Expanded Budget Rayquaza GX Deck - Need Advice!

[Hyrum]

Hey all, I am buying a friend the "Rayquaza GX battle arena deck" for Christmas and wanted to help him build a decent expanded deck without too many really pricey cards like Dedenne GX, Shaymin EX, Tapu Lele GX, or Max Elixer. It's just a casual tournament, meaning that no cards are banned, but I want to make the deck as strong as possible. I've never played Rayquaza GX, so for any of you could explain what I'm doing wrong in my deck list that would be great. Here it is:

• x4 Rayquaza GX CES 109
• x4 Marshadow BUS 45
• x1 Tapu Koko Prism Star TEU 51
• x1 Shaymin Prism Star TEU 10
• x3 Vikavolt SUM 52
• x3 Grubbin SUM 13
• x2 Zebstrika LOT 82
  
• x2 Blitzle LOT 81

• x2 Volkner
• x4 Acro Bike
• x4 Ultra Ball
• x2 Nest Ball
• x1 Mysterious Treasure
  
• x3 Rare Candy
• x4 Professor Sycamore
• x2 Lysandre's Trump Card
• x1 Pal Pad
• x3 Cynthia

• x7 Lightning Energy
• x7 Grass Energy

Thanks in advance!

 

[John InCENAroar]

I think with this deck, at least based on my experience playing Ray, you have the core idea down pretty well. I know you said you didn't want to need too many expensive cards, but Vs. Seeker really would do wonders here, being able to reduce your supporter count in exchange for more item-based consistency. I would also personally replace your Lysandre's Trumps with Energy Recycler or Brock's Grit, since you usually won't want to recycle your whole deck, just your energyies and maybe your pokemon.

You do definitely need some form of Gusting though. Regular Lysandre or Guzma will definitely work and is recommended you have at least a few.

You could also try playing the LOT Naganadel with some added Ultra Space and a therefore reduced need for recycling, tohough you'd also need to play Energy switch (this is the standard friendly version I'm currently using, though I do prefer Vikavolt).