One Hit KO

Pokemon TCG Decklists and Articles

Reshiboar

Deck Discussion

Deck Analysis: Reshiboar BW-On

Pikkdogs 2 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with a deck article for you.  This is my first deck analysis for the Black and White on format, so this should be different.  This article will be about Reshiboar, yes Reshiboar.  This deck was first played in the HGSS-on format at Nationals 2011.  It kind of won Worlds that year (if you wanna argue about whether that deck was a Reshiboar or a Magneboar, you should probably get a life), but then it kind of fizzled out in a format with Pokemon Catcher.  But now it could be back, to check for sure , let us look at the deck more in-depth.  I will also give a little of my insight about the new format at the end. Before we get into the article, let us say hi to Pedro.  Hey Pedro do you have a news article for us?

Hey Pikkdogs.  Today’s news article is about the Olympics.  Do you have the Olympic favor Pikkdogs?

Oh I got the Olympic favor.  All the symptoms are there; inactivity, loss of productivity at work, and the belief that archery can be interesting.

Yeah that sounds like it.  As everybody knows the Olympic games started this past Friday with the opening ceremonies, that were kind of weird.  Did you think they were weird Pikkdogs?

Nope, I think that nurses dancing, kids jumping on beds, and Mr. Bean leading an orchestra sounds pretty normal to me.

Okay, I guess.  Now the Olympics are in  full swing with all the weird sports that we kind of know and love. 

The sports might be weird but I love the Olympics.  It is the one time that the world comes together and bonds over their love of sports.  If every day could be like the Olympics there would be no war and famine, we would all live together in harmony and peace.

That sounds nice. 

Plus, it is cool that I can watch rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized diving, and the triple jump and not be called gay.

No, I wouldn’t call you gay for that.  Maybe for that pink shirt you always wear, and for your incessant singing of “Call Me Maybe”. 

Fair enough, let’s just start the article.

Reshiboar- the Basics

Reshiboar is a very simple deck that has been around for a year.  Emboar BW has an Ability called “Inferno Fandango” that lets you attach as many fire energies as you want.  Reshiram BW has the “Blue Flare” attacks that costs RRC, and does 120 damage with a discard of two.  So as long as Emboar is out you can keep feeding energies on Reshiram and keep doing 120 damage.  Reshiram is also not an EX, so you don’t need to worry about giving up two prizes.  The deck works very simply, just keep feeding energies to Reshiram, and you should be good.

Here are some good and bad things about the deck.  The deck is good because it is simple and easy to use.  Almost anybody can play this deck and tech it out how they want it.  Reshiram hits hard enough to 2HKO any EX in the format, Eviolited or not.  It will also take out just about any Stage 1, and most Stage 2’s in one hit.  It is also simple enough to be set up fairly easily.   One bad thing about this deck is that Emboar has a large retreat cost.  If your opponent keeps on Catchering up your Emboar, this might be enough to stifle your strategy.  Another bad thing is that this deck needs a stage 2 Pokemon, that means it is a little less consistent and has only a little room in the skeleton list.

The setup of this deck is very simple.  In my decklist I run Emolga DRE as a starter.  He would be the one that you would want to start with.  If you don’t run Emolga, you can hope that you start with at least 1 Tepig, or with a card that can search him out.  Hopefully by turn 2 or 3 you can get your first Emboar, and then find Reshiram to start your attacking.  Things are fairly uncomplicated from there.

The Decklist

Here is the current decklist that I am using.  Of course it is still early in my testing and this decklist is not perfect.  When I first make a deck I usually make it very simple and bland, so you can tech it out and improve it from the list that I post here.

Pokemon-14

  • 3- Tepig- I can’t tell you how badly I want to go to 4.
  • 1-Pignite
  • 2-Emboar- It would be nice to find room for a 3rd.
  • 4-Reshiram
  • 1-Entei EX- A great card lategame when you are running out of energy.  More of a secondary attacker than something you want to rely on.
  • 2-Emolga DRE- if you can fit in one more, that would great.  If you can find a list that works without it, that’s great too.
  • 1-Mewtwo EX- A good tech that can be used against just about anybody.  You will never know when you will need this card.  You can run 1 more copy if you want.

