Spreading the word.

Written by | July 6, 2010 | 66 comments | 2,183 views | Rating: +1

Hey, this is my first article as I only joined today, but don’t worry I’ll be making more when I think of them =D.

Tyranitar Prime was probably the most desired card I wanted from Unleashed (except for Judge) when I saw the set, so after reading some of the other amazing articles people have written on here this motivated me to write one myself; about the mighty Tyranitar!

The list:

4-2-4 Tyranitar Prime UL
2-2 Claydol GE
1 Uxie LA
2-2 Manectric PL
1-0-1 Omastar MD
(21 Pokemon) 		4 Rare Candy
4 Bebe’s Search
3 Roseanne’s Research
1 Pokemon Collector
2 Broken-Time Space
1 Moonlight Stadium
1 Luxury Ball
2 Warp Point
2 Expert Belt
2 Pokemon Communication
2 Cynthia’s Feelings
2 Judge
1 Bench Shield
(27 T/S/ST) 		4 Darkness Energy
4 Special Darkness Energy
4 Double Colourless Energy
(12 Energy)

The Strategy:

Tyranitar
Tyranitar’s first attack “Darkness Roar” lets you do 20 damage for 1 energy! That’s 30 damage with a Special Darkness Energy, and 50 damage with an Expert Belt (Note this extra damage only affects the active Pokemon).

The downside is it hits every Pokemon in play that’s not a dark type, but there is a way around that.

Manectric
Manectric has a Poke-Body “Electric Shield”, which prevents any damage from reaching your bench. But yet again there’s a downside, it doesn’t protect Manectric. To stop you killing your own Manectric you need to use a Bench Shield which prevents damage done to it, making your bench untouchable.

Omastar
This Pokemon allows you to wait until you have enough spread on your opponent’s bench, then you can de-evolve all his/her benched Pokemon one stage. This usually scores you some cheap KO’s or will at least slow down your opponents attack. When combined with Judge this will cause them to shuffle all of the evolutions they just picked up back into their deck!

Uxie/Claydol
These provide the draw power, Tyranitar relies heavily on this to get out what you need fast.

Cynthia’s Feelings
In England where I play, masses of Jumpluff are always appearing. When a Jumpluff knocks you out, you can use this to refresh your hand for 8 cards! They will almost be wishing they hadn’t knocked you out as this could easily help you set up another Tyranitar or two.

Moonlight Stadium
It gives Tyranitar a little lift when you need it most as it’s 3 energy retreat cost disappears.

Warp Point/Judge
It’s always fun to disrupt your opponent but Warp Point can help you retreat in a sticky situation, and Judge can refresh your hand too.

Conclusion:

Tyranitar is an extremely versatile card. You don’t have to do the spreading version you can do a version which focuses on Tyranitar’s other attacks, but I find this version to be the quickest and most effective.

You can however use Tyranitar’s other attacks to knock out things like Gengar, hence why Double Colourless Energy is in there. It is also being used by Stephen Silvestro (winner of Worlds 2009).

Tubbs signing off.

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  • Flygondrb

    I think that Tyranitar is a better attacker than a spreader because of the massive damage he can do. (220 damage at the most with an expert belt, 4 plus powers, and 4 SP. dark.) I also think that Jirachi UL could be better than Omostar if you addedin some Phycic energy because you can get it out faster.

  • bnc-sheild

    you should play 2 moonlight stadium and add a 1-0-1 nidoqueen for recovery

  • knownG

    Put in an electric energy or a multi energy in so manectric can come out and do so spreading too.

  • dillznutz

    except you cant judge after you use Jirachi b/c its an attack. Omastar is better in this way. Jirachi would be better if u were running lots of psychic / engineers adjustment., which i believe would dilute this deck vision

  • Ryanscottgraham

    I wish people were focusing on the rotation more.

  • http://www.adamcapriola.com/ Adam Capriola

    We still have another set coming out before the next format officially starts, so I think that's why people are hesitant to work on new stuff.

    It is sorta pointless to work on the current format though unless you're going to Worlds, which most of us aren't.

