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], allow Magnezone decks to be very playable in Standard. In Expanded, though, I expect Archie’s Blastoise to be played over Magnezone variants due to its superior speed and consistency. This deck may gain yet another weapon if / when we get the Jolteon-EX card that was recently revealed for Japan. This is one of the few actual archetypes to come out of BREAKthrough, and might be the best one for the current Standard meta.
3. Parallel City
What an idea this card was! Rather than having a Stadium card that affects both players in the same way, Pokemon decided to make a Stadium card with a different effect targeting each player. Parallel City also offers the user the nifty option of being able to choose which player gets each effect, making the card that much more versatility. The Bench-limiting effect was the one that initially jumped out at me, since [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] has become such a popular card with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Bronzong” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY21″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] all having seen quite a bit of play over the last few months. First off, this card almost single-handedly shuts down M Rayquaza-EX. It forces the player to discard anywhere between one and five of their Benched Pokemon, capping Emerald Break’s damage output at 90 instead of the usual 150 or 240. That’s huge right there!
But this card can be used in even more ways. Believe it or not, this effect can be useful to place on yourself. Why, one may ask? Well, to knock Shaymin-EX off of your Bench, of course! Shaymin-EX is a fantastic source of draw power that will continue to see play, but it can be a liability if your opponent plays a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] for an easy two-Prize KO. Also with this card, one can discard a heavily-damaged Pokemon from their Bench as a way to deny their opponent a Prize card or two.
Next, let’s talk about the other effect. This effect might not seem like much, but against decks that rely on these types of attackers ([card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], anyone?), this can be much more powerful than one would expect. For instance, if you’re running a high-HP Pokemon such as a Mega Evolution, this can be the difference between a OHKO and a 2HKO against Vespiquen, and against Seismitoad-EX you will reduce their 30 base damage to 10, meaning your opponent will need a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] just to deal a mediocre amount of damage! Pretty crazy stuff, isn’t it? This is one of the most creative Stadiums to come out in a while, and I look forward to seeing in what creative ways people will use it.
2. Brigette
Brigette is the PC girl, so it only makes sense that she goes and gets your Pokemon for you. But is she better than [card name=”Winona” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”108″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Flashfire” no=”94″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]? Well, that’s up for debate. In a Colorless deck, Winona is almost always better. In an EX-heavy deck, you’d likely want Fan Club. But we also have decks based around non-EX Basics as well as Stage 1 Pokemon at the moment. This is where Brigette really shines. The fact that she puts the Pokemon onto the Bench instead of into the hand is actually a big deal, as you could simply search and use Hoopa-EX for three more Pokemon-EX with its Scoundrel Ring Ability if she put the Pokemon into your hand instead.
Still, imagine this card in a deck like [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], where you could pull a [card name=”Pikachu” set=”XY” no=”42″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Zubat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]s on the first turn, bringing back memories of the loved Pokemon Collector. Another solid home for Brigette would be in a Vileplume deck, where you need to get several Pokemon out quickly in order to achieve your setup and take control of the game. While you’ll rarely use her to search for a Pokemon-EX, Brigette is very good at what she does for non-EX Pokemon, and what she does is quite useful in a handful of decks in Standard at the very least. Maybe [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] could even use her in Expanded?
[premium]
1. Zoroark and Zoroark BREAK
Okay, so the real champ here is Zoroark, but I’ve decided to toss in Zoroark BREAK because it offers a powerful second attack to Zoroark that can take serious advantage of a number of opposing Pokemon’s attacks (I’m looking at you, [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]). However, let’s just stick with regular Zoroark for now. What makes it so good? Well, for starters, it has the exact same Ability that our beloved [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”142″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] used to help us out of switching jams for the past three years, which is enough on its own to make the card noteworthy. The return of [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] makes this Ability even better, as you can do with Zoroark and Float Stone the same thing we’ve all done time and time again with Floating Keldeo, as I like to call it.
The fun doesn’t end there though, as Zoroark’s attack is a cheaper and even more deadly version of Mind Jack — a powerful attack which was seen on the Team Plasma [card name=”Absol” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”67″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] card. With a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or Giovanni’s Scheme you could be hitting 180 damage for just a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] which is incredible! Add together a Pokemon with Keldeo-EX’s Ability, an attack that can OHKO even Pokemon-EX at full health, and the best BREAK Evolution currently available in the TCG, and you’ve got yourself a really, really good card! That is why I had to rank Zoroark as my number one choice from BREAKthrough.
