Discussion Lost March decks, too late to start?

Toni Kensa

Toni Kensa

Playing and Collecting
Member
Hi Pokebeach forum,

Yesterday I did visit a store to buy some cards, they had rental decks to try and have fun, I did pick Lost March to play against friends. Even thought I didn't won all matches, I had fun with it, it's "how does those little monsters do that" factor is funny to me.

Since December's league card was Jumpluff and here we went to many leagues, I had 6 Jumpluff and many other cards that came on Lost Thunder box. I spent some money on some and completed this deck.

My question is: is it to late to start a Lost March deck?
Are all tournament deck's prepared to it and now it's uneffective? Even with Skypillar or Machoke's ability this deck was completely outmatched?

Thanks!
 
Well, maybe almost too late...

A new Charizard in the upcoming set will be, in my opinion, make a more widely played example of one of Lost March's Achilles few Achilles' heels(which include Shuckle-GX, but since Shuckle-GX is not played that often, and is more easily countered(Alolan Muk SMB), regardless of its counter status, the upcoming 'Zard is a more widely-played counter, but since Shuckle-GX only requires one energy to attack, it will still maintain its status as the main LM counter, though not played as often)...

Why?

Its Ability, attack, and the fact that it only nets 1 prize per KO: Ability gives it 2 damage counters and 2 fire from deck BEFORE considering hand attachment for turn, and its attack deals 30 base + 50 per energy attached, though you have to discard it all per use, spells 130 by the time Charizard(TUP)'s base AC is met, and in case of Marshadow-GX and/or Leles, the hand attachment means Charizard(TUP) will trump LM...

But why is it not the best Achilles' heel, and why is Shuckle-GX better at that?

Well, you need some Rare Candies and Charmanders in order to get Charizard out, as 'Zard's a Stage 2...
 
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To answer your question, no, it is not too late to pick up Lost March. Do know what you're getting yourself into though. Lost March in my opinion is currently as potent as tier 1 decks if it gets off to a good start, but suffers from inherent consistency issues of being a non GX deck which doesn't run Tapu Lele GX, and has a lot of moving parts to boot. So you may find that you lose to yourself more than you lose to your opponent. There are certainly bad matchups for Lost March but the general concept of doing a ton of damage with cheap, one-prize attackers is very strong and difficult to play around for most decks. If you're worried about the longevity of the deck, Pokemon Communication reprint from the upcoming set should help out with the consistency issue as well, so I expect Lost March to stick around even months from now.
 
cardgjammer said:
Well, maybe almost too late...

A new Charizard in the upcoming set will be, in my opinion, make a more widely played example of one of Lost March's Achilles few Achilles' heels(which include Shuckle-GX, but since Shuckle-GX is not played that often, and is more easily countered(Alolan Muk SMB), regardless of its counter status, the upcoming 'Zard is a more widely-played counter, but since Shuckle-GX only requires one energy to attack, it will still maintain its status as the main LM counter, though not played as often)...

Why?

Its Ability, attack, and the fact that it only nets 1 prize per KO: Ability gives it 2 damage counters and 2 fire from deck BEFORE considering hand attachment for turn, and its attack deals 30 base + 50 per energy attached, though you have to discard it all per use, spells 130 by the time Charizard(TUP)'s base AC is met, and in case of Marshadow-GX and/or Leles, the hand attachment means Charizard(TUP) will trump LM...

But why is it not the best Achilles' heel, and why is Shuckle-GX better at that?

Well, you need some Rare Candies and Charmanders in order to get Charizard out, as 'Zard's a Stage 2...
Click to expand...
This post makes like zero sense. Big assumption thinking the next charizard will be good though it's not terrible its existence has no detriment to lost march being viable or not.
 
cardgjammer said:
Well, maybe almost too late...

A new Charizard in the upcoming set will be, in my opinion, make a more widely played example of one of Lost March's Achilles few Achilles' heels(which include Shuckle-GX, but since Shuckle-GX is not played that often, and is more easily countered(Alolan Muk SMB), regardless of its counter status, the upcoming 'Zard is a more widely-played counter, but since Shuckle-GX only requires one energy to attack, it will still maintain its status as the main LM counter, though not played as often)...