  • chrataxe

    Jirachi is also flippy

  • Tubbs

    Thanks for all the comments, I think Jirachi would be pointless in this deck as it takes an attack to de-evolve them, whereas Omastar can nab you the prizes without attacking, this Tyranitar focuses on speed-spreading. As for the other comments, the Nidoqueen has been tested and you can either go for Manectric or Nidoqueen, not both. I find Manetric easier to get out (via BTS).

  • chrataxe

    His spread is horrible. Also, Special Dark only hits 10 extra to the active, so you can only spread for 20.

    I've been doing a lot of looking into this deck for my son and there is only 2 ways I see this deck working: Memory berry with rage and power claw with expert belt and special dark. The spread just doesn't do enough damage and Megaton Tail is pricey with the discard.

  • http://www.adamcapriola.com/ Adam Capriola

    Have you tried Lucian's Assignment? Or do you think it's not worth it with the strategy you are going for?

  • Pikey

    Omastar allows for greater consistency and obviously effects all of the bench rather than 0-3

  • Pikey

    The deck is mainly designed for speed by the looks of it with Darkness Howl. Hence the use of 2 BTS to 1 Moonlight.

    Also it's running Manectric which negates the need for nidoqueen. With having HP so high there's no need to worry about damage slowly building up, as it will be forever before it dies; giving plenty of opportunity to get another T'Tar out.

    Manectric also gives you complete bench protection from sniping; something that Nidoqueen cannot.

  • Pikey

    The spreading may not be as good as other spreaders but the energy cost is a huge reduction. If you manage to get 3-4 Darkness Howl attacks which isn't difficult considering his incredible HP while belted; it's easy to take all 5 prizes in 1 go when you drop an Omastar.

  • Pikey

    Going on the idea the plan is to spread the majority of the time, I shouldn't think he'd worry about losing 1 energy! XD

    I've never thought of using a Lucians Assignment, it does have an obvious use in energy heavy decks. I'm sure it would be a good play if the objective is to go for the heavy hitting attacks.

  • chrataxe

    Very true. But, like I said, the only way the deck will work is with Memory Berry/Rage or Power Claw with Expert Belt and Special Dark.

    SP being the most prominent decks right now offer 2 things: high HP basics, which are hard to kill with spread, and Garchomp C Healing, which is impossible to kill with a 20 spread. Omastar is just begging to be sprayed, especially with no Claydol. Donphan/Mesprit, which is another highly popular deck right now, will also eat its lunch as it is unaffected by the spread. Sure, it will wins some matches, but it will never pull off anything big. Memory Berry/Rage can do as much as 210 damage for 1 DCE and is great on a highly damaged T-tar. Power claw can tear through anything and do as much as 100 damage. Megaton Tail is also good for when you need that one KO as a game changer.

  • Bolt997

    you wouldn't be needing 4 rare candies

  • Lamar

    I wouldn't put Multi Energies in because they won't work with the Special Dark Energies. If you wanted to try raging with Pupitar and Memory Berry, Rainbow Energies may be of some use. I think adding one Lightning Energy could be clutch at continuing the spread attack and exposing another weakness.

  • Rhin

    i like the omastar/judge cmbo, but as chrataxe said, its just beggin to be sprayed. You would habe to be really careful when to drop it, or inlcude some ssu, which, by the way, also go very well with T-tar

  • http://www.jiabdesign.weebly.com/ JordanBaker

    sprayed? Omastar really only hurts stage 1 or stage 2 decks. It wouldn't do anything to SP. Most Stage 1/2 decks don't run enough SP to have power spray in their arsenal.

  • SkyAoiSora

    Listen man, we understand that you like the idea of Memory Berry with Rage. And I agree, it's a great combo. But Pikey's just trying to make a fun spread deck to use right now. Sure, it doesn't match up against SP's or Donphan decks. But every deck has to have its weaknesses, right? Instead of saying that the deck is terrible and leading towards a completely different strategy, you could have some more constructive criticism such as this:

    “I think the idea of spread for this deck is good, but lacking. It has its weaknesses, as do most/all decks. If you encounter an SP or Donphan deck, you will have trouble because SP's have high HP basics and Donphan reduces damage by 20 due to its Poke-Body. Therefore, I would suggest these workarounds: If you use a memory berry with rage, you can take more advantage of those double colourless energy in your deck to do huge damage to the opponent's active. Furthermore, Power Claw and Megaton Tail can be some good assets to pull you out of some sticky situations against decks such as the afore-mentioned.”

