Porygon-Z is one of the more interesting Pokémon cards out at the moment, and I had the pleasure of playing against a super solid deck based around it last week at Battle Roads.
The strategy is extremely straightforward: get Technical Machines in play and attack with Overload for a lot of damage (up to 200 with 8 TMs attached). This strategy is heavily aided by Porygon-Z LV.X, who lets you search your deck for any two cards and put them on top via its “Decode” Pokémon Power. These two cards are then easily drawn that same turn with Claydol’s “Cosmic Power”. Essentially, you have have a double Computer Search at your disposal every turn.
Porygon 2 also helps with set up and speed via its “Download” Pokémon Power. This Power can also be easily used to take advantage of some Supporters that you may not normally play, just because of the 1 per turn restriction.
Examples of Supporters that would be good to take advantage of could include Marley’s Request, Cyrus’s Initiative, Lucian’s Assignment, Buck’s Training, Team Galactic’s Wager, etc… There is room for creativity here, so Porygon can be played a bunch of different ways, it just depends on your personal preference.
Here is a sample list based of the version I played against last week:
|
Pokémon-20 4 Porygon GE 2 Porygon 2 GE 3 Porygon-Z DP-35 1 Porygon-Z LV.X MD 2 Baltoy GE 2 Claydol GE 2 Uxie LA 1 Azelf LA 1 Chatot MD 2 Unown G GE |
T/S/S-29 4 Roseanne’s Research 4 Bebe’s Search 1 Luxury Ball 2 Cynthia’s Feelings 2 Marley’s Request 4 Rare Candy 2 Broken Time-Space 2 Night Maintenance 4 Technical Machine TS-1 4 Technical Machine TS-2 |
Energy-11 3 F 2 P 4 Call 2 Cyclone |
That list is admittedly very vanilla, but it will at least give you some structure to work with if you want to tech it out and make it your own.
I want to note that this is in all likelihood the ONLY time I would ever use Marley’s Request. It actually is decent here because you can make your opponent choose between TM TS-1 and TM TS-2, which are essentially the same card.
I would really like to test Porygon (along with like 20 other decks), but I have just been so busy lately. Once I do get a chance to fool with it, I will post an updated list and some matchup analysis.
What do you think about Porygon-Z? Do you have any suggestions for the list? How would you play it? Let’s get some discussion going. :)
Where’s the VS Seekers?
Ah, porygon Z. I feel like this is a deck I want to like more than I actually do. Maybe it’s just because I think he looks cool or that his abilities are unique, I’m not quite sure! In the long run, Porygon Z is a “good” deck. It can win smaller tournaments but it needs quite a streak of luck to win bigger events like states and beyond. So-called professional analysts of the game would call Pory-Z a “tier 2” deck, but I hate putting anything in tiers because any deck can beat any deck at any given time just through the factor of luck.
What do I like about this deck? I like its flygon matchup! The colorless weakness is just one sweet bonus. The other is using one of Pory-ZX’s powers, “mode crash” I think it’s called, to discard all of your opponent’s special energies. Flygon, being very heavy on upper and call energy, can lose a lot of energy in one level X drop! You still have to watch out for machamp techs, but overall it’s a matchup in your favor most of the time.
But beyond that, the deck has a ton of pluses going for it. Here’s just a couple:
+ compatibility with upper energy
+ combination of Pory ZX’s second power with claydol, essentially using a double pokedrawer
every turn.
+ room for techs of different types because of his colorless type
+ fast setup through abuse of porygon 2’s “download” pokepower
+ the neat trick of actually using your tms as attacks, especially devoluter
On paper porygon Z is one of the best decks in the game, but a couple things weigh him down–
– the loss of 8 spots in your deck needed to fit in all the TMS
– the need for TMS in your hand/field in order to deal decent damage
– the weakness to Machamp, a popular flygon tech
– the huge lack of power this deck has vs. power locks
A youngun’ from Illinois named Kevin made this deck near the end of his first year at masters. He did a couple of neat things including using a 1-0-1 dusknoir tech, running Looker’s Investigation, and using the techs pokeblower AND pokehealer for easy access through the combo of PoryZX’s second power and claydol. He went an impressive 7-1 in 2009 Nationals swiss, and was also the only person to defeat the would-be champion Kyle S. aka “pooka” in swiss rounds. Kevin ended up losing to PalkiaG lock in top cut because of the deck’s poor matchup vs. power locking.
So that’s all I’ve got on the deck. It’s really interesting and can have the all-powerful “surprise factor” vs. an area that has never seen the deck before. It has plenty of options, it’s fun, and it has some good matchups– but oftentimes I feel like taking 8 spaces out of your deck for a mandatory attack is too big of a sacrifice.
