Stupid Deck Idea

Pikkdogs’ Stupid Deck Idea: Ampharos Prime.

Hello to all members of Omar-Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea for the new format.  As we all know, stupid deck ideas are decks that either are meant to be played for fun, or decks that show promise but have not yet been tested.  This deck falls in the later category.  

Ampharos Prime has  been out for about a year now, and has yet to see any noticeable play.  But with the changes in the format, it may just be time to dust off your Amphy Primes and make a deck out of them.

Ampharos Prime has the “Conductivity” Poke-Body, which lets you put 1 damage counter on every Pokemon that your opponent attaches an energy to from his/her hand.  It has one attack “Crunch” that does 40 damage for LCC, and allows you to flip a coin.  If you flip heads you do 40 more damage, if you flip tails you can discard an energy from the defending Pokemon.

The reason that Ampharos Prime might make a good deck is because of the increase in the amount of decks that attach a lot of energy.  Thanks to Feraligatr Prime’s “Raindance” (that allows you to attach as many water energies to any water Pokemon that you want) and Emboar BW (which allows you to attach as many fire energies as you want to any of your Pokemon) it is now easier to attach a lot of energies.  Soon, Pokemon like Kyogre/Groundon Legend, Ho-Oh Legend, Charizard G, Samurott BW, and Blastoise Ud will be very playable.

To counter these Pokemon, you can use Ampharos Prime to put a lot of damage counters on any Pokemon that gets energy.  For example, say your opponent is running a Charizard G/Emboar deck.  If he attaches a Rescue Energy for the turn, and then attaches 4 Fire Energies thanks to Emboar’s ability, you can then put 5 damage counters on Charizard G.  Putting 5 damage counters a turn, isn’t too shabby, and it sets you up to get an OHKo.  Now that we know the premise of the deck, lets look at some techs that will help make this deck work. 

Techs

Ampharos Pt– The Ampharos from Platinum lets you stop all Poke-Powers from Pokemon that have damage counters on it.  It is not a game changing Poke-Body, but its good enough that you should play it if you can.

Spiritomb Ar– Spiritomb is your starter here, and helps you get a fast Ampharos.  He also stops trainers when he is active, thanks to his “Keystone Seal” Poke-Body, this makes him essential for stopping Sabledonks.

Sunnyshore City Gym– If you are gonna play a deck where a lightning Pokemon attacks, you should at least consider running this card.  It takes away weakness from all lightning Pokemon, and prevents resistance from being applied to their attacks.  This card turns a Donphan deck from an auto-loss to an even matchup.

Cincinno– This card is your secondary attacker.  Ampharos Prime is kind of a lack luster attacker, so Cincinno will be very helpful.  You already play DCE, and if you have room for it there is no reason not to play this good card.  For just one Double Colorless Energy, you can do 100 damage if you have a full  bench.

The List

I have not tested this deck out, partially because this deck will only good in the future.   But, this is a list that I drew up.  If you do end up testing this out, just use this as a guide to building your deck.  You will have other ideas and other techs to try out.

Pokemon-23

  • 4 Mareep Pt   
  • 3 Flaffy Pt
  • 3 Ampharos Prime
  • 1 Ampharos Pt
  • 4 Spiritomb Ar
  • 3 Mincinno
  • 3 Cincinno
  • 2-Uxie La

Trainers-25

  • 4- Pokemon Collector
  • 4-Bebe’s Search
  • 2- Pokemon Communication
  • 2- Rare Candy
  • 2- Warp Point
  • 1- Luxury Ball
  • 1-Pokemon Rescue
  • 2- Sunny Shore City Gym
  • 2- Broken Time Space
  • 2- Expert Belt
  • 3- Hand Refresh Card of your Choice (like PONT, Juniper, or Copycat). 

Energy-12

  • Lightning-8
  • Double Colorless Energy-4

So that’s it, just a little list to point you in the right direction.  As mentioned before, this deck isn’t very good right now.  But, possibly if Feraligatr and Emboar become popular this deck will be a great counter to them.  I also considered adding Luxray Gl or Garchomp C to this deck.  Luxray Gl can take advantage of the lightning energy, and Garchomp C can do the same withe DCE.  But, I think Cincinno is better for basic testing.

So long and thanks for all the fish.

Pikkdogs Stupid Deck Idea: Raichu

A big hello to everyone in Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea.  A Stupid Deck Idea is a deck idea that may be just for fun decks or may be just 1 card or two away from being a good deck, this deck I think can fit into both categories.  Since Pokemon first came out Pokefans have loved Pikachu.  But as far as I know, Pikachu, and its evolved form Raichu, have never been great Pokemon for the Trading Card Game.  This could be changing.  

