Deck Discussion: Magnezone and Eelektrik

by Pikkdogs ~ March 8th, 2012.

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with my extra-dimensionary sidekick Pedro.  How are things going Pedro?

Going Well. 

What do you have for us today?

Well, today’s news comes from the world of American Football.  It seems like the Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints are under investigation for Bounty Hunting. 

Like Boba Fett?  Do they freeze quarterbacks in Carbonite?

Not exactly. 

So they are more like Samus from Metroid, when they fight  giant monsters.

Not quite that either. 

Oh, so they must be like real life bounty hunters like Dog the Bounty Hunter. Where they pick up people who are addicted to Crystal Meth.

Yes, that’s it.  The Redskins and the Saints are in trouble for picking up people on Crystal Meth.  Just start your article. 

If you insist.

How It Works

Magnezone is actually a fairly old deck in this format.  It was first widely popularized at last year’s ECC, and has been around in some form or another since.  When it first came out it used Regirock to get energies in play, now it uses Eelektrik instead.  Magnezone is a pretty cool Pokemon for 2 reasons.  The first reason is because he hits very hard.  He is all about the OHKO.  His “Lost Burn” attack does 50 damage times the number of energy that you put in the Lost Zone from your Pokemon that you have in play.  That means that you are only just a couple of energy away from a knock out.  The second reason that Magnezone is cool is because of Draw Power.  He has the “Magnetic Draw” Poke-Power that will let you draw cards until you 6 cards in your hand.  This means that you don’t need to run as many supporters, since Magnezone Prime has a supporter built into him.

The problem with Magnezone is that he needs a lot of energy in play to be successful.  In the past people have used Pokemon like Regirock and Emboar to get energies on the field.  But now people are using Eelektrik.  He has the “Dynamotor” Ability that lets you attach an energy from the discard pile to any benched Pokemon.  That means that if you get energy in the discard pile, you can easily use it to power up Magnezone’s attack.  “Dynamotor” also makes it possible for you to have other Pokemon that can benefit from the lightning energies.

This is where Pokemon like Zekrom, Zekrom EX, and Mewtwo EX come in.  Zekrom BW is just a good overall Pokemon.  He can take hits and dish them back out with the “Outrage” attack.  And, “Bolt Strike” is an amazing attack in its own right.  I wouldn’t run a deck like this without at least 1 or 2 of these guys.  Another attacker is always nice.   If you really need another big hitter in this deck, Zekrom EX can be that guy.  He is not needed, but could fit in fairly easily.  Mewtwo EX is a versatile attacker and  a Mewtwo EX counter.  If Mewtwo EX is giving you trouble, this guy will be able to balance things out.  You can fit one of these guys in your deck without too much trouble.

The Setup

Magnezone  is a deck that relies on your setup.  It cannot out-speed CMT, so you really need to get the setup right or the game is over before it starts.  Your first goal is to build up a Magnezone Prime or two.  The Eelektriks are important, but not as important as the Magnezones.  You are going to need to use “Magnetic Draw”, so don’t worry about the Eels until you get yourself a Magnezone.  Once you get the Zone going, than you can think about getting energies in the discard pile and Eelektriks on the bench.  Pachirisu is also a good Pokemon in this deck.  Once you get a lot of energies in your hand, than you can drop down Pachi and then “Lost Burn” them for a big knock out.

Once you get setup, the game is about trying to conserve enough energies to get 6 prizes.  You don’t want to have to burn 4 energies on every Pokemon, that means you will only have enough energies to get around 4 prizes, and you need 6.  You can try to use Pokemon Catcher to get easy prizes and conserve energies.  Pokemon EXs are good for Magnezone, since they net you two prizes instead of 1.  So even though you will be burning more energies,  it will be well worth it to get those two prizes.

The List

Just a disclaimer before I share my list.  It is just a list that I use for basic training purposes.  It is not a list that I would ever take to a tournament, I know that tournament lists of this deck are better than mine.  It does need some polishing, but maybe you can add some polish to it.  Feel free to post your own list in the comment section at the end of this article.

