Standard Blitzkrieg (Naganadel GX / Stakataka GX / Celesteela / Dusk Mane Necrozma)

[Dark Espeon]

BLITZKRIEG

Pokémon (14):

• 2 Dusk Mane Necrozma (beatdown)
  
• 3 Stakataka GX SM7 (beatdown)
• 1 Naganadel SM8 (beatdown)
  
• 3 Naganadel GX (beatdown)
• 4 Poipole SM6 (evolution)
• 1 Celesteela SM8 (attack)

Trainer (34):

• 1 Acerola (retrieval)
  
• 3 Sightseer (draw)
• 3 Guzma (control)
• 4 Cynthia (draw)
• 3 Lillie (draw)
• 1 Rescue Stretcher (retrieval)
• 3 Choice Band (beatdown)
• 3 Beast Ring (accelerate)
• 1 Field Blower (discard)
  
• 4 Ultra Ball (search)
• 4 Nest Ball (search)
  
• 4 Ultra Space (search)

Energy (12):

• 11 Metal Energy
• 1 Beast Energy

STRATEGY:

Start with either Poipole or Dusk Mane Necrozma and fill the bench with Ultra Beasts. If the deck started with Dusk Mane Necrozma hit the bench to enable Naganadel GX and Stakataka GX to one-hit knock out the opponent. Make sure to have Celesteela and Stakataka GX on the bench and use Beast Ring to accelerate to Dusk Mane Necrozma and Stakataka GX. Celesteela and Naganadel serve as non-GX attackers able to ohko in the middle of the match while Dusk Mane Necrozma can take over at the end.

 

[John InCENAroar]

I would consider finding room for at least a couple of max elixirs, as you are not getting all of the beast rings off in one turn with only one copy of Steven. While it is possible, that event does not seem to be happening often enough to justify it being the only form of acceleration in your deck, especially considering the general attack cost you are working with.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi John InCENAroar,

Thanks for the review. There is no need to get all four Beast Ring off after using Stinger GX. It suffices to get one off to fuel Dusk Mane Necrozma to take the final prizes. Note that Celesteela can attack for one Metal if the total number of prizes on both sides sums to six. You will need to get two Beast Rings off in most other cases. The tactic to use Stinger GX turn two is a little fragile since you need turn one Steven's Decision which ends the turn without the opponent playing N in response to ensure Double Colorless Energy, Beast Ring, and Ultra Space are available next turn but if it remains unchecked it sure could pay off and it is not the only route this deck can take. When Celesteela was revealed I immediately though that it would help this deck out a lot. Extra acceleration sure would be nice but deck space is limited and I do not see any card that could be easily dropped from the list.

 

[Wechselbalg]

This is something that I've also been thinking of building ever since I saw that new baby Celesteela, but I don't quite agree with the list.

1) Where's Beast Energy? It allows Naganadel not to suck completely (aka it can get OHKOes on anything that has less than 190 HP) and it functions as a 4th or 5th Choice Band on everything else, except it works against non-EX/GX 'mon as well.

2) Nihilego is really not worth it just to confuse and poison as it doesn't do anything afterwards and is a big fat 2-prize target on the bench. Also, starting with it can really screw you up. I'd rather just use 2 Dusk Mane-GX for the GX attack instead and Meteor Tempest is also good to 1-shot threats that both Naganadel and baby Celesteela might struggle to do. Also, having 1 more psychic weak 'mon on the board is pretty bad because of how strong Malamar decks are. (Especially, if it's, you know, sort of useless.)

3) I think 3 Beast Rings should suffice, and apart from the 1 Beast Energy the deck should only run basic energy. (In the current metal Naganadel deck I built I have 1 Beast and 11 basic energy.) If you have too many Rings in the deck they can clog up your hand early game and if you only run 9 basic energies you might not have enough in the deck to accelerate when you actually get the chance. Most metal Ultra Beasts have costly attacks, so they should be played somewhat differently compared to Buzzwole. I also prefer Super Rod over Rescue Stretcher in the deck.
I know that baby Celesteela's attack only costs 1 [M] if a certain criteria are met, but you will not be able to activate it every time in the exact situation when you need it. That's one more reason to run Dusk Mane-GX as well, since it allows the deck to be more flexible, as it can get OHKOs in situations when baby Celesteela can't.