It started in the Undaunted set when Raichu Prime was first released.  Raichu was the first Pokemon Prime that could benefit from a Level X card, not only that but the two seem to work together.  Raichu Lv. X has a Pokebody called “Link Lightning” that lets you attack after you use Raichu Lv. X’s attack “Voltage Shoot” (which lets you snipe for 80 damage), but only on the turn that you play Raichu Lv. X on to Raichu.  The ability to snipe for 80 and then do 120 damage is pretty amazing.  Even though the two cards work together, it was still hard to imagine getting enough energy to use both attacks and satisfy their energy discard requirements.

This problem recently just became a lot smaller with Pachirisu Cl.  Pachirisu lets you attach two lightning energy cards to Pachirisu once you first play him to your bench, thanks to his “Self Generation” Poke-Power.  This works well with Raichu Prime’s “Voltage Increase” Poke-Power, which lets you move lightning energy cards around as many times as you want.  If you play down one Pachirisu and play an energy to Raichu you can have enough energy to use Raichu Prime’s “Mega Thunderbolt” attack in just one turn.  But there are problems with the discarding of Energy.
Read More

Stupid Deck Idea: Lost Junior (Mime Jr., Lost World)

Mime Jr - CL 47Alright, so maybe this deck idea isn’t utterly stupid. In fact, I think there is a lot going for it. It does, however, still fall under what I laid out for our “Stupid Deck Idea” article guidelines. I built it on paper (actually on the computer). I obsessed over it for a while. Ultimately, I decided that I won’t be building a physical version of the deck anytime real soon, so instead I’m posting it here for all of you to ponder.

I think it’s the type of deck that can just win any matchup. Unfortunately, it’s also the type of deck that can lose any matchup. It’s got a luck component to it that can end up in either player’s favor. So, take a look at the article/decklists. Maybe you want to build the deck and test it out. Optimizing the lists might just make it competitive. At any rate, I think it would be a fun (and annoying to the opponent) league deck. At least comment and let me know what you think about the idea (or decks like this).

The basic idea here is to exploit the new Mime Jr. from Clash of Legends. He has two features that we want to make use of. First, his FREE attack puts the top card of your opponent’s deck into the lost zone and puts Mime Jr. to sleep. Normally, this would just be disruptive to the opponent, but combined with the new Lost World stadium, this can win games. Second, his PokeBody prevents all damage to Mime Jr. if he’s asleep. Obviously, this can save him from being KO’d.
Read More

Pikkdog’s Stupid Deck Idea-World B. Free-A Yanmega Prime Deck

Hey all members of Omar Nation, this is Pikkdogs here with a Stupid Deck Idea.  As most of you know, our Stupid Deck Ideas are basically fun decks that either show a little promise or are just fun to play.  This deck fits in the former category, and features Yanmega Prime.

I call this deck World B. Free, after one of the craziest named NBA players.  The name kind of fits because Yanmega Prime can attack without any energies, or for free.       

First I got to give props to Cheffords and his buddies at work.  While they did not help me with this deck, they are the only other people I know with a similar deck.

So, on to the deck strategy.  The strategy of this deck is to have the same number of cards in your hand as your opponent does, so you do not need to pay for any of Yanmega Prime’s attacks, thanks to his “Insight” Pokebody.  Yanmega Prime has two attacks.  With “Linear Attack” you can snipe for 40 damage, and with “Sonicboom” you can do 70 damage.  While 70 damage isn’t a great attack, if you can combine it with disruption it may be enough.

To make sure you have the same number of cards as your opponent does you can use either Judge or Giratina Pt #9.  Both of these cards have the same effect, each player shuffles their hand in their deck and draws 4 cards.  This not only lets you attack for free, but provides hand disruption.  To further the disruption I have added Mesprit La to this deck.  Its Poke Power “Psychic Bind” forbids your opponent from using Poke Powers on his/her next turn.  This can be very disruptive, especially when used with “Let-Loose” or Judge.

Things to Remember

  1. Keep an early powerlock on the opponent, don’t let them use any powers until their 4th or 5th turns, you should have a prize lead by then.
  2. Don’t play any cards after you “Let Loose” or Judge.  After you use these effects, the only thing you can do is attack.  If you use any cards you may not be able to attack on this turn, because you won’t have exactly 4 cards in your hand.
  3. Make sure you keep an eye on everyone’s hand size.  You may not need to waste a Super Scoop Up or Seeker on Giratina.

