Standard Another Drampa/Garb deck!?

[HouchinsDJ]

Yes, I know it's not original. I wanted to take Tord Reklev's winning deck and adapt it for post-rotation. I think people are being a little too quick to assume that Garbodor will be less effective after rotation. While it is true that many decks will be running less items, decks will still run 10 or more so Garbodor's attack will still be potentially hitting for 200+ damage. Drampa/Garbodor also gets a new stadium that, in my opinion, is better than Team Magma's Secret Base. Tord's list is all about consistency so I wanted to make sure the changes I made were made with that in mind.

Lysandre, Teammates, and VS Seeker are all being rotated so I had to find cards to replace those. I replaced Lysandre with Guzma naturally and upped the count to three. From there, I looked at Po Town. Po Town is a Stadium that puts 3 damage counters on any Pokémon that evolves. We're moving to a format where most decks run evolution lines. Getting that extra 30-60 damage can mean getting a OHKO where you couldn't have before. It also can put damage counters on our Garbodor which powers up Drampa's Berserk. Garbodor usually gets OHKO'd at full health anyways so the 30 damage isn't a huge deal.

I still opted to keep Rainbow Energy in the deck and lowered the count that Tord was playing from four to three since we're playing Po Town. I initially thought about removing them altogether but then realized there will be games where Po Town won't be as effective and I like having another option to activate Berserk's effect. Again, consistency.

I added in two Skyla to compensate for not being able to play Teammates. While I prefer Teammates, Skyla is able to grab several key items like Choice Band, Float Stone, Po Town, and Field Blower so it kind of runs similar to Teammates. I felt that it helped with the deck's consistency which is the name of the game here.

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 15

* 3 Drampa-GX GRI 115
* 4 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 137
* 4 Trubbish BKP 56
* 3 Garbodor GRI 51
* 1 Garbodor BKP 57

##Trainer Cards - 33

* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 3 Po Town BUS 121
* 4 Choice Band GRI 121
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Super Rod NVI 95
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 2 Skyla BKT 148
* 1 Brigette BKT 161
* 4 N FAC 105
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 4 Float Stone BKT 137

##Energy - 12

* 3 Rainbow Energy SUM 137
* 4 Double Colorless Energy SUM 136
* 5 Psychic Energy 5

Total Cards - 60

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******

 

[joffreyspikes]

Overall I think you've got a very solid and consistent list, but I never agreed with Tord's decision to run 4 Lele. The only supporter that you would need at any point in the game is turn one Brigette, 4 Lele seems excessive (I mean, its amazing if you have them, but really, 4?!).

 

[HouchinsDJ]

Overall I think you've got a very solid and consistent list, but I never agreed with Tord's decision to run 4 Lele. The only supporter that you would need at any point in the game is turn one Brigette, 4 Lele seems excessive (I mean, its amazing if you have them, but really, 4?!).

I disagree that Brigette is the ONLY supporter you need at any point of the game. There's turns where I've needed a Lysandre to win the game, or an N to disrupt my opponent, or a Sycamore to try and gain some momentum.

With that said, 4 Lele is a lot, but I think it's justified in this deck. You're not going to play all four, but you play four for consistency, the same reason you play 4 Sycamore or Ultra Ball even though you rarely use all four in a game. You could take one out, but I wouldn't go under 3.

 

[Alphahitman4]

I realy like set up..i was wanting to mess around with playing 1 wally so you could lele it out to get BPT Garb if you really need it asap. Just a thought im looking into playing around with.

 

[ozzie347]

I really think Necrozma GX and Espeon EX are worth considering in Drampa/Garb now. It will let you take those KOs on the big HP pokemon if Po Town doesn't do enough to them to put them in KO range.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi HouchinsDJ,

Nice list. Consider these modifications:

- 1 Tapu Lele GX (with less tech supporters three should be fine)
+ 1 Necrozma GX (nice tech attacker with the GX attack)

- 2 Skyla (not needed in this deck)
+ 1 Po Town (great stadium considering the number of evolution decks that do not run stadiums and only three Field Blower)
+ 2 Professor Kukui (Drampa Garbodor decks love damage modifiers after rotation to hit numbers easier)

- 3 Rainbow Energy (not needed with Po Town)
+ 2 Psychic Energy (seven energy are fine)

Hope this provides some iniail assistance.

 

[HouchinsDJ]

I realy like set up..i was wanting to mess around with playing 1 wally so you could lele it out to get BPT Garb if you really need it asap. Just a thought im looking into playing around with.

You could try it out, but this deck is all about consistency and running a 1-of Supporter besides Brigette just isn't consistent. You can get away with only running one Brigette because you already know that your goal for Turn 1 is to use it, whereas Wally is more situational and most of the time I'm going to want to play a different Supporter than Wally.

