In my last article, I indicated that I would be coming back with more in-depth articles covering some of the potential contenders in the post Next Destinies meta. To kick the (hopefully, if I have the time) series off, I decided to go with my favorite deck: tyRam.
To see how the deck might look in the near future, we are going to run through a brief history of the deck (including lists) and its evolution.
tyRam 1.0 (Controversy… lol)
This is the first list that was posted online.
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Pokemon – 16 2 Cyndaquil HS 3 Cleffa HS/CL |
Trainers – 21 2 Defender |
Energy – 15 12 Fire |
The list had eight open slots that were open for many techs or just filling in consistency.
tyRam 1.1
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Pokemon – 19 2 Typhlosion Prime 2 Ninetales HS/CL 4 Cleffa HS/CL |
Trainers – 26 4 Junk Arm 3 Defender |
Energy – 15 12 Fire |
The important feature of this list to notice is how techy it is. There were three Potions, two Revives, three Defenders, etc. It is import to note the techiness of this list because you can always learn from the past. The deck seemed to run fine in play testing, but over the course of a longer event, it was not consistent enough.
Lesson 1: Consistency is key, especially in this deck.
tyRam 1.2 (9-0 Nats List)
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Pokemon – 18 3 Cyndaquil HS 4 Reshiram BLW |
Trainers – 28 4 Pokémon Collector 2 Rare Candy |
Energy – 14 12 Fire |
As you can see, the lines were starting to tighten up. Most particular, the deck took on more consistency Trainers. There were six Draw/Refresh trainers, a 2-2 Ninetales line, and one Cleffa.
The other important thing to note is how the deck (and specifically thicker evolution lines) can operate at a very efficient level without some of the “required” parts. For example, this list only had two Rare Candy. Yet, it set up turn two/three Typhlosions often.
The two other cards to note that worked extremely well were Double Colorless Energy and Defender. Both cards were invaluable at times.
Lesson 2: DCE can work charms in tyRam. Defender can save you many times.
tyRam 2.0 (1st Place BR List)
Well, after the new season started (and we got Emerging Powers) tyRam morphed again. Some people dropped Ninetales altogether. Others argued for a 1-1 line. I believed that a 2-2 line was still superior. However, all versions worked. So, the deck started to look a little something like this.
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Pokemon – 19 4 Cyndaquil HS 4 Reshiram BLW |
Trainers – 27 4 Pokémon Collector 1 Professor Elm’s Training Method 3 Pokémon Communication |
Energy – 14 12 Fire |
There are a few things to note. First, the Defenders were working their way out of the deck. They were being exchanged for more consistency.
Second, there is some value to not relying solely on Communication. Once or twice per game, you might need a Pokémon and not have a different Pokémon in hand. Professor Elm’s Training Method really helps the deck out in tight spots. Also, it substantially helps the Trainer lock match up.
Lesson 3: Split Pokémon search can be great.
tyRam 3.0
Now, Noble Victories was out. The deck faced many more challenges with the rise of Magnezone, more lock decks, and Kyurem NVI. So, the deck responded in one of two ways.
1. The deck looked towards adding a new Pokémon line: Magnezone Prime
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Pokemon – 21 4 Cyndaquil HS 3 Reshiram BLW |
Trainers – 27 4 Pokémon Collector |
Energy – 12 |
2. The deck needed a way to pull Eviolited Basics and Magnezone into OHKO range. (4-2 Top Cut @ Cities; decked out once, lost once to Kyurem/Gatr.)
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Pokemon – 17 4 Cyndaquil HS 1 Vulpix UL |
Trainers – 33 3 Sage’s Training 3 Junk Arm |
Energy – 10 10 Fire |
So, the deck diverged in two different directions to deal with the higher HP Pokémon. However, both strategies allowed the deck to reach for, effectively, 140 damage or more per turn cycle.
Lesson 4: The deck needs to be able to either OHKO almost everything in the field or be able to bring the field’s HP down.
Threats
Moving on from the history of the deck, we can now work on making the next incarnation. We will start by quickly evaluating the deck’s obstacles in a post Next Destinies world.
1. Magnezone: tyRam will still have to be able to score multiple OHKOs on Magnezone to compete.
2. Mewtwo EX: We all know about this monster of a card (if you believe the hype). It has 170 HP and can abuse Eviolite. Its first attack does 20 for every Energy on Mewtwo EX and your active Pokémon. Its second attack does 120 for PPC and forces Mewtwo EX to discard an energy.
