Hello once again, Pokémon Community. Zackary “Cabd” Ayello here again today, with a decklist and analysis of my personal favorite deck, Yanmega Magnezone. Named “Megajudge” by its creator, this deck took home a City Championship purely by surprise. Now, with the rotation in effect, it is one of the few viable MD-on decks that retains the majority of its Pokémon lines.
Unfortunately, a combination of lack of finances combined with some short handedness at work means I will not be making the trip to nationals this year, so I have no qualms about releasing my HGSS-BW decklist. If Nationals were tomorrow, at my house, this is the list I’d take, without a second thought. My personal name for this deck is “Yandere” which is best Googled, if you don’t know what it is from.
To start off, I’ll give my exact 60 card list.
Pokémon – 19
3 Yanma TM |
Trainers – 31
4 Judge |
Energy – 10 |
I’ll provide some explanations about why certain cards are there, as well as why the counts of certain cards are what they are.
pokebeach.comFirst of all, 3-3 Yanmega. Yanmega is your early game attacker, and only has baby killing and stalling use in the late game. Your ideal is to get Yanmega swinging for 70 damage on the second turn, third turn at the latest. For this reason, you run heavy counts of Supporters that maximize this chance, namely, 7 Supporters that force the hand sizes to match, allowing you to hit with either attack for free.
This is also the reason for the inclusion of Spiritomb, as “Spooky Whirlpool” can force your opponent’s hand size to 6. While that would usually help your opponent more than it would hurt them, the idea is that you can Collector for Spiritomb, and however many more basics you need to equal six cards in your hand, thereby not using one of your hand matching Supporters that turn. With Seeker, it gives you just a hint of disruption ability as well.
2-2-2 Magnezone will sound really thin on paper, but with Rescue Energy, and the fact that you won’t be using him early game, it’s fine. Flower Shop Lady allows you to get the entire line back if anything goes horribly wrong. Being able to both draw to match hand sizes, as well as hit for a ton of damage, makes Magnezone a feared late game attacker. Shaymin and Pachirisu are here to allow Magnezone to power up faster if need be.
The 1 Zekrom may leave people scratching their heads. Why would I use him outside of a ZPS deck? The answer is Umbreon Prime. Umbreon shuts this entire deck down, otherwise. Yanmega has a Body. Magnezone has a Power. Yanma has a Body, and can’t attack anyway. Magnemite and Magneton get 2HKO’d without a way to 1HKO back. Pachirisu has a Power. Spiritomb cannot attack.
See the issue? Zekrom, however, is free to attack. If you see Umbreon on the way, you can search this sucker out and drop him on the bench, ready to outrage his way to an Umbreon kill.
pokebeach.comIn most decks, Tyrogue is a great, lucky way to get the donk. In this deck, he’s even better. Over 50% of your basic Pokémon retreat for free. The other half retreat for one energy, with the ONE exception of Zekrom. For that reason, in testing, I’ve gotten a very large number of donks with him. He’s a definite in a deck running Yanmega, that’s for sure. Often, in testing, I was able to use him to do the last 20-30 damage for a Knock Out, then I was left invulnerable next turn.
The 2 Cleffa is pretty much standard, providing both a wall and a way to get needed cards and evolutions in the early game. In the middle and late game, it becomes Junk Arm fodder, and should be Seekered up if possible, as in testing, there were plenty of times where an opposing Zoroark would copy linear attack for a free prize.
Now for the Trainers and Supporters.
First off is the single Lost Remover. Lost Remover is a card that you will always find in a deck I make. No matter what the build, with the exception of maybe Vileplume decks, I always have a lost remover. It just has too many uses in this format for me not to.
Against Tyranitar, I can target Double Colorless Energy or Special Darks. Against Lostgar, Rescue. Against Donchamp, DCE. Against Samurott/Donphan, Rainbow. Against Leafeon, Rainbow. Against Steelix, Special Metals. Against Cincinno, Zoroark, etc, DCE. It’s good against practically every deck that is not Emboar-based, and even some of those have begun to tech in a Rescue or two.
