Standard Gliscor / Crawdaunt (No, You Can't Play With Me!)

[SaiScott95]

This is currently my favorite deck, and I really want to improve it as much as possible. That said, if you take the time to help me here, your responses WILL be liked to help you get closer to obtaining the badges for 100+ likes.

Pokémon: (17)

4 Gligar (ROS)
4 Gliscor (PHF)
4 Corphish (PRC)
4 Crawdaunt (PRC)
1 Shaymin-EX (ROS)​

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums: (35)

4 Professor Sycamore
3 Korrina
1 Team Flare Grunt
1 Xerosic
1 Lysandre
1 Teammates / Hex Maniac / AZ / Korrina / Lysandre
4 Level Ball
3 Muscle Band
4 Crushing Hammer
2 Enhanced Hammer
2 Switch
3 VS Seeker
2 Head Ringer
3 Fighting Stadium​

Energy: (8)

4 Strong Energy
4 Fighting Energy​

Strategy:

The idea is to discard the opponent's energy while slowly killing them with Gliscor's attack that prevents energy attachment to the active slot. Fighting support is added for increased damage.

I need to decide on that last supporter.
Teammates is nice for when something goes down, but I've had my fair share of games where the opponent can't keep energy on their Pokémon long enough to meet the attack cost.
Hex Maniac can be used when I'm predicting a Shaymin-EX, need to temporarily get out of Vileplume's Item Lock, or delay opposing Crawdaunts, but is matchup-dependant.
AZ allows me to reuse my Crawdaunt or Shaymin-EX, and has rarely been dead to me.
Korrina #4 will give me more searching power, but 4 may be too much, especially since Vs. Seeker can fetch it.
Lysandre #2 would help considering Crawdaunt and Grunt only discard from active, but I'm unsure about this choice and need to test it.

Also unsure on some quantities in the list above.

I've tested this deck many times and have quite a high win ratio, most of which end in ragequits because the opponent is unable to play the game. After tweaking and testing for months, I've done the best I can with this list, and need to ask for help now. The faster the help, the better, as I'm doing a deck video on YouTube somewhat soon.

 

[Lanstar]

For a deck as disruptive as this, I'd place a Hex Maniac in that unknown slot, as it can also lock energy acceleration abilities as well, should you need to.

 

[Kuja89]

I count 34 trainers?

Out of interest, is muscle band more useful than focus sash? Or is it really the case that they don't knock out much because energy is being taken off of them too quickly?

 

[SaiScott95]

For a deck as disruptive as this, I'd place a Hex Maniac in that unknown slot, as it can also lock energy acceleration abilities as well, should you need to.

That's another reason I've been considering it. Slowing down energy accel is really useful and gives me another turn to hit the energy accelerators to kill them, since they generally have 90HP or less. So far, the only decks that really give me issues tend to be bronzong decks. I've even been able to keep up with decks using landorus, yveltal, or xerneas (kinda) for accel.

I count 34 trainers?

Out of interest, is muscle band more useful than focus sash? Or is it really the case that they don't knock out much because energy is being taken off of them too quickly?

I have not testing focus sash at the moment, but considering I gotta dig through my deck for anti-energy, i need to be able to increase damage output to KO pokemon at a decent rate. I do get close to decking out more often than I would like.

If I had more searching and less mass-draw (less sycamore), that might be of great help. It would allow me to slow down and increase disruption by switching fighting stadium and muscle band for silent lab and other things.

 

[bbninjas]

Do you think you should drop a Level Ball for Ultra Ball just as a way to get Shaymin out under Korinna? I'd imagine it could be game-saving providing you don't use either Shaymin or Ultra Ball early. You could also try Repeat Ball or Dive Ball (probs not) for search.

My main concern is this: Do you have a counter for those Energy Recyclers that are being reprinted?

 

[SaiScott95]

Do you think you should drop a Level Ball for Ultra Ball just as a way to get Shaymin out under Korinna? I'd imagine it could be game-saving providing you don't use either Shaymin or Ultra Ball early. You could also try Repeat Ball or Dive Ball (probs not) for search.

I have been missing being able to search Shaymin-EX, but at the same time, I don't miss having to discard energy-hate in some situations. I wouldn't want to replace all the level balls with ultra balls, but I would consider replacing some.

My main concern is this: Do you have a counter for those Energy Recyclers that are being reprinted?

I'm not even sure how I could counter this. Any ideas? I personally haven't faced any opponents using them yet, but I'm sure that time will come soon.

 

[bbninjas]

Perhaps you need to have a couple of strong backup attackers that you can use to sweep the game up at a later stage? Once your opponent has to recycle energy, I'd imagine there could be some type of drought before they can get a steady flow, allowing you to take the last prizes with a 1-hit KOer.