Okay, lets see if I can finally post again, as every time I try the site crashes and all of the text I write goes away…..;/ Anyways, well thought out post but alot of flaws. For starters, given flygons enormous popularity, and the fact that flygon beats most of the format relatively easily, and the fact that z absolutely wrecks flygon/weavile, flygon/queen/palkia, and flygon/machamp (which the deck beats any machamp variant pretty soundly), pushes porygon up to that “tier 1” status.
As for a few of the cons you listed, “wasting” space for those 8 tms doesn’t lower your consistancy, espically when 1/2 of them can allow you to get t2 porygon Z/claydol relatively often. The weakness to machamp is actually not a factor at all, since they 2 shot you with take out, which isn’t a big deal if you are behind and run ssu (idk why you wouldn’t…lol), you should be able to deal with that machamp and clear the energy off the board to prevent a rage OHKO. The biggest reason why champ doesn’t beat porygon, is unless you’re running the x (I’ve seen less and less champs running the X), Z actually goes OHKO vs. 2 shots, barring alot of flips going the machamp’s way. As for power locking, only palkia lock can even do that reasonably well against Z, and unless they’re packing lucario+toxicroak, it doesn’t really matter how much you lock Z, because it still has plenty of ways around the power lock (evoluter, mewtwo stall, volkner’s, ect.), and once that t5-6 comes around, Z explodes with upper, 2-3 tms, and then drawing 1/3rd of the deck. Well, at least my list does…lol
As for the list posted, running candy to skip over the amazingly broken 2 is a huge mistake. Jumping into the stage 2 early game has no real benefit, while being able to use multiple bebe’s/rose’s/volkner’s the first turns gets you set-up for the rest of the game. Playing Cynthia’s>volkner’s leaves you completely vunerable to a power spray, and cynthia’s doesn’t draw straight from the top, giving it less compadability with decode than volkner’s. One of the things I’ve noticed with Z is, unless you don’t run SSU/warp point, playing G is completely useless (it doesn’t save you from gengar, so there is no point in trying to counter an auto-lose). Finally, I don’t like the “vanilla” list given here because it doesn’t look like it could rush very well, nor recovery from a fast start from the opponet, something that Z should be able to do very easily.
This list is just based off of a Porygon I played at Battle Roads, I have been busy and have not got a chance to test it myself.
You’re welcome to post a better list if you know more about the deck. :)
What a detailed reply! I love reading your posts, they’re so descriptive and informational! Haha.
Ah, porygon Z. I feel like this is a deck I want to like more than I actually do. Maybe it’s just because I think he looks cool or that his abilities are unique, I’m not quite sure! In the long run, Porygon Z is a “good” deck. It can win smaller tournaments but it needs quite a streak of luck to win bigger events like states and beyond. So-called professional analysts of the game would call Pory-Z a “tier 2” deck, but I hate putting anything in tiers because any deck can beat any deck at any given time just through the factor of luck.
What do I like about this deck? I like its flygon matchup! The colorless weakness is just one sweet bonus. The other is using one of Pory-ZX’s powers, “mode crash” I think it’s called, to discard all of your opponent’s special energies. Flygon, being very heavy on upper and call energy, can lose a lot of energy in one level X drop! You still have to watch out for machamp techs, but overall it’s a matchup in your favor most of the time.
But beyond that, the deck has a ton of pluses going for it. Here’s just a couple:
+ compatibility with upper energy
+ combination of Pory ZX’s second power with claydol, essentially using a double pokedrawer
every turn.
+ room for techs of different types because of his colorless type
+ fast setup through abuse of porygon 2’s “download” pokepower
+ the neat trick of actually using your tms as attacks, especially devoluter
On paper porygon Z is one of the best decks in the game, but a couple things weigh him down–
– the loss of 8 spots in your deck needed to fit in all the TMS
– the need for TMS in your hand/field in order to deal decent damage
– the weakness to Machamp, a popular flygon tech
– the huge lack of power this deck has vs. power locks
A youngun’ from Illinois named Kevin made this deck near the end of his first year at masters. He did a couple of neat things including using a 1-0-1 dusknoir tech, running Looker’s Investigation, and using the techs pokeblower AND pokehealer for easy access through the combo of PoryZX’s second power and claydol. He went an impressive 7-1 in 2009 Nationals swiss, and was also the only person to defeat the would-be champion Kyle S. aka “pooka” in swiss rounds. Kevin ended up losing to PalkiaG lock in top cut because of the deck’s poor matchup vs. power locking.
