Discussion Are double Stage 2 decks viable?

[Buyo]

Based on the reactions I often see regarding Stage 2 cards, I figure there's a very good chance the answer is an obvious "no, it's way too clunky", but one thing stood out to me in particular about the idea that made me go "wait, but what if...": Maxed out Rare Candy.

The only Stage 2 cards I've played recently have been Garchomp, and Hydreigon (in Sharpedo EX), but because of Korrina search and low Candy count due to deck space in Sharpedo, I don't have an idea for how consistent 4 Rare Candy could be on its own (or maybe with 4 Trainers' Mail and a Wally or two).

My hypothesis is that Stage 2s may be more viable with another Stage 2 in the deck simply because more Rare Candy can be played and used by either evolution line. Does anyone think for instance, that 4 Candy with a 2/1/2 support/energy accel and 4/2/3 attacker even stands a chance at getting set up and working against anything other than the obvious item lock problem?

 

[bbninjas]

The way I stand with things like double Stage 2s is that why don't you just focus on getting out a single Stage 2 with the same resources? You technically will be more consistent this way and more likely to pull off the Stage. Of course, with Trevenants being revived I think there may be a bit of opposition to item use at the moment.

 

[Asmer]

The question should honestly be...
"What two Stage 2 Pokemon would I want to play in the same deck?"
Here's the deal with playing Stage 2 Pokemon in general: Yes, it is clunky, even when you play one line. Unfortunately, PTCG at this stage is in quite a fast format, which is why (besides the fact that the cards are there) a lot of decks will use cards to accelerate in to Stage 2s (Mainly cards like Maxie's/Archie's). Also, keep in mind that card like Rare Candy and Evosoda are immediately locked out by Trevenant, Seismitoad EX, and the now rare Vileplume.

Now, that all stated... it IS possible to use multiple Stage 2s in a deck and be successful... but the method is through Maxie's/Archie's and playing 1-ofs instead of 2-ofs (I.E. Archeops and Gallade instead of 2 Gallade in Expanded Yveltal). You have to have some form of accelerating card to not get blown out of the water by fast and powerful attackers, like Manectric EX with Muscle Band or Lucario EX etc., but at least it IS possible through this method.

Final note... you can always play multiple Stage 2s in a deck if you desire. We all do (and should) play this game for fun, after all, so there is no reason to stop yourself. You may discover something that we simply have not noticed.

The best way to find out the answer to a question is by finding it yourself.

Hopefully this helped a bit. If you do decide to test it, let us know! We would all be happy to hear interesting news!

-Asmer

 

[Mora]

To be honest, if you're playing something like Empoleon / Dusknoir where you'd have maybe a 4-4 Empoleon and a 2-1-2 Dusknoir with 4 Rare Candy, the marginal decrease in consistency when adding the second Stage 2 is actually less than when adding the first. What I mean is that adding the second Stage 2 doesn't hurt your consistency anywhere near as much as the first one did. People looked at Rayboar with Delphox and cringed at playing two Stage 2's, but given Delphox's Set Up-esque Ability, it's probably better with Delphox than without it.

 

[crystal_pidgeot]

Right now, I'm having a problem getting golduck break and a stage 1 in play consistently with how fast the game is AND make space for the main parts of the deck. It does get clunky at times.

 

[pokedan24]

I've done pretty well with my Gengar/Crobat deck.

 

[TuxedoBlack]

IMO, Garchomp is a great Stage 2 deck to play because of Korrina. Korrina being a specialized, Fighting Pokémon only oriented, Supporter alleviates many of the concerns running a Stage 2 deck. For me, this particular Supporter makes running a Garchomp (definitely a minimum 4-2-4 line and 2-3 Rare Candy) deck very viable. It also helps when there are solid other Fighting specific Pokémon (like Lucario EX and Hawlucha (FFI)), Tool (Focus Sash) and Stadiums (Fighting and Scorched Earth) to also provide supplemental support.