Some Testing Results

Written by | November 15, 2009 | 61 comments | 1,310 views | Rating: 0

I had a chance to play a handful of games against Ian last night. I messed around with Sceptile AR while he used Flygon / Machamp a couple games and then a straight Nidoqueen deck the last few.

I honestly didn’t like Sceptile that much, though it can do a ton of damage once set up. Tried different things in it like 1/1 Shaymin LV.X (+40 HP Poke-Body one), 2/2 Shaymin LV.X, 4 Super Scoop Up, some PlusPower, and then finally Poke Healer +. I felt that Poke Healer worked best.

I thought about trying Tangrowth LV.X AR in the deck too, but it was honestly hard enough to get both Sceptile GE and Sceptile AR out. Adding anything else was just going to bog down consistency.

Anyways here is the list I pretty much settled upon:

Pokemon-19
4 Treecko SF
2 Grovyle AR
3 Sceptile AR
1 Sceptile GE
2 Baltoy GE
2 Claydol GE
2 Unown G GE
1 Azelf LA
1 Uxie LA
1 Chatot LA		 Trainers-29
4 Roseanne’s Research
3 Bebe’s Search
1 Luxury Ball
2 Cynthia’s Feelings
4 Rare Candy
1 Broken Time-Space
4 Poke Drawer +
4 Poke Healer +
3 Warp Point
2 Expert Belt
1 Night Maintenance		 Energy-12
8 Grass Energy
4 Call Energy

Sceptile Arceus AR 30 Pokemon CardThis list is obviously not perfect. I should have tried going 2/2 on the Sceptiles, but never did. I think 1 Spiritomb AR would be a welcome addition also. I don’t really know why I used 3 Warp Point either, but you are going to need some kind of switching ability in this (maybe Switch or Warp Energy would be better).

This is deck is pretty much going to fold to Luxray GL / Blaziken 4 because of Blaziken’s ability to OHKO you. The fact that they could (and should) be playing Dialga G LV.X also does not bode in your favor.

If your opponent can’t OHKO you however, and you can draw your Healers when you get damaged, Sceptile can draw prizes fairly quickly. If you get both Sceptile out and 3 Grass Energy and an Expert Belt on Sceptile AR, you’re going to be doing 140 a turn with 140 HP.

Maybe someone else can work with this to make it better. I do think Healers are probably the way to go because Shaymin LV.X is just another Pokemon to get out, and while +40 HP is good, healing 80 is probably better. I think playing a Spiritomb or two would give you time to set up. I really should have tried it out.

One problem I feel with the deck is just that it takes a lot of resources to get going. You need around 3 energy on Sceptile AR and you need Sceptile GE out too, which is not so easy to do. I don’t know if you’ll ever get more than 2 Sceptile AR out and attacking, so that’s why I think you need to keep the ones you get out alive as long as possible.

Sceptile Great Encounters GE 8 Pokemon CardAs far as Ian’s decks go, I don’t have his lists, but I’ll tell you basically what he played.

The Flygon / Machamp build was pretty straightforward. I lost every game against this, but with a better Sceptile list it might win. These were the first games I used Sceptile, so I was doing a lot of tinkering each match.

The Nidoqueen deck consisted of Nidoqueen RR with Moonlight Stadium, Expert Belt, 1/1 Cresselia LV.X, 1/1 Blissey PL, and 2 Spiritomb AR I think. Not sure about the Queen line; it was probably 3/2/3 or 4/2/4. The deck seemed decent, but Sceptile was able to beat it because I could OHKO everything and he couldn’t OHKO me. I would just drop Healers after he damaged me and it swung the game in my favor every time.

How do you guys think I could fix the Sceptile list? Leave me some comments. :)

Image Credits: PokeBeach, Pokegym, and Pokemon Paradijs

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  • Christina

    Always love the grass pokemon, they just always seem to be hard to play.

  • Christina

    Always love the grass pokemon, they just always seem to be hard to play.

  • WDIF

    Have you considered no Call Energy? Call likely adds 0 to your lategame and will only clog your hand. If early game is your concern with this deck then you could add a second Luxury Ball. I like the addition of Drawers here and Spiritomb sounds good. If you aren’t getting more than 2 AR Sceptiles out then Sceptile SF could be good, I suppose SSU is needed for him to work and Healers sound much more consistent. Lastly, Grovyle AR (there are two) is IMO trumped by Sceptile SF ([G] 20 + sleep).

    • nardd

      I like GE grovyle, for its energy searching ability.

  • WDIF

    Have you considered no Call Energy? Call likely adds 0 to your lategame and will only clog your hand. If early game is your concern with this deck then you could add a second Luxury Ball. I like the addition of Drawers here and Spiritomb sounds good. If you aren’t getting more than 2 AR Sceptiles out then Sceptile SF could be good, I suppose SSU is needed for him to work and Healers sound much more consistent. Lastly, Grovyle AR (there are two) is IMO trumped by Sceptile SF ([G] 20 + sleep).

