Deck Discussion

Decks To Play If You Forgot to Prepare for Regionals, and a Brief Argument to the RPS Format Opinions

Hello, everybody! I’m finally back with another article! The Pokemon Regionals are coming quick and you still have no idea what to play! No worries, the unorganized, unprepared, terrible senior with zero accomplishments will help you out today! Let me get straight in the article. (Side Note: I HATE most of these decks with a passion, but they are simple and easy! So!)

Yveltal/Garbodor

Why I chose this deck: I chose this because of how simple the deck is, how it would most likely not be teched against, and how it can easily fight Pyroar decks. Here is a quick list of what I would do for a Yveltal/Garbodor deck.

24/7 Evil Ballin'
24/7 Evil Ballin’

POKEMON-13
3 Yveltal EX (XY)
4 Yveltal (XY)
2 Darkrai
2 Trubbish (PLS)
2 Garbodor (LTR)

Trainers-40

DRAW/SUPPORTERS- 22
4 Professor Juniper
4 N
3 Colress
2 Lysandre
2 Skyla
2 Pokemon Fan Club
3 Bicycle
2 Roller Skates
ITEMS/STADIUMS- 18
2 Pokemon Catcher
3 Ultra Ball
2 Virbank City Gym
3 Hypnotoxic Laser
1 Sacred Ash
2 Muscle Band
2 Startling Megaphone
1 Dowsing Machine
2 Float Stone
ENERGY-7
7 Darkness
Read More

Pokemon Analysis: Blastoise

BlastoiseHello guys! Today I have a nice little article for you guys! This article will cover both competitive sides of Pokemon. However, I need to go over something pretty important to the future of this website.

I do understand that we have gotten a shout out from both the Deck Out and SixPrizes. I believe we can scratch off the Deck Out off the list, unfortunately. It looks like Esa took down the domain. I believe we can “replace” the Deck Out as your #2 source for Pokemon tcg. (SixPrizes for the win!)

If we want to succeed as a fanbase of pokemon, then we need your help. As it said in Balasar’s article, ever since Pikkadogs left, we were left in the dust. We need you guys to comment on our articles, even if you are not logged in, tell your friends, and keep reading, no matter how stupid our articles are.

Although some of our writers are new, still tell your friends about this website! I cannot force you, only beg. Now anyways, moving on…

FOR NOOBIES ONLY

TCG

Blastoise, the energy machine. Surprisingly, most Blastoise cards have to do with a fat retreat cost, and energy. If you guys are new, then this deck is used in the very popular Blastoise/Keldeo/Black Kyrem. Let’s take a good ‘ol look at this amazing deck.

Pokemon-13
3 Keldeo EX
3 Squirtle
1 Wartortle
3 Blastoise
3 Black Kyrem EX BRC

Trainers-29
4 Professor Juniper
3 N
4 Skyla
11 Supporters

4 Superior Energy Retrieval
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Ultra Ball
3 Heavy Ball
1 Dowsing Machine/Computer Search/Scramble Switch
15 Items

3 Tropical Beach/Pokemon Center

Energy
10 Water
6 Electric

This deck is very good and cheap, so I believe the average noob should start with this deck.

When maneuvering this deck, you need to make sure to load up Keldeo with Blastoise and sweep with Black Kyrem. Only use Blastoise in an emergency.

FOR VGC PLAYERS ONLY

VGC

Blastoise is a big boss. I believe it should be trained as an attacking wall. Max out the Special Attack and Special Defense stat and put the rest on the Special Defense.

The moves should be Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Dig, and Rain Dance. Let’s get on with the why part.

Hydro Pump

This is the most obvious choice for Blastoise. It is extremely powerful, especially with Rain Dance.

Rain Dance

This guy gets the team set up. Always start with a Rain Dance or Hydro Pump.

Dig and Ice Beam

These guys are the type counters. Whenever a Zapados comes, Ice Beam can stop it. When any electric type comes, Dig stops it. It’s nothing but common sense.

This isn’t the only way! Here are some suggestions:
Hydro Cannon
Toxic
Split attack and special attack EVs
Withdraw

Alright, that was the article! My question to you guys is, what do you think about my new idea to add VGC tips, too? Remember to tell your friends and league about this website! Peace!

Opening the Emerald Toolbox

VirizionWhat’s up everyone!

I hope everyone is as stoked for X & Y as I am. They’ve really been slow-rolling the final evolutions of the starters in particular, and I for one am anxious to see what they look like so I can finally figure out which one I want to use (at the moment I am leaning towards Fennekin, like many others, but I am still undecided).

Anyways, we’re back, this time with a new rogue strategy article for you to ingest! Much like my second article (http://www.onehitko.com/2013/09/06/unveiling-b-side-plasma/), I will be delving into my thought processes as I was developing the deck, as well as giving you a card-for-card list with detailed explanations, and an in-depth matchup guide to boot. We’re closing in on Regionals season, so preparedness is of the utmost importance, regardless of what deck you’re looking to play!

 

The Discovery

 

Much like the Plasma alternative I spoke of in my second article, my quest to create this deck began during my testing of the Virizion/Genesect archetype, not long after the Plasma Blast set was released. Players have a tendency to evaluate strategies found in the Japanese metagame and compare them to our environment, even though the two formats more often than not have a fair amount of discrepancies between them. These discrepancies, no matter how small, can have a massive impact on the way games play out, and subsequently impact the way a metagame shapes up. This was exactly the case with Virizion/Genesect, as the current lack of Energy Switch in the non-Japanese environment proved to be a major blow to the strategy’s effectiveness (at least those were my conclusions, others may have their own). Of course, when battling against the ‘fair decks’ such as Darkrai, this is largely mitigated by the fact that since they are without Energy Switch as well, both decks will be (on paper) operating at the same level of efficiency, despite the fact that both strategies require Energy manipulation in order to excel. That said, against decks that maintained a means of both Energy acceleration and mid-to-late game Energy recovery (Plasma and Blastoise decks in particular), it is very easy to feel outclassed and overwhelmed when undergoing a slower start.

A brief aside: This doesn’t spell doom for the green duo as potential top contenders, however; there are a few roads you can choose to take. Many players have begun trying out third attackers in an attempt to shore up the matchups that need the most work, Plasma definitely being one of them. Drifblim is a popular card in particular, as both the DRX and PLB versions of the card synergize well together, and present a very dangerous threat for the Team Plasma decks, that hinge on their attached Energy remaining intact while setting up. The obvious downside to ‘The Balloon Plan’ is that against decks that are unfazed by Special Energy hate, your copies of Drifloon and Drifblim pretty much become blank cards. All things considered, with the amount of Plasma that can be expected with the release of the Fall 2013 tins (and the availability of chase Plasma cards as a result), it may just be worth the sacrifice against other archetype in order to better your percentage points against the top dog in the metagame.

