Standard Alolan Ninetales (BREAKthrough-on)

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

Alolan Ninetales/Tapu-Koko Spread

​

I played Alolan Ninetales-GX when it originally came out in Guardians Rising as I loved the spread damage aspect of "Ice Blade" with Tapu Koko promo "Flying Flip", and now with the release of Burning Shadows, comes a new Alolan Ninetales, which adds new depth to the deck, thanks to it's ability "Luminous Barrier", which blocks out many decks in competitive play which runs many EXs and GXs, and helps deal with one of the deck's worst matchups: Metagross-GX.

Let's see that decklist!

Decklist:

Pokemon: 17
(3) Alolan Ninetales-GX
(1) Alolan Ninetales (Burning Shadows)
(4) Alolan Vulpix (Guardians Rising)
(1) Glaceon-EX
(1) Tapu Fini-GX
(2) Tapu Koko (Promo SM31)
(2) Tapu Lele-GX
(1) Octillery (BREAKthrough)
(1) Remoraid (BREAKthrough 32)
(1) Espeon-EX


Trainers: 32
(4) Professor Sycamore
(4) N
(3) Guzma (EDIT: I finally got the 3rd Guzma!)
(1) Brigette
(1) Mallow
(4) Aqua Patch
(4) Ultra Ball
(2) Field Blower
(2) Rescue Stretcher
(3) Choice Band
(2) Float Stone
(2) Brooklet Hill

Energy: 11
(7) Basic Water Energy
(4) Double Colorless Energy


Strategy:

The main focus of the deck is spread damage, Alolan Ninetales-GX's "Ice Blade" and Tapu Koko promo's "Flying Flip" attacks puts early pressure by spreading damage across the board.Then what you do next depends on what kind of deck your opponent is using...

If your opponent's deck evolves: Once enough damage is spread, use Espeon-EX's "Miraculous Shine" attack to devolve your opponent's Pokemon to knock out multiple Pokemon for great advantage and putting your opponent into an awkward situation.

If your opponent's deck uses a majority of EX's or GX's: The Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows is the star in this matchup with it's ability, "Luminous Barrier". It will take forever as the new Alolan Ninetales' attack only does 80, 110 with Choice Band so it will take longer but it is a safer option, and with Hex Maniac leaving the format, "Garbotoxin" Garbodor is the only card that can turn this ability off, a real nuisance for our opponents.

Ideas for upgrades:
I was thinking of including a single copy of Tapu Fini-GX for it's GX attack, "Tapu Storm-GX" which for a single Water Energy, shuffles the opponent's active Pokemon into the deck with all cards attached to it, as long as your opponent has at least 1 benched Pokemon. I was thinking of using this with another copy of Guzma, making it go to 3 copies as I could Guzma in a big threat and I could switch in the Tapu Fini-GX, attach a Water Energy then shuffle it into the deck. This makes sense with the new Alolan Ninetales as I could shuffle in a non-EX or GX attacker into the deck so my Alolan Ninetales could be safe, if my opponent is playing a EX or GX heavy deck, but I haven't tested it yet as of typing this so I don't know for sure, and Tapu Fini is cheap at £5 for the normal art version so if I do buy it and it doesn't work, I'm not too out of a lost.

UPDATE!!: I've added a 3rd Guzma that I pulled from a Burning Shadows Elite Trainer Box and I've also added the Tapu Fini-GX as testing it worked beautifully. The snipe is useful and the GX attack can be handy at times although I would still prefer Alolan Ninetales-GX's 'Ice Path' attack.

Final words:
Sorry for such a long thread with big walls of text but I wanted to explain a lot as this deck will be my competitive deck for the BREAKthrough-on 2017-18 format, and I know this deck has potential, it managed to defeat a Lapras-GX player, a Volcanion-EX/Ho-Oh-GX/Turtonator-GX player and even a Gardevoir-GX player at my League last week. Hopefully I can make this deck better and more effective, thank you all for reading and especially those who read all of this, and have an amazing morning/day/evening and night, depending on where you live. Any and all feedback would be most appreciated.

