After 2 weeks of Battle Roads many decks came out on top. Many winning decks in Masters consisted of Jumpluff, LuxChomp, SableLock, and more. Many of these are famous decks that are already well known, however there are a few decks that people do not expect to see in Battle Roads or Nationals that do surprising well.
I will not be posting deck lists for the decks I will be talking about, however, I will talk about the decks’ main focus, and techs to counter them.
List of the decks I will be talking about:
Jumpluff
LuxChomp
SableLock
The Secret Deck I believe will do very well, and has been doing pretty well so far.
This is a fairy long article, so if you only wish to view one section of the deck, press CTRL + F and search the deck name you want from above.
Jumpluff
It has by far the most wins in Battle Roads. Jumpluff is a low energy deck (most Jumpluff variants use 6~7 energies) that is extremely fast and hits for incredible amounts of damage. Jumpluff HS’s main attack “Mass Attack” does 10 for each Pokemon in play for 1 grass energy. It also has a good secondary attack called “Leaf Guard” which does 30 damage and reduces any attack done to Jumpluff by 30 next turn after resistance. Jumpluff a has few flaws, such as its basic Hoppip with only has 30 HP, stage 1 Pokemon Skiploom with 60 HP, and Jumpluff itself only has 90 HP.
Techs to Counter Jumpluff
Jumpluff has a x2 weakness to fire, which means that Blaziken FB LV.X can easily knock it out. Therefore 1-1 Blaziken FB LV.X tech line is a viable counter. However, his attack “Jet Shoot” will allow himself to take 40 additional damage next turn, and with Jumpluff’s speed, revenge knock-out can happen easily.
Mr. Mime MT is another good tech to use against Jumpluff. Jumpluff will have to take 3 turns before being able to attack Mr. Mime, slowing them down tremendously. However, Mr. Mime is not a good attacker, and won’t do much other than stalling for you to set up.
Spiritomb AR is also a very good tech to counter Jumpluff. Jumpluff is highly dependent on trainers to get early donks using Crobat G’s “Flash Bite” with Poke-Turns, Pokemon Communication to search out Pokemon, Expert Belts to increase damage, Rare Candies for turn 1 evolution, and much more. However, Spiritomb will also stop you from using trainers. Also, Spiritomb’s attack “Darkness Grace” allows you to evolve a Pokemon for 0 energy at the cost of putting 1 damage counter on Spiritomb.
Although not really a tech, a deck Jumpluff struggles against is the Gyarados. Gyarados is fast, has high HP, and also does high damage, making Jumpluff very hard to get over as Jumpluff will need two attacks to take down Gyarados, whereas Gyarados can take Jumpluff out in one hit, if all 3 Magikarps are in the discard pile. If you notice many Jumpluffs in your area, Gyarados will be a good deck choice you could use.
Jumpluff is a very hard to counter against as they are very fast. Many times it will donk you before you get the chance to use your techs to counter, making it one of the most successful decks in the format.
LuxChomp
LuxChomp is a deck that uses the best 2 SP Pokemon out in the format, Luxray GL LV.X and Garchomp C LV.X. Everyone should know what Luxray GL LV.X and Garchomp C LV.X do, but for those who do not know, I will give a brief explanation. Luxray GL LV.X’s Poke-Power, “Bright Look” let’s you bring your opponent’s benched Pokemon to active when you put him down, allowing you to get easy knock outs, or cause good disruption plays. His attack “Flash Impact” does 60 for 1 Lightning Energy and an Energy Gain.
Garchomp C LV.X’s Poke-Power “Healing Breath” heals all SP Pokemon on your side of the field, and his attack “Dragon Rush” lets you hit any Pokemon on your opponent’s side for 80 with a 2 Colorless Energies and an Energy Gain with a double discard. It also uses many Crobat G’s and Poke Turns to reuse Crobat G for additional damage or to reuse Luxray GL LV.X’s Poke-Power. Due to its extreme speed and disruption plays, it makes it very hard to beat.
Techs to Counter LuxChomp
Ambipom G is a counter used mainly against Garchomp C LV.X. Ambipom G’s attack “Snap Attack” does 60 on a Pokemon for 1 Colorless Energy and an Energy Gain or a Double Colorless Energy if the defending Pokemon has no energies attached. In most cases, after Garchomp C LV.X uses “Dragon Rush”, he will be left with no energy, and with the 2x Colorless weakness, Ambipom G can one shot Garchomp C LV.X.
Toxicroak G Promo, also known as Promocroak is used to counter Luxray GL LV.X. In most cases, when Luxray GL LV.X uses “Bright Look”, it will kill it. However, Toxicroak G promo’s attack “Revenge Poison” does 60 to the defending Pokemon for 1 Psychic Energy and an Energy Gain if your Pokemon was knocked out the turn before and poisons them. With its Fighting type, it does 120 to Luxray GL LV.X with Luxray GL LV.X’s x2 weakness to Fighting types.
Relicanth SV is a general tech against Luxray GL LV.X if the deck you’re using is a stage 2. His attack “Grand Swell” does 30 for each Stadium and Pokemon Tool your opponent has in play for 1 Fighting Energy. LuxChomp will have 2 Pokemon Tools out 95% of the time due to Luxray GL LV.X and Garchomp C LV.X needing Energy Gain to work efficiently. This will knockout and Luxray GL LV.X regardless of what happened the turn before.
Mewtwo LV.X is a great counter to all SP decks. Mewtwo LV.X’s Body “Psybarrier” negates all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Mewtwo by your opponent’s Pokémon that isn’t an evolved Pokémon. This can single handedly shut down some SP decks.