Personally, while I was aware of the hot Drifblim technology (and its effectiveness at Derail’ing the world-famous Team Plasma setups), I viewed it as more of a fallback; not really something I’d be ecstatic playing, but could definitely envision a format where it would be a necessary evil. As stated weeks ago, this lead me to testing Virizion EX and Genesect EX individually, building decks around each of them to see if there were other synergies that people were neglecting. Virizion EX is a card that just screams ‘build around me’; it has a very relevant ability that highly encourages the use of predominantly Grass Energy in your deck, and an attack that tutors said Energy from your deck, attaching them to your Benched Pokemon one pair at a time. This means that by the end of your turn three (provided it is your second Emerald Slash), you have a whopping seven Energy on the table- some of the best Energy acceleration this game has ever seen. Being released in the same set as Virizion EX, it wasn’t hard for the community at large to figure out that Genesect EX is definitely in the market for all that Virizion EX provides, but I wasn’t satisfied, and wanted to see if there were any other Pokemon that would stand to benefit from the Energy acceleration effect. One angle of attack that standard Virizion/Genesect lists lack is a way to hit early in the matchups where that is important (not counting any Plasma Badge shenanigans), so ideally, whatever alternative to Genesect EX I found would be capable of doing just that.

mewtwo-exEnter Mewtwo EX.

Hilariously enough, Mewtwo EX was once known as being the monster that ushered in the era of total EX dominance we live in today. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated a time where Mewtwo EX was overshadowed by even more oppressive EX’s, but the likes of Darkrai EX, Black Kyurem EX and many others showed us that it is most definitely possible. That said, with Virizion EX joining the fray, Mewtwo EX is poised for the comeback of the year, becoming the partner in crime for our favorite green deer (sorry, summer Deerling). Mewtwo EX being a 170HP EX means that the immunity to the Poison from Hypnotoxic Laser will often amount to an extra turn on board, which directly translates to an extra X Ball attack. Speaking of X Ball, as an attack without a damage cap, and a multiplier based on the number of Energy attached to Mewtwo EX (and the Defending Pokemon, of course), Virizion EX’s Emerald Slash does a perfect job at charging up our Mewtwo EX so that our X Balls are always dealing tons of damage. The inherent synergy between these two Pokemon became the base of this strategy, allowing a powerful default set of plays to lead with, regardless of the matchup was.

Of course, Mewtwo EX is not without its shortcomings. Against Blastoise in particular, Mewtwo EX has a hard time maintaining board parity, with Black Kyurem cleverly discarding its Energy upon attacking, leaving us with an X Ball barely capable of a three hit KO. In its prime, a Blastoise deck is belching out 200 damage a turn, so this would not be acceptable if I wanted to have a fighting chance in the matchup. Furthermore, Team Plasma’s Deoxys EX presents a dangerous situation for Mewtwo EX; if we present a Mewtwo EX with two Energy for X Ball, they can promote Deoxys EX, attach a Prism Energy and use Colress Machine to Helix Force us seemingly out of nowhere for 180 due to weakness, a clean one hit KO with 10 damage to spare. While Mewtwo EX hits Deoxys EX for weakness as well, a two Energy X Ball returning the blow to said Deoxys EX only deals 160, falling a mere 10 damage short of being able to return in the prize exchange. To those unaware, this is commonly known as losing the ‘Mewtwo’ war, and while not all opponents will be able to see the attack-with-Deoxys EX angle, you definitely need to be cognitive of it, so as to avoid falling prey to an unexpected Helix Force sweep. To summarize, while Mewtwo EX is an obviously powerful card that works well with what Virizion EX is trying to do, I knew it was going to need a supporting cast if the strategy was to succeed against the expected field in its entirety.

I started with the Blastoise matchup, which is surprisingly difficult. Despite the fact that Virizion EX hits both Blastoise and Keldeo EX for weakness, the numbers do not work out in its favor, with an Emerald Slash dealing an awkward-at-best 100 damage to Blastoise (a figure not even the mighty Hypnotoxic Laser can save). In a matchup where keeping Squirtles down and ‘Stoises out is paramount, something had to be done to level the playing field. Before they begin using Deluge, it all starts with the Squirtles. Generally, failure to KO a Squirtle by turn two or three generally spells a game loss when going against an average Blastoise start, so if possible, I wanted a Pokemon that could deal 60+ damage in the early turns, giving me a chance to stop the Deluge madness before it even began.

tornadus-exMeet Tornadus EX.

Released not long after Mewtwo EX, Tornadus EX was largely overshadowed by the ever popular Darkrai EX, and the plethora of Dark-type support released with. Tornadus EX is the epitome of ‘neutral’ in the format; while the Lightning weakness is not irrelevant, it isn’t going to be hitting anything for weakness either. Tornadus EX has two very straightforward options; either 60 for a Double Colorless Energy with a Stadium online (Blow Through), or a clean 100 damage later on down the road (Power Blast). Sometimes, simple is all you need, and this is one of those cases. The Blow Through attack in particular ends up being the exact angle this deck needed to combat early Squirtles, as Blastoise decks have a heavy reliance on their favorite super-expensive Stadium- Tropical Beach. Worst case scenario, I knew I wanted be running a couple copies of a Stadium of my own to make sure I was getting the most out of the attack. Power Blast is a respectable attack also, but there is usually going to be a better option on board. Of course, for the times where there is not, you could definitely do a lot worse than an easy 100.

So, Tornadus EX had the early-game against Blastoise covered, but I still found myself losing at the hands of their double Squirtle starts, where there sadly isn’t a window for me to KO both in order to keep their Blastoise off the table. The inability to one hit KO a Blastoise that snuck through my early-game aggression was also unacceptable, as one that sticks on board for more than one turn cycle is generally going to spell the end of the game. I needed a Pokemon that was able to pull me back in the game after an early Black Ballista by knocking the Deluge ability right off the table in response. This is a tall order, one that makes Blastoise such an effective strategy, but luckily there was a certain Pokemon ready to rise to the challenge.

Shaymin EX has a very special niche role in this strategy. While it isn’t the end of the world if you start with it, you generally aren’t going to want it to to hit the bench against any strategy other than Blastoise; Shaymin EX’s damage output simply does not justify the low HP it has and the easy one hit KO + two prizes it represents to the opposition. Of course, against Blastoise, a deck that does business in the form of one hit KO’ing everything anyways, the 110HP is virtually irrelevant (save an awkward Keldeo EX start on their part), so it passes. Synthesis actually does a fair Emerald Slash impression when it needs to, giving the deck a fifth Energy acceleration attack in the early-game, but it is Revenge Seed that I was really after; an early Revenge Seed will take out a Squirtle before their first prize is even taken. Even better though, is Revenge Seeds ability to deal a massive 180 to a Catcher’ed up Blastoise in response to the opponent KO’ing an EX. As I stated before, having a means of keeping Blastoise off the table is exactly what this deck needs to mount a comeback, and goes a long way to shoring up the matchup.