Trainers-33

  • 3-Energy Retrieval
  • 4-Pokemon Catcher
  • 3-Switch
  • 1-Super Rod
  • 2-Communication
  • 3-Ultra Ball
  • 2-Heavy Ball
  • 3-Rare Candy
  • 2-Random Reciever
  • 4-Professor Juniper
  • 3-N
  • 3-Bianca

Energy-13

  • Fire-13

Tech Options

There are a lot of techs to consider in this deck.

  • Badboar– This is the other Emboar from Black and White.  It does not really help this deck out too much, but it can do 150 damage.  So if you need something that can do 150 damage, this is a good option.  You might need to run the 4th Tepig if you do choose this option.
  • Reshiram EX– This card is pretty much like Badboar, it can do 150 damage for a bunch of energies.  But, it does have sometimes damage itself which can lead your opponent to an easy two prizes.  Badboar might better for a big attacker, if you want one, but it is a judgement call.
  • Rayquaza EX– Rayquaza seems to fit fairly easily into this deck.  You will need to put electric energies into your deck, but it wouldn’t be a huge hassle.  You just need to ascertain that he will help your deck in your local metagame, if that happens then you should change the deck around to accommodate this guy.
  • Bouffalant– He can do 120 damage for CCC to an EX, so why not play this guy.  I don’t know if you need this card, but it doesn’t hurt.

Match-Ups

I don’t want to do a full on Match-Ups section, but I can talk a little about what this deck is good against.

This deck is generally a good all around deck and doesn’t have much that it is terrible or great against.  Most Pokemon in this deck are of course weak to water.  So if you go up against Empoleon or something like Kyurem EX, you can be screwed.  Also, if your opponent can max out their Pokemon Catcher potential (maybe something like Sableye), you also can lose easily.

On the good side, this deck is actually a pretty good match-up against a lot of the decks that are supposed to be good.  Mewtwo EX will be in all decks out there, and since Reshiram discards two energies after it attacks, Mewtwo will have a tough time OHKOing Reshiram.  The fighting Pokemon like Terrakion can’t really OHKO Reshiram, so you should have a good match-up there,  Tornadus is not really much of a threat either.  Zekrom decks can use a Plus Power to get an OHKO on you, but you can do the same.  So that match-up should be fairly even.

My Thoughts About Black and White-On

Okay, now that we are done with Reshiboar for a while, let us talk a little about the new format.  I am not saying that I have tested everything, but I think I have learned a little.  The format so far seems fairly even.  There doesn’t seem to be one card or one deck that can beat up everything.  Mewtwo EX is still the BDIF.  Even though Mewtwo EX doesn’t really have a deck anymore, it fits well into most decks out there, and can do a lot of things against almost all decks out there.  Mewtwo EX is a very versatile card that will be in every deck.

Stage 2’s are once again playable, but the format does still benefit the BBP (Big Basic Pokemon).  Without Celebi Prime, Mewtwo can no longer tear through every evolution line before it starts.  But there are still cards like Eviolite that favor these BBP.  The EX Pokemon are now in full force and they have more HP and hit harder than Stage 2’s.  But, the Quad decks no longer work as well without Junk Arm, so you are going to have to kind of adjust the current BBP decks.  To recap, Stage 2’s are still at a disadvantage, but at least they are a little more playable.

To speak about Supporters, they still will be used in the same way.  You can no longer use PONT, but decks can be changed so Bianca works as well.  I like to use a high count of Ultra Ball in my decks so that Bianca will be even more effective after I discard stuff with Ultra Ball.  Cheren can also come in to supplement things, but it’s not a crazy good card.  N will be a very popular card in the next format.  I know that some people hate this card, me included, but be prepared to shuffle your deck a lot.  Even someone like me who hates N, will be forced to play three copies of this card.  This means that if you have basic Pokemon in your opening hand that you want to play soon, you will want to play it down before the game starts because an N will normally come down on the first turn of the game.  The basic supporter line that I use is 4-Juniper, 3-N, 3-Bianca, and 2 Random Receiver.  This gives us 12 supporters and it seems to work fairly well.  If you don’t use discarding cards like Ultra Ball, you can use Cheren instead of Bianca.

Searching cards have also changed in the new format.  As I said before I tend to favor Ultra Ball because it works well with Bianca.  Heavy Ball and Level Ball work good in decks that have Pokemon that can be searched out by those cards.  I also still like Pokemon Communication.  If you are running a deck that has between 15-20 Pokemon, you should play Communication.  You should be able to almost always have a Pokemon in your hand, so you can play this card to get the Pokemon you want.  We do not have Dual Ball or Collector any more, but these cards along with Emolga seem to do the job well enough.