 

[SaiScott95]

Perhaps you need to have a couple of strong backup attackers that you can use to sweep the game up at a later stage? Once your opponent has to recycle energy, I'd imagine there could be some type of drought before they can get a steady flow, allowing you to take the last prizes with a 1-hit KOer.

I've considered adding lucario-ex for a backup attacker in the past, actually. Problem is finding space. I already wanna fit in another enhanced hammer, another shaymin, and another lysandre as it is. (a 3rd enhanced is always nice, i have games where shaymin starts as active or prized, and my easiest games are when i can lysandre up the bench more than once.)

 

[bbninjas]

I've considered adding lucario-ex for a backup attacker in the past, actually. Problem is finding space. I already wanna fit in another enhanced hammer, another shaymin, and another lysandre as it is. (a 3rd enhanced is always nice, i have games where shaymin starts as active or prized, and my easiest games are when i can lysandre up the bench more than once.)

Well, looking at it, I'm wondering if it's worth taking out a simple 1-1 of Gliscor? If your concern is less consistency, I think that with your Level Balls and Korrinas, I'd think it'd be pretty consistent either way (especially if you had another Shaymin). I just realised that you may need those four so you can stream, so perhaps a bad idea. Also, do you need 4 Sycamore? I'd think swapping a Sycamore with a Shaymin could be beneficial, especially with Korinna as on of your main supporters. However, no Ultra Ball would hurt the usefulness.

 

[SaiScott95]

Well, looking at it, I'm wondering if it's worth taking out a simple 1-1 of Gliscor? If your concern is less consistency, I think that with your Level Balls and Korrinas, I'd think it'd be pretty consistent either way (especially if you had another Shaymin). I just realised that you may need those four so you can stream, so perhaps a bad idea. Also, do you need 4 Sycamore? I'd think swapping a Sycamore with a Shaymin could be beneficial, especially with Korinna as on of your main supporters. However, no Ultra Ball would hurt the usefulness.

Yeah, I can't lower my Gligar/Gliscor line. In testing, I already have an issue starting with Corphish or Shaymin like 25-30% of my games (dunno what the correct percentage is) with the current lineup. That's actually another reason I want another Shaymin, for them games I end up starting with it.

I wouldn't mind taking out a Sycamore honestly. 4 has been too many, just haven't changed it since I'm used to throwing 4 in everything. So I woulnd't mind swapping one for a Shaymin-EX. I think switching a Sycamore to Shaymin-EX alone might help with my near-deckout issues enough to not need another attacker. Will need to test this though as I'm unsure. Will definitely want AZ though, as I run quite low on bench space as the game drags on...

And again, I could switch my ball lineup to 2 Level 2 Ultra if that'd be helpful. I've been doing better ever since I switched to Level, so not too willing to fully take them out honestly.

 

[bbninjas]

Would you be able to take away one Crawdaunt? Assuming you have 1 Gligar active, 1 Gligar on bench and have used a Shaymin, you only have 3 slots left for Crawdaunt anyways. Could you add an Ultra Ball, perhaps, and change a Level? Or maybe you could add an Enhanced/Lysandre instead? Or even a Fan Club? Idk. I'm slightly wary about the amount of supporters you are using, actually, but then they could be nice things to discard with Ultra Ball.

 

[SaiScott95]

I could probably remove a Crawdaunt. Will need to test it and see how that turns out.

Here's what I'll be testing:

Spoiler

Pokémon: (17)

4 Gligar (ROS)
4 Gliscor (PHF)
4 Corphish (PRC)
3 Crawdaunt (PRC) (-1 from list in OP)
2 Shaymin-EX (ROS) (+1 from list in OP)
​

Trainers: (35)

3 Professor Sycamore (-1 from list in OP)
3 Korrina
1 Team Flare Grunt
1 Hex Maniac (+1 from list in OP)
1 Xerosic
1 Lysandre
1 AZ (Chosen from list in OP)
2 Level Ball (-2 from list in OP)
2 Ultra Ball (+2 from list in OP)
3 Muscle Band
4 Crushing Hammer
2 Enhanced Hammer
2 Switch
3 VS Seeker
2 Head Ringer
3 Fighting Stadium
​

Energy: (8)

4 Strong Energy
4 Fighting Energy​

 

[Lanstar]

I was testing this deck in the PTCG Online, and somehow I keep suffering from facing several energy acceleration decks with it, such as Bronzong, Xerneas, and M Manectric. I also had trouble with Bats - with Dimension Valley in play, they don't need energy at all, and are Fighting-resistant. Just my luck, I guess, as I also had trouble with dead draws at the start as well. Some thoughts:

-Teching in a sacred ash could be a good solution for getting back the Gliscor lines, and could also let you run a 3-3 line should you wish to add space.

