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Standard "Budget" Umbreon GX Yveltal Deck

TrevGallade

TrevGallade

Trevterra!!!
Member
So, I introduced my friend to the Pokémon TCG recently, and he really enjoyed it. To sweeten the deal, he managed to pull an Umbreon GX out of our local league's card draw. So, I figured he could make this deck. However, since he is new and not sure how competitive he wants to be, this deck has to be on a no Shaymin, Hoopa, VS seeker, or Trainer's Mail Budget to save money on cards that will only be good this year. So, here's the list I made so far:

Pokémon: 14
  • x4 Eevee SM
  • x2 Umbreon GX SM
    Umbreon_GX_1024x1024.jpg
  • x1 Jolteon AOR
  • x1 Vaporeon AOR
  • x1 Flareon AOR
  • x2 Yveltal BKT
  • x1 Yveltal GEN
  • x2 Yveltal EX
Energy: 15
  • x4 DCE
  • x11 Dark Energy
Trainers: 31
  • x4 Sycamore
  • x3 N
  • x2 Lysandre
  • x1 Kukui
  • x1 Delinquent
  • x1 Float Stone
  • x3 Ultra Ball
  • x2 Nest Ball
  • x2 Switch
  • x1 Special Charge
  • x4 Max Elixir
  • x2 Crushing Hammer
  • x1 Parallel City
  • x2 Reverse Valley
  • x2 Super Rod
So the strategy of this deck is to use Yveltal and Umbreon GX to spread damage on the board, and take multiple knockouts at a time while disrupting your opponent. Yveltal EX is there as a solid backup attacker. As you can see, this deck is a good start, but not solid. I am not a Yveltal player, so my knowledge of how to play this deck is slightly limited. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!:)
 
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Well a deck that doesn't have EX's as the focus doesn't need Hoopa so no worries there. I would highly recommend four VS Seeker though. You still have six months of the current standard rotation, plus expanded play past that. Shaymin is expensive, but worth it if you want to get competitive this year. Speaking of which, what are the goals of your friend? Does he want to play in tournaments, either small local ones at your shop or at larger ones like regionals? Or does he just want to play casually at leagues?

If he is looking for casual play (no tournaments) he can pick up a World Championship deck, which CANNOT be use in tournaments, but is perfectly fine for sleeved casual play. (The cards have different backs than normal cards, which is why sleeves are needed and they aren't allowed in tournaments) 3 of the 4 versions for the 2016 decks have a few Shaymin, and all have four VS Seeker. I believe they go for around $15. It's a cheap way to get all the staples, but the downside is you can NEVER play the WC cards in a tournament.

It's also a good way to see if you want to be competitive, since these are decks that were top four at the World Championship.

(Sorry if I'm overemphasizing that you can't use WC cards in a tournament, just want to make sure I don't misrepresent the product while still recommending it as a great way to try out top-tier decks for casual players)
------------------------------

Enough of that. Deck recommendations.

Looks pretty good, but I would actually drop the Kukui completely and maybe even the Delinquent. 3 Stadiums is a good count, and without VS seeker these supporters won't really help you dig through your deck. I would possibly add in a few Lysandre to help score easy KOs.

Something else I might consider is upping the Eevee count to 4 and adding in a Flareon, Jolteon, and/or Vaporeon from Ancient Origins depending on your local meta, as the ability to guarantee weakness against things like Volcanion or grass decks can be really good for your Umbreon GX.
 