So that’s all I’ve got on the deck. It’s really interesting and can have the all-powerful “surprise factor” vs. an area that has never seen the deck before. It has plenty of options, it’s fun, and it has some good matchups– but oftentimes I feel like taking 8 spaces out of your deck for a mandatory attack is too big of a sacrifice.
Okay, lets see if I can finally post again, as every time I try the site crashes and all of the text I write goes away…..;/ Anyways, well thought out post but alot of flaws. For starters, given flygons enormous popularity, and the fact that flygon beats most of the format relatively easily, and the fact that z absolutely wrecks flygon/weavile, flygon/queen/palkia, and flygon/machamp (which the deck beats any machamp variant pretty soundly), pushes porygon up to that “tier 1” status.
As for a few of the cons you listed, “wasting” space for those 8 tms doesn’t lower your consistancy, espically when 1/2 of them can allow you to get t2 porygon Z/claydol relatively often. The weakness to machamp is actually not a factor at all, since they 2 shot you with take out, which isn’t a big deal if you are behind and run ssu (idk why you wouldn’t…lol), you should be able to deal with that machamp and clear the energy off the board to prevent a rage OHKO. The biggest reason why champ doesn’t beat porygon, is unless you’re running the x (I’ve seen less and less champs running the X), Z actually goes OHKO vs. 2 shots, barring alot of flips going the machamp’s way. As for power locking, only palkia lock can even do that reasonably well against Z, and unless they’re packing lucario+toxicroak, it doesn’t really matter how much you lock Z, because it still has plenty of ways around the power lock (evoluter, mewtwo stall, volkner’s, ect.), and once that t5-6 comes around, Z explodes with upper, 2-3 tms, and then drawing 1/3rd of the deck. Well, at least my list does…lol
As for the list posted, running candy to skip over the amazingly broken 2 is a huge mistake. Jumping into the stage 2 early game has no real benefit, while being able to use multiple bebe’s/rose’s/volkner’s the first turns gets you set-up for the rest of the game. Playing Cynthia’s>volkner’s leaves you completely vunerable to a power spray, and cynthia’s doesn’t draw straight from the top, giving it less compadability with decode than volkner’s. One of the things I’ve noticed with Z is, unless you don’t run SSU/warp point, playing G is completely useless (it doesn’t save you from gengar, so there is no point in trying to counter an auto-lose). Finally, I don’t like the “vanilla” list given here because it doesn’t look like it could rush very well, nor recovery from a fast start from the opponet, something that Z should be able to do very easily.
This list is just based off of a Porygon I played at Battle Roads, I have been busy and have not got a chance to test it myself.
You’re welcome to post a better list if you know more about the deck. :)
What a detailed reply! I love reading your posts, they’re so descriptive and informational! Haha.
nidoqueen rr works real well with this
a`kid in my league plays this and it can around my flychamp deck easily as long as he can get set up quick enough, but I have never taken the time to tech in a mismagius sf to counter for free
nidoqueen rr works real well with this
a`kid in my league plays this and it can around my flychamp deck easily as long as he can get set up quick enough, but I have never taken the time to tech in a mismagius sf to counter for free
I dunno how bad you need the Marley’s.
My brother (when he built this deck) played a Skuntank G to work as a pluspower along with Nidoqueen to either cancel out that damage or just flat out heal between turns.
Everything else looks pretty good. Uppers are nice for when you get behind and you can quickly set up a Porygon-Z
the marleys are used to recover some lost tm (choose ts1 and ts2 and they have to give you a tm back)
the two things that keep me from playing this around here is the large use of flychamp and another tide of maCHAMP decks being used by John and Steven Silvestro
what is the maCHAMP deck? People keep referring to it like that. What makes it special than a “machamp” deck?
the marleys are used to recover some lost tm (choose ts1 and ts2 and they have to give you a tm back)
the two things that keep me from playing this around here is the large use of flychamp and another tide of maCHAMP decks being used by John and Steven Silvestro
what is the maCHAMP deck? People keep referring to it like that. What makes it special than a “machamp” deck?
just run poygon kids list
thanks for all the comments everyone
I forgot to mentioned Upper Energy in the article, thanks to all that mentioned that card.
That Porygon that did well at Nats seems VERY interesting J dub, thanks for mentioning it. It just shows how much this kind of deck can be teched out if you are willing to work with it.
I am guessing maCHAMP is called by that name because Stephen S. made it and he won worlds? I dunno just a logical guess haha. From what I’ve heard, the deck runs lots of Warp Points and Regirock/Stark Mountain. I’ll try to look into it more and do an article about it eventually.