    • nardd

      I like GE grovyle, for its energy searching ability.

  • Power Swing

    I tested almost the exact same list except i played miasm valley which helps a lot to grab ohko’s. But the thing is it takes 3 to 5 turns to start dishing out high damage, and call energy makes this deck worse because it clogs your hand and lowers damage. I tried great ball as well and that helps a little but it doesnt stop machamp or any other donks. Oh and one more thing with charizard getting some playing time, an exploud line is needed or else you will get ripped apart. I tested charizard against this and its not pretty, charizard looks solid especially with the ninetales from hgss coming out. I should have an article on char soon.

    • xFREAKx

      How are you going to energy recycle with Ninetales HGSS if your discarding for it’s power and Zard’s “Burning Tail?”

      • xFREAKx

        Nevermind, saw your later comment.

  • Power Swing

    I tested almost the exact same list except i played miasm valley which helps a lot to grab ohko’s. But the thing is it takes 3 to 5 turns to start dishing out high damage, and call energy makes this deck worse because it clogs your hand and lowers damage. I tried great ball as well and that helps a little but it doesnt stop machamp or any other donks. Oh and one more thing with charizard getting some playing time, an exploud line is needed or else you will get ripped apart. I tested charizard against this and its not pretty, charizard looks solid especially with the ninetales from hgss coming out. I should have an article on char soon.

    • xFREAKx

      How are you going to energy recycle with Ninetales HGSS if your discarding for it’s power and Zard’s “Burning Tail?”

      • xFREAKx

        Nevermind, saw your later comment.

  • nardd

    I’d like to try out sceppy sometime soon, as there are SO many options now to choose from. You’ve got energy accel. in AR, energy trans in SF, energy doubling in GE, and energy damage in the other AR!

    Looks like Sceptile is the new Magnezone :6

    • nardd

      ah yes, and the SF one has a nice poison attack to help against non-queen gengar lists.

  • nardd

    I’d like to try out sceppy sometime soon, as there are SO many options now to choose from. You’ve got energy accel. in AR, energy trans in SF, energy doubling in GE, and energy damage in the other AR!

    Looks like Sceptile is the new Magnezone :6

    • nardd

      ah yes, and the SF one has a nice poison attack to help against non-queen gengar lists.

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

    I hate to run any deck without Call Energy, I just feel it kills your consistency.

    I honestly don’t like the other Sceptiles too much, I think 2 AR / 2 GE might be necessary just for consistency. The Energy Trans one might be cool to try out though.

    I didn’t know Charizard was being played at all, it doesn’t seem great to me honestly but maybe with Expert Belt it’s strong. I just don’t know how many Fire Pokemon you will actually get in play if you have things like Claydol or Uxie out.

    • Power Swing

      Charizard will be able to use ninetales as its draw engine, then since its a fire type char will be able to hit aroun 120 or 140 with typhlosion/stark mountain refreshing energies from your discard pile.

  • http://www.sixprizes.com Adam

    I hate to run any deck without Call Energy, I just feel it kills your consistency.

    I honestly don’t like the other Sceptiles too much, I think 2 AR / 2 GE might be necessary just for consistency. The Energy Trans one might be cool to try out though.

    I didn’t know Charizard was being played at all, it doesn’t seem great to me honestly but maybe with Expert Belt it’s strong. I just don’t know how many Fire Pokemon you will actually get in play if you have things like Claydol or Uxie out.

    • Power Swing

      Charizard will be able to use ninetales as its draw engine, then since its a fire type char will be able to hit aroun 120 or 140 with typhlosion/stark mountain refreshing energies from your discard pile.

  • Pikkdogs

    Maybe try a 2-2 or 3-3 Cherrim sf line. It could boost up sceptile enough.

    • Power Swing

      I dont think he needs it, and that would clog his bench. He will already be hitting around 110 or 140.

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

      1/1 Cherrim actually sounds pretty good, I think I might try that out. :) thanks pikkdogs

      • Dave Hueglin

        Maybe Cherrim AR might work also – for defense not offense. Any of your Grass or Fire Pokemon take 10 less damage from each Attack, so even the Bench will get some protection from snipers.

  • Pikkdogs

    Maybe try a 2-2 or 3-3 Cherrim sf line. It could boost up sceptile enough.

    • Power Swing

      I dont think he needs it, and that would clog his bench. He will already be hitting around 110 or 140.

    • http://www.sixprizes.com Adam

      1/1 Cherrim actually sounds pretty good, I think I might try that out. :) thanks pikkdogs

      • Dave Hueglin

        Maybe Cherrim AR might work also – for defense not offense. Any of your Grass or Fire Pokemon take 10 less damage from each Attack, so even the Bench will get some protection from snipers.