    See? Doesn't this seem so much more constructive in every way?

    And Pikey, that's my opinion on your deck. I love the idea of spread, but against SP's and Donphan's, you could follow the suggestions above. Of course, if your area happens to not play Donphan or Sp, this shouldn't be a huge problem for you. But it's something to consider.

  • Sledd

    I agree with you. Tyranitar should combine the use of spread to damage your opponent's pokemon against decks like
    Flygon, Gengar, Machamp and such. However, against Donphan and a lot of SP, you should make sure to use Memory Berry for such decks otherwise you will have a VERY hard time.

  • chrataxe

    I see your point, but, my opinion is:

    a 20 spread deck is horrible. There are a lot of ways to run spread that do good. Infact, I have a spread deck post in the forum, but the spread is for about 100. I don't think T-tar is horrible, I think basing the whole deck on the ability to do 20 spread (which is what he stated) is a horrible idea. If he wants to do that, fine, I'm not saying he can't. I DID tell him WHY his idea was horrible and I DID tell him ways to get around it, I apologize if I offended you with my honesty.

    T-tar's spread attack does have its place, but you can't build a deck around it. Its great to pull out late game when there is a lot of banged up Pokemon. But, with that little draw power (post rotation), getting another T-Tar out is hard. And, if you are only hitting any deck for 20, yeah, T-Tar has a lot of life, but not that much, he can easily be taken down in 2 turns, especially if T-Tar goes first, which it is advantageous for him to do to keep up the energy attachment. When T-Tar gets taken out, it is next to impossible to get another one out with no draw power (which he won't have post rotation). So, when T-tar falls, he is stuck with a crappy attack to hit a few pokemon that doesn't have much damage on them. At BEST, using this as a spread deck only (which was what I was under the assumption of based upon the info I was given), this is not really-barely competitive at the Junior level. It easily loses to most “fun” decks.
    If he where to start loading this deck with Spiritomb LA and Dusknoir, I would think it does a decent spread and has potential as a good spread deck. Being as the only idea he is open to is to have a 20 spread all game, I stand by my original comments.

    And, if you want a more complete “constructive” criticism:

    The following are rotating out:
    Claydol
    Roseanne
    Moonlight

    Which kills the deck as it stands. The Manetric/Bench Shield is near impossible to pull off with all the disruption and no way to search bench shield and the likely hood of drawing into it is statistically almost impossible. 1 Energy for an attack is easily countered by by a card almost all decks run (ambipom G), and will completely shut down this deck with only 4 searchable energy.

    I'm not bringing up unlikely scenarios, I'm pointing out VERY likely scenarios. If this is still America, I would like to be entitled to an opinion, even if you don't like it. My criticism was very constructive, you just didn't like the way I gave it. The attack sucks, here is how to improve it, that is constructive. Saying it sucks and leaving it at that isn't.

  • Rhin

    Well, you do have a point there.

  • Tubbs

    Right, I know people aren't liking the idea of the 20 damage, but think about it, 20 + 10 from spec dark = 30, with belt it's already 50 to active and 20 to bench, and just to note it is a FUN DECK ONLY.

  • Pikkdogs

    A really good deck.

    I might add a starter like sableye or spiritomb to the deck though

    And yes it is pointless to make an old deck now, but maybe he had made this deck a month ago.

  • r0b

    this is so true and im glad someone said it! Why would you even debate trying to use omastar against your sp matchup? this pretty situational card.

  • SkyAoiSora

    I understand where you're coming from and agree with what you're saying. What I'm saying is maybe you could find a more polite way if saying it than outright saying “this is horrible and it sucks.” If you think I'm being too sensitive, then that's your opinion. I never said you did not have an opinion so you've no reason to bring that up, really… Now, I don't really want to keep arguing about something as trivial as this more than I am now about to finish arguing/debating/whatever, so reply if you want, but all I have to say is rather than saying a deck is horrible, suggest a way to improve it and do it politely rather than saying things such as “it won't even last in junior rounds” or something like that.

    That is all. v.v

  • Pikey

    Can I point out for 1 thing that this isn't my deck, I just have a habbit of writing too many comments! :D

    But either way any spread deck is virtually useless against an SP deck which is why he has included the DCE's to combat anything he can't spread against.

