So lets start with the basics:

Garchomp C Lv.X is a Basic Colorless Pokemon with 110HP and the unmatched ability to snipe for 80 on turn 2. 

Whoops, wrong card.

As we all know, Garchomp C Lv.X completely dominated the last 2 formats, and Tornadus shares many similarities with it. They both have a very strong 110HP, Colorless typing, and now with Pokemon Catcher, the ability to deal 80 damage anywhere on the board. If you ignore Garchomp’s nice Poke-Power, then Tornadus has 3 huge advantages over Garchomp.

1. T1 Potential. Along with Pachirisu and Shaymin, it is possible to power up a “Hurricane” on T1 the same way you would power up a Zekrom. However, thanks to Double Colorless Energy and Energy Switch, this job is made much easier, taking pressure off of Shaymin and Pachirisu needing to drop 2 Lightning from hand the way Zekrom did.

2. Energy Conservation. Although Garchomp C Lv.X could abuse TGI Energy Gain, it could only attach and discard Double Colorless Energies so many times. Many view the ‘downside’ to “Hurricane” as a necessary evil to his amazing attack, but I see it as one of the best parts of his attack because it keeps energy in play.

Move a Lightning down to another Tornadus and you’re ready to go with a DCE next turn. Or move Lightning down to a Zekrom and prepare for a big KO with “Bolt Strike”. Keeping Energy in play is one of the main reasons why ReshiPhlosion is such a great deck, and this is no different. Especially under trainer lock, it can be a game winning tactic.

3. Resistance to Fighting. In a meta full of Donphan, Tornadus will shine in the same vein that Yanmega proved to be an effective wall/counter to it. With cards like Pokemon Catcher and Max Potion, Donphan/Yanmega builds become so much more powerful. With Tornadus resisting Donphan and Zekrom KO’ing Yanmega, that threat is greatly reduced.

Now lets step away from the comparison to Garchomp C Lv.X and talk more about why Tornadus is so competitive. By now you’ve guessed that he is probably best paired with Zekrom as an alternative attacker that happens to take care of Zekrom’s Donphan problems. Zekrom was already a good deck, winning both Mexico and Canada’s National tournaments.

Back then, Zekrom players had 4 ideal starters: 4 Zekrom. Now, they have an additional 4 ideal starters and access to Pokemon Catcher? The deck just got crazy. Another item worth noting is Tornadus’ light Retreat cost of 1. Not only does that make it easy to retreat out of effects like Confusion or Beartic’s attack, but it gives you the option to donk with Pachirisu by retreating into it.

I think of Tornadus’ first attack “Energy Wheel” as sort of a wash. You will almost never use it, but it is nice to use on T1 if you whiff the donk but have already dropped a Pachirsu with some energy, setting you up for at least a T2 “Hurricane”.

A few minor drawbacks are his Weakness and damage cap. Lightning Weakness hurts when you are facing a Zekrom that can one shot you after a “Bolt Strike”, or even if you decide to attack into it with “Hurricane”. His damage cap is 80, which, thanks to Pokemon Catcher, is almost irrelevant. Yanmega caps at 70 and no one complains.

All in all, this card just has so much going for it. “Six Prizes in Six Turns” is completely viable via Pokemon Catcher/Junk Arm, it counters what is likely to become a huge deck, and has insane T1 potential. I would expect this to be a huge part of our Meta in the upcoming P!P season. However, due to Weakness and not having a more competitive first attack…

4.5/5

Tornadus (Emerging Power EP 89/98) – Card of the Day is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Over the past 12 months, many new innovations in deck building were achieved, and many rogue decks were tested. Some worked, and some just… Didn’t. This article is about the ones that didn’t. Without further ado, I present to you…

“Colin’s Worst Ideas of 2010″

1. Eggs/Hand-Job (Exeggutor LA/Flygon RR)

The Intro.

When Judge was released, everyone quickly discovered that Pokemon had released the most disruptive Supporter card in our format. It was briefly legal while Team Galactic’s Wager was legal, and people began to switch to Judge because they would rather have their opponent draw a guaranteed 4 cards than give them the chance of drawing 6.

Judge was a fundamental card in the new up-and-coming Midwest/Florida disruptive deck that would ultimately become, “Sablelock”. Josh Wittenkeller took this deck under the Gateway Arch and won Regionals. Con Le was the underdog at Nationals; besting his opponent’s with his innovative Honchkrow SV tech to take the win.

It was this powerful disruptive quality that lead me to make a double-take at the Exeggutor in my binder. For zero energy, “Psychic Strategy” makes both players shuffle their hands into their decks, then draw the number of cards that were in each other’s hands. It became obvious that potentially giving your opponent zero cards, while you take 5 to 7, could be lethal.

The deck never strayed away from it’s fast, Trainer engine based roots, with the goal being a T2 “Psychic Strategy” for zero. What changed was the decks main attacker. In the beginning, I went with Gardevoir SW. With its powerful “Psychic Lock” attack, not only could you swing for 80 with an Expert Belt, but you could lock your opponent from using Powers, such as Uxie’s “Set Up” and Claydol’s “Cosmic Power”. This was the build I took to US Nationals, but ultimately chose to play Tyranitar. (You can read my Nats report here).

The biggest problem with the deck was Claydol. It didn’t matter how many cards you gave them if they can just “Cosmic Power” every turn for a fresh 6. After Worlds, the deck exploded. It had nothing stopping it, spare the random Charizard Deck (“Roast Reveal” posed the same problem as “Cosmic Power”).

Gardevoir was replaced by Flygon Lv.X for it’s incredible sniping ability, cheap, powerful attack in “Power Swing”, it’s ability to give the entire deck free Retreat, and the amazing power of “Wind Erosion”. Combined with Slowking from HGSS, “Wind Erosion” could discard key cards and further destroy your opponent’s set up.

From the day after Nats all the way up until Fall Battle Roads, Jimmy Ballard and I relentlessly worked on the list. By now, the goal of the deck was simple. T2 “Psychic Strategy” for zero. Set up Slowking to manipulate your opponent’s top decks while taking prizes with Flygon. Use Flygon Lv.X to discard good cards, and give them bad ones. On a perfect set up, the deck’s Win Condition is met by T3.

The List.

The Choices.

4 Exeggcute – It is your optimal starter. He can Call for Unown Q and another Exeggcute if you have to go first. Remember, your goal is to “Psychic Strategy” starting on T2, so wanting to start with Exeggcute in the active position as much as possible is a no-brainer. 4 of them also gives you good “fuel” for Pokemon Communication.

3-2-2-2 Flygon Lv.X - This is the beefiest line that this list will allow room for. 3 Trapinch just in case 1 gets KO’d early. The 3rd Vibrava is optional, but I have won too many games due to a well-timed “Energy Typhoon.”

However, it had to be cut to 2 due to the space Junk Arm needed when it was released. 2-2 Flygon Lv.X split gives you the best ability to sustain the lock if one of your Flygon’s goes down. Remember, if you lose the lock for even 1 turn, it can swing the entire game.

2-2 Slowking - “Second Sight” is what makes the lock work. You need to set it up ASAP to ensure your opponent doesn’t draw any searching cards. This line could be reduced to 1-1, but you would need to add Azelf into the list, and you wont have the option to “Second Sight” twice per turn which can be nice.

1 Regice - This card serves 2 functions in this deck. The 1st is to gust away Spiritomb early game in order to go off with your Trainer based engine. The 2nd, is to simply discard cards in order to help you get down to zero T2. The lone Water Energy is included in the list only to give Regice free Retreat.

1 Ambipom G - During testing, we quickly realized that if the opponent was able to get a T2 one Energy attacker, (Donphan, Kingdra, etc..) the lock didn’t matter. They could just roll through you doing 60 per turn. Because of this, Ambipom G was added. On T3, follow the strategy like normal, giving your opponent zero cards. Pray they don’t top an energy or an Uxie.

During your next turn, continue to set up your field with Flygon and Slowking, then promote Ambipom and “Tail Code” the only energy in play onto a non-threatening benched Pokemon. You’ve just solved the problem. “Second Sight” them to make sure they don’t draw the energy, and you’re good to go.

3 Collector - 3 of only 5 Supporters in the deck, this is mainly used to counter Spiritomb. You can Collect for Regice amongst other Basics, “Regi Move” and then start setting up. It’s also great to get stuff to use later on with Pokemon Communication.

2 Looker’s Investigation - This card is genius in this deck. Not only can you look to see if you are going to need to “Psychic Strategy” again, but you can shuffle your own hand in and draw 1 or 2 cards for an amazing “Psychic Strategy”. I like to draw 2, then discard them both with Regice.

2 Junk Arm - Crazy good for taking another Luxury Ball, Pokemon Communication, or best of all, the 2nd pair of Poke Drawer +. Works in synergy with “Psychic Strategy” because it allows you to discard more cards.

1 Energy Search - Re-Useable with Junk Arm, it helps you find crucial energy of a specific type to help you get out of tight spots. Pairs wonderfully with Flygon’s “Rainbow Float”.

2 Cyclone Energy - Mainly included for the VileGar matchup to push Spiritomb out of the way.

The Problems.

After Worlds, something funny happened. VILEGAR BECAME INSANELY POPULAR. VileGar basically says “You can’t play half your deck.” This is a huge problem. It is this main problem that shelved the entire project.

Another big problem facing the deck was the dreaded “One Top-Deck.” You see, after a “Psychic Strategy” for zero, the opponent had 1 “Blind” top-deck. After that, you can safely control them with Slowking. Obviously, it would be disastrous to the deck’s strategy if you give them zero cards and their uncontrollable top-deck was an Uxie, Luxury Ball, or Pokemon Collector.

So, in your average meta-game deck, that is 6 outs they hold to be released from the lock before it even starts. Even worse, there are more cards that can rid them of the lock on the turn after that! Cyrus’s Conspiracy, Bebe’s Search, and Pokemon Communication just to name a few. That’s an average of 13 outs that most decks hold to be released from the lock almost immediately.

The Future.

If and when Lost World is released, the focus will shift from Trainer Lock based Gengar SF decks to Speed based Gengar Prime decks. If and when this happens, one of Eggs’ main obstacles is solved. The other is still uncontrollable.

—

2. MewPerior (Mew Prime TR/Rhyperior Lv.X LA)

The Intro.

In a message dated October 22nd, 2010, I text Jimmy the possibility of combining Mew Prime with Rhyperior Lv.X, throwing in way too many energy, and swinging for obscene amounts of damage. From that point on, we started brain storming and didn’t stop.

I’m not here to claim that I “invented” MewPerior, but I do believe that because of me, Jimmy, Team “Dragon Rush Your Mom for 80,” and the rest of the Chicago crew, that the MewPerior list was forged and became what it is today.

On October 23rd, 2010, I ordered 4 Rhyperior Lv.X. The day after Triumphant was released, I bought 4 Mew Prime. This was the next “Riptide”; the next “Queendom”; the next “Gardy/Gallade”! Or so we thought.

The idea was simple enough. T1 “See Off” for Rhyperior Lv.X. Starting from T2, take 1 prize per turn flipping over energy with “Hard Crush”. 6 turns later, shake your opponent’s hand.

The deck was insanely intriguing to anyone that saw it in action. It was fun, original, and most of all, it defied every law in the current format. The deck ran almost 30 energy, and no Uxie. Simply unheard of.

