Discussion Honchkrow GX combos

JFlo

JFlo

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I want to make a control deck for the new standard format using Honchkrow GX and I first want to talk about what people think pairs well with it and how to make up for its low damage before I start making a deck.

HP 210 darkness
Ruler of the Night
As long as this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, your opponent can't play any Pokémon Tool, Special Energy, or Stadium cards from their hand.

[D][C][C] Feather Storm 90
This attack does 30 damage to 2 of your opponents benched Pokemon-GX

[C][C] Unfair GX
Your opponent reveals their hand. Discard 2 cards from it

The Ability
The locking of tool cards and special energy part of the ability is nice but the real good part is the Stadium lock. Since your opponent can't play any stadiums, they can't remove yours unless they gust up a different Pokemon, use Marshadow, or use Dangerous Drill. This allows you to use stadiums with really good passive effects to gain actual value instead of them just being removed, such as black market and wondrous labyrinth. If anyone has a stadium choice they think would slow down the opponent, please comment.

Stadium Pairings
  • Black Market Prism Star
  • Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star
  • Slumbering Forest
  • Cont.
Evolution Turn One
Trainer - Item
Search your deck for a Mismagius, Honchkrow, Chandelure, or Aegislash, including Pokémon-GX, that evolves from 1 of your Pokémon in play, and put it onto that Pokémon to evolve it. Then, shuffle your deck. You can use this card during your first turn or on a Pokémon that was put into play this turn.
This is really cool to me and I think making a deck that plays Jirachi and stadium nav with a lot of switching cards would be very consistent in getting honckrow active turn one with a harmful stadium.

Lack of Damage
List of pokemon that could make up the damage by either doing lots of damage or making control even easier.

  • Sableye V: Honkhcrow's Feather Storm Hits for 90 and any GX pokemon that Honchkrow hits on the bench are getting 30 damage every turn. Sableye V does 10+ 60 damage per damage counter, so after one Feather Storm, Sableye does 550 to the active (plus the initial 90 for 640 total), or 190 to one of the sniped GX pokemon if gusted (plus the initial 30 for 22o total)
  • Beeheyem UNM: Has an attack that does 90 damage, item locks, and shuffles itself back into the deck. This allows Honchkrow's to become the active again, thus your opponent couldn't play item cards, special energy, or stadiums. However, this would be a little clunky.
  • Amoongus: Ability to put opponents active to sleep and to poison them from the bench. With slumbering forest this is a very good ability and Honchkrow locks in the stadium.
  • Cont.

GX Attack Pairings
"Choose 2 cards to discard from your opponents hand"
(can be used turn one going second)
Pairs with:
  • Marnie to put the opponent at 4 cards
  • Jessie and James to discard 2 more cards
  • Jessie and James discarding 2 wheezing to discard 4 cards
  • chip-chip ice axe to make the small hand even worse
  • Unreleased Galarian Obstagoon to put the opponent at 4 cards every turn.
  • Cont.

END
For now, this is it. I just wanted to list everything I think would pair with it so that people can recommend things to me that I didn't think about before I start making a deck. If you have any other Combos using Honchkrow Please comment. Thank you for making it this far.
 
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Certainly an interesting thought, but Boss's Orders makes it much less useful since it's possible to gust things up and people will be playing that a lot. I think you'd have to play it as part of a control type deck, particularly a hand lock deck (see: J&J/Weezing), in order to significantly reduce the odds of them getting Boss's Orders.
 
I like the way you think, this is something I've pondered on for a while, although I've yet to find a successful version of anything. Obstagoon feels like the obvious way to go with this. Especially as the Galarian Linoone allows you to switch back into Honchkrow when you need.


Might I suggest straight Honchkrow to start? With Black Market in play and only Honchkrow, it becomes highly unlikely you'll ever give up 2 prize cards on knockout (even Drill won't work - Marshadow is now the sole out!). You never have to have a vulnerable Murkrow on the bench either, thanks to Dusk Stone insta-evolve. Guzma/HalaTT can get the stadium early assuming you haven't prized it, and they can also grab you a twin energy to use your GX attack immediately. Plenty of hammers & denial, Lavender Town maybe? along with some targeted discard.


A second way could be with a just Dark deck. I'd highlight Blizzard Town as a potentially great stadium here. Garbodor is a nice add seeing as you are definitely having a Stadium in play. Toxicroak can amp up the poison levels by +20 for each one in play. I think this deck is where Sableye V sits, for use when you need to finish off some 350hp monster piling it onto all the poison & chip damage. Crobat V can be great here too with it's poison attack on top of the obvious draw ability.


