Alt. Format Imakuni? Theme Deck 4.0 (with Crimson Invasion)

[Merovingian]

The most recent incarnation of the most hilarious troll deck you'll ever experience! The version I have now, MK:III, is 0-86-0. I'd like to keep it that way.


POKEMON: 16
- 4 - Imakuni?'s Doduo
- 4 - Natu (Neo Genesis)
- 4 - Xatu (Legendary Treasures)
- 3 - Unown F (Great Expectations)
- 1 - Nihilego GX


TRAINERS: 32
- 4 - Imakuni?
- 4 - Team Galactic's Wager

- 4 - Lucky Stadium

- 4 - Misty's Duel
- 4 - Blaine's Quiz #2
- 4 - Quick Ball
- 4 - Focus Band
- 3 - Random Receiver
- 1 - Life Dew

ENERGY: 12
- 9 - Psychic Energy
- 3 - Counter Energy


Now, at first glace, you may not get it. And that's fine, I'll explain everything. First off, the psychology of it:

Pokemon is really the only card game where there is little interaction. On my turn, I do my things. On your turn, you do things. And the opposite player has to sit there and watch. NOT HERE! The entire goal is to making the opponent do stuff during YOUR TURN. Guessing coin tosses, Blaines Quiz, Rock-paper-scissors, or just making them laugh from doing absurd things. It's a deck that's meant to entertain the opponent more than play Pokemon; you're just.....doing things. And that should be your sole reason for doing anything in this deck: Playing and doing things just because you can. There's no reason or serious meta plays here. You're just a dog chasing cars.

Also, I'm at a league that's 90% younger kids. Like Juniors younger. We'll get maybe a couple seniors and masters (that aren't me) occasionally, but for the most part, it's kids. While the deck is meant to entertain, it's also meant to be a big punching bag for younger and newer players. I think for that age group and new players of any age, it's important to encourage the spirit of all things fun. So yes, it's meant to entertain, but it's meant to get its head handed to it, EVERY GAME. I'll put up a valiant effort, as I should, but starter decks that immediately get bought off the shelf and get used SHOULD destroy this without me having to pull any punches.


This is the 4th iteration now, I'll go into the card choices for this version (translations for Nihilego GX and Counter Energy below):


- 4 - Imakuni?'s Doduo - Any self-respecting (English) Imakuni? deck is going to max-out on any Imakuni? card they can get their hands on. I've noticed in the last 9 months running the deck that you don't get a chance to sing a whole lot (I'll get to that in a bit), but you do get quite an opportunity to throw them.

- 4 - Natu (Neo Genesis) - Of all the Natu cards I could pick from, I went with the REALLY old Neo Genesis version because it has 30 HP. This means I can make it the active, attack Psychic or Counter Energy, use Imakuni?, fail confusion check, and give opponent a free prize just because I can!

- 4 - Xatu (Legendary Treasures) - The new star of the deck. It's basically an excuse to make the opponent do rock-paper-scissors. Drawing 3 from a win helps too. But really, who cares. You're making the opponent do goofy stuff.

- 3 - Unown F (Great Expectations) - The deck's big form of draw support. AND you constantly make them guess what you flipped. It's great!

- 1 - Nihilego GX - A new addition. I feel a little bad because it's the most potent attacker in the deck. I mean, I don't HAVE to attack with it, but I also don't want an opponent thinking I'm putting 'kid gloves' on for them by just not attacking with it's 120 damage attack. Basically, it's here because of it's power, 'Nihilistic Light' being able to confuse both active Pokemon AND poison both of them. It's fun and chaotic! ALSO, it's GX is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The deck has a bit of a 'longevity' problem, so being able to give them more prize cards and hold things off? works for me!

- 4 - Imakuni? - It's only the best card in the deck. Don't ask questions! You just DO IT!

- 4 - Team Galactic's Wager - An excuse to do rock-paper-scissors.....and it gets you cards. Even if you lose, you're still probably getting a better hand than the one you threw in.

- 4 - Lucky Stadium - It has Imakuni? on it....He illustrated it too. Seems like a great fit, also gives the opponent something else to do on their turn.

- 4 - Misty's Duel - Also fantastic! Especially if you lose a Blaines Quiz or Team Galactic's Wager. Just throw this out and try again. This SHOULD be a supporter, but, you know. It's a REALLY old card before they started that 'supporter' nonsense.

- 4 - Blaine's Quiz #2 - Fantastic draw power....and it makes the opponent do things!