Pokemon-18

  • 4-Magnemite
  • 1-Magneton
  • 3-Magnezone Prime
  • 2-Zekrom BW
  • 3-Tynamo
  • 3-Eelektrik
  • 1-Cleffa
  • 1-Pachirisu

Trainers-26

  • 4-Pokemon Collector
  • 4-Engineer’s Adjustments- The main draw card in my deck, it is the easiest way to get energies into the discard pile. I  could see why most people favor N, but then why do you have Eelektrik in there if you don’t have any energy in the discard pile?
  • 2-Professor Oak’s New Theory
  • 3-N
  • 2-Pokemon Catcher
  • 3-Junk Arm
  • 1-Switch
  • 1-Super Rod
  • 3-Rare Candy
  • 4-Pokemon Communication

Energy-16

Lightning Energies-16

 

The Match-ups

Here is a look at some of the match-ups that this deck has.  If we look at each match-up, we can learn more about the deck.  Just a note, my testing may or may not be indicative of what the match-ups really are, they are just my experience.

CMT– The CMT player here should be all over your Magnemites.  If they are able to knock out 2 of them, they should have a big advantage during the entire game.  In fact, this deck is slow enough that your CMT player should be able to pretty much control the game from early on, if he/she gets a decent start.  If you are able to get a couple Magnezones you should be in a decent spot.  You can make it so you don’t ever leave more than 1 energy on any of your Pokemon during your opponent’s turn, so that is an advantage for you.  Tornadus is weak to lightning, so if your list runs Plus Power, you will be able to OHKO Tornadus for just 1 energy.  The problem will be getting 4 energy on the board to get rid of Mewtwo EX.  Hopefully you will only have to burn 4 energies twice, because your deck probably doesn’t have enough to burn it three times.  I would say that in this match-up, I would give the advantage to the CMT player.

Zekrom– Zekrom and Magnezone are not very different decks.  They both take a little while to setup, and they both work with Eelektrik.  The match-up that we will all be watching here is Magnezone vs. Zekrom EX.  They both can OHKO each other, so the advantage could go to the first person with the opportunity.  If you are able to take down Zekrom EX, you will have taken down their heavy hitter and the only thing that can easily stop Magnezone Prime.   I would say this match-up is fairly even and is given to the player with the most luck and least number of mis-plays.

Durant- I have not tested this match-up, but I think the Magnezone player should rely on Zekrom here.  If he does two “Bolt Strikes” he can just “Outrage” for the rest of the match-up.  This will save you from having to burn through your deck to get energies.  The milling that your opponent does will kind of play into your hand energy wise.  They are sure to mill a lot of energy, which you can then attach with Eelektrik.  So energy shouldn’t be a big problem.  I would say that Magnezone might have a slight advantage, but it all depends on if you can setup quickly with the Eelektriks.

Reshiphlosion– This match-up will be another close game.  You both have slow decks, so that shouldn’t matter too much.  You will have a hard time in disrupting their early game setup, but you can always use Pokemon Catcher late to get rid of a Typhlosion Prime.  Make sure to put a lot of emphasis on recovery, because they can easily get KOs on Magezone Prime with 2 Plus Powers, or through the use of Reshiram EX.  This match-up should be fairly even.

Six Corners– The Six Corners player will try to target your fighting weakness.  If they are consistent enough to get a Terrakion or Landorus early, they could cause you trouble.  Remember to keep in mind that Terrakion does not have a resistance to you, but Landorus does.  If they get attacking fairly early, they should win.  But, if you both setup at the same time, it should be an even game.  Make sure to keep track of how much energy you are Lost Zoning, that is very important to keep track of. I would say this match-up might be a slight disadvantage for you.

 Conclusion

That is my take on my version of Magnezone.  It is not a great deck right now because of the lack of speed, but it is not terrible.  If you didn’t pull very well in your Next Destinies packs, you might have to run this deck, since it is a deck that most people should have cards to by now.   Taking everything into consideration, it is not a terrible deck.  It can win, and it will see a decent amount of success at States.

Okay, Pedro it is time to wrap things up.  What do you have to leave us with?

Today, is the 216th anniversary of the marriage of Napoleon and Josephine.  Do you like the Napoleon Pikkdogs?

Not a big Napoleon Fan.

One interesting fact about the Napoleon is that it is believed that he was killed by the arsenic that was used to color his wallpaper. 

Killed by Wallpaper, that is something, though Wallpaper almost made me commit suicide once.  I was almost killed in college when I had to read the story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”

Just a dreadful story.

Napoleon is also one of the few people that was crowned a Ziggy Pig in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.  Wasn’t that an awesome movie Pedro?

It was, but no movie that had Socrates, Billy the Kid, and Ghengis Khan in it can be bad. 

Enough about Bill and Ted’s let’s end the article by saying, Good Night Everybody!

 

Category: Deck Discussion | Tags: , , ,