With a fair amount of coverage versus ‘The Blue Turtle and Company’, I began looking into other Grass/Colorless Pokemon that would be valuable assets to the team. I used Bouffalant DRX in my draft Virizion/Genesect decks, and it actually did a lot of work, particularly against the likes of Darkrai, where it actually comes out favored in the prize exchange (with Verdant Wind rendering Hypnotoxic Laser useless, Darkrai EX can only two hit KO Bouffalant DRX, and spending two turns to net one prize card is a losing proposition for them). Against both Darkrai and Virizion/Genesect, one of the most powerful openings I felt this deck could have is a turn two Emerald Slash (50, attaching onto Bouffalant DRX) into a turn three Gold Breaker (120). That’s a clean 170. With a lone Laser, a clean 180, and I don’t think I need to tell you why those numbers are good numbers. Save the fact that you now have five Energy and two fully-charged attackers on board (one of which is a ‘seventh-prize’), the home team is now insanely ahead. Of course, simply having a non-EX attacker gives us coverage vs the likes of Klinklang and Suicune, which are bound to see some play throughout the season. If those anti-EX strategies become overly popular, it may be worth adding a second Bouffalant DRX to the mix, but for the time being, I felt one was where I wanted to be.

Last, but certainly not least, was the Plasma matchup. Hindsight is 20/20, and I really should have tested this matchup out before moving to the other matchups; generally, when brewing up a rogue strategy, it is important to see that the strategy has game against the best deck in the format first, so as to avoid wasting time in the event that it is not. After all, I don’t want to be playing a deck that has an unfavorable matchup against the strongest deck, regardless of how strong the other matchups are! Fortunately, the Plasma matchup actually turned out alright; the numbers are clean, and generally you can outlast them if you play your cards right, thanks to Emerald Slash. The biggest problem I found was the need to stymie Team Plasma’s early aggression; getting my Virizion EX turn two Blizzard Burn KO’d was a blitzing play that is obviously hard to recover from. Fortunately, Virizion EX has built in resistance (literally, -20 Water Resistance) to this game plan, and in order for Kyurem to one hit KO an undamaged Virizion EX, they will need Silver Bangle, as well as a whopping four Deoxys EX on the bench. Most players aren’t even running four Deoxys EX in their lists anymore, and even with the ones that are, it is hard to imagine the opposition getting all four on the table that early on a consistent basis (not even taking into account Prize issues). With this said, it is safe to assume that a clean Virizion EX isn’t going to get one hit KO’d in this matchup, which is very important for maintaining even footing with Plasma’s menacing starts.

However, this is not taking into account the turn before Blizzard Burn, where an early Frost Spear will do its best at setting the forthcoming Virizion EX up for failure. I truly believed that this matchup would be determined in the first two turns of the game, and I wanted to make sure that the Virizion EX that attacks on turn two did so without a single damage counter on it. Mr. Mime is a Pokemon that generally benefits Stage 1 and Stage 2 decks the most, as the low HP of their Basics often means early snipes can run them over before they have ample time to set up, but I knew this deck can benefit from the Bench Shield ability also; interfering with my opponent’s math is something I am always interested in! It is likely I would want some Potion effects also, but a lone Mr. Mime goes a long way versus Frost Spear, Hammerhead and Night Spear alike, potentially preventing an upwards of 180+ damage throughout the course of a game- too much not to warrant inclusion in this Kyurem-infested metagame.

With all things considered, I finally had the toolbox assembled. Now I just needed to throw some Trainers and Energy into the mix, and it was a done deal. Here you go:

 

Emerald Toolbox


10 Pokemon
4 Virizion EX
2 Mewtwo EX
1 Tornadus EX
1 Shaymin EX
1 Bouffalant DRX
1 Mr. Mime
13 Supporters
4 Professor Juniper
4 N
3 Skyla
2 Bianca
23 Items
1 Scramble Switch
2 Virbank City Gym
4 Hypnotoxic Laser
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Float Stone
4 Ultra Ball
3 Potion
1 Max Potion
1 Energy Search
13 Energy
9 Grass Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy


 

As with the last rogue list I posted, I am very happy with this deck, and would highly recommend playing it at your next competitive event. If you’ve got any questions or comments, be sure to drop me a message in the chat and I’ll get back at you!

 

List Analysis

 

Pokemon:

4 Virizion EX: The core of the strategy and the engine that keeps the deck running smoothly. Its Ability   renders Hypnotoxic Laser useless and allows you strategize knowing your attacking Pokemon are invulnerable to any Special Conditions. Emerald Slash, while also being insane acceleration, puts a respectable 50 damage on the Defending Pokemon, setting it up for a KO from one of our sweepers the turn following. Water resistance is especially useful in a Kyurem-centered metagame.

2 Mewtwo EX: The primary sweeper of the deck. X Ball lacking a damage cap means you can do as much damage as the amount of Grass Energy Virizion EX can accel-attach, not accounting for Energy on the Defending Pokemon also. Also capable of hitting on turn one with a Double Colorless Energy in the matchups where that is especially important.

1 Tornadus EX: The secondary sweeper of the deck, often functioning as the third copy of Mewtwo EX, exchanging an uncapped damage output mid-to-late game with a higher damage output in the early game. Especially important to KO Squirtles and Klinks (among other Basics in Stage 1 / Stage 2 decks) to disrupt their game plans before they set up.

DRX 110 bouffalant1 Bouffalant DRX: Serves as a ‘seventh prize’ attacker, as well as being a resilient threat against the Darkrai and Virizion/Genesect strategies. The damage from Gold Breaker often amounts to a KO provided the Defending Pokemon was hit with an Emerald Slash the turn prior.

PLF 047 mrmime1 Mr. Mime: A bench sitter, soaking up copious amounts of damage that alters math over time in the snipe-heavy matchups.

Supporters:

4 Professor Juniper: Being a deck containing a 100% Basic Pokemon lineup, it is exceptionally good at emptying its resources onto the board in an efficient manner, lending to this Supporters effectiveness.

4 N: Simply a format staple. Allows insane comebacks to be made in games which you fall behind at the gates.

134-skyla3 Skyla: Versatile and powerful. Allows easy access to Pokemon, extra damage, board disruption, damage removal, free retreat, even Energy (via Energy Search). Also helps us see our ACE SPEC, Scramble Switch, on the turns where it can singlehandedly put the game away.

2 Bianca: Gets the nod over Colress due to its merits in the early game. Much like Virizion/Genesect, it is not uncommon for this deck to operate with a low bench count, and doing so is ideal because it makes opposing Colress worse.

Trainers:

PLS 129 scramble-switch1 Scramble Switch: The only form of Energy manipulation available to non-Japanese players currently, and fortunately the most powerful. At the cost of your ACE SPEC slot, it allows you to set up plays (X Balls, specifically) that can lock up the game on pivotal turns.

2 Virbank City Gym: Our Stadium of choice. With Hypnotoxic Laser, it allows us to hit several magic numbers that swing games in your favor.