- 4 - Quick Ball - I originally had this at 3....but the previous version was all Basic Pokemon. Now that we have an evolution line to deal with, I ramped it up to 4. Keep in mind, Quick Ball is no Ultra Ball. I get a Pokemon no matter what happens, I just don't get a say in what I get.

- 4 - Focus Band - This card is capable of making the game longer than it should. Gives your Pokemon at least 1 more turn of attacking (probably doing goofy stuff).

- 3 - Random Receiver - This gets your Team Galactic's Wager....or whiffs by snagging Imakuni? either way, something happens!

- 1 - Life Dew - Similar to Focus Band, it's here to drag the game on longer than it should.

- 9 - Psychic Energy - I was going to use Fire Energy, still thinking about it.

- 3 - Counter Energy - This card is fantastic on so many levels. You're ALWAYS going to be behind in prizes. Now you have a way to power up Imakuni?'s Doduo immediately (instead of having to try and draw 2 energy with it's oh-so-inconsistent draw engine) as well as being able to power up virtually everything else--AND Nihilego GX. Card is a godsend for this thing!



So with that. Is there any way I can make the deck.....goofier? I've been running this for 9 months, but I'm sure there are cards I haven't come across or haven't considered yet. I'm open to any and all suggestions. How can I make this more entertaining?



https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nihilego-GX_(Ultradimensional_Beasts_22)

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Counter_Energy_(Ultradimensional_Beasts_50)

 

[KabuTopgun]

Hey, if you're going to build an interactive deck including Crimson Invasion you definitely need to consider the Awakened Heroes Cinccino; its only attack, Great Request gives your opponent the choice between giving you back 2 of your crazy cards and taking 80 damage. Hopefully your opponent will embrace the fun and let you reuse some gimmicks; aside from the fact that most of them are going to achieve less than 80 damage, lol. Also may give some longevity with Life Dew; though Junk Arm would work it may be hard to play without discarding your more ludicrous cards, but could also reuse some...
VS Seeker and/or Lusamine could give you reuse of Imakuni? and Galactic's Wager at least...

There's also Slowking(Dragons Exalted, I think) for draw power; they choose which of your top two cards you get.
Beyond that, if you want Imakuni? to be ambiguously useful some of the time you could include either Pagnoro(XY Promo) or Machamp EX for the dreaded Crazy Punch attack. Maybe just one copy so there's that small chance you can compete; keep them on their toes...
Or just use Hypno to put both active Pokemon asleep, thus making Imakuni? entirely pointless, haha.

Captivating Poke Puff might be nice if playing a younger Pokemon trainer to help them get their Basic's on the bench(though I'm sure most kids know that much at least) and just generally is a bit fun. Buddbuddy Rescue seems nice, too, instead of Stretcher or Super Rod...

 

[momand]

6/10 needs more cedric juniper

 

[Merovingian]

Hey, if you're going to build an interactive deck including Crimson Invasion you definitely need to consider the Awakened Heroes Cinccino; its only attack, Great Request gives your opponent the choice between giving you back 2 of your crazy cards and taking 80 damage. Hopefully your opponent will embrace the fun and let you reuse some gimmicks; aside from the fact that most of them are going to achieve less than 80 damage, lol. Also may give some longevity with Life Dew; though Junk Arm would work it may be hard to play without discarding your more ludicrous cards, but could also reuse some...
VS Seeker and/or Lusamine could give you reuse of Imakuni? and Galactic's Wager at least...

There's also Slowking(Dragons Exalted, I think) for draw power; they choose which of your top two cards you get.
Beyond that, if you want Imakuni? to be ambiguously useful some of the time you could include either Pagnoro(XY Promo) or Machamp EX for the dreaded Crazy Punch attack. Maybe just one copy so there's that small chance you can compete; keep them on their toes...
Or just use Hypno to put both active Pokemon asleep, thus making Imakuni? entirely pointless, haha.

Captivating Poke Puff might be nice if playing a younger Pokemon trainer to help them get their Basic's on the bench(though I'm sure most kids know that much at least) and just generally is a bit fun. Buddbuddy Rescue seems nice, too, instead of Stretcher or Super Rod...

Cinccino is one of the new sets crazy cards. It reminds me of a deck I used when I first started playing Magic: The Gathering.

