Straight Luxray GL – Testing Results

A few days ago Adam and I played a few games, his Luxray GL/Golem 4 deck versus my more or less straight Luxray GL. By “straight” Luxray I mean the deck is based mainly around him. I decided to test this versus Adam’s deck mainly to see if Golem 4 along with Technical Machine G would give him a major advantage in the mirror match.

Here’s the list I used:

Pokémon

3 Luxray GL
1 Luxray GL LV.X
2 Baltoy GE
2 Claydol GE
1 Uxie L.55 LA
1 Unown G GE
1 Crobat G PT
1 Toxicroak G PT
1 Toxicroak G DI
1 Skuntank G PT
1 Bronzong G PT
1 Azelf L.55 LA

Trainers

4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
4 TG’s Invention Power Spray
4 TG’s Invention Pokéturn
4 TG’s Invention Energy Gain
4 Roseanne’s Research
3 Bebe’s Search
2 TG’s Invention SP Radar
2 Lake Boundary
2 Sunyshore City Gym
2 Night Maintenance
1 Luxury Ball

Energy

6 L
4 Call
2 P

Luxray LV.X Rising Rivals RR 109 Pokemon Card

Just a few explanations about the list. Toxicroak G PT is the anti-Machamp card. Once it’s KO’d, it can be retrieved up to 2 times with the 2 Night Maintenance.

Lake Boundary and Sunyshore City Gym – Whenever I KO a Pokémon with Luxray and I’m against another SP deck, I try to play Sunyshore City Gym so Luxray can’t get KO’d in return by an opponent’s promo Toxicroak G. Then when the opponent uses their Luxray, I drop the Lake Boundary to take out the Sunyshore, so my own promo Toxicroak G can KO their Luxray.

We played 3 games, and I won the first 2. In those 2 games I started with Luxray as my Active Pokémon, which is the ideal start for this deck in my opinion.

I mainly tried to take out his Baltoy early with Bright Look followed by Flash Impact to keep him from drawing many cards. Sometimes that didn’t work though due to his Power Sprays. I tried to avoid leaving Luxray active without a Sunyshore City Gym in play. Otherwise it would be in danger from a Golem 4 1HKO.

Once Adam KO’d one of my Pokémon, I would try to return the KO with Toxicroak Promo, then if Toxicroak got damaged the following turn I would attempt its Pokémon Power to bring it back to my hand. Technical Machine G was SO annoying. You might say that Luxray’s Bright Look does almost the same thing as Technical Machine G; after all with either card you can damage any Pokémon in play. That’s true, but Technical Machine G is not power dependant, so that’s something I couldn’t Power Spray! Once his Golem collected a good bit of damage he’d bring it up and KO my Claydol with Damage Porter. From testing these games it made me think that Technical Machine G is a very underrated card. I can see a combo developing with that card and Luxray: gust up a Pokémon with a heavy Retreat Cost (like Claydol), then demolish the opponent’s Bench!

I believe all of our games were very close and went down to the last prize. Be sure to comment below!

Reader Interactions

79 replies

  1. kwisdumb

    Nice article!

    I’d recommend the following to the list…

    -1 Baltoy
    -1 Claydol
    -1 Toxicroak G PT
    -1 Skuntank G

    +1 Uxie
    +1 Unown G
    +1 Dialga G
    +1 Dialga G Lv. X

    I’ve played this deck extensively, and another idea is to add Quagsire PT so that you can bounce the Flash Impact damage off of it. I’m not sure how I’d fit that in your line, though.

    Again, nice article!

    • jermy101  → kwisdumb

      I think 1/1 Claydol could work but I’m afraid it might be difficult to get out, and if Baltoy or Claydol got KO’d it would probably have to be Night Maintenanced again.

      I agree that Dialga G would help a lot. Mewtwo LV.X wouldn’t be a big problem anymore, and Nidoqueen RR wouldn’t be a threat. I have a hard time versus that guy because of Luxray’s relatively low damage, which can just get healed off.

      I like Quagsire in here. Mostly I targeted the Flash Impact damage to Claydol and Crobat G, but that put them in danger of a KO, so Quagsire could come in handy.

      Thanks for the comments, kwisdumb!

      • kwisdumb  → jermy101

        True about Claydol, adding in the extra Uxie kind of makes up for it though, in my mind.

        Yeah, it seems like Dialga G is something that is losing popularity as far as the main focus of a deck, but I personally wouldn’t run an SP deck without it, just out of fear of getting Mewtwo’d.