Naturally, word spread like wildfire. Suddenly everyone was trading for Rhyperior Lv.X! Funny how binder-trash can turn to gold over night. Delcatty was added almost instantly, along with Smeargle, Rescue Energy, and Judge. Keeping your opponent off-balance through Judge disruption was part of the strategy from day 1. This initial list was very simple and looked something like this:

At this point, our only real Dialga G Lv.X counter was Pokemon Reversal, which would hopeful drag it up before it could Level-Up. Option number 2 was to simply Judge them away from the X the entire game. This wasn’t the most sure-fire counter, but it worked for the time being.

The elephant in the room was DGX. It was obvious that once it hit the field, the game was over. So we went back to the drawing board. One variant nixed the Reversals and opted for a 2-2-2-2 Gengar Lv.X line to be able to consistently “Level Down” DGX.

Another version included 2-2 Drifblim UD and Double Colorless Energy to be able to Pokemon Reversal up DGX and “Take Away”. Next, we experimented with just adding a very small line of the actual Rhyperior cards! Something like 2-2-2-2, only to be set up in the DGX match.

The problem with all of this “stuff” was just that. It was too much stuff. We simply didn’t have room for these big Pokemon lines, let alone the Rare Candy and Broken Time Space that they demanded. It was looking more and more like the best idea was to make the deck as consistent as possible, and take the auto-loss to DGX.

Not so easy to do, when almost 50% of meta-game decks run DGX. Be that as it may, the brain storming continued. Mesprit, Dialga PL, and Seeker were added. Combee found it’s way out along with Call Energy and Palmer’s, and we added a legitimate back-up attacker in the form of Infernape 4 Lv.X.

Infernape acted as an Umbreon, Mewtwo, and Gyarados counter all in one. It could also OHKO DGX during the off-chance of it ever being active. Alternatively, Blaziken FB Lv.X was added to some builds for it’s cheaper big attack, and it’s disruptive “Luring Flame” ability which, in a perfect world, would drag up Dialga, and follow up with a “Jet Shoot” OHKO.

Due to the nature of this deck being so new and constantly changing, I must include a disclaimer that this is what I believe to be the best, most current, and overall, most politically correct version of MewPerior.

The List.

The Choices.

4 Mew Prime - Your main attacker. The idea is to swarm him and hit for stupid damage for no energy. He loves Rescue Energy. Also important to run 4 to make a T1 “See Off” more likely.

2 Rhyperior Lv.X - It is very important to run 2, just in case 1 is Prized. No “See Off”? No game.

2-2 Delcatty - “Power Circulation” makes “Hard Crush” more economical. It is somewhat of a hot issue as to whether or not Delcatty is necessary, but I will personally swear by it. It can randomly OHKO a Garchomp C Lv.X, which is nice, and “Power Heal” is a really good trolling attack if the opportunity ever comes up to use it. It can also be an effective Mewtwo Lv.X counter.

3 Smeargle - Included for its Poke-Power, “Portrait.” Not only does this puppy increase your Basics count, but it lets you use Supporters that you don’t have room to run. Basically, Mew loves to die, and every time he does, you can “Portrait” for a potentially game changing Supporter. He also acts as a great starter.

1 Mesprit - “Psychic Bind” can really turn the tide in a number of match ups. Namely, Gyarados, which relies on Regice to discard Magikarps. If you have a Mesprit, “I suggest you drop it” on T2. Then, “Luring Flame” Regice. He can’t “Regi Move” while he’s burned. On your next turn, you can “Jet Shoot” for the KO.

This will severely slow them down and make the Gyarados match much more manageable. Of course, “Psychic Bind” has too many other uses to count, but that is just one of them.

1 Uxie - We just couldn’t keep him out! Great for if you whiff the Psychic Energy for “See Off” or if you need to draw something like a Supporter. Just don’t be mad if you “Set Up” for only energy…

1 Dialga - “Reverse Time” lets you put up to 3 in any combination of basic Energy and Pokemon on top of your deck when you drop him onto your bench. This obviously combos well with “Hard Crush”, but beyond that, you can use it to draw crucial evolutions that you may have accidentally discarded during previous “Hard Crush”es.

1 Unown Q - Give Smeargle free Retreat. He’ll love it.

1 Gengar - This shifts your VileGar match up from 40-60 to nearly 70-30. Without it, Mews are forced to deal with “Fainting Spell,” and when you’re playing the Prize-trade, that doesn’t work. Instead, you can “See Off” Gengar and take easy Prizes with “Shadow Room”, bypassing “Fainting Spell” in the process.

If you manage your hand well, they’ll never be able to “Poltergeist” Mew for the KO, either.

3 Seeker - This card sort of ties all of the 1-of techs together. It allows you to re-use “Psychic Bind”, “Reverse Time”, “Flash Bite” and “Set Up”. It can also fully heal Delcatty after using “Power Circulation” too many times. It can also be used to re-use Special Energy cards like Warp and Cyclone energy.

2 Snowpoint Temple - Like I said, Mew loves to die. This card makes it just a little bit harder for him to do that.

3 Rescue Energy - Did I mention that Mew loves to die?

3 Cyclone Energy - To gust away the likes of Gyarados, Mewtwo Lv.X, and Umbreon.

3 Warp Energy - Mostly used to be able to “Portrait” on turns that Mew didn’t die. It’s also your out in case your opponent gets crafty and tries to “Bright Look” or “Luring Flame” your Dialga.

The Problems.

There are 3 huge issues currently standing in the way of the success of this deck. The first and most obvious is the ever present Dialga G Lv.X. While DialgaChomp is currently a less popular play than LuxChomp, Dialga G Lv.X manages to find it’s way into other decks as a 1-1 tech.

You can try to Judge them away from it, or “Luring Flame” followed by “Jet Shoot”, but any good player will be able to play around that and take the victory. The DGX match is the most painful thing in the world and is almost 0-100 in their favor. Not good.

The next issue is the fragility of Mew. With 60 HP and a weakness to Psychic, it doesn’t take much to OHKO. Uxie + Expert Belt, Drifloon + Expert Belt, Shuppet, Haunter (Hoodwink). All of these fairly common cards have no problem going Prize-for-Prize with Mew.

Snowpoint Temple helps to an extent, but does nothing against Uxie/Drifloon + Belt. Going Prize-for-Prize isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you have to get the first one.

Finally, the deck is prone to bad starts. With only 6 search Supporters, you could be left at the mercy of your top decks for several turns. If you don’t start with Smeargle, it is very likely that you drew and a handful of Energy and wont be able to get anything sustainable going until you top the Collector.

The Future.

Unfortunately, Dialga G Lv.X isn’t getting any less popular. It’s popularity will likely surge as a meta-game counter to Lost World decks if and when it is released. the truth is, no deck can be successful when it’s auto-loss is Top Tier.

—

3. El Cactus Del Diablo (Cacturne PT/Vileplume UD)

The Intro.

Auto-Paralysis is nothing to scoff at. I’ve always seen potential in Cacturne’s “Poison Experiment”, which for GD does 20 damage and either Poisons or Paralyzes depending on which you discard. Naturally, I combined it with Vileplume to lock trainers and kill them slowly, while Paralyzing every turn.

To be fair, the deck wouldn’t be possible without a few cards that recently came out, namely Fisherman and Burned Tower. For the deck to work, you would need a way to reliably attach and new Dark energy every single turn, and these 2 cards made it possible.

Add in Crobat and Skuntank G, and it was now possible to Paralyze them every turn, and time it so they die from Poison at the end of their turn, allowing you to continue the lock. In my mind, it was a better GlisTomb that didn’t fail to Judge.

The List.

The Choices.

3-3 Cacturne - Your main attacker. “Poison Experiment” is what the deck is all about. Auto Paralysis at the cost of a Dark Energy discard can shut down a handful of decks on it’s own. It’s a good idea to stack it with energy, just in case you ever need to discard both to Poison and Paralyze, you wont miss a turn of the lock.

4 Spiritomb - Your optimal starter. The idea is to Trainer lock from T1, so running 4 is a no brainer.

2-2-2 Vileplume - The tried and true best line in any Trainer lock deck, as proven by the success of VileGar. Locking trainers in mandatory in this deck to forbid your opponent the use of Warp Point, Poke Turn, Super Scoop Up, or anything else that can cure Special Conditions.

1-1 Shaymin Lv.X - Even if you need to break the lock for 1 turn, Shaymin Lv.X’s “Thankfulness” Poke-Body will make it almost impossible to OHKO Cacturne, letting you continue the lock is peace. Not even Blaziken FB Lv.X can OHKO Cacturne while Shaymin Lv.X is out.

1-1 Weavile - Used for it’s Poke-Power “Claw Snag,” which you would want to use to discard any Warp Energy or Evolutions/Level-Ups you may find in your opponent’s hand. If you didn’t already realize, we DON’T want your opponent to be able to get out of Paralysis.

1 Skuntank G - “Posion Structure” makes it easy to kill Pokemon with even HP (80, 100), so that they die after your opponent’s turn. This should only be employed if you can’t afford break the lock by discarding both Energy off of Cacturne. While “Poison Structure” will slowly hurt Cacturne, it’s a small price to pay for ridding your opponent of the chance to attack.

1 Crobat G - “Flash Bite” will make it possible to ensure Pokemon with uneven HP (90, 110), will die after your opponent ends his or her turn.

3 Cyrus’s Conspiracy - Allows you to search for precious energy. It can also grab clutch Supporters like Seeker and Fisherman.

3 Seeker - Allows you to re-use “Flash Bite,” “Set Up,” and “Claw Snag.” It can also fully heal any benched Pokemon, clear up bench space, or re-use Special Energy cards.

2 Looker’s Investigation - Not only does it combo well with “Claw Snag,” but you can disrupt your opponent if you see Warp Energy or Level-Up cards in their hand. Can also be a good hand refresher for yourself if your opponent’s hand is already bad.

2 Fisherman - As stated, you need to attach a Dark Energy every turn. Fisherman lets you grab 4, which is 4 more turns of auto-Paralysis.

4 Burned Tower - Once during your turn, this Stadium lets you flip a coin to put a basic Energy from your discard pile into your hand. This makes it viable to recycle your Dark energies consistently. It also acts as Skuntank’s Stadium.

The Problems.

Dialga G Lv.X has extra italic text under “Time Crystal” that reads, “Fun Decks Don’t Work.” DGX will shut off “Allergy Pollen” and laugh as they Poke Turn out of Paralysis every turn.

The surprise factor may be enough to turn other match ups into favorable, but once your opponent catches on to what’s going on, they will save their Evolution and Level-Up cards until they can use them to cure Paralysis. This is a huge issue, because Cacturne hits for.. 20 damage.

Another issue is Warp Energy. Warp has gotten insanely popular in the last few months. It’s used in DialgaChomp, Gyarados, VileGar, MewPerior, and any other deck that runs a tech DGX or just has the room for 1 or 2. Cacturne doesn’t like Warp Energy.

Finally, the damage output is EXTREMELY LOW. This wouldn’t normally be a problem, as this is a stall deck at it’s core. However, with the above limitations, and all the ways that it is possible to remove Status Conditions even under Trainer lock, this is really what kills the deck.

The Future.

It is very unlikely that Warp Energy will lose popularity any time soon. Same with DGX. I played this deck at 2 CC’s and fell victim to all of it’s inherent flaws. The future is not bright, to say the least.