The Promo Jirachi
We have a couple more cards to go over, even after discussing my top 10 picks from BREAKthrough. One of those cards is the new promo Jirachi which is already being hyped up as the go-to counter for decks based around [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Giratina-EX, and even things like Vespiquen, Night March, and Tyrantrum-EX! With all that hype, Jirachi must have some potential. But what makes Jirachi so good against these decks? The answer lies in Jirachi’s first attack: Stardust.
Since decks revolving around Seismitoad-EX, Giratina-EX, Vespiquen, or Night March tend to rely heavily on Special Energy cards like [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Double Dragon Energy” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”97″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Jirachi rounds into prime form against these decks. In fact, most Seismitoad-EX / Giratina-EX decks run only Special Energy, meaning that if your opponent’s Active Pokemon has any Energy attached to it at all, you will be able to both discard it and make Jirachi invulnerable for the following turn. Even if your opponent attaches another Energy to Item lock you with Quaking Punch, you can simply discard it again on your next turn and make Jirachi immune to attacks for yet another turn! Overall, this is an awesome card, one that you’ll definitely want to pick up one or two copies of.
Pikachu-EX
The other promo card I want to go over here is our Ash Ketchum Special, also known as Pikachu-EX. So what’s so great about a 130 HP Pokemon-EX with no Ability? Well, it’s a combination of two things, actually: first the fact that Magnezone from BREAKthrough can drop as many Lightning Energy from the hand as it wants to per turn, and second, that Pikachu-EX can, for [L][C][C], discard all Lightning Energy attached to it and deal 50 damage for each discarded Energy. With just four Lightning Energy you’re dealing 200, enough to OHKO any Basic Pokemon-EX not named [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]; and you’ll be dealing 250 with five Lightning Energy, OHKO’ing anything in the game, [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Flashfire” no=”20″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] aside. There isn’t much else to say about this card as it functions very much like [card name=”Black Kyurem-EX” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”95″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and the original [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”85″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] did with [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Emboar” set=”Next Destinies” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] respectively. Lower HP definitely hurts it, but the damage output is still there and Magnezone really needs this guy as a homerun hitter.
Of course, with all these new cards entering the game, there are sure to be new decks popping up at Leagues and soon at the City Championships in a couple weeks. While decks like Magnezone and M Mewtwo-EX have been discussed a bit already in addition to older decks such as Night March, [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and Vespiquen, there is one more deck that I’d like to go over. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…
The Original Ghost Pokemon – Gengar
Oh, Gengar. Even today you are still my favorite Pokemon from first gen, despite all of the awesome first gen stars like Blastoise, Arcanine, Jolteon, and Dragonite as well as my favorite character of all time from the Pokemon TV series: Meowth. Gengar is an absolute boss. In fact, so much so that it can KO things without dealing any damage! To expand on that a bit, let’s take a look at Gengar and how exactly our deck based around it will work.
As you can probably guess, we’re going to be focusing on Gengar’s second attack as our primary win condition. While it may require a little bit of setup, this can be a pretty effective strategy once it gets rolling. The question now is how we plan to get three damage counters on your opponent’s Active Pokemon. After testing out a variety of different methods, I have come up with one answer that works best, and it’s the most ironic one of the bunch. But first, let’s look at our options, shall we?
Golbat / Crobat
The first idea that came to my mind after reading the new Gengar was to pair it with [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Although this involves running two separate Stage 2 lines, the idea felt fairly solid and I thought it was worth a go. After a bit of testing I discovered the deck was too slow and inconsistent, even with cards like Brigette and [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to help speed up the process. The major problem here is that a single Golbat places only two damage counters, while you need three to make Creep Show score a KO. Thus, unless you play down either a Crobat or multiple Golbat, you probably won’t be taking that KO you’d like to for another turn or two. Simply put, the Bats version felt a bit slow and wound up lacking consistency overall.
Forretress / Spinda
The idea here is to either use [card name=”Forretress” set=”Flashfire” no=”60″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]’ Ability to place one damage counter on each of your opponent’s Pokemon when you play it from your hand, or get the same effect by attacking with [card name=”Spinda” set=”Primal Clash” no=”115″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. The problem? Yup, you guessed it: once again this is too slow. While it might seem contradictory to say something is too slow for a Stage 2 deck, you want to get a solid chunk of damage on the board as early as possible, so when Gengar comes out, you can start taking KOs quickly. If you can manage to place three damage counters across your opponent’s board then you’re golden, but that’s not going to happen too often with these guys. Similar to Forretress and Spinda, Kyurem-EX (with Glaciate) and [card name=”Noivern” set=”Furious Fists” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] can try to deal 30 damage across the board, but their Energy requirements make them less-than-appealing options to pair with Gengar.
