Since the beginning of Lost Thunder, Blacephlaon Naganadel has been one of the main decks that I have invested time and money into building and testing with much success. Other than certain Malamar and Shrine Builds, I have great win ratios against almost all the other archtypes. I have just begun to play against the new Electric decks, primarily PikaRom and Zapdos Shrine/ Zapdos and Jolteon, and while having some wins, I am finding some trouble compared the previous archtypes I have faced. Blacephalon certainly can deal damage that is unmatched and can easily take down the Tag Team GX pokemon, however, speed becomes a problem. Blacephalon usually peaks beginning mid game, ecspecially when one Blacephalon is KO'd and I get to use multiple Beast Rings and charge up multiple Naganadels to get lots of energy on the board. PikaRom, while not always getting the quick set up, commonly is attacking and getting one hit KO's turn two or turn three. Is Blacephalon no longer relevant in the format? I cannot see a deck that was considered by many as the BDIF fall totally out of the meta as a competitive deck. I agree that some of its shine will be taken by PikaRom who appears to be the new BDIF. And I do think Blacephalon will see less play than the pre Team Up days when it seemed over played somtimes. But I cannot see it suddenly becoming completely non-competitve. What are the opinions of other out there? What are the opinions of people who have experience playing Blacephalon? Do you plan on playing it in the future? Are there any changes that you plan on making to keep it as effective as possible given the changing meta? What place do you think Blacephalon will have in the meta now that Team Up is out?
Discussion Is Blacephalon still competitive?
- Thread starter Geist1848
- Start date
I don't think it's not competitive, it's just...Blacephalon is a one shot deck, and while definitely not impossible, it's certainly harder to put out 5 Energy cards every turn to take a big OHKO on Tag Team GXs besides Venusaur and Celebi. It's facing part of the issue VikaRay faced in the past imo - there are other OHKO decks that require less set up and are safer to play, be it because of their higher HP, prize advantage (GX vs non GX), inherent consistency or more accessible, consistent damage output.
It won't go away, but it won't be the same monster it once was.
It won't go away, but it won't be the same monster it once was.
Play choice helmet makes it allot for a deck that's allready inconsistent(pikazek) to one shot you and after a burst gx and a 250 attack you only have to knock out a lele to win
Choice Helmet was for sure one of the changes I was considering. Also I am going to start experimenting with teching in one or maybe even two Shedinja in hopes I can win the the prize race against even the likes of PikaRom. If one or two of the Blacephalon only give one prize this might make a lot of difference. Previously I was committed to running Aloloan Muk as a tech but am now seeing if Shedinja is better suited in this new metagame.
A BDIF totally changing after a new release is not surprising - heck see what happened to buzz shrine when Malamar came out.
I figure Blacephalon is still fine, just not Tier 1 anymore. It could still win a cup, but it isn’t going to win a regional.
I figure Blacephalon is still fine, just not Tier 1 anymore. It could still win a cup, but it isn’t going to win a regional.
TEU Charizard is a better version of blacephalon, they go for around $2 each and this is the card text:
たけるとうき
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put 2 damage counters on this Pokémon. If you do, search your deck for up to 2 Energy cards and attach them to this Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck.
Continuous Blaze Ball
れんぞくブレイズボール
30+
Discard all Energy from this Pokémon. This attack does 50 more damage for each card you discarded in this way.
たけるとうき
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put 2 damage counters on this Pokémon. If you do, search your deck for up to 2 Energy cards and attach them to this Pokémon. Then, shuffle your deck.
Continuous Blaze Ball
れんぞくブレイズボール
30+
Discard all Energy from this Pokémon. This attack does 50 more damage for each card you discarded in this way.
Eh, in a vacuum it may be but as a Stage 2 it inherently needs a lot more pieces than Blacephalon.
It’s. *lot* slower. Stage 2, also can only do 180 a turn without additional help. It’s possible the deck could work out better, but it’s not prima facie better.
Did you mean the opposite? Malamar came out before Shrine. I do agree that changes were made for the Shrine matchup, though
I don't think Blacephalon is dead competitively speaking like ZoroDeciTails but it's now tier 2/3 imo. as some 1 prize attacker decks like ZapJirachi/ tool drop and potentially others will trade favorably against it. Although, it still has some good matchups.
I personally love blacephalon overall against all types of decks for the long haul. It can deal with stall easily and also deal with the other big mons. There are a couple of matchups that make it a little bit more difficult but that’s with any deck I feel
And then welder is revealed...
Blace will take a break for a little bit, but it's coming back stronger than ever.
Which is good because I just got my cake pops (if you don't get this, search cake pops on google).
Blace will take a break for a little bit, but it's coming back stronger than ever.
Which is good because I just got my cake pops (if you don't get this, search cake pops on google).
It’s still a really good deck. It gets a little weaker only because of the faster decks that came out. But this deck still deals better with the broad spectrum of decks you would go up against in a regional such as single prize decks, gx, stall especially.
I believe Charizard is just better in every way.
Okay, but without some supporting arguments or evidence, that is easily canceled out by all the folks who believe almost the exact opposite.
Charizard is a [R] Type deck that can hit big numbers without being a Pokémon-GX or Ultra Beast. I haven't seen a worthwhile list for it yet, but if Charizard is more self-contained, then that would help as well.
Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel is a proven deck. It has an easier time hitting really big numbers than Charizard. It can use Beast Ring.
It is still "early" for SM - Team Up. By the time SM - Unbroken Bonds is tournament legal, things may be radically different but as of last weekend, Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel was just barely in the Top 32... while Charizard wasn't in the Top 64 at all.
I will finish with stressing that I am not trying to disrespect @The Almighty Bidoof 's opinion. It is quite possible that Charizard is better. It is also possible that Blacephalon-GX/Naganadal will make a stronger showing in the future. With so many decks in Melbourne being Zapdos or Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, either it was a fluke or I expect the metagame to adjust accordingly.
I too play a Blacephalon-Naganadel deck and have found some of the new TEU decks to be a bit troubling. So, I started experimenting with a hybrid Blacephalon-Buzzwole deck. Both Buzzwole GX and Buzzwole have been quite helpful in match-ups against the newer decks. So, consider experimenting with Buzzwole techs.
That's an interesting idea - heck, with beast energy you don't even absolutely have to add any energy to help.