The name of the machamp deck does come from Stephen S.
I have watched it being played against some of the best players at our league and I will tell you that it is extremely fast and recovers better than most builds.
this is what I have been able to derive from it by playing it and watching it:
4-2-3-1 Machamp X
2-2 Claydol
2 Regirock LA
1 Uxie
1 Azelf
2 Unown G
1 Chatot MD
4 Roseanne’s
4 Bebe’s
2 Cynthia’s
1 Luxury
4 Warp
3 NM
3 Stark
4 Call
10 Fighting
Note that this is not the exact list but my best attempts to rebuild it after watching it several times.
Where’s the VS Seekers?
I dunno how bad you need the Marley’s.
My brother (when he built this deck) played a Skuntank G to work as a pluspower along with Nidoqueen to either cancel out that damage or just flat out heal between turns.
Everything else looks pretty good. Uppers are nice for when you get behind and you can quickly set up a Porygon-Z
just run poygon kids list
Thanks for giving us an idea of the list Joshua! Looks pretty simple. Was the deck at all reliant on Hurricane Punch or was it able to use the more expensive energy attacks as well thanks to Regirock??
thanks for all the comments everyone
I forgot to mentioned Upper Energy in the article, thanks to all that mentioned that card.
That Porygon that did well at Nats seems VERY interesting J dub, thanks for mentioning it. It just shows how much this kind of deck can be teched out if you are willing to work with it.
I am guessing maCHAMP is called by that name because Stephen S. made it and he won worlds? I dunno just a logical guess haha. From what I’ve heard, the deck runs lots of Warp Points and Regirock/Stark Mountain. I’ll try to look into it more and do an article about it eventually.
The name of the machamp deck does come from Stephen S.
I have watched it being played against some of the best players at our league and I will tell you that it is extremely fast and recovers better than most builds.
this is what I have been able to derive from it by playing it and watching it:
4-2-3-1 Machamp X
2-2 Claydol
2 Regirock LA
1 Uxie
1 Azelf
2 Unown G
1 Chatot MD
4 Roseanne’s
4 Bebe’s
2 Cynthia’s
1 Luxury
4 Warp
3 NM
3 Stark
4 Call
10 Fighting
Note that this is not the exact list but my best attempts to rebuild it after watching it several times.
Interesting champ list, ehh can be beaten though. I always thought this deck looked like fun but the recovery issue scares me tons. If anyone plays this let me know issues you’ve encountered.
I’m such a lucky guy cuz i got those nearby for free at ebay, the deck is broken cuz of it’s consistency, fast draw and OHKO starting right on 2nd turn, i would like to improve one of those decks at BR’s, hope i get some luck against gengar flips
Nice article
It should be noted that the Poke-Power “Install” is a HUGEEEE factor as to why this deck is so good…
Let’s say you only need 40 for a KO… use Install to move all the TM’s to a benched Porygon, and you’re safe. You lose no TM’s in case Porygon gets KO’d.
True dat, should have mentioned that in the article too, at least for newer players :o
I never saw which attacks he used but I noticed that he always had at least one Machamp with 3+ energy attached to it.
The recovery is jumped up a lot in this version due to the Regirock pulling back the energy to get an extra energy attach when needed, but I would highly recommend the 3 night maintenance that are present.
I’ll have it built and start testing tomorrow, and I will get another chance to look at it and will try to get in game or two to get a better understanding of the strategy and double check the build.
Remember that they designed this to deal with the current, LOCAL metagame which involves more than our fair share of BlazRay builds.
I never saw which attacks he used but I noticed that he always had at least one Machamp with 3+ energy attached to it.
The recovery is jumped up a lot in this version due to the Regirock pulling back the energy to get an extra energy attach when needed, but I would highly recommend the 3 night maintenance that are present.
I’ll have it built and start testing tomorrow, and I will get another chance to look at it and will try to get in game or two to get a better understanding of the strategy and double check the build.
Remember that they designed this to deal with the current, LOCAL metagame which involves more than our fair share of BlazRay builds.
Thanks for giving us an idea of the list Joshua! Looks pretty simple. Was the deck at all reliant on Hurricane Punch or was it able to use the more expensive energy attacks as well thanks to Regirock??
This is my favorite Pokemon! :}
I really like this deck’s surprise factor when it comes to damage. The variability of the deck’s damage output makes it extremely difficult for your opponent to “plan” around your porygonZ’s. As mentioned, though, the deck fails miserably against power-locking decks like PalkiaLock (though TM1 helps with set up in this case).