Here are a couple other random tidbits.  I do not like running two Super Rod’s.

Is this a comment about your feelings on gay marriage?

No.  Anyway- I feel that most decks can still run just one Super Rod.  Call me old fashioned, but one rod seems to work for me.  If you run two you are sure to always have one in your hand early game, and they seem to taunt you, they seem to say that you should have ran more consistency cards instead of this darn discard pile card.  Another tidbit is that I still can’t see anybody playing the Cilan card.  There seems to be room enough for a bunch of energies in today’s decks, so you shouldn’t need Cilan.  I also still like the Eel decks in this format, they work just as well as they always did.  The same goes for the Tornadi in the format.  I’m not sure if I like the fighting Pokemon, but I am not sure.

If anybody has anything to add, please do so in the comment section.

Conclusion

From my testing with the new format, I think that Reshiboar should be a good deck right away.  It may not be Tier 1, but it should be around Tier 2.  If you can get a good consistent list that has a lot of Switches in it, you should have a chance to do well at a tournament.  I think we can safely say that Reshiboar is back!

I am ready to leave, why don’t you wrap things up Pedro?

Okay, since we had an Olympics news article at the start, why don’t we do an Olympics themed “This Day in History’?  On this day in 1976 Bruce Jenner won the Decatholon for the U.S.  This win was monumental for the Americans as Jenner became a national hero.  His life has unfortunately been in a downward spiral ever since, as he is now relegated to the job of Kardashian babysitter and poster child of what can happen when you get your Botox at the 99 cent store.

It is really sad what happened to the guy, he was once a role model for every young boy, and now he is a cautionary tale for every man out there.

Let this be a lesson to every man out there, just say no the Kardashians and the world will become a much brighter place, until that happy day comes in which there are no more Kardashians to prey on single men. 

Well, said Goodnight everybody.

 

Deck Discussion

Deck Ideas from Next Destinies

Pikkdogs 6 Comments

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there.  This is Pikkdogs here with an article about decks from Next Destinies.  There is no question that Next Destinies will be an impactful set.  The set is chock full of cards that will make it into decks right away.   This article will kind of overview some of these decks and explain what they are all about.  Of course I can’t cover every deck, so this will be just the major changes.

New Deck(s)

Mewtwo

The card that has literally been the poster boy of Next Destinies is Mewtwo EX.  He is also probably the focal point of the only great new deck that will come out of Next Destinies.  There is no doubt that ND cards will be in a lot of decks, but the Mewtwo deck is the only one that is really new to the format.

Since you can only play 4 Mewtwo EX cards in one deck, that will leave you  with at most 56 cards to work with.  If you add in cards like Eviolite and DCE, that still gives you about 50 cards to work with.  If you add in the staples and some more energy, you still have about 25 cards to play with.  That leaves a lot of options.  Cards that have been mentioned are energy accelerators and manipulators like Pachirisu, Emboar, and Gardevoir.  But, the one deck idea that has been suggested the most has been Celebi Prime.

Celebi Prime has a Poke-Power, called “Forrest Breath”, that lets you attach an extra Grass Energy on the field when Celebi is active.  Many people have suggested that this deck add cards like Skyarrow Bridge to it.  This would give Celebi free retreat, and would give Mewtwo some energy acceleration while not giving up the ability to attack each turn.

Most of these deck variants also have a secondary attacker.  Tornadus, Terrakion NV, and Cobalion NV are the most talked about secondary attackers.  A secondary attacker is needed in this deck so that a good Mewtwo counter will not be able to take control of the game.  For example, Mew Prime will be able to dominate Mewtwo EX very easily, but if you only use your secondary attacker, Mew Prime will not be so dominate.

This deck sets up fairly quickly and easily.  You are going to want to start with Celebi Prime, though, a  Mewtwo start isn’t the end of the world.  If you do start with Celebi Prime, you are going to want to use Pokemon Collector or Pokemon Communication for Mewtwo EX.  You are going to then want to use Celebi’s Poke-Power to attach energy to Mewtwo.  You can attack on turn 1 possibly, if you want and have Skyarrow Bridge in play.  From then on it will be a matter of getting energy on the field, and trying to keep it there.  Here is a basic skeleton list, you can fill in the rest of the cards from there.