Thank you again!

UPDATE!! (02/09/2017): I've updated the list for the new September format. From testing and discussions at competitive players from my local league who have been to tournaments, I feel that this is a solid build. It's not the best, as all decks can be improved, but this deck is effective at doing what Alolan Ninetales-GX does best and still having the chance of winning. I still like to hear other ideas and techs and improvements for this deck you guys have. Thank you to all of you who commented and gave me ideas, and even to those who just read this post, it means a lot. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

 

[Nyora]

I would add a 3rd Guzma replacing Brooklet Hill (If you can get it) because Ninetales-A GX is a deck that relies on constant switching if you really wanna take advantage of Aqua Patch, and not only that, but if your opponent plays more Guzma than you, and they Guzma up something to stall, not having another Guzma would be really bad in that situation.

 

[Duo]

I'm not sure if you are particularly looking for feedback for this decklist, but Alolan Ninetales GX is the first deck I played seriously so I have a few opinions if you care about them.

I personally feel that Brooklet Hill & Sudowoodo are pointless in this deck. Reducing your opponent's bench space would probably just lead to them discarding a lele if they're maxed out, which is bad for you (you lose a Blizzard Edge OHKO target with Choice Band) and good for them. And then you yourself are now down a bench space as well. It's a lose-lose situation when there are no longer any major bench dependant attackers in the game after rotation, and Zoroark GX doesn't hit hard enough for it to be a concern. Brooklet Hill is useless after playing Brigette.

I would immediately -3 Brooklet Hill for +1 Remoraid, +1 Octillery, +1 Alolan Ninetales GX. 1/1 lines are not reliable, and you want access to enough GX's throughout the game.

I would then -1 Sudowoodo for that 3rd Guzma when you can get your hands on it.

With Octillery for draw power, I would flip the 4/3 Sycamore/N to 3/4 Sycamore/N. Octillery and Sycamore don't work very well together, and you want 4 N for both early game draw power and late game disruption for your opponent. You yourself are immune to your own N thanks to Octillery.

I would also highly advise a minimum of 2 Evosoda one way or another. I have never met an opponent nice enough to let me keep my Pokemon after a Beacon. 100% of my Beacons have been N'd, and drawing into Evosoda after an N allows me to continue the game regardless. I personally run 3 to mathematically double my chances of seeing my Alolan Ninetales GX regardless.

As for the Tapu Fini, I don't think it's good enough. I put it in my deck for 20-25 games and never used it or its GX attack and hated opening with it. There was just no need for the GX attack over Ice Path GX. I welcome you to play around with it since people approach the game differently, but I never found the right timing for its GX attack when I can just go for a KO with Blizzard Edge for 2 prizes while eliminating a threat.

 

[HouchinsDJ]

Looks good, although I do agree with everything Duo said above me! I run Alolan Ninetales from time-to-time and think it's great. I will say, however, that Luminous Barrier can be played around quite easily. Let's look at some of the big decks:

Gardevoir GX - You stop Gardevoir GX with Luminous Barrier... but you don't stop Gallade, which will OHKO your baby Alolan Ninetales. Not only that, but Alolan Ninetales GX is the only thing that can really deal with Gallade and that leaves it wide open to get OHKO'd by Gardevoir GX.

Metagross GX - You stop Metagross GX with Luminous Barrier... but you don't stop Metang, which can be quickly powered up with Metagross on the bench and OHKO'd due to weakness.

Golisopod GX/Garbodor - Garbotoxin completely shuts down Luminous Barrier, allowing Golisopod to take a OHKO with First Impression.

Volcanion - You have a pretty good matchup here because you hit for weakness. As far as Luminous Barrier goes, the opponent can Steam Up and hit with baby Volcanion. You don't have to worry about using baby Alolan Ninetales in this matchup though since the GX will be more than enough.