Energy Retrieval is there purely for situations in which I either need to recover energy from a killed Magnezone, or late in the game where I can drop Pachirisu and mount a surprise Zekrom hit. Both the Retrieval and the Lost Remover are also searched by my Twins, and both are compatible with Junk Arm, so it often feels like I have multiple copies of each.
pokebeach.comThe two Switch are there for two reasons. First, they allow me to recover an otherwise dead turn if a baby is sleeping going into my turn. Secondly, they allow me to recover from an attempt to disrupt with Pokémon Reversal that does not result in a 1HKO. Magnezone’s 3 Retreat Cost is very enticing in the early and mid game as a stall tactic.
Four Pokémon Reversal is quickly becoming a staple in most decklists. The ability to gust up an opposing Pokémon, as well as bypass a sleeping baby, is just too amazing to not include. I use a full play set of four primarily due to the flippy nature of the card. Once again, this card is also Junk Arm compatible.
I run three PlusPower for a multitude of reasons. It gives me a decent shot at donking 40 or even 50 HP basics with Tyrogue, and I’ve even managed to donk 70 HP Pokémon using Pachirisu. Against Tyranitar Prime, Yanmega Prime, Krookodile, and several other Pokémon, a PlusPower can save me an energy that I do not need to Lost Zone.
Two PlusPowers also allows me to kill Zekrom after he uses “Bolt Strike” without any Lost Zoning, with a 90 damage “Sonic Boom.” Once again, like a broken record, I note that these are also compatible with Junk Arm.
Three Pokémon Communication, in my testing, has been plenty. This card allows me to send things back into my deck for something I can use, and if there’s a Pokémon in my hand, also allows me to decrease my hand size by one if I need to match it. Also, if desperate, I can use it to stop myself from decking out in the end phases of the match. As always, it is Junk Arm recovery allowed, meaning I have up to six uses if I REALLY need it.
I play three Junk Arm because they let me re-use both my single teched Trainers, as well as anything else I might need. Their synergy with “Magnetic Draw” is just sickening, too. In addition, they can be used to match hand sizes with a play of Judge, Magnetic Draw, and then Junk Arm.
So long as you leave the Trainer you choose in your hand, you’ve now traded 2 cards you no longer need for two new cards from your deck, and you’ve also gotten back a Trainer card you can use again.
pokebeach.comTwo Seeker are included as a means of recovery, a way of getting my own babies off the field, and a way of re-using Shaymin, Pachirisu, and Spiritomb. They also allow me to pick up heavily damaged Magnezone and wall with Yanmega while I re-establish them.
Three Pokémon Collector has been enough in my testing, as I run so many forms of hand refresh that I often have my bench established without seeing a single Collector, by turn two or three. They make decent Junk Arm fodder, and also allow me to grab extra babies form the deck, ready to be Junk Armed away, instead of valuable cards.
The single copy of Flower Shop Lady is designed entirely around the basic rule of this deck: “Don’t deck yourself out.” FSL also, as noted earlier, serves as a way to recover a Magnezone line if needed, or a Yanmega line and another Pokémon.
The single copy of Twins seems kind of iffy, but due to the pure amount of shuffle draw in this deck, I’ve never had much issue with needing it and not having it accessible.
I run four Judges because both Yanmega and Magnezone love Judge to death. There’s a reason this deck was named megaJUDGE after all. Judge allows disruption, hand size matching, and hand refreshing when paired with Magnezone’s power.
The look on an opponent’s face after using Nasty Plot, or Twins, Legend Ceremony, or even Eeeeeeek, is priceless. In addition, it’ll make them very weary of easing Smeargle, if anyone still even runs him anymore.
Three Copycats serves two main uses. First, it gives me a way to force hand sizes to match, so I can use Yanmega. Secondly, it can singlehandedly win me games. Certain Pokémon * cough cough Ninetales * tend to give people VERY large hands. I’ve often been able to draw somewhere around 13 or 14 cards form this Supporter, which gives me an amazingly vast amount of options.
Some notable options in this deck that I choose not to run include:
- Zoroark line, for a better matchup against Emboar/Magnezone and a few others.
