One Hit KO

For this article, I’m going to focus on the play of the “vanilla” version of TOSSED.  It was built to be a Shuppet replacement, so I play it a lot like I would play Shuppet.  You may want to read about how the deck came to be before you continue this article.  If so, head over to the “TOSSED: A Rogue Ahead” article at www.SixPrizes.com.  Before we get into the play of the deck, I’ll give you a list of what the deck might look like.

Pokemon 3 Uxie – LA 43 1 Uxie Lv. X – LA 146 2 Crobat G – PL 47 1 Shuppet – PL 92 1 Dunsparce – HS 41 1 Toxicroak G (Promo) – DP 41 2 Garchomp C – SV 60 2 Garchomp C Lv. X – DP 46 1 Ambipom G – RR 56 1 Unown Q – MD 49

Trainers 4 Poke Turn 4 Pokedex 4 Poke Drawer+ 4 Plus Power 2 Expert Belt 1 Luxury Ball 2 Dual Ball 3 Energy Gain 2 SP Radar 2 Power Spray 1 Premier Ball 1 Energy Exchanger

Supporters 4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy 2 Pokemon Collector 1 Bebe’s Search 1 Aaron’s Collection

Energy 2 Psychic 4 DCE 1 Cyclone

Cards from that list that I consider options include Power Spray, Energy Exchanger, Pokedex, Aaron’s, Ambipom G, Dual Ball, and Pokemon Collector.  You could run more, less, or 0 of any of those.  Options to include could be Regice (to get away from Spiritomb), Warp Point (especially if you include Regice), Palmer’s Contribution, Banette, Memory Berry, and Dragonite FB.

I am currently testing the replacement of Uxie Lv. X and Unown Q with Staraptor FB and his Level X.  That gives the deck a bit of help when you get Judged or trainer locked, and Staraptor FB Lv. X’s free retreat fits very nicely into the deck.  To use this, you will probably want a stadium or two.  Pokemon Contest Hall wouldn’t go amiss for its ability to search out a Pokemon Tool and put it into play, which is also quite nice under the trainer lock.

So, if you wanted to “toss” that deck together and take it to an event, here is basically how you’d want to play it.  First, and probably the most obvious, is that you want to make the play that will generate a KO.  Often, your game will start by running through your deck with Pokedex, Uxies, Dual Balls, Drawer+, etc.  That first trainer turn will end with you trying to get a KO on their active Pokemon.

The main concern on turn 1 will usually come down to what energy you draw into.  If you have a Psy energy, then you can go for the Shuppet strategy right off.  If not, you will usually want to use Collector and Dual Balls for Uxies.  If you have DCE or Cyclone energy in hand, then Dunsparce will probably be your choice.

If you have 2 Expert Belts in hand (or if you can get a KO especially due to weakness), don’t be afraid to use Uxie’s Psy Restore and put Uxie back into the deck.  This will save you bench space and give you another chance for Set Up later.

Of course, Ambipom G is a great donk option.  If you go 2^nd, and they didn’t drop an energy, Ambipom G can win you the game.   (Heck, if you go first, you might just get lucky with Ambi and a DCE.)  If you already have Ambipom, Cyrus can get you a Psy and an EGain.   If you have DCE, you can even add Expert Belt, Plus Powers, or Flash Bites for the KO on a larger opponent.

If you can, get a Garchomp on your bench ASAP.  This will allow you to Lv X him in any subsequent turn.  After Fade Out, or Psy Restore, you will usually put up a Crobat G.  Crobat is great for soaking up some damage, because Garchomp will eventually come in and heal it all.  Idealy, you’d want to Fade Out a couple times, rack up damage on both Crobats, and then Lv. X your Garchomp healing the Bats and Dragon Rushing for 80.

If you believe that your opponent can’t get a KO, you can risk a Garchomp or Uxie if you have their Lv. X next turn.  If you think that the opponent can get a KO, usually you will place an Uxie in harm’s way.  They are the most expendable.  When the opponent gets the KO, that’s your chance to put up the guy you want to Lv. X.  Usually, you will want to save Unown Q for an Uxie that you can Level up later on.