Overall, Luminous Barrier is a great ability, you just have to be careful and not rely on it TOO much.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

I would add a 3rd Guzma replacing Brooklet Hill (If you can get it) because Ninetales-A GX is a deck that relies on constant switching if you really wanna take advantage of Aqua Patch, and not only that, but if your opponent plays more Guzma than you, and they Guzma up something to stall, not having another Guzma would be really bad in that situation.

I agree adding a 3rd Guzma would be great as yes, Aqua Patch can become more live and can save me from getting stalled out but with Ice Blade on the Alolan Ninetales-GX, bringing up something with 3 or 4 retreat and spending turns sniping with Ice Blade while I build up more attackers is not bad either, which I have done on occasion. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

I'm not sure if you are particularly looking for feedback for this decklist, but Alolan Ninetales GX is the first deck I played seriously so I have a few opinions if you care about them.

I personally feel that Brooklet Hill & Sudowoodo are pointless in this deck. Reducing your opponent's bench space would probably just lead to them discarding a lele if they're maxed out, which is bad for you (you lose a Blizzard Edge OHKO target with Choice Band) and good for them. And then you yourself are now down a bench space as well. It's a lose-lose situation when there are no longer any major bench dependant attackers in the game after rotation, and Zoroark GX doesn't hit hard enough for it to be a concern. Brooklet Hill is useless after playing Brigette.

I would immediately -3 Brooklet Hill for +1 Remoraid, +1 Octillery, +1 Alolan Ninetales GX. 1/1 lines are not reliable, and you want access to enough GX's throughout the game.

I would then -1 Sudowoodo for that 3rd Guzma when you can get your hands on it.

With Octillery for draw power, I would flip the 4/3 Sycamore/N to 3/4 Sycamore/N. Octillery and Sycamore don't work very well together, and you want 4 N for both early game draw power and late game disruption for your opponent. You yourself are immune to your own N thanks to Octillery.

I would also highly advise a minimum of 2 Evosoda one way or another. I have never met an opponent nice enough to let me keep my Pokemon after a Beacon. 100% of my Beacons have been N'd, and drawing into Evosoda after an N allows me to continue the game regardless. I personally run 3 to mathematically double my chances of seeing my Alolan Ninetales GX regardless.

As for the Tapu Fini, I don't think it's good enough. I put it in my deck for 20-25 games and never used it or its GX attack and hated opening with it. There was just no need for the GX attack over Ice Path GX. I welcome you to play around with it since people approach the game differently, but I never found the right timing for its GX attack when I can just go for a KO with Blizzard Edge for 2 prizes while eliminating a threat.

I do care about others' opinions as that's a great way to improve my skills as a competitive player, so I don't mind.

I quite like the Brooklet Hill in terms of consistency, as I want to get set up as soon as possible and can be used to get rid of stadiums like Parallel City that can hurt quite a lot. And I like Sudowoodo as well, yes it can happen that my opponent can just sack the Lele and not be hurt by it but it's nice to play down Turn 1 against a deck that uses Lele and Octillery as at that point, it limits the opponent on how many attackers they can set up, if that makes sense.

I've tried 2/2 Octillery and I'm not a fan. If one of the pieces are prized, instead of using Brigette to get the 2 Vulpix and the Remoraid, I just replace the Remoraid with a Tapu Koko promo instead, and if it gets knocked out, I can use a Rescue Stretcher to recover the pieces.

I've never tried Evosoda to be honest, I've forgotten that card was even still in the format haha, but I've had some Beacons where my opponent used Sycamore or another supporter instead of N. To me, it's better for them to N in case of using a Brigette for set-up as they may not draw the basics they wanted to bench with the Brigette, and they have had a great hand but they had to N it away from me using Beacon, from my experiences 75/100 of my Beacons were N'd away.

I will happily try out the changes you have described, thanks for the feedback.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

Looks good, although I do agree with everything Duo said above me! I run Alolan Ninetales from time-to-time and think it's great. I will say, however, that Luminous Barrier can be played around quite easily. Let's look at some of the big decks:

Gardevoir GX - You stop Gardevoir GX with Luminous Barrier... but you don't stop Gallade, which will OHKO your baby Alolan Ninetales. Not only that, but Alolan Ninetales GX is the only thing that can really deal with Gallade and that leaves it wide open to get OHKO'd by Gardevoir GX.