Machamp SF is also a very good counter to SP decks. Machamp’s attack “Take Out” knocks out and basic Pokemon at the cost of 1 Fighting Energy. This can OHKO any SP Pokemon unless Unown G is attached.
Spiritomb AR is also a good tech against LuxChomp, since it will stop LuxChomp from using all their trainers like SP Radar, Energy Gain, Poke Turn, Power Spray, and more.
Most successful deck that is used to counter is Donphan. Donphan Prime is a fighting type stage 1, 120 HP Pokemon. His attack “Earthquake” does 60 damage at the cost of 1 Fighting Energy, which can OHKO a Luxray GL LV.X. Along with that, it is very fast and consistent, allowing it to donk very often.
SableLock (Sableye/Honchkrow G/Garchomp C LV.X)
SableLock is a deck that utilizes its 3 attackers equally. The 3 attackers are Sableye SF, Honchkrow G, and Garchomp C LV.X. Sableye’s Poke-Body “Overeager” let’s you start first if Sableye is your active, unless your opponent has a Sableye too. First you’re probably thinking, why would I want to go first? Well the reason being is, Sableye has 2 great attacks. First attack “Impersonate” lets you search your deck for a supporter card and put it to the discard pile, than your attack becomes the effect of the supporter for no energy. His second attack, used for donking when possible is called “Overconfident”. This attack will only do 10 damage to the defending Pokemon, however, if the defending Pokemon has less HP than Sableye, the base attack is 40, and with addition of Crobat G’s and Special Darkness Energy, you are easily able to donk even a basic SP Pokemon.
The second attacker, Honchkrow G, lets you snipe any Pokemon on your opponent’s side of the field for 1 Darkness Energy and an Energy Gain. This attack will only do 20, but if the Pokemon already has a damage counter on it, it will do 40. With Crobat G’s, you can get cheap knock outs off of basic Pokemons. The third and the final attacker Garchomp C LV.X, you should all know what he does if you read the above part on the LuxChomp. However, when all else fails, Sableye has great disruption plays using cards such as, Team Galactic’s Wager, Cyrus’s Initiative, Giratina (Let Loose), Chatot G and more.
Techs to Counter SableLock
Mewtwo LV.X is the best tech against SableLock. Most SableLock do not run ANY stage 1 Pokemon, and if you have a field of only Mewtwo LV.X, they won’t be able to do anything and you will have an auto win.
Spiritomb is also a great tech since SableLock is another version of SP variant deck, and it will lock down half the cards in the deck.
Mesprit LA is also a decent tech against SableLock. Mesprit’s Poke-Power “Psychic Bind” stops you from playing Poke-Power the turn after Mesprit is dropped, which hurts SableLock which is a deck based on Trainers and Poke-Powers. However, it is unlikely for many decks to find room for 4 Mesprit and 4 Super Scoop Ups. However, few drops of Mesprit at the right time will give you an easier time at beating SableLock.
SableLock has an even match up against almost all decks in the format. However decks such as Jumpluff, easily outspeeds SableLock making it hard for SableLock decks to beat. However, if Jumpluff gets a lone Hoppip or even a double Hoppip start, they will not have a fun time since SableLock can easily KO two basic Pokemons who have 30 HP. Also decks like Gardevoir/Gallade cause trouble for SableLock when Gardevoir SW starts denying them with the attack “Psychic Lock”, SableLock will be going downhill.
These are some main strategies of the top 3 decks that are winning Battle Roads. I’ve given you some techs mainly used to counter the decks, but now it’s up to you to choose how to counter. Before I finish this article, I’d like to talk about ONE more deck that I think is doing VERY well in this format. I will give you the strategy, and the techs/decks to counter this deck.
Tyranitar Prime
Tyranitar variant decks have been doing great lately, especially with the addition of Tyranitar Prime. Tyranitar Prime has 3 great attacks. His first attack “Darkness Howl” does 20 to all Pokemon in play that is not a Dark Pokemon. This is a very good spread attack, and although it can hurt you, depending on your build it may not hurt you at all. His second attack “Power Claw” is also another great attack. It does 60 for 1 Dark Energy and 2 Colorless Energies. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Poke-Power’s, Poke-Bodys, or any other effects on the defending Pokemon. His third attack “Megaton Tail” does 120 Damage for 2 Dark Energies and 2 Colorless Energies but with 3 discard from the top of your deck. He also has a good HP of 160.
His retreat cost is beefy with 3, however, if paired up with cards like Flygon, which can also utilize Double Colorless Energies, retreat cost is no problem. There are also cards like Moonlight Stadium to give him free retreat. Most Tyranitar Prime deck I’ve seen so far uses 4 Spiritomb. Slowing down almost all decks, making Tyranitar Prime fast enough to compete at the level it is at now. However, there are a few flaws with Tyranitar Prime which I will be talking about next section.
Techs to Counter Tyranitar Prime
Donphan Prime is a good card against Tyranitar Prime. Since Tyranitar Prime has x2 Weakness to Fighting, Donphan can easily KO a Tyranitar Prime with an Expert Belt in two hits.
Although not a tech, if you are able to get rid of some cards early on in the game, Tyranitar Prime isn’t that big of a threat. For instance, if you are able to KO their Spiritomb before it becomes good use to them, you are able to play at your usual speed, Tyranitar Prime will have a hard time keeping up with you.
Since this is a fairy new deck, I was not able to give you a very good techs against this deck. However, with the help of you reader, you guys can comment below for some techs against Tyranitar Prime for those who have to face it a lot in Leagues and such.