I usually only stick in one marleys and save another spot for warp points, at least nowadays with flygon and luxray switching everything around on me. It’s also nice to be able to warp out your opponent’s active, throw up another gon, and move enough TM’s over for the KO.
The decode/draw combo is VERY nice for getting your techs/TM’s/etc out when you need them, though the x2 weakness to Machamp/relicanth/mankey aren’t very helpful.
BTW, I’m playing this at BR’s, so expect my results next weekend!
Maybe a tech Exploud SV could help the Machamp matchups?
Machamp matchups? Wouldn’t this suffer more from Gengar than anything?
Interesting champ list, ehh can be beaten though. I always thought this deck looked like fun but the recovery issue scares me tons. If anyone plays this let me know issues you’ve encountered.
Oh my goodness, MaCHAMP looks like the Machamp that won Mountain West Regs 2009 >.>
I’m such a lucky guy cuz i got those nearby for free at ebay, the deck is broken cuz of it’s consistency, fast draw and OHKO starting right on 2nd turn, i would like to improve one of those decks at BR’s, hope i get some luck against gengar flips
Nice article
It should be noted that the Poke-Power “Install” is a HUGEEEE factor as to why this deck is so good…
Let’s say you only need 40 for a KO… use Install to move all the TM’s to a benched Porygon, and you’re safe. You lose no TM’s in case Porygon gets KO’d.
True dat, should have mentioned that in the article too, at least for newer players :o
This is my favorite Pokemon! :}
I really like this deck’s surprise factor when it comes to damage. The variability of the deck’s damage output makes it extremely difficult for your opponent to “plan” around your porygonZ’s. As mentioned, though, the deck fails miserably against power-locking decks like PalkiaLock (though TM1 helps with set up in this case).
I usually only stick in one marleys and save another spot for warp points, at least nowadays with flygon and luxray switching everything around on me. It’s also nice to be able to warp out your opponent’s active, throw up another gon, and move enough TM’s over for the KO.
The decode/draw combo is VERY nice for getting your techs/TM’s/etc out when you need them, though the x2 weakness to Machamp/relicanth/mankey aren’t very helpful.
BTW, I’m playing this at BR’s, so expect my results next weekend!
Maybe a tech Exploud SV could help the Machamp matchups?
Machamp matchups? Wouldn’t this suffer more from Gengar than anything?
Oh my goodness, MaCHAMP looks like the Machamp that won Mountain West Regs 2009 >.>
Looks kinda bland and not diverse enough. Ehh, it ain’t got no flavor.
Looks kinda bland and not diverse enough. Ehh, it ain’t got no flavor.
Pokémon (20):
4-4-3-1 porygon z
2-2 claydol
1-1 mewtwo
1 azelf
1 uxie
Energy (9):
4 call
3 upper
2 Psychic
Trainers (31):
4 vs seeker
4 TM evoluter
4 bebe’s
3 roseanne’s
4 TM devoluter
3 BTS
1 Marley’s
1 luxury ball
1 Palmer’s Contribution
1 Volkner’s Philosophy
4 Super Scoop Up
1 Switch
thanks for posting brian, the list look interesting. 4 VS Seeker makes sense the way you explain it.
Just remember adam any deck with mismagius sf could destroy your porygon z
Yeah true that, if Porygon ever gets popular Mismagius in a very efficient tech against it.
Pokémon (20):
4-4-3-1 porygon z
2-2 claydol
1-1 mewtwo
1 azelf
1 uxie
Energy (9):
4 call
3 upper
2 Psychic
Trainers (31):
4 vs seeker
4 TM evoluter
4 bebe’s
3 roseanne’s
4 TM devoluter
3 BTS
1 Marley’s
1 luxury ball
1 Palmer’s Contribution
1 Volkner’s Philosophy
4 Super Scoop Up
1 Switch
thanks for posting brian, the list look interesting. 4 VS Seeker makes sense the way you explain it.
Just remember adam any deck with mismagius sf could destroy your porygon z
Yeah true that, if Porygon ever gets popular Mismagius in a very efficient tech against it.
4 VS Seeker seems like an awful lot. Replace Mewtwo for Nidoqueen? More Volkner’s could be used
well, seeing as there are no rare candy in that list, nidoqueen wouldn’t work very well, unless you ran a 1-1-1 line.
