Collin’s Corner: DragonMax, FluffyChomp, HS-on Memories, and Testing for Worlds

Hello everyone! I’m back with another article! Here’s what’s included in this edition of Collin’s Corner: a look at two BLW-on decks, two HS-on Worlds decks, my memories of the HS-on format, and of course, recorded test games!

Kickin’ It Off with BLW-on

The two decks I want to talk about are the most popular ones in Japan right now: FluffyChomp (Garchomp/Altaria) and DragonMax (Hydreigon/Darkrai/Max Potion/Techs). DragonMax is the deck that has been getting the most talk because it won a big tournament in Japan. I’m going to start off with a list I’ve been working on.

DragonMax

Pokémon – 15

2 Deino NVI

1 Deino DRE

1 Zweilous DRE

3 Hydreigon DRE

3 Sableye DEX

1 Sigilyph DRE

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

1 Shaymin EX

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Juniper

3 N

2 Cheren

2 Bianca

2 Random Receiver

 

3 Rare Candy

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Dark Patch

3 Max Potion

3 Ultra Ball

2 Level Ball

2 Eviolite

1 Enhanced Hammer

1 Revive

Energy – 11

7 D – Basic

4 Blend GFPD

As you could probably tell, this list is pretty standard and close to the list that won in Japan. I’ve tested this deck out with friends at league and it tends to do very well.

Strategy

pokemon-paradijs.com
When I play this card, I love it; when I play against it, I hate it.

The functionality of this deck is very similar to the Klinklang EX deck that won US Nationals. The point is to move around D Energy with Hydreigon’s Ability, Dark Trance. Since the text does not read “Basic D Energy” this means you can use Prism and Blend Energy to move around as well – effectively giving you the option to use attackers with different types to help counter every deck.

As if this isn’t a good enough combo, you can add in Dark Patch and Max Potion to help add speed and durability. Darkrai EX is a great main attacker because of its high HP, great damage output, and amazing Ability which gives all Pokémon with D Energy attached free retreat. This includes Prism (attached to Basics) and Blend Energy as well, meaning you can move around your Energy to give all of your Pokémon free retreat.

The ability to use Max Potion and not having to discard any Energy (due to moving the Energy off of the Pokémon being healed and then moving them back) makes this deck hard to beat. These combinations are what make this deck so versatile and the suspected BDIF of our next format.

Techs

Kyurem EX

This card was a main attacker in the Klinklang/EXs deck that was very similar to DragonMax. The reason for that was because it was able to discard Special Energy and be a moderate and neutral attacker with an uncommon Weakness. That was a reason it was good in Klingklang EX, so why not put it in this deck?

Special Energy are increasing in popularity with the new Blend Energy coming out and Kyurem EX is a great way to attack and discard those Energy as well as do moderate damage. Of course, upon adding it to this deck, a few Prism Energy need to be added. A suggestion is to maybe take out two Blend GFPD and add two Prism Energy.

Bulbapedia

Terrakion NVI/Terrakion EX

These cards are possible techs to counter the mirror, Zeel variants, and other Dark variants. Throw Eviolite down, power up a Terrakion-EX, and spam Max Potion when you absolutely need it. The only problem is, Shaymin EX could come and ruin your day. I did some testing with it only against FluffyChomp, so I never really needed it. But I found several situations when I wasn’t playing it where it could help. Adding one of these would mean you also have to add Prism Energy.

Mew EX/Mewtwo EX

These cards are great for hitting against weakness. Mewtwo wars are very common, and although Sigilyph is a popular play, a Mew-EX or Mewtwo EX could still help out. I don’t recommend these 100% because they can get return KO’d very easily and require a few Energy to attack.

If there any other notable techs I left out, please feel free to mention them in the comments.