Metagross GX - You stop Metagross GX with Luminous Barrier... but you don't stop Metang, which can be quickly powered up with Metagross on the bench and OHKO'd due to weakness.

Golisopod GX/Garbodor - Garbotoxin completely shuts down Luminous Barrier, allowing Golisopod to take a OHKO with First Impression.

Volcanion - You have a pretty good matchup here because you hit for weakness. As far as Luminous Barrier goes, the opponent can Steam Up and hit with baby Volcanion. You don't have to worry about using baby Alolan Ninetales in this matchup though since the GX will be more than enough.

Overall, Luminous Barrier is a great ability, you just have to be careful and not rely on it TOO much.

I can see where you're coming from. And Garbodor is why I play the Field Blower so I can shut off Garbotoxin, I may toss in a 3rd in case Garbotoxin gets big come September, but we will just have to wait and see.

Let's hope some of the upcoming sets have some new cards to help Alolan Ninetales deal with the top-tier decks a little easier. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[kharrison569]

I can see where you're coming from. And Garbodor is why I play the Field Blower so I can shut off Garbotoxin, I may toss in a 3rd in case Garbotoxin gets big come September, but we will just have to wait and see.

Let's hope some of the upcoming sets have some new cards to help Alolan Ninetales deal with the top-tier decks a little easier. Thanks for the feedback!

I will post my deck list tonight. I too play this deck and it obliterates Gardevoir-GX. Its a fun deck to play especially against Metagross-GX and Gardevoir-GX. I added Glaceon EX to especially take care of Gallade and other evolved Pokemon. Most of the times I have played it, the other player scoops.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

I will post my deck list tonight. I too play this deck and it obliterates Gardevoir-GX. Its a fun deck to play especially against Metagross-GX and Gardevoir-GX. I added Glaceon EX to especially take care of Gallade and other evolved Pokemon. Most of the times I have played it, the other player scoops.

Could you possibly send me a link once the decklist gets posted? I'm quite curious in the decklist if it obliterates Gardevoir-GX. And I'm forgotten all about Glaceon-EX to be honest, I feel so foolish.

 

[kharrison569]

Could you possibly send me a link once the decklist gets posted? I'm quite curious in the decklist if it obliterates Gardevoir-GX. And I'm forgotten all about Glaceon-EX to be honest, I feel so foolish.

Well, I say obliterates, but it pretty much stops it and Metagross-GX because of Glaceon-EX and Non-GX Alolan Ninetales. I only play 1 Glaceon-EX right now, but am thinking of adding another one. I haven't lost to a Gardevoir-GX deck yet. My son played it last weekend against Gardevoir and decked out trying to get his last Guzma out. His opponent had 1 card left as well. He went for the KO instead of just waiting it out. He loves the deck though.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

Well, I say obliterates, but it pretty much stops it and Metagross-GX because of Glaceon-EX and Non-GX Alolan Ninetales. I only play 1 Glaceon-EX right now, but am thinking of adding another one. I haven't lost to a Gardevoir-GX deck yet. My son played it last weekend against Gardevoir and decked out trying to get his last Guzma out. His opponent had 1 card left as well. He went for the KO instead of just waiting it out. He loves the deck though.

That's good! Glad to hear your son likes the deck. I find Alolan Ninetales really fun to play, from spreading damage or blocking EX's and GX's

 

[zaratath]

I would suggest running a third alolan ninetails gx as that is the main focus of the deck

 

[AFEX]

Alolan Ninetales/Tapu-Koko Spread

​

I played Alolan Ninetales-GX when it originally came out in Guardians Rising as I loved the spread damage aspect of "Ice Blade" with Tapu Koko promo "Flying Flip", and now with the release of Burning Shadows, comes a new Alolan Ninetales, which adds new depth to the deck, thanks to it's ability "Luminous Barrier", which blocks out many decks in competitive play which runs many EXs and GXs, and helps deal with one of the deck's worst matchups: Metagross-GX.

