The Elite Eight Coming out of States

sugimori art red pikachufuckyeahbetapokemonart.tumblr.comWe have now made it through three weekends of State Championships and Regionals are already just under two weeks away. All three States went very well for me giving us plenty to talk about today.

In this article I intend to walk you through my thought process of when I was choosing my deck for States this year, giving you a brief summary of how the events went for me as well as reveal my top eight deck choices for Spring Regionals.

Throughout all three weekends I played Landorus-EX/Tornadus EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant, however my decklist evolved greatly over the course of States to become the list that I used for a 10-1 2nd place finish at the South Carolina State Championships and bring my Championship Point total to 398 of the 400 needed for a Worlds invitation this year.

North Carolina State Championships

For week one of States I anticipated a heavy presence of Darkrai and Rayquaza/Eelektrik in my area which lead me to play this deck.

Pokémon – 10

4 Landorus-EX

3 Mewtwo-EX NXD

2 Bouffalant DRX

1 Tornadus-EX DEX

Trainers – 38

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Bianca

3 Skyla

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

4 Switch

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Ultra Ball

3 Eviolite

2 Max Potion

1 Energy Search

1 Dowsing Machine

 

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 12

8 F

4 Double Colorless

My predictions turned out to be spot on landing me in the Top 16 where I narrowly escaped with a victory against Ryan Sablehaus. During Week 1 I lost in the Top 8 to a teched out Darkrai deck that my initial list was not equipped to handle.

Maryland State Championships

For week two I was traveling to an area that I had never been before, however I was able to make another solid metagame prediction by simply analyzing the Week 1 results of nearby States. For Maryland States I anticipated seeing a large number of Big Basic and Garbodor decks as well a few Blastoise/Keldeo and Eelektrik decks that did not include Rayquaza EX.

For this tournament I knew that I would need my deck to focus much more on Tornadus EX than it did the previous week. After making what I felt were necessary changes I arrived at this list.

Pokémon – 9

3 Landorus-EX

3 Tornadus-EX DEX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

1 Bouffalant DRX

Trainers – 39

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Bianca

3 Skyla

1 Colress

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

4 Switch

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Ultra Ball

3 Max Potion

1 Eviolite

1 Energy Search

1 Computer Search

 

3 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 12

8 F

4 Double Colorless

This updated list once again took me into Top 8 before I was defeated by Jimmy Pendarvis and his Blastoise/Keldeo-EX deck. Unfortunately all of our games were completely decided by how well he flipped on his Super Scoop Ups and the dice rolls were not in my favor that day.

South Carolina State Championships

ash ketchum hat backwards pikachux-entertainment.comAfter two consecutive Top 8 finishes I was ready to finally take home the title of State Champion.

For South Carolina States I expected to see a huge increase in the amount of Big Basic decks that were played week one in North Carolina, along with a decent number of Rayquaza/Eelektrik.

The final week of this year’s State Championships turned out to be my most successful. I was able to finish the Swiss rounds with an undefeated 7-0 record. I then beat a mirror match 2-0 in the Top 16 and took down a Darkrai EX/Sableye deck 2-0 in the Top 8.

In the Top 4 I was once again paired against another Big Basics deck, this time piloted by Virginia’s State Champion Collin Harris. Due to my list having an edge in the mirror I was able to win 2-0 bringing my total record for the tournament to 13-0 so far.

As I watched another Big Basic deck win the other top 4 matchup I began to feel confident in my chances of walking away as a State Champion at the end of the day.

In game one of the finals I got off to a great start taking 3 Prizes before my opponent took any. Unfortunately for me the tables were soon turned when I was N’d down to three cards and continued to draw dead for far to many turns. In the end this game was decided on a coin flip; if his Mewtwo EX woke up going into his turn then he would win, but if it slept then I would win.

My heart races fast, feeling as if it may actually beat straight through my chest as he rolls the die to determine which of us is victorious. When the die finally stops spinning it reveals a devastating outcome to a game I never thought I could lose, he rolled a four.

Game two was similar to game one. I took Prizes fast and healed my heavily damaged Pokémon to prevent my opponent from taking Prizes. I was N’d multiple times this game but this time the consistency of piloting a deck that includes 15 Supporters as well as a Computer Search allowed me to secure a victory rather decisively.