FluffyChomp

Pokémon – 20

4 Gible DRE

3 Gabite DRE

4 Garchomp DRE

3 Swablu DRE

3 Altaria DRE

2 Emolga DRE

1 Rayquaza DRE

Trainers – 29

4 Professor Juniper

3 N

3 Bianca

 

4 Level Ball

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Rare Candy

2 Pokémon Communication

2 Super Rod

2 Ultra Ball

2 Rescue Scarf

1 Max Potion

Energy – 11

7 F

4 Blend WLFM

BulbapediaThis is the deck I have been testing the most with. Going against other competitive BLW-on decks, this deck performs quite well. Just for fun I decided to play this deck against decks from the HS-on format, and this deck still seems to do well. Heck, it beat my Zekrom/Eelektrik deck that I played at Nationals!

One thing though that we aren’t quite sure about is whether or not we are going to have regular Rayquaza in our next set. There is some speculation on what is going to take up all the slots in Dragons Exalted, and we just aren’t sure if any cards from Dragon Selection will make it in.

Strategy

The strategy of this deck is pretty straightforward. The idea is to try and lead off with Emolga if possible, and load your bench up with Gible DRE and Swablu DRE. Then you can proceed to evolving to a Gabite (either using a Level Ball, Ultra Ball, or Pokémon Communication) and use its Dragon Call Ability to search your deck for a Dragon type Pokémon, usually a 2nd Gabite and use Dragon Call with that Gabite to search out for Altaria.

Having this Ability to search out for a Dragon Type Pokémon is very useful, and is also why the Garchomp line is 4-3-4 instead of 4-1-4 or 4-2-4. It puts the deck into motion, and speeds it up to get all of your Stage Twos out fast enough to compete with the fast format. Once a Garchomp is into play with a Fighting or Blend WLFM attached, you can start attacking with Mach Cut. Since the damage output for Mach Cut isn’t exceptional, that’s why we have Altaria.

Altaria’s Ability is called Battle Song, and it adds 20 more damage to all of your Dragon Type Pokémon’s attacks. What makes this so good is you can, with the help from Gabite, get multiple Altarias in play and make Garchomp’s attacks do quite a bit more damage. The only problem with Altaria and Swablu is their low HP and not-so-great attacks.

Other than this, these Pokémon pair up great with one another due to Gabite’s great Ability to search out for Dragon Pokémon, Altaria’s great Ability to up the Damage of your Dragon Pokémon’s attacks, and Garchomp’s great Attack:Energy ratio.

Bulbapedia

Techs

Rescue Scarf

This is a good card to help stream Garchomps and Altarias when they are Knocked Out. If you attach it to a Pokémon, when that Pokémon is KO’d, it acts very similarly like Rescue Energy. You discard all the Energy attached, and the Pokémon and its pre-evolutions under it return to your hand. This is especially good since Garchomp doesn’t use very many Energy to attack, and Altaria doesn’t attack at all.

I’m sure you noticed in my list that I already included this, but I feel that it isn’t to be included into all lists but it could be raised to a higher count to focus your list on consistency.

Terrakion NVI

This is a great card going against Zeels. You could use the “Surprise Terrakion” technique by including Switch or even Energy Switch into the deck. By dropping a Terrakion, you could play Energy Switch, retreat/Switch, and do a Retaliate. If they cannot get a surprise KO then you can attach and do a Land Crush. I like this combo when you can pull it off, and I reccomend this if your meta is Darkrai/Zeel infested.

These decks are both great and I recommend playing them for our next format. Both of these decks are doing pretty awesome in Japan, and are doing great in testplaying as well. I think the game is definitely shifting to a slower pace and allow Stage Twos to come back again.

Bidding Adieu to HS-On – My Memories of the Format

FUN FACT: In my 2011 Magneboar list that I played at Worlds, I played 4 Reversal and no Switch. I went to the third round of Grinders and only lost because I accidentally played two Supporters. I would’ve won had I not done that.

I started playing back in the Sabledonk era and I have to say, I hated it. I literally sat down at my first tournament ever, playing Reshiphlosion with 28 Energy, only one Typhlosion Prime and one of the regular one, and I can’t tell you how excited I was. I won the coin flip (with my new shiny Snivy coin) and then my opponent, Curtis Swick, flips over a Sableye SF allowing him to go first. I watched in horror as my Reshiram, is donked. I was astounded. A 130 HP RESHIRAM!