Let's see that decklist!

Decklist:

Pokemon: 16
(2) Alolan Ninetales-GX
(2) Alolan Ninetales (Burning Shadows)
(4) Alolan Vulpix (Guardians Rising)
(2) Tapu Koko (Promo SM31)
(2) Tapu Lele-GX
(1) Octillery (BREAKthrough)
(1) Remoraid (BREAKthrough 32)
(1) Espeon-EX
(1) Sudowoodo (Guardians Rising)

Trainers: 31
(4) Professor Sycamore
(3) N
(2) Brigette
(2) Guzma (I only have 2 Guzma)
(4) Aqua Patch
(4) Ultra Ball
(2) Field Blower
(2) Rescue Stretcher
(3) Choice Band
(2) Float Stone
(3) Brooklet Hill

Energy: 13
(9) Basic Water Energy
(4) Double Colorless Energy


Strategy:

The main focus of the deck is spread damage, Alolan Ninetales-GX's "Ice Blade" and Tapu Koko promo's "Flying Flip" attacks puts early pressure by spreading damage across the board.Then what you do next depends on what kind of deck your opponent is using...

If your opponent's deck evolves: Once enough damage is spread, use Espeon-EX's "Miraculous Shine" attack to devolve your opponent's Pokemon to knock out multiple Pokemon for great advantage and putting your opponent into an awkward situation.

If your opponent's deck uses a majority of EX's or GX's: The Alolan Ninetales from Burning Shadows is the star in this matchup with it's ability, "Luminous Barrier". It will take forever as the new Alolan Ninetales' attack only does 80, 110 with Choice Band so it will take longer but it is a safer option, and with Hex Maniac leaving the format, "Garbotoxin" Garbodor is the only card that can turn this ability off, a real nuisance for our opponents.

Ideas for upgrades:
I was thinking of including a single copy of Tapu Fini-GX for it's GX attack, "Tapu Storm-GX" which for a single Water Energy, shuffles the opponent's active Pokemon into the deck with all cards attached to it, as long as your opponent has at least 1 benched Pokemon. I was thinking of using this with another copy of Guzma, making it go to 3 copies as I could Guzma in a big threat and I could switch in the Tapu Fini-GX, attach a Water Energy then shuffle it into the deck. This makes sense with the new Alolan Ninetales as I could shuffle in a non-EX or GX attacker into the deck so my Alolan Ninetales could be safe, if my opponent is playing a EX or GX heavy deck, but I haven't tested it yet as of typing this so I don't know for sure, and Tapu Fini is cheap at £5 for the normal art version so if I do buy it and it doesn't work, I'm not too out of a lost.

Final words:
Sorry for such a long thread with big walls of text but I wanted to explain a lot as this deck will be my competitive deck for the BREAKthrough-on 2017-18 format, and I know this deck has potential, it managed to defeat a Lapras-GX player, a Volcanion-EX/Ho-Oh-GX/Turtonator-GX player and even a Gardevoir-GX player at my League last week. Hopefully I can make this deck better and more effective, thank you all for reading and especially those who read all of this, and have an amazing morning/day/evening and night, depending on where you live. Any and all feedback would be most appreciated.

Thank you again!

Definitely a good idea to add Tapu Fini, i think it will be a really good attacker/secondary attacker, for its gx attack, which can really put pressure on your opponents, with one of their pokemon having 120 damage on it. Not to mention Tapu Fini would be really great to start the game with, escpecially with its first attack doing 20, in 3 turns, you would have a knockout on a 60hp basic, assuming your opponent couldn't get a bench set up, aqua ring can make the gx attack a lot better. Since this is a bench spread damage deck you definitely need Tapu Fini GX, to just put more bench pressure on your opponent.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

Definitely a good idea to add Tapu Fini, i think it will be a really good attacker/secondary attacker, for its gx attack, which can really put pressure on your opponents, with one of their pokemon having 120 damage on it. Not to mention Tapu Fini would be really great to start the game with, escpecially with its first attack doing 20, in 3 turns, you would have a knockout on a 60hp basic, assuming your opponent couldn't get a bench set up, aqua ring can make the gx attack a lot better. Since this is a bench spread damage deck you definitely need Tapu Fini GX, to just put more bench pressure on your opponent.