The List

Here is my list- along with some insights on the cards.

Pokemon-20

  • 4- Yanma- Any set as long as it isn’t Triumphant.  The extra 20 HP and the lack of a x2 weakness is nice
  • 4-Yanmega Prime
  • 3-Giratina Pt #9
  • 3-Mesprit La
  • 1- Uxie
  • 4-Sableye Sf- You really need to start this game off with a Pokemon Collector, so just use “Impersonate” to get one.
  • 1- Giratina Lv.X.  This card isn’t pivotal to this deck, but since you are running Giratina and 4 Warp Energies, there is no reason not to.

Energies-6

  • 4-Warp- This card saves you from a bad start, and if someone decides to pull up Giratina to the active spot.  You could switch this to Warp Points, but for some reason I liked Warp Energies.
  • 2-Rescue Energies- Not needed, but these are good for an obvious reason, and can help you retreat if needed.

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums-34

  • 4- Junk Arms- This card lets you re-use all the trainers you have.
  • 4- Super Scoop Up- Lets you create bench space or re-use “Let Loose” or “Psychic Bind.”
  • 3- Pokemon Collector
  • 3-Pokemon Communication- This card is key because you will sometimes have to use Seeker or Judge as your supporters.
  • 2-Expert Belt- 70 damage isn’t enough.
  • 4- Plus Powers- These cards could be substituted out, but they can help you add the damage you need to KO the defending opponent.
  • 4-Judge- After your bench space is gone, you will need to use this a lot.   Giratina - PL
  • 3-Seeker.  Same as Super Scoop Up.
  • 2- Bebe’s Search
  • 1- Luxury Ball
  • 2- V.S. Seeker- key to re-using Judge or Seeker late game.
  • 2- Pokemon Rescue- kind of used as a place holder for now.

As you can see this list is not as tight as it should be.  There is room to add in some new techs.  Here are a few

  1. Exploud SV- This card can negate your lightning weakness, though it will slow your deck down.
  2. Regice– This card will let you discard cards from your hand, it might help you equal the number of cards in your opponents hand without using a Power or Supporter.
  3. Pokemon Reversal– You can use this card to target any benched Pokemon, and make it active.  It can be used to knock out a Dialga G before it becomes a Lv.X.

Matchups

A deck is only as good as its matchups, so here are a list of a few matchups.         

  • Luxchomp– Unfavorable.  You can provide a lot of disruption with Mesprit and Judges, they will have a hard time getting their Cyrus chain.  But the fact is, your weakness makes sure that Luxchomp will almost never lose.
  • Gyarados– Favorable.  The rule of thumb here is to Judge early and often.  While you powerlock and Judge, your opponent will find it hard to get setup.  Hopefully you can get a big enough prize lead before they finally get setup.
  • Dialgachomp– Autoloss. Right now you have no counter to Dialga G. “Time Crystal” negates “Insight” so you cannot even attack.
  • Uxie Donk– Balanced.  You do run a lot of basics, so that is good.  But you never know how things will work out.
  • Trainerlock– Unfavorable.  You run a lot of trainers, so you need a lot of luck to be able to survive.
  • Machamp– Favorable.  Yanmega is an evolved Pokemon that has a resistance to fighting, two things that help against Machamp.  You will have a hard time getting a OHKO on Machamp, but they will be in the same boat.  So as long as you Powerlock first, your opponent will not be able to setup as fast.  If you setup faster, you win.
  • Regigas– Balanced. You both powerlock, so whoever gets the better setup will probably win.  Regigas has the better attack, but you can Judge and setup faster; its fairly even.
  • Random Stuff– Favorable.  Given that this category contains a lot of random rogue decks, it is hard to predict whats coming.  But your disruption will keep most rogue decks at bay.

So there is a run down of this deck.  It is a fun deck that will probably shock your freinds at league.  But, I wouldn’t count on it as saving you at a State or Regional tournament.  If your bored throw this deck together, it does work fairly well. Thats it for now, have fun in your initial testings for States.

So Long and Thanks for all the fish.

Pikkdogs Stupid Deck Idea: Slowpluff (Slowking Prime and Jumpluff)

Hey all you members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here.

The Fall Battle Road season is well under way, and I hope you guys are having fun at your own tournaments.  I have had an interesting season so far, and will try to right up one big report once my season is over.  So make sure to try to play at as many tournaments as you can in the last couple weekends.                                                                                                      

I am here to give you a rundown of a Stupid Deck that I have been playing this week.  This time the stupid deck idea centers around Jumpluff.