I really think Necrozma GX and Espeon EX are worth considering in Drampa/Garb now. It will let you take those KOs on the big HP pokemon if Po Town doesn't do enough to them to put them in KO range.

I agree. The combination of Po Town and Espeon EX is great. Necrozma is also a great Meta counter, putting Metagross, Gardevoir, and other big Stage 2s within KO range. I thought about adding them in, just need to figure out what to remove.

Hi HouchinsDJ,

Nice list. Consider these modifications:

- 1 Tapu Lele GX (with less tech supporters three should be fine)
+ 1 Necrozma GX (nice tech attacker with the GX attack)

- 2 Skyla (not needed in this deck)
+ 1 Po Town (great stadium considering the number of evolution decks that do not run stadiums and only three Field Blower)
+ 2 Professor Kukui (Drampa Garbodor decks love damage modifiers after rotation to hit numbers easier)

- 3 Rainbow Energy (not needed with Po Town)
+ 2 Psychic Energy (seven energy are fine)

Hope this provides some iniail assistance.

I'll try Necrozma, although I'd rather not remove the fourth Lele. I know four seems like overkill, but the four Lele in Tord's deck were instrumental to his deck's success.

I agree with removing Skyla, but I don't agree with adding Kukui. What does the +20 damage help achieve? Choice Band already allows you to get the KOs you need with Drampa, and Garbodor is taking OHKOs un-boosted late game. So far I would make the following changes:

-2 Skyla
+1 Necrozma
+1 Po Town

I agree with switching out the Rainbow Energy with Psychic Energy. If I cut one Psychic Energy, I might add Espeon EX because of it's synergy with Po Town and Necrozma.

 

[LePokeRoi]

You could try it out, but this deck is all about consistency and running a 1-of Supporter besides Brigette just isn't consistent. You can get away with only running one Brigette because you already know that your goal for Turn 1 is to use it, whereas Wally is more situational and most of the time I'm going to want to play a different Supporter than Wally.



I agree. The combination of Po Town and Espeon EX is great. Necrozma is also a great Meta counter, putting Metagross, Gardevoir, and other big Stage 2s within KO range. I thought about adding them in, just need to figure out what to remove.



I'll try Necrozma, although I'd rather not remove the fourth Lele. I know four seems like overkill, but the four Lele in Tord's deck were instrumental to his deck's success.

I agree with removing Skyla, but I don't agree with adding Kukui. What does the +20 damage help achieve? Choice Band already allows you to get the KOs you need with Drampa, and Garbodor is taking OHKOs un-boosted late game. So far I would make the following changes:

-2 Skyla
+1 Necrozma
+1 Po Town

I agree with switching out the Rainbow Energy with Psychic Energy. If I cut one Psychic Energy, I might add Espeon EX because of it's synergy with Po Town and Necrozma.

Kukui lets you hit super cool numbers with Drampa. It does 180 with a Choice Band and an activated Berserk, but if you were to hit 200, you could KO all of the following threats:
Turtonator GX, Lapras GX, Espeon GX, Noivern GX (Who is undrerrated).

Along with some others if you get help from Po Town:
Gardevoir GX, (1 Po Town), Metagross GX (2 Po Town), Alolan Ninetails GX (1 Po Town)

Realistically, Kukui lets Drampa get KOs on any GX with help from Po Town. And 150 + 20 = 170 meaning if you whiff Choice Band, you can still get the OHKO on Tapu Lele, Yveltal EX, Tapu Koko GX, Tapu Fini GX, and this list continues even further.

I don't know if this guarantees two spots for Kukui, but definitely at least one. Plus, your opponents could watch their items so you just miss the KO with Garb, but you might be able to sneak attack them with a Kukui.

 

[gumball51321]

Kukui isn't great post-rotation because VS Seeker rotates. It's basically built to be a 1-of supporter, so I disagree with playing 2, it just seems excessive for something unnecessary when it doesn't help you really take KO's. @HouchinsDJ , I tried Necrozma, and although I didn't like it, I do think it's good. However, if you do play it, play some number of Max Elixir and drop your Rainbows for Psychic so it's at least realistic to set up. Abilities are HUGE in next format, and with VS Seeker and Trainers' Mail rotating, Trashalanche just isn't very great. But it's still good enough to warrant 2 copies, and since Po Town has to be used by SOMETHING, you see what I'm getting at? Play 2 Garbotoxin, it's absolutely insane. If you Lele for Brigette, and use it, you're left with 1 bench space, so I think 4 Lele is a little crazy, especially if you play Garbotoxin, and the space could be used elsewhere. I think this deck really struggles against Golisopod, so I think that if you could make that matchup better without getting rid of consistency, you're golden. I also like Baby Koko in here, since it's a great early game attacker, and more reliable for hitting the extra 20 that Kukui would give you while you set up. I also like the baby Tapu Lele (that was SUPPOSED to be out already, but you know TPCI) or an EVO Mewtwo. They both help the Garde matchup a lot, and just do pretty good damage for 1 energy attachment. I suppose you could tech a Turtonator GX for Golisopod, but because they play 4 Guzma, that's not too foolproof. Now if ONLY they reprinted Victini EX as a GX, we'd be good.

