Hey there everyone, it’s Joe back with my third article, and this time it’s not on a totally rogue deck.
As you may have from the very “punny” (yeah I had to) title, this deck will be based on Scizor. Hopefully this red little guy can bring back to life Stage 1 and 2 decks or at least give these such decks a chance to redeem themselves (ok the puns are out of the system).
Here is a basic skeleton of what I have been using in the week of play-testing I have done so far…
|
Pokémon (19):
4 Scyther MD |
T/S/S (29):
1 Luxury Ball |
Energy (12):
5 Basic M |
Basic Strategy
pokebeach.comFirstly, a look at Scizor. 100 base HP for a stage 1 is not bulky by any means but of course Scizor is metal, which changes everything – slap a Belt and 2/3 Special Metal on and that thing is not going down without a fight. The 2 Retreat Cost is bad, but rarely costs you too much as you have Warps.
Fire weakness is scary for me because a friend of mine uses Blaziken FB which is why I felt the need for the 1-0-1 Exploud tech. The Resistance for Psychic is HUGE, all the Gengar Viletomb decks will have trouble with this guy (unless of course the flip heads when you take them out, darn it!)
I find the most effective way of playing this deck is to set up Scizor as your attacker and stack up (preferably Special) energy, (In this deck energy is key – each special metal adds 20 to your attack and -10 to damage done to you).
Although some may play this deck as a pure tanking deck I believe that you should have 2/3 energy on 1 Scizor maximum. I play this way because 90 damage for 3 energy (or 2 energy + Belt) and obviously, 110 damage with 3 metal + Belt is enough to be seen as a power house and will be a threat to any SP when it can 1HKO most SP LV.X ‘s with 2 + Belt or 3 energy and no belt.
The reason I think to not continue stacking is because it seems (throughout the deck testing stages so far) above 130 attack is overkill for most Pokémon (I have only ever stacked 4 energy and Belt against Gengar LV.X matchups because Scizor has resistance on top of Spec. Metals).
Anyway like a was saying, I believe it to be more productive to begin stacking a backup for some red dead redemption once your active is well… red and dead. =P
I think the use of the stadium Conductive Quarry is very useful as it returns Special Metals to the deck to be reused.
Techs
This deck definitely has room for techs but so far I’ve played it safe and have only tried synergy techs. I went for the Metagross twins:
Metagross LA ‘s Poké Power: “Magnetic Reversal” is essentially a flip-a-coin-each-turn “Bright Look.” This has been useful on many occasions for both stalling and for free KOs on unsuspecting benched Pokémon.
Metagross SV’s Poké Body: “Gravitation” is a strange one, it may seem to hurt you as much as your opponent but I have found this effective against various high energy/mirror and other tanking decks because the deck is a relatively fast tanking deck it has little trouble taking on other tanking decks such as Steelix with the addition of this Metagross at the right time, that Steelix goes down that much faster and the setup time for one of those is LONG basically it is goodbye – surprisingly I have actually used this tech as a sort of “Double Flash Bite” and has worked very effectively.
Downsides of the Metagross’s are:
1) A potentially weaker start with Beldum.
2) Something to “Bright Look” into – for opponents to stall or get a cheap prize.
3) Metagross SV hurts your own tanking ability.
Matchups: (win rate in %)
SP variants: 60% depending on how much Special Metal is used and how quickly you can take out their Bronzong G can be the difference in a win or loss, however generally Scizor can keep up enough to disrupt and take prizes – just be aware of “Bright Look” because Metagross is a sitting duck.
Gengar Viletomb/Straight Gengar: 60% once again the use of Special energy varies with this deck – however in my list I was careful not to put in a lot of trainers as I knew this deck is quickly rising in popularity, due to being stage 1 topdecking good cards really hurts Gengar, also with Matgross LA Vileplume can be brought up for slaughter.
One thing Gengar has over Scizor is when it Fainting Spells a belted Scizor it really takes its toll on the outcome – *be aware of that Scizor players!*
Machamp: 80% the deck has no problems with this deck unless you get T1 DONKED (oh dear), evolving in this deck is easy and fast so Machamp won’t wreck your team.
Unfortunately at this time these are the decks I have battled the most during my testing, and the deck is yet to be perfected, So please comment on what could be different or how playable the deck is, or even if it has a place in this current format.
One last note – I have been trying hard to think of a way around the whole “Fainting Spell” problem – perhaps Dialga G a possibility – if you think so too or if any other tech springs to mind please comment, thanks.
As said down there, Skarmory UD is a great partner for Scizor. Also, Shaymin UL may be useful to switch energys to a full hp Scizor on the bench.
Dialga G won’t get around Fainting Spell at all since it is a Poke-Power. I like the idea of the Exploud tech as fire decks may be pretty popular this year. Overall, alright article.