Jumpluff has been very popular since it was released in the Heart Gold Soul Silver set.  It saw a lot of play at States, Regionals, and Nationals last year.  Jumpluff was popular because it is a cute Pokemon, that can do 10 damage for each Pokemon in play, for only 1 Grass energy.  The classic build featured Jumpluff with the support of Luxray Gl and Claydol Ge.  The deck was very successful, and appealed to many players.  But, after Worlds the format changed and Claydol Ge was rotated out.  Many players tried to play it after the rotation, but the deck was too slow to setup and too slow to recover.  Some other builds that have seen a little play since rotation included Jumpluff with Sunflora, and Jumpluff with the VileTomb combo.  But, these builds only seem to middle out at tournaments. Read More

Pikkdogs’ Stupid Deck Idea: AlaDialga (Alakazam 4 + Dialga G)

Hey to all of the members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here to discuss a stupid deck idea I had.

I don’t know if this deck is good enough to ever be brought to a small tournament, but its a deck that is fun to play.  I came up with this deck idea last Thursday night in a time of great sorrow.  My area had just experienced a nasty thunderstorm, I was okay but the great sorrow happened when my cable (and internet) went out for almost a day.  So all I could do was watch my Seinfeld DVD’s and play games on Redshark.

The idea is to take a basic Lady Gaga deck then take out the Luxray Gl line, trim down the Garchomp C line, and add in a 2-1 Alakazam 4 Lv.X line.  Then for the trainer line add in some Warp Energies, Energy Exchangers, and extra Pokemon Collectors, and you basically have the list.  The goal of the deck is to get a Dialga G Lv.x active with at least 2 Special Metal Energies, an expert belt.  Once you get set up, you can move damage counters from Dialga G Lv.x to another Pokemon to Poketurn later. You can do this because of Alakazam 4 Lv.x’s Poke Power “Damage Switch” which allows you to move 1 damage counter from 1 SP Pokemon to another as many times as you would like. Read More

Stupid Deck Idea: Flyking (Flygon, Kingdra, Blastoise)

Flygon - RRThis idea is simple AND stupid, so it’s got a lot going for it.

Step 1: Steal someone’s Flychamp/Nidoqueen decklist. I’m sure you can use Google, but I’ve found a couple for you here and here in case you’re lazy.

Step 2: Rip out the Machamp line and replace it with Kingdra Prime. You should end up with something that looks like this.

2 Trapinich [SW]
1 Trapinich RI
2 Vibrava RI
3 Flygon RI
1 Flygon Lv.X RI
2 Horsea LA
1 Seadra LA
2 Kingdra Prime UL

3 Baltoy GE
3 Claydol GE
1 Nidoran RI
1 Nidoqueen RI
1 Unown G GE
1 Uxie LA

Read More

Stupid Deck Idea: Goose King

Kingdra Prime - ULI don’t yet know if this will be a recurring column or not. I would like it to be, but I’m not sure how well it will be received or if it’s something I will maintain. You see, I have deck ideas every once in a while. This seems to happen more when new cards come out. Usually, I come up with some great new idea. I write up a skeleton decklist, and then I ponder it. In the short term, the pondering process often results in minor tweaks. In the long term (being probably less than a day), it generally results in scrapping the idea because it’s not going to be competitive enough.

I don’t have a lot of opportunity to play weird decks at home. I’d love to try these ideas at league or something. The problem is that I often don’t own all the cards (especially for sets that haven’t been released yet). Also, league is only once a week, and I don’t make it to every session.

This means that the “Stupid Deck Idea” usually doesn’t make it past the initial decklist, therefore I will never know if the idea had any actual merit. As it is, these “Stupid Deck Ideas” may have some usefulness. Maybe the Pokemon have some good synergy, but the trainer line was all wrong to support them. Maybe there’s a hidden combo that hadn’t been widely considered before, but without testing, it’ll never be discovered. Maybe a year or two from now a new card comes out that makes the deck work, and people can find this archive. I don’t know. All I know is that the idea is going to get shelved, so I’ll put it here and see what happens. Maybe it gets universally ignored, but maybe someone takes it and runs with it.

So, that’s the setup for “Ed’s Stupid Deck Idea.” Today’s installment is “Goose King.” It combines Zangoose Platinum with Kingdra Prime from Unleashed.
Read More