—

Conclusion.

Building decks is one of the best creative outlets I know. It is so much fun play-testing new ideas with friends, coming up with crazy combos, and staying up ’till all hours ‘perfecting’ a list, even if it never sees the light of tournament play. For every 100 bad ideas, there will be one “Queendom,” one “Gardy/Gallade,” or one “Sabelock.” Until then, keep testing, and have fun.

Colin

—

I would like to add that I recently put up a whole bunch of cards on eBay, including a play-set of Reverse Holo Call Energy, a play-set of Cyrus’s Conspiracy, a set a 4 Mew Prime, and much more. All auctions started at $0.01 and most have no reserve. Check out my store here.

Colin’s Corner #02: Colin’s Worst Ideas of 2010 is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

So what’s the problem been?

It has never won anything important because “Hurricane Punch” is the worst attack of all time. Ever. I’m pretty sure there is a microscopic text box below “Hurricane Punch” that states: “If you Leveled Up Machamp and need to hit one stinkin’ heads to knock out Toxicroak G, or two heads to KO anything else, your turn ends now.”

A Look Back at Machamp

The bottom line is that flippy stuff never works out for you when you need it to, and therein lies Machamp’s Achilles heel- it can beat SP, but just about nothing else.

Rage

Sure, (Roid) “Rage” has huge damage potential, but at the expensive cost of FFCC. And, with that pesky +30 Psychic Weakness, it was relatively hard to keep alive long enough to “Rage” even once.

Machamp X

“No Guard” is the PokeBody on his corresponding Level X, acting as a +60 PlusPower on both sides of the table. While this was a good option to have in Machamp decks, it’s always been a little awkward with his attacks. “Take Out” would kill a Pokemon SP anyway, and now maxes out at 100, which is too low to guarantee an OHKO on the rest of the format. “Hurricane Punch” will ultimately fail you, and your opponent will laugh as you hand him a +60 PlusPower and an easy KO.

Why Machamp Underperformed

We quickly realized that straight Machamp doesn’t really work. So we called up his workout buddies: Flygon, Nidoqueen, Kingdra, Donphan, etc. These variants saw generous play at CC’s, and SPT’s, but didn’t even seem to be in the ring at Nationals and Worlds. Instead, Machamp was forced to play the dirty, dirty role of the “1-0-1 Tech”. Nobody LIKES being a 1-0-1 tech, especially, a 4-fisted, muscle-bound boxing bully like Machamp. Do you think Nidoqueen doesn’t have trouble performing intimately? Dusknoir now roams the streets of L.A. shouting “DARK PALM” and other obscenities in a raspy squawk. Folks say Alakazam just sits there with a vacant stare. Be that as it may, Machamp fulfilled the role admirably, helping to bring several builds to top tables at Worlds.

The loss of Claydol after Worlds was another huge burden for Machamp. “Straight ‘Champ” lists now had to run the Turbo Engine of 4 Dex, 4 Drawer, 4 Unown R, 4 Rescue, 3-1 Uxie and even… Night Teleporter. Although these builds worked to an extent, they had the same fundamental problems the original Machamp had. It couldn’t beat any competitive Stage 1 or Stage 2 archetypes, and since it was so cram-packed with garbage trainers and “quick draw” techs that his friends Flygon and Kingdra and corresponding energy could no longer fit without sacrificing consistency.

Adding insult to injury, Trainer Lock became a bigger fad with Undaunted’s Vileplume. A Garchomp C opening to a Machop may have seemed scary for Garchomp C, but a Machop opening to a Spiritomb was just as scary. Gengar SF made a huge comeback in the very same deck, and its Psychic typing fended off the threat of Machamp for the most part, letting SP sail to victory and the title of almost all of 2010′s Autumn Battle Roads.

Machamp- The Comeback Kid?

Let’s fast forward to today. Machamp is in an awkward place. It beats the Top 2 SP decks easily, has an unfavorable/even matchup against most of the Top 10, and has a near auto-loss to the 3rd best deck VileGar. Is Machamp down for the count? Can anything help our 4-fisted friend?

NEWS FLASH: On Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010, exactly 2 years after its release, Machamp gets some support from HGSS:Triumphant in the form of Machamp Prime.

Machamp Prime is what the deck really needed all this time. Here are a few things that it brings to the ring as a tag-teammate with Machamp SF:

No Baggage – Since he comes from the evo-line you are already using, there is no need to tech your deck with another line of Pokemon.

Fulfills Damage Shortcomings – We simply cannot ask Machamp SF to do consistently dish out 60 damage, as sad as that sounds. However, Machamp Prime can do 60 damage consistently with “Crushing Punch”. The same attack can also strip away energies like Double Colorless, Special Metal and Special Dark, thereby providing incredible disruption potential.

Surprise Attack – Thanks to his Poke-Power “Fighting Tag”, you can accelerate energy onto him in one turn. Catching your opponent off guard is always a good thing.

Zen Blade Survivial – Uxie X plus a ‘Bat Drop with Lucario GL was Machamp’s worst nightmare but no more. Although still a threat, it now takes a whole lot more to take down with its massive 150HP.

Kill Anything – “Champ Buster” is that brutal damage attack that he’s always needed. Analogous to “Rage” in most ways, but its base damage is better, and it is easier to actually use in a game (see “Surprise Attack” section above).

Liability – In the past, in order to do lethal amounts of damage, you would have to commit “Level Up Suicide”. Now, you can be lethal without the Level X liability. The chances of staying alive after using “Champ Buster” are much improved.

Deck List

I like reading perspective lists and I know many other readers do too, but please keep in mind that this is teched-out and adjusted to my personal play style, and may not be what is best for you.

As you can see, this list features the “VileGar Destruction Package”. Two Ditto ensure Gengar dies without relying on Machamp, and Regice can send Spiritomb to the bench and break the early trainer lock and can use its Poke Power to discard “Poltergeist” fuel. Smeargle and Unown Q progress the game under a Trainer Lock, and Warp Energy is used in situations like when Regice is active or ti get the most out of Smeargle and Uxie X.

Beyond that, this list is fairly standard. 4/4/3 Collector/Bebe’s/Communication for optimal consistency. 3-1 Uxie with 4 Dex, 4 Drawer, and 4 Candy to sustain the supercharged speed the deck has always worked best with. I chose 3-1 Machamp SF-TM, but that can easily shift to 2/2 depending on your meta or testing results. Four Rainbow increases Ditto’s potential and gives you 7 Energy compatible with a T-2 “Take Out”. It is also a decent way to add damage to “Champ Buster” in a pinch, or throughout the game.

There’s plenty of room to adjust. It might be a good idea to add 1-1 Drifblim UD and an Azelf to deal with Scizor Prime if that has been popping up in your area. Drop the Regice and Dittos completely if VileGar becomes a moot point. You can also start experimenting with the fun, new Supporters in Triumphant. Seeker and Twins could both be great in here if you are unhappy with the trainer engine and want to try something different.

Match-Ups

LuxChomp: Favorable

This deck is made to beat LuxChomp. Keep Machamps swarming and just keep saying “Take Out”. Don’t bench Regice in this matchup and watch out for multiple Uxie X/Premier Ball shenanigans. Save Palmer’s for when you can use it to the most effect. SP may be able to fend off three Machamp, but not four. You can add some pressure by attaching to Ditto to relieve stress from Machamp.

DialgaChomp: Favorable/Even
Again, swarm Machamp and keep saying “Take Out”. But beware- early Power Spray and/or Deafen Lock can really hurt. Smeargle should help if you are in a tight spot.

GengarVileplume: Favorable/Even

If they open with two Spiritombs, you are going to have a tougher game. Collector for Smeargle, Unown Q, and Ditto. Try to set up as much as possible with “Portrait”. Once you have two Ditto and Regice discarding your Trainers, you should cinch it. If they open with one Spiritomb, Collector for Uxie, Ditto, and Regice. “Regimove” Spiritomb to the bench, “Set Up” and start going off with your trainer engine. Again, Ditto will be key in this game.

Regigigas: Favorable

Mesprit Lock can hurt, but your trainers should be able to get you out of it. Again, Smeargle wins. And Machamp is going to “Take Out” for a OHKO every time, not to mention the prizes they sacrfice, so it should be a piece of cake.

Mirror:

It really depends on who gets the first Trainer turn. Usually whoever takes the lead will keep the lead, barring some very lucky/unlucky uses of “Hurricane Punch”. Uxie X + DCE will help to an extent, and Machamp Prime can sweep Machamp SF if you manage to set it up.

Kindgra/Donphan: Unfavorable/Unfavorable

This probably one of Machamp’s worst match-ups. They can simply do more damage than Machamp at the same speed. Ditto can help relieve some pressure in both matches, attacking for one energy, and Machamp Prime can OHKO either one with three or four damaged Pokemon on the bench. It’s going to be an uphill battle, but Machamp Prime is what gives it a fighting chance.

Gyarados: Very Unfavorable
Ouch. The truth hurts sometimes. If Gyarados becomes huge in your area, turn your ‘Champ line into 2/2, or even 1/3 SF/TR. Gyarados’ resistance makes Machamp SF a joke, but Machamp Prime can actually OHKO it with a fully damaged bench. If you have some strange vengeance against Gyarados and MUST destroy it, do consider adding the “Total Gyarados Destruction Pack”. Find room for 4 Magikarp, and since this list already runs the Ditto and the Regice, it’s relatively easy to give Gyarados a piece of his own medicine and “Tail Revenge” right back at him. It also relieves pressure from Machamp Prime and is absolutely “LOLZ” worthy.

Combee: Unfavorable

Again, fighting resistance really hurts and makes “Hurricane Punch” a joke. The fact that it can be swarmed and charged up in one turn makes Vespiqueen a real threat. Their Trainer engine is just as fast as yours and their damage output is way better. Like Gyarados, look to Machamp Prime for this one. If Combee is big in your area, consider a 1-1 Mismagius line for discarding Memory Berries.

Final Thoughts

I could conclude by saying something cliche like, “Only time will tell if Machamp Prime is what Machamp needed to really RAISE the bar…”. But the fact is, Machamp works, and it always has to some extent. It just hasn’t worked well enough. But, Machamp Prime IS what it was missing.

Unlike Mohammed Ali, who never should have fought that one last, tragic fight, this is Machamp’s chance to shine- perhaps his last chance. And fortunately for the game, he’s going down swinging.

Something Like “Colin’s Corner”, But Better #1: Machamp’s Last Stand is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Regice is an unevolving Basic with a good HP of 90, a decent Weakness of Metal (x2), no Resistance, and an abysmal Retreat Cost of 3. I don’t think he has an attack. Maybe I should check… nah, it’s not worth it.

The truth is, Regice is one of the best tech Basic Pokemon in the Modified format right now. “Regi Move” serves so many purposes, it alone warrants this card in almost any deck. When you declare the Power, you discard any 2 cards from your hand. Then, if your opponent has a Basic Pokemon active, they choose a Pokemon on their bench to switch it with. Simple right? Well why is this Power so great?

“Regi Move” is a searchable way to get out of Spiritomb’s trainer-lock. If you have a single turn to “Go Off” with your trainers, you instantly get the leg-up. The only thing your opponent can do is lay the 2nd Spiritomb, which limits their bench space.