My opponent went first in game three and immediately starting applying pressure to my field with a turn one Blow Throw + Virbank City Gym. I was able to get an early Max Potion but was forced to Juniper away my 2nd the same turn and soon realized that my 3rd Max Potion was prized. Unfortunately not much went my way this game meaning that my undefeated streak was now over.

Although I am disappointed that I came so far only to lose because of coin flips two weeks in a row, I am pleased with my overall performance at States this year.

Elite 8 Decklists for 2013 Spring Regionals

The recent finish of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Elite 8 has inspired me to put together a list of what I believe to be the Elite 8 decks for this year’s Spring Regionals Championships.

I will showcase my best list for each deck, explain why I chose the cards I did, explain why the deck deserves its spot on the list, and also describe the weaknesses that prevent the deck from being ranked higher on the list.

#8 – Lugia EX/Landorus-EX/Bouffalant

Pokémon – 8

3 Landorus-EX

3 Bouffalant DRX

2 Lugia-EX

Trainers – 38

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

4 Sklya

3 Bianca

1 Colress

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

4 Colress Machine

3 Switch

2 Escape Rope

1 Energy Search

1 Ultra Ball

1 Computer Search

 

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 14

6 F

4 Plasma

4 Double Colorless

Card Choices

computer search boundaries crossed 137As soon as you look over this list you will notice a number of things that may seem unusual. To begin with you may question why I advocate the use of Computer Search over Scramble Switch. I tested a very large array of Big Basic lists in preparation for this year’s States trying out just about every ACE SPEC out there.

My list always seemed to begin with the inclusion of Scramble Switch, substitute it out for options such as Dowsing Machine or even Gold Potion, and then eventually settle on Computer Search. There are actually numerous reasons behind this.

I would not criticize anyone who chooses to play Scramble Switch in this deck as it is an undeniably strong asset to have in your arsenal, however it cannot search for an important card that you may be sorely missing from your hand such as a Double Colorless, Pokémon Catcher, or Switch.

Computer Search can also serve a very important role, bringing a Supporter card to your Supporter-less hand.

Perhaps what is most shocking about this list is the absurdly high Supporter count. I do believe that this deck needs a minimum of 15 due to the fact that in most of the games that I’ve played this deck I am down to 3 Prize cards by turn three. I enjoy the maxed out Skyla count for searching out the 1-of Trainers as well as any Item I may need that particular turn. I also would not play this deck with more than a single copy of Colress largely due to our lack of Pokémon search cards.

Why It Earns the #8 Spot

This deck plays out much like a Big Basic deck does, however with the addition of Lugia EX we gain a few valuable qualities that any Big Basic deck would love to have.

The opportunity to take an extra Prize card with every knockout is one of the best that this game has ever seen, giving us the chance to win games by Knocking Out as few as just two of our opponent’s Pokémon.

This list also somewhat makes up for a traditional Big Basic deck’s biggest weakness – a lack of Energy acceleration. While the combination of Colress Machine + Plasma Energy may not compare to the reliability of Dynamotor or Deluge, it should not be underestimated. While this will certainly not happen every game, it is not to uncommon to pull off a turn one Plasma Gale with Lugia EX. I have achieved this twice already in about 15 games playing with the deck.

The main reason that I am not very fond of the Tornadus EX/Lugia EX/Bouffalant version is that all of our attackers need Double Colorless Energy to realistically function and there is simply not enough DCE to go around.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

For every strength that this deck has over a standard Big Basic list it also has a weakness. Far too often I find myself taking a commanding lead in the beginning turns of a game only to find myself N’d to a low amount of cards with no Supporter in sight. Even with our ridiculous amount of Supporters this deck draws dead too much for my comfort, primarily because we are not able to burn through enough cards in our deck before being hit with an N.

Add in the near auto-loss to Klinklang along with the difficult matchup against Blastoise and this deck has its work cut out for it.