4 Hypnotoxic Laser: The other half of the LaserBank combination. In tandem with the Gym (and even without it in many cases), it can set up KO’s that are otherwise unattainable. Free wins gotten off of sleep flips are also worth noting.

4 Pokemon Catcher: Format staple. Hard to imagine a reason not to play four provided there is the room.

PLF 099 float-stone4 Float Stone: Allows us to consistently retreat into the right Pokemon at any given moment. Verdant Wind shutting off Sleep and Paralysis means Float Stone is strictly better than Switch (provided you have the Grass Energy).

3 Potion: Dismantles opposing damage math, allowing you to get more attacks in. Works in tandem with Mr. Mime as the decks primary defensive measures.

1 Max Potion: The fourth copy of Potion, which is especially brutal when used in conjunction with Scramble Switch.

1 Energy Search: Essentially our tenth Grass Energy, but is searchable via Skyla for the draws in which we find ourselves without Energy.

Energy:

!should be self-explanatory!

Matchup Analysis:

Deoxys EXVs. TDK: As stated earlier, this matchup will generally be determined based on how the first three turns of the game play out. If you care able to avoid a turn two Blizzard Burn and get set up properly, you should be able to outlast all but their most ridiculous of draws. Bear in mind you can choose to only get one Grass Energy with Emerald Slash, which is important when considering how much Energy you want to commit to a benched Mewtwo EX (by attaching a lone Grass Energy to Mewtwo EX, it forces them to make the first move if they want to attack with Deoxys EX, allowing you to counterattack for the KO. Tornadus EX is the sweeper of choice for the early-to-mid game, while Mewtwo EX is safer when they have used up their Colress Machine engine, allowing you to be a turn ahead of Deoxys EX. This matchup is likely as 50/50 as it gets, and to have those odds against the deck to beat is certainly a draw towards playing this strategy.

Vs. TrainerLock: You are heavily favored in this matchup, partially due to the fact that your engine flows through an attack (Emerald Slash) and not a Trainer (think Dark Patch or Colress Machine). Most of their draws do not allow them to maintain parity with turn-by-turn Emerald Slashing, and a single turn where they fail to Deafen or Disconnect is often enough for you to steal the game. Not a lot of play to this matchup.

Vs. Blastoise: One of your more difficult matchups, but far from unwinnable. As I mentioned earlier, the only way to win is to target Squirtles with Tornadus EX and hope a Blastoise doesn’t slip through the cracks. In the event that it does, you will generally have a one turn window to take it out with Shaymin EX before you fall too far behind. If you try to interact with Keldeo EX and Black Kyurem EX before you’ve dealt with Blastoise and its pre-evolutions, you will likely just be outclassed by the massive damage output and lose. Play smart, hope your key cards aren’t prized, and you have a fighting chance.

Vs. Darkrai: The matchup is slightly more difficult if they have Garbodor, but not by a significant margin. If you see a Trubbish early, be sure to Emerald Slash attach onto Tornadus EX as opposed to Mewtwo EX, as Blow Through can deal with Garbodor in one hit. Without access to their Lasers, the damage math is heavily in your favor, and you should be able to stay ahead provided you don’t randomly draw dead. Mid-to-late game, you will want to promote Bouffalant DRX as both a seventh-prize and a respectable sweeper that Darkrai dislikes having to deal with.

Vs. Virizion/Genesect: These two decks are fundamentally similar, so it plays out very similarly to a mirror match. You are faster than they are and also have access to Mr. Mime to mitigate the snipe damage from Megalo Cannon, which makes their math much more awkward; without snipe damage, Emerald Slash (50) + Megalo Cannon (100) falls that crucial 20 damage short, forcing them to lean on their G-Booster to grab efficient KOs. Ideally you want to put them on the back foot far before they can establish G-Booster, as your percentage points drop significantly for every turn it stays in play. You can choose to run a lone Tool Scrapper in your list to remedy this if it suits you.

 

***BONUS! Tier 2 Matchup Analysis***

Haxorus plb 69 revVs. Haxorus: A very favorable matchup. Haxorus hinges on the fact that the majority of the non-Plasma decks in this format are greatly affected by Garbodor. We are not. Had we been playing traditional Virizion/Genesect, it would be a lot closer to an even matchup, allowing them to target Genesect EXs for easy KOs, but save drawing dead, it is hard to imagine falling behind in this matchup.

Vs. Klinklang: Since we have a single non-EX attacker in our roster, this is unsurprisingly a somewhat difficult matchup. Similarly to Blastoise, we need to target their Basic evolutions from turn one with Tornadus EX (ideally, Mewtwo can work also in a pinch), as the game heavily sways in their favor once they properly set up. If such a strategy proves to be futile, you will need to lean solely on your lone Bouffalant DRX to carry the day. Thanks to the Bouffer ability, Cobalion EX’s Righteous Edge attack does a mere 10 damage to us, where we deal a solid 120 back to them. However, Steel Bullet doesn’t care about Bouffer, and will take out our Bouffalant in one fell swoop if we allow it, so it is of the utmost importance that you keep them off of that attack.

Vs. Turbo Flareon: This is likely the only matchup in the entire format where you wish to sidestep Virizion EX entirely; the weakness to Fire makes it far too easy for them to one hit KO you before you have time to attack. Instead, focus on setting up X Ball attacks capable of delivering the one hit KOs on Flareon. Despite only netting three prizes, the deck is a glass cannon, and generally rolls over once the third Flareon goes down, but surviving them is not easy. They possess a draw that is unbeatable, but anything past that is fair game.

Vs. Tool Drop: This is one of the few matchups where Virizion EX can actually trade blows respectably with the opposition’s main attacker, due to Trubbish having a paltry 70HP. That said, you likely want to keep Mewtwo EX off the table for this one, as the weakness to Psychic makes it far too easy for them to set up easy KOs. This is also one of the few matchups where I wish I had found the room for a Tool Scrapper or two main, as shutting off their Exp. Share one pivotal turn generally puts you way ahead. Even without the means of disrupting their game plan, they operate much like a Stage 1 / Stage 2 deck in the sense that they rely on their 70HP basic living through turn one in order to get in the game. If you can target their Trubbish before they combo off, it is smooth sailing. Failure to do so, and you’re in for a wild ride.

Vs. RayBoar: Unsurprisingly, this matchup will play out similarly to the Blastoise matchup, only slightly more difficult. For starters, they could potentially have Moltres as a seventh-prize attacker against you, which can be especially problematic if you are leaning on your Virizion EXs late in the game. Tepig lacks the Shell Shield ability Squirtle has (which our deck didn’t care about), but in exchange gains an extra 10HP (which our deck definitely does care about). This means we can no longer lean on Blow Through attacks for early KOs like we can in the Blastoise matchup, making it far more likely they establish Emboar before you can take out the Tepigs. To further complicate things, should they get Inferno Fandango online, Shaymin EX actually does nothing for you without a weakness to hit for, so the match will get very difficult. There is some upside, however; Rayquaza EX, while being just as dangerous as its Dragon-type brethren Black Kyurem EX, has a mere 170HP, which in comparison actually makes interacting with it far less of a pipe-dream. That said, it is still not what you want to be doing, but you are far more likely in this matchup to have to resort to doing so.