It was a red burn deck....well, sort of 'burn'. The 'Choice Master'. It was a red deck that used a specific set of burn cards that your opponent chose which effect they received: Either a not insignificant amount of damage, or a really unfavorable effect. The only problem with it is that the 'choice' aspect is in a VERY delicate balancing act that becomes less and less effective as the game progresses. At least in Magic, if you got them down to a certain LP threshold, they would practically be forced to take the unfavorable effects, which is all good until you realize that you're really trying to do lethal damage and they are just taking the unfavorable effects on the chin. Or if the opponent is in a good position, they'll take the lesser of the two and still come at you. The 'choice' cards really only worked if you were in a good position already. There will be a point in the game to where an opponent will just 'body' the lesser of the two evils. For this deck, I think that once an opponent realizes that Cinccino is really the only 'capable' attacker, they'll forego the 'item pickup' and just body the damage the rest of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I love the design of it, I think these sort of effects work better when the opponent is faced with two 'immediately' bad options (something their active takes 80 damage or they mill their top 4 cards), as opposed to a negative for them or a positive for you. Especially a positive effect for you that you cant capitalize on until next turn. I feel that Cinccinos wacky attack is too easy for an opponent to sluff off. I will say, it is a card that makes you think.

And Buddy Buddy is a fun card. For the effect and the name!

6/10 needs more cedric juniper

This is one card I am placing in heavy consideration. I can't do this with my current version because the only legal targets for it are Imakuni?'s Doduo and Unown F. With this version, everything is fair game except Nihilego GX.

The only thing I don't like about the card (or Blaines Quiz #1 and #3 for that matter) is that, unless they play against me enough, they won't have any idea of what to guess. So it's like a belligerent Tierno/Hau.

If I do add it in, it'll probably be a 1-of

 

[KabuTopgun]

Cinccino is one of the new sets crazy cards. It reminds me of a deck I used when I first started playing Magic: The Gathering.

It was a red burn deck....well, sort of 'burn'. The 'Choice Master'. It was a red deck that used a specific set of burn cards that your opponent chose which effect they received: Either a not insignificant amount of damage, or a really unfavorable effect. The only problem with it is that the 'choice' aspect is in a VERY delicate balancing act that becomes less and less effective as the game progresses. At least in Magic, if you got them down to a certain LP threshold, they would practically be forced to take the unfavorable effects, which is all good until you realize that you're really trying to do lethal damage and they are just taking the unfavorable effects on the chin. Or if the opponent is in a good position, they'll take the lesser of the two and still come at you. The 'choice' cards really only worked if you were in a good position already. There will be a point in the game to where an opponent will just 'body' the lesser of the two evils. For this deck, I think that once an opponent realizes that Cinccino is really the only 'capable' attacker, they'll forego the 'item pickup' and just body the damage the rest of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I love the design of it, I think these sort of effects work better when the opponent is faced with two 'immediately' bad options (something their active takes 80 damage or they mill their top 4 cards), as opposed to a negative for them or a positive for you. Especially a positive effect for you that you cant capitalize on until next turn. I feel that Cinccinos wacky attack is too easy for an opponent to sluff off. I will say, it is a card that makes you think.

And Buddy Buddy is a fun card. For the effect and the name!

Lol, yeah; I was just saying that if they are enjoying the shenanigan's they might be gracious enough to let you have some cards back, especially if you choose the more ridiculous ones. Also, aren't they really incentivised to let you have the cards precisely because Cinccino is the only decent attacker? There is still some pressure if you manage to finish something off with Miracle Wing or you can time your singing to get 110 damage with Doduo assisting... I mean it's not going to win games, but you don't want to go too far with that.
That's why Machamp EX probably shouldn't be in here(Steaming Mad could get knockouts by itself)though 1-1 Pangoro shouldn't be too much IMO...

Yeah, burn is something you want to be to be able to rely upon; though Magic has some great choice cards in other forms, namely Fact or Fiction and related variations like Epiphany at the Drownyard. Not particularly needed though as there are Instant's(including creatures with Flash) to begin with, whereas you're trying to give interactivity in a game that is more stringent about taking a turn each with no overlap. Sadly the Pokemon cards that let the user choose(like some grass pokemon that let you choose between special conditions) are typically more effective than the other way around.

 

[Merovingian]

Lol, yeah; I was just saying that if they are enjoying the shenanigan's they might be gracious enough to let you have some cards back, especially if you choose the more ridiculous ones. Also, aren't they really incentivised to let you have the cards precisely because Cinccino is the only decent attacker?

Quite the opposite. If they see Cinccino as the only capable attacker, that means that it's the only one doing damage, and most everything will take at least 2 turns to KO...worst case, 5 turns (Metagross, Decidueye, etc). They'll gladly take damage because they'll KO you faster than you can KO it and make you leave your discard pile collecting dust.