#7 – Klinklang

Pokémon – 13

4 Klink DEX

1 Klang DEX

2 Klinklank PLS

1 Klinklang BLW

3 Cobalion-EX

1 Cobalion NVI

1 Durant DEX

Trainers – 37

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

4 Skyla

2 Colress

 

4 Rare Candy

4 Switch

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Max Potion

2 Ultra Ball

2 Heavy Ball

1 Tool Scrapper

1 Escape Rope

1 Dowsing Machine

 

2 Tropical Beach

Energy – 10

10 M

Card Choices

Escape Rope

escape-rope-plasma-storm-pls-120pokemon-paradijs.comI added Escape Rope because I felt a great need for another switch card. Without consistent access to Switch, a Darkrai EX/Sableye deck could repeatedly bring back their Pokémon Catchers and Hypnotoxic Lasers with Junk Hunt eventually resulting in us either decking out or losing our Plasma Klinklang to Poison damage.

Tool Scrapper

Tool Scrapper is in here to give us a better chance of defeating any Garbodors we face. With a well timed Tool Scrapper we may be able to knock off a Rescue Scarf and knockout a Garbodor in the same turn. This play would hopefully give us a few turns to use our Abilities as our opponent scrambles to get another Garbodor online.

Hypnotoxic Laser

Although this card did not make my final list, it must not be overlooked. Hypnotoxic Laser is useful in taking down one of Klinklang’s most feared counters: Victini NVI 15. With an Energy Press + Hypnotoxic Laser a fully powered Victini will go down in one blow.

Dowsing Machine

I very much enjoy the presence of Dowsing Machine over Computer Search in Klinklang decks. Dowsing Machine provides another chance to use 1-of techs such as Tool Scrapper as well as compensate for the my list not being able to fit in a 4th Pokémon Catcher or Max Potion.

Having another way to use a Switch against Darkrai EX decks will prove to be invaluable.

Dowsing Machine is also great for the painful times when we must Juniper away multiple Rare Candies early in the game or when our Tropical Beach has been replaced after just a single use.

Why It Earns the #7 Spot

Klinklang is capable of decimating an entire field of players if enough of them are not sufficiently prepared. That alone is enough to strike fear in countless Pokémon players including myself!

With the deck that I piloted at all three weekend of States this year I accepted that I had no chance of beating a Klinklang deck outside of donking them or them drawing very dead. That is just the mindset that Klinklang players want to see come Regionals time as it would all but assure them a strong showing.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

While Klinklang decks thrive in a field of unprepared matchups, the same cannot be said about the opposite. Klinklang is barely able to put up a fight against decks featuring multiple Victini, Moltres, Ninetales, or Garbodor.

When asked by my teammates how I felt about Klinklank before States I answered “You either face decks without Fire Pokémon or Garbodor and win all day or you face decks with Fire Pokémon or Garbodor and lose all day.”

I hope that I do not discourage or sound to harsh to anyone that is a fan of this deck, but I honestly feel like the majority of the skill intensive decisions you will face with this deck arise in building the actual list and predicting the meta you will face, the remainder is left up to the matchups you are paired with.

#6 – Empoleon/Dusknoir/Landorus-EX/Mewtwo EX

Pokémon – 19

4 Piplup DEX

1 Prinplup DEX

4 Empoleon DEX

2 Duskull BCR

2 Dusknoir BCR

2 Landorus-EX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

1 Roselia DRX 12

1 Roserade DRX 15

Trainers – 30

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Skyla

1 Cheren

 

4 Rare Candy

3 Pokémon Communication

1 Level Ball

3 Switch

3 Pokémon Catcher

2 Max Potion

1 Super Rod

1 Gold Potion

Energy – 11

4 W

4 Blend WLFM

3 Double Colorless

Card Choices

1-1 Roserade

roserade-dragons-exalted-drx-15pokemon-paradijs.comRoserade is a great addition for this deck but not just for the consistency its Ability brings. This deck loves having as many Pokémon as possible to both build up Attack Command’s damage output as well as making Pokémon Communication more consistent.

Pokémon Communication

With 19 Pokémon this is the first deck in ages that actually appreciates the use of Pokémon Communication instead of having to discard with Ultra Ball.

Gold Potion

Because of Empoleon’s fantastic Ability this deck does not need Computer Search or Dowsing Machine like many other decks do. Instead this deck can utilize Gold Potion in an attempt shore up some of its weak matchups.

Why It Earns the #6 Spot

To be honest I never would have thought that I would be putting Emoleon on any top X list ever, but after seeing top players such as Kyle and Ryan Sablehaus do well with this deck at States I have finally bought into the hype just a tad bit.