 

Closing Statements:

 

It was actually not my original intention to share this list with all of you! I plan on attending Regionals in Texas next month, and wanted to keep things fairly off-the-radar in the event I wanted to pilot this. That said, the recent change to a 500CP threshold has changed the way many competitive-minded players such as myself have to approach the game; it is no longer a realistic goal to make it to Worlds, sadly (save an incredible stroke of run-goods). I will still be playing competitively, but on a more casual basis, if that makes any sense. Honestly, I am excited I got to share this. I believe in this deck a lot, and I truly think it is more than capable of taking down a Regionals in the hands of the right pilot. If you agree, spread word of this article and this archetype! Lets get it out to as many capable players as possible!

As usual, thanks for reading everyone. I’ll be back next week with a topic I have not yet decided!

 

Talk to me in the chat below. :) Until next time!

-Tyler

Darkrai EX / Hydreigon In the New Format

That's Me On The Right
That’s Me On The Right

Hi there, Onehitko readers, my name is Ethan Cooke and I will be writing a weekly deck analysis for this website every Wednesday. Before I begin this week’s analysis, I would like to introduce myself as far as the world of Pokemon is concerned. I’ve been a fan of everything related to Pokemon ever since I can remember, and my first premier TCG event I attended was the State Championships in Texas as a Master during the HS-NXD format with my girlfriend, Samantha.

We had no idea what the format was or even what was legal in the first place, and, consequently, our decks dated back to DP Base set. Luckily, we found a professor that goes by “Master Professor Birch” who was nice enough to give us each theme decks and sign our decklists thus eliminating the need to wait in line. We were so new to the world of Pokemon that we assumed it was played in Single Elimination as opposed to Swiss, and we went home after losing the first round.

Fast forward a bit to the BLW-BCR format, and I know a lot more about playing the TCG than I did at my first event; I got 2nd place at Tyler City Championships with my rogue deck, Registeel EX/Blissey DEX. Fast forward to BLW-PLF, and I took home a 2nd place victory cup with Rayeels. Here are a few other things you may want to know. I’ve never had an official local league so I do a great deal of testing online.  I tend to never play the same deck at 2 different premier events, and I recently passed my Professor Exam (the week after my 18th birthday, actually).

And finally on to the analysis!

The deck I have chosen to analyze today is a deck that has been around for quite some time now and that deck is Darkrai EX/Hydreigon. I feel like this deck is potentially one of the funnest decks around and can be more competitive than some would think. The goal of the deck is a simple one: use dark trance to alternate between attackers, heal attackers with the aid of Max Potion and even give all Pokemon free retreat with the aid of Darkrai’s Dark Cloak. It’s pretty easy to see how this deck can succeed in the right metagame but also easy to see how Max Potion can be a dead draw in some matchups including Blastoise, TDK, and even Virizion/ Genesect.

This is what I feel to be a pretty solid list for this deck: Read More

Updated Plasma and Thoughts on the Four “Tier 1” Decks

Hello readers!  I am back with another article for your reading pleasure!  This time we get back on track with the current modified format and talk a little bit about what many others including myself consider the top 4 decks at the moment

 Darkrai EX/Garbodor

 Blastoise/Keldeo EX/Black Kyurem EX

 Genesect/Drifblim/Virizion

 Plasma Variants

But before we go into that, let’s take a look at what changes plasma lists have undergone to combat this new proposed tier 1 of decks that contain a lot of Plasma hate.


11 Pokemon
4 Deoxys Ex
3 Kyurem
2 Thundurus Ex
1 Absol
1 Keldeo EX
36 TSS
4 Juniper
4 N
4 Catcher
4 Float stone
3 Colress machine
3 Colress
3 Skyla
3 Ultra ball
3 Silver Bangle
2 Tool scrapper
1 Plasma ball
1 Energy search
1 Dowsing machine/Computer search
13 Energy
4 Plasma
4 Prism
3 Blend WLFM/2 Blend WLFM 1 Blend PDGF
1 Water
1 Lightning


Read More

Strategies in the Shadows

Just A Funny Pic
Just A Funny Pic

What’s up guys!

To anyone who checked back last Friday expecting a new article from yours truly, I’d like to take this moment to apologize; I was halfway through writing it, but then my sweet laptop decided to crash on me. I lost everything I had written at that point (remember, CTRL+S is your friend). No matter though, because we are back this week and better than ever!

If you can recall my first article (http://www.onehitko.com/2013/08/30/thoughts-on-the-early-days-of-the-new-format/) I took a detailed look at the five strategies I felt were the ones to beat going into the new format. While this may go without saying, it is of the utmost importance that we have a strong understanding of what these decks are trying to do and how to best combat them. What is equally important, however, is that we keep a close eye on the decks that lurk in the shadows known as tier two, waiting for the perfect time to strike and spike the tournament; if you are not weary, you could find yourself in the losing bracket, regardless of how prepared you were for the big dogs.

So, today’s article will be a similar layout to my first article, but I will instead be taking a close look at the ‘tier 2’ strategies to expect going into Regionals and the like. I will also explain the environments each strategy needs in order to prosper, in an attempt to best prepare you for what you should expect at any given event. Let’s get started!
Read More

Unveiling B-Side Plasma

What’s up everyone!

First off, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to read my debut article from last week. I’m sure this much is obvious by now, but I am very passionate about Pokemon and writing alike, so it means a lot to me that people would stop what they are doing to read what I have to say. Hopefully in time, as more articles are posted, more and more people will discover this website and what we have to offer to the community. Of course, you can help with that too; if you read our articles and dig what you see, don’t hesitate to tell your friends about us! Word of mouth really does go a long way, and every single person who shares us helps us out a tremendous amount.

(In case you didn’t catch my last article, you can view it via the link directly below.)

Silver Bangle

http://www.onehitko.com/2013/08/30/thoughts-on-the-early-days-of-the-new-format

While I am pretty confident with my predictions in last week’s article, only time will tell what archetypes truly prove themselves to be the cream of the crop. Trying to qualify for Worlds having not played in over two years is going to be a major challenge for me, and if I want to succeed, I have to make sure to make the right meta calls from the very first event. When determining what deck is an optimal play in the early days of a format, there are always a few factors I like to consider, the first of which being that since there are little-to-no results for us to analyze and learn from, everyone who turns in their deck registration sheet at that very first event is going off of theory, raw testing results and not much else.