There is still some pressure if you manage to finish something off with Miracle Wing or you can time your singing to get 110 damage with Doduo assisting... I mean it's not going to win games, but you don't want to go too far with that.
That's why Machamp EX probably shouldn't be in here(Steaming Mad could get knockouts by itself)though 1-1 Pangoro shouldn't be too much IMO...

True, you CAN apply some pressure, but getting a Psychic Energy AND a Counter Energy is quite a tall order. In the verison I have now, it runs 5 Celebi (4 XY94, 1 Gold Star Celebi) as attackers that can work on one energy. That's primarilybecause (they are annoying to kill) the deck actually cannot draw a lot of energy consistently, lol. I run 11 Grass Energy and getting 2 of them on Doduo is a nightmare.

You're talking about the Fighting Pangoro?

 

[KabuTopgun]

Quite the opposite. If they see Cinccino as the only capable attacker, that means that it's the only one doing damage, and most everything will take at least 2 turns to KO...worst case, 5 turns (Metagross, Decidueye, etc). They'll gladly take damage because they'll KO you faster than you can KO it and make you leave your discard pile collecting dust.

True, you CAN apply some pressure, but getting a Psychic Energy AND a Counter Energy is quite a tall order. In the verison I have now, it runs 5 Celebi (4 XY94, 1 Gold Star Celebi) as attackers that can work on one energy. That's primarilybecause (they are annoying to kill) the deck actually cannot draw a lot of energy consistently, lol. I run 11 Grass Energy and getting 2 of them on Doduo is a nightmare.

You're talking about the Fighting Pangoro?

Hmm, I suppose if they just want to finish things up then they would do that, but to me it raises a question; if your opponent only wants to win as fast as possible are they even enjoying the shenanigans? If the point is to have fun for both then they won't be in such a hurry, and if they are do you want to hold them to ransom or give them an out?

In saying that I did actually consider Celebi to give you a chance to setup. Good choice.

Well I mentioned VS Seeker, but maybe some decent supporters alongside your silly ones would be a good idea too.

Yeah, Fighting Pangoro, not Dark. Crazy punch costs 3 to deal 80, but if affected by a special condition he will deal 120; trouble being Confusion is going to mean you mean miss %50 lol. Figured it would just add to the fun though.

 

[Twylis]

super dig this deck concept so I made an account just to drop some ideas

– Porygon (Base Set or Evolutions, depending on how retro you wanna be here). this is actually the first card Imakuni illustrated and its effect is basically a lesson for your opponent to retreat, whilst also giving your Psychic-types some damage potential (alas, it won't do much for the Doduos). I wouldn't put more than one in though.

– Hypno (BREAKThrough). mentioned by someone above, but I'm gonna reiterate the suggestion, on three fronts – one, putting everyone to sleep will slow the game down so you have more time to engage in your shenanigans, and it gives Imakuni? a purpose in that it wakes you up. two, in Imakuni's decks in the TCG video games, the Hypno line is actually a mainstay, so there's some thematic consistency there. three, Tomokazu Komiya's artwork has a wonderfully distinct aesthetic that just seems appropriate for a silly deck like this. 2-2 line seems good enough, and you can use the Drowzee from Team Rocket / Legendary Collection with it (flips a coin – heads, you're asleep; tails, opponent is). PP for 50 also isn't terrible in a deck like this.

– Psyduck (Fossil). another one of Imakuni's GB staples, this has an attack that prevents your opponent from playing any Trainer cards during the next turn. it's a bit meaner than most the cards here, but it might provide a fun way to annoy serious players (well, even more than everything else already is). also wouldn't put more than one, if any.

– Dark Gloom (Team Rocket). overall I wouldn't choose this over Hypno, but it does offer a thematically appropriate effect, similar to the Rocket Drowzee – heads, you're confused; tails, your opponent is.

– Computer Error (Wizards Promo). absolutely fantastic illustration and concept, but unfortunately useless in most serious decks. so we're in luck here. lets both you and your opponent draw up to five cards, but your turn ends afterward. plus Sumiyoshi Kizuki is a cool artist (whose style has unfortunately dwindled significantly over the past several generations). and once again it's a card Imakuni himself uses, in his second GB2 deck. neato! wouldn't put more than two lest you never get to attack, but also wouldn't put less than two.