    Yes those scenarios may be very likely but you have to remember that each deck is only as good as the metagame in the area which it is played as to how well it will fair in competitive play.

    If you're looking at matchups and possible counters then you can also argue it the other way. Presume the T'Tar player gets a decent start and goes second, he gets to candy his active to a T'Tar and attaches and begins spreading. T2 he either manages to get a Manectric or Claydol and with the help of trainers searches for the Manectric. Yeah ok maybe he wont get a bench shield and maybe he'll kill his own Manectic but I think suiciding that 1 Pokemon is worth it to see your entire bench sitting on 60-80 damage.

    If the opponent can't take out a 160 or 180 hp Pokemon by T4 he can lay an Omastar (presuming he draws into one or can Fossil Excavator for one) and devolve your entire bench most likely killing everything, if not very close allowing him to finish them off with another Howl and you've just got your active left.

    Or going the other way you could be playing your luxchomp and when everything gets up to 60 damage you just heal it by levelling up. It can go either way depending entirely on what its playing against.

    Maybe in the area where you play the majority of decks are SP and of course, T'Tar will be completely useless in any tournament where there are an abundance of SP's and Donphans (or even Nidoqueen).

    However where we play no one currently plays an SP or a Donphan so it's pretty competitive. It doesn't seem to be just a bizarre league where we play either at Nationals in maybe a dozen games I only played against 1 true SP deck.

    I guess it just highlights one of the differences of playing in the UK from the US.
    At the end of the day if you know if you play the deck in a tournament you will face bad matchups all night then don't bother playing it. However if you think it can hold its own in the area you play then why not give it a go? If nothing else it will surprise the other people playing.

    And as for the set rotation that occurs at the beginning of September, we've only just started July. That's an entire 2 months of playtime including another entire set before we have to worry about what we're going to play post rotation.

    I will be writing up some articles on post rotation decks but not until at least the next set comes out as it may be that it is yet another game changing set, or it may contribute nothing. However we will not know until it comes out and people start play testing things. So until then you can expect any articles I at least write to be on this format. I think your best bet for post rotation articles will be after the set comes out.

  • Walrus

    Agreed, I really have no interest in pre-rotation articles and decks.

  • Pikey

    I like what you've written; and good job you've summed it up pretty much perfectly, and from a purely constructive viewpoint. However much i may love spreading decks, i must point out however that this one is not mine! =D

  • Pikey

    I'm not a fan of flippy either!

  • Pikey

    *Points at above*
    I thought your post was awesome and really well written :)

  • Jason

    I like the concept of this deck and 20 spread for 1 Energy is very solid. However it only plays 1 Bench Shield, 1 Moonlight, 1 Claw Fossil, all of which are unsearchable cards. The consistency that you will be able to get out what you need concerns me.

  • Peter

    well there are still canadian nats… lol xD tho im sure it means nothing but its the nats im attending too xD

  • SkyAoiSora

    o-o ….Why thank you Pikey!! ^^ *Hugs* :3

  • Pikey

    W00T Hugs :D

  • http://www.adamcapriola.com/ Adam Capriola

    Doh I forgot about Canadian Nationals…this weekend, right?

  • Fplesko

    Agree. We are however working Uxies into our prior (Claydol draw) decks. Really should start getting away from Claydol and Rosannes, with Uxies, other draw supporters and Interviewer's Question.

  • Fplesko

    Memory Berry and Expert Belt; either will work well. Must have 4 DCE and 4 Special Dark. The spread isn't the way to go (i.e., Garchomp/Luxray). Megaton Tail is only when you (need) to 1-shot a Pokemon. Typical damage would be 90 (DCE, 1 special dark, expert belt). With 180 HP, it's a tank.

  • Fplesko

    Also recommend Lucian's Assignment, SSU, and Moonlight Stadium. All musts for this deck.

  • Fplesko

    Agree with most of your comments, but . . 3/1 Uxie X for draw, Inverviewer's Questions for energies, poke collector/poke communication/BTS for fast evolving, but Spiritomb is still way to go. New card coming out in next release (I think) is Unown Dark = search your deck for a dark energy card (includes special dark) and attach to one of your Pokemon. That is 2 energies attached each turn — and that makes the Ttar very fast and effective. At Nationals, a good senior player had this deck built, along with new Weavile which puts cards in lost zone — very fast and effective.