Because of this, we can deduce that the decks that will perform the best throughout the early stages of a season are generally going to be more proactive than reactive, meaning they are more concerned with ‘asking a question’ than ‘providing an answer’; without an adequate amount of tournament results to go by, the reactive decks simply don’t know what questions they need to answer (or how to best address them, for that matter). Proactive decks, however, don’t need to know all the right answers, because, well, they are the question! This logic also applies to techs somewhat; there is nothing wrong with adding a card or two to counter what you predict you will be facing, but a fully teched-out deck is generally going to be less favored in a beginning-of-the-format tournament when compared to a consistent, streamlined one.

Take TDK for example- what is probably the biggest ‘question deck’ of this new format. The question TDK asks its opponent is this: ‘How are you going to deal with a consistent flurry of Kyurem backed by Team Plasma support?’. As we all know good and well, this is not an easy question to answer effectively, which is what makes TDK the consensus strongest strategy right now. See, TDK isn’t worried about attacking specific strategies it may or may not face; regardless of what you’re playing, TDK just wants to Blizzard Burn for obscene amounts of damage as early as possible until all six prizes are taken. This is what it means to be a proactive strategy.
Read More

Thoughts on the Early Days of the New Format

Tyler Lindsey
Hello everyone!

I don’t believe I’ve ever met any of you, so allow me a brief moment to introduce myself. My name is Tyler Lindsey (for those of you who didn’t catch that already). I’m a 21 year old lifelong gamer, hailing from the humid plains of southeast Alabama. Currently, I am making a return to the Pokemon TCG community after playing Magic: the Gathering competitively for two years. Magic was both fun and rewarding, but it was also very time consuming, and the nostalgia vibes given off by my favorite childhood game always keep me coming back! My primary goal for this season is to successfully reach the 400CP required to compete in Worlds 2014 in Washington DC, while writing resourceful and insightful strategy articles along the way. Hopefully I can deliver in both aspects!

Of course, if one wants to have a truly successful season, they must hit the ground running from day one, and I intend to do just that. The weeks after Worlds, where old season transfers into new, is definitely one of the best times to get reacquainted with the game; there is ample time to playtest, and everyone is starting with a clean slate as far as deck building goes. Fortunately, I have used this moment’s reprieve in competitive play to my advantage, and as a result, I feel I have a very good grip on what the format will shape up to in the months to come. In this article, I will delve into the five ‘main’ strategies I feel are the most noteworthy going into this new terrain, so allow me to share some of my findings with you.

(Bear in mind these archetypes are in no particular order.)

1.) TDK (and other similar flavors of Plasma)

So let’s get right to it and start with the obvious: TDK is still public enemy number one. It lost little to nothing from rotation (if you could even call it a rotation), and even gained a new toy from Plasma Blast in the form of Silver Bangle. Kyurem (PLF) continues to be one of the most efficient attackers in the format, and is still backed by all of the powerful support cards Team Plasma boasts. While Lugia-centered Plasma builds also stand to become a powerful force in the metagame, make no mistake- Kyurem is the undisputed king that all decks must answer to if they wish to excel post-rotation.
Read More

Deck Workshop: The Unexpected Deck

Hi my name is Owen I am new to this site and hopefully a good addition. I am a senior and this is my first article so please comment and tell me how I did.

Snorlax101Anyway what I am going to talk about is quad Snorlax.
The strategy behind this deck is setting up Snorlax and using the ability “Block” to make it so that the opponents defending Pokémon can’t retreat. This ability is not too beneficial by itself but! combining it with Lasers and Virbank city gym you could have some serious damage and knockouts on the board since the opponent can’t retreat! Now, the only downside is they can switch so that card is being played a lot. But you can just catcher up another Pokémon and laser it. Also the poison damage sets up perfect leaving 180hp and 170hp knocked out after your opponents turn which is great since it leaves them open to catchers then lasers.
The list
Pokémon
4 Snorlax

Total= 4

Supporters
4 Shadow Triad
3 Professor Juniper
2 N
3 Colress
4 Ghetsis
2 Skyla
3 Bianca
3 Hugh

Total= 24

Items
4 Hypnotoxic Laser
1 Rock Guard
4 Team Plasma Ball
4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Max Potion
4 Crushing Hammer
2 Enhanced Hammer
1 Potion
4 Rescue Scarf
2 Tool Scrapper
Total= 30

Stadiums
2 Virbank City Gym
Total=2

 

The cards

  •  4 Snorlax obviously
  •  4 Hypnotoxic lasers to get the max use
  •  2 Virbank City Gym to counter Beaches and to help the laser
  •  4 Shadow Triad to get even more use of Hypnotoxic laser
  •  2 Skyla can help get lasers into play can be switched with Cherens but I think this deck already has draw power
  •  4 Max potion, because this deck has no energy so it is essential and very helpful
  •  1 potion just extra healing
  • 4 Rescue Scarf  since Block is the main point in this deck you want to keep it going
  • Hugh to level the playing field if you mulligan since you only have 4 basics (maybe more)
  • 1 Rock guard to add more damage
  • 2  Tool Scrapper since the Garbodor matchup would be pretty bad without it

 

Techs

There are not too many good techs in quad Snorlax but you can play  Audino from boundaries crossed since the laserbank combo is so big right now. You can also play Double colorless energy to use teampact for faster knockouts.

Notes

This deck is very fun to play and very cheap compared to decks like plasma rush.

 

see ya

-Owen

Landorus EX/Lugia EX: The Ultimate Speed Deck?

Hey OneHitKO, it’s been awhile since I did a deck analysis article, so I decided to write up an article about a deck that I feel is amazing in this format, which is Landorus/Lugia. This article is mostly just me overhyping the deck, but I have tested it and it is amazing. The article may just lead you to believe it is more amazing than it actually is.

Before you start wondering if this is just another big basic deck, well, it pretty much is. However, it has a much different

Who knew Basics could get so complicated?

strategy than many big basics do. With this deck, instead of just attacking with whatever you draw into, your goal is to use Landorus EX’s Hammerhead the first few turns to put 60 damage on two of your opponent’s EX’s. Then, use Lugia to kill both of them for three prizes a piece, and win when you kill both of them.

Now, there’s plenty of things that can go wrong with this plan. Eviolite, Aspertia City Gym, and your opponent not dropping an EX in the first place can mess with your strategy. However, winning by Turn Four is not always necessary, even if it is possible. Your gameplan should just to be to achieve this strategy as fast as you can, and hopefully you can knock out two EX’s before they knock out three.

The thing about other speed decks is that when the setup deck catches up to them, they tend to be forced to rely on how far ahead they were in that current gamestate. However, now there’s a speed deck that can win before the setup deck does set up. Instead of focusing on taking out the engine or the pre-evolutions of the engine of the setup deck, you can instead focus on just winning the standard way before your opponent can take advantage of being fully set up. In some matchups you will want to try to deny your opponent setting up, but in most cases you fare well enough to just take enough of an early lead to the point where your opponent can’t use their main attackers they need to use to knock out your attackers in one hit because Lugia would just come in and take three prizes off them.

The deck is nowhere near as broken as it is in theory, but it’s still amazing, and there’s a great chance that I’m going to be playing it for a States.