        Yeah, Quagsire is becoming less needed because you have a lot of Pokes (Uxie, Crobat, etc.) that aren’t doing a whole lot and can take 1-2 hits of Flash Impact.

        Also, an Aaron’s isn’t too bad if an idea. I’m personally trying out a Flint’s right now in LuxApe, just to be able to attach 2 energy per turn (3 with Gain), speeding things up quite a bit.

  2. Dave Hueglin

    Excellent article. I really like the strategic use of Stadiums to try and maximize their benefit to you and minimize their benefit to your opponent. I think that’s really the key to Stadium use as so many of them appear, on the surface, to benefit both players equally.

    • jermy101  → Dave

      Thanks Dave! Something that makes the Stadiums even more effective is most Pokemon SP decks usually don’t use them unless they contain Skuntank G. They don’t want to “waste” space fitting them in.

  3. Mike Qua

    Great article! Although, I don’t know what Promo Toxicroak G does because bulbapedia is not working at the moment.

    I agree with Dave. Stadiums are now really popular because of the SP decks…and I believe the key use of stadiums are the first turn you play it. Playing it at the right time can win or cost you the game. Playing first gives you the advantage because you get to use it’s power first.

    Damage porter is really good! When I tested my Luxray GL, I didn’t think about it >_< Bench picking seems really good!

  4. Adam Capriola

    I’ll comment cause I played versus this…it seems pretty decent, the stadiums were really what make it tick IMO. W/o the stadiums I don’t think it would be nearly as good.

    Also I would take out 1 Night Maintenance for an Aaron’s Collection, I really like that card.

  5. Mike Qua

    Great article! Although, I don’t know what Promo Toxicroak G does because bulbapedia is not working at the moment.

    I agree with Dave. Stadiums are now really popular because of the SP decks…and I believe the key use of stadiums are the first turn you play it. Playing it at the right time can win or cost you the game. Playing first gives you the advantage because you get to use it’s power first.

    Damage porter is really good! When I tested my Luxray GL, I didn’t think about it >_< Bench picking seems really good!

  6. BiskitFoo

    Pokemon (19)
    3 Luxray GL
    1 Luxray GL LV.X
    2 Baltoy GE
    2 Claydol GE
    2 Uxie L.55 LA
    1 Uxie Lv. X
    2 Unown G GE
    3 Crobat G PT
    1 Toxicroak G PT
    1 Skuntank G PT
    1 Azelf L.55 LA

    Trainers (30)
    4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
    3 TG’s Invention Power Spray
    4 TG’s Invention Pokéturn
    4 TG’s Invention Energy Gain
    3 Roseanne’s Research
    3 Bebe’s Search
    2 TG’s Invention SP Radar
    4 Sunyshore City Gym
    2 Night Maintenance
    1 Luxury Ball

    Energy (11)
    5 Lightning Energy
    4 Call Energy
    1 SP Energy
    1 Psychic Energy

    That was my list before I opted out of using it at Nationals. It was more equipped to take on Machamp.

    • Adam Capriola  → BiskitFoo

      That’s a nice looking list Biskit, it definitely looks like it could take Machamp. I would take 1 NM out for an Aaron’s in your list like I would in Jeremy’s, but it looks really good!

    • jermy101  → BiskitFoo

      Nice list BiskitFoo. I gotta say in my games versus Kingdra, I don’t think I would’ve won without Lake Boundary, so maybe you could take out 1 or 2 Sunyshore for them.

    • jermy101  → BiskitFoo

      Nice list BiskitFoo. I gotta say in my games versus Kingdra, I don’t think I would’ve won without Lake Boundary, so maybe you could take out 1 or 2 Sunyshore for them.

  7. BiskitFoo

    Pokemon (19)
    3 Luxray GL
    1 Luxray GL LV.X
    2 Baltoy GE
    2 Claydol GE
    2 Uxie L.55 LA
    1 Uxie Lv. X
    2 Unown G GE
    3 Crobat G PT
    1 Toxicroak G PT
    1 Skuntank G PT
    1 Azelf L.55 LA

    Trainers (30)
    4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
    3 TG’s Invention Power Spray
    4 TG’s Invention Pokéturn
    4 TG’s Invention Energy Gain
    3 Roseanne’s Research
    3 Bebe’s Search
    2 TG’s Invention SP Radar
    4 Sunyshore City Gym
    2 Night Maintenance
    1 Luxury Ball

    Energy (11)
    5 Lightning Energy
    4 Call Energy
    1 SP Energy
    1 Psychic Energy

    That was my list before I opted out of using it at Nationals. It was more equipped to take on Machamp.