The Toxicroak G promo is your best out against Luxray GL.  If you’re using Shuppet to Fade Out each turn, when they get a KO, you should easily be able to Poison Revenge for a KO.  This can also work against Pokemon that are not weak to fighting (especially tanks) due to the poison.  In fact, don’t be afraid to add a Plus Power or two to get a bit extra damage for a KO, but don’t overdo it if you plan to go back to Shuppet or Dunsparce.

Another alternative attacker is Crobat G.  If you’re facing a tank like Donphan, a Toxic Fang won’t go amiss, and you will get the resistance on your side.  Then next turn, you can PokeTurn the Crobat and resume your Shuppet attacks or snipe around the tank with Garchomp (while still reaping the poison benefits).

It seems like a fairly straight-forward deck, but there are a lot of options.  Opponents will be surprised when your Shuppet deck pulls a Poison Revenge on the Luxray they just used to KO your Crobat.  You’d lose a Crobat, and they’d lose a Luxray, Luxray X, Energy, and Energy Gain.  Opposing Garchomp C players (of which there is currently no lack of) will be at a loss when you can KO their Garchomp, Garchomp X, and Energy Gain with a lowly Dunsparce leaving nothing important for them to exact revenge on.  Heck, there are lots of options for KOing a Garchomp C.  Ambipom, Dunsparce, and Garchomp can all do the job, and all of them can do it in several ways.  Even a basic Garchomp C can easily come out of the hand with an Expert Belt, Energy Gain, Plus Power, DCE, etc. to KO their built-up Level X.

There is plenty of room in the deck for techs or rebuilds.  If your meta is trainer-lock heavy, you can opt against the Pokedex and maybe even the Pokedrawer+ deck thinning cards.  These could be replaced by a more supporter-heavy draw engine.  You could include Uxie X, Staraptor FB X, and Smeargle to give the deck a more PokePower-heavy engine.  All of these get away from the original intention of a donk-style speed deck, but that doesn’t make them invalid for your tastes.

We have already reworked TOSSED coming up with different versions of the deck for metagames we expected to see at different events.  Including Luxray can make the deck play more like LuxChomp and give options for Bright Looking important targets while still keeping the important free retreat ability of the deck.  Including Dialga G gives an out against decks like VileTomb, Mewtwo, and Donphan by shutting down PokeBodies.  Including Blaziken FB gives the deck more of a BlazeChomp feel, giving a type advantage against Dialga G decks and the ability to Luring Flame up key targets (or high-cost retreaters).

The more TOSSED is tweaked for the meta, the more it looks and acts like an SP deck with the Shuppet tricks “tossed” in.  Obviously these SP decks (DialgaChomp, BLG, LuxChomp, etc.) are dominating the tourney scene right now, so that’s not a bad thing.  It’s just not what we’re discussing in this article.  Expect to see some of those lists that we’ve reworked for different matchups and played recently written up in following articles.

Try this “vanilla” version of the deck for a while, and you will see that it’s not just a schizophrenic mash-up of 2 different deck types.  It can play like Shuppet, and it can play like SP.  The real value comes when you learn the tricks that neither could do without the support of the other.  Then you’ll know if/how you want to modify it for your playstyle or next event’s metagame.

To sum it up, the deck can play a lot like Shuppet donk, but its ability to burn through the deck rewards you with multiple DCEs (and often double PokeDrawer+’s).  That combines well with Garchomp’s Dragon Rush attack, and the high number of free retreaters in the deck allows you to switch between the snipe and Fade Out strategies at will.  Getting that final big 130HP KO can be just a Dragon Rush, 4 Plus Powers, and a Flash Bite away, but it’s more likely that a bench snipe or a Cyclone Energy on Uxie or Dunsparce will seal it as well.

Category: Deck Discussion | Tags: Donk, Garchomp C, Shuppet, SP, TOSSED