- A Weavile line for added disruption following a mid or late game Judge
- A heavier focus on Zekrom, making this deck a hybrid with ZPS
- Rainbow Energy allowing an early game “Color Tag” while proving damage for “Outrage”
- A beefier Magnezone line, along with Rare Candy
- Pokémon Circulator, to allow for flip-free baby removal
Feel free to try this deck out, and by all means give me your thoughts, good, or bad, so long as you refrain from simply bashing. Praise is good, but constructive criticism is even better.
Also, feel free, if you’re wanting to, to take this exact list to your nationals if you truly feel that it is a good deck. All I ask is that anyone who uses this list as inspiration post either here or on another Pokémon website chronicling their journey into first place (Ok, and any other place too). I want to see this deck do well, even if it’s not me behind the wheel.
Until next time,
~The Yanmega Guy
Zackary “Cabd” Ayello
I can’t say we’re too far apart, bro, and your talk of Weavile makes me wonder if my deck should cut to 2-2; I saw it more as an early game disruptor, but a late game post-Judge card might be more apt, as I’m rushing to set up a Yanmega and a Stage 2 already. I still think Weavile is GREAT in this deck, though, and would never cut it completely. Sneasel gives another solid attacker, though, so I’m not entirely sold on losing my 3.
A guy at my league last year tore my g-dos build apart with this, just kept judging away impersonated ‘karps. and with VS seeker back then it just kept on happening. Great list, will be a good deck.
Haha, yes, the MD-on variant’s favorite trick against G-Dos is a turn one collector for giratina, magnemite, yanma. Drop the basics, and then let loose the karps back on in.
Over techd. Good luck against Stage 1 decks. ;/
And don’t tell me you can consistantly beat them because that would be ridiculous.
So what would you change then? Not being ironic or rude, just honestly wondering what you meant by “the simple things that could make this deck work.”
I don’t want to show my list. I didn’t want this deck to pop up on the internet and it finally did. I’ll just saying the spiritombs/cleffa/shaymin/zekrom arent needed. I’d personally play Bouffalant over Zekrom for Umbreon UD. I don’t play Tyrogue even though I want to fit one in. His risk Vs reward isn’t good enough for me. I might throw one in for nats though. I just don’t like getting donked by another Tyrogue. If you want to play on playtcg we could. I will show you my list on there. I just don’t want it publicly posted.
Sounds like a plan. Pm me on the forums.
Sounds like a plan. Pm me on the forums.
idk where to do that. i just read articles on here. i’m more active on pokegym. I have the same name on there. you could pm me and we could set something up.
Yo! Let me in on it too guys.
Sounds like a plan. Pm me on the forums.
How doers Bouffalant help much? It is rather weak unless one of your Pokemon were just knocked out the turn before. Since Umbreon does not do a ton of damage, it is not likely that you just suffered a knock out. At least Zekrom gains power as it takes damage. Bouffalant will just keep dishing out 20 damage until it is gone.
Bouffalant is miles easier to get out and you would just be using him for umbreon. I don’t even use them. I don’t play an Umbreon counter. I’m not scared of too many umbreons. If they are going to wall me. So be it. I have enough pokemon to do 90. I will be charging up my bench for after and they will have nothing. Bouffalant also OHKOs RDL
Well, one thing about having the affro buffalo is that it forces your opponent to be weary about playing down RDL. It serving as an umbreon counter is just sort of a bonus.
I love me some Yanmega, and this is a cool engine in theory… But I’m not sure if I can see this going very far in a format without BTS.
I like how Cam liked your post while I beat his decks consistantly with my version of this. Then again, he is in seniors. lol
Is this the part where I say “I told you so?” or should I wait until it does well at worlds, too?
All kidding aside, most people did underestimate this deck, but the results speak for themselves.
Yeah, you’ve certainly earned every right to say that. I commend you for sharing a Nats-winning deck with people who don’t feel like paying for a UG account.
Ironically, this was very briefly mentioned on the UG. To be honest, this deck flew mostly under the radar, with the exception of this article, and ab out 5 posts total on the ‘gym.
Glad to see it do so well, though.