3. Kyurem: The deck still needs to be able to work around Kyurem.
4. Lock Decks: With Vileplume UD + anything with 130 HP or more running around, the deck can get locked out of taking prizes.
5. Zekrom EX and Reshiram EX: These two are the big brothers of Zekrom and Reshiram BLW. They have 180 HP and can use Eviolite. They can attack for 50 + a possible 30 more RCC or LCC. Alternatively, they can attack for 150 for RRCC or LLCC. Zekrom EX’s big attack forces it to discard two Energy cards. Reshiram EX’s big attack deals 50 recoil if its player flips tails.
So, those are the big threats that could keep tyRam suppressed this coming format. This begs the question of how can those threats be answered.
Combatting the Threats
1. Magnezone: Well there are three main ways to deal with Magnezone. A) You can use Rocky Helmet and PlusPower to reach the 140 hp mark in several consecutive turns. B) You can use Typhlosion for energy denial. C) You can incorporate an attacker that can swing for 140. Luckily we can use Reshiram EX or Zekrom EX.
2. Mewtwo EX: This one is not actually a great big deal. tyRam can do a few things. A) You can just trade 2HKOs on Mewtwo EX with Blue Flare for OHKOs from Mewtwo EX. This actually works in tyRam’s favor. Mewtwo EX must expend a lot of resources to keeps this exchange from becoming one Reshiram or one Mewtwo EX. B) You can focus the deck around Reshiram EX/PlusPower/Rocky Helmet to reach the 170 HP mark consistently with the Brave Fire attack.
3. Kyurem: See Magnezone answer.
4. Lock Decks: See Magnezone answer.
5. Zekrom EX and Reshiram EX: See Mewtwo EX answer.
With the threats, potential answers, and lessons learned in mind, let’s look at some ways to build tyRam for the EX era.
Reshiram BLW Focus
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Pokemon – 16 4 Cyndaquil HS 1 Reshiram EX |
Trainers – 33 4 Pokémon Collector |
Energy – 11 9 Fire |
What exactly does this version accomplish?
This version focuses on streaming Reshiram BLW. The idea here is to be able to OHKO Magnezones and Kyurems and trade 2HKOs for OHKOs against the EX Pokémon.
The deck incorporates Double Colorless Energy to allow for quick, one-turn power-ups of Reshiram EX. The deck also utilizes an generous amount of PlusPowers and Rocky Helmets to reach for extra damage. It has also moved to incorporate N into the list. With EX’s taking such quick prizes, N is an ideal card for tyRam because the deck can take out most major threats in the late game and then play off the field to finish the game.
By focusing on Reshiram BW, you force your opponent to take six KOs to win the game. This gives you more time to work out a war of attrition. If the deck focused on EXs, your opponent would have only needed to take three KOs. This means that you have effectively at least doubled the length of the game. Making the game longer forces your opponent to exert more resources to continuously get KOs. This exploits inconsistent decks.
How does this version address the potential problems?
1) Utilize PlusPower and Rocky Helmet to achieve OHKOs on Magnezone. It also has a single Reshiram EX to get one or two OHKOs on Magnezone.
2) Reshiram BW is, by itself, a great card to go head to head with Mewtwo EX. Reshiram is more efficient in energy costs and for Mewtwo EX to score continuous KOs, Mewtwo runs through a lot of resources. Reshiram is more efficient because Mewtwo EX would have to utilize Psydrive to trade OHKOs.
However, the weird PPC cost of the attack makes streaming Psydrives very difficult because there is only one way to get multiple Psychic Energy and another Energy onto the field at one time: Jirachi + Celebi.
3) It answers Kyurem the same way it answers Magnezone.
4) There is a single PETM to help the deck set up under the lock. Reshiram EX can swing for 150 damage (more than most lock decks’ main attackers).
5) The deck’s primary idea is to trade 2HKOs for OHKOS against the EX dragons in the early game. Then, because the EX dragons are very cumbersome to stream, you finish the game with one-for-one trades. Even in decks that run Eelektrik for Zekrom EX and Typhlosion/Emboar for Reshiram EX will struggle to keep the stream going.