Pokemon- 12-16

  • 3-4 Celebi Prime
  • 3 Mewtwo Ex
  • 2-4 Secondary Attackers (like Tornadus, Terrakion NV, or Cobalion NV)

Trainers-28-32

  • 10- Draw or Hand Refresh Supporters
  • 4-Pokemon Collector
  • 3-4 Pokemon Catcher
  • 3-4 Junk Arm
  • 2-3 Switch
  • 3-4 Skyarrow Bridge
  • 3-Eviolite

Energy-15

  • 4-DCE
  • 8-11-Grass
  • 0-3 Rescue Energy or Prism Energy

That will give you about 5 spaces to work with.  So it’s a decent skeleton, just fill it in, mess around with it, change it up, and you might have a decent deck.

Current Decks that Will be Effected

Not only will there be new decks, but a lot of current decks will be radically changed by some new cards.  Here are some of those decks.

Chandelure

What’s being added– There is no debate on Chandelure ND, it is not a great card, and does not deserve a deck of its own.  However, since it is a Fire Pokemon, it will be of interest for Chandelure players to play 1 of the new Chandelure to get a type advantage on some decks.  Chandelure has always been too slow to counter Durant, plus, Durant had the type advantage.  So an easy to fit in fire Pokemon is really nice.  What will be added to this deck is basically 1 Chandelure ND, to give it more versatility.  I could also see this deck playing Cilans, since it now needs to run some different types of energies.

How it will change–  This deck can work with only 3 of the psychic Chandelures, since you probably will only want to setup 2 or 3 all game.  So, having to take out the 4th Chandelure for this fire one, will not hurt your consistency.  It will probably only give your deck better matchups.  The Cilan will also help this deck, making it a little quicker.  This deck always had a hard time finding energy at the right time, Cilan will help with that.  These changes will make the deck better, I am not sure if it will take it to another level, or even keep it from falling, but these changes will help the deck.

Reshiphlosion

What’s being added– The deck that won’t die away just got another big help.  Reshiram EX can now be played in your Reshiphlosion deck.  Although it only adds 30 more damage to your maximum damage output, that could be helpful in certain situations.  So, most decks will probably only add 1 or 2 copies of Reshiram EX, I do not see a lot of other new cards being added to this deck.  Although, 1 copy of Mewtwo EX may be added as a tech.

How it will change– These changes will probably not affect the deck too much.  The deck will continue to work the same as it always does, it will just have a bigger attacker when needed.  I think the ND set does more to hurt Reshphloson than it does to help it.  “Blue Flare”, maybe with a Plus Power or two,  used to be enough to take down most playable Pokemon.  Now, we have a bunch of very playable 180 HP and 170 HP Pokemon.  This means that you are going to have to use “Blue Flare” more times than you normally do.  This could put a lot of strain on your deck, and could hurt your consistency.

That being said, the deck still is a very consistent deck and can still do really well.  Even though a lot of other decks around Reshiphlosion got more than it did, the deck will still be played.

Reshiboar

What’s being added– The bacon is back.  Next Destinies brought us many things, one of those things is a return of your favorite fire-pig, Emboar.  Since it has been so long since we have seen this card, let’s get a little history lesson.  Reshiboar was the first Reshiram BLW deck that was played.  It was set to be a very good deck at U.S. Nationals last year, but Reshiphlosion came out of absolutely nowhere and became the fire deck to play.  Reshiboar kind of stayed afloat with the addition of Magnezone Prime into the deck.  The deck now was a merger of Reshiboar and Magneboar.  It saw a little play at Worlds last year, and continued to see a little play at Battle Roads and Cities.  But, for the most part Reshiphlosion was the favorite fire deck.

So, let’s go back and get on topic here.  What is being added to this deck is 1 or 2 copies of Reshiram EX.  Like in Reshiphlosion, this will give it more pop, but it will not be that great.  The major card that is added here is Cilan.  Being able to get 3 energies into your hand will be amazing for this deck.  This means that you can easily power-up your attackers on one turn.  This is something that Typhlosion Prime cannot even do.

How it will change– The war for the best fire deck is back on.  Reshiboar now has Magnezone Prime and it can say that it is faster and more consistent than Reshiphlosion.  There will be some problems with getting energy from the discard pile, but this could be a reason why Reshiram EX could be better.  Perhaps Victini will make an appearance in this deck to make sure that Reshiram EX does not end up damaging itself.  It is hard to say what will happen at states, but from what I see, I think that Reshiboar could overthrow Reshiphlosion as the best fire deck.  And, this is very important with Durant being so good.