Why?

Its Ability, attack, and the fact that it only nets 1 prize per KO: Ability gives it 2 damage counters and 2 fire from deck BEFORE considering hand attachment for turn, and its attack deals 30 base + 50 per energy attached, though you have to discard it all per use, spells 130 by the time Charizard(TUP)'s base AC is met, and in case of Marshadow-GX and/or Leles, the hand attachment means Charizard(TUP) will trump LM...

But why is it not the best Achilles' heel, and why is Shuckle-GX better at that?

Well, you need some Rare Candies and Charmanders in order to get Charizard out, as 'Zard's a Stage 2...
Click to expand...

Hi cardgjammer!

It seems strong for being one prize, but even being stage 2 is it still considered a big threat? I mean, would it be necessary to setup Charizard first with something like Fairy Ninetales GX?
For Marshadow-GX and leles, could you please explain me more about those 2 with this Charizard?
 
JumpluffTCG said:
To answer your question, no, it is not too late to pick up Lost March. Do know what you're getting yourself into though. Lost March in my opinion is currently as potent as tier 1 decks if it gets off to a good start, but suffers from inherent consistency issues of being a non GX deck which doesn't run Tapu Lele GX, and has a lot of moving parts to boot. So you may find that you lose to yourself more than you lose to your opponent. There are certainly bad matchups for Lost March but the general concept of doing a ton of damage with cheap, one-prize attackers is very strong and difficult to play around for most decks. If you're worried about the longevity of the deck, Pokemon Communication reprint from the upcoming set should help out with the consistency issue as well, so I expect Lost March to stick around even months from now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply JumpluffTCG, this does make sense. The times I did lost went more on realizing I did something wrong out of my lack of experience using energy on this deck (I’m a Malamar player so discarding and recycling energy is routine) or using something as not supposed to be, essentially like you said, losing to myself.

I did include a Lele GX to test, is it a wrong decision for this deck? Maybe on being an easy “two prizes” for the opponent?

I’m seeing japanese decks using Pokemon Communicator, Machoke and Eevee Snorlax Tag Team. So looks like this deck is in fact evolving with current meta, some even use more than one lele GX like this one:

https://twitter.com/amenity_hama/status/1077157976496959488?s=20
 
Toni Kensa said:
Hi cardgjammer!

It seems strong for being one prize, but even being stage 2 is it still considered a big threat? I mean, would it be necessary to setup Charizard first with something like Fairy Ninetales GX?
For Marshadow-GX and leles, could you please explain me more about those 2 with this Charizard?
Click to expand...

Yes. However, it would be more difficult to set up w/o one vital piece: Fairy Ninetales-GX is a necessary setup pokemon in terms of stage 2s in general, including Charizard...

As for Marshadow-GX and leles...

3 energy * 50 + 30 = 180=enough damage to KO Lele-GX(Wonder Tag) AND Marshadow-GX(Ability to use discarded Natu's Lost March attack), two possible sidekicks to LM...
 
cardgjammer said:
Yes. However, it would be more difficult to set up w/o one vital piece: Fairy Ninetales-GX is a necessary setup pokemon in terms of stage 2s in general, including Charizard...

As for Marshadow-GX and leles...

3 energy * 50 + 30 = 180=enough damage to KO Lele-GX(Wonder Tag) AND Marshadow-GX(Ability to use discarded Natu's Lost March attack), two possible sidekicks to LM...
Click to expand...
I'm confused. Lost March decks typically run no GXs; that's one of the strengths of the deck.

The reason Char would be good against LM is if you can delay the LM player's attacks a turn or two, get Char set up, and just keep energy going while you KO everything in their deck for just 1 attachment and tank hits from early LM attacks that do 60-100 damage.
 
