Standard Junior : Zygarde EX / Regirock EX / Carbink BREAK

[bidou]

Hello Pokéfans !

Here is the deck that I have prepared for my young son who is a Junior (7 years old).
He do LOVE Zygarde in the anime, and it is great because its card is just powerful !


Pokémon (14) :

2 Shaymin EX
3 Regirock EX
2 Carbink
2 Carbink BREAK
4 Zygarde EX
1 Hoopa EX

Trainers (34)

2 Lysandre
4 Professor Sycamore
2 N
1 Olympia
1 Pokémon Ranger
2 Ninja Boy
1 Super Rod
2 Max Elixir
4 VS Seeker
2 Parallel City
2 Skyfield
2 Power Memory
2 Float Stone
3 Fighting Fury Belt
4 Ultra Ball

Energies (12)

4 Strong Energies
8 Fighting Energies


This deck has a very new and innovative strategy : attach as many energies as you can on Zygarde EX, and destroy your opponent's active Pokémon with this 230HP Monster (with FFB).
Perfect for a Junior player : no brainer, reduced misplays, high chances of victory.

I play 4 copies of Zygarde EX because it is the main attacker, and I always want it in the opening hand/active slot. Seeing him in the first 7 cards is never a bad news

1 Hoopa EX : currently here to search for 3 Regirock EX, or 2 Regirock EX and 1 Shaymin EX (depends on your start and if you have a Sycamore in hand). Thanks to him and Regirock EX, Zygarde's first attacks are very efficient and put enough pressure on the opponent to leave him with a dilemma : will he continue to energize his active Pokémon knowing that he will be KO'ed next turn, or will he loose 1 turn to prepare a benched one ?

2 Shaymin EX : 1 copy is a staple, always searchable with Hoopa EX. After some playtesting, it seems that a second copy is very fine in the mid-game. Skyfield will help to play it, and Shaymin EX will be the first Pokémon discarded when the Stadium leaves the battlefield.

2-2 Carbink BREAK : the better Pokémon ever for mid-game ! Once the first Zygarde EX is KO'ed, Carbink BREAK will be there to contain opponent's attacks while powering up a second Zygarde EX or a Regirock EX (yes, Regirock EX is also able to attack !).

2 Ninja Boy : very powerful Supporter in this particular deck, able to turn a mediocre opening hand into a competitive one, able to transform a benched Shaymin EX into an annoying Carbink... The fact that the new Pokémon conserves the turns into play of the previous one is great, and often allows to play Carbink BREAK straight away

2 Parallel City : along with 2 Skyfields, it seems to be the right count of Stadiums to play. Parallel City is able to win 2 top tier decks by itself... so why wouldn't we play it ?

3 Fighting Fury Belt : necessary to put a high pressure on the opponent in the early game. Increases Zygarde EX power, and makes it even more difficult to KO ! Not many decks can OHKO a Zygarde EX with FFB attached. Even the powerful M-Rayquaza EX will have to deploy all its troops in order to OHKO him... and will incur a Parallel City punishment

2 Float Stones + 1 Olympia : originally, I played 3 Float Stones alone. I found that Olympia, which is reusable via VS Seeker, is a nice replacement of one of them. 3 swithing cards is a bit on the low side, by the way...

1 Pokémon Ranger : because Regice and Jolteon EX exist...

No Hex Maniac : I think that this deck puts enough pressure on the opponent to dispense with this Supporter.
Garbodor --> Lysandre + OHKO
Vileplume --> the opponent will be more annoyed with it than me
Carbink --> it will be a duel of Carbink, then... maybe a baby Zygarde would be nice.
Yanmega BREAK --> this matchup is not very easy, but it is manageable with Cell Storm attack.

Big bonus : this deck LOVES to go second... and it will be almost 100% of the games !

A question for you, mates : is it possible to turn this deck into a Zygarde EX / Garchomp list ?
I am trying all sort of variations, and I can't find one consistent enough to play...

Any thoughts on what can be improved here, guys ?
Many thanks !

 

[felinefine]

Pretty good deck list

Ideas:

Maybe try out Machamp from Generations and Rare Candies instead of Regirock? Even though it takes up more room it may be beneficial for a non-Ex Pokemon to sit on the bench and also the 20 more damage is a plus.

Also, why all the switching cards? I'm a little confused. Nice deck list overall.

 

[double o squirtle]

I agree with WhiteWolfos, this deck looks pretty good.

The only think I would suggest is switch out the Ranger for Hex Maniac because although Jolteon and Regice exist, you can always attack with Carbink Break and it is possible for Yanmega to OHKO Zygarde even if you have a FFB attached.

A question for you, mates : is it possible to turn this deck into a Zygarde EX / Garchomp list ?
I am trying all sort of variations, and I can't find one consistent enough to play...

Garchomp lost a lot of good cards in the new rotation. If you want to turn it into to one, 3 (4 if you have room for it) Candy and 3/4 Skyla are pretty consistent. However you would need to change your deck quite a bit to give it the support it needs.