  • Mach

    You-can-only-have-four-of-this-Pokemon-in-your-deck-itis is the official name for what Sceptile suffers from. Leave something out, and you’ll find yourself wishing you had it. Try to fit everything in, and consistency issues galore. Then there’s Sceptile’s issue with getting set up before T4-5, and it kind of kills the idea for me.

    • Power Swing

      The problem here is that there are multiple good sceptiles that would play a key role in this deck. Play 2 ar, 1 ge, and 2 sf. That sounds easier and more consistant to me.

      • nardd

        not sure what you mean… 5 sceptiles?

      • Power Swing

        I ment one sf my bad.

  • Mach

    You-can-only-have-four-of-this-Pokemon-in-your-deck-itis is the official name for what Sceptile suffers from. Leave something out, and you’ll find yourself wishing you had it. Try to fit everything in, and consistency issues galore. Then there’s Sceptile’s issue with getting set up before T4-5, and it kind of kills the idea for me.

    • Power Swing

      The problem here is that there are multiple good sceptiles that would play a key role in this deck. Play 2 ar, 1 ge, and 2 sf. That sounds easier and more consistant to me.

      • nardd

        not sure what you mean… 5 sceptiles?

      • Power Swing

        I ment one sf my bad.

  • xFREAKx

    4 Treeko SF
    3 Grovyle GE
    2 Sceptile AR
    1 Sceptile GE
    1 Sceptile SF
    2 Baltoy
    2 Claydol
    1 Uxie
    1 Azelf
    1 Chatot
    1 Unown G

    4 Bebe’s
    4 Roseanne’s
    2 BTS
    1 Dawn Stadium
    2 Luxury Ball
    2 Buffer Piece
    3 Warp Point
    3 Rare Candy
    2 Dusk Ball
    2 Great Ball
    2 Palmer’s
    2 Cynthia’s

    1 Call E
    11 Grass E

    What I had before I dropped it. 2 Scpetiles at the latest turn 3 about 60% of the time.

    • jesus69

      this is probably the best this deck can get.
      this is mabey 3 cards off of the list we play hewre in chicago.
      I think it is the best way to plat it.
      although i like the idea of scoop ups with the sceptile that can move energy around.

      • Power Swing

        SSU with sf sepy. That sounds interesting.

  • xFREAKx

    4 Treeko SF
    3 Grovyle GE
    2 Sceptile AR
    1 Sceptile GE
    1 Sceptile SF
    2 Baltoy
    2 Claydol
    1 Uxie
    1 Azelf
    1 Chatot
    1 Unown G

    4 Bebe’s
    4 Roseanne’s
    2 BTS
    1 Dawn Stadium
    2 Luxury Ball
    2 Buffer Piece
    3 Warp Point
    3 Rare Candy
    2 Dusk Ball
    2 Great Ball
    2 Palmer’s
    2 Cynthia’s

    1 Call E
    11 Grass E

    What I had before I dropped it. 2 Scpetiles at the latest turn 3 about 60% of the time.

    • jesus69

      this is probably the best this deck can get.
      this is mabey 3 cards off of the list we play hewre in chicago.
      I think it is the best way to plat it.
      although i like the idea of scoop ups with the sceptile that can move energy around.

      • Power Swing

        SSU with sf sepy. That sounds interesting.

  • Rishwyn

    an intresting deck.

  • Rishwyn

    an intresting deck.

  • Soul

    Sceptile is nice. I’d play 2 AA Sceppy, 1 GE Sceppy and one SF Sceppy, just a tech, normally you don’t have more than two Sceppies out. Poké-Healer isn’t that great, you could also try 1-1 Xatu tech, it kills Gliscor which really hurts Sceppy, or even Dawn Stadium it’s nice, too. Keep up that good work!

  • Soul

    Sceptile is nice. I’d play 2 AA Sceppy, 1 GE Sceppy and one SF Sceppy, just a tech, normally you don’t have more than two Sceppies out. Poké-Healer isn’t that great, you could also try 1-1 Xatu tech, it kills Gliscor which really hurts Sceppy, or even Dawn Stadium it’s nice, too. Keep up that good work!

  • G man

    How about teching 4 Exeggcute LA if you dont want 4 call energies, then you could go all grass energies since exeggcute’s call for family attack is the same as call energies, plus it works with miasma in case you would use it in your deck, just a suggestion though

  • G man

    How about teching 4 Exeggcute LA if you dont want 4 call energies, then you could go all grass energies since exeggcute’s call for family attack is the same as call energies, plus it works with miasma in case you would use it in your deck, just a suggestion though

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  • Genguy

    I'd go 2 2 on the Sceptile. Why not add a 2-2 Sunflora HS? It's poke-power “Sunshine Grace” Has the exact same effect as Beedrill RR's “Flutter Wings”. And why not run a 1-1 Exeggutor MT line? this will solve your energy crisis.

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