Slugma Donk: Are You Serious!?

Use me. I dare you.

Hey SixPrizes. I’ve been swamped for the majority of this month with exams and work, and haven’t had much time for writing articles. But today I’m here to bring you a fun league deck. This idea isn’t really meant for a tournament atmosphere, but it certainly could be run. Heck, with some good luck I suppose it could win every tournament it ever entered. Just know off the bat, I’m being as serious as I can be.

After our weekly league meeting, a couple friends and I (including Starmetroid) got a silly idea from flipping through a binder of random cards. There it was, staring us in the face. We had to use Slugma UD.

For those of you who have never heard of the card, Slugma UD has a Poké-Power that allows you to discard the top card of your deck once per turn. If that card was a R Energy, instead, attach it to Slugma UD! In other words, it’s an alternate form of energy acceleration for Fire decks that can be pulled off first turn.

pokemon-paradijs.com
I used to be a $30 card.

If ZPST or CMT is any sort of example, it goes to show that first turn energy acceleration can win games. What’s more, Slugma’s absolutely horrendous attack (FFC for 40) can at least donk Durants and Celebis, as well as all the 30-40 HP basics. It’s also only a PlusPower away from the 50 HP donk.

That said, it requires 3 energies to pull off, which makes it pretty much the worst attack someone could actually think about using in the format.

But if we can take a lesson from one of the two aforementioned decks, there’s a way to get around specific-Pokémon attachment. I’m of course referring to the combo of Pachirisu CL + Shaymin UL.

With Pachirisu and Shaymin, you can get up to 4 energy (two Lightning, one Double Colourless) on the field with only 2 Pokémon. So if we take this principle and apply it to Slugma, it’s actually a pretty simple transition. The goal is to start with your attacker, be able to get at least 2 Slugma and a Shaymin on the first turn, and use Slugma’s ability successfully twice to get at least 3 energy played on the first turn.

No small order, but the deck benefits greatly from the use of Level Ball and Dual Ball as your first turn search cards. I’ll start out by giving a list and I’ll go into the card choices in a bit more detail.

Pokémon – 12

3 Reshiram-EX

1 Unown FLASH

3 Slugma UD

3 Reshiram BLW

2 Shaymin UL

Trainers – 33

4 Professor Juniper

4 Professor Oak’s New Theory

3 N or Other Draw Supporter

1 Seeker

 

4 Super Scoop Up

3 Level Ball

3 Dual Ball

3 Junk Arm

3 Research Record

2 Switch

2 PlusPower

1 Pokégear 3.0

Energy – 15

15 R

Card Explanations

Pokémon

pokemon-paradijs.com
My name starts with the letter R.

Reshiram-EX: Reshiram starts with an R. This made it almost essential for the deck to function. This behemoth can also hit for anywhere between 50-150 on the first turn, which is not shabby at all.

Unown Flash: Unown was a late addition to the deck. I needed a Pokémon that started with a U, so I looked up a list of all the Pokémon sorted alphabetically and found Unown. Originally I was going to use Unown DARK to ensure I had the energy attachment in my hand, but then I stumbled upon the beauty that is Unown FLASH.

When you bench Unown Flash, you can look through the top 5 cards of your deck and rearrange them as you see fit. Consider this a Research Record, but searchable by Level Ball and with the ability to delve a bit deeper into the deck. With the next card you’ll understand how essential Unown Flash is to the deck’s consistency, even if you only run 1.

Slugma UD: The card that started it all. Slugma provides first turn energy accel with a bit of help from its friends. By fixing the top card of your deck with cards like Research Record and Unown Flash, Slugma can abuse its Active Volcano Poké-Power to get reliable energy acceleration on the first turn. The problem is that it’s like Pachirisu CL in that it can only accelerate to itself.

pokemon-paradijs.com
I put the R in “serious.”

Reshiram BLW: Again, I needed an R for the deck. Reshiram can hit for 120 damage for only 3 energy, which is a step above Reshiram-EX’s damage output for 3 energy. Considering this is a donk-oriented deck, it’s important to make sure you can KO genies on the first turn. Reshiram’s 120 damage with a PlusPower can also donk other 130 HP basics, which is a nice option to have available.

