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Standard Help/Advice on my Trevenant Ex Deck build

HunterD

HunterD

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hey everyone, I just joined the forum and I was wondering if anyone could look over my new deck build. I have all of the cards already, but I am definitely willing to switch out/ buy new cards if need be. I have the cards from 1 evolution booster box, 2 sun and moon booster boxes, and some that I thought would have good synergy with the deck idea. I put descriptions next to most of the cards listed and my idea behind why I put them in there. All are in the standard rotation for 2017. If anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated as this is the first deck I have ever built, and I haven't played outside of the TCG online game. Thank you in advance.

Pokemon
3 trevenant ex (main damage, primal clash)
4 dratini (search for dragonair ability, s&m)
2 dragonair (attack all energy from hand to a pkm, s&m)
2 brushix (search deck for 3 basic energy, put into hand, s&m)
11 total

Item Cards
2 exp share (for when dragonair/brushix dies - goes to trev)
2 nest ball (search for basic pkm if needed)
3 weakness policy (for vs fire)
4 switch (to switch from the brush -> dragonair in order to attack all energy to trev in one turn)
3 energy retrieval (not sure if needed due to energy switch and exp share, could help if some basics die)
2 energy switch
3 repel (if i need to switch out their main attacker)
3 pokemon catcher (50/50 chance to switch out their main attacker with one of my choice, or switch in a pkm that they're charging up)
22 total

Support Cards
3 team skull grunt (remove energies from their hand)
4 lillie (draw power)
3 misty's determination
4 pokemon center lady (healing/debuff elimination, generations)
14 total

13 leaf energy
13 total

60/60 cards
 
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I noticed you don't have any N, VS Seeker, Lysandre or Sycamore. While counts of N/Sycamore vary, just about every single deck runs a full four count of VS Seeker. I would drop down to 1 Pokémon Center Lady, drop the Misty's Determination completely, and reduce the count of Skull Grunts. I would consider dropping the count of Lillie also, but I haven't played with that card enough to say if it's worth the inclusion of a full four or not. If you still want energy disruption in place of the Skull Grunts consider a Team Flare Grunt or a few hammers (Either enhanced or normal, depending what matchups you are using them for)

That would free up several slots. If you ran a Lysandre or two you could also reduce the counts of Repel/Pokémon Catcher, freeing up more slots. By having 4 VS Seekers, you can grab any used supporter from your discard and reuse it, which allows you to run a few 1-2 supporters and still have a reliable way to use them a few times.

Another thing is there aren't any Shaymin, but that's expensive so if you don't already have it then it's difficult to get. My last recommendation would be to add an Ultra Ball or two. Guaranteed search is really important. Nest Ball might be enough, but test it with and without to see what you like best. (Nest Ball does not work with Shaymin's ability so that might be ok to go without Ultra since you have none.)
 
Thank you for your advice both of your advice. I'm definitely going to check out professor's letter as I was worried about not being able to get those Brushix out quickly enough, or having to use too many switches to get the deck to work how I want it too. I was thinking about not using ultra balls (even though I have a bunch of them) because 1) each of the cards seems to have a purpose in my deck (to me), and 2) all of my pokemon are basic except the dragonair, but the dratini's first ability/attack is "find a dragonair or dragonite in your deck and put it in your hand." thus I thought the nest ball should be enough. I'm going to look into your other advice though of removing some lillie's, team skull grunts, misty's and PCL's in order to include the other cards you mentioned.

*I forgot to mention that this deck is for 2017 standard, I'll check all the cards that you listed to make sure that they won't be out of rotation.

*I'm probably going to switch out the Brushix with the snorlax from generations that reduces incoming damage by 30 points. My thought behind this is that I can use it as a buffer between when my dragonair dies to when my trevenant is hitting over 150 damage.

Just ordered:
4 Lysandre (ancient origins)
4 Professor's Letter (Breakthrough)
4 Sycamore (Breakpoint)

I didn't order vs seeker because the only one I could use is the SR Roaring Skies one and I don't feel like paying for them.
 
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With trainers the set they come from does not matter, as long as they have been reprinted in at least ONE set in the standard rotation. VS Seeker was reprinted in ROS as you mentioned, so any of the prints from any sets will work. You can use the Phantom Forces print in standard rotation, and that one is much cheaper than the ROS print. All the cards mentioned in the two posts are for standard rotation for this year.