– Digger (Team Rocket). another useless-but-lovely card. it's technically possible that the game will turn into nothing but an infinite chain of coin flips with this, but the end result is ultimately just 10 damage on either you or your opponent. also used in the GB2 deck, and it's more classic Sumiyoshi Kizuki repping. gotta love those secret machines

– Challenge! (Team Rocket). spiffy consistency card with a fun effect – your opponent chooses to allow both of you to fill your benches with as many basic pokemon from your deck as you each want, or just lets you draw two cards. normally only has a place in Do the Wave style decks, but here it just provides some fun mutual setup.

– Ilima (Sun & Moon). basically Team Galactic's Wager but with a coin flip instead of the ol' RPS. probs not worth using, but certainly worth mentioning.

– Erika (Gym Heroes). you draw up to three cards, your opponent can draw three cards too. interaction's kinda minimal so maybe it's not on-theme, but it can massively speed up setup for both of you. really though, why use this when you can use Computer Error?

– Sabrina's Gaze (Gym Heroes). both you and your opponent shuffle your hands and draw a new hand of the same number of cards you had before (i.e. just a non-supporter Wicke). gets you both out of dead hands whilst offering some neat disruption, but also a bit less thematically appropriate.

– Pokemon Flute (Base Set). interesting trainer card that's in all of Imakuni's GB decks – lets you put any basic pokemon from your opponent's discard pile onto their bench. whether you do it to help them out or hinder them, it seems appropriate enough, if only because of its consistent presence in the Imakuni decks. Buddy-buddy Rescue is still a nice alternative though.

– Double Gust (Neo Genesis). arguably a bit broken in some decks, but this deck is so feeble overall that you should be able to include it without issues. essentially acts as a Gust of Wind / pre-errata Pokemon Catcher, but allows (or rather, forces) your opponent to switch one of your own pokemon out too (their choice – this ain't ya boi). the artwork also seems fitting, once more courtesy of Tomokazu Komiya. Warp Point and Escape Rope are quite a bit more balanced, but a quite bit less hectically fun too.

– Barbaracle (Fates Collide). apparently Binacle is Imakuni's favourite pokemon and the Binacle from this set has some more lovely Komiya art, so. prooobably too cruel of an effect, however, in that it locks your opponent from playing special energy.

if you wanna check out the Imakuni decks for yourself and haven't already, they're listed here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Imakuni#In_Pok.C3.A9mon_Card_GB
the constant presence of the Drowzee, Psyduck, and Slowpoke lines is noteworthy. now to return to the lurking aether

Edit; yeesh, pardon my spacing

 

[Merovingian]

Hmm, I suppose if they just want to finish things up then they would do that, but to me it raises a question; if your opponent only wants to win as fast as possible are they even enjoying the shenanigans? If the point is to have fun for both then they won't be in such a hurry, and if they are do you want to hold them to ransom or give them an out?

I can't hope that an opponent will slow themselves down and enjoy things. Most players enjoy the deck, but you can't rely on them holding their own strategy back just to 'see what happens'. Nihilego can slow things down, Focus Band and Life Dew slows things down. In my current version, I have 5 Celebis that can deny prizes following a KO. I have to rely on my own annoying deck to stay alive long enough for the shenanigans to happen.

I will make them have fun whether they want to or not!

In saying that I did actually consider Celebi to give you a chance to setup. Good choice.

XY93 Celebi is SOOOOO annoying! I also have Gold Star Celebi which is like a seriously watered down version of XY93 Celebi, but it always gets a laugh when you Leaf Shade for.....10 damage.

Well I mentioned VS Seeker, but maybe some decent supporters alongside your silly ones would be a good idea too.

This brings up a goofy issue. Discard recursion has been an issue that I've skirted for a while. Not that I'm completely against it, but a lot of it comes from how the AI Imakuni?'s deck in TCG GB 1 and 2 and how he operates it. Part of it is that he doesn't run any cards that require any further thought than when you should play them. Nothing that searches the deck, nothing that brings cards back from discard pile (not that there were many cards that did that in those days. In those games it would have been Revive, Nightly Garbage Run, Energy Retrieval, Super Energy Retrieval, Recycle Energy). Everything is just 'I am playing this, and it just happens!'. This is partially why the deck runs Random Receiver and Quick Ball: they 'search', but they totally take out any sort of decision making that would be required for a deck that would actually want to make the best play imaginable. It's like knowingly bringing a potato to a gun fight. I have considered Marley's Request for discard pile recursion, but that's probably the closest I have come to it

super dig this deck concept so I made an account just to drop some ideas

NICE! LEt's go over what you got!

