This is going to be a bit of a long one.
For the last week, my daughter and I have been progressively receiving the cards to our respective decks. Her's being a Standard Circle Circuit Raichu deck. Mine being an unlimited Imakuni? themed deck.
We got most of our cards in to where I could proxy up the remaining cards (3 N and a Super Rod for her. 4 XY93 Promo Celebi, 1 Rocket Returns Delibird, and 11 Grass Energy for me).
Here's the deck list for the current (MK.III) Imakuni? build:
POKEMON: 20
- 4 Imakuni?'s Doduo
- 4 Celebi (XY93 Promo Celebi)
- 4 Oddish (Undaunted)
- 4 Dark Gloom
- 3 Delibird (Team Rocket Returns)
- 1 Ditto (EX Firered/Leafgreen)
TRAINERS: 29
- 4 Imakuni?
- 4 Chaos Gym
- 3 Blaine's Quiz #2
- 3 Misty's Duel
- 3 Tickling Machine
- 3 Pow! Hand Extension
- 2 Trash Exchange
- 2 Digger
- 2 Lt. Surge's Secret Plan
- 2 Team Galactic's Wager
- 1 Life Dew
ENERGY: 11
- 11 Grass Energy
My daughter and I played 3 games. The Circle Circuit Raichu deck is exponentially more difficult to utilize for her, considering we both went from Pikachu and Mewtwo starter decks to what we are playing now. So a lot on her end was a bit of trial and error (and me explaining thinge like Octillery doesn't need any energy since it's ONLY used for it's Abyssal Hand ability...and other things here and there).
The Imakuni? deck isn't meant to win by any stretch of the imagination. It's meant to be interactive and relatively annoying to completely take out. I built it with the sole purpose of it trying to stay alive as long as it could while I play a bunch of wacky trainers while everyone's active Pokemon is confused. Here's what I noticed during gameplay:
- The deck clung to life for a REALLY, REALLY long time. Arguably, some of it could be attributed to my daughter being new to her new deck. Between her being under confusion, thanks to Dark Gloom, for a majority of the game and that Celebi was front and center for 75% of all 3 games, it took her a considerably long time to land solid prize-winning knockouts, especially since she could get Circle Circuit up and running by turn 2-3. I was afraid that Celebi and Dark Gloom wouldn't be able to deliver. I'm very glad that I was wrong on this.
- The draw engine is a bit weak and hands would brick consistently. Arguably, all the draw cards have the potential to backfire. That's fine because the whole intent is the opponent to be interactive during my turn. I had one game where I got quite a lot of the draw power working for me, and I noticed that it didn't seem like it was enough draw power, so I'm looking for things to cut for draw power.
- Trash Exchange was the MVP all 3 games. I didn't expect that from a card I added into the deck as an afterthought. I added it as a sort of 'Super Rod on crank'. Boy, I underestimated it. The ability to immediately change the contents of BOTH decks and discard piles is insane. I remember in one game, I ended up using it FIVE TIMES because I would use 1 and recycle the other back in the deck. In the same game, I managed to sack both of her Octillerys to the discard pile because of Trash Exchange. That was the first go with it. The next Trash Exchange I used ended up giving her all of her Octillery's back, but sacked her 3 remaining VS Seekers.
While she wasn't able to fully understand that the entire dynamic of her deck changed at breakneck speed, I saw it and was pretty amazed with it. A player who would notice this would be pretty frustrated that they are 'OK' one minute and then immediately have to go conservative because all their VS Seekers got sacked because of 1 card. I may add in a third because the card is absolutely disorienting and having them constantly going would make strategizing an absolute nightmare. As well as give the deck an even bigger 'random' factor.
- At this point, I am least impressed by Digger. It has the potential to be 'fun', which is why I added it. On top of the fact that Imakuni? himself uses the card in one of his decks in the Pokemon TCG GB 2. It's fun when both players get on a roll where they are both flipping heads and passing the buck for a bit. Sure, it gets a laugh when it immediately backfires, but my daughter and I flipped heads 3 times each on one go. And you could just feel the tension. Yes, it's a measly 10 damage. But it's like a game of Hot Potato at that point. But having both players get heads at least once to 'build up the tension' immediately makes the 'fun' aspect of the card to a measly 25% chance of happening. On top of that, the effect of the card is very minimal on the impact, especially when her active was a gigantic Audino EX. 10 damage is NOTHING to that guy. Considering I'm having draw power issues, I'm thinking of sacking both Diggers for a 4th Blaine's Quiz #2 and a 3rd Team Galactic's Wager.
- Strangely, out of 3 games, I only got to use Imakuni?'s Doduo's Harmonize ONCE (same for Pow! Hand Extension...terrible luck with that, either I would have it and we had the same amount of prizes, or I had more prizes, but I couldn't draw into it). That's just how luck of the draw was. I ended up using Delibird more, oddly enough. Delibird is a fun card. It really is. The best kind of fun. I know fun cards. And Delibird is the great kind of fun. The best kind of fun that America needs!