A basic skeleton for the deck looks like this:

Pokemon

4 Landorus EX
2 Lugia EX
-6

Items

4 Pokemon Catcher
4 Bicycle
4 Colress Machine
3 PlusPower
3 Switch/Escape Rope mix (I prefer 2 Switch, 1 Escape Rope, because early game Escape Rope is really helpful for hitting for weakness with Landorus as well as getting the Lugia you started with out of the way)
2 Ultra Ball
2 Eviolite
2 Hypnotoxic Laser
1 Tool Scrapper
1 Ace Spec (Anything but the Tools are good in here).
-26

9 Different Supporters (Ideally 3-4 N, 3-4 Juniper, 1-2 Bianca, 0-1 Skyla, 0-1 Colress) If you play Scramble Switch or Gold Potion you should play one more Supporter)
-9

2 Counter Stadiums (Virbank, Frigate, Aspertia, Battle City, and Skyarrow Bridge are all good)
-2

6 Fighting
4 Double
4 Plasma
-14

Total – 57

This gives you a little bit of wiggle room, and you could easily make more if you felt it was necessary. Ideally I would put one more Supporter out in as well as an additional Tool Scrapper and Switch, but you could do whatever with your build.

The four Landorus is to make your odds of starting with it as high as you can. If you get a T1 Hammerhead it will help

Why does Landorus look like he’s pouting about something?

you out so much, and starting with it makes it so much easier to do so. Landorus is going to be your attacker for the earlier part of the game, and generally you will use it more than you use Lugia (Because the idea with Lugia is to attack with it twice, Landorus is more there to set up for Lugia), and you don’t necessarily know how long that will take), so having four is more necessary.

In testing I started out with three Lugia, but I’ve found that over the course of the game you almost never attack with more than one. The second is there in case one is prized, because you generally only take one prize with Landorus. Any more is bad for the deck because it detracts from your chances of starting with Landorus and becomes a dead draw once you have one Lugia in play.

Catcher is pretty self-explanatory, it’s a staple in everything. In here, it has slightly different functions, however. Either you can use it to hit around Resistance or hit for Weakness with Landorus, or chase the benched EX’s with damage on them that set up for a Lugia kill. 4 is necessary in this deck because frequently you find yourself needing three to four over the course of the six or seven turns the game should last if you’re playing a favorable matchup. This is one of those decks that is made so much better by Catcher instead of just being able to use it.

Bicycle is good in any deck that aims to attack on Turn One. It’s also amazing because late game you often find yourself needing a specific resource or two, and Bicycle helps you chase it down by giving you more than one draw card to use during your turn. I play four because it’s just so good in this deck.

In theory you could get away with three Colress Machine, but I like four for consistency purposes. Ideally you want to have your Lugia powered up by Turn Three or Four, which usually means you need to hit at least one Colress Machine to do so. Playing four maximizes your odds of doing so. According to the rules team from PokeGym, you can play a Colress Machine even if four Plasma Energy are in visible areas of play (i.e. Field, Discard, Town Mapped Prizes), so there’s no harm in them being dead draws late game.

I like PlusPower in the deck just because a lot of the time Landorus won’t do quite enough damage (Some instances an Eviolite or Aspertia City Gym might appear, and there are times a Hypnotoxic Laser is used to put 10 + 30 on a newly played EX), so PlusPower is just there to make sure Lugia can get kills. It’s a valuable resource to have and it should be considered as a four-of if you can find the space without cutting consistency.

Switch is there for three scenarios. First, if you start with Lugia you need to be able to get a T1 Hammerhead without using 2 Colress Machine and discarding two Plasma Energy. Switch is mainly there for T1 scenarios where you need to get a Landorus active.

It’s also useful when you’re done with the Landorus phase and need to start attacking with Lugia. It helps a lot if you can get the Switch instead of having to manually attach a Double Colorless to Landorus and manually retreat him (Although if you are forced to do this it isn’t terrible, you just have to manually attach a Fighting to him if you want to Hammerhead again). This also applies to when you’re attacking with Lugia and then need to attack with Landorus again for whatever reason.

Finally, it’s your best defense against Catcher stalling. Frequently your opponent will be forced to Catcher-stall you to

This card looks so pretty,

buy time to set up whatever they need to set up, so having the clutch Switch when you need it is huge. For this reason I would advocate running at least four Switching cards.

I want to talk about the usefulness of Escape Rope in this deck for a bit as well. Escape Rope is great on Turn One to force your opponent to start with their less desirable starter as well as hit for Weakness or get around Resistance without having to use a Catcher. I honestly like a 3/2 Switch/Escape Rope split the best so you have a decent chance of drawing an Escape Rope when you need it while still prioritizing Switch, but some variants may have space concerns that don’t allow that split.

I only play two Ultra Ball because that’s all that I’ve found necessary in testing. I’ve considered going up to four, but I’ve also considered going down to zero. Ultra Ball is mainly there to thin out your hand for Bike and Bianca, but it’s also good for grabbing a Landorus on Turn One and getting a Lugia to Colress Machine to as soon as possible. It’s one of those cards that you don’t need every game, but you’re glad you have it when you do, and two is the perfect number for one of those cards.

Eviolite is there simply to make Lugia harder to kill. If you lose your Lugia and all of the Plasma Energy it’s usually going to be really hard to get a new Lugia swinging. Eviolite is there to keep it alive for the extra turn you need to win. Two is a good number for it because it allows you to get one when you need one or before while still not filling the deck up too much with dead draws late game.

Hypnotoxic Laser is mostly there for the early game Landorus phase when you’re trying to get damage on EX’s. Hypnotoxic can allow you to get 10 or 20 more which sometimes puts it in Lugia kill range. I was a bit skeptical on it at first but it has proven itself to be amazing in testing.

In my personal build I actually play two Tool Scrapper, as Eviolite really messes this deck up. However, in most scenarios with this deck one Scrapper is enough. You basically need to ensure that you can Tool Scrap Eviolites when it’s absolutely necessary or before, and playing two helps this a lot. I would advise playing two, but if you can only fit one that’s fine. two is also helpful because Garbodor has been on the rise since the end of Regionals.

The Ace spec slot is mostly personal preference. Dowsing Machine can get you a 5th Catcher or 4th PlusPower and provides another out to a Supporter. Scramble Switch is good for powering Lugia up quicker. Gold Potion helps keep Lugia alive for an extra turn, and Computer Search helps with the early game. I would advise testing all four and choosing the one that suits your playstyle or personal preferences the best.

Supporters are necessary in any deck as they provide you with a mediocre but acceptable draw engine. 9 is a good number in a deck with 4 Bikes and an Ace Spec that nets you a Supporter, but if you opt for Scramble Switch or Gold Potion you’d be better off playing a tenth.

Professor Juniper is the best draw Supporter in here because it nets you the most cards, and in a deck like this you want to be going through your deck pretty quickly to get everything you need when you need it. I would advise playing four Juniper, but if you want to play more conservatively three works fine.