  8. Adam Capriola

    I’ll comment cause I played versus this…it seems pretty decent, the stadiums were really what make it tick IMO. W/o the stadiums I don’t think it would be nearly as good.

    Also I would take out 1 Night Maintenance for an Aaron’s Collection, I really like that card.

  9. Adam Capriola

    I’ll comment cause I played versus this…it seems pretty decent, the stadiums were really what make it tick IMO. W/o the stadiums I don’t think it would be nearly as good.

    Also I would take out 1 Night Maintenance for an Aaron’s Collection, I really like that card.

  10. Brian Jessing

    I think you could get away with 4 call, 4 lighting, 1 pychic, and 3 sp energy. I also think that champ scoops more easily to crobat/g and uxie attack rather then toxicroak, which can still be OHKOed by 3 heads and requires the skuntank and stadium in play to work. I would drop those two guys for another uxie and another crobat. I would also drop a cyrus for a another sp radar.

    • jermy101  → Brian

      Good point Brian. I used that Crobat/Unown G/Uxie trick in my deck at Nationals. For anyone that doesn’t know what that is, you do Uxie’s Psychic Restore for 50 damage and put it at the bottom of the deck, putting a Crobat G with Unown G attached in its place. Machamp will need 4 heads on Hurricane Punch to OHKO it due to its fighting resistance. If it gets 3 or less heads, Crobat can be poketurned and the cycle repeated. But still, that combo didn’t work too well for me. Uxie is only doing 50 damage which is a 3HKO on Machamp… eventually I’d run out of Poketurns.

  11. Brian Jessing

    I think you could get away with 4 call, 4 lighting, 1 pychic, and 3 sp energy. I also think that champ scoops more easily to crobat/g and uxie attack rather then toxicroak, which can still be OHKOed by 3 heads and requires the skuntank and stadium in play to work. I would drop those two guys for another uxie and another crobat. I would also drop a cyrus for a another sp radar.

    • jermy101  → Brian

      Good point Brian. I used that Crobat/Unown G/Uxie trick in my deck at Nationals. For anyone that doesn’t know what that is, you do Uxie’s Psychic Restore for 50 damage and put it at the bottom of the deck, putting a Crobat G with Unown G attached in its place. Machamp will need 4 heads on Hurricane Punch to OHKO it due to its fighting resistance. If it gets 3 or less heads, Crobat can be poketurned and the cycle repeated. But still, that combo didn’t work too well for me. Uxie is only doing 50 damage which is a 3HKO on Machamp… eventually I’d run out of Poketurns.

    • jermy101  → Brian

      Good point Brian. I used that Crobat/Unown G/Uxie trick in my deck at Nationals. For anyone that doesn’t know what that is, you do Uxie’s Psychic Restore for 50 damage and put it at the bottom of the deck, putting a Crobat G with Unown G attached in its place. Machamp will need 4 heads on Hurricane Punch to OHKO it due to its fighting resistance. If it gets 3 or less heads, Crobat can be poketurned and the cycle repeated. But still, that combo didn’t work too well for me. Uxie is only doing 50 damage which is a 3HKO on Machamp… eventually I’d run out of Poketurns.

  12. I don’t think 4 spray is necessary, just because there are a lot of cards to fit in.

    I also think you should squeeze in something like Cynthia’s Feelings, Aaron’s Collection, and maybe a Warp Point?

  13. Adam Capriola

    I like the Power Spray in this to stop Uxies. Luxray will take out Baltoys, so their only other option will be Uxie, and if you are able to Spray that, then your opponent will be in quite a precarious situation.

  14. bendingspoons1

    you should prolly dumb the night maintenance’s for one aaron’s and maybe add a 4th spray…I agree with adam that usign 4 spray is the way to go.

  15. bendingspoons1

    you should prolly dumb the night maintenance’s for one aaron’s and maybe add a 4th spray…I agree with adam that usign 4 spray is the way to go.

  16. alex d

    Considered Manectric here?

    It clearly works, with a 2nd place at Nationals behind it… it is clunky, yes, but could actually be used to attack vs Gengar (KO’ing multiple Gengars with its attack on a non-main attacker is solid), and will get rid of the 20/20 spread in Luxape… a HUGE part of how Luxape works.