TheGuardian118 said:
You still have six months of the current standard rotation, plus expanded play past that. Shaymin is expensive, but worth it if you want to get competitive this year. Speaking of which, what are the goals of your friend? Does he want to play in tournaments, either small local ones at your shop or at larger ones like regionals? Or does he just want to play casually at leagues?
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That's part of the problem, since he hasn't made up his mind. Plus, it's been hard for him to borrow decks at our league, since he didn't make the decks and knows very little about them. The reason I don't think he should use VS Seeker is mostly because of the cost, but I'll ask him about the use of the WC cards if he just wants to play at league... Either way, the idea of adding eevolutions is a good idea, and I think I'll have him play around with that. As for Lysander, I didn't now how long it is until next rotation, so if it's 6 months then there's no reason not to. Thank you for the advice!
With that, I'm thinking specifically:
-2 Kukui
-2 Delinquent
-1 Fighting Fury Belt (a little pointless, and I think will free space for eevolutions, but correct me if I shouldn't)
-2 Red Card (worth it for eevolutions I think...)

+2 Lysandre
+2 Eevee
+1 Vaporeon
+1 Jolteon
+1 Flareon
 
The Jolteon only throw in there if your local meta has things weak to electric. Volcanion is popular enough to throw in the Vaporeon for sure, and personally I think grass will make a comeback so the Flareon is good. Not many things are weak to Electric, but if you have any Yvetal players at your league then go for it. You can always put two of the same one in if you're worried about a matchup and that one being prized.

And yes, rotation typically happens around September. With Sun and Moon being an entirely new thing from XY people are already talking about the next rotation, but in reality it's like six months away still and there are plenty of tournaments and league play to be had before then.

Edit: I'd keep the FFB if you're going to use the Yvetal EX as a main attacker, but if not then drop it as focus on the Eevee line.
 
TheGuardian118 said:
The Jolteon only throw in there if your local meta has things weak to electric. Volcanion is popular enough to throw in the Vaporeon for sure, and personally I think grass will make a comeback so the Flareon is good. Not many things are weak to Electric, but if you have any Yvetal players at your league then go for it. You can always put two of the same one in if you're worried about a matchup and that one being prized.

And yes, rotation typically happens around September. With Sun and Moon being an entirely new thing from XY people are already talking about the next rotation, but in reality it's like six months away still and there are plenty of tournaments and league play to be had before then.

Edit: I'd keep the FFB if you're going to use the Yvetal EX as a main attacker, but if not then drop it as focus on the Eevee line.
Click to expand...
I included all 3 eevolutions for that reason. There are a few grass, yveltal, and mega ray players that are good, and enough fire players for all 3 to be useful. I might keep the fighting fury belt, but might leave it out since Choice band will come out (hopefully) soon. Not sure what he should do without testing though.
 
Dropping Kukui makes it harder for Yveltal and Umbreon to OHKO shaymins. (90+20=110), but (90+0=90) :(
I would say keep that in the deck, if only for that purpose.
Also, make room for Lysandre.
-2 Red Card
+2 Lysandre

Red Card isn't necessary, while Lysandre is amazing in every deck.
 
Oops, I was thinking about the previous suggestion to drop Kukui. What do you think I should drop for the Eevolutions? If I use any of the Ancient Origins trio, I would use all of them. But can't find as much of the space. (I'll edit the top list for Lysandre)
 
PokémonRanger2319 said:
Dropping Kukui makes it harder for Yveltal and Umbreon to OHKO shaymins. (90+20=110), but (90+0=90) :(
I would say keep that in the deck, if only for that purpose.
Click to expand...

I would say to keep 1 Kukui if he had VS Seeker plus another way to switch their active into the Shaymin. You can't Lysandre and Kukui in the same turn, which makes the extra 20 to KO Shaymin meaningless. Without the VS Seeker to reliably be able to grab the Kukui it's just not efficient card draw and most of the time the 20 damage won't matter. How are you proposing he bring the Shaymin up from the bench after a Kukui? Just the 20 damage alone and a few extra cards won't kill a benched Shaymin, and if their Shaymin wound up in the active slot by default you're already winning most likely.

It's much more consistent to spend one proc of the extra 30 damage off the Shadow Bullet to drop the Shaymin to 80, then later in the game Lysandre it up for the easy knockout with the 90 from the Shadow Bullet. Also, if he keeps the Jolteon he'll hit Shaymin for weakness so just the Lysandre will be needed without any other prior damage. I'm not sure I'm a fan of all three Eeveelutions in the deck, but if your local meta has threats that are weak to all three by all means test it out.
 
