Hello everyone. Today, I'm looking for some advice on the below deck. Notice the fact that there's no Tapu Lele - this deck is pre Guardians Rising, Toronto Regionals format. I understand the fact this isn't a competitive deck most likely, so let's get that out of the way - obviously, this is a Charizard deck, so completely taking him out isn't in the question. This deck isn't mainly a Volcanion deck but Volcanion EX still plays a very important role.
So to start with why this deck - I think that 150 damage that is possible to set up on the first turn is something easily abusable. Why not Mega Charizard? 5 energies is too brutal to set up. It would easily be outclassed by something such as Mega Ray or Mega Gardevoir - or really any other Mega. Mega Zard Y does too much damage to itself to be viable, and Mega Charizard X being a dragon can make deck building a challenge. Yes, it means you could play DCE and Double Dragon energy but that kind of energy base can strain deckbuilding especially since non mega Charizard can't use Double Dragon Energy. The other Mega Charizard EX's damage can be way too random. For the same cost as setting up Combustion Blast Charizard EX (2 fires and 1 DCE), you'll do 100 damage plus the possibility of doing 50 or 100 more. The gamble and deck building constraints of playing the Mega Evolution don't make a potential 50 extra damage worth it. The other Charizard EX's also aren't great and require you to discard energy for less damage.
15
4 charizard EX (wing attack 60 combustion blast 150)
3 volcanion EX
2 keldeo EX
1 exeggcute (propagation)
1 shaymin EX
1 hoopa EX
1 staryu
1 starmie (space beacon)
1 jirachi EX
33
4 professor juniper
3 trainer's mail
4 VS seeker
3 ultra ball
1 N
1 hex maniac
2 blacksmith
2 lysandre
2 battle compressor team flare
1 colress
2 float stone
2 sky field
1 startling megaphone
2 fighting fury belt
2 superior energy retrieval
1 computer search
12
8 fire energy
4 Double colorless energy
The basic combo is using Keldeo's Rush-In ability to swap Charizard EX out and back in so it can combustion blast every turn. Volcanion is in the deck for a very important reason - it gives Charizard the ability to KO 180 base HP Pokemon in one hit when I don't have access to items. Seismatoad is a huge problem for the deck because of the fire weakness. Volcanion also helps counter other Volcanion, since Charizard is weak to them. Superior Energy Retrieval and Starmie are in the deck to help recycle all the energies Volcanion discards.
I've included slightly less Supporter draw than you might be used to, but that's because of relying on Blacksmith heavily. I may want to include more Shaymin, but that puts me at a lot of Pokemon - Starmie and Exeggcute are probably the first cuts. If I were to swap out either of those, I would probably be changing Superior Energy Retrieval for Energy Retrieval. I'm not sure if Fighting Fury Belt is worth it but it does help with the math to KO any 230 HP pokemon with 2 volcanion boosts, or 190 with one boost. Hex Maniac is included because of how reliant on items the deck can be and to have a weapon against any of the Pokemon that block EX damage that doesn't involve including an Evolution line.
I was considering playing a different stadium other than Sky Field, since it sets me up for bad matchups against Ray not having an out to an opponent's Sky Field. Scorched Earth was something I was considering but I found that the Fire energies aren't as expendable as they may first seem.
I was thinking of including Max Elixir, and I did have some in there at first. However, because of the amount of Fire Energy being dumped into the discard, it lessens the count in the deck which makes Max Elixir really weak.
Anyway, thanks for your help everybody
So to start with why this deck - I think that 150 damage that is possible to set up on the first turn is something easily abusable. Why not Mega Charizard? 5 energies is too brutal to set up. It would easily be outclassed by something such as Mega Ray or Mega Gardevoir - or really any other Mega. Mega Zard Y does too much damage to itself to be viable, and Mega Charizard X being a dragon can make deck building a challenge. Yes, it means you could play DCE and Double Dragon energy but that kind of energy base can strain deckbuilding especially since non mega Charizard can't use Double Dragon Energy. The other Mega Charizard EX's damage can be way too random. For the same cost as setting up Combustion Blast Charizard EX (2 fires and 1 DCE), you'll do 100 damage plus the possibility of doing 50 or 100 more. The gamble and deck building constraints of playing the Mega Evolution don't make a potential 50 extra damage worth it. The other Charizard EX's also aren't great and require you to discard energy for less damage.
15
4 charizard EX (wing attack 60 combustion blast 150)
3 volcanion EX
2 keldeo EX
1 exeggcute (propagation)
1 shaymin EX
1 hoopa EX
1 staryu
1 starmie (space beacon)
1 jirachi EX
33
4 professor juniper
3 trainer's mail
4 VS seeker
3 ultra ball
1 N
1 hex maniac
2 blacksmith
2 lysandre
2 battle compressor team flare
1 colress
2 float stone
2 sky field
1 startling megaphone
2 fighting fury belt
2 superior energy retrieval
1 computer search
12
8 fire energy
4 Double colorless energy
The basic combo is using Keldeo's Rush-In ability to swap Charizard EX out and back in so it can combustion blast every turn. Volcanion is in the deck for a very important reason - it gives Charizard the ability to KO 180 base HP Pokemon in one hit when I don't have access to items. Seismatoad is a huge problem for the deck because of the fire weakness. Volcanion also helps counter other Volcanion, since Charizard is weak to them. Superior Energy Retrieval and Starmie are in the deck to help recycle all the energies Volcanion discards.
I've included slightly less Supporter draw than you might be used to, but that's because of relying on Blacksmith heavily. I may want to include more Shaymin, but that puts me at a lot of Pokemon - Starmie and Exeggcute are probably the first cuts. If I were to swap out either of those, I would probably be changing Superior Energy Retrieval for Energy Retrieval. I'm not sure if Fighting Fury Belt is worth it but it does help with the math to KO any 230 HP pokemon with 2 volcanion boosts, or 190 with one boost. Hex Maniac is included because of how reliant on items the deck can be and to have a weapon against any of the Pokemon that block EX damage that doesn't involve including an Evolution line.
I was considering playing a different stadium other than Sky Field, since it sets me up for bad matchups against Ray not having an out to an opponent's Sky Field. Scorched Earth was something I was considering but I found that the Fire energies aren't as expendable as they may first seem.
I was thinking of including Max Elixir, and I did have some in there at first. However, because of the amount of Fire Energy being dumped into the discard, it lessens the count in the deck which makes Max Elixir really weak.
Anyway, thanks for your help everybody