    At the least, I think 1 Quagsire is needed…
    Crobats can be targeted, yes, but it adds up quite alot, leaving a lot of your Pokemon very vulnerable to sniping.

  17. Adam Capriola

    Jeremy used this against me today 5 more games, I don’t know what list he used but it ran fairly well. Actually he may have used the exactly same list as above…I dunno he’ll write another post about it soon.

    Yoyo, yah Manectric sounds legit for the reasons you stated. I guess considerations to weigh are whether those tech Pokemon help more than Manectric would, because those are what you would take out for it.

    The techs Jeremy used undoubtedly are better against non-SP decks than SP decks, so Manectric may be better for the future. However, using those extra SP Pokemon makes Power Spray more potent, which is another thing to think about. I don’t even know if the Manny version uses Power Spray, I haven’t seen a list but we’ll work on it soon.

  18. alex d

    It probably uses at least a couple of Power Spray, I can’t stand any SP deck without at least 2.

  19. alex d

    Considered Manectric here?

    It clearly works, with a 2nd place at Nationals behind it… it is clunky, yes, but could actually be used to attack vs Gengar (KO’ing multiple Gengars with its attack on a non-main attacker is solid), and will get rid of the 20/20 spread in Luxape… a HUGE part of how Luxape works.

    At the least, I think 1 Quagsire is needed…
    Crobats can be targeted, yes, but it adds up quite alot, leaving a lot of your Pokemon very vulnerable to sniping.

  20. alex d

    Considered Manectric here?

    It clearly works, with a 2nd place at Nationals behind it… it is clunky, yes, but could actually be used to attack vs Gengar (KO’ing multiple Gengars with its attack on a non-main attacker is solid), and will get rid of the 20/20 spread in Luxape… a HUGE part of how Luxape works.

    At the least, I think 1 Quagsire is needed…
    Crobats can be targeted, yes, but it adds up quite alot, leaving a lot of your Pokemon very vulnerable to sniping.

  21. Adam Capriola

    Jeremy used this against me today 5 more games, I don’t know what list he used but it ran fairly well. Actually he may have used the exactly same list as above…I dunno he’ll write another post about it soon.

    Yoyo, yah Manectric sounds legit for the reasons you stated. I guess considerations to weigh are whether those tech Pokemon help more than Manectric would, because those are what you would take out for it.

    The techs Jeremy used undoubtedly are better against non-SP decks than SP decks, so Manectric may be better for the future. However, using those extra SP Pokemon makes Power Spray more potent, which is another thing to think about. I don’t even know if the Manny version uses Power Spray, I haven’t seen a list but we’ll work on it soon.

  22. Adam Capriola

    Jeremy used this against me today 5 more games, I don’t know what list he used but it ran fairly well. Actually he may have used the exactly same list as above…I dunno he’ll write another post about it soon.

    Yoyo, yah Manectric sounds legit for the reasons you stated. I guess considerations to weigh are whether those tech Pokemon help more than Manectric would, because those are what you would take out for it.

    The techs Jeremy used undoubtedly are better against non-SP decks than SP decks, so Manectric may be better for the future. However, using those extra SP Pokemon makes Power Spray more potent, which is another thing to think about. I don’t even know if the Manny version uses Power Spray, I haven’t seen a list but we’ll work on it soon.

  23. alex d

    It probably uses at least a couple of Power Spray, I can’t stand any SP deck without at least 2.

  24. alex d

    It probably uses at least a couple of Power Spray, I can’t stand any SP deck without at least 2.

  25. jermy101

    I like Manectric in here. I originally had it in my straight Luxray a few months back, but I’d get a little worse draws than I do now due to finding space for it. But yeah, blocking spread (especially the greatness that is Technical Machine G) makes Manectric enticing.

    Yep, I used the same list as above in our games yesterday.

  26. alex d

    Oh yeah, forgot about TM G when I thought about Manectric… Do most people use TM G in SP decks?

    • jermy101  → alex

      Nope I don’t think so, but 1 or 2 as a tech couldn’t hurt since it can really surprise the opponent.

  27. jermy101

    I like Manectric in here. I originally had it in my straight Luxray a few months back, but I’d get a little worse draws than I do now due to finding space for it. But yeah, blocking spread (especially the greatness that is Technical Machine G) makes Manectric enticing.

    Yep, I used the same list as above in our games yesterday.

  28. jermy101

    I like Manectric in here. I originally had it in my straight Luxray a few months back, but I’d get a little worse draws than I do now due to finding space for it. But yeah, blocking spread (especially the greatness that is Technical Machine G) makes Manectric enticing.