No worries. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a Lysandre-like effect that either just came out or is coming out next set! :)

I do think Kukui is ok to play one or two of, but only if you have the VS Seekers to grab it exactly when you need the extra damage. Otherwise it's just wasted damage and weak draw.
 
If Kukui needs Lysandre, would 2-3 Pokémon Catcher work? It's not a supporter, and would work with Kukui. As of the VS seeker problem, my friend isn't sure on whether he wants to spend the money for them. Thanks for the great advice though!
 
Also, looked up the Rayqyaza vs Keldeo Battle Arena deck, and if they're $25 at Walmart then that could lower the price... My friend is thinking of only spending $40, so if the 2nd Yveltal is dropped, along with the fighting fury belt, the deck would go down to around $45. Any suggestions for how that could work?
 
Pokémon catcher would work, but it's a coin flip and therefore has a chance to fail. Some decks do ok with coin flips, but for the most part it's better to run cards that don't have them. As I mentioned before, using the 30 extra damage from Shadow Bullet means on a future turn all you need is 1 card, Lysandre for a guaranteed KO. With the catcher you need two cards, Kukui and catcher, one of which has a 50% chance to fail, and the other is weak if it does fail. If it were me I would save the space and just go with something that works 100% of the time, even if it technically is a turn slower. However, test it both ways! If you find that even with the chance to fail it hits often enough to sway the game in your favor then run it!

And yes, the battle arena decks are great for getting some staple trainer cards, as well as some decent expanded skeletons. $40 is really tight if he doesn't have anything other than the one Umbreon, but it should get him a starting point. The deck doesn't have to be fully flushed out when he first buys it. Like if he doesn't have enough Sycamore he can run some Birch until he gets more, stuff like that. Also, if he gets any trades maybe someone at your league will be able to trade him.
 
I'm not exactly sure what the actual, current list you have now given all the suggested revisions; but, I'd suggest/would concur with incorporating (based upon your original post):

-1 Yveltal (BKT) - 2 should be sufficient
-2 Assault Vest - not critical and only useful on your Yveltal EX
-2 Crushing Hammer - IMO, 2 are just not that effective
-2 Red Card - best when combo'd with Delinquent


+2 Eevee
+1 Flareon (AOR) - can change your attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Jolteon (AOR) - can change your attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Vaporeon (AOR) - can changeyour attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Yveltal (GEN) - alternate attackerthat can also recover discarded D energy
+1 Delinquent​

Hope you find these comments helpful.
 
Thank you for the advice. I currently have 1 Fright Night Yveltal that he'll use and 1 EX (along with a few trainers) so his budget is slightly better. As for testing, my league is cancelled this Saturday, so I'm afraid I'll have to do that next week :(
TuxedoBlack said:
I'm not exactly sure what the actual, current list you have now given all the suggested revisions; but, I'd suggest/would concur with incorporating (based upon your original post):

-1 Yveltal (BKT) - 2 should be sufficient
-2 Assault Vest - not critical and only useful on your Yveltal EX
-2 Crushing Hammer - IMO, 2 are just not that effective
-2 Red Card - best when combo'd with Delinquent


+2 Eevee
+1 Flareon (AOR) - can change your attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Jolteon (AOR) - can change your attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Vaporeon (AOR) - can changeyour attacker's type in key match-ups
+1 Yveltal (GEN) - alternate attackerthat can also recover discarded D energy
+1 Delinquent​

Hope you find these comments helpful.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I just updated the list above. While doing so, I took all the advice into consideration. The 2 fright night baby yveltal advice is interesting, so thank you for that input.
Hopefully I can help specify advice needed after testing. Thanks for all the given input, it really has helped!:)
 
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