“Regi Move” is Uxie’s friend. If you are tired of “Setting Up” for only 2 or 3 cards, simply “Regi Move” some garbage, and “Set Up” for more. Going all out for T2 Machamp? You’ll wish you had 2 more cards to draw.

“Regi Move” is Prizes and Disruption. Don’t let your opponent push up a sacrifice, “Regi Move” it! Crobat G? “REGI MOVE!” In Machamp, “Regi Move” the Toxicroak G (PL). If your opponent only has 1 benched Pokemon and a Basic active, you know what you are getting. Timing a good ‘Move could make your opponent waste an Energy attachment, or even stall them out for several turns if you ‘Move them into something with high Retreat. ‘Moving a Ditto with 6 damage counters nets you a free prize and attack in the same turn.

One of the most important things “Regi Move” does in the new format is Discard cards. (Insert obligatory “VileGar is one of the BDIF” here). Yes, Vilegar is popular right now. A fad? Maybe. “Regi Move” lets you discard the trainers that would be clogging up your hand with Vileplume out, therefore reducing the damage of “Poltergeist”.

If your opponent does the smart thing and starts “Shadow Room”ing Regice, you will still have the chance to discard 4 trainers total, which may nullify “Poltergeist” completely, not to mention, they just wasted 2 turns killing a bench sitter that you took all of 1 Pokemon Collector/Bebe’s to get.

Of course, Regice comes with his downsides. “Regi Move” can be Power Sprayed, but I wouldn’t cry if it is. Regi’s only attack is expensive and underpowered. His Weakness is negligible because of his Retreat Cost. You see, nobody wants to kill Regice, because they just did your job FOR you- getting it out of active. Regice has a bad habit of getting “Bright Look”ed. With his 3 Retreat, “LuxChomp” will drag it up and take a few Prizes off the bench while you try to build it up to painfully Retreat. The obvious solution is Warp Point and/or Warp Energy, both solid choices. Warp Point can be locked, but is still relevant along with Warp Energy. My best advice however- just don’t bench the damn thing in 4/5 “LuxChomp” match-ups.

Rating: 4/5. It is really, really good at doing what it does. It is one of the most relevant cards in the game, and an easy solution for many problems. Starting with it is a drag, and you can only Warp it out so many times. Its Power for a tech Basic Pokemon is only rivaled by “Set Up” and “Portrait” as one of the best in the Game.

Card Of The… Oh My God Is It Really 4am?? Regice (Legends Awakened LA 36) is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

Sneasel now comes with a x2 Fighting weakness, which is negligible because Donphan and Machamp both kill it anyway. “Beat Up” is still a great attack, letting you flip up to six coins to do up to 120 damage before factoring in Special Dark Energies. This attack combined with Memory Berry gives you a decent main attacker along side Garchomp C Lv.X, while still achieving this deck’s main strategy: Disruption.

“Claw Snag” is a pretty badass Poke-Power. At the drop, you get to discard any card from your opponent’s hand. It’s like a guaranteed “Cyrus’s Initiative”, but the card is discarded instead of getting bottom decked.

This power definitely raised a few eyebrows in the Pokemon community, but the biggest question would prove to be, “How will it be most effective?” Although I won’t pretend that I know the answer, as testing has only been limited to the last few weeks and there have been no tournament showings yet, this is definitely at least the start of a straight Weavile UD deck.

Borrowing from the huge success of “Sablelock”, we will max out Sableye (SF) in hopes of starting with it. It makes you start, get a leg-up with a Supporter before your opponent, and can donk with one of the 4 Special Dark Energies.

Through disruption cards like “Judge”, and a maxed out Weavile line including four “Super Scoop Up”s and three “Broken Time Space”, it is possible to limit your opponent’s options throughout the duration of the game, while taking out threats with Garchomp C Lv.X and cleaning up with Sneasel’s “Beat Up”.

Before you ask about match-ups, consider the following: This type of deck’s success is based on how well you play out your turns, eliminate threats, and strategically discard, along with how you draw, and how your opponent top-decks. Much like “Sablelock”, you can win literally any match you play, but you will not win if you spend all of your resources to discard their entire hand and they top deck an Uxie.

Here is my current list:

Battle Roads is right around the corner!!! I’m predicting the Meta to be a twisted power struggle between LuxChomp, Vileplume/Gengar, and Machamp variants. Should be…. fun?

“Weavile Lock” is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

We all know Donphan is as annoying as it is popular. A force to be reckoned with, Donphan can turn any player, newbie or veteran, into a potential round loss at a tournament. Don’t get me wrong, Donphan is a great card, and arguably the most game changing card of the last 3 expansions, barring maybe Jumpluff, Spiritomb and Expert Belt.

The thing that makes it one of the most frustrating cards is the fact that it can be played by just about anyone, and with a few lucky coin flips, can win matches that shouldn’t be won under normal circumstances. Being a Stage 1 with a 1-for-60 attack is unmatched by any Pokemon in the format, coupled with a fantastic damage reducing Poke-Body makes it a fantastic card.

That is to say it is not without its weaknesses, of which there are many. Besides the fact that the deck relies on up to 8 coin flips per game, (4 Pokemon Reversal, 4 Super Scoop Up), there are many Pokemon in our format to counter and exploit his weaknesses. I believe Donphan will be played for as long as it is legal, and my goal in this article is to show you how to tech against it.

Non-SP Deck Counters:

1. Glalie (AR)
Glalie is a Stage 1 Water type with a very good Donphan killing attack. “Wreck”, for a single Double Colorless Energy, will OHKO an Un-Belted Donphan if there is any Stadium in play, doing 20 damage plus 50 more damage and then discarding that Stadium.

This is particularly good because you don’t have to commit to playing any Water energy, and it exploits the often maxed-out Broken Time Space line that many Donphan variants include. 90HP and a +20 weakness to Metal makes it less susceptible to an easy revenge prize. A retreat cost of 1 is payable or Unown Q abuse-able.

Great for decks that already play 3-4 Double Colorless Energy, can’t afford to play another specific energy type, already play 3-4 Stadiums.

2. Shedinja (SV)
Shedinja is also a Stage 1, although it’s stats are less impressive. 60 HP and Grass type. The thing that makes Shedinja a good Donphan counter is it’s Poke-Body “Marvel Shell”, that prevents all effects of attacks, including damage done to it by Pokemon with Poke-Bodies or Poke-Powers. A fully set-up Donphan play field will usually include: Donphan (Active), Donphan, Donphan Uxie, Uxie, and Mespirit on the bench.

This means none of them can hit Shedinja for any damage, essentially giving you the win. Your opponent even sets you up perfectly for Shedinja’s only attack “Spike Wound”, which will hit for 30 anywhere on the board to a Pokemon that already has damage counters on it. If your opponent used “Earthquake” at all during the game, this gives you a 30 snipe for a single colorless energy.

Of course, there is a downside to this strategy. “Spike Wound” will only do 10 damage to any Donphan in play, but this can be increased to 30 on the active with Expert Belt. The bigger problem is a Nidoqueen tech, which will essentially turn your 30 snipe into a 10 snipe, or worse yet, disable “Spike Wound” all together due to the massive healing of “Maternal Comfort”.

Great for decks that already play 2-3 Expert Belt, can’t afford to play another specific energy type, can’t commit too much space for a Donphan tech.

3. Frost Rotom (RR)
Frost Rotom is another viable counter, though perhaps the most finicky on the list. It’s 2nd attack “Crushing Ice” will do 40 damage plus 10 more damage for each energy requirement in the Defending Pokemon’s retreat cost. This will OHKO even a Belted Donphan, which is really nice.

This strategy has many cons, however. This is the most cost-defective of the techs in this list, forcing you to commit a Double Colorless energy and a Water energy to take down Donphan. The retreat cost of 3 is horrifying, so pack Warp Points. Another downside is that a common tech in Donphan is Flygon, giving Donphan free retreat, and finally, a Mesprit drop will turn off his “Type Shift” Poke-Power, and therefore make Donphan resistant to it rather than weak.

The fact that Donphan lists are packing Mesprit’s and Flygon’s along with Rotom’s own shortcomings seem to make the cons outweigh the pros, but it is still a good, if not risky counter.

Good for decks that already run 3-4 Double Colorless Energy, already run Water/Rainbow energy, already run 2-3 Warp Point, need to improve their Gyarados matchup as well.

4. Dewgong (SV)
Dewgong is the other card that can OHKO a Belted Donphan. “Ice Shard” does 80 damage to any Fighting type Pokemon for a Water and Colorless energy. It does share some of the cons of Frost Rotom, however, and is arguably less versatile. 3 Retreat makes it slow, requiring you to run Warp Point. It is a Stage 1 with a terrible potential starter, as both legal Seel’s have a retreat cost of 2. Finally, it requires you commit to 2 turns of energy attachments, one of them being specific.

Good for decks that already run 3-4 Warp Point, already run Water/Rainbow energy, need the option to OHKO a Belted Donphan.

5. Crobat Prime (UL)
The last of the non-SP specific techs, Crobat can be a devastating tech. “Severe Poison”, for a single Psychic energy will poison Donphan for 40 damage in between turns. Crobat’s own fighting resistance makes it difficult for opposing Donphan’s to KO, and the Poison will kill Donphan by the time you announce your next attack, usually sniping another Pokemon on your opponent’s bench with “Skill Dive”.

In a deck already running 3-4 Rare Candy, I feel a 1-0-1 Crobat Prime line would be a very smart play in a deck that needs a good Donphan tech.

Great for decks that already run 3-4 Rare Candy, already run Psychic/Rainbow energy.

SP Deck Counters:

1. Crobat G
A Donphan counter in and of itself, it can poison for 20 in between turns for a Psychic and an Energy Gain. However, it’s free retreat, Fighting resistance, and SP engine abuse-ability makes it a key card in the other 2 SP specific Donphan counters.

Great for decks, heck, every SP deck runs 2-3 of these guys anyway, and if you don’t, you should!

2. Quagsire GL
Quagsire is perhaps the most utilized of the SP-specific Donphan techs. for a Water and Double Colorless energy, “Punch and Run” does 40 damage and gives you the option to switch to the bench, where it becomes immune to damage thanks to it’s Poke-Body “Submerge”. The combo is to then promote Crobat G, who can easily take a hit from Donphan, then either retreat or Poke-Turn back to Quagsire GL to “Punch and Run” again to finish the job. You will need 2 Crobat G drops to kill a Belted Donphan using this strategy.

Another pro for Quagsire GL in LuxChomp is that it gives you a place to discharge Luxray GL Lv.X’s “Trash Bolt” thanks to “Submerge”. Lightning resistance is also a huge plus. Overall, it is a great tech to counter Luxray GL’s fighting weakness.

Great for decks that can afford to run a tech Water energy, already run Luxray GL Lv.X, run 2-3 Crobat G, run a standard SP engine.

3. Froslass GL
This is one of my favorite new Donphan techs because it can serve multiple uses. Her first attack “Sleep Inducer” does just what it says: You get to switch the defending Pokemon and bring up a new one that becomes asleep. This not only usually makes them waste an energy attachment to retreat, but it gives them a 50-50 chance of not being able to do anything, making it a fantastic early game disrupter.

