So we were all excited to get an energy evolution Eevee again with SM, but I noticed that a lot of the decks I saw on PTCGO with these cards are kind of awkwardly slotting these into existing archetypes. So I came up with lists for both of these, one of which is pretty well tested (~68% WR over 80 games) and another I'm in the process of building.
I'll start with my Funbreon list, which I have played to pretty reasonable success in PTCGO
Pokémon - 16
* 3 Eevee SUM 101
* 2 Lillipup SUM 103
* 2 Herdier SUM 104
* 2 Rattata EVO 66
* 2 Raticate EVO 67
* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 3 Umbreon-GX SUM 80
Trainer Cards - 34
* 1 Brock's Grit EVO 74
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 1 Team Skull Grunt SUM 133
* 2 Devolution Spray EVO 76
* 4 N DEX 96
* 2 Lysandre AOR 78
* 1 Team Flare Grunt XY 129
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 3 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 4 Crushing Hammer SUM 115
* 1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 2 Enhanced Hammer DEX 94
* 2 Professor Sycamore PHF 101
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 2 Level Ball NXD 89
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
Energy - 10
* 4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
* 6 Darkness Energy 7
This is a multifaceted disruption deck. I run 4 N 2 Sycamore rather than the more common reverse for two reasons, one, I'm kind of item dependent and don't like to trash unusable hammers or devo sprays early game, two, constantly shuffling your opponent's hand is annoying and being annoying is the goal of this deck. I chose to pair Umbreon with Raticate EVO and Herdier SM.
Raticate's synergy is pretty obvious here, it's more energy removal and if I'm playing against a special energy deck it's very good at landing an extremely hard hit in the late game while only giving up one prize on a revenge kill. Rattata is also nice to have since Umbreon's damage is mediocre, so being able to remove FFBs is nice. The guaranteed energy discard on crunch is also useful later in the game, I've had a few games where I've crunched off the last energy in their deck for a win.
Herdier came about as I asked myself how I could be more annoying. With 2 Herdier and 2 devo sprays, I can theoretically get 8 flips on crushing hammer per game, or of course pull up enhanced hammers, or vs seekers, or balls if I need them. Junk Arm doggo is my sleeper MVP since that 5th and 6th flip on hammer are exponentially more likely to cause rage quits.
I find this deck works very well against the energy acceleration decks that are in vogue right now. Even those that have good ways to recover energy from discard fall flat more often than not. The roughest matchups, I find, are Passimian due to its speed and typing, Zygarde due to it avoiding the 2HKO from shadow bullet and having favorable typing, and Yanmega cause it doesn't care about energy disruption and wins the prize trade game.
Now that I've shared what I know is at least a decent deck (though I'm open to any suggestions on it), time to share my idea for Espeon.
Pokémon - 17
* 3 Eevee SUM 101
* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 3 Espeon-GX SUM 61
* 4 Gastly BKT 58
* 1 Haunter EVO 48
* 4 Gengar BKT 60
Trainer Cards - 33
* 2 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
* 1 Brock's Grit EVO 74
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 2 N DEX 96
* 4 Rare Candy SUM 129
* 1 Olympia GEN 66
* 2 Lysandre AOR 78
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 2 Skyla BKT 148
* 3 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
Energy - 10
* 4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
* 6 Psychic Energy SUM 162
The idea is to drop 3 damage counters on all of my opponent's useful pokemon with Espeon's GX attack then retreat to a Gengar and score KOs at my leisure. I can either distribute 20 damage across 5 pokemon, then use one sinister fog to put his entire bench up to the OHKO threshold, or I can put 30 damage on 3 pokemon against EX decks. Psybeam also hits the 30 mark and will often be used to stall for a turn or two while I prepare my Gengar so there'll be a lot of targets for him.
I use Skyla because I find that she's useful in rare candy decks, and will also be a way to get an Espeon early game through retrieving my professor's letter, and possibly as a way to grab a float stone for a retreat after Divide-GX has gone off.
As far as matchups go, I see Greninja as probably the biggest single problem, but any decks that carry a lot of healing items and/or don't mind playing the prize trade game will be trouble with the exception of Gyarados AT which autoloses the second I get a Gengar online.