Dialga G won’t get around Fainting Spell at all since it is a Poke-Power. I like the idea of the Exploud tech as fire decks may be pretty popular this year. Overall, alright article.
especially with ninetales.
especially with ninetales.
Nice build but, skarmory gets your metals out faster… run 4, and after BRs, i dont think youll have to run exploud. Also i run 4 warp point for easy knock outs and Lucians is important to switch those metals.
the skarmory doesn’t really help all that much. It takes an energy to put one on scizor, and it will likely only last one turn before it gets knocked out. So why not just put the one energy that you put on skarmory on scizor instead?
because skarmory can go get special metals not just basic ones! and you dont run energy exchanger so that would be the only way to get them without blindly drawing into them. ive seen it work pretty well. not tier one anything tho
I think the problem is not running the exchanger in the first place. Try to get a good starter (maybe jirachi RR?) or sableye, and at least 2 or 3 energy exchangers.
also, i dont like those metagross AT ALL. Well, maybe the coin flip one is ok, but the other one . . . ugh, just no, he needs to go. I would prefer to put skarmory, or even flygon to get free retreat, at least those 2 are useful.
thanks for your comments, as i said the deck list is a skeleton and i like the idea of the new exchangers, however due to the high amount of play gengar viletomb will be seeing, i am hesitant to put the card in, still good idea on the jirachi thanks!
IMO you need one or the other. the deck doesnt necessarily rely on speical metals but you seem to like the idea of tanking with them. therefore you need to get most of them out. either skarmory or energy exchanger would be helpful maybe even both
I do also like the new skarm idea and thanks for that, i just need to trade for some cos out of 20 packs i only have 1 =(
you better hurry to get your hands on them, i think it will see a lot of play, specially in SP decks, and its price will be about the same as pkmn communicator
you better hurry to get your hands on them, i think it will see a lot of play, specially in SP decks, and its price will be about the same as pkmn communicator
you get special metals out and skarmory is likely to last 2 turns because how many decks can hit for 80 turn 1? jumpluff, donphan, and gyarados?
Read “The Ditto Trick” for a good Feinting Spell counter
Read “The Ditto Trick” for a good Feinting Spell counter
Thanks alot for the ditto trick tip- great article, i have always liked diito LA and finally it can be put to use, i will definately be making deck space for ditto and a psychic, because gengar varients are the new deck that people can’t wait to play due to vileplume.
I hate to break it to you, but there is no way this deck has a 60% win rate against SP. Dialga shuts down both Scizor and Metagross’s Pokebodies. They can stall for ages by Bright Looking your Metagross and sniping around it with Garchomp. Keep in mind most good SP players who spot a match-up like this would Poketurn Luxray after using him to Bright Look so that they can Bright Look again the following turn… so Warp Pointing out won’t help much. Not to mention Luxray is resistant 20 to Metal, so you can’t OHKO him and you’re going to give up 2 prizes when your belted Scizor goes down.
This deck has potential, but not with this list. Metagross LA is cool, but Metagross SV makes no sense with this deck because Scizor already has low HP compared to most decks main attackers. I’d recommend Jirachi as a starter. His “Detour” attack and “Final Wish” Pokepower make him an ideal starter, and he has free retreat so you can easily send him up when your opponent plays Warp Point. Also, I’d include Super Scoop up if you’re going to play Broken Time Space and Expert Belt.
Hey!!! Quit giving away all my deck list secrets you dingus.
Haha sorry, he needed some help. Now he knows how to build a 2nd place Pokenight deck ;-)
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Nice article! I have a whacky sense of humor and probably would have had a differnt article name. Maybe you could have tied in Scizor to the movie Edward Scissorhands- maybe named the article “Red”ward Scizor-hands????
As far as the deck is concerned, I like Scizor, but I really don’t see building a deck around it being successful. However, he seems like a great tech to put in a metal/lightning deck like maybe with Magnezone.
The idea for a Ditto tech in this deck is a GREAT idea though, and I would even suggest running 3-4 rainbow energy as well. Why? The rainbow energy can help against Gengar, but it can also count as metal for Scizor’s attack AND could even be used against Blakiken FB to luring flame them or perhaps even Jet Shoot.
Actually, just realized that your title is a pretty cool reference to an ultra-violent video game- nice one!!!
lol thanks i play red dead all the time and thought…why not
A very nice article. :)
I find that Skarmory UD can be very handy in this deck, you might want to take a look at it
A very nice article. :)
I find that Skarmory UD can be very handy in this deck, you might want to take a look at it
i was thinking about puting Ambipum and move their special energy to thier main attacker lol
make hybird deck with Blazken FB haha