 

[HouchinsDJ]

Kukui isn't great post-rotation because VS Seeker rotates. It's basically built to be a 1-of supporter, so I disagree with playing 2, it just seems excessive for something unnecessary when it doesn't help you really take KO's. @HouchinsDJ , I tried Necrozma, and although I didn't like it, I do think it's good. However, if you do play it, play some number of Max Elixir and drop your Rainbows for Psychic so it's at least realistic to set up. Abilities are HUGE in next format, and with VS Seeker and Trainers' Mail rotating, Trashalanche just isn't very great. But it's still good enough to warrant 2 copies, and since Po Town has to be used by SOMETHING, you see what I'm getting at? Play 2 Garbotoxin, it's absolutely insane. If you Lele for Brigette, and use it, you're left with 1 bench space, so I think 4 Lele is a little crazy, especially if you play Garbotoxin, and the space could be used elsewhere. I think this deck really struggles against Golisopod, so I think that if you could make that matchup better without getting rid of consistency, you're golden. I also like Baby Koko in here, since it's a great early game attacker, and more reliable for hitting the extra 20 that Kukui would give you while you set up. I also like the baby Tapu Lele (that was SUPPOSED to be out already, but you know TPCI) or an EVO Mewtwo. They both help the Garde matchup a lot, and just do pretty good damage for 1 energy attachment. I suppose you could tech a Turtonator GX for Golisopod, but because they play 4 Guzma, that's not too foolproof. Now if ONLY they reprinted Victini EX as a GX, we'd be good.

I agree with a lot of what you said here. I think there are some decks where Kukui is needed to hit certain numbers, but this deck is not one of them.

I could see Max Elixirs helping out, but the basic energy count in this deck is a little low for Max Elixirs to be consistent. I already swapped out the Rainbow Energy for Physchic Energy but even then I'm only sitting at 7. It might be worth a try though.

I haven't thought about trying a 2-2 split between Trashalanche and Garbotoxin, but I agree that Trashalanche is a little weaker post-rotation while ability lock will continue to be huge, especially because it'll be the only way to lock all abilities after Hex rotates.

 

[Dark Espeon]

I agree with removing Skyla, but I don't agree with adding Kukui. What does the +20 damage help achieve? Choice Band already allows you to get the KOs you need with Drampa, and Garbodor is taking OHKOs un-boosted late game. So far I would make the following changes:

The reason to suggest Professor Kukui is as follows: Assume Po Town has been out for at least one turn on which an opposing Gardevoir GX evolved. In this scenario it will be down to HP 200. With Choice Band and Professor Kukui Drampa GX will become able to trade ohkos with bulkier decks. Now factor in the four Float Stones and Garbotoxin to disable Secret Spring and we have a quite even match here.

 

[HouchinsDJ]

The reason to suggest Professor Kukui is as follows: Assume Po Town has been out for at least one turn on which an opposing Gardevoir GX evolved. In this scenario it will be down to HP 200. With Choice Band and Professor Kukui Drampa GX will become able to trade ohkos with bulkier decks. Now factor in the four Float Stones and Garbotoxin to disable Secret Spring and we have a quite even match here.

I get it. I just don't know if the consistency is there. With VS Seeker gone, I need to have it in my hand at the right time and I know I can grab it with Lele, but bench space is limited and I can't always rely on Lele.

 

[Dark Espeon]

I get it. I just don't know if the consistency is there. With VS Seeker gone, I need to have it in my hand at the right time and I know I can grab it with Lele, but bench space is limited and I can't always rely on Lele.

That is true. It will not always be there but it is still a nice option to have and more usefull than Skyla in this deck. With all the consistency cards and tools maxed out there is not much that needs to be searched out with Skyla.

 

[gumball51321]

Righteous Edge hits for the extra 20 needed, and FORCES your opponent to have the DCE or 2 more Fairy for the OHKO. This is NOT a position Gardevoir wants to be in, since they have to spend the extra 2 Energy making up for the attack Drampa did. This seems like a more convoluted and less reliable strategy than just playing the Kukui, but really, if you have Garbotoxin out, then you can't Lele, forcing you to have the Kukui at hand. And the strategy I just described gets rid of more Energy for the same ammount of Gardevoir. I agree that Skyla can be dropped for better use of space, but I don't think that Kukui would be a better use.