Shaymin UL: Finally the card that brings the deck together and makes this all possible. Shaymin’s Poké-Power “Celebration Wind” allows you to move all the energy on your side of the field around as you’d like. With Shaymin, it all makes sense. Finally there’s a method of actually accelerating energy onto your attacker.

Now before I go into the trainer lines, just take a step back and look at that. I know what you’re thinking. Is this whole article a joke? R U SRS? Yes. I am serious. I am so serious it hurts.

Trainers

Professor Juniper: Best straight draw supporter in the format. This deck uses a ball engine to search for basics, so Juniper is perfect since you’ll often get to use it first turn in going for the KO.

Professor Oak’s New Theory: If you burn through your hand, an Oaks or Bianca is like a mini-Juniper, which is amazing. Oaks gives you the ability to shuffle back cards you don’t want though, and get a whole new hand. I’ve found this to be more useful than straight draw with Bianca. The choice is yours though.

Why don’t you come with me little girl, on a ferris wheel ride?

N: N is my next supporter of choice because it gives you an efficient draw first turn, and this deck lives or dies on its first turn. Bianca is a great substitute if you’re looking for another type of draw though, as it gives you a better shot in the mid-late game.

Seeker: Your bench gets clogged fast, what with the Slugmas, Shaymins and Unown. Super Scoop Up is good to help out with that, but Seeker is guaranteed to work. It also can allow you to donk when they have only one Pokémon on the bench.

Super Scoop Up: As I said your bench gets clogged fast. You’ll also find yourself wanting to re-use Shaymin’s Celebration Wind and Unown Flash’s “Flash.” SSU lets you do this, but it is also a replacement for a thicker Switch line. Since half of your basics are not your ideal starter, the deck really wants to get a bad starter out of the Active Spot.

I’ve maxed SSU to do this because of its usefulness outside of this situation. There are still 2 Switch in the deck, and the combination of 4 SSU and 2 Switch should hopefully get you a Reshiram in the active slot first turn.

Balls!

The Balls: Search without supporting on the first turn. Perfect for the deck.

Junk Arm: Junk Arm is a great card, but you probably don’t need 4. It’s not really as useful on the first turn, and that’s your main focus. Junk Arm is mostly there to follow up in the 2nd turn.

Research Record: This card brings the deck together and actually makes the strategy viable. You can determine what you draw next and accelerate your energy at the same time. It’s great! By using Research Record and Slugma in tandem, you’re essentially drawing an extra card per turn, and determining what you want to draw next. That is an amazing card right there.

Switch: Make sure you have a Reshiram hitting for 50-150 first turn.

PlusPower: I’d love to find more room in the list for another PlusPower, but I haven’t. 1 PlusPower is enough to boost Reshiram’s Blue Flare to 130 damage which makes your donk that much more dangerous. You might even be able to PlusPower + Junk Arm in combination with Reshiram-EX’s Brave Fire for a Mewtwo KO.

Pokégear 3.0: Just nice to have a Junk Arm’able supporter.

Energy

pokemon-paradijs.com
Research: “The systematic investigation into existing or new knowledge.”

15 R Energy: You’ll want to have a fire in your top 4 cards every time you Research Record. Running a high count helps guarantee that. It also helps pulling off 2 Active Volcanoes in one turn.

So there you have the general list. The strategy is so over-centralized that it really loses late-game power due to how full your bench gets, and how you rely on Shaymin to move energy around. That said, if you couldn’t tell by now, this article has been intended for more of a fun laugh than proposing a new deck to rise up to tier 1.

That said, it’s not as though this strategy doesn’t work. You often can get yourself a Reshiram attacking on turn 1, and it will punish an opponent’s slow start. The problem as I’ve mentioned is that your bench gets very clogged and without a Shaymin in hand and a free bench space, you become unable to re-accelerate energy.

The deck should function off of manual attachments after the first turn, because hopefully you’re applying enough early pressure that by the time they KO your active Pokémon you’ve had time to set up another.