I actually agree with the lack of Max Elixir because Naganadel attacks for 1 attachment, and so does baby Celesteela when the criteria are met, and baby Dusk Mane also snipes for 1. You will only use the rest after 1 Naganadel goes down, which opens up Beast Ring. Powering up a Dusk Mane-GX or a baby Dusk Mane for the 2nd attack with Elixirs too early can lead to them being gusted and knocked out and you lose all the energy that could have gone to a Beast Ring instead to get a revenge KO. The only situation when Max Elixir is benefical is against Sylveon where you sort of need to power up a baby Dusk Mane asap to KO it, but that deck is really not that popular anymore and it dies post-rotation anyway.

4) I think using Steven's Decision without that new baby Metagross while N is still in the format is not that good of an idea, as the opponent still has the option to N you on T1. I know Sycamore is king and all but I'd run 4 Cynthia 3 Sycamore in this deck, as you need to play somewhat more conservatively as opposed to Buzzwole or Malamar because of all the "perfect timing requirements" of cards like Beast Ring and baby Celesteela.

5) The deck should run 4 Poipoles since the ideal starters are either that or baby Dusk Mane, and Poipoles will go down like flies.

6) You should under no circumstance build a strategy around Stinger-GX. It's a bad and unreliable GX attack (I know that you're trying to combine it with Nihilego, but honestly, this comes off rather meme-y to me) and it actually allows your opponent to win more often than it benefits you.

7) Let's hope Sceptile doesn't become a thing because that puts the final nail in the coffin for the concept of Beast Box decks.

8) Post-rotation, Dawn Wings-GX will be useless in metal Beast Box (and why would anyone want to play psychic Beast Box over Malamar) so you might want to add 1-2 Stakataka-GX instead, mostly because of the ability. I'm thinking of something like 1 Dusk Mane-GX and 2 Stakataka-GX but I guess it's still too early to tell if it's worth it at all.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi Wechselbalg,

Thanks for the review. The tactic to focus on Stinger GX is indeed a risk since it need Steven's Decision and Nihilego GX to protect Naganadel GX from being ohko next turn. It sure is a risk but it could work from time to time as an additional option that I would like to retain. However, I will cut one Nihilego GX for the fourth Poipole. The alternate route is to focus on snipes with Dusk Mane Necrozma to enable Naganadel GX to achieve ohkos with Beast Raid.

I do like the idea to include Beast Energy since it allows Naganadel GX to ohko after Dusk Mane Necrozma softend the opposing Pokémon GX up with his first attack. Not a fan of Dusk Mane Necrozma GX in this deck since it turns the deck into a worse version of Turbo Metal. What do you think about Celesteela GX instead?

What are your experiences with a Metal version of Beast Box thus far?

 

[Wechselbalg]

My own experiences vary from bad to average - biggest problems are of course Parallel City and N. It's difficult to recover after getting Paralleled with a full bench even if you get rid of it next turn (and even if you do your opponent can still drop a second one), which makes Naga more or less useless for the rest of the game and N can really screw you over with those Beast Ring plays. I actually think that fighting Beast Box runs somewhat better at the moment but that gets absolutely demolished by Dawn Wings in Malamar so...yeah.
However, once those cards rotate (and if Sceptile doesn't prove to be viable) I think the deck will have some potential. Not sure how much impact the new baby Celesteela will have on this archetype but I do like the idea of the card and what it can bring to the table as far as metal Beast Box is concerned.

I'm not really a fan of Celesteela-GX in this case as I think it's just a worse Dusk Mane-GX in this context. It needs 4 energy and a Choice Band/Beast Energy to hit 210, and other than that it doesn't add anything to metal Beast Box in my opinion, whereas Dusk Mane-GX can revenge KO basically anything for 3 energy. I get what're you saying about Dusk Mane, but it should be treated as a sort of "1-hit wonder" in this deck after Naga gets KOed and you charge it up with a Beast Ring for the GX attack (or if both players have the same amount of prizes then try to go for a Meteor Tempest right away) and you might even be able to follow it up with a Meteor Tempest for another KO.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi folks,

Updated the deck list with a few modifications and a revised tactical orientation. Would be interested in comments and feedback on how to improve the deck.

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi folks,

Updated the deck list for the post-rotation SM-on format.

 

[Jayfeather]

I'm trying to make a deck list just like yours, but I like Kartana GX better than Celesteela because Celesteela is situational and Kartana can help gain prizes and remove special energy. Do you think I should consider Celesteela and why?