  • Fplesko

    Boy, some T-tar haters in this thread! I know that the “spread” option of the deck build is really not the way to go. Too many good healing techs out there right now. Fast 1HKO is the way to go. In new release of cards (at some point) there will be an “Unown Dark”, which has the power of searching out and attaching 1 dark (any dark, including special) energy card each turn. This, plus attachment of DCE makes it very fast. Replacing Claydol & Rosannes is necessary; can use 3/1 Uxie & Interviewer's Question. Teching in a 1-1-1 Exploud SV takes care of the fighting weakness. I would bag the Manectric as spread won't be the way to win a lot of games in my opinion. Lucians, SSU, Pokemon Healers are also good to have in this deck. Moonlight stadium is also good to have to retreat your Spiritomb starter, as you want the T-tar built right up front, plus can also evolve your Manectric or Exploud SV. Keep on working on the T-tar deck, it did pretty respectable at Nationals, including side events there.

  • JPN-Gallade

    Nice idea overall. Manectric and T-tar can make one nice combo, especially on how Manectric stops the damage from your side when T-tar uses Darkness howl. Of course, I think you should remember to use T-tar's other attacks from time to time as well.

    But still, nice article! I think this is one of the best articles talking about T-tar Prime, along with cpeterik's article that was also about T-tar.

  • Mewuk85

    those that are will be in a head start. but yeah I see what your saying. that way you can see rotation deck analysis instead of illegal format.

  • Tubbs_woolner

    Thanks it's nice to see people are enjoying this :P, and yeah the other attacks are used from time to time, hence DCE in there, the whole focus is spread but sometimes doing a straight 60-120+ isn't bad too =D

  • davehueglin

    My son plays a version of this deck with Jirachi UL and it can be a real pain sometimes, although you are right about it needing to use an attack. It is also a pretty weak Bench siter when wwithdrawn. On the flip side, it can't be Power-sprayed.

    As for replacing Claydol, my son's deck uses 4 Sableye SF and 3 Spiritomb AR to get a faster set-up.

  • JPN-Gallade

    Your welcome, and yeah, I agree. Its good to do 60 (where the effects of Poke-powers and Poke-bodies aren't applied) and 120 (enough to OHKO) from time to time.

    Yep, T-tar can surely be versatile with all of its attacks that's for sure.

  • SkyAoiSora

    That's a lot of Sableye and Spiritomb. :P I wish I had that many Sableye and Spiritomb… I have 2 Sableye and 1 Spiritomb. :(

  • SkyAoiSora

    Hey do you play redshark? =] Actually, could you send me an email at SkyAoiSora@hotmail.com? You seem like the type of person I could get along with, judging by your posts here and there. I would never deny a new friend for playing cards with, even if it is just online and/or chatting =]

  • davehueglin

    There are three of us in the family that play Pokemon and we pool our cards together when it comes to the cards in higher demand, like Spiritomb and Sableye.

  • SkyAoiSora

    Oh nice! =] That's pretty cool! ^^ Yea, I play in a duo team with my friend Erica. =] We've been playing together for three years, and competitively for 2, performing ok for one, and planning to go big this year. =] I'm the only one my family who plays though, and I wouldn't get along with my siblings enough to pool my cards with them. :P I mean we get along, but I wouldn't want to share my cards with them… I guess I'm a little…. the equivalent of overprotective but for pokemon cards? XD

  • Mewuk85

    Hope worlds is in san diego next year only 6 hour drive or 45 min fly from my town.

  • mewuk85

    OOOOOO i get so excited when i see this deck. Tech in a couple good cards you heal and add attack every turn. hahahahahhhaha

  • WinkWinkNudgeNudge

    Amphros (Power Bind) can be very useful in this deck. If you get it out and shielded LuxChomp can't Bright Look or Healing Breath. Under power lock SP has to heal with Poketurn. Of course Dialga G Lv. X can turn off Power Bind but you can't have everything. The big challange for the deck is Donphan hitting for 120 for 1 nrg.

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