Souvenir, while absolutely luck based and did nothing but heal her Pokemon all 3 games, is still fun because you have no idea what it's going to do. Gift Exchange is a useful ability, but condsiering I run Dark Gloom and Imakuni? I typically got 1 use out of it before it went defunct. I'm thinking of cutting 1 Delibird for a Gold Star Celebi when I can afford it. Namely because it has Time Travel, which is ALMOST the same ability as Promo Celebi's 'Leap Through Time' (Gold Star, however, requires you to sack everything attached to it before it goes back in the deck). Considering how much longevity Celebi brings to each game, I figure between those 4, Gold Star Celebi, Life Dew, and Leafgreen Ditto, that's A LOT of time travel and a potential LOT of unclaimable prizes.
- The best reaction from my daughter came from me using Tickling MAchine with Chaos Gym in play (It's an Imakuni? deck. I get to make all sorts of wacky nonsencical plays). I get tails under Chaos Gym, so Tickling Machine gets passed to her. She accepts control of it and flips heads, so I end up losing my hand for the rest of the turn and next turn. Got an even bigger laugh from her when I acted really surprised and in complete disbelief that my own cards are being used against me. But man, I remember using Tickling Machine in a couple tournaments when I played 14-15 years ago. I never had it used on me. But man, it sucks losing your entire hand.
With all that said, here's what I would like to put in the new deck:
- 2 Digger
- 2 Lt. Surge's Secret Plan
- 1 Delibird
+1 Trash Exchange
+1 Blaine's Quiz #2
+1 Misty's Duel
+1 Team Galactic's Wager
+1 Gold Star Celebi
And here's what it would look like:
POKEMON: 20
- 4 Imakuni?'s Doduo
- 4 Celebi (XY93 Promo Celebi)
- 4 Oddish (Undaunted)
- 4 Dark Gloom
- 2 Delibird (Team Rocket Returns)
- 1 Gold Star Celebi
- 1 Ditto (EX Firered/Leafgreen)
TRAINERS: 29
- 4 Imakuni?
- 4 Chaos Gym
- 4 Blaine's Quiz #2
- 4 Misty's Duel
- 3 Tickling Machine
- 3 Pow! Hand Extension
- 3 Trash Exchange
- 3 Team Galactic's Wager
- 1 Life Dew
ENERGY: 11
- 11 Grass Energy
Anything I should consider or add that would make the deck more interactive/fun/annoying?
For the last week, my daughter and I have been progressively receiving the cards to our respective decks. Her's being a Standard Circle Circuit Raichu deck. Mine being an unlimited Imakuni? themed deck.
We got most of our cards in to where I could proxy up the remaining cards (3 N and a Super Rod for her. 4 XY93 Promo Celebi, 1 Rocket Returns Delibird, and 11 Grass Energy for me).
Here's the deck list for the current (MK.III) Imakuni? build:
POKEMON: 20
- 4 Imakuni?'s Doduo
- 4 Celebi (XY93 Promo Celebi)
- 4 Oddish (Undaunted)
- 4 Dark Gloom
- 3 Delibird (Team Rocket Returns)
- 1 Ditto (EX Firered/Leafgreen)
TRAINERS: 29
- 4 Imakuni?
- 4 Chaos Gym
- 3 Blaine's Quiz #2
- 3 Misty's Duel
- 3 Tickling Machine
- 3 Pow! Hand Extension
- 2 Trash Exchange
- 2 Digger
- 2 Lt. Surge's Secret Plan
- 2 Team Galactic's Wager
- 1 Life Dew
ENERGY: 11
- 11 Grass Energy
My daughter and I played 3 games. The Circle Circuit Raichu deck is exponentially more difficult to utilize for her, considering we both went from Pikachu and Mewtwo starter decks to what we are playing now. So a lot on her end was a bit of trial and error (and me explaining thinge like Octillery doesn't need any energy since it's ONLY used for it's Abyssal Hand ability...and other things here and there).
The Imakuni? deck isn't meant to win by any stretch of the imagination. It's meant to be interactive and relatively annoying to completely take out. I built it with the sole purpose of it trying to stay alive as long as it could while I play a bunch of wacky trainers while everyone's active Pokemon is confused. Here's what I noticed during gameplay:
- The deck clung to life for a REALLY, REALLY long time. Arguably, some of it could be attributed to my daughter being new to her new deck. Between her being under confusion, thanks to Dark Gloom, for a majority of the game and that Celebi was front and center for 75% of all 3 games, it took her a considerably long time to land solid prize-winning knockouts, especially since she could get Circle Circuit up and running by turn 2-3. I was afraid that Celebi and Dark Gloom wouldn't be able to deliver. I'm very glad that I was wrong on this.