Thanks for the comment, I'll have a look to see if anyone at my league has it in their trade binder, I know it's cheap for the normal art but hey, getting a card for no money is better.

But in terms of Alolan Ninetales, it would better for it last two attacks, early game we want to use either Alolan Vulpix to search or Tapu Koko promo to spread damage. The reason why I wanted to use Tapu Fini is with Guzma to shuffle anything on our opponent's field into the deck. But here's a question, what would you rather use?

Alolan Ninetales-GX's Ice Path GX? Or Tapu Fini-GX's Tapu Storm GX?

 

[AFEX]

Thanks for the comment, I'll have a look to see if anyone at my league has it in their trade binder, I know it's cheap for the normal art but hey, getting a card for no money is better.

But in terms of Alolan Ninetales, it would better for it last two attacks, early game we want to use either Alolan Vulpix to search or Tapu Koko promo to spread damage. The reason why I wanted to use Tapu Fini is with Guzma to shuffle anything on our opponent's field into the deck. But here's a question, what would you rather use?

Alolan Ninetales-GX's Ice Path GX? Or Tapu Fini-GX's Tapu Storm GX?

Ooooo, tough one! They are both very situational, here's some scenarios though, for which GX attack to use when.

Tapu Storm GX- This I personally see as early game pressure, if they have few pokemon in play, just tapu storm, to put some major pressure on your opponent to be able to potentially take a knockout soon after, on whatever Pokemon you sniped. An easy way to do that would be to play in your deck a crucial Pokemon I didn't see and that pokemon is.... Manaphy EX, using its ability, you can switch into an alolan ninetales gx, and ice blade for a potiental ko snipe.

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

Ooooo, tough one! They are both very situational, here's some scenarios though, for which GX attack to use when.

Tapu Storm GX- This I personally see as early game pressure, if they have few pokemon in play, just tapu storm, to put some major pressure on your opponent to be able to potentially take a knockout soon after, on whatever Pokemon you sniped. An easy way to do that would be to play in your deck a crucial Pokemon I didn't see and that pokemon is.... Manaphy EX, using its ability, you can switch into an alolan ninetales gx, and ice blade for a potiental ko snipe.

Manaphy can work but it is not needed, Alolan Ninetales (Both versions) have only 1 retreat, so you could retreat and then Aqua Patch the energy back.

 

[AFEX]

Manaphy can work but it is not needed, Alolan Ninetales (Both versions) have only 1 retreat, so you could retreat and then Aqua Patch the energy back.

True! but that is sorely hoping you have aqua patch in your hand at the moment, but I understand, that it isn't a critical loss, but who knows, it could bite you in the butt in a certain scenario.

 

[Stebolo93]

hey guys i'd really like to build this deck but i cant afford tapu leles....are them absolutely necessary? if not, how can i replace them? thanks

 

[Matthew the Fairy Lover]

hey guys i'd really like to build this deck but i cant afford tapu leles....are them absolutely necessary? if not, how can i replace them? thanks

Don't worry, Tapu Lele is nice to search out Brigette Turn 1 but do not fret, my friend, here's some options. Maybe bump the Octillery line from a 1-1 to a 2-2 for more draw, add another 1-2 Brigette as you don't have Lele to search it, and maybe a Skyla to search out the Brigette, it may be slow but it's better than nothing. Hope this helps you.

And I recommend you get the Alolan Ninetales GXs as quick as you can as it's going to be one of the best decks this format, as rotation just happened. And I'm going to update the decklist as I've done some more testing so look out for that

 

[FlavorfulPineApl]

Looks like all the advice you need is here! I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to see it updated!