Empoleon has always been known for his consistency and not so much for his power. But with the help of Dusknoir, Mewtwo EX, and Landorus-EX that issue has somewhat been addressed.

What I like the most about Empoleon is that it has a decent chance of beating any deck it is paired against, and it even has a built in answer to those pesky Klinklang decks since Empoleon is not an EX.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

While it is true that Empoleon has a chance of beating anything, it is also true that there are basically no matchups that I would be willing to say is favorable for Empoleon.

In my opinion Empoleon is another deck that really needs its opponents to be unprepared. This time I do not mean that their decklist needs to be unprepared such as Klinklang’s case, but now I am talking about not being able to adapt to countering Empoleon’s in game strategy.

I was able to defeat all three of the Empoleon decks that I faced this year at States with my Big Basic deck easily by limiting my bench Pokémon to a maximum of two as well as going after their low hit point Basics with Pokémon Catcher every time the opportunity presented itself.

#5 – Garbodor

Pokémon – 11

3 Trubbish NVI

2 Garbodor DRX

3 Landorus-EX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

1 Tornadus-EX DEX

 

Trainers – 38

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

4 Skyla

1 Bianca

 

4 Rescue Scarf

1 Giant Cape/Eviolite

 

4 Switch

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Ultra Ball

1 Level Ball

1 Heavy Ball

1 Energy Search

1 Dowsing Machine/Computer Search

 

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 11

7 F

4 Double Colorless

Card Choices

Tornadus EX

Tornadus EX is in this list for two main reasons:

  1. To pad our Basic count, making it less likely that we will start with Trubbish.
  2. To give us a better chance of beating a Big Basic deck as well having another Pokémon that is not weak to Water for the Blastoise matchup.

Giant Cape/Eviolite

giant-cape-dragons-exalted-drx-114pokemon-paradijs.comThis decision is not all that important in the big picture, so I would go with whichever card you feel the most comfortable playing.

Personally I would choose Giant Cape because it is much better against Klinklang decks by preventing them from being able to 1HKO a Garbodor with Cobalion-EX. Eviolite is a slightly better choice against most other decks however.

Dowsing Machine/Computer Search

Although I am still unsure of which ACE SPEC I prefer for this list, I have been leaning toward Dowsing Machine lately for the extra help in resource management that it provides.

Why It Earns the #5 Spot

Garbodor is a hard counter to decks that rely on Abilities such as Blastoise, Eelektrik, and even Klinklang. Garbodor beats these decks more often than not even when they tech in a Tool Scrapper.

When a Garbodor player catches the right matchups throughout a tournament they will fairly easily make their way into top cut.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

Much like Klinklang decks, Garbodor functions better when its opponents are not fully prepared to face it. Since the huge success that Garbodor achieved the first weekend of States, players have been much more prepared, and in turn Garbodor has seen much less success since then.

#4 – Rayquaza EX/Eelektrik

Pokémon – 14

4 Tynamo NVI 38

4 Eelektrik NVI

3 Rayquaza-EX DRX

1 Emolga DRX

1 Victini NVI 15

1 Zekrom BLW/Rayquaza DRX

Trainers – 33

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Bianca

2 Colress

1 Random Receiver

 

4 Ultra Ball

2 Level Ball

3 Switch

3 Pokémon Catcher

2 Super Rod

1 Max Potion

1 Tool Scrapper

1 Dowsing Machine

 

2 Skyarrow Bridge

Energy – 13

8 L

5 R

Card Choices

Emolga

emolga dragons exalted drx 45pokemon-paradijs.comI personally would never play this deck without either Emolga or Victini-EX included. In my experiences these cards have been crucial to surviving against decks with a heavy focus on Landorus-EX.

If you have been playing this game since this time last year then you remember how much of a difference the free retreating Tynamo could make in a game. Having Emolga on my bench brings me back to the glory days of safely benching 30 HP Tynamos to promote after one of my Pokémon had been Knocked Out.

With the free retreat Emolga provides we do not have to rely solely on always having Switch or Skyarrow Bridge to use Dynamotor to its full potential.

Victini

This one card is all that you need to wreak havoc on an entire Klinklang deck thanks to Rayeels decks playing two Super Rods.

Victini isn’t a one trick pony though as it can prove its worth against both Garbodor and mirror matches by providing a low Energy attacker that only gives up 1 Prize when it goes down.