-I think a Professor's Letter can really help, as it is searchable with Korrina, and by having only 8 energy in the deck, I find it quite tricky to get energy out at the start of the game.

-I'm finding that more players are learning to dodge Head Ringers at the start of the game by putting unexpected cards like Unown as the active pokemon, and hiding the EX's until they play them on their turn to add tools and prevent the ringing. I could see removing 1 or 2 ringers as an option to add another Shaymin EX.

I don't know... Maybe I'm not playing this deck properly enough to give good advice for it. :/ But I do like creative decks like this, so it's the thought that counts.

 

[SaiScott95]

I was testing this deck in the PTCG Online, and somehow I keep suffering from facing several energy acceleration decks with it, such as Bronzong, Xerneas, and M Manectric. I also had trouble with Bats - with Dimension Valley in play, they don't need energy at all, and are Fighting-resistant. Just my luck, I guess, as I also had trouble with dead draws at the start as well. Some thoughts:

I've never really faced D-Valley bats before so can't say anything there. M Manectric, Xerneas, and Bronzong are my 3 worst matchups. I'd rather see any other energy accel that's currently in format than those. I've actually taken the time to set up Gliscor's second attack to help me beat M Manectric and Xerneas decks before, but it's still difficult and really depends on the draws. As for Bronzong, the first one can be killed, but once they get a second or third, might as well concede.

-Teching in a sacred ash could be a good solution for getting back the Gliscor lines, and could also let you run a 3-3 line should you wish to add space.

-I think a Professor's Letter can really help, as it is searchable with Korrina, and by having only 8 energy in the deck, I find it quite tricky to get energy out at the start of the game.

-I'm finding that more players are learning to dodge Head Ringers at the start of the game by putting unexpected cards like Unown as the active pokemon, and hiding the EX's until they play them on their turn to add tools and prevent the ringing. I could see removing 1 or 2 ringers as an option to add another Shaymin EX.

I don't know... Maybe I'm not playing this deck properly enough to give good advice for it. :/ But I do like creative decks like this, so it's the thought that counts.

I could take out the 1-1 line for a Sacred Ash and be able to fit in a copy of Lucario-EX. That could definitely help me in dealing with Bronzongs and M Manectrics faster, along with other things. Will have to test this as well.

During my next few testing sessions, I'll keep track of how often I have trouble finding energy early game. I haven't had very many issues in the past that I can remember, although my memory being horrible doesn't help. I do remember when I first started using this deck, I had more energy and ended up taking some out because of drawing more than I needed. It's like Magic: The Gathering late game when you need creatures and spells, and you keep drawing lands when you have more than enough down.

I haven't really noticed any EX players saving their EX's in hand like you described. I have noticed them attaching items earlier on though, which does end up causing a few issues. Sometimes Xerosic isn't enough to solve that unfortunately. I'll have to pay attention to how many games I actually use Head Ringer in and make a decision after testing. Thanks for bringing this up!

Anyway, you likely are playing it properly, but are having bad luck with your draws and matchups. It's also possible that I've just been really lucky with my own testing. Who knows? Card games are funny like that XD

 

[Lanstar]

Anyway, you likely are playing it properly, but are having bad luck with your draws and matchups. It's also possible that I've just been really lucky with my own testing. Who knows? Card games are funny like that XD

That's probably the best explanation I can get when it comes to me using several decks over the years. I'm great with luck when it comes to certain decks, but with some even competitively viable decks, the RNG hates me. The reverse for other people, else they wouldn't be played. ^_^

 

[Mora]

I could probably remove a Crawdaunt. Will need to test it and see how that turns out.

Here's what I'll be testing:

Spoiler

Pokémon: (17)

4 Gligar (ROS)
4 Gliscor (PHF)
4 Corphish (PRC)
3 Crawdaunt (PRC) (-1 from list in OP)
2 Shaymin-EX (ROS) (+1 from list in OP)
​

Trainers: (35)

3 Professor Sycamore (-1 from list in OP)
3 Korrina
1 Team Flare Grunt
1 Hex Maniac (+1 from list in OP)
1 Xerosic
1 Lysandre
1 AZ (Chosen from list in OP)
2 Level Ball (-2 from list in OP)
2 Ultra Ball (+2 from list in OP)
3 Muscle Band
4 Crushing Hammer
2 Enhanced Hammer
2 Switch
3 VS Seeker
2 Head Ringer
3 Fighting Stadium
​

Energy: (8)

4 Strong Energy
4 Fighting Energy​

If those are the changes to your original deck list, could you please update the OP to reflect that? Thanks!

 

[SaiScott95]

If those are the changes to your original deck list, could you please update the OP to reflect that? Thanks!

They're not changes yet. That's just what I'm testing in hopes of making potential changes to the OP list after seeing results.