And yes, 4 seeker is too much, more volkers please and I’m not sure why you have 4 SSU…
4 Seekers basically gives me 8 bebe’s, 7 rosey’s, 5 volkner’s, 5 palmer’s, ect. Running another volkners is all up to you, but given the rediculousness that can be achieved with just one supporter (not named palker’s), a few vs seekers, and a 2, its easy to get out claydol out, and get him out consistantly. There is NO other deck that can say they get a t2 claydol more often then porygon (4 call+3 Rosey+4 Bebe’s+1 Luxury+4 evoluter+2-2 claydol=outs). I originally had dusknoir in here, but dropped him because he wasn’t needed.
Nidoqueen would be the same way. Unlike in gengar, beedrill, kingdra, or other swarm decks that play a low energy count, porygon doesn’t have that easy retreat and protection on the bench from gengar sniping, making nidoqueen nothing more than a solid potion every turn. SSU, however, works exactly like it does in these decks, since Z is easily powered up in 2 turns or one when being rushed, and fully healing a 120/130 hp pokemon, on top of getting to use both of Zs powers again, and an additional 2s power that would otherwise be buried in the evolution line, is amazing for consistancy, as well as annoying the opponet who is getting OHKOed vs. a most likely 2 shot (thus turning it into a 3 shot at the cost of 1-2 energy on the field).
Mewtwo is there to slow sp decks down, which basically gives Z not only more of an advantage (which I think it has vs. pretty much any sp deck), but can auto-win alot of otherwise tossy matchups. Plus mewtwo is a solid back-up hitter, espicially after the opponet goes crazy and dishes away most of your TMs and you’re forced to marley’s them back….which, btw, isn’t that hard when you run, again, the VS seekers.
I missed the SSU.
Um…Rare Candy might be needed in this list, unless you can get all the Porygon crap and BTS in about 2 turns…
Interesting…
This looks like one of those decks that go completely underminded, and then end up surprising everyone at the finale (i.e: RayBees ’09).
I wasn’t around for it’s release in the Majestic Dawn times, but it looks like a completely destructive combo with the release of the latest sets and the new Technical Machine cards you can throw onto it.
It’s got to have a good rhythm to the deck as well though, Gengar or Relicanth/Pachirisu would destroy this deck :(
4 VS Seeker seems like an awful lot. Replace Mewtwo for Nidoqueen? More Volkner’s could be used
well, seeing as there are no rare candy in that list, nidoqueen wouldn’t work very well, unless you ran a 1-1-1 line.
And yes, 4 seeker is too much, more volkers please and I’m not sure why you have 4 SSU…
4 Seekers basically gives me 8 bebe’s, 7 rosey’s, 5 volkner’s, 5 palmer’s, ect. Running another volkners is all up to you, but given the rediculousness that can be achieved with just one supporter (not named palker’s), a few vs seekers, and a 2, its easy to get out claydol out, and get him out consistantly. There is NO other deck that can say they get a t2 claydol more often then porygon (4 call+3 Rosey+4 Bebe’s+1 Luxury+4 evoluter+2-2 claydol=outs). I originally had dusknoir in here, but dropped him because he wasn’t needed.
Nidoqueen would be the same way. Unlike in gengar, beedrill, kingdra, or other swarm decks that play a low energy count, porygon doesn’t have that easy retreat and protection on the bench from gengar sniping, making nidoqueen nothing more than a solid potion every turn. SSU, however, works exactly like it does in these decks, since Z is easily powered up in 2 turns or one when being rushed, and fully healing a 120/130 hp pokemon, on top of getting to use both of Zs powers again, and an additional 2s power that would otherwise be buried in the evolution line, is amazing for consistancy, as well as annoying the opponet who is getting OHKOed vs. a most likely 2 shot (thus turning it into a 3 shot at the cost of 1-2 energy on the field).
Mewtwo is there to slow sp decks down, which basically gives Z not only more of an advantage (which I think it has vs. pretty much any sp deck), but can auto-win alot of otherwise tossy matchups. Plus mewtwo is a solid back-up hitter, espicially after the opponet goes crazy and dishes away most of your TMs and you’re forced to marley’s them back….which, btw, isn’t that hard when you run, again, the VS seekers.
I missed the SSU.
Um…Rare Candy might be needed in this list, unless you can get all the Porygon crap and BTS in about 2 turns…
Interesting…
Gengar hurts, however you can attach Unown G if needed.
Pachirisu and Relicanth punish for tools, not TM’s
This looks like one of those decks that go completely underminded, and then end up surprising everyone at the finale (i.e: RayBees ’09).
I wasn’t around for it’s release in the Majestic Dawn times, but it looks like a completely destructive combo with the release of the latest sets and the new Technical Machine cards you can throw onto it.