Zekrom/Shiny Rayquaza

Zekrom is the better option against Big Basic decks to smack a Tornadus EX for 240 damage. Shiny Rayquaza is better in the mirror match and against Blastoise decks. Your decision to include one of these two attackers in your decklist should be based upon the metagame that you expect to play against.

2 Super Rod

Playing this deck with any less than two Super Rods is asking for trouble with all of the Landorus and Darkrais picking on our Eels in our current format.

Max Potion

Max Potion is a card that is usually left out in Rayquaza decks due to space constraints, but it is something that I encourage you to test out yourself before dismissing. Max Potion changed the outcome of countless games against Big Basics and Darkrai EX decks whenever I was testing for States.

Healing 60 damage from an Eelektrik against both Landorus-EX and Darkrai EX can swing a lost game in your favor by preventing the common double knockout that they will surely attempt on your eels.

Dowsing Machine

128-dowsing-machineThis is another deck that I prefer to use Dowsing Machine over Computer Search. I prefer Dowsing Machine to help compensate for only having three Pokémon Catchers and three Switch in the deck. Dowsing is also great for reusing Tool Scrapper, Max Potion, and Super Rod.

Skyla

I have tested Skyla in this deck but was honestly very unimpressed. Skyla cannot provide you with the combination of cards that this deck needs during most turns so I would not recommend using her unless you also include Victini-EX + Victory Piece in your list.

Why It Earns the #4 Spot

A Rayeels deck that has three or more Eelektriks on the field every turn of the game is capable of taking down pretty much anything you throw at it. If a Rayquaza deck is able to stabilize its field before giving up to many Prizes then I would say that it even has an advantage against Landorus-EX and Darkrai EX decks. This is one of a select few decks that actually wants to be paired against as many Klinklang decks as possible.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

Ask almost any competitive player what their number one reason for passing up on piloting an Eelektrik based deck and you will hear the same answer over and over: Tynamo has 40 HP.

Whenever you start with a lone Tynamo which is very likely to happen multiple times throughout a large tournament, you better hope to go first. If you do not go first in this situation then there is a good chance that you will be signing a match slip in matter of seconds unless your opponent flips over either a Squirtle or a Klink. Unfortunately a majority of our current Tier 1 decks have recently gained some way to Knock Out a lone Tyamo on the first turn.

Even if you are able to avoid being donked you must also set up at a blazing fast pace to keep up with any deck that focuses on Landorus-EX.

#3 – Blastoise/Keldeo-EX/Black Kyurem EX

Pokémon – 13

4 Squirtle BCR

3 Blastoise BCR

3 Keldeo-EX

2 Black Kyurem-EX PLS

1 Victini NVI 15/Moltres NXD

 

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Juniper

4 Skyla

3 N

2 Colress

1 Cilan

 

4 Rare Candy

4 Energy Retrieval

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Ultra Ball

1 Heavy Ball

1 Level Ball

1 Tool Scrapper

1 Computer Search

 

2 Tropical Beach

Energy – 13

10 W

2 L

1 R

Card Choices

Victini/Moltres

victini-noble-victories-nvi-15-no-watermarkpokemon-paradijs.comI hate that a Fire Pokémon has to waste two valuable spots in my list, but without it I could have a very bad day if I get paired up with multiple Klinklang decks. I would much rather play Black Kyurem BCR if Klinklang did not exist.

3 Ultra/1 Heavy/1 Level

This is the ball line that I have played since Cities and have never had any problems with it. This line gives us plenty of options for getting out all of our Pokémon whenever needed.

1 R Energy

You may question whether or not a single R Energy is enough to attack with our Fire tech reliably. I originally had two Fires in the deck but that turned out to be much too excessive as Victini/Moltres was utterly useless in virtually every matchup but one.

The single Fire has worked out fine in my testing. I will discard it early game whenever I can so that when I get my Fire tech on the field all I have to do is use an Energy Retrieval to get it. Cilan, Computer Search, and Skyla/Computer Search give us plenty of options for searching out the R Energy if it gets stuck in the deck.

Of course we run the risk of our R Energy being Prized by only playing one, but I am much more willing to take that risk than I am willing to add in a second Fire.