Zekrom

What’s being added– At first, I was kind of cool on Zekrom EX, but now I am not sure.  I was not happy about being forced to discard 2 energies, this forced you to run both heavy Pachirisu and Shaymin lines, as well as Eelektrik lines.  Then, I noticed you could also discard the DCE.  This means that as long as you don’t rely on this attack too much, you won’t have to get too much back from the discard pile.

Of course, Zekrom EX will be added to this deck.  Probably somewhere around 2 copies of this card.  Zekrom BLW and Torandus will still be in this deck, but Zekrom EX will be a bigger attacker.  Another card that will be added is Cilan.  Cilan works perfectly with Pachirisu, and will make it a lot easier to more quickly load up your attackers.  Skyarrow Bridge will also be in this deck.  It will make it harder for your opponent to stall by Pokemon Catchering a benched Pokemon.  Since you only have basic  Pokemon with fairly low retreat costs, this card is a no brainer for this deck.

How it will change– Zekrom was hands down the best deck during Battle Roads.  But, it did run out of steam later in the Cities season.  Something that will make this deck hit harder with more consistency was desperately needed, and now it is here.  This deck should have what it takes to stand up to Mewtwo EX.  I really like this deck because Zekrom EX gets rid of 2 energy after he attacks, this means that there are 2 less energies to power-up Mewtwo EX’s attack.  Zekrom should be poised to make it to a lot of the top tables at states.  It is hard to say how good the deck will be, but it should be really good.

Ross Deck (the Truth)

What’s being added– Time for another history lesson.  The Ross Deck was coincidentally invented by a guy named Ross, what are the chances of that?  Ross Cawthon brought it to Worlds and went fairly deep into the top cut with a deck based around Donphan Prime, Vileplume, and Reuniclus BLW.  It was the talk of Nationals, and it caught on around the country for Battle Roads.  It did fairly well there, and it even saw a little play during Cities.  However, the novelty of the deck has worn off, and its play has dropped off.

Now the big EXs are here and they stand to reinvigorate Ross Deck.  Ross Deck was good because it could take a hit and then redistribute it among the bench.  Now not only do you have a couple 180 HP Pokemon to use to keep damage counters on, but you can use one of them to take a hit.   It will now be almost impossible to beat Ross Deck once it sets up.  It will still be a slow deck that is vulnerable to a bad start in an increasingly fast format, but the deck did get a lot better, and here is how.

The deck will get a lot of great 180 HP Pokemon, like Regigigas EX, Reshiram EX, Kyurem EX, and Zekrom EX.  I think the best Pokemon to use in this deck is Kyurem and Regigigas.  I think that instead of Donphan, Machamp, or Steelix; you can just use Kyurem.  Kyurem can sit there, hit for 120, and take a hit, while Ross deck does what it does best.  You also have Regigigas that can be used in the right situation for a knockout.  I can see a person running 3 Kyurem EXs and 1 Regiggas.  The stadium Pokemon Center is also a perfect fit for this deck.  This will make it even easier to get rid of damage.

How it will change– Sure Kyurem is slower than Donphan, but it requires less deck space and can hit a lot harder.  Unless you play a deck with Steelix Prime, Scizor Prime, or Conalion Nv you will probably never lose a Kyurem.  It is very hard to get rid of a Kyurem EX without using weakness.  The deck might get even a little slower, but it will also hit harder and become even more defensive.  The weak point of this deck has always been the setup, and this set does nothing to help that, but it does maximize the deck in a lot other areas.  I am not exactly sure if ND will make Ross Deck the best around, but it should make it appear on a couple of top tables around states time.  Players of this deck will need to address the Durant problem, but if they can handle that it should be smooth sailing for this deck.

Well that is all I got, good luck to you for all your state testings.

So Long and Thanks for all the fish!