– Porygon (Base Set or Evolutions, depending on how retro you wanna be here). this is actually the first card Imakuni illustrated and its effect is basically a lesson for your opponent to retreat, whilst also giving your Psychic-types some damage potential (alas, it won't do much for the Doduos). I wouldn't put more than one in though.

I've always liked the card, even before I knew who Imakuni? was. I like the subtle nod to it's Base Set counterpart by naming the attack of the Generations version 'Conversion 3' (BAse set one had Concersion 1 and Conversion 2). If anything, I'd go with the Base Set version as you can hit it with Imakuni?, fail a confusion check, and immediately KO itself.

– Hypno (BREAKThrough). mentioned by someone above, but I'm gonna reiterate the suggestion, on three fronts – one, putting everyone to sleep will slow the game down so you have more time to engage in your shenanigans, and it gives Imakuni? a purpose in that it wakes you up. two, in Imakuni's decks in the TCG video games, the Hypno line is actually a mainstay, so there's some thematic consistency there. three, Tomokazu Komiya's artwork has a wonderfully distinct aesthetic that just seems appropriate for a silly deck like this. 2-2 line seems good enough, and you can use the Drowzee from Team Rocket / Legendary Collection with it (flips a coin – heads, you're asleep; tails, opponent is). PP for 50 also isn't terrible in a deck like this.

I'm going to mention more of the issue with Dark Gloom below. But I believe it's going to slow the game to a crawl and it wouldn't make the game as fun as it could be.

– Psyduck (Fossil). another one of Imakuni's GB staples, this has an attack that prevents your opponent from playing any Trainer cards during the next turn. it's a bit meaner than most the cards here, but it might provide a fun way to annoy serious players (well, even more than everything else already is). also wouldn't put more than one, if any.

LOL. I will have to consider this.

– Dark Gloom (Team Rocket). overall I wouldn't choose this over Hypno, but it does offer a thematically appropriate effect, similar to the Rocket Drowzee – heads, you're confused; tails, your opponent is.

I like how you think. This was actually in my current version (using Grass type Celebis) for months before I dropped it. Similar to Chaos Gym, it slowed things down. Granted, it gave me quite a long lease of life in games, but when both actives are confused for practically the entire game and it's one big 'confusion fight', the deck went from something you experienced, to something you endured. Not good endured either. Everyone knew the deck inherently sucks and everyone KNEW that they should be able to beat it easily, but confusion was holding them back. I dropped it when I started seeing it on their faces that the card was a chokepoint for a fun game

– Computer Error (Wizards Promo). absolutely fantastic illustration and concept, but unfortunately useless in most serious decks. so we're in luck here. lets both you and your opponent draw up to five cards, but your turn ends afterward. plus Sumiyoshi Kizuki is a cool artist (whose style has unfortunately dwindled significantly over the past several generations). and once again it's a card Imakuni himself uses, in his second GB2 deck. neato! wouldn't put more than two lest you never get to attack, but also wouldn't put less than two.

I'm always looking for cards in the original Imakuni? decks and needing some sort of excuse to run them. This is on my list now! I'd probably use 1 due to space.

– Digger (Team Rocket). another useless-but-lovely card. it's technically possible that the game will turn into nothing but an infinite chain of coin flips with this, but the end result is ultimately just 10 damage on either you or your opponent. also used in the GB2 deck, and it's more classic Sumiyoshi Kizuki repping. gotta love those secret machines

I had this in the deck for the first 2 months I had it built. The probability of it being 'fun' is low. I've played it enough to see that it really only gets GOOD when heads gets flipped at least 3 times. Thats a 12.5% chance of that happening. But the longer it goes on, the tension builds up and it's great. It's the 'getting there' part that sucks!

– Challenge! (Team Rocket). spiffy consistency card with a fun effect – your opponent chooses to allow both of you to fill your benches with as many basic pokemon from your deck as you each want, or just lets you draw two cards. normally only has a place in Do the Wave style decks, but here it just provides some fun mutual setup.

I played this card when it was actually released. I used this card in TCG GB 2. Want to know how many people I have got to accept Challenge! between real life and the GB game? One. ONE PERSON! The Gameboy won't have any of it. It doesn't matter if the opponent is going to get benched out next turn. I could have a full bench! I could use Challenge! and it'll have me draw 2 cards, without fail. I have NEVER got the CPU to accept Challenge! And I have tried! I had the TCG GB 2 carrtige and Gameboy Color in Afghanistan with me and I spent about a good week trying everything I could to get them to accept Challenge! Don't get me wrong, I love the card. But no one ever picks the full bench option.

