Standard Dragonite GX - Theory Craft

[Frosch]

Hi all, this is my first post on pokebeach so please go easy on me for not labelling things properly.


I for one am very very excited for the latest dragonite Gx that got announced for SM6a and so I started to think what kind of deck I could make with this pokemon and what would be a good partner for dragonite, it was at this point someone at my locals pointed out to me that maybe it would work with Tapu Koko Gx from Sun and Moon. So here it goes, my first decklist.

(DISCLAIMER I AM ONLY USING CARDS WE KNOW ABOUT AND KNOW THE EFFECTS OF)

Pokemon: 14

3 - Dragonite GX (DragonStorm)
2 - Dragonair (SM 95)
3- Dratini (SM 94)
2 - Tapu Lele GX (GUR 60)
2 - Tapu Koko GX (GUR 47)
1 -Tapu Koko Promo (SM 31)
1 - Oranguru (SM 113)



Trainers: 31
3 - Cynthia
3 - N
3- Professor Sycamore
2 - Zinnia
2 - Briggette
2 - Skyla
3 - Guzma
3 - Ultra Ball
2 - Rare Candy
3 - Choice Band
1 - Heavy Ball
1 - Nest Ball
2 - Max Potion
1 - Palpad


Energy: 15
4 - DCE
7 - Electric Energy
4 - Water energy


So there it is my theory craft list, there are actually a lot of cards I wanted too fit in, i.e super boost energy, switch, float stones maybe a zoro GX line but Im noway near talented enough to come up whit that. If you disagree with anything Ive said they please leave a comment in the comment section but remember.....be nice

 

[Acetrainer_Samwise]

Some cool ideas in here! Maybe some rare candy instead of evo soda (dragonite is a stage 2), devoured field stadium,. I think this deck would be better without Zoroark. There is also a new altaria coming out that boosts dragon type attacks by 20. Definetley at least 3 switches so you can reset dragonites attacks. maybe 1 volkner as well... and one more tip!!! In the future cards that haven't come out yet are alternate format not standard. Cool deck!

 

[Kietharr]

IMO there are two styles of Dragonite deck we'll see in the next set: Altaria/Dragonite with max potions built around Attack 1 and Dragonite/Ribombee deck around attack 2. You don't need Altaria in this deck since it's going for the second attack given your energy makeup and you can hit the 210 mark much easier with devoured field or choice band.

You should be running 4 Ultra Ball. Heavy Ball is also a good option for getting Dragonite, I'd dump the nest ball for another one. Evosoda is too slow, you should be playing rare candies. Tapu Koko-GX is not a good card these days, it can bail a Dragonite out of active but to what end? The ideal partner for this Dragonite is Ribombee since it can easily get the right basic energies out of your deck for either a Zinnia or using Dragonair's attack effect, 2-2 Ribombee should replace your letters. Devoured Field is great in this deck because it gets you to 210 with all of your attackers simultaneously instead of being attached to an individual pokemon like a band, and it also lets you donk stadiums out from under decks that depend on them. Zoroark doesn't do anything with the 10 extra damage, whether it hits 120, 130, 150 or 160 doesn't make a difference. Choice band is really only needed for Garde which you should just accept as an automatic loss due to weakness on a high energy cost attacker. There is really no way to make the Garde matchup not atrocious.

We don't yet have the cards we need in standard for Dragonporter to be a consistent way to get Dragonites out so you will need to do the Brigette play and slowly build a bench the old fashioned way, but heavy ball/rare candy helps make that simpler. DW Necrozma is the ideal way to reset your Giga Impact but you should still run a high Guzma count to account for Glaceon-GX shutting it down. You really can't run without float stones in a deck like this, you need at least 3. I don't really like Koko promo here either since you're loathe to attach energy to it, you don't really benefit from the 20 damage (in any winnable matchup anyways) either. It's a nice Guzma pivot but that's about it.