Worth investigating could be leaning away from Dusk Stone & looking to (Disk Reload) Silvally-GX as a partner. The draw is a godsend. Both Silvally & Honchkrow can utilise Red&Blue to evolve, and Silvally still has access to Water Memory in standard, though unfortunately not Fighting Memory any more. I think you need a basic here too, something with lower energy costs. Remember a lot of fat Dark pokes are now back in contention thanks to Hiding Energy. Cramorant? idk.


Lastly I think you shouldn't write off the second part of Honchkrow's ability - the special energy denial. I'm noticing a lot of reliance on Special Energy creeping back into the format. I could see a deck full of hammers & (Arf Arf Bark) Stoutland & Scoop nets & Jirachi working very well in a lot of matches. It would struggle with things like fire decks that can just pull basics right back out of the discard, but with Malamar gone from format, it's viable.
 
Thanks. I always forget to start deck testing with a list solely focusing on consistency rather than winning. I will try that tonight where I make a list that only focuses on getting honchcrow active, with an energy attachment, and a stadium in play, every game turn one or turn 2. Then I can start making cuts to add things to make the deck more lethal.

also, one more thing I discovered is the new memory capsule tool card coming soon would let me use murkrows attack to remove one card from their hand every turn. So maybe when that comes out I can make a deck that just focuses on hand lock with a harmful stadium and other control instead of doing damage with honchcrow as almost a stall deck.
 
Yog said:
I like the way you think, this is something I've pondered on for a while, although I've yet to find a successful version of anything. Obstagoon feels like the obvious way to go with this. Especially as the Galarian Linoone allows you to switch back into Honchkrow when you need.

Might I suggest straight Honchkrow to start? With Black Market in play and only Honchkrow, it becomes highly unlikely you'll ever give up 2 prize cards on knockout (even Drill won't work - Marshadow is now the sole out!). You never have to have a vulnerable Murkrow on the bench either, thanks to Dusk Stone insta-evolve. Guzma/HalaTT can get the stadium early assuming you haven't prized it, and they can also grab you a twin energy to use your GX attack immediately. Plenty of hammers & denial, Lavender Town maybe? along with some targeted discard.

A second way could be with a just Dark deck. I'd highlight Blizzard Town as a potentially great stadium here. Garbodor is a nice add seeing as you are definitely having a Stadium in play. Toxicroak can amp up the poison levels by +20 for each one in play. I think this deck is where Sableye V sits, for use when you need to finish off some 350hp monster piling it onto all the poison & chip damage. Crobat V can be great here too with it's poison attack on top of the obvious draw ability.

Worth investigating could be leaning away from Dusk Stone & looking to (Disk Reload) Silvally-GX as a partner. The draw is a godsend. Both Silvally & Honchkrow can utilise Red&Blue to evolve, and Silvally still has access to Water Memory in standard, though unfortunately not Fighting Memory any more. I think you need a basic here too, something with lower energy costs. Remember a lot of fat Dark pokes are now back in contention thanks to Hiding Energy. Cramorant? idk.

Lastly I think you shouldn't write off the second part of Honchkrow's ability - the special energy denial. I'm noticing a lot of reliance on Special Energy creeping back into the format. I could see a deck full of hammers & (Arf Arf Bark) Stoutland & Scoop nets & Jirachi working very well in a lot of matches. It would struggle with things like fire decks that can just pull basics right back out of the discard, but with Malamar gone from format, it's viable.
Click to expand...

Any suggestion as to what tool card I should use? Not because I need one but because if I use Guzma and Hala for special energy I might as well have some tool cards so that I'm using the full effect of the supporter card

Edit: other than memory charm, since that isn't out yet
 
I have a finished decklist now. I'll post it tomorrow but just as a heads up for how good it is... I massively outplayed an ADPZ deck and it felt SO good but then I lost because of a combination of my opponent playing chaotic swell and me forgetting to put dark drill in my deck. I needed one more turn to win and Dark Drill would've bought me that turn. But aside from that fact, the deck played amazing. I spent a little too much time tweaking it today but I think it may be my new favorite deck of all time.
 
JFlo said:
Any suggestion as to what tool card I should use? Not because I need one but because if I use Guzma and Hala for special energy I might as well have some tool cards so that I'm using the full effect of the supporter card

Edit: other than memory charm, since that isn't out yet
Click to expand...

If nothing better presents itself, I'm always a fan of Ear-Ringing Bell. Adding confusion to the mix gives them one more hole they need to dig themselves out of. I know confusion is only a coinflip, but all they gotta do is miss one flip all match and it's been to your benefit.
 
@Yog

Thanks. I might try to fit one in. After playing without any tools I noticed I REALLY wanted air balloon. Every match I played without it I found myself longing for it.
 
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