The best thing is that this attack can operate for a single Energy Gain, meaning you can commit your energy for the turn on your main attacker. Her 2nd attack “Wake-Up Slap”, for a Psychic and an Energy Gain, does 20 damage plus 30 more if the defending Pokemon is affected by a Special Condition. Hmmm.. I seem to remember an SP Pokemon that inflicts a Special Condition for the same exact price. Ah yes! Crobat G.

So essentially, the combo would be this: Promote Crobat G, attach Psychic and Energy Gain to use “Deep Poison”. Next turn, take the hit from Donphan, Poke-Turn Crobat G and promote Froslass GL. Attach the very same Psychic and Energy Gain and “Wake-Up Slap” for the KO. This 2 hit KO combo is more cost effective than Quagsire GL, and combined with her great disruptive ability, makes this a legit Donphan tech to consider for your SP deck.

Great for decks that run Psychic Energy, 2-3 Crobat G, standard SP engine.

Well there you go, my favorite Donphan counters specific to SP and non-SP decks. Some are better than others, with my personal favorites being Shedinja for non-SP, and Froslass GL for SP. I included several things for you to consider when choosing a tech. Look at the italic description below each tech that best describes your deck and give it a try. I also need to add, that not every deck needs a Donphan counter!

Have a good day, and happy Teching!

Tech Please! #01 – Donphan Prime is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

I came prepared with 3 different decks: Luxray/Donphan which previously found me success in the form of a 3rd place Battle Roads, Tyranitar/Spiritomb, which I was probably the most comfortable with, having been play testing since Unleashed was released, and a Rogue deck involving Exeggutor LA and Donphan Prime. In the end, I went with the deck I felt best with, TyraniTomb. After adding a super secret tech for the Donphan matchup (arguably the deck’s worst weakness), I was ready to turn in the list and start the tournament.

I won’t go into much detail involving the matches, but I will go over some of the highlights and low-lights. Round 1 was against a girl playing Kingdra/Kingdra Prime. I saw a lot of people playing this card over the course of Nats, some with Gengar SF and others with Donphan Prime. The prize count was her 1 to my 2, but there was an Expert Belted Kingdra Prime with 10 HP left on her bench that I would kill next turn with “Darkness Howl”. However, she top-decked the Warp Point to win the game, as I didn’t have a benched Pokemon that could stand up to a 60 damage hit. GG.

I got lucky and played several Gengar matches throughout the first day, which is arguably my best matchup. The psychic resistance and lack of powers makes it an uphill battle for Gengar, making them rely almost solely on cheap Pixie kills and “Fainting Spell”. I took 2 victories over Gengar, but received my 2nd loss of the day to another Gengar with a Nidoqueen tech. The Nidoqueen healing in between turns made it very difficult to get Gengar to the right amount of HP where you can kill it with Uxie’s “Psychic Restore” to avoid “Fainting Spell”.

A great play during that game was calculating damage so that by the time it got back to my turn, Gengar would have 50 HP left, then I retreated T-tar with Moonlight Stadium in play, promoted Spiritomb, attached a Special Dark, and “Will-o-Wisp” for the KO. (He flipped tails anyway, after all my effort!) Anyway, the game ended on a crucial “Fainting Spell” flip in which I was forced to kill it with a belted Tyranitar. He flipped heads for the game, taking his last 2 prizes.

So by this time I am 3-2 and know that I have to win out from this point on to make top cut, (my resistance is horrible). The last 2 rounds of the day were both Donphan matches. Now, you might be wondering how Tyranitar can beat Donphan, well, I will explain. Both rounds I used the exact same strategy. Set up T-Tar to fight the good fight, spreading, attacking, maybe even taking out a Donphan himself with “Megaton Tail” and 2 Special Darks.

Nearing the end of the game, however, when it looks like all hope is lost with all 3 T-Tars in the discard, you promote Shedinja SV to sweep up. Sniping for 30 a turn for a single Colorless energy, Shedinja makes quick work of the benched Pokemon Donphan himself hurts with “Earthquake”, or that you hurt with “Darkness Howl”. Donphan is stuck in the active position, as most of the SSU’s and Warp Points will be used up late in the game, and he can’t touch Shedinja due to his “Marvel Shell” Poke-Body.

It might sound farfetched, and a Nidoqueen tech will make it virtually useless, but it single handedly won me the only 2 Donphan matches of the day.

After a long day, I felt confident being 5-2 and having a whole night to finally get some sleep and rest up for the day ahead, knowing I still had to win out to make top cut. Round 8 started right on time and I was paired up against a potentially good matchup, Jumpluff. Spreading right off the bat could be game winning, taking cheap prizes off of the low HP Pokemon clogging up their bench, or alternatively, gaining a prize lead and rolling through Jumpluffs faster than they can roll through you. I also know that a Spiritomb start would be key, shutting off Jumpluff’s trainer-heavy engine.

Unfortunately, I start with a lone Nidoran and am forced to go first. He opens with Crobat G and a few benched Hoppips. He runs through his resources to get the donk, but thankfully isn’t successful. I Roseanne’s for Spiritomb and Larvitar, attach Special Dark, retreat Nidoran, promote Spiritomb and “Darkness Grace” for Pupitar, knowing I need to get T-Tar rolling right away so I can keep up with Jumpluff when he inevitably takes the first prize off of Spiritomb.

Sure enough, by the time he gets a few Jumpluff into play, I am fully setup with a T-Tar ready for “Megaton Tail”, and T-Tar with Memory Berry ready for “Rage”, and even an Expert Belted Nidoqueen healing between turns. Strangely enough, my only 2 misplays of the entire tournament both involved Nidoqueen. One turn after him using “U-Turn” to switch out to Crobat G, I play my turn and announce “Mega Punch” instead of “Ruthless Tail”……. I accept the misplay, and he is then able to Poke Turn the ‘Bat for just the right amount of damage to “Mass Attack” for the 2 prize KO.

I got the revenge 2 prize KO with T-Tar, and from then on I controlled the game with adequate breathing room. He couldn’t OHKO T-Tar, but I could OHKO his Jumpluffs. 160 HP is too beastly for Jumpluff to deal with. As I took my last prize he regretted not using Luxray more often and I concurred.

One more game and I am guaranteed to make top cut. It was another Kingdra Prime/Gengar SF deck. Again, a great matchup for me. Keeping my hand small prevented the “Poltergeist” threat, and no Nidoqueen tech made it easy to bottom deck Uxies for the safe Gengar kill. It may have seemed like he had the lead towards the end of the game, as 2 of my 3 T-Tars were prized, but I wasn’t worried with a benched Nidoqueen and Shedinja.

I easily took the rest of my prizes with Shedinja, as the only thing he could do was double “Spray Splash”, which was healed off by the end of my turn thanks to Nidoqueen. Shedinja saves the day again!

So I put my deck in order knowing I made top cut. It feels good making it this far in my first Nationals. There was going to be a 2 hour break before the next rounds started, so I take advantage of it and drive to the Major Taylor skatepark just outside of town for a quick session. It was 90 degrees outside, but the fresh air was such an awesome contrast to the artificial air and lighting we were all overly exposed to the whole weekend. I got back to the convention center with time to spare, and I’m ready for my first top cut match. I am the 36th seed in the yellow pod’s top 64.

It was against a guy who immediately set up sort of a nativity scene of plastic figurines featuring the two main Pokemon in his deck: Gardevoir and Gallade. This good luck charm was a dead giveaway to his deck, and all I could think right off the bat was, I need to kill that Gallade. Sure enough, when he sees me start to set up a Larvitar, he immediately goes the Gallade route, having only to flip 1 measly prize to OHKO the 160 HP Tyranitar.

I begin to set up Nidoqueen to get the revenge KO on Gallade, which would have easily given me enough momentum to win the game. He asks how many cards were in my hand, knowing there was a good chance I was holding an Expert Belt, which I would need if I was going to revenge KO his Gallade. After revealing I had 7 cards, he plays Judge, shuffling away my Expert Belt.

He then “Psychic Cut”s to kill my T-Tar. Ripping the Expert Belt off the Judge, I confidently push up Nidoqueen, and attach Expert Belt. I manage to Rare Candy into another T-Tar on the bench, and smile knowing he has no backup once the Gallade goes down.

Unfortunately, this is where my second Nidoqueen misplay occurs. You see, I had attached a Psychic energy a few turns before, followed by a Special Dark energy. Apparently, I must have mistakenly thought the Special Dark was a DCE, because I attached my energy for the turn to the benched T-Tar I just Candied into. I announce “Ruthless Tail” for the KO, to which he responds I don’t have the necessary energy requirement.

I reveal the energy, and alas, the “DCE” was just a Special Dark. So as per the rules, I am forced to either pass or announce another attack, in this case “Mega Punch” for 90 damage. He OHKOs Nidoqueen next turn by flipping his remaining Prizes, and rolls through the rest of my Pokemon with his belted Gallade. This misplay surely cost me the game, and I have been running it through my head non-stop for the past 3 days. Major face-palm moment to say the least.

The 2nd game was an absolute slaughter. He got the unbeatable set up. Benched Palkia Lv.X, Garevoir Lv.X, and Gallade. With Moonlight Stadium in play, he could gust up any of my Pokemon every turn with “Restructure”, then “Teleport” to Gardevoir, and retreat to kill with Gallade or Mewtwo. This game lasted about 35 minutes and started out pretty even, but once he got the combo he rolled through 5 Prizes in 5 turns for the win.

So that was that! I felt embarrassed knowing that my misplay in game 1 could have very well cost me advancing in the tournament, but at the same time I felt good that I had made it that far in the first place. Getting a major misplay like this out of my system might even force me to play more carefully in the future. All in all I had a great time and deducted that T-Tar was a good play for Nats. I know the defending World champ Stephen Silvestro also played it and made top cut, though I have no idea what his list looked like. Here is mine verbatim:

I think this deck is a force to be reckoned with. Post rotation survivability is questionable because of the loss of 2 key cards. Claydol GE makes it hard to grab tech cards like Memory Berry, Lucian’s Assignment, or a DCE when you need it, and no Moonlight Stadium means hard retreating T-Tar or packing the list with 2 or 3 Warp Points. One key logical choice for this deck is VS Seeker and Palmer’s Contribution.

If you were to “Megaton Tail” your only recovery card (Night Maintenance or Palmer’s), you would left out to dry late game if you need to get energy or Pokemon back. With VS Seeker, you can recover Palmer’s (but not Night Maintenance) from your discard after “Megaton Tail”ing it into the discard. To maximize it’s efficiency, it can be used to get a 2nd Lucian’s or a 3rd Judge which could also be crucial.

So there you go! That’s my first Nats experience with my Rogue T-Tar list that actually became very successful. It was awesome to see so many friends in one place and it was an experience I’ll never forget. I even got to meet the man himself, Adam Capriola. Congrats to everyone who competed, can’t wait to see you guys again next season! And to those that got the invite, good luck at Worlds!

Cpeterik’s 2010 Nats Recap and TyraniTomb Analysis is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

So we now have the full setlist for our upcoming set, HeartGold & SoulSilver Unleashed!!! As you may know, Pre-Release tournaments in the U.S. are this weekend (May 1st & 2nd) and next weekend (May 8th and 9th).

