BW-on: Hydreigon Darkrai!

[Lost Zone Master]

With the release of the new and much-hyped Dragon-type, people are wondering which variant will come out on top: Garchomp Altaria, Rayquaza Eelektrik, or Hydreigon Darkrai? I am no exception, and am trying to make the best of the new type. The main gimmick of Dragon-types is that they are powerful Pokemon that are only weak to themselves, but the tradeoff is that they require multiple types of energy to attack. My goal is to perfect the power of the Dragon Pokemon, but I can't do it alone! Today, I bring to you Hydreigon Darkrai, the combination of Hydreigon and Darkrai (duh). The strategy is to use Emolga to get Darkrai-EX and Deino out on T1. Then, you can use Rare Candy to get Hydreigon on T2 so everyone can have a free retreat with Hydreigon's Dark Trance (allows {D} energy to be moved around the field) and Darkrai-EX's Dark Cloak (gives any of your Pokemon with {D} energy a free retreat). An alternative strategy is to evolve Deino into Zweilous and use Zweilous's Draw In as a {D} energy acceleration, as well as Shaymin-EX as a Blend Energy {G}{R}{P}{D} acceleration. The main attackers are Darkrai-EX and Hydreigon.

Pokemon: 17
3 Deino (2 DR 93) (1 NV 77)
1 Zweilous (DR 96)
3 Hydreigon (DR 97)
3 Darkrai-EX (DE 63/107)
2 Shaymin-EX (ND 5/94)
2 Emolga (DR 45)
3 Sableye (DE 62)

Trainers: 31
4 N
3 Professor Juniper
3 Bianca
4 Pokemon Catcher
3 Max Potion
3 Dark Patch
3 Ultra Ball
2 Rare Candy
2 Level Ball
2 Eviolite
2 Random Reciever

4 Blend Energy {G}{R}{P}{D}
8 {D} Energy

3 words: I appreciate feedback! I'm definitely no expert in the TCG as I've not been playing for a year, but I would love to hear from people who are more experienced than me.

 

[Shaymin Lv.X]

Shaymin EX doesn't accel blend energy.

 

[Pokefan2271]

Use prism energy with blend. Maybe like this

-2 Blend Energy
+2 Prism Energy

Depends really what you would rely on more.

 

[Shaymin Lv.X]

Use prism energy with blend. Maybe like this

-2 Blend Energy
+2 Prism Energy

Depends really what you would rely on more.

Prism doesnt work with Hydreigon. Blend already covers all your types

 

[Secret Pikachu]

Hey Lost Zone Master! I have been playing with this deck for the last three or four weeks, and I would love to help you out!

Our lists are pretty darn close, but I'll start with your strategy first.

I don't really find that Emolga has a place in this deck. It definitely helps you get your Deino and Darkrai out quicker, however it is tough to draw into an Emolga in your opening hand, especially when you only have two copies in the deck. If you don't get Emolga in the Active position with an Energy attached within the first two turns, you probably won't use it. It then becomes a dead card on your Bench as well as in your deck. If Emolga is on your Bench, your Opponent most likely leave it alone and let it waste the space and then take it as the easy prize it is when they need to. There is already an extremely high chance that you'll be starting with Deino, Darkrai-EX, or Sableye. You obviously want to get Deino and Darkrai-EX out first, and Sableye can help with that process. One example of using Sableye to aide your set up is using Ultra Ball during one turn, retrieving it via Junk Hunt, and using it again next turn.

You are correct in stating that Hydreigon and Darkrai-EX's abilities grant free retreat to every Pokemon, however the best strategy of that combination is to be able to move Energy off of your damaged Pokemon in order to heal them at no cost to yourself (aside from using the Max Potion ).

That copy of Zweilous (DRX 96) can accelerate Basic Dark Energy, however it requires you to have one Colorless Energy equipped to do so. It is extremely likely that if you use Draw In, your Zweilous will be Knocked Out during your Opponent's next turn and you will end up placing the Energy right back into the discard pile. Another thing to consider is that Zweilous DRX 96 is a Dragon-type Pokemon and will be easily Knocked Out by other Dragon-type Pokemon (Rayquaza and Garchomp immediately come to mind, as well as any Dragon-type EX). For these reasons I prefer to run the Dark-type Noble Victories 78 copy of Zweilous. I also run the Dark-type NVI copies of Deino to avoid being OHKO'd by Rayquaza. Another reason to run the Dark copies is to be able to use Dark Patch to attach energy to them if necessary.

Unfortunately Shaymin-EX does not accelerate Blend GFPD Energy. It can only accelerate Basic Grass Energy. I suggest dropping your count of Shaymin-EX to one. It is more of a "tech" card than a main attacker in the deck. Having two increases the chances of you starting with it which can be very bad. Ideally Shaymin-EX is played at the very end of the game to change an impending defeat into a victory, or to help your Terrakion/Terrakion-EX match-up. If it is played early it will be an easy two Prize Cards for your opponent to Catcher up.

So far I have suggested dropping/changing the following:

-2 Emolga
-1 Shaymin-EX
*Switch Zweilous and the rest of your Deino to their NVI versions

Your count of Rare Candy is a bit low. I would increase it from two to three. This gives you a much greater probability of setting up Hydreigon earlier in the game, and as we both know, setting up Hydreigon is key to the strategy of the deck!

As I mentioned above, Max Potion is also key to the strategy of the deck (being able to negate your Opponent's turns and deny them prizes by completely healing your main attacker at no cost to yourself). For this reason I would increase its count from three to four.

I also suggest increasing your count of Professor Juniper from three to four. Professor Juniper is the best straight draw Supporter in the format, and running four copies increases your chance of using it.

So far I have suggested adding the following:

+1 Rare Candy
+1 Max Potion
+1 Professor Juniper

I really hope this helps you out a bit . I've said this in other threads, but the more you play the deck, the better idea you'll have of which cards you need more of and which cards you can live with having less of.