After the mid-season rotation, I experimented with Magneboar. I loved Magneboar, and to this day it is my favorite deck. With that format I felt very comfortable and I loved the fact that I could play Stage Twos. After Worlds I played Gothitelle lock (or some may know it as Bitter Buddies) and Reshiphlosion. I looked into competitive play a lot more and gained skill with the game. By Cities I was playing The Thunderdome (Magnezone Prime/Eelektrik) because it was the absolute closest thing to Magneboar there was.

Then by States, I don’t remember there being a viable Stage Two deck. I tested Thunderdome I can’t tell you how many times, but it just wasn’t the same. I made the big mistake of playing Zeels, a deck I wasn’t comfortable with, and did horrible at both states that I went to. If you saw my Battle Roads reports or videos, you’ll know I did okay at them, but not the greatest.

Going to Nationals I did okay as well, but again, not exceptional. The only thing I could think of was that I just wasn’t comfortable with this format. I liked being able to play Stage Twos and getting them to work with cool attacks and Abillities and it just seemed at the time being, Stage Twos were never really the best decks. Since I wasn’t going to Worlds this year, I decided to do BLW-on testing.

I began to feel the same as when I played back in the HS-BLW format, and I really enjoyed it. I had my doubts about this next season, but now it looks to be like a lot of fun and a tad bit less luck based. Oh yeah, and did I mention Stage Twos are going to be competive once again?

It’s Testing Time!

yogscast.wikia.com

As some of you may or may not know, I am not going to Worlds. You might be asking yourself “Collin, why would you write about testing for worlds, if you’re not even going?” Then I would say “Well… That’s a good question! The answer to that is: My good friend Tyler Malcom is going to Worlds this year, and like many others, needs to test and choose the right deck.”

There are a lot of choices to be made regarding decks and choosing the one you are most comfortable with is always the right choice – even if it isn’t particularly the best deck. My big mistake during States was that I did not play a deck I was comfortable with, and did horribly.

The best possible way to find a deck you are comfortable with is to test, test, and guess what? Test. Below I have a best out of three matchup (with video) with Darkrai/Tornadus and Darkrai/Terrakion. Right before the video I want to include the lists we played.

Tyler’s Nationals Darkrai Terrakion List

Pokémon – 11

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

2 Terrakion NVI

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

2 Smeargle UD/CL

2 Shaymin UL

Trainers – 35

4 Professor Oak’s New Theory

4 Professor Juniper

2 N

2 Random Receiver

 

4 Junk Arm

4 Dark Patch

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Ultra Ball

2 Energy Switch

2 Max Potion

2 Switch

2 Eviolite

1 Dual Ball

Energy – 14

9 D – Basic

5 F

My Flippy Darkrai Tornadus List

Pokémon – 10

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

2 Tornadus EX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

2 Smeargle UD/CL

1 Shaymin UL

Trainers – 38

4 Professor Oak’s New Theory

4 Professor Juniper

1 N

2 Random Receiver

 

4 Junk Arm

3 Dark Patch

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Super Scoop Up

3 Ultra Ball

2 Eviolite

2 Dark Claw

2 Switch

2 Dual Ball

1 Revive

 

2 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 12

8 D – Basic

4 Double Colorless

If you noticed that my Super Scoop Ups are italicized, and that is because it plays a key part in the feel of the deck, and how the match plays out. I will get back into this later.

*These matches are narrated by my good friend and co-creater of pokefriends56, Tyler Malcom. I found the narration to be quite humorous, so please do enjoy. If you liked the videos, please be sure to subscribe!