    Yep, I used the same list as above in our games yesterday.

  29. alex d

    Oh yeah, forgot about TM G when I thought about Manectric… Do most people use TM G in SP decks?

    • jermy101  → alex

      Nope I don’t think so, but 1 or 2 as a tech couldn’t hurt since it can really surprise the opponent.

    • jermy101  → alex

      Nope I don’t think so, but 1 or 2 as a tech couldn’t hurt since it can really surprise the opponent.

  30. alex d

    Oh yeah, forgot about TM G when I thought about Manectric… Do most people use TM G in SP decks?

  31. Dennis Hawk

    I’d say drop the Lake Boundaries for Lucario GL and third Sunnyshore.

    Lucario GL would increase the odds of drawing an all-important double weakness against likes of Machamp and Kingdra. It also counts as Pokémon SP, so you would be able to double the weaknesses easily with Bebe, Roseanne or SP Radar.

    Though Tyranitar is gone and forgotten due to faster decks appearing, Lucario can also OHKO one with 3 or more energies. Bronzong + SP Energy = win.

    Sure Lucario has some flaws, like being a bench space hog (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing due to Power Spray usage), but Sunyshore + Lucario seems like a winning combination to take on likes of Machamp, Kingdra and some other SPs teching Toxicroak G promo…

  32. Dennis Hawk

    I’d say drop the Lake Boundaries for Lucario GL and third Sunnyshore.

    Lucario GL would increase the odds of drawing an all-important double weakness against likes of Machamp and Kingdra. It also counts as Pokémon SP, so you would be able to double the weaknesses easily with Bebe, Roseanne or SP Radar.

    Though Tyranitar is gone and forgotten due to faster decks appearing, Lucario can also OHKO one with 3 or more energies. Bronzong + SP Energy = win.

    Sure Lucario has some flaws, like being a bench space hog (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing due to Power Spray usage), but Sunyshore + Lucario seems like a winning combination to take on likes of Machamp, Kingdra and some other SPs teching Toxicroak G promo…

  33. Stigma

    I do agree that Lucario GL >>>>> Lake boundary in most SP decks. It also opens up Sunnyshore usage, which can be invaluable. Lucario GL promo is appearing EVERYWHERE now, with Luxray GL’s rise in popularity, so Sunnyshore is becoming a better and better card to have in play.

    Combo Throw can also be AMAZING against quite a few pokemon. Definitely worth having in.

  34. Stigma

    I do agree that Lucario GL >>>>> Lake boundary in most SP decks. It also opens up Sunnyshore usage, which can be invaluable. Lucario GL promo is appearing EVERYWHERE now, with Luxray GL’s rise in popularity, so Sunnyshore is becoming a better and better card to have in play.

    Combo Throw can also be AMAZING against quite a few pokemon. Definitely worth having in.

  35. jermy101

    Good points about the Lucario GL vs Lake Boundary. Increasing the Sunyshore count should help more versus those fighting type twats. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll try that out!

  36. Adam Capriola

    If Lucario and Sunyshore are out at the same time, lightning weakness is still eliminated, correct? I know part of the strategy of this deck was to make use of the Toxicroak promo against Luxray GL’s, you would lose that potential if you take Lake Boundary out.

  37. alex d

    Yeah, coming up with a counter when Sunyshore is out is SO ROUGH.

  38. jermy101

    Good points about the Lucario GL vs Lake Boundary. Increasing the Sunyshore count should help more versus those fighting type twats. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll try that out!

  39. jermy101

    Good points about the Lucario GL vs Lake Boundary. Increasing the Sunyshore count should help more versus those fighting type twats. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll try that out!

  40. Adam Capriola

    If Lucario and Sunyshore are out at the same time, lightning weakness is still eliminated, correct? I know part of the strategy of this deck was to make use of the Toxicroak promo against Luxray GL’s, you would lose that potential if you take Lake Boundary out.

  41. alex d

    Yeah, coming up with a counter when Sunyshore is out is SO ROUGH.

  42. Phillip McKay

    If you are worried about getting bench hit, play Manectric PT. It also gets rid of the need to worry about Flash Impact’s impact on your playing style.

  43. Phillip McKay

    If you are worried about getting bench hit, play Manectric PT. It also gets rid of the need to worry about Flash Impact’s impact on your playing style.

  44. mewuk85

    i like reading these old articles, luxray looks like people tested it alot to get it where its at now.

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