Why It Earns the #3 Spot

Black Kyurem EX puts out an unmatched amount of firepower with its Black Ballista attack. Pair that with the best Energy acceleration in the game and you have one of the best combinations in the history of the game.

It is no secret that a set up Blastoise deck is hard for nearly anything to stand up to.

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

Nowadays it is difficult for any Stage 2 deck to set up game after game in the face of blazing fast Basic Pokémon that can deal 60+ damage on turn 1, and Blastoise is no exception.

One of the biggest weaknesses that everybody’s favorite turtle faces is its own natural inconsistencies.

Squirtle is perhaps the biggest liability of the whole deck. With just 60 HP and the release of the popular HypnoBank combo, Squirtles are having a harder time than ever sticking around until they get the chance to chow down on some candy and morph into big, strong, manly Blastoises.

#2 – Darkrai EX/Sableye

Pokémon – 6

3 Sableye DEX

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

 

Trainers – 43

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Random Receiver

1 Bianca

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

4 Dark Patch

4 Ultra Ball

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Potion

3 Crushing Hammer

2 Eviolite

2 Energy Switch

1 Max Potion

1 Enhanced Hammer

1 Gold Potion

 

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 11

11 D

This is the exact Darkrai list from Erik Nance’s last article, and honestly his list is the only reason that Darkrai made it so high in my Elite 8. Throughout States I honored Darkrai’s consistency but otherwise felt that it was very much inferior to the other Tier 1 decks. I felt this way because none of the Darkrai decks I had come across could put up much of a fight against Landorus-EX. Sure the games were usually close, but Landorus always came out on top.

The Darkrai decks I saw all struggled against Klinklang as their only hope was to cycle through Junk Hunts turn after turn dragging out a Plasma Klinklang and hoping for the best. They also had difficulty standing up to Blastoise decks from time to time.

Until I saw Erik’s unique list I had personally put Darkrai at the bottom of my Tier 1 list.

There are a few changes that I would like to make to the list, but overall I am very pleased with the strategy behind the deck.

The reason that I always destroyed Darkrai decks with my Big Basic list was actually pretty simple. Landorus-EX + HypnoBank 2HKOs a Darkrai EX for one Energy starting as early as turn 1 while a Darkrai player would have to wait until turn 2 if they were lucky to start 2HKOing my Landorus for three Energies.

I was also able to Max Potion very easily and still be able to attack the same turn thanks to the low Energy requirement of Hammerhead. Any game that I was able to get off a Land’s Judgement attack was a blow out in my favor.

Erik’s list has brought back my faith in Darkrai by having answers to Big Basics, Garbodor, Klinklang, and the Mirror.

Card Choices

Potion

potion-black-white-blw-100pokemon-paradijs.comWhen timed right, especially after a mid-late game N Potion can devastate your opponent by changing a 2HKO on your Darkrai EX to a 3HKO.

At any time during a game Potion can be game changing if you are able to play more than one at a time, almost certainly allowing a Darkrai EX to survive for an extra turn.

Crushing Hammer/Enhanced Hammer

In this deck Crushing Hammer might as well read “You now auto-win any Klinklang matchup.” Against Klinklang all you have to do is continuously Junk Hunt for your Hammers and Catchers until the Klinklang player has completely run out of Energies. They cannot even knockout your Sableyes with Cobalion-EX’s one Energy attack because of our Eviolites and Potions.

Hammers are for more than just Klinklang though, they also help against Big Basics, Garbodor, Rayquaza/Eelektrik, and even the mirror match.

Gold Potion

Gold Potion has the potential to completely change the outcome of a game against Big Basics or the mirror by erasing an entire turn of damage. Did I mention that this Potion on steriods is Junk Huntable!? I can already imagine the look of grief upon my opponent’s face as I make their last turn useless for the second time in one game.

Why It Earns the #2 Spot

With Eviolites, Hammers, and Potions this deck can hold its own against any Basic deck out there. And with a plethora of healing cards I would welcome the thought of playing against other Darkrai decks.

I also love this deck auto-wins against Klinklang!

Why This Deck is Not Ranked Higher in My Elite 8

This potion heavy deck may be good against a large majority of the field, but nothing is perfect and this list struggles against a widely popular archetype: Blastoise/Keldeo-EX/Black Kyurem EX.