 

[Merovingian]

Pokémon (14):

2 Dusk Mane Necrozma (beatdown)

If you're going to use Dusk Mane GX, 1 is enough

3 Stakataka GX SM7 (beatdown)

I would bump this up to 4, that way if you face the mirror, a Naganadel has to use Choice Band to KO your Naganadel if you have 4 Stakataka on the bench

1 Celesteela SM7 (beatdown)

agree

3 Naganadel GX (beatdown)
4 Poipole SM6 (evolution)

agree

1 Tapu Lele GX (search)

agree

Also, maybe experiment with 1 Nihilego GX, being able to advance a fresh Poipole, the plop down Nihilego, then evolving into Naganadel and swinging for whatever damage you have can put them in an awkward position. IT COULD prevent you from being attacked next turn (like from Rayquaza or Ultra Malamar, to which, those decks has little to no recovery) due to confusion failing, and the posion damage can allow you to hit odd numbers if need be.

Trainer (34):

1 Acerola (retrieval)

agree

3 Sightseer (draw)

Going to be honest. Speculation is nice--when 95% of the set is known. Considering we are missing literally HALF of SM8, I feel that trying to make decks with cards from SM8 is not good business where we are at right now. Unless you are willing to forego all tournaments for Q1 and play this deck in November. Sightseer is gone

3 Guzma (control)

Agree, maybe bump it up to 4 in case you start with Stakataka

4 Cynthia (draw)

agree

3 Lillie (draw)

With Lele in your deck, this could be knocked down to 1-2

1 Rescue Stretcher (retrieval)

Judgment call. If you're playing a turbo version of the deck, it's not necessary

3 Choice Band (beatdown)

Maybe bump this up to 4. Judgment call.

4 Beast Ring (accelerate)

agree

1 Field Blower (discard)

You have 4 Ultra Space to bump stadiums, so this would be to really bump Choice Band and maybe Wishful Baton. Judgment call.

4 Ultra Ball (search)

Agree

3 Nest Ball (search)

The deck is shooting for 2HKOs anyway. Between Ultra Ball and Ultra Space, I don't think you'll have problems filling up your bench without Nest. At least, I haven't through testing. Try taking them, out and see how it goes

4 Ultra Space (search)

agree

Energy (12):

11 Metal Energy
1 Beast Energy

Experiment with the energy lines. I think 9 is the lowest you can go. This build can probably afford to lose 1 energy



I'm not sure what I have taken out at this point from the Trainers. But add 4 Acro Bike, 1-2 Judge at the very least[/QUOTE]

 

[Dark Espeon]

Hi Merovingian,

Thanks for the review. This is a SM1-SM7a deck for the japanese SM-on format. In the American SM-on format I would replace Sightseer with two Ultra Recon Squad and cut one Lillie to fit in two Judge. I would also cut one Nest Ball for a second Rescue Stretcher to recover Ultra beasts discarded with Ultra Recon Squad. I still would like to retain two Nest Ball to help me set up a little faster because I feel that 2hko decks cannot afford to miss offensive attacks.

In the Japan SM-on version I will replace one Nest Ball for a a fourth Choice Band since it helps a lot with the numbers combined with Dusk Mane Necrozma. The Dusk Mane Necrozma in this list are the non-GX versions. I feel that Dusk Mane Necrozma GX does not fit this deck well. At some point Celesteela, Dusk Mane Necrozma, and Stakataka GX are able to achieve ohkos themselves. Therefore there is no real need to run Dusk Mane Necrozma GX. The snipe from Dusk Mane Necrozma non-GX also helps a lot with the math for Naganadel GX from experience.

I am not sold on a fourth Stakataka GX since the deck becomes a lot more vulnerable to Malamar decks with Tapu Lele non-GX. To me the ideal board state in the start is three benched Stakataka GX with two additional non-GX Ultra Beasts and Poipole active to be evolved into Naganadel GX next turn. By restricting yourself to a total of four Pokémon GX with three Stakataka GX Black Ray becomes a lot less effective than with a board consisiting of six Pokémon GX with four Stakataka GX.

Psychic attackers will be able to ohko Naganadel GX anyway and Choice Band is not that hard to get attached to either of them. Thus, the extra protection provided by a fourth Stakataka GX does not seem to outweight the costs to me. Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

Thanks for the assistance in advance.