Well written article, unique concept, and a solid list, too. Great article, Zack. Also, the definition of yandere kind of took me by surprise. For some reason, I thought it had something to do with an actual Deer, even though it wouldn’t have made any sense, given the deck involves a giant magnet and an oversized dragonfly…
This is a strong deck. I’ve seen Magnetic Draw and Junk Arm synergy tear it up. I’ve been frustrated by Yanmega/Judge countless times. It’s a tier 1 pairing, and I think you would had gone far at Nationals.
Thanks for sharing.
dude ive been running this card since it came out, and when it came out people hated it. so good
This is what I love about the new format. You can throw together seemingly random and crazy Pokemon, and it’s a deck that can actually win. Great article Yanmega Guy!
Yeah like some others said, some Stage 1 decks may hurt you a lot. Without BTS it’s going to be tough to play it. But as long as you play test it, see if it feels comfortable. Whatever works.
One of the reasons you need Pachi and Cleffa in the deck is to counter the monumental ugliness that is Yanmega. That should have been explained.
Apart from that, quality article as usual.
This is my favourite deck to play in HGSS on. The two of them have more synergy than about anything, perhaps even more than Donphan and Machamp do. You haven’t mentioned it but Yanmega also covers Magnezone’s Fighting weakness. Now Yanmega isn’t too great of a Donphan counter but it does a good job of holding it off, stopping Donphan from benching things it can kill with Linear Attack, etc.
I use a much less teched out version. As far as I’m concerned the deck doesn’t really have any kind of autoloss or bad match-up that requires teching, so I would rather have the consistency. Thicker Pokémon lines and 4 Junk Arm is really my preference here.
I like the general vibe of the article, but it seems like this deck is more in-tune with last format. Here are some issues i have:
A Zekrom thrown in to counter UMBREON? Umbreon is a trash card now, and will not be played heavily, at least not played by a good player with or without a good deck. Umbreon raped last format – I’ve used Yanmega/Umbreon in tournies in the past to some success – but in HG/SS on, Umbreon got the short end of the stick. Besides, you can snipe out their bench anyways with yanmega. By no means is umbreon going to end this deck.
Inclusion of Spiritomb – a really mediocre card that really is only decent in lostgar with mime synergy. why just not run 4 copycats? 4 copycat is more valuable ovn this new format b/c of ninetails. It is much easier to go into top deck mode this format what with uxie gone, so often you opponent can have a terrible hand. Giving them a fresh PONT, without them having to use a supporter for their turn is bad.
Communication not maxed out – why? It is simply a good card. Even the best trainer lock decks will max this card out. It is just too powerful not to use to the fullest.
3 collectors and no dual balls – you are going to get slow line starts without some sort of t1 consistent pokesearch. At least have 4 collectors since this deck does not run all that many basics – especially basics that aren’t endangered of being donked t1.
LOL nice name :)
As the originator of MegaJudge I looked forward to playing it in the new format but initial testing did not do too well as I had issues with Zekrom and Reshiram. Yanmega was not taking enough prizes against decks with such high HP. I felt it needed another attacker and worked in a Zekrom line as well with Pachy and Shaymin for options. I am still working the list and was interested in some of your ideas and the comments posted on this thread. I agree that it might be too teched out but the list seems fun. I worry about your energy count and I think you need a bigger Maggy line up.
As the originator of MegaJudge I was so excited to play this in the new format. Initial testing did not impress me as I had a hard time with Zekrom and Reshiram. Recently I have been working with a similar build to yours with the inclusion of my own Zekrom, Pachy and Shaymin. I think some of your ideas are very intersting but I agree with some of the comments here that it might be too teched out. One concern is the energy count. I love Yanmega but too many cards OHKO it these days and feel another solid fighter is needed.
Cabd is back with more Yanmega stuff… I might start using Zekrom/Donphan just to screw with this deck
Sorry if you’re not the guy I’m speaking of, but I think I met you at Russo’s Books in Bakersfield, California at the Battle Road that was hosted there on June 12.
Yes, that was me. I was so close to top cut, went 4-1 and lost due to opponent’s losses. Were you one of my round opponents?
No, but we did have a match afterwards.
for something a bit more fun, i tried Zoroark in this build in lieu of Yanmega and it worked okay against this exact list – not saying this is the way to play around it, but i did win with them having 4 prizes left
Congratulations for this nats-winning deck :P