Battle Video

Variety is the Spice of Life. Donphan/Yanmega vs. Reshiboar

Misnos 7 Comments

[youtube width=”494″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcaQelmixOk[/youtube]

Variation is the spice of life, and apparently Pokémon too. Once you have found something that works you always should ask yourself, “What can make this better?” and from there,  seek perfection. This does not mean you are going to find what you are looking for, but I truly believe that if you are not constantly trying to get better or reaching for something higher, you will never get to where you want. While this may seem over the top, these same ambitious ideas can easily translate to Pokémon. From our last video/article, we have pondered this concept and thought long and hard for other alternatives that can possibly improve on the two decks we last tested. In this article we will outline one possible alternative for each of our decks we wrote about last time. Following the process of editing and re-editing a deck list may help others see an alternative way of deck creation.

We will begin with Kyle as we did in the last article for a bit of consistency. This week in play testing I have opted for a Donphan Prime/Yanmega Prime variant that I received from a member at our league. Instead of the Machamp Prime, which was a slow set-up heavy hitter, Yanmega prime is used as a quick attacker. Along with Yanmega Prime comes the ability to add a bit of disruption in the form of Judge and Slowking (Second Sight). Read More

Deck Discussion

Deck Analysis: Can You do the Fandango? Reshiram and Emboar (Reshiboar).

Pikkdogs 10 Comments

Ok, this is just another Reshiboar deck, but I think the Reshiboar name is, well,  a little Reshi-boring.  The Queen Reference is much better.

A big hello to all you OHKOers out there, this is Pikkdogs here with another deck analysis.  This deck is one of the most popular in the new format.  In this article I will analyze the deck and share my list.

The Goal of the Deck?

Well the goal is obvious, you have a 130 HP Pokemon in Reshiram, and it can do 120 damage a turn, the goal of this deck is to get Reshiram out as fast as possible and keep him hitting for 120 for as long as possible. Reshiram does discard 2 fire energies a turn with his “Blue Flame “attack.  To replace those fire energies this deck uses Emboar BW.  Emboar has the “Inferno Fandango” Ability, which lets you attach as many fire energies as you want to whatever Pokemon you want.  The strategy of this deck is simple.  Get an Emboar quickly to load up Reshiram.  Then keep using the fire energies to replace the ones that Reshiram that discarded.

If Reshiram has absorbed a hit, there is no need to attach more than 2 energies to him, because his “Outrage” attack does 20 damage plus the amount of damage that is on Reshiram.  So if your opponent only does 90 damage to Reshiram, next turn Reshiram can do 110 damage for only 2 energies!  It may not seem like that great of an attack, but from my testing the “Outrage” attack is probably the best thing about this deck.  Most decks only run Reshiram as an attacker, there is really no need for a secondary attacker.

Some people like to play this deck with a draw engine.  One of the more popular draw engines is Ninetails HGSS.  Ninetails has the “Roast Reveal” Poke-Power which lets you discard a fire energy and draw 3 cards.  This is a good draw engine because drawing 3 cards is always a good thing, and you are already running cards that let you get fire energies from the discard pile.  The problem with Ninetails is that it is hard to get a stage 1 Pokemon out, and you need those fire energies to load up Reshiram.  Another draw engine that is used in this deck is the Shuckle Promo.  Whenever you attach an energy to Shuckle, you may draw a card thanks to his “Fermented Liquid” Poke-Body.  Some people try to use Super Scoop Ups and Seekers to keep on drawing cards.  Personally, I do not like to use any draw engine in this deck.  I feel that Ninetails hurts consistency too much, and that the deck is too slow to have Shuckle.  It seems like if you are lucky enough to draw a fire energy, you need to attach it to Reshiram.

How to Play It.

A lot of people like to start the game with a starting Pokemon like Cleffa HGSS, Stantler Ud, or Smeargle Cl.  Since it will take a long time for you to get a Reshiram fully powered, it is nice to get a Pokemon that will help you setup.  You can either use Stantler to get more Basic Pokemon, or get Smeargle or Cleffa to help refresh your hand.  I prefer to use Cleffa because it is more consistent than Smeargle.

After using your starter for a couple turns, it is now time to start loading up Reshiram.  It is also very important to get Emboar going.  If you can get a quick Emboar, you have a really good chance of winning.  The worst part of the Reshiboar deck is the fact that it could be inconsistent in getting Emboar out.  If you are able to get Emboar out you will be in the catbird seat.

Why Its So Good.

Reshiram is not a fast deck, it has some struggles with consistency, and it is more high maintenance than Paris Hilton, but its still probably the best deck.  This is because it is very hard to OHKO Reshiram.  Imagine this scenario, Reshiram probably got a knock out the last turn, and if you cannot knock it out this turn, it will just use “Outrage” to knock out another Pokemon.  This means that Reshiram basically takes 2 prizes for every prize the opponent take.  The large HP and damage output makes sure that it will be one of the best decks in the next format.