So we didn’t get Vileplume or Legend Box, two cards that would have severely effected the meta game for Nationals, but we did get a few cards of note that may see play at top tables at Battle Roads or even Nationals. But that isn’t what this article is about. This article is about what to look out for, play, and ultimately win that most holy and coveted title in all of Pokemon TCG- the PRE-RELEASE!!! So without further ado…

Metagross- This guy has a solid 130HP, an attack that does 60 for CC in “Pulse Blast”, and an attack that snipes 40 to 2 benched Pokemon for PPP in “Double Leg Hammer”. His body is very useful in that it gives every Pokemon sporting a Psychic energy free retreat. This is fantastic because there are a decent amount of PR playable Psychic Pokemon, and you’re going to want to shuffle them around to keep them alive longer. It is also a double edged sword because of his double weakness to Crobat Prime Psychic.

As long as you get the first hit on Crobat, you should be okay. It is interesting to note that Metagross vs. Metagross will be 10 damage off from a OHKO using “Pulse Blast”, so put that extra 10 on Beldum or Metang early. Speaking of his Basic and Stage 1, they are another thing that make this guy an obvious PR play. Beldum, for P, can hit for 10 and has the option of switching back to the bench, great for protection early game, and Metang has a very decent energy accel. attack which for P allows you to attach 2 Psychic energy cards from your discard pile to any Pokemon in play. For those reasons I believe Metagross will be a huge play in PR.

Octillery- Octillery is a stage one with an under-par HP of 80. However, he has a very affordable sniping attack. “Switch Cannon” will snipe 30 to anyone on your opponents bench and switch him to the relative safety of the bench for just 1 W energy. This is great for killing the Pokemon your opponent is trying to hide on the bench while they charge up. There are also many popular cards with an odd number of hit points, so being able to snipe for the last 10 or 30 is very useful.

Shaymin- Use him as a tech to transfer energy, or as a healer. His power “Celebration Wind”, lets you move as many energy as you want from anyone to anyone. Use it to surprise your opponent for the KO, or to power up “Energy Bloom” which for GC does 30 damage and also heals 30 from each of your benched Pokemon with damage counters. This will kill spread decks like the above mentioned Metagross, and also prove to be a decent staller. The downside is he only has 70HP and doesn’t hit for weakness on any cards in this set.

Sudowoodo- Hey, no one said pre-releases are pretty, right? Load up this 90HP basic with as many energy as you can, sacrifice a few Pokes, and sweep the game with “Push Over”. For F, Push Over will do 20 damage times the number of fighting attached to him. We all remember how successful Slowbro’s “Mad Kinesis” was in last sets PR. He has decent type coverage versus both Lanturns, but is also resisted by both Crobats.

Crobat(s)- This set offers 2 different Crobats. One which is currently being hyped to death, and another which, to me, stands out even more for PR. Crobat Prime has a formidable 130HP, free retreat, weakness t0 Lanturn, and resistance to Sudowoodo/Lucario. it is also equipped with 2 bargain attacks, both for a single psychic energy. The first, “Severe Posion” offers auto-posion with a bonus of adding 4 damage counters instead of 1 between turns. This attack will be extremely effective in PR due to high retreat costs on big cards like Torterra, Blastoise, Poliwrath, Ursaring, and Tyranitar. It will force your opponent to deal with it, and in turn, hopefully make a few misplays. There are a few ways to get around this, however.

As I mentioned, Metagross is a great play because it gives anyone with any Psychic energies free retreat. So hit Crobat , let him poison you for 40, retreat and repeat. This set also offers us 2 (flippy) status healing cards. “Life Herb” will remove 6 damage counters and special conditions on a good flip. I recommend playing a few of these if you pull them if only for the Crobat match-up. The other, “Super Scoop Up” is an old favorite that will heal all status and remove damage counters, along with all those energies you worked so hard to attach. This isn’t the best idea when dealing with “Severe Posion” however because of Crobat’s second attack, “Skill Dive”. Skill Dive does 30 anywhere, so if you hit a Scoop Up, it’s just an easier prize to snipe on the bench. As you can see, Octillery’s attack is easily better than Crobat’s, but the monstrous HP and annoying first attack will make it a MUST play.

The other Crobat IMHO is a better play than the former. For 20 less HP, you get an attack which for 1 P does 30 damage an auto-confusion. I don’t know about you, but I like that more than Crobat Primes. His 2nd attack is less stellar, verbatim to Machamp’s “Hurricane Punch” only for 1 Psychic energy more. Because the Crobat lines are decent and have 2 very competitive options, this will be a huge play at PR.

Kingdra(s)- Ahh yes. This is the reason why we’re all going to have to put in a few fire Pokemon into our decks. Kingdra Prime has an attack that for the scant 1 W does 60 damage IF your opponent is free of Fire Pokemon. Otherwise, it does a mere 20 damage. Something to think about while constructed those decks…

His power is like a Crobat G every turn, again, very useful. The other Kingdra hits on a repetitive theme for the set- Sniping 30 for one energy! Yes folks, Kingdra can snipe 30 for a single Water energy, (but not with the added benefit Octillery has!) This less-shiny Kingdra also has a decent attack in “Stream Pump”, which will do a guaranteed 80 damage for WCC if you return one energy to your hand. Interestingly, both Kingdra’s have that massive 130HP. Not a bad play!

Lucario- Lucario is fast and effective. This card really reminds me of the old Haymaker decks back in the day centered around Base Set Hitmonchan and Jungle Scyther. For 1C, “Bulk Up” adds 30 damage to any attack next turn AND has a base damage of 30. Not only that, but his 2nd attack “Magnum Punch” has a base of 50 for just FF. If timed correctly, you could Magnum punch for 80 every other turn starting turn 3. He has a decent HP of 90, however a weakness to Metagross and Crobat, the latter even having his resistance to add insult to injury.

Poliwrath- At 130HP, this guy is able to withstand a few hits, or turns of “Severe Poison”. His first attack does 40 for WC and will snipe 20 which is stellar in my opinion. His 2nd attack is only good depending on a coin flip. 60 on tails for WCC, and 100+ confusion on heads. A risky play, but not a bad one by any means. Watch out for Lanturn as his Prime will OHKO you.

Ursaring(s)- Again, 2 different options here. One has 100 HP and 2 less than stellar attacks. The other has 10 more HP and even less stellar attacks. However, the latter has a PokeBody called “Berserk” which enables his attacks to do 60 more damage on the condition that Ursaring is already damaged. The ability to do 90 for 3C or 120 for 4C seems great, but keep in mind that there are no cards in this set that inflict self-damage (save Tyranitar).

To play against this card, just hit him with something you don’t mind losing, then take him out next turn with your main attacker. Lucario and Sudowoodo won’t have a hard time rolling through his weakness, either, and sorry to say, there are no colorless-weak Pokemon in this set. Still, the high HP and damage output on a Stage 1 is something to look out for.

Lanturn- Yeah, not really going to even talk about the other Lanturn here.. Lanturn Prime has a good HP of 110 for a Stage 1, an attack that has a base damage of 70 for LCC (technically), and fanTASTIC type coverage. He OHKO’s Crobat all day, Kingdra all day, Octillery, Poliwrath, Blastoise, Magmortar, Ninetails, you name it. An overall solid play for PR.

Steelix- Steelix has an astonishing HP of 140 on a Stage 1. A situational, yet useful in this format, PokeBody which makes him immune from status conditions, (Crobat is sad), and a Psychic resistance which makes him an annoyance to Metagross. His first attack, “Energy Steam” does 30 damage and lets you attach an energy card from your discard pile. Use this in conjunction with “Engineer’s Adjustment” and you’ve got yourself some rockin’ synergy.

Too bad this set didn’t give us special metal… Anyway, for the absurd price of MMCCC, Gala Crush does 100 damage and that’s all you need to know. (Seriously, there are no stadiums in this set…) if you can power this guy up, you’ve got a 140HP tank doing 100 with no draw back. Couple with Life Herb and, well, good luck!

Tyranitar- The last of the primes on this list. T-Tar has a massive 160HP and 3 attacks. Again, he is resistant to Psychic, so annoying to Crobat and Metagross, however, Crobat will just poison and watch him suffer with that heavy 3 retreat cost, and Metagross is just going to snipe around it. Tyranitar’s first attack does an even 20 spread to all non dark Pokemon.

Since there are a very decent amount of Pokemon that can snipe for low energy, this might be a smart play at PR. I’ll skip past his 2nd attack and move on to “Megaton Tail”. For DDCC, it does 120 damage, just short of OHKO’ing the popular cards in this format. (Why isn’t Crobat G here??) So again, plan accordingly to get the extra 10, 20, or 30 damage. The attack comes with the drawback of having to discard the top 3 cards from your deck, perhaps couple that with “Good Rod” to put a useless card on top of your deck to sacrifice.

Dunsparce- Mmmmm… Draw support. 1C- “Return”. 10 damage. Draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand. Simple. Play it.

Jirachi- This basic Pokemon has an interesting attack in “Time Hollow”. It lets you devolve a Pokemon by one stage for each Psychic energy attached. The reason why this is crucial in this format? They reprinted “Rare Candy”. So ruin your opponent’s day by devolving a Crobat or Kingdra back into their basic forms and laugh when they don’t have the Stage 1!

As usual, you’re gonna want to stuff your PR deck with Supporters and Trainers, and this set gave us a few good options. Draw 3 with “Cheerleader’s Chant”. 3 or 2 with “Emcee’s Chatter”. 4 with “Engineer’s Adjustment” (bonus points for those who play this into Steelix’s “Energy Stream” or Metang’s “Energy Crane”!) “Interviewer’s Question” will search out valuable energy cards from your deck, and “Judge” is a Supporter that is identical to Giratina’s “Let Loose”.

“Dual Ball” is a trainer that is a combination of “Great Ball” and the original “PokeBall”. For each heads you flip out of 2, you choose a basic from your deck and put it into your hand. Stuff as many as you pull into your deck. Super Scoop up and Life Herb are good plays to get out of “Severe Posion” and other annoying status conditions. You could also use SSU to reuse coming into play Power’s like Shaymin’s and Jirachi’s. “Plus Power” will be a good play for getting the extra 10 damage needed for the OHKO on many Pokemon from “Gala Crush”, “Megaton Tail” or a double “Pulse Blast”.

Rare Candy is a classic card that I couldn’t be happier about getting reprinted. It single handedly gave Stage 2 decks a chance against SP and is no different in this PR format. Many Stage 2′s have single energy attacks you’re going to want to use right away. This card will make T2 “Severe Posion”, “Dragon Steam” and “Pulse Blast” possible. Just watch out for Jirachi like I mentioned above!!

I must be missing something… Hmmm… Ah yes!! The LEGEND Pokemon! Well, ermm.. Only 1 half of a LEGEND comes in a pack, so it will be very hard to pull both halves from 8 packs. And Pokemon USA decided to omit Legend Box from this set… But hey, if you get it, then more power to you! High HP and powerful attacks win Pre Releases.

So there you go! Those are my picks for our upcoming pre-release tournaments! I hope you got a grasp on what to look out for, and an idea on what to build that may do very well! Good luck!

If you haven’t been to a PR tourny before, they are very fun and much different than other premier events. They cost $25 and have great prizes. They are generally really relaxed and do not count toward your premier rating. A great way to meet new people. Check out Pokemon.com for a list of tournaments in your area.