This makes for some fun combinations on some of the trainers. For example, the card "Switch" has never changed as far as I know, so there are at least a dozen prints you can use in your deck for variety. It also enables you to "Bling" out your deck if you choose. For example, Lysandre's current standard print is from Ancient Origins, making him a standard legal card. This means you can use the fancy full art one from Flashfire even though it's not a standard set, that specific card is still legal.

Make sense? If you have more questions please ask.
 
I recently built a new deck based on Trevenant EX + Sceptile (Primal Clash 8). I included a lot of healing (Super Potion, Pokemon Center Lady and Sceptile itself) and shielding (Assault Vest, Weakness Policy and Fighting Fury Belt) to make the Trevs huge tanks hard to beat. Plus the energy acceleration of Sceptile that makes the Trevenant hit harder.
Unfortunately, I couldn't test it yet due to lack of free time so I cannot tell you how it works in practice, but at least maybe this gives you some other ideas.

Good luck with it!
 
Okay I'll definitely be picking up more VS. seeker's then. I found one random one in my box of cards yesterday and it's only ~$20 for three more which isn't too bad.
 
I put 3 brock's grit in there because if my main trev dies with a bunch of energies on it I need those back pronto. But I could probably get by with one or two of them. The snorlax is the generations one I think (whichever one's ability is -30 damage to the pokemon) I only have one because I'm just using it as a buffer if needed. I can nest ball it out of my deck, hence why I have four nest balls. I should definitely add a couple ultra balls in order to grab dragonair, but I was thinking that with the cards I have I would have enough pull power that it would most likely just show up in my hand in 2 ish turns. I'll try some variations on the deck and see what works out the best online. It seems like a pretty good starting place for a grass deck though. I just ordered 2 laurantis GX as well, maybe they'll end up in there, maybe they won't.
 
If the problem is that you lose all the energies when your active is knocked out, you can inlcude Exp. Share and/or Energy Pouch
 
Ideally you want to have a couple powered up so you are ready to go when one gets knocked out. Max Elixir can help power up basics by letting you attach extra energy, which can be helpful. Something to experiment with. It's really powerful in some decks, and a waste of space in others.
 
have you read the sun and moon dragonair first attack? The next turn you get to attach all energies from your hand to your pokemon, that includes ones that you draw that turn.
 
Max elixir let's you get one you haven't drawn yet attached. Something that might be helpful, but if you can consistently get the Dragonair's effect off each game then the probably won't be necessary if you have enough energy in hand for that.
 
I have an idea to throw your way. Vikavolt allows you attach 1 grass and 1 lightning energy from your deck every turn. it might be a little slow because its a stage 2 evolution but its a nice combo.
 
TheGuardian118 said:
Max elixir let's you get one you haven't drawn yet attached. Something that might be helpful, but if you can consistently get the Dragonair's effect off each game then the probably won't be necessary if you have enough energy in hand for that.
Click to expand...
I've been getting ~6 energy in my hand before I switch in dragonair in the tcg online game. All it would take is someone smart with an N to mess up that plan though honestly.
 
I'll take a look at vikavolt, as I would like something a bit more consistent.

So my biggest weakness is Lugia EX from ancient origins. Honestly I feel like that would be a much better card for this deck but I don't know how much longer AO is in the standard rotation.
 
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AO will be in the current rotation till this season ends for sure, so you're looking at September would be the earliest it rotates, assuming it's not reprinted as a promo or something. The card isn't too expensive and would still be playable in expanded so if you thing it would help I say try it. Or proxy it in some practice games to see if you like it.
 
TheGuardian118 said:
AO will be in the current rotation till this season ends for sure, so you're looking at September would be the earliest it rotates, assuming it's not reprinted as a promo or something. The card isn't too expensive and would still be playable in expanded so if you thing it would help I say try it. Or proxy it in some practice games to see if you like it.
Click to expand...

Yeah i have a bunch of sun and moon packs on TCG online. I could probably trade 2 of them for 4 lug cards honestly. I traded 1 for 2 vs seekers on there.
 
I've been using Dragonair with Darkrai EX. I've been able to attach up to 10 ENERGY CARDS in one turn. I haven't been tracking it exactly, but I would guess that attaching 6 energy in one turn is probably the average. Including energy attached in prior turns, my Darkrai easily hits for 170 or 190 (w/ FFB). I think the most I've hit for is 310. It's pretty dominant. Ranger completely wrecks you though, that's actually more disruptive than N because that removes the effect.
 
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