I'll start with my Funbreon list, which I have played to pretty reasonable success in PTCGO
Pokémon - 16
* 3 Eevee SUM 101
* 2 Lillipup SUM 103
* 2 Herdier SUM 104
* 2 Rattata EVO 66
* 2 Raticate EVO 67
* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 3 Umbreon-GX SUM 80
Trainer Cards - 34
* 1 Brock's Grit EVO 74
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 1 Team Skull Grunt SUM 133
* 2 Devolution Spray EVO 76
* 4 N DEX 96
* 2 Lysandre AOR 78
* 1 Team Flare Grunt XY 129
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 3 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 4 Crushing Hammer SUM 115
* 1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 2 Enhanced Hammer DEX 94
* 2 Professor Sycamore PHF 101
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 2 Level Ball NXD 89
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
Energy - 10
* 4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
* 6 Darkness Energy 7
This is a multifaceted disruption deck. I run 4 N 2 Sycamore rather than the more common reverse for two reasons, one, I'm kind of item dependent and don't like to trash unusable hammers or devo sprays early game, two, constantly shuffling your opponent's hand is annoying and being annoying is the goal of this deck. I chose to pair Umbreon with Raticate EVO and Herdier SM.
Raticate's synergy is pretty obvious here, it's more energy removal and if I'm playing against a special energy deck it's very good at landing an extremely hard hit in the late game while only giving up one prize on a revenge kill. Rattata is also nice to have since Umbreon's damage is mediocre, so being able to remove FFBs is nice. The guaranteed energy discard on crunch is also useful later in the game, I've had a few games where I've crunched off the last energy in their deck for a win.
Herdier came about as I asked myself how I could be more annoying. With 2 Herdier and 2 devo sprays, I can theoretically get 8 flips on crushing hammer per game, or of course pull up enhanced hammers, or vs seekers, or balls if I need them. Junk Arm doggo is my sleeper MVP since that 5th and 6th flip on hammer are exponentially more likely to cause rage quits.
I find this deck works very well against the energy acceleration decks that are in vogue right now. Even those that have good ways to recover energy from discard fall flat more often than not. The roughest matchups, I find, are Passimian due to its speed and typing, Zygarde due to it avoiding the 2HKO from shadow bullet and having favorable typing, and Yanmega cause it doesn't care about energy disruption and wins the prize trade game.
Now that I've shared what I know is at least a decent deck (though I'm open to any suggestions on it), time to share my idea for Espeon.
Pokémon - 17
* 3 Eevee SUM 101
* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 3 Espeon-GX SUM 61
* 4 Gastly BKT 58
* 1 Haunter EVO 48
* 4 Gengar BKT 60
Trainer Cards - 33
* 2 Trainers' Mail ROS 92
* 1 Brock's Grit EVO 74
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 2 N DEX 96
* 4 Rare Candy SUM 129
* 1 Olympia GEN 66
* 2 Lysandre AOR 78
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 1 Professor's Letter BKT 146
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 2 Skyla BKT 148
* 3 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
Energy - 10
* 4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
* 6 Psychic Energy SUM 162
The idea is to drop 3 damage counters on all of my opponent's useful pokemon with Espeon's GX attack then retreat to a Gengar and score KOs at my leisure. I can either distribute 20 damage across 5 pokemon, then use one sinister fog to put his entire bench up to the OHKO threshold, or I can put 30 damage on 3 pokemon against EX decks. Psybeam also hits the 30 mark and will often be used to stall for a turn or two while I prepare my Gengar so there'll be a lot of targets for him.
I use Skyla because I find that she's useful in rare candy decks, and will also be a way to get an Espeon early game through retrieving my professor's letter, and possibly as a way to grab a float stone for a retreat after Divide-GX has gone off.
As far as matchups go, I see Greninja as probably the biggest single problem, but any decks that carry a lot of healing items and/or don't mind playing the prize trade game will be trouble with the exception of Gyarados AT which autoloses the second I get a Gengar online.