- The draw engine is a bit weak and hands would brick consistently. Arguably, all the draw cards have the potential to backfire. That's fine because the whole intent is the opponent to be interactive during my turn. I had one game where I got quite a lot of the draw power working for me, and I noticed that it didn't seem like it was enough draw power, so I'm looking for things to cut for draw power.
- Trash Exchange was the MVP all 3 games. I didn't expect that from a card I added into the deck as an afterthought. I added it as a sort of 'Super Rod on crank'. Boy, I underestimated it. The ability to immediately change the contents of BOTH decks and discard piles is insane. I remember in one game, I ended up using it FIVE TIMES because I would use 1 and recycle the other back in the deck. In the same game, I managed to sack both of her Octillerys to the discard pile because of Trash Exchange. That was the first go with it. The next Trash Exchange I used ended up giving her all of her Octillery's back, but sacked her 3 remaining VS Seekers.
While she wasn't able to fully understand that the entire dynamic of her deck changed at breakneck speed, I saw it and was pretty amazed with it. A player who would notice this would be pretty frustrated that they are 'OK' one minute and then immediately have to go conservative because all their VS Seekers got sacked because of 1 card. I may add in a third because the card is absolutely disorienting and having them constantly going would make strategizing an absolute nightmare. As well as give the deck an even bigger 'random' factor.
- At this point, I am least impressed by Digger. It has the potential to be 'fun', which is why I added it. On top of the fact that Imakuni? himself uses the card in one of his decks in the Pokemon TCG GB 2. It's fun when both players get on a roll where they are both flipping heads and passing the buck for a bit. Sure, it gets a laugh when it immediately backfires, but my daughter and I flipped heads 3 times each on one go. And you could just feel the tension. Yes, it's a measly 10 damage. But it's like a game of Hot Potato at that point. But having both players get heads at least once to 'build up the tension' immediately makes the 'fun' aspect of the card to a measly 25% chance of happening. On top of that, the effect of the card is very minimal on the impact, especially when her active was a gigantic Audino EX. 10 damage is NOTHING to that guy. Considering I'm having draw power issues, I'm thinking of sacking both Diggers for a 4th Blaine's Quiz #2 and a 3rd Team Galactic's Wager.
- Strangely, out of 3 games, I only got to use Imakuni?'s Doduo's Harmonize ONCE (same for Pow! Hand Extension...terrible luck with that, either I would have it and we had the same amount of prizes, or I had more prizes, but I couldn't draw into it). That's just how luck of the draw was. I ended up using Delibird more, oddly enough. Delibird is a fun card. It really is. The best kind of fun. I know fun cards. And Delibird is the great kind of fun. The best kind of fun that America needs!
Souvenir, while absolutely luck based and did nothing but heal her Pokemon all 3 games, is still fun because you have no idea what it's going to do. Gift Exchange is a useful ability, but condsiering I run Dark Gloom and Imakuni? I typically got 1 use out of it before it went defunct. I'm thinking of cutting 1 Delibird for a Gold Star Celebi when I can afford it. Namely because it has Time Travel, which is ALMOST the same ability as Promo Celebi's 'Leap Through Time' (Gold Star, however, requires you to sack everything attached to it before it goes back in the deck). Considering how much longevity Celebi brings to each game, I figure between those 4, Gold Star Celebi, Life Dew, and Leafgreen Ditto, that's A LOT of time travel and a potential LOT of unclaimable prizes.
- The best reaction from my daughter came from me using Tickling MAchine with Chaos Gym in play (It's an Imakuni? deck. I get to make all sorts of wacky nonsencical plays). I get tails under Chaos Gym, so Tickling Machine gets passed to her. She accepts control of it and flips heads, so I end up losing my hand for the rest of the turn and next turn. Got an even bigger laugh from her when I acted really surprised and in complete disbelief that my own cards are being used against me. But man, I remember using Tickling Machine in a couple tournaments when I played 14-15 years ago. I never had it used on me. But man, it sucks losing your entire hand.
With all that said, here's what I would like to put in the new deck:
- 2 Digger
- 2 Lt. Surge's Secret Plan
- 1 Delibird
+1 Trash Exchange
+1 Blaine's Quiz #2
+1 Misty's Duel
+1 Team Galactic's Wager
+1 Gold Star Celebi
And here's what it would look like:
POKEMON: 20
- 4 Imakuni?'s Doduo
- 4 Celebi (XY93 Promo Celebi)
- 4 Oddish (Undaunted)
- 4 Dark Gloom
- 2 Delibird (Team Rocket Returns)
- 1 Gold Star Celebi
- 1 Ditto (EX Firered/Leafgreen)
TRAINERS: 29
- 4 Imakuni?
- 4 Chaos Gym
- 4 Blaine's Quiz #2
- 4 Misty's Duel
- 3 Tickling Machine
- 3 Pow! Hand Extension
- 3 Trash Exchange
- 3 Team Galactic's Wager
- 1 Life Dew
ENERGY: 11
- 11 Grass Energy
Anything I should consider or add that would make the deck more interactive/fun/annoying?
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