Now, because you’ve made it this far, I’ll reward you for continuing to read this. The list above certainly works, and I love Reshiram as an attacker because of its high damage output, but there are a couple other cards you could definitely be using in this deck to help get an easier turn 1 donk and/or a more consistent late game.

pokemon-paradijs.com
This is my game face.

Techs

Victini NVI 15: Well I’ve been saying how the bench gets clogged, why not take advantage of that? Victini is much easier to set up (only uses 2 energy) and just loves having a full bench to use. 100 Damage on the first turn is also better than Reshiram-EX’s average damage output, and hits harder than Tornadus.

The only problem is that filling your bench often leaves you without many options for next turn, because your cards are literally all on the table. Also Victini’s artwork just screams “serious,” so he’s the perfect fit for the deck.

Tornadus EPO: For 3 energy Tornadus hits for 80 and can help set up another attacker on the bench. This is key because Tornadus makes more efficient use of its energy than either Reshiram. Reshiram BW may hit for 120, but it discards 2 energy making the mid-game more difficult.

Reshiram-EX has to flip to reach the same damage output as Tornadus, and is therefore not as effective with only 3 energy. Not only that, but Tornadus can help set up your next Reshiram to follow up for the big KO next turn.

Tier 3 at best.

Mewtwo EX: Mewtwo is a bad card and I don’t understand why people use it.

Energy Switch: Energy Switch is a great way to get around having an extremely clogged bench without the ability to use Shaymin. The only problem is that it can only move 1 energy at a time, and therefore isn’t an appropriate substitute for Shaymin. Still, it could easily be used on the second turn to make pulling off consecutive Blue Flares an easily achieved reality, or setting up Victini’s V-Create.

Double Colourless Energy: Considering my list of tech attackers abuse DCE, and so could Reshiram-EX, it’s an obvious card to include in the deck. The only reason I don’t provide it in the base list is because it’s also important to get the Slugmas off on the first turn, and for that, you want as much R Energy in the deck as possible.

Now if I may, I’ll get into a bit of Dark Explorers because there are two* more cards from that set that this deck could really abuse.

Tornadus EX: First turn 100 damage for 3 energy. No additional requirements like having to have a full bench or discard an amount of energy you can’t just attach again next turn. Tornadus is a card designed for the donk, so it makes a great addition to any donk deck.

The perfect addition for a mono-fire deck.

Heatmor DEX: Now obviously being a fire deck, your Durant matchup is really tough. Heatmor is here to make sure that you can beat Durant, no questions asked. Searchable by Level Ball and Dual Ball, Heatmor is certainly a card. Period.

Entei-EX: Alright! Now we’re talking! Entei hits for 90 for 3 energy and even helps accelerate fire energy from the discard to your benched Pokémon. Just like Tornadus EPO, this is great for actually maintaining some sort of mid-game presence. I’ve often found myself Junipering a R Energy on the first turn just because I started with 2 in my hand. Entei can make use of that, making him a great addition to the deck.

Well, thanks for reading. Since Dark EXplorers is set to come out soon and the next premier tournament is only going to be Battle Roads, I thought I’d include a fun article for everyone.

Remember, it’s good to take a break from all the seriousness that surrounds Regionals etc… so kick back, bring this deck to a local tournament, and when you donk your first round opponent and they ask “Are you serious!” You can say:

Yes. Yes I am SRS. I am so SRS it hurts.

Cheers,

Crawdaunt out.

Reader Interactions

43 replies

  1. Pikabruce

    Wouldn’t Pokedex be better than Research Record? With 15 energy, that means 1 in 4 cards should be an energy, but arranging the top 5 cards (instead of 4) will lower the odds of not finding an energy there.

    • Mark Hanson  → Pikabruce

      I forgot that card was in BW. Yeah… you could probably use it. But at the same time, I do like Research Record’s ability to send useless cards to the discard so you can then Juniper and draw more potentially useful cards.