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Fixing Mistakes – Rebuilding My Deck Around My Play Style

artslant.com
4 SSU tails later…

One thing that played a big factor in that best out of three if you couldn’t tell, was luck. On game one, I flipped tails on three crucial Super Scoop Up flips that costed me the game. Game two, I got a fast start, and easily won. And game three, again, I hit a tails on a crucial Super Scoop Up flip and lost the whole series because of it.

Now, Super Scoop Up is in the deck for a majority of reasons, so I can’t just “take it out.” But if I leave it in, I could keep falling into the same situations as I did before – so what do I do?

1. Lists all the uses of the card (Super Scoop Up) in this deck.

  • Method of healing
  • Method of switching/retreating
  • Method of reusing Shaymin UL
  • Free a bench spot for another Pokémon

2. List cards that can serve a similar function.

  • Max Potion can heal

    pokemon-paradijs.com
    I was Max Potion before it was cool.

  • Switch can, well, switch
  • Seeker can pick up Bench Pokémon to reuse their Abillity/Power or to place another one down
  • Adding one more Shaymin so you don’t have to reuse it with a coin flip

3. Pick which ones you think would work best.

I didn’t think Seeker would be the best play in this deck since it is a Supporter, so I am no longer listing it as an option.

4. Add them to your decklist and test them out.

And here’s what our list now looks like:

Pokémon – 11

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

2 Tornadus EX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

2 Smeargle UD/COL

2 Shaymin UL

Trainers – 37

4 Professor Oak’s New Theory

4 Professor Juniper

1 N

2 Random Receiver

 

4 Junk Arm

3 Dark Patch

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Switch

2 Max Potion

2 Ultra Ball

2 Eviolite

2 Dark Claw

2 Dual Ball

1 Revive

 

2 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 12

8 D – Basic

4 Double Colorless

That process is what I use to help make a deck right for me. It may seem like a process many of you already do, but it is important and I think it should be used. In preperation for Worlds, you must remember how different it is than Nationals. When building a deck, build accordingly to the diversity of decks that will be played, but first and foremost, know your deck inside out.

Conclusion

If you liked the videos, please do subscribe to our channel! Tyler and I (along with a few others) are trying to put a lot of work into the channel to help expand competitive play. I want to wish everyone going to Worlds good luck! Tyler is going to Worlds so I hope we can bring coverage from Worlds since we were unable to at Nationals, so tune in around Worlds time to see that.

I hope I was able to help with the new way to make a list more suited to you, without changing to a new deck. I hope to bring more test matches on the channel so check in once in a while and there should be more. Again, good luck to everyone going to Worlds, and this is Collin signing out!

Peace out everyone!

Collin Coyle B. (thatbulbasaurkid)

Reader Interactions

34 replies

  1. Matthew King

    Nice Article. I could see the new Bouffallant as a tech card in “DragonMax” becuase it is a much better attacker than Sigi [although Sigi is a better EX counter].

  2. Bartek Orlowski

    “DragonMax is the deck that has been getting the most talk because it won a big tournament in Japan.”

    Garchomp also won a big tournament in Japan

  3. Martinus

    “DragonMax” sounds silly, no offense. HDD sounds better in my opinion.

    Anyhow, great article! I’m really not looking forward to seeing HDD in play. I hate playing against KlingKlangEX, and I assume HDD would be even worse. I am actually considering playing Gartaria just because it has an okay matchup against HDD.

  4. Fernando Gabriel Becerra Botello

    I think DragonMax should have Shaymin ex in spite of others techs ( terrakion, mew,etc…)

    in the late game shaymin is the only pokemon that can easily kill terrakion and can use blend energy as well.

  5. Fernando Gabriel Becerra Botello

    I think DragonMax should have Shaymin ex in spite of others techs ( terrakion, mew,etc…)

    in the late game shaymin is the only pokemon that can easily kill terrakion and can use blend energy as well.

  6. Vilas Winstein

    hard disk drive could use giratina ex to counter dragons if need be. (i know hydreigon can too but i think it’s a bit risky attacking with your main support pokemon)

  7. Pokemonguy

    Cool article but it would’ve been better if you had some BW-on testing Videos.