Another issue I have with the deck is the low Supporter count. Although this will rarely become an issue, I would hate to waste a turn using Junk Hunt just because I need to get back a Random Receiver.

#1 – Landorus-EX/Tornadus EX/Mewtwo EX/Bouffalant

Pokémon – 9

3 Landorus-EX

3 Tornadus-EX DEX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

1 Bouffalant DRX

Trainers – 39

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

3 Bianca

3 Skyla

1 Colress

 

4 Pokémon Catcher

4 Switch

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Ultra Ball

3 Max Potion

1 Escape Rope

1 Energy Search

1 Computer Search

 

3 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 12

8 F

4 Double Colorless

Card Choices

3 Tornadus EX

tornadus ex dark explorers dex 90pokemon-paradijs.comA heavy Tornadus EX count is very important primarily for games against Blastoise and for mirror matches.

3 Max Potion

I finished States with a combined 7-2 record against mirror matches. I give most of the credit for this to my high Max Potion count.

Escape Rope

For the final week of States I dropped the last Eviolite from my list to fit in one Escape Rope. I made this change so that I would have another Switch card to get out of taking Poison damage.

Escape Rope is the only card in my list that I would consider changing unless I needed to drop more cards to fit in a Klinklang counter.

This is actually the first time in my Pokémon career that I have built a deck and had too much space. I could never quite fill in the 60th deck spot with anything that I was completely satisfied with, so I eventually settled on Escape Rope.

If I were to play this deck again I would likely substitute my one Escape Rope for something that further tipped the mirror match in my favor such as the fourth Max Potion or an Enhanced Hammer.

Computer Search

After testing extensively with Scramble Switch, playing Dowsing Machine week one, and using Computer Search weeks two and three I can say with 100% certainty that I will never play this deck in this format without Computer Search.

I never realized quite how good Computer Search was until I started playing with it. In theory I assumed that Scramble Switch or Dowsing Machine would be better suited for this style of deck. I won numerous games thanks to Computer Search getting me a clutch Double Colorless right when I needed it.

Without Computer Search I would have been Knocked Out in the Top 16 of Maryland States. Computer Search saved me from losing due to a lone Bouffalant being Knocked Out because I was able to search for a Supporter card and draw into another Pokémon to Bench very early in the game.

Ninetales

If you would like to play this deck at Regionals but are afraid of facing Klinklang then I suggest adding in Ninetales DRX. Just a simple 2-2 line along with 2 R Energies is enough to turn Klinklang into a very winnable matchup.

If you decide to go this route then I suggest making the following changes: – 1 Bouffalant, -1 Colress, -1 Pokémon Catcher (because of Bright Look), -1 Escape Rope, -1 Max Potion, -1 F Energy, + 2-2 Ninetales, + 2 R Energy.

Ninetales is not dead weight in other matchups like Victini is. Ninetales can actually dish out a ton of damage for just one Energy. If you play a HypnoBank and flip tails then Ninetales will do 70 damage plus 30 Poison damage. But if you flip heads then Ninetales will do 120 damage + 30 Poison damage for just one Energy! Also who does not like getting a free Pokémon Catcher effect?

Why It Earns the # 1 Spot

This is my go-to deck because:

  1. This deck boasts an unusual level of consistency with 15 Supporters.
  2. No Stage 1 or 2 Bench-sitters are required for this deck to work, freeing up space and negating that vulnerability.
  3. I have dished out 90 damage on turn one countless times. Think of how amazing it is to get a turn one Night Spear.
  4. This deck has a lot of positive matchups. I even escaped States with a positive record against Blastoise!

Conclusion

bill sugimorifuckyeahpokemontrainerred.tumblr.comOur current format has a large number of Tier 1 and Tier 2 decks that all have a legitimate chance of taking down a Spring Regional Championship this year. So whether you decide to enter Regionals with a lightning fast deck such as Big Basics or you prefer to slowly grind your opponent’s gears with Klinklang, you will be at an advantage if you are prepared to face any and all of the decks from my Elite 8.

After a great States run bringing me up to 398 Points I will unfortunately be sitting this Regional Championship out so that I can save money for Vancouver. Although I will not be attending, I hope that every Underground member was able to learn something from this article that will help them at Regionals.

As always thanks for reading and remember to hit the “Like” or “Dislike” button to let me know how I’ve done as well as starting a discussion in the forums.


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