How to Win HGSS Unleashed Prereleases is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

I knew I wanted to build Plox when HG/SS came out, but after seeing some of the other cards in the set, I thought I should take advantage of some of the new overlooked cards and build something that isn’t simply a net-deck. The result is a high-power, high-consistency, top-tier deck worthy of dominating for the short remainder of the DP-GS format.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you… Sludggge.

Strategy

This deck is a combination of hard hitting, deck disrupting, power locking, and option limiting. Each piece moves like a good game of chess; the pieces of which I will explain individually below.

1: GG Family

The basic goal, like most other Plox variants, is to start “Psychic Lock”ing as early as possible. A fantastic start for this deck would be a Ralts start,with a Psychic energy and a Collector/Roseanne’s. Attach the Psychic and use “Future Sight” to disrupt your opponent, or aid yourself if you are really in need. Turn 2 use your Roseanne’s/Collector resources to get either a Rare Candy & Gardevoir or Broken Time-Space & Kirlia & Gardevoir. Get Claydol out ASAP, and attach the Double Colorless Energy to Gardevoir when you get it.

The reprint of DCE in HG/SS is a big reason why this deck is getting a revival, as it is once again possible to get a T-2 “Psychic Lock”. “Psychic Lock” prevents your opponent from playing any Poke-Powers during his or her next turn. This can be detrimental to decks that rely on Claydol GE, (about 80% of decks) and also crippling to decks that employ Uxie LA (99% of decks). Versus SP, you just shut off all of your opponents super-powered Powers. “Bright Look”, “Healing Breath”, and “Flash Bite”; all useless.

Gardevoir also has a phenomenal Poke-Power himself in the form of “Telepass”. In what may be the most broken power in the format, “Telepass” lets you use the effect of a Supporter in your opponents discard pile. This means so many things. This means you may use 2 Supporters per turn. This means you may use a Supporter when you don’t have one. This means you can use Bebe’s Search 8 turns in a row and get ANYTHING you want. It also means that your opponent will think twice before playing a Supporter, limiting their options. ‘Telepass” is one of the few Powers that is not stackable, but hey, lets not get greedy.

Gardevoir conveniently has a Lv.X card. Gardevoir Lv.X brings 20 more HP to the party, along with ANOTHER great Poke-Power and a decent attack. “Teleportation” let’s you choose your active Pokemon or a Pokemon on your bench and switch it with Gardevoir. This is great for getting out of sticky situations involving Flygon lock, along with being able to essentially use the effect of a Switch every turn. It is also great for a very electrifying combo I will discuss in a minute.

“Bring Down”, Gardevoir Lv.X’s only attack, is a bit of an odd one. For 2 Psychic energies, you can KO a Pokemon on either side of the field with the lowest HP. This means if your opponent just retreated their heavily damaged heavy-hitter to avoid a KO, you can (usually) KO it anyway. It is also cool in that Gardevoir is not one of your choices, AND you get to choose if there are 2 Pokemon with the same HP. (You and your opponent both have a benched Uxie with full HP, you may choose your opponents Uxie to KO). Overall, not the greatest attack in the world, but it gives you more options.

Gallade is not quite as intellectual as his sister, but much more of a brute. Simply put, Gallade can OHKO almost anything in the format twice in one game for 1 Psychic and 1 DCE. Let me say that again. GALLADE CAN OHKO ANYTHING TWICE FOR 2 ENERGY. Eh hem. Sorry about that. That being said, the spotlight on this deck isn’t on Gallade; he is more of an insurance policy. He is fantastic if you need to get rid of something pesky like a Flygon Lv.X or Gyarados SF. It is this decks version of a “Balls-to-the-wall” type attacker akin to Machamp Lv.X; you can only use it once or twice, and it usually takes a prize both times. Add the fact that he uses the same evolutionary line as Gardevoir, and this guy is a no brainer.

2: Luxray GL Lv.X

No card is perhaps more infamous, revered, sought after, beloved, and hated all at the same time as Luxray GL Lv.X. This card revives the Base Set era Gust of Wind trainer in the form of “Bright Look”, forcing your opponent to drag up a Pokemon of your choice. Luxray has 2 decent attacks for a non-SP deck; “Trash Bolt” does 70 for 3 and forces an energy discard from your hand, while “Flash Impact” does 60 for 2 and deals 30 to a Pokemon on your bench, (a good combo with our fishy friend. More on this in a minute).

Of course, we most likely wont be using any of this kitty’s attacks, (although there is 1 Lightning energy in the deck just in case), instead we will implement the ol’ bait and switch. Once you have leveled up Gardevoir, use “Teleportation” to switch out Luxray. Level Up Luxray and “Bright Look” anything on your opponents bench. Retreat Luxray, (free) and then send up your attacker to severely cripple your opponents set up.

The cool thing about this is that with “Bright Look” you would USUALLY drag up Claydol to kill it, however this is Plox, where Claydol is useless anyway. Instead, you can use your precious “Bright Look” to bring up someone more threatening to KO.

3. Slowking (GS)

The newest set brought us many hyped up cards, many horrible cards, and many cards whose usefulness is still yet to be determined. One of the latter is Slowking. Slowking’s Poke-Power “Second Sight” lets you look at the top 3 cards from either players deck once a turn and re-arrange them as you like. This is a fantastic way to ensure your opponent will not get set up. “Psychic Lock” will disable Claydol, and “Second Sight” essentially finishes the job.

Give them a Night Maintenance early game. Give them a Lv.X. Happy Birthday. On your side of the board, “Second Sight” can also be useful. Ensure the card you top-deck next turn if you are desperate. If you are facing Flygon Lv.X, select the card you don’t mind discarding from “Wind Erosion”. Slowking has a decent HP of 90, and is also a Psychic type so his retreat cost is covered with Moonlight Stadium.

4. Gyarados MT

Ah, the sore-thumb of the deck. Some of you may remember his brother, Gyarados SF. You know, the one that can do 90 for no energy etc. etc… Well, this is his crazy second cousin! This Gyarados has a downgraded 120 HP but is equipped with a Poke-Body “Dragon DNA”. “Dragon DNA” is essentially a built-in Memory Berry that adds 30 damage before weakness and resistance to any attacks used by the Magikarp he evolved from.

The burning question? Yes, there IS a Magikarp with a “Flail” attack. The Magikarp from the same set has an attack “Flail” which, for 1 colorless energy does 10 damage times the number of damage counters on him. This means that your opponent has to OHKO him, or else they will get OHKO’d net turn. So why run it, you ask? Well, what it does is opens up your options. It adds an element of surprise. If for some reason you are running really poorly and your opponent has the upper hand, shake it up a little bit. I compare it to the options Flygon has in the same situation.

Memory Berry and “Inviting Trap” just to stall and give your field and opportunity to build. I often find that when I promote Gyarados, my opponent is scared to attack, knowing that I will do the same damage plus 30 next turn for 1 energy. The best part about it is, while they are trying not to do damage, I am doing 40 damage per turn with one Rainbow Energy drop. I guess you could say Gyarados fits in the “Wild Card”/”Clean-Up” category, and I love it. (It is also a FANTASTIC Donphan Prime counter. Anyway you slice it, Gyarados will ALWAYS OHKO DONPHAN PRIME after he attacks.)

5: Techs and Supporter Pokemon

Chatot MD is a great card that gives you more drawing options. Not to mention that if you “Bright Look” a Spiritomb, you can litterally “Chatter” lock for the game. Free retreat is also very nice. Claydol is essential draw power. I feel a 1-1 line is enough for this build. Uxie for more draw options. Azelf to fish either half of Claydol or anything else out of the prizes. Unown G with care, mostly for Gengar/Machamp. Might be nice to add another one due to lots of powers in my lines.

6: T/S/S

6a: Before HG/SS, the standard Supporter list usually had 4 Roseanne’s and 4 Bebe’s. Since the release of Collector and Pokemon Communication, I believe it is time for a revolution. I include the standard 4 Roseanne’s because it can fish out Pokemon and Energy. This is crucial as there are really only 7 basic energy cards in this deck, sometimes getting that last Psychic energy out of the deck can win the game. I include only 3 Bebe’s Search along with 2 Collector. Bebe’s is the old standby for getting any Pokemon from your deck, and Collector can get you any 3 basics.

Getting a Collector early game can expedite your set-up, searching for Baltoy, Ralts, and Slowpoke/Uxie on T-2. The most exciting and hyped of the new trainer cards is of course Pokemon Communication. This is a trainer that lets you get any Pokemon from your deck. Okay, so you have to trade a Pokemon from your hand to use it, but it is essentially a Bebe’s Search you can use without wasting your Supporter for the turn. 3 of these bad-boys will make sure you get what you want, when you want it. (Spiritomb and Dialga G mess up this card, but thats why we don’t solely rely on it).

6b: Expert Belt turns Gardevoir into a more formidable attacker, dishing out 80 + Power Lock per turn for only 3 energy. It also turns Gallade into somewhat of a tank, with 150 HP and an attack that maxes out at 200 damage. (Damnit, Wailord + Expert Belt!!!) Also, if it is a last resort, Gyarados now has 140 HP and can do 60 damage a turn for 1 Rainbow Energy.

6c: Warp Point fills the awkward space between not leveling up Gardevoir and leveling up Gardevoir. Also gets Gyarados out of the way when he has done his job. Combo’s very well with Luxray GL Lv.X as well. Moonlight Stadium gives almost everyone on your side of the board free retreat, and BTS to give you a better chance of T-2 Claydol/Psychic Lock.

7: Energy

As you can see , there is a healthy mix of 3 DCE and 3 Call Energy. In a perfect world, I would love to have 4 of both. Call Energy saves your butt on T-1, and DCE makes T-2 Gardy/Gallade possible. It also makes it possible to retreat Claydol in one turn. There is 1 Rainbow Energy mainly used to place 1 damage counter on Gyarados so that he can do an auto-40 damage. There are 5 Psychic Energy for the GG family. Slowking and Azelf utilize them as well, but hopefully it never comes to that…

There is 1 Fighting Energy just in case you have to use Gallade’s less-than stellar first attack, or if you are forced to do combat with Claydol. (I actually once used “Spinning Attack” with Expert Belt to get out of a Trapinch lock….) The lone lightning energy is in case you feel like using either of Luxray’s attacks. The beautiful thing is that there is so many Colorless-based attacks in this deck, it can afford to run a few other rogue types.

8. Conclusion

This deck has so many options, so many different ways to disrupt and control your opponent. And best of all, this thing is damn consistent. I believe that with perhaps some minor tweaks from you guys, (eh? eh?) this deck will perform phenomenally at States/Regionals/Nationals. It is based off a classic proven system, adjusted for the new format, and twisted up a little bit for originality. Thanks for reading!

(By the way, Sludggge is for Slowking, LUxray, Gyarados, Gardevoir and Gallade).

Deck Analysis – Sludggge. is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.

I stuck with my Flygon/Machamp/Nidoqueen deck that I have been running all season. I won’t type my deck list, but a few key techs included: Relicanth, Ditto, Machamp Lv.X, and Lucian’s Assignment. I feel like this season of an ever-changing deck list accumulated in the most powerful, most consistent one yet, and I go into the tournament feeling pretty confident, but sad that it was the last of the year.