It’s got to have a good rhythm to the deck as well though, Gengar or Relicanth/Pachirisu would destroy this deck :(
Gengar hurts, however you can attach Unown G if needed.
Pachirisu and Relicanth punish for tools, not TM’s
I actually play a porygon deck, and I think it is one of the best decks out there today. And it is not super expensive. It is easy to get because the main card is the promo, the only hard parts is getting the claydols and lv.x.
It is good because there is room to tech in whatever you want. Lots of people like to tech in dusknoir (d and p, mewtwo is also a decent tech. But I like to use metatgross la. So if I get lucky on a flip I can choose my opponent, and get a kill on a claydol or another tech.
Another reason this is good, is because of the fact that porygon only needs 2 energies.
A drawback of this deck is that it sucks against flygon. So I normally tech in ditto to help me with him.
I actually play a porygon deck, and I think it is one of the best decks out there today. And it is not super expensive. It is easy to get because the main card is the promo, the only hard parts is getting the claydols and lv.x.
It is good because there is room to tech in whatever you want. Lots of people like to tech in dusknoir (d and p, mewtwo is also a decent tech. But I like to use metatgross la. So if I get lucky on a flip I can choose my opponent, and get a kill on a claydol or another tech.
Another reason this is good, is because of the fact that porygon only needs 2 energies.
A drawback of this deck is that it sucks against flygon. So I normally tech in ditto to help me with him.
Pikkdogs, it actually has a fairly decent matchup vs Flygon if there’s enough warps/switchs or SSUs. You only need 3 TMs to KO Flygon and 2 for the Level X.
It’s definitely needs 4-3-3-1 line, just to abuse Download. I’d keep the Rare Candies in it as well. VS seekers are a must and the Mewtwo Lv. X is optional, but it does essentially give you the auto-win vs almost every SP deck. Learning is such a dope attack that potentially gets turn 1 Mewtwo Lv. X or even Uxie Lv. X, which I tossed into my version. Gengar and Mismagius are still a nightmare for the deck tho.
Keep in mind, that most people playing Palkia G lock usually go for the mespirit chains in the first few turns to get the set-up, if you can survive that and can get either Mewtwo Lv. X up or something than you can go to town on it.
Machamp, Flygon X, Gallade are really the only things that I can think of at the top of my head that can OHKO it, and most of the popular cards can get OHKOed by PoryZ.
Overall its a very solid deck that has a lot of potential, but also comes down to metagame as well.
Pikkdogs, it actually has a fairly decent matchup vs Flygon if there’s enough warps/switchs or SSUs. You only need 3 TMs to KO Flygon and 2 for the Level X.
It’s definitely needs 4-3-3-1 line, just to abuse Download. I’d keep the Rare Candies in it as well. VS seekers are a must and the Mewtwo Lv. X is optional, but it does essentially give you the auto-win vs almost every SP deck. Learning is such a dope attack that potentially gets turn 1 Mewtwo Lv. X or even Uxie Lv. X, which I tossed into my version. Gengar and Mismagius are still a nightmare for the deck tho.
Keep in mind, that most people playing Palkia G lock usually go for the mespirit chains in the first few turns to get the set-up, if you can survive that and can get either Mewtwo Lv. X up or something than you can go to town on it.
Machamp, Flygon X, Gallade are really the only things that I can think of at the top of my head that can OHKO it, and most of the popular cards can get OHKOed by PoryZ.
Overall its a very solid deck that has a lot of potential, but also comes down to metagame as well.
Pikkdogs, this deck’s Flygon match-up is ridiculously GOOD. Porygon OHKO’s Flygon incredibly easily.
Pikkdogs, this deck’s Flygon match-up is ridiculously GOOD. Porygon OHKO’s Flygon incredibly easily.
I’m sorry but I haven’t got the time to read all the comments but I read the biggest part of them.
Having played Porygon for a long time, I think that it is much better with Palkia X GE. As a matter of fact, this deck allows you to shoot every pokemon developping on the bench or pokémons like claydol that are helpfull for the setup. It is also a great tech that gives you the ability of shooting a weak pokemon at the end of the game in order to take your last prize.
Then, I would say that I disagree with some ideas of J-Wittz. (or I missunderstood)
In fact, with the combo Porygon X / Claydol, it would be stupid to search 2 drawers because with the two drawers you get the effect of the combo (choosing two cards of your deck and putting them into your hand).
