Speedrill will always be (while legal, that is) a fairly dominant deck in the format. While it does have it’s flaws, and isn’t exactly “tier one” in every locale, it’s fast and fun. I’ve been experimenting with different additions to the standard Beedrill line, and I feel I’ve finally found a deck that works, with an interesting twist: Shaymin LV.X. Here’s the list:
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Pokemon 2 Beedrill GE 2 Beedrill RR 3 Kakuna 4 Weedle 2 Claydol GE 2 Baltoy GE 1 Shaymin PL (Ground form) 1 Shaymin PL LV.X (Ground form) 1 Uxie LA 1 Azelf LA 1 Unown G GE |
Supporters/Trainers/Stadiums 4 Roseanne’s Research 4 Bebe’s Search 1 Cynthia’s Feelings 4 Rare Candy 4 Pokedex Handy 4 Super Scoop Up 4 Night Maintenance 2 Expert Belt 1 Luxury Ball 3 Broken-time Space 3 Warp Point |
Energy 6 Grass Energy |
Don’t get me wrong, the main strategy for this deck is and always will be to get all four Beedrill out. I’ve seen some decks only run a single Rising Rivals Beedrill, but I find having the ability to use his “Flutter Wings” Poke-Body two times per turn is an easy way to get a full Beedrill set up in one turn if you happen to lose one. The Shamin tech is a secondary thought; one you only tamper with if you have all of your Beedrill set up. Your bench should normally consist of three Beedrill and a Claydol (with Unown G attached), and odds are the last bench spot will be taken by an Azelf or an Uxie. Only once you either use Super Scoop Up to get them back would you lay down a Shaymin and work towards getting the LV.X out.
The reason I feel Shaymin LV.X is a perfect Beedrill tech is for it’s synergy. One of the biggest downfalls of Beedrill is that once you loose one, you’re doing a fourth of the damage you could be. And lets face it, 110HP for a main attacker isn’t as high as it could be. What Shaymin LV.X brings is an additional 40HP for each of your Beedrill. That, combined with an Expert Belt, gives Beedrill 170HP! There are very few attacks that can hit for 170 in one turn. The coolest part: you can search for Shaymin AND Shaymin LV.X with Beedrill’s Flutter Wings Poke-Power! That means once your Beedrill’s are all set up, you can get both Shaymin and Shaymin LV.X in your hand in one turn.
Why use Expert Belt? Well, the Shaymin tech adds HP, and so does Expert Belt, so that adds to the strategy as a whole. I understand some people use PlusPower with their Beedrill deck, but my problem with that is you can only use 4, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Nervous about losing two prizes? That’s exactly what Super Scoop Up is for! Nothing frustrates an opponent more than getting heads on a Super Scoop Up, picking up a nearly dead Beedrill, and using Broken Time Space to play him right back onto your bench.
The downfall: Shaymin’s retreat cost. My basic way around this is to retreat Beedrill (as your attacking Beedrill has free retreat) for Shaymin, play the LV.X, and Warp Point it back. Other methods include using Super Scoop Up to pick up a Beedrill, put the Shaymin out, play the LV.X, and then retreat him back by discarding an energy. This, however, necessitates that you have a Beedrill or Weedle with an energy on your bench.
So there you go, my Beedrill variant. What’s better than a Beedrill with 170HP? I managed to top-cut at a Cities Tournament this year with it once, and might end up bringing it to States, too. But who knows, once Double Colorless Energy come out, the format might get turned on it’s head.