N is also really good in here, better than in most decks, because you’re taking prizes in clusters and not in ones and twos. What I like about this deck is you can be going for the game winning Catcher, N, and still have a reasonable chance of drawing it, because often you find yourself with three prizes left and the Catcher away from winning because of how amazing Lugia is. It’s the best shuffle-draw Supporter you can have in this deck and it’s ideal when you don’t want to have to Juniper away a hand of vital Catcher, Switch, PlusPower, Tool Scrapper, Plasma Energy, or whatever resource you find yourself running out of.

The last Supporter slot is probably best suited for Skyla. Skyla is another out to a game winning Catcher, and in a deck with Bicycle you can Skyla and still draw cards. Bianca works fine, but I like Skyla better just because of the consistency of it.

Stadium Wars are becoming a thing again, and having a kickgym for Vitrbank and Tropical Beach can come in quite

Play your own Stadiums to keep Cleveland Browns Stadium out of play.

nicely. My favorite counter Stadium in this deck is Plasma Frigate because it denies Raikou and Zekrom the knockout on your Lugia as well as protecting Landorus from Keldeo on some occasions. Aspertia City Gym is also nice because it keeps Lugia alive longer, so my personal split on that is 1/1, but you could find yourself playing more or different Stadiums if you found that was what was best in your testing.

6 Fighting Energy is the minimum one can play because you really want to get a Turn One Hammerhead, especially if you go second. I have upped my count to seven just because of how crucial the Turn One Hammerhead is in here. A high count is also nice when you feel that Land’s Judgement is your best play.

Four Plasma Energy is necessary just for consistency purposes. There’s the possibility that you will be forced to Plasma Gale a third time for whatever reason, and there’s also a good chance you will be discarding one with Professor Juniper, Ultra Ball, or your Ace Spec, so having four just helps when you’re in these situations.

Double Colorless is there to power up Lugia quicker. Four Double Colorless is not as necessary, but I still feel it’s important for having the Double Colorless when you need it (Which is usually Turn Two and Three). It’s also good for retreating Landorus manually when you don’t have a Switch or Escape Rope. You could go down to three if you felt it necessary to fit something else in, but most of the time it’s better to stick to consistency and play the fourth Double Colorless.

Matchups

So how does this deck play out against the field? Well, I’ve tested a couple matchups, and this is what I’ve learned:

Vs. PlasmaKlang – Bad.

If they’re playing the variant with Klinklang BLW and Darkrai and Keldeo, you at least have a chance at this matchup. Wait until they drop both Darkrai and Keldeo and then start Hammerheading.

If they’re just playing PlasmaKlang and Cobalion, your best bet is to wait until they only have two prizes left, counter their Tropical Beach, Catcher and Hypnotoxic Laser their Plasmaklang, and N them to two. If they draw a Switch or a Supporter before Klinklang dies, you’re screwed, but it’s better than no chance at all. There’s also the possibility of an early game Lugia killing Klinks if you’re lucky.

Vs. Blastoise – 50/50

Believe it or not, this matchup would be highly favorable if it weren’t for Black Kyurem EX PLS. However, in my testing Black Kyurem can often one-shot your Lugia and take all the Plasma Energy with it unless it has both an Eviolite attached and an Aspertia in play. Your best bet is to just play aggressively and try to win as fast as you can. Don’t worry about Landorus’ weakness until a Keldeo starts attacking, and then if you’re forced to you can Plasma Frigate + Plasma Energy. And don’t try to deny them Blastoise unless they only have one Squirtle and no Ditto in play, because it will be inevitable. If you can, try to Eviolite your Lugia and get Aspertia into play before you get into Lugia phase, because you never know when Black Kyurem will come down and bash you for 200 damage.

Vs. Darkrai/Lasers – Favorable.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t tested this that much. However, both of your EX’s having 180 HP and not 170 as well as their reliance on EX’s to attack means this matchup is in your favor. Landorus can hit for weakness if you need it to, and if they start with two Darkrai in play you almost always pull off a win. Just stick to your normal gameplan and you should be fine.

Vs. Darkrai/Hammers – Unfavorable.

Because you lack a form of energy acceleration that can be used more than three times per game reliably plus your reliance on Special Energy, Hammerspamming could give you some trouble. Your best bet is to do the Landorus phase like normal except without powering Lugia up, and then power Lugia up all at once with Colress Machine. Ideally they will only hit one Hammer and you can Plasma Gale another Darkrai for the win, but this strategy is iffy. I don’t think Hammertime will be all too popular, so having a bad matchup to it isn’t a terrible thing.

Vs. RayEels – Favorable

This matchup is probably the only good matchup in which you don’t take your normal gameplan. Instead, what you should do is try to Catcher out Tynamos and Hammerhead them, setting Rayquaza EX up for a Lugia kill while you do so. After you’ve killed two Tynamo and set an EX up for a knockout with Lugia, you can use Lugia to kill that EX. From there, you just need to take one more prize, so you can do that however you see fit.

If they set up a Rayquaza and enough Eels and they’re able to use Dragon Burst a couple times, you’re in trouble. However, you should be able to Catcher-KO their Eels before this happens too much. Your gameplan should be to deny Eels until you can win in about two turns.

Another way to approach the matchup is just to spam Lugia early game and kill Eels, but this is generally only a good strategy if you feel that it can be done easier than the Landorus strategy. If you have the option, go with the Landorus plan.

Vs. Snorlax/Lugia/Plasma Stuff – Even

I haven’t tested this matchup (I honestly don’t even know if the deck is any good), but from what I know about the deck the matchup seems like it would be 50/50. You run Switch, meaning retreating under Snorlax isn’t terribly hard. And Lugia with a PlusPower one-shots Snorlax for two prizes, as well as Landorus with a Hypnotoxic Laser or PlusPower two-shots Snorlax. Overall you should try to approach the matchup as familiarly as you can, but if you’re forced to kill a Snorlax with Landorus that’s fine. Get an Eviolite on your Lugia so Snorlax can’t OHKO it, and, if necessary, Aspertia City Gym as well (Although this would make it harder to take knockouts on your opponent’s Lugia if you chose to do so).

You’re going to need to take a bit longer to win this game, but unless a Snorlax starts wreaking havoc on your field and you are unable to power something up to stop it, you should have a good shot at winning first.

Vs. Garbodor – Favorable

In the little bit of testing I’ve done against Garbodor it’s been favorable for me, but that might just be because I played two Tool Scrapper. Usually Garbodor variants play EX’s to attack, so I usually take advantage of that and Tool Scrapper Garbodor when I’m about to take a prize. I haven’t done quite enough testing to say more than this, sorry.

So what do you guys think about Landorus/Lugia? Do you guys think that it is the ultimate speed deck that Pokemon has never had in a Modified format before, or do you think it is overrated? Discussion is encouraged, so make sure to leave a comment and leave your opinion on Landorus/Lugia.