    • collin  → Pokemonguy

      Me and Tyler are working on those but are going to try and heve them out very soon after the first Prerelease Weekend. This article was intended for players attending Worlds as well as the casual players wanting to start with BW-on testing and don’t know where to start. We are working on the BW-on matches and have gotten requests for them, but it is a little hard since Tyler is attending Worlds and has his mind set on that. Also Battle Roads are a little ways away so I’m sure we will get our fix of BW-on matches/videos/articles very soon. But again we will have them out soon so stay tuned! Thanks!

  8. bowser

    how about we call it “that dark deck that moves energies and retreats dudes”… that’s pretty catchy! (-:

  9. Raimundo Estela

    As far as tests go Garchomp REALLY needs to play basic Water energies. On a mirror or Durant you get ripped when the Hammer or a Mach Cuts takes away your Blends.

    Also i’ve been trying to tech Empoleon there, the idea sounds so nice, but i haven’t found a way without taking out an Altaria line and some Trainers and the Biancas.

    • collin  → Raimundo

      I disagree. Garchomp’s main attack in the deck is Mach Cut and it requires a Fighting Energy. Blend WLFM can provide Fighting, along with if need be, the necessary Water Type Energy to use Dragon Blade. There is a draw back for Dragon Blade, and since most time you are two shotting EX’s with Mach Cut, and having the ability to discard Special Energy with your attack, your more preferred attack is Mach Cut – most of the time.

    • Isaac McClintock  → Raimundo

      I think the better tech would be terrakion. It works on fighting energy and you can always just add either exp share or energy switch without taking too much room. Plus it helps the dark matchup

  10. Micah Smyth

    about dragon selection going in, i looked around and haxorous should be coming so rayquaza ia quite possible

    • collin  → N

      Sorry not at the moment. We have a lot of people, and it is usually just me and tyler and maybe melissa who does all the videos so we dont want to recruit any more people. Sorry

  11. joey bellafiore

    What deck can I expect to be cheaper? The fluffychomp or the hydreigon?

    • collin  → joey

      I agree with Matteo, FluffyChomp will be cheaper. Altaraia comes as a prerelease card, and you dont have to get Darkrais or any EXs

  12. Matthew King

    AltChomp will be the cheaper 1 @joe bellafiore. Although with Darkrai EX reprinted as a Promo there will not be that much between them

  13. Stephen Botha

    BW-on ftw! Thanks for another great article. I love sweeping end game with Shaymin EX so it’ll be really cool to try this out. Just a thought, but won’t anyone teching dragons into their decks (like the regular rayquaza for example) give just dragon type decks problems? For example, my friend was playing Gothivoir and anyone with a random Mewtwo could just kill his entire deck.

    • collin  → Stephen

      That is a problem for both the HDD and FluffyChomp deck. But it does take multiple energy to power up multiple rayquazas and even then the prize exchange is still even (against FluffyChomp). Against HDD (i called it DragonMax in the article) if you have the catchers to KO the opponents Hdreigons/Zweilous/Deinos then you are in good shape. It is still quite hard to do that but it is possible and that is a great way to take down that deck. But I dont think it is as straightforward as “I have Mewtwp and you’re playing Gothivoir, I win” since it takes catchers and other things to pull off.

  14. Twan van Vugt

    I already put together a FluffyChomp list which i will test once the set is out and i noticed that you don’t run Switch. Switch helps with consistency since you preserve your energy. Super Rod is already used to get back Garchomp lines (in my build at least) and not energy. I do like the idea of rescue scarf, since then that 1 retreat is more manageable since you can use SR to get energy back into the deck. I’m just not sure wether it is better than Switch or not, I guess I have to test both ;)

  15. Brandon13Jones

    Great article! I love the name “FluffyChomp,” it’s just so cool.

  16. Andrew Valren

    why use blend over prism in dragonMAX at all? it’s not like your attacks will discard them or anything, plus that gives you more versatility for whatever techs you want. just saying.

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