Then, on the weaknesses of Porygon I would add the one that makes it bad against Gyarados :
If a pokémon is able to kill porygon in one shot, you will not be able to attack without loosing TM TS… and even if you try to attack the bench, it would take you about 2 TM TS a turn and a porygon. (and then there will not be any pokemon to kill on the bench)
Then, if none of your opponnent’s pokemon is able to OHKO you, you can kill 3 pokémons by using a lot of TM TS, then 3 porygon will have damages so will be OHKOable, then you will be happy to have a Palkia because it will allows you to kill another pokemon with each Porygon for only 2 TM (Uxie or Claydol => 80 HP). So you will take 6 prizes in theory.
Then, the problem is flygon with a pluspower… but given the weakness you will control it easily
and the real one is …. PALKIA LOCK. You can’t do anyting without powers. you can just use your TM TS 1…
add to this all the crobats in gyarados, this deck is autoloss against 50 % of the metagame.
That’s why I don’t play the deck anymore.
I’m sorry but I haven’t got the time to read all the comments but I read the biggest part of them.
Having played Porygon for a long time, I think that it is much better with Palkia X GE. As a matter of fact, this deck allows you to shoot every pokemon developping on the bench or pokémons like claydol that are helpfull for the setup. It is also a great tech that gives you the ability of shooting a weak pokemon at the end of the game in order to take your last prize.
Then, I would say that I disagree with some ideas of J-Wittz. (or I missunderstood)
In fact, with the combo Porygon X / Claydol, it would be stupid to search 2 drawers because with the two drawers you get the effect of the combo (choosing two cards of your deck and putting them into your hand).
Then, on the weaknesses of Porygon I would add the one that makes it bad against Gyarados :
If a pokémon is able to kill porygon in one shot, you will not be able to attack without loosing TM TS… and even if you try to attack the bench, it would take you about 2 TM TS a turn and a porygon. (and then there will not be any pokemon to kill on the bench)
Then, if none of your opponnent’s pokemon is able to OHKO you, you can kill 3 pokémons by using a lot of TM TS, then 3 porygon will have damages so will be OHKOable, then you will be happy to have a Palkia because it will allows you to kill another pokemon with each Porygon for only 2 TM (Uxie or Claydol => 80 HP). So you will take 6 prizes in theory.
Then, the problem is flygon with a pluspower… but given the weakness you will control it easily
and the real one is …. PALKIA LOCK. You can’t do anyting without powers. you can just use your TM TS 1…
add to this all the crobats in gyarados, this deck is autoloss against 50 % of the metagame.
That’s why I don’t play the deck anymore.
Interesting version of the deck, Adam. A few more Cyclone might do well here. Bench control works very well in something that can do a lot of damage, like Porygon-Z.
Some more food for thought: Weavile SW might be interesting in this deck, mainly for accelerated damage and free retreat with Moonlight.
I like Porygon-Z. Overall, it is very flexible, allowing you to add in virtually whatever you like! I could see this working with Palkia Lv.X, Mewtwo Lv.X, possibly even an added Machamp line as backup!
Interesting version of the deck, Adam. A few more Cyclone might do well here. Bench control works very well in something that can do a lot of damage, like Porygon-Z.
Some more food for thought: Weavile SW might be interesting in this deck, mainly for accelerated damage and free retreat with Moonlight.
I like Porygon-Z. Overall, it is very flexible, allowing you to add in virtually whatever you like! I could see this working with Palkia Lv.X, Mewtwo Lv.X, possibly even an added Machamp line as backup!
I had porygon Z BEAST DECK!!!!!!!!!
I had porygon Z BEAST DECK!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE IT!!!!!
I LOVE IT!!!!!
good deck but not too powerful
7/10
good deck but not too powerful
7/10
This deck could see a return with the release of DCE.
Yeah, it will be BOSS.
This deck could see a return with the release of DCE.
Yeah, it will be BOSS.
Nice deck but why the techcial machine TS-2 all it does is put the card back in their
hand and next turn they put it back???
Read what Porygon-Z’s “Overload” does.
Nice deck but why the techcial machine TS-2 all it does is put the card back in their
hand and next turn they put it back???
Read what Porygon-Z’s “Overload” does.
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
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new format list:
1-3-2-4 Porygon, 1 Porygon TM (line: MD-TM/Promo-TM-Promo
2-2 Noctowl or Dodrio (dodrio free retreat noctowl 90 hp, take ur pick)
2 Uxie
1 Uxie X (important: use before porygonx)
1 Azelf LA
1 Unown Q
1 Shuckle Promo
TSS:
4 Collector
4 Bebe’s
3 BTS
4 Rare Candy
2 Seeker
2 VS Seeker
Energy:
4 Call
4 DCE
2 Warp
2 Health
Total: 51 (try to tech in luxray in nine slots)