The Future of “Can You do the Fandango”.

As I mentioned, this deck will be one of the best decks in the HGSS-on format.  Unless you can OHKO Reshiram or lock it in some way, you will not be able to beat this deck.  It is a deck that hits really hard and will be able to run over most other decks.  It should be one of the better decks going into Nationals, if the rotation is announced on June 1st.  In my testing, the only deck that has a real chance against it are water decks and Lost Zone decks.  It seems pretty certain that you can count on this deck being great for a while.

How to Play Against It.

There are two ways to play against this deck: OHKO Reshiram or lock it in some way.  We will first look at ways to knock out Reshiram in one hit.

The easiest way to knock out Reshiram is to do 70 damage to it with a water Pokemon.  There are not a lot of good water Pokemon around these days.  As far as attackers go, the only one that is being talked about is Blastoise UD.  Blastoise can snipe for 100 damage for 4 energies, and you have to return 2 energies to your hand.  This doesn’t really work against Reshiram too well.  One Pokemon that nobody is talking about, but I like, is Alomomola BW.  Its attack “Hydro Pump” does 40 damage for CCC, but it does 10 more damage for each water energy attached.  So, if you attach 3 water energies to him (you can use Feraligatr Prime), you can do 70 damage (140 to Reshiram).

You can also use Pokemon that can attack for more than 130 to get a knock out.  Mismagius CL can do 30 damage for each trainer your opponent has in his/her hand.  That means that your opponent needs 7 trainers/supporters/stadiums for a knock out.  Reshiram, Raichu Prime, Jumpluff, and Zoroark can do 120 damage each, so you will just need a Plus Power to get a knock out.  Rayquaza/Deoxys Legend can do 150 damage for 4 energies, so that is a decent option.  Lugia Legend can do 200 damage, but you need to discard 3 energies.  There are a couple more like Magmortar, but those are the big ones.

You can also try to lock Reshiboar down in someway.  One way that I have tried is to use Slowking Cl to try to control your opponent’s top decks.  If you block your opponent’s ability to get energy, you will be able to slow down Reshiboar. If you can disrupt your opponent so they can’t get cards like Fisherman or Energy Retrieval, they will not be able to consistently attack.   You could also try to find someway to make a card like Shuckle or Ninetails active.  There is yet no real way to do this, but Im sure something will come up in later sets, like Pokemon Catcher.  There is also a chance for early disruption before your oppoenent can get Emboar out.  If you could make a post-rotation version of Sablelock, it will be very effective.  The trouble is almost 100% of the Sablelock deck will soon rotate out.

Deck List

I will now give you guys a decklist for this list.  i must warn you that this list is far from perfect, it is just a jumping off point for your testing.  Again, if you think I have screwed up on this decklist, I agree, this is not my nationals decklist, it is just a rough list.

Pokemon-14

  • 2- Emboar #20
  • 2-Pignite #19 (I prefer #19, if you like the other one it wouldn’t be a bad play) 
  • 2-Tepig
  • 4-Cleffa
  • 4-Reshiram

Trainers-31

  • 2-Energy Retrieval
  • 2-Fisherman
  • 2-Interviewers Questions
  • 4-Juniper
  • 3-Twins (To take advantage when Cleffa gets knocked out)
  • 2-Elms
  • 3-Pont
  • 4-Pokemon Collector
  • 2-Revive
  • 4-Pokemon Communication
  • 3-Plus Power

Energy-15

  • Fire-15

Final Impressions

I think that this deck could be a real powerhouse in the coming format, at least until Pokemon Catcher is released anyway.   I think there is a good chance it will be the most popular deck at Nationals.  Im not sure it will dominate as much as Luxchomp has, but you will need to know how to play against it.

So what do you guys think of this deck?  Is it as good as I have hyped it up as?  How would you play against it?  Please leave your thoughts about this deck in the comment box.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

You Missed

Freeplaytech

New Handheld Retro Video Game System For You Pokemon Fans

Trouble With Robots

iOS/Android Collectible Card Game, Trouble With Robots

Trouble With Robots

New Card Game – Trouble With Robots – iOS/Android

OneHitKO.com Budget Challenge

OHKO Budget Challenge: Round Two (Fight!)