      • Garrett Williamson  → Mark

        You mean discard via Slugma’s power, right? Because research records drops cards to the bottom, not discard. Lol

        • Mark Hanson  → Garrett

          Ah, yeah, sorry. I meant send cards to the bottom of your deck, so you don’t have to draw them*

  2. David

    SLugma… Slugma… the soon to be $5 card is a slugma?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

    Great article ;D

  3. Eli Norris

    It seems like Dark Patch, CMT, and ZPS do the job better, but interesting nonetheless.

  4. Michael Patskin

    Nice article, but decklist very bad. In each deck you must use catcher, and this deck isn’t exception. Mewtwo also needed in this deck. At least against opponent’s Mewtwo. Also this deck goes very good with draw ability pokemon, like Musharna NXD(but retreat, i don’t think it’s good to use it) and Nocktowl HGSS. Regigigas EX good tech too.

    • Mark Hanson  → Michael

      You know this is kind of a joke right…? I listed Mewtwo in the tech options and said: “Mewtwo is a bad card and I don’t understand why people use it.”

  5. Aaron Minjoot

    Could be a fun league deck but nothing too SRS here. That said, I always loved Slugma. Go go lil’ Lava dude!

  6. theo Seeds

    I just had this idea a couple days ago, lol, but it won’t work. +1 though.

    • Mark Hanson  → theo

      Yeah… your bench just gets way too cluttered for this to work.

      But I have to say… it does work. It works at being a deck with the acronym RUSRS :P

  7. Andrew Valren

    “Mewtwo EX: Mewtwo is a bad card and I don’t understand why people use it.” best comment on mewtwo i’ve ever seen XD

    • Mark Hanson  → Jacob

      I will be honest, Steppenwolf has such a deep and lasting effect on me that I don’t even realize when I’m quoting them. What did I reference? xD

  8. nicholas inzeo

    I don’t see myself playing this ut it deff is affordable aswell a way to teach newer players how abilities can help

    • Mark Hanson  → nicholas

      Haha, I don’t know if the best way to teach newer players how to play is to either beat them on the first turn or lose because you didn’t beat them on the first turn, which is pretty much this deck in a nutshell.

      • nicholas inzeo  → Mark

        well the idea will be to show how many things you could possibly do your first turn that at first to a new player wouldn’t imagine. Thats my logic, plus I would let them use this deck first while showing each other hands to give them an idea. Still find the eevee decks the best to teach with

  9. Sam Vernooy

    One card I think would be decent (at best) in this deck is Recycle. Because you can use Juniper or Junk Arm, or something to get a fire energy in the discard, recycle a fire energy, to put in on the top of your deck, then use Slugma to automatically get a fire energy on it. The flip does kinda suck, though. But if I ever try this out, it would probably have 1 or 2 of them in it. I mean, you have 4 SSU in the deck. Flips aren’t exactly going to be an issue here. BTW great article :)

    • Mark Hanson  → Sam

      You know, I thought about Recycle, but the problem with it is that it would be best to use in the later game. But by that point, you have so little bench space that you just can’t really move the energy around. ^_^;

  10. sam woofter

    OMG got on TCGO right after reading this and the first deck I play is slugma donk minus reshis plus tornadus

  11. Aviem Zur

    A good read. I might try this out since I only play on pokemon trading card game online, tournaments don’t really concern me, so I like playing fun decks, which this seems to be :)

  12. Gage

    Mewtwo EX “tier 3 at best.” “Heatmor is certainly a card” “Why don’t you come with me little girl, on a ferris wheel ride?” I loled so hard definitely gets the +1 and Victini’s artwork totally screams serious :D

  13. Pokemonguy

    How often does the donk work? have you tested it against the meta? Just it does not look like U R SRS about it working.

    • Mark Hanson  → Pokemonguy

      I’m not… the deck is named R U SRS. Haha.

      If I had to guess the matchups, I’d say like 90-10 against zekeels, 95-5 against CMT, and only like 5-95 against Durant. It just has a tough durant matchup. That’s why you tech Heatmor. :P

  14. Mike Ayers

    Can you run 6 Reshiram? Is the EX considered a different name? Curious.

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