– Ilima (Sun & Moon). basically Team Galactic's Wager but with a coin flip instead of the ol' RPS. probs not worth using, but certainly worth mentioning.

As far as this deck is concerned, Ilima is like, 50% there. You have a goofy draw effect, but it's really interaction-less. If it had something like Digger's coin toss extravaganza (whoever flips tails draws 3. Then we'd have something!

– Erika (Gym Heroes). you draw up to three cards, your opponent can draw three cards too. interaction's kinda minimal so maybe it's not on-theme, but it can massively speed up setup for both of you. really though, why use this when you can use Computer Error?

I have thought about using this for a Light Pokemon deck. But you're right, if you're going to go screwball, Computer Error!

– Sabrina's Gaze (Gym Heroes). both you and your opponent shuffle your hands and draw a new hand of the same number of cards you had before (i.e. just a non-supporter Wicke). gets you both out of dead hands whilst offering some neat disruption, but also a bit less thematically appropriate.

T

he deck doesn't have AS much a problem with dead hands as it used to (deck used to have 4 Blaines Quiz 2, 4 Misty's Duel, and 2 Team Galactics Wager as the only draw and search cards in the deck. It was quite bad!). Well, the deck doesn't exactly 'draw dead' as it just runs out of things to do.

– Pokemon Flute (Base Set). interesting trainer card that's in all of Imakuni's GB decks – lets you put any basic pokemon from your opponent's discard pile onto their bench. whether you do it to help them out or hinder them, it seems appropriate enough, if only because of its consistent presence in the Imakuni decks. Buddy-buddy Rescue is still a nice alternative though.

I almost shot my mouth off thinking, 'Imposter Professor Oak was a staple between both decks too!' Nope. It was used only in GB2. You're absolutely right about Flute being sort of a mainstay. Target Whistle (Team Flare Gear) I believe does something similar too....but you can't get it in 1st Edition, lol. I'll have to see if I can empty up some space.

– Double Gust (Neo Genesis). arguably a bit broken in some decks, but this deck is so feeble overall that you should be able to include it without issues. essentially acts as a Gust of Wind / pre-errata Pokemon Catcher, but allows (or rather, forces) your opponent to switch one of your own pokemon out too (their choice – this ain't ya boi). the artwork also seems fitting, once more courtesy of Tomokazu Komiya. Warp Point and Escape Rope are quite a bit more balanced, but a quite bit less hectically fun too.

Oh man. When I had Chaos Gym in the deck, this was a card I considered, but I quickly dropped the idea of Double Gust because they are going to bring up Unown F. And I noped outta that one. Warp Point and Escape Rope, I can work with!

– Barbaracle (Fates Collide). apparently Binacle is Imakuni's favourite pokemon and the Binacle from this set has some more lovely Komiya art, so. prooobably too cruel of an effect, however, in that it locks your opponent from playing special energy.

I read about that too! I can't figure out a way to add one in the deck without it being just a chump blocker. Maybe I just do that. I feel like if its going to be in the deck, it should DO SOMETHING

if you wanna check out the Imakuni decks for yourself and haven't already, they're listed here: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Imakuni#In_Pok.C3.A9mon_Card_GB
the constant presence of the Drowzee, Psyduck, and Slowpoke lines is noteworthy. now to return to the lurking aether

I'm going to fill you in on a secret. I was the one who input both Imakuni? decks from TCG GB 2. I had to build a stall deck that featured Fossil Omanyte and Here Comes Team Rocket! to document all 60 cards in both decks. Notice that the deck he uses in GR Island uses Dark Pokemon and more Rocket Secret Machine cards. It's a smidge better than the 'Regular Island' deck, but not by much. Although when I started building the deck, I could have sworn that his GR Island deck used Grass Pokemon. Put me to a lie detector and I really truly believed that it had Grass Pokemon.....at least up until I played the game again on Emulator and saw that I was dead wrong (thanks, brain damage!).