Latios-EX
Why [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]? Well, it’s simple really. He can attack on the first turn, even when you go first! Latios-EX also has the added benefit of using Psychic Energy for his Fast Raid attack, which has great synergy with Gengar’s Energy requirements. Unlike the previous two ideas, Latios-EX actually tested all right, and proved it was a capable partner for Gengar. Being able to Fast Raid two or three times in the game’s early stages can help to give Gengar the board setup it requires in order to go off and win the game. Just hope you have a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or two prepared so you can hit multiple Pokemon — unless you’re able to KO something with Fast Raid, that is. The main problem here is that we’re trying to get a couple of Gengars out while we’re laying down damage for the first few turns, which means we can’t afford to play Lysandres at will. This leaves us with one final option:
Gengar-EX
It’s ironic, isn’t it? The card that tested out best alongside our new Stage 2 Gengar is its big brother, [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]! Gengar-EX’s Night Attack allows you to choose your KO targets, and you don’t need to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in order to hit the Pokemon you want. It’s super beneficial being able to Night Attack for free thanks to [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] which we are definitely running since it also reduces the cost of Gengar’s Creep Show attack down to just one Psychic Energy. And because our deck is running off of Psychic types alone, we gain synergy with [card name=”Mystery Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”112″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. These can help to get Gengar-EX out of the Active spot while doubling as a source of Psychic Energy. No need to worry about [card name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] either; Gengar-EX places damage counters instead of dealing damage with Night Attack, then Gengar simply KOs them as an effect of an attack — no damage-dealing necessary! Don’t you love technicalities? Anyways, here is my list — from Gengar to Gengar!
The List
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”17″]
4x [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”35″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Flashfire” no=”94″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”117″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Primal Clash” no=”135″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Next Destinies” no=”89″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Noble Victories” no=”95″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”8″]
4x [card name=”Mystery Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”112″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”XY” no=”136″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
As I explained above, the idea here is to use [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]’s first attack, Night Attack, to drop three damage counters on one of your opponent’s Pokemon. After doing this two or three times you will hopefully have a Gengar evolved and ready to swoop in for a KO or two. Of course, we have a supporting cast that deserves a bit of representation as well.
Absol
[cardimg name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is a neat little tech card I’ve chosen for this list due to its ability to move the magic number of damage counters (three) from one of your opponent’s Pokemon to another. This allows you to take a KO with Creep Show by moving damage from a Benched Pokemon onto your opponent’s Active Pokemon. You won’t have to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or Night Attack just because your opponent’s Active Pokemon has no damage counters on it. This card can be combined with [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”117″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to use it multiple times, if necessary. Pretty simple card here, but very useful and at times clutch for winning games a turn or two earlier than your opponent would be expecting you to go in for the kill.
Jirachi
Simply put, this deck has a dreadful matchup against both Vespiquen and Night March, as neither deck uses Pokemon-EX very much. This means you’ll likely need to successfully accomplish Creep Show a whopping six times! That’s not going to happen very often, and if you can’t take advantage of a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or two, this becomes an auto-loss real quickly. Fortunately, that’s where Jirachi comes in — dealing 10 damage, discarding your opponent’s [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”XY” no=”130″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and becoming invulnerable during your opponent’s next turn. If you want to tech an alternate attacker in this deck, tech it in for these two matchups. They will be the most difficult ones in general.
Judge
[card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is a reprint of a nice little Supporter card from the HGSS day. In a sense, this is a much less dramatic version of [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], which is the card I’m happiest to see rotate out of Standard this year. Judge doesn’t offer excessive draw power (I miss you already, [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]), but it does offer a form of shuffle-draw and disruption in one package, which is better than what all the other shuffle-draw Supporters can do at the moment. Thus, a single copy of Judge and four copies of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] should work out fine for shuffle-draw.
No copies of Shauna or Professor Birch’s Observations
Ah, those two subpar shuffle-draw Supporters that everyone runs in Standard even though no one really wants to… players tend to have a love / hate relationship with these two cards. Personally, I don’t run these cards in any of my lists right now. Any copies that were in my Standard lists before BREAKthrough have since been replaced by [card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], which feels like a superior card due to its disruption capabilities in addition to the shuffle-draw aspect of the card. Also, having four copies of both [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] helps out greatly when you need to draw cards or find your Supporters quicker, making up for the lack of extra draw Supporters included in this list. If only [card name=”Shauna” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”104″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] drew six instead of five, or if [card name=”Professor Birch’s Observations” set=”Primal Clash” no=”159″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] drew five on a tails flip… oh well. For now, Judge will remain the draw Supporter of choice in this deck.