 

[acerizzo13]

I've been thinking a lot about this deck but hadn't posted anything yet, simply because we haven't seen all the other dragons and support yet but am happy to share my thoughts with you. I had been considering Koko but after some thought, seriously like every day for a week, I decided Koko is better off in it's own deck as there is little synergy with acerola, super scoop ups, max elixirs and max potions in the Dragonite deck. My thoughts would be to run a 4/2/4 Dragonite GX line with I Koko GX and a 2/2 Altaria line, however the Altaria line is flexible and I would consider running a 1/2 or even a 0/2 line.

I would drop the 3 choice bands for 2 float stones and just 1 choice band, because once you have a Dragonite and Altaria or 2 out you are hitting 220. As the above comment mentions we don't have Battle Compressor in Standard so you have to resort to other discard methods. 4 Ultra Ball is a must, so is 4 Professor Sycamore, and I'd even suggest 1 Sophocles. You also need to have 1-2 Volkner, and run rare candy over evosoda, even with Dragonair. Unfortunately Dragonair's timing is off with Dragonporter as you would have to use the GX attack first to cheat the necessary GX's into play and then use Dragon's Wish but there are likely a few creative, yet inefficient ways around that.

Anyway here is my deck suggestion, subject to change of course as new techs come out:


Pokemon: 15
4 Dratini
2 Dragonair (Dragon's Wish SM)
4 Dragonite GX
1 Tapu Koko GX
1 Tapu Lele GX
1 Oranguru
0 Swablu
2 Altaria

2 Devoured Field (First thing on the chopping block)

Items: 13
4 Ultra Ball
3 Rare Candy
3 Float Stone
2 Professor's Letter
2 Heavy Ball


Supporters: 17
4 Professor Sycamore
3 Guzma
3 Cynthia
2 N
2 Zinnia
1 Volkner
1 Bridgette
1 Skyla

Energy: 12
4 DCE
4 Lightning
4 Water

 

[Frosch]

Some cool ideas in here! Maybe some rare candy instead of evo soda (dragonite is a stage 2), devoured field stadium,. I think this deck would be better without Zoroark. There is also a new altaria coming out that boosts dragon type attacks by 20. Definetley at least 3 switches so you can reset dragonites attacks. maybe 1 volkner as well... and one more tip!!! In the future cards that haven't come out yet are alternate format not standard. Cool deck!

yeah I just spotted that and was going to change it

 

[Frosch]

IMO there are two styles of Dragonite deck we'll see in the next set: Altaria/Dragonite with max potions built around Attack 1 and Dragonite/Ribombee deck around attack 2. You don't need Altaria in this deck since it's going for the second attack given your energy makeup and you can hit the 210 mark much easier with devoured field or choice band.

You should be running 4 Ultra Ball. Heavy Ball is also a good option for getting Dragonite, I'd dump the nest ball for another one. Evosoda is too slow, you should be playing rare candies. Tapu Koko-GX is not a good card these days, it can bail a Dragonite out of active but to what end? The ideal partner for this Dragonite is Ribombee since it can easily get the right basic energies out of your deck for either a Zinnia or using Dragonair's attack effect, 2-2 Ribombee should replace your letters. Devoured Field is great in this deck because it gets you to 210 with all of your attackers simultaneously instead of being attached to an individual pokemon like a band, and it also lets you donk stadiums out from under decks that depend on them. Zoroark doesn't do anything with the 10 extra damage, whether it hits 120, 130, 150 or 160 doesn't make a difference. Choice band is really only needed for Garde which you should just accept as an automatic loss due to weakness on a high energy cost attacker. There is really no way to make the Garde matchup not atrocious.

We don't yet have the cards we need in standard for Dragonporter to be a consistent way to get Dragonites out so you will need to do the Brigette play and slowly build a bench the old fashioned way, but heavy ball/rare candy helps make that simpler. DW Necrozma is the ideal way to reset your Giga Impact but you should still run a high Guzma count to account for Glaceon-GX shutting it down. You really can't run without float stones in a deck like this, you need at least 3. I don't really like Koko promo here either since you're loathe to attach energy to it, you don't really benefit from the 20 damage (in any winnable matchup anyways) either. It's a nice Guzma pivot but that's about it.