This is because the LLCC or RRCC requirements are very difficult to fulfill. In the early game, they can pull it off with DCE and two Energy attachments, but in the late game needing four Energy per turn from the hand/discard becomes very difficult.
I honestly feel that this version of tyRam has a fighting shot in the next meta. It will not be BDIF, but I expect it to be able to make the cut often.
Reshiram EX Focus
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Pokemon – 15 4 Cyndaquil HS 3 Reshiram EX |
Trainers – 34 4 Pokémon Collector |
Energy – 11 8 Fire |
The real focus of this deck is to hit very fast and very hard. The simple idea is to open the game with Cyndaquil and Reshiram EX and a DCE. Then on turn two, you can hopefully get to Typhlosion and have an energy in the discard. This allows you to use Brave Fire on turn two for 150 damage and apply extreme amounts of pressure the rest of the game. Or you can use Pokémon Center on your bench to set up your next attacker.
The inclusion of Eviolite is there to help lessen the blow of Brave Fire’s recoil. You would only take 30 with Eviolite. Then if you survive until the next turn, Pokémon Center can be used to heal 20 of that damage off if you can get Reshiram EX to the bench.
So, how does this version deal with the potential obstacles?
1) The deck is more of a wash against Magnezone. It is easier to OHKO Magnezone with Reshiram EX than plain old Reshiram, but if your opponent can successfully stream Magnezone, you will give up two prizes on the very next turn. This is a very risky situation.
2) I actually like Reshiram EX a little bit less against Mewtwo EX than Reshiram BLW. Reshiram EX keeps its energy after attacking. So, X-ball already does 80 damage with just Reshiram EX’s energy. If Mewtwo has more Energy on it (say three), it will likely KO Reshiram EX (assuming Reshi EX took Recoil damage without Eviolite). Overall, I would say that this would just become a one-for-one exchange.
3) This deck just takes OHKOs on Kyurem NVI. However, because of weakness Kyurem EX could pose a problem.
4) This deck hits very hard for most lock decks. The only one that I really thinks gives this a problem is Regigigas EX with Vileplume.
5) Of course, seeing as how this is an EX dragon, you should expect straight prize exchanges in this department.
To be completely honest, I like the Reshiram BLW focus more than this one. Perhaps something in the middle would work.
Other Approaches
There you have it, the two “main” ways to approach tyRam. What other options are there for this deck in the future?
1. Zekrom EX: The idea is not too dissimilar from running a Magnezone line. Zekrom lets you hit for 150 damage without the recoil. You can also stream attacks with the same Zekrom EX because Afterburner can attach directly to the active. However, streaming multiple Zekrom EXs could be a problem because there is no way to attack multiple Lightning Energies per turn in tyRam.
2. Go back to the Magnezone-style list. Currently, the Magnezone list is cumbersome and very delicate early in the game. With the increased speed and power of EXs the deck becomes even more exploitable. I fear that setting up ultiple copies of Stage 2 lines is very difficult.
3. I know that this is not a big change from the aforementioned lists, but do not forget that Typhlosion is a very, very good attacker. Energy denial is going to be very strong. DCE is back in full force and something like late game N + Flare Destroy will often strand your opponent with no board position.
Techs
Finally, let’s talk about some other cards that could go in these lists. Making room for them is up to you:
Lost Remover: tyRam and The Thunderdome are in unique positions as being decks that minimally rely on Special Energies. Most all other decks will be running four to eight special energies. This card might very well be an MVP of the States season.
Cobalion NVI: You could choose to trade the DCE and EX Pokemon for Cobalion and Metal Energy. This gives you a solid counter against Mewtwo EX and will force other EXs into having Switch in hand or paying big retreat costs. Cobalion also helps a lot against Kyurem and Kyurem EX and Vannilluxe.
Regigigas EX: With Colorless Energy requirements and an Outrage-style attack, the big boy could work as an alternative attacker in the deck.
Switch: If you are planning on running the Reshiram EX version, Switch might be something to consider. The CCC retreat can be a pain to get out of the active, even with Afterburner.
Matchups
I know this will disappoint some, but I am going to be leaving out the match up sections in my next few articles. This article, along with the next few, are meant to be a decently in-depth look at how to run certain decks. However, we do not have an established meta. So, I’m not going to speculate on those match ups. I have a good idea, and perhaps closer to States I will get into match ups more.