Pokemon Fan Club
Let us once again look at the trio of Pokemon searching Supporters that are [card name=”Winona” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”108″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Brigette, and [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Flashfire” no=”94″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Well, actually, we’ll scratch Winona off that list for now, since the only Colorless Pokemon in this deck is [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. That leaves Brigette and Pokemon Fan Club. Simply put, it’s every bit as important to play a [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on the first turn as it is to play a Gastly, and while Brigette offers an option between the two, Pokemon Fan Club can grab them both at the same time. With how crucial your setup is, the ability to get both Gastly and Gengar-EX on the first turn, or a Shaymin-EX if necessary, makes Pokemon Fan Club the obvious choice here. There’s not too much else to say on this matter, so let’s head out to Death Valley, shall we?
Dimension Valley
Oops, I meant [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], sorry. Truth be told, this is the most important Trainer card in the entire deck. It grants [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] the ability to use Night Attack for free and Gengar to use Creep Show for only one Psychic Energy. This card alone prevents us from having to clog up deck space with excess Psychic Energy as well as cards like [card name=”Exp. Share” set=”Primal Clash” no=”128″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. It also allows us to retreat our opening Active Pokemon if we don’t open with Gengar-EX and still use Night Attack that turn, since none of our other Basic Pokemon have a Retreat Cost greater than one. Four copies of this card are essential to ensure that we win the Stadium war consistently. Just don’t let Giratina-EX stick another Stadium into play and lock it in with Chaos Wheel!
Matchups
Seismitoad-EX / Giratina-EX
Despite my somewhat irrational hatred of lock decks, I actually like this matchup quite a bit. First of all, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] doesn’t deal enough damage to out-speed your setup here. Even with Seismitoad-EX’s Item lock you can evolve through Haunter if necessary. Second, Giratina-EX takes a minimum of two turns to charge up, and, even once charged up, can’t OHKO a Gengar or [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] with Chaos Wheel, as it caps off at 100 damage or 120 with a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. The only thing that can screw you up in this matchup is Giratina potentially locking you out of [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], which could be a bit of a thorn in your side if you consider how many copies of [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Kalos Starter Set” no=”34″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] these decks tend to play. However, I’ve found this matchup to be generally favorable, contrary to what you’d initially expect.
M Manectric-EX
[cardimg name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], or MegaMan as I like to call him, is an interesting opponent for Gengar. While this deck doesn’t OHKO Gengar, it usually has access to healing cards like [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Since the early goal of this deck is to spread damage across your opponent’s board, healing cards present a bit of a problem for the Ghosts of Gen One. Still, if you can manage to use Night Attack even once and keep your opponent from healing, you can then use Creep Show for a quick KO before they can heal again. You can also try dropping more than three damage counters onto a [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”113″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] early, or cherry-picking any Pokemon they play that aren’t compatible with Rough Seas’ healing capabilities. This is a bit of an uphill battle, but it’s certainly not unwinnable. With the right tech card(s), you can make this matchup somewhat favorable.
Vespiquen / Night March
I’m lumping these two together because of how similar they are matchup-wise for this deck. Heck, you can even combine Vespiquen (V) and Night March (NM) to create what I like to call Venom (VNM). Combined or not, both of these decks form Gengar’s biggest matchup problem. Sure, you can use Night Attack to KO a [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on the spot, but a smart player will realize that instantly and opt for [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] instead. This is definitely the matchup where Jirachi earns its bill, even if it’s often viewed as the counter for [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX decks. To make the math easier, you need to pull of Creep Show between four and six times to win this matchup, and the math doesn’t add up well when you’re constantly getting OHKO’d by one-Prize attackers that use only a single Energy card to attack. These decks are your kryptonite.
Conclusion
After all of this and quite a bit of testing, I believe that Gengar has a legitimate chance to succeed at this year’s City Championships. I don’t think it will be the meta or the deck to beat, per se, but I do think it’s good enough to catch people off guard and take more games than one might expect — especially if the meta begins to fade away from Night March and Vespiquen decks. Gengar is really more of a meta-based play than anything else, with many tech options like [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Primal Clash” no=”21″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to counter [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]; or Jirachi for [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], Giratina-EX, and non-EX decks that run off of [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]; that are able to help out against a bad matchup if you hit one. I wouldn’t recommend Gengar in a minefield of Vespiquen and Night Marchers, but otherwise it’s a fairly solid play. If you’re looking for a fun new deck to try out either in a tournament or at your local League, give Gengar a try!
That’s all for today, folks! If you enjoying reading my article here, make sure to give it a like or a comment. Until next time, cheers PokeBeach!
[/premium]