 

[Twylis]

ha, always wondered how those decklists were determined.

and hm. well, one alternative to Challenge! is Pichu (HeartGold & SoulSilver), which serves both a mutual setup role and a stalling role (which could be compounded by the Focus Band). one or two might be a good fit, and it never even needs energy.

as for running out of things to do... Donphan (POP Series) is a straightforward, unrestricted recovery card illustrated by Imakuni, though it's not exactly the most efficient, nor is it as conceptually fun as the aforementioned Cinccino (and Drifblim (Stormfront) does the same thing for no energy and more). Milotic (Primal Clash) can grab anything from the discard pile too, but only upon evolving. Lysandre's Trump Card actually might be a good fit for shenanigan replenishing, but whilst I'm fairly certain it's technically legal in Unlimited, it might get some sour looks given its banned status elsewhere. as you said, though, recovery cards may be conceptually off-theme anyway

Unown L (Neo Destiny) can force some superfluous shuffling, but between the bench space and the coin flip, it's probs not worth it.

Seeker (Triumphant) could let you reuse Nihilego's effect whilst making your opponent pull something up too, which will also often be to their benefit.

aaaand...that's pretty much all I can think of! Cinccino seems like it may still be the funnest addition at the end of the day

 

[KabuTopgun]

I can't hope that an opponent will slow themselves down and enjoy things. Most players enjoy the deck, but you can't rely on them holding their own strategy back just to 'see what happens'. Nihilego can slow things down, Focus Band and Life Dew slows things down. In my current version, I have 5 Celebis that can deny prizes following a KO. I have to rely on my own annoying deck to stay alive long enough for the shenanigans to happen.

I will make them have fun whether they want to or not!

XY93 Celebi is SOOOOO annoying! I also have Gold Star Celebi which is like a seriously watered down version of XY93 Celebi, but it always gets a laugh when you Leaf Shade for.....10 damage.

HAha, well if that's your determination I will respect the jankiness for its own sake.

It does make me wonder though, if it's plausible for you to win off a deck out...
I mentioned one Cinccino already, but there's one that's a bit older that is similar to Celebi; they have to Flip and get heads for each of their attacks to hit...
Yeah, not likely either way, though maybe you'd be prepared to include Giratina Lvl X?

This brings up a goofy issue. Discard recursion has been an issue that I've skirted for a while. Not that I'm completely against it, but a lot of it comes from how the AI Imakuni?'s deck in TCG GB 1 and 2 and how he operates it. Part of it is that he doesn't run any cards that require any further thought than when you should play them. Nothing that searches the deck, nothing that brings cards back from discard pile (not that there were many cards that did that in those days. In those games it would have been Revive, Nightly Garbage Run, Energy Retrieval, Super Energy Retrieval, Recycle Energy). Everything is just 'I am playing this, and it just happens!'. This is partially why the deck runs Random Receiver and Quick Ball: they 'search', but they totally take out any sort of decision making that would be required for a deck that would actually want to make the best play imaginable. It's like knowingly bringing a potato to a gun fight. I have considered Marley's Request for discard pile recursion, but that's probably the closest I have come to it

Hmm, I guess I find it odd that you would be giving your opponent choices but depriving yourself of them. People learn from observation just as easily as experience.
Anyway, I would just look at it as a way to proxy more copies of things that fit your theme and intention, rather than 'cheating'.
What about 2 Marley's Request and one VS Seeker? Than you have the potential to loop them, which is fun.

"I'm going to mention more of the issue with Dark Gloom below. But I believe it's going to slow the game to a crawl and it wouldn't make the game as fun as it could be."

I like how you think. This was actually in my current version (using Grass type Celebis) for months before I dropped it. Similar to Chaos Gym, it slowed things down. Granted, it gave me quite a long lease of life in games, but when both actives are confused for practically the entire game and it's one big 'confusion fight', the deck went from something you experienced, to something you endured. Not good endured either. Everyone knew the deck inherently sucks and everyone KNEW that they should be able to beat it easily, but confusion was holding them back. I dropped it when I started seeing it on their faces that the card was a chokepoint for a fun game

Hmm, I'm assuming you think Hypno is in the same boat by these two statements. I wouldn't class Sleep as being nearly as frustrating as Confusion though; it's more of a known factor and you're really only stalling, whereas Confusion can potentially win you the game and make your spud into a rudimentary grenade...
Also, combining Sleep with Imakuni? seems more fun and strategic, as there's less redundancy.

I had this in the deck for the first 2 months I had it built. The probability of it being 'fun' is low. I've played it enough to see that it really only gets GOOD when heads gets flipped at least 3 times. Thats a 12.5% chance of that happening. But the longer it goes on, the tension builds up and it's great. It's the 'getting there' part that sucks!

Honestly, I would play at least one copy for the remote chance of this. Using attacks like Continuous Tumble have lead to my most memorable moments playing Themed Decks on PTCGO; I once got 16 heads and KO'd a perfectly healthy Gyarados, muahahaha!