Round 1 vs. Richard Lucas (Gengar/Ampharos Jam)

This is the second time this season I got paired up against Mr. Lucas in round 1. I sighed because I know how great of a player he is, and I had lost to him previously at Chicago CC’s. He was actually the very first person I played against after my 10 year hiatus from the game; needless to say he taught me almost everything I know. He was playing Gengar with Ampharos. Ampharos’ PokeBody “Jamming” places 1 damage counter on each of your opponents Pokemon whenever they play a Supporter. This is obviously a fantastic combo for Gengar Lv.X. We exchange a few early prizes before things start to heat up. I manage to keep his damage output fairly low by GUARDing my Claydol and keeping my hand size Trainer-free. He levels up Gengar and starts agro-spreading with “Compound Pain”, dealing 30 to everything on my side. Unfortunately, he forgot to “Level-Down” my Flygon Lv.X, and I was a Warp Point and “Extreme Attack” away from taking my last prize. Great game Mr. Lucas!

1-0

Round 2 vs. James Flint (Gengar Powerlock)

James and I have been paired up at almost EVERY CC’s this season. It always leads to a fantastically challenging game with all sorts of twists and turns that have never led to me claiming victory over him. I knew he was playing Gengar, but he told me it changed a lot. He used to run it with Metagross to get easier KOs with “Compound Pain”, however I knew this was not the case when he flipped over his Pokemon to reveal Abra on the bench. We were both starting to get set up when I noticed he had GUARDed his Claydol, Expert Belted his Gengar, AND played Miasma Valley.

I then noticed my deck starting to move strangely up and down, like it was vibrating. This strange movement continued until it was my turn and I said, “Okay I HAVE to figure out what that is.” I play Roseanne’s and find out it was my Relicanth dancing!! Funny how he does that. I used “Grand Swell” for at least 3 prizes that game, including the death of his Claydol. The rest of the game played out well, but it was that early Relicanth blitz that sealed my fate as I took my last prize. Good game.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Jason Klaczynski (Gengar Hit and Run)

Jason is a 2-time World Champion, but we also grew up playing Pokemon together in a local shop back in the day. It was a bit intimidating, but also just felt like the god ol’ days. We both open with Unown G, I attached and Call for Baltoy and Machop. He Roseanne’s for Baltoy and Spiritomb, attaches to retreat Unown G, and promotes Spiritomb to use “Darkness Grace” to evolve Baltoy. I top-deck Claydol and evolve Baltoy, evolve Machop and attach a Psychic energy to Unown G, (a WTF? moment) and use “Hidden Power” to KO the Spiritomb. He promotes Unown G, and starts using Claydol to build up his Gengar line.

I thought I might get ANOTHER prize with Unown G, but he drops a Crobat G to put a single damage counter on my now useless One-Eyed Alphabet Monster. He eventually starts getting his CurseGar powered up, while I am busy building a Machamp, Nidoqueen, and Flygon. We exchange a few prizes via Relicanth on my side and CurseGar on his side. Eventually I get my Machamp built up with 3 energy and “Take Out” an Uxie. He uses “Shadow Skip” next turn to deal 110 with Expert Belt and promotes a GUARDed Luxray GL. I Level-Up and use “Strong Willed” for the KO. Next turn he Uses “Shadow Skip” to deal 180 damage but I flip heads on Strong Willed, leaving me with 10 HP. Eventually time is winding down and I have 1 prize left and he has 3. I desperately try to get my Relicanth back out for an easy snipe FTW when time is called. Great game.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Clinton Chan (Lady Gaga)

All day I was dreading the SP match-up. I know Clinton from my local shop, (Collect-a-Card n’ Comics, owned by Jimmy Ballard), and battled him at my first CC’s this season. Back then he was playing Gyarados, but now it was Lady Gaga. I don’t remember many of the details from this match, I know he had a speedy set up and mine was average. I may have gotten a few prizes from a very desperate Machamp Lv.X, but ultimately he claims all 6 in just over 20 minutes. Good game.

3-1

Round 5 vs. Matt Alvis (Lady Gaga/SP toolbox)

My second SP match-up of the day, and again I was a little worried. Matt was also a familiar face from the Midwest area CC’s and a very funny guy. The game starts chugging along slowly, he fails to draw into a Cyrus until about turn 4. He has enough Energy Gains and GUARDs in play for my Relicanth to OHKO anything on his side. He has a Toxicorak Promo, Dialga, and Garchomp C. I choose to snipe the Garchomp, because I figured he was the most threatening.  I knew he would retaliate by sending up Promo-Croak for an easy KO, which I would then follow up with a Machop-Rare Candy-Machamp “Take Out”.

Time is winding down and I have one prize to his two. I have an active Machamp, and a benched Flygon and Machamp. He manages to get Toxicroak G (PL), with the help of Skuntank to OHKO my active Machamp last minute to tie the game. Time is called. By now, both our hearts are beating pretty hard. I promote my benched Machamp and realize I can’t simply “Take Out” for the win because of Toxicroak’s body that has an Unown G effect. All I have on my bench is a Memory Berry equipped Flygon with a single fighting energy attached. I retreat Machamp using Flygon’s “Rainbow Float” and promote Flygon.

I think for a minute. ‘Let’s see… I can’t use any of Trapinch’s attacks because Toxicroak’s body prevents both of them…’ I think for a little longer.. ‘Maybe I can try to stall while I build up Machamp…” when BAM! Light Bulb moment. I start rifling through his discard pile. TEN ENERGY CARDS. I use Vibrava’s “Energy Typhoon” for 200 damage and the win. Wow… After the game, we had a good laugh about how I might not have realized that, and whether or not he would have told me afterwards. He said he purposely hadn’t looked through, or AT his discard pile the last 5 turns so as not to give me any hints. Awesome game!

4-1

Round 6 vs. Ryan Alperstein (Flygon/Dusknoir)

Ryan is another familiar face, perhaps better known for running some great tournaments in the Midwest. It was a welcome change seeing him actually playing, though. I knew he was playing “FlyClops” and figured my best bet was to focus on a couple of Flygon lines. I knew I had to manage my bench space because of the Dusknoir “Dark Palm” threat, so I just got my 2 Flygons, Machamp and Claydol going. He hesitates using Dusknoir’s power, because he anticipated the KO next turn without having Dusknoir Lv.X activate. Therefore, “Damage Even”s output was never over 40. He levels up Dusknoir and places 6 counters on my Machamp. I have a fully loaded Flygon on the bench, play Warp Point, Level-Up Flygon and “Extreme Attack” Dusknoir on the bench to get around his “Ectoplasm” PokePower. From there I use “Power Swing” and “Take Out” to claim the rest of my prizes. Good game!

5-1

Here was the top 8 after Swiss:

1. Clinton Chan

2. Colin Peterik

3. Jozell Friend

4. Seena Ghaz

5. Brandon Tilton

6. Kyle Sucevich

7. James Flint

8. Matt Alvis

Top 8 vs. James Flint (Gengar Powerlock)

Game 1:

I was happy when I found out I was paired with James again in the top-8. Like I said, they are always very strategic and fun games. This time he is actually able to Rare Candy into Alakazam MT to start “Power Canceling” me. Luckily I had some pretty great top decks and a revenge Cynthia’s Feelings so I didn’t have to rely on Claydol. I forced him to “Power Cancel” every turn, making him discard 2 cards from his hand each turn. This plus “Cosmic Power” thinned out his deck pretty quickly. I figure my best bet at this point was to deck him. So I promote my Flygon, Level-Up, and “Inviting Trap” his Blissey using Memory Berry. “Wind Erosion” activates and he is forced to discard the top card from his deck between turns. He has an Expert Belt on Blissey, so he could hit my Flygon for a hefty 60 damage with “Return”. The only drawback is he has to draw until he has 6 cards in his hand. Once he realized the lock he was in, he scooped.

Game 2:

By this time there was already less than 10 minutes left. We pile shuffle and set up like mad men. He gets set up much more quickly and I can see the determination in his eyes. I got set up very quickly too, and we both had pretty much anything we needed by turn 3 or 4. We exchanged a couple prizes each, but time is called and he failed to draw 4. Great games as always James. See you at States!

(Meanwhile, during the sudden death match between Matt Alvis and Clinton Chan…)

Clinton is able to get a T-2 Donk with Luxray GL Lv.X: “Hey, I paid 20 bucks for this and I’m gonna use it!” -Clinton Chan

Great quote. haha…

Top 4 vs. Kyle Sucevich (Gyarados Honey)

“Don’t worry, it’s just the reigning National Champion!” -Jimmy Ballard

By this time I was freezing, starving, and just plain tired of playing Pokemon. 9 hours in a row can really take a toll on your brain! I was a bit nervous due to Pooka’s credentials, but I didn’t let it get to me. I didn’t know what to expect, because I know he had played SP most of the season, and today he was playing Gyarados. I figured I would rather take my chances with Gyarados than a straight up SP smack-down.

Game 1:

Gyarados is just such a fast deck. A good player will swing for 90 starting T-2, and this was no exception. I managed to build up a couple Flygons, taking early hits while I healed and rotated with Nidoqueen. When he is finally able to KO Flygon, I promote a Machamp with 4 energy, Level-Up, Attach Expert Belt, and use “Rage ” for the 140 damage KO. “That is one angry Machamp” -Pooka. I try to go an entire tournament not having to use “Hurricane Punch” if I can help it. It is such a BAD attack. So now I figure, “Cool, I went all out, but I got rid of Gyarados.” Next turn, Pooka benches a Combee and says “Honey.” Everyone watching enjoys a good laugh. Combee’s Held-Item “Honey” lets him search his discard pile for a basic Pokemon on put it on the bench. This plus a Rare Candy into Gyarados sealed my fate for game 1. Ouch.

Game 2:

This game started out similar with both of us having very quick set ups. Here’s a good quote: “Man if I ran as good as either of you I’d be the two-time World Champion.” -Jason Klaczynski. This game gave me better field advantage, I “Inviting Trap”ed his Regirock and locked him for a while while I got set up. He flipped tails on two Super Scoop Ups in row. he finally got a Warp Point and started hitting hard with Gyarados. I had a plan to break even in prizes and go into sudden death by killing his Gyarados with my Machamp the same way I did last time, then using Relicanth the next turn to snipe the heavily damaged Regirock. Unfortunately, time was called and he was up on prizes. Great tournament.

The finals were between good friends Clinton Chan and Kyle Sucevich. They both wanted to go home and were trying to negotiate a way for them not to have to play the final match. I think Kyle ended up handing the win to Clinton, but I’m not positive. I end up in 3rd place, which was my best placement yet. For my rookie season, I think I did very well. My final record from all CC’s this season is 42-28. I would tell you my ranking, but Go-Pokemon.com is severely down. I think I finished somewhere in the 1670′s. I had my doubts about returning to the TCG after all these years, but after having so much fun with the very best of people, and seeing the amount of camaraderie, I know I had made the right choice. What a fun game. Plain and simple.

Props:

Jimmy Ballard for hosting a fantastic CC’s like always.

Jeremy Adams for being a great head judge.

Everyone that showed up and packed the place.

The dude that let me borrow Machamp Lv.X. (Sorry I forgot your name! I’ll trade you something good for it next time I see you, States?)

Clinton Chan for going undefeated in Swiss and claiming his first medal of the season.

Jason K. for staying until the end to watch the finals matches.

Honey. hahahaha…

Slops:

NONE!

-Colin

Huntley, IL CC’s Report is an article featured on SixPrizes - Pokemon TCG Tips and Strategy.