yeah man i see what you are saying, like i said tho its just a tester. as for the koko choices i just wanted more attackers, i really dont like the idea that rebombee gets stuck in the active and gives your opponent easy match ups. id prefer a professors mail honestly. as for the promp koko i like it for damage spread so you dont have to over commit to a lot of things on your dragonites or koko gxs. the zoro idea was mostly just for draw power as it goes with everything in the format

 

[Frosch]

I've been thinking a lot about this deck but hadn't posted anything yet, simply because we haven't seen all the other dragons and support yet but am happy to share my thoughts with you. I had been considering Koko but after some thought, seriously like every day for a week, I decided Koko is better off in it's own deck as there is little synergy with acerola, super scoop ups, max elixirs and max potions in the Dragonite deck. My thoughts would be to run a 4/2/4 Dragonite GX line with I Koko GX and a 2/2 Altaria line, however the Altaria line is flexible and I would consider running a 1/2 or even a 0/2 line.

I would drop the 3 choice bands for 2 float stones and just 1 choice band, because once you have a Dragonite and Altaria or 2 out you are hitting 220. As the above comment mentions we don't have Battle Compressor in Standard so you have to resort to other discard methods. 4 Ultra Ball is a must, so is 4 Professor Sycamore, and I'd even suggest 1 Sophocles. You also need to have 1-2 Volkner, and run rare candy over evosoda, even with Dragonair. Unfortunately Dragonair's timing is off with Dragonporter as you would have to use the GX attack first to cheat the necessary GX's into play and then use Dragon's Wish but there are likely a few creative, yet inefficient ways around that.

Anyway here is my deck suggestion, subject to change of course as new techs come out:


Pokemon: 15
4 Dratini
2 Dragonair (Dragon's Wish SM)
4 Dragonite GX
1 Tapu Koko GX
1 Tapu Lele GX
1 Oranguru
0 Swablu
2 Altaria

2 Devoured Field (First thing on the chopping block)

Items: 13
4 Ultra Ball
3 Rare Candy
3 Float Stone
2 Professor's Letter
2 Heavy Ball


Supporters: 17
4 Professor Sycamore
3 Guzma
3 Cynthia
2 N
2 Zinnia
1 Volkner
1 Bridgette
1 Skyla

Energy: 12
4 DCE
4 Lightning
4 Water

id say this a much better list tbh, i too have been thinking every day about this as i simply love dragonite and really want this card to work, i really hope we get some support and the stuff that was on the poster in the japanese pokecenter isnt all there is in this set

 

[acerizzo13]

id say this a much better list tbh, i too have been thinking every day about this as i simply love dragonite and really want this card to work, i really hope we get some support and the stuff that was on the poster in the japanese pokecenter isnt all there is in this set

Thanks man. Disregard the Garde, Dragonite is my favorite pokemon for sure and this is one of the most playable cards in possibly ever. I feel like the support line is heavy, and I'll take back what I said about Sophocles, simply because there isn't room for it. I forgot to put a Super Boost Energy in there, but I feel like it's Quad Dragons or you are forced to play it with Zoroark, which has better partners. Good luck man, and tell me what you end up sticking with.

 

[Frosch]

UPDATE: we just got lance prism star:

You can only play this card if 1 of your Pokemon was Knocked Out during your opponent’s last turn.

Search your deck for 2 [N] Pokemon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.

this could prove to be very good in dragon decks and hopefully will help make dragonite better

 

[acerizzo13]

UPDATE: we just got lance prism star:

You can only play this card if 1 of your Pokemon was Knocked Out during your opponent’s last turn.

Search your deck for 2 [N] Pokemon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.

this could prove to be very good in dragon decks and hopefully will help make dragonite better

Whoa, that's so good! I think that alone can help Dragon's Wish work. It's really simple, bait a Knock Out with Dragon's Wish and then Lance Prism for Dragonite's onto the bench, then just drop energy on them. I'd say from my list drop a Rare Candy, and the 2 Devoured Field for Lance Prism, Super Boost Energy, and another Dragonair. Another Lele seems like a really good call as well, so I'd say you could probably drop the Heavy Balls, the rare candys and maybe the Skyla for 1 more Lele, 3 evosoda and maybe a Wally. Not too sure right now, but I think Lance Prism is exactly what we needed.