 

[gumball51321]

I think this list is near flawless. I would add 3 copies of Trainers' Mail, a Hex Maniac, And possibly another Carbink. A 3rd N never hurts either.
If you would like to take my suggestions and try them out, here they are:
-1 Ninja Boy(If you even play it at all, it only needs one space in your deck)
- 2 Max Elixir(Deck doesn't need them, and if you do play them, you would need at least 3.
- 1 Power Memory(deck only needs one. Fury Belt will get you further)

+ 1 Hex Maniac
+ 1 Escape Rope(Really useful, even with ALL of your switching options. Can get unwanted things out of your active, and force the switch on your opponent without wasting your supporter)
+ 1 N(consistently drawing it never hurts. ever)
+ 1 Enhanced Hammer(Mega Mewtwo can get very annoying, as can Giratina-EX, and it's just a fun card to use whenever)

Although I doubt these changes would make it to the final list, you should encourage your 7-year-old to try them. Little room for error, lot of options on what to play, and just overall useful. And yes, I know I didn't include Carbink on my suggestions, but that's just personal bias whether or not someone uses the 3rd. Good luck, and I hope I helped!

 

[Archiemon]

Regice will ruin your day... i would suggest running the non-ex Zygarde with Geostrike

 

[丅ᗴᗰᑭᗴᔕ丅]

Regice will ruin your day... i would suggest running the non-ex Zygarde with Geostrike

That's what the Pokemon Ranger is for, right? Besides, Geostrike Zygarde isn't that good.

 

[bidou]

Maybe try out Machamp from Generations and Rare Candies instead of Regirock? Even though it takes up more room it may be beneficial for a non-Ex Pokemon to sit on the bench and also the 20 more damage is a plus.

Also, why all the switching cards? I'm a little confused.

Hello @WhiteWolfos !

Thanks for the advice !
The big interest of Regirock EX over Machamp is it can come by packs of 3 with Hoopa EX, and that changes everything. Give Zygarde EX or Carbink BREAK +30 power with a single card, and it is not the same story anymore...

There's not so many switching cards, just 3.
And a 4th one would probably be useful !

The only think I would suggest is switch out the Ranger for Hex Maniac because although Jolteon and Regice exist, you can always attack with Carbink Break and it is possible for Yanmega to OHKO Zygarde even if you have a FFB attached.

Good point, thanks !
I'll try to replace Pokémon Ranger by Hex Maniac this week end

Garchomp lost a lot of good cards in the new rotation. If you want to turn it into to one, 3 (4 if you have room for it) Candy and 3/4 Skyla are pretty consistent. However you would need to change your deck quite a bit to give it the support it needs.

Yep, I am coming to the same conclusion. Very hard to make something consistent around Garchomp, sadly

I would add 3 copies of Trainers' Mail, a Hex Maniac, And possibly another Carbink. A 3rd N never hurts either.
If you would like to take my suggestions and try them out, here they are:
-1 Ninja Boy(If you even play it at all, it only needs one space in your deck)
- 2 Max Elixir(Deck doesn't need them, and if you do play them, you would need at least 3.
- 1 Power Memory(deck only needs one. Fury Belt will get you further)

+ 1 Hex Maniac
+ 1 Escape Rope(Really useful, even with ALL of your switching options. Can get unwanted things out of your active, and force the switch on your opponent without wasting your supporter)
+ 1 N(consistently drawing it never hurts. ever)
+ 1 Enhanced Hammer(Mega Mewtwo can get very annoying, as can Giratina-EX, and it's just a fun card to use whenever)

Although I doubt these changes would make it to the final list, you should encourage your 7-year-old to try them. Little room for error, lot of options on what to play, and just overall useful. And yes, I know I didn't include Carbink on my suggestions, but that's just personal bias whether or not someone uses the 3rd. Good luck, and I hope I helped!

I agree with you on Max Elixir !
This card doesn't bring much in this particular deck, and is the most replacable one ! Will try Escape Rope + N instead of them

However, I am not a high fan of single copies in a deck that has no way to search for them.
1 copy of Enhanced hammer will probably great if the player has some Skyla in the deck, or at least some Trainer's Mail.

Regice will ruin your day... i would suggest running the non-ex Zygarde with Geostrike

That's what the Pokemon Ranger is for, right? Besides, Geostrike Zygarde isn't that good.

Regice is hard to manage in this deck, but not impossible.
Pokémon Ranger + Lysandre + Carbink BREAK can deal with him pretty well

 

[felinefine]

Hello @WhiteWolfos !

Thanks for the advice !
The big interest of Regirock EX over Machamp is it can come by packs of 3 with Hoopa EX, and that changes everything. Give Zygarde EX or Carbink BREAK +30 power with a single card, and it is not the same story anymore...

There's not so many switching cards, just 3.
And a 4th one would probably be useful !

Oh yeah... i wasn't thinking I also just saw that Zygarde-Ex has a 3 Retreat Cost so now I get it, Makes sense now