Oh, I forgot about the LTH meganium! No need for ninetales-gx-- you could break the evo rule late-game w/ ability, in case 'Zard is ko'd, and resetup is necessary....
 
cardgjammer said:
Oh, I forgot about the LTH meganium! No need for ninetales-gx-- you could break the evo rule late-game w/ ability, in case 'Zard is ko'd, and resetup is necessary....
Click to expand...
I disagree, all that does is pressure you even harder to get your first Stage 2 out as soon as possible. Besides, decks that play the LOT Meganium play Alolan Ninetales to set up Meganium, then use Meganium to set up the rest. Also keep in mind the only deck that play LOT Meganium AFAIK, is the Greninja Swampert one, which requires constant 1 turn Greninjas to be set up and therefore justifies Meganium's usage.
 
Toni Kensa said:
I did include a Lele GX to test, is it a wrong decision for this deck? Maybe on being an easy “two prizes” for the opponent?

I’m seeing japanese decks using Pokemon Communicator, Machoke and Eevee Snorlax Tag Team. So looks like this deck is in fact evolving with current meta, some even use more than one lele GX like this one:

https://twitter.com/amenity_hama/status/1077157976496959488?s=20
Click to expand...
This is going to just depend on your own testing. I can't say I'm a Lost March expert by any means. However, I do know that Charlie Lockyer went 9-0-0 in Day 1 of Swiss at Roanoke regionals using a Lost March list that ran a single copy of Tapu Lele GX. Probably not your premier option in every situation you could use it because its a 2 prize liability, but maybe a single copy is good to have. You run enough basics that it's relatively unlikely you'd start your one Tapu Lele GX, and maybe it's nice to have to get that last turn Guzma to close out games. Again, not a Lost March expert, but that's how I'd justify it.
 
Lost March is a ton of fun. Like any deck it takes time and many games to learn the ins an outs. Consistency can be an issue but the new set seems too have options to fix some of those. We don't know how the tag will impact the meta other than Archie whales which is time of fun, so there may be adjustments to be made. Keep playing the deck and get a proper feel for it before hanging it up.
 
Consistency and practice are vital to this deck. I played Charlie's build at a locals and did not go as planned. Also practicing online is good for learning the ins and outs of a deck but it doesn't take into account real life rng with shuffling.
 
I think ZoroDecidueye is a much bigger concern than Charizard or Shuckle, given that it's a Tier 1 deck and will be run into fairly often (and doesn't need much luck to beat it). That deck may lose some steam post-Tag Team though, so maybe Lost March will actually gain by default?

I think it will handle the Tag Teams fairly well, it's eventually able to OHKO them, though not up front; but it can 2HKO them pretty quickly at least, and usually sets up pretty well when you have a good deck list (lots of balls, mostly). I'd bet it will still be quite playbale post-Team Up.
 
Actually, a bigger problem for Lost March may be if Magikarp+Wailord is playable as an attacker. This is the attack that takes 8 water energy (!!) but does 100 damage to the entire bench. That's probably instant lose for Lost March unless you have an Oranguru on the bench (and even if you do, that just buys you one turn). Zapdos also will cause some problems (as it's an 80 damage attacker when it comes to the active slot for free [Thunder Mountain <>] or one attach).
 
Christopher Shehan said:
Lost March is a ton of fun. Like any deck it takes time and many games to learn the ins an outs. Consistency can be an issue but the new set seems too have options to fix some of those. We don't know how the tag will impact the meta other than Archie whales which is time of fun, so there may be adjustments to be made. Keep playing the deck and get a proper feel for it before hanging it up.
Click to expand...

Lately I've been changing decks whenever I lost for some reason, and the more I tried to acelerate those things, I realize I didn't give proper time to assimilate the deck. For example: when I one match for not having enough energies, i went and put some Lady on my deck, then the following match I had another problem.
I'll give a chance to Lost March, and try many matches (taking note of results and problems) before changing things. Do you suggest any number of tries before changing?

Thanks Christopher Shehan!
 
snoopy369 said:
Actually, a bigger problem for Lost March may be if Magikarp+Wailord is playable as an attacker. This is the attack that takes 8 water energy (!!) but does 100 damage to the entire bench. That's probably instant lose for Lost March unless you have an Oranguru on the bench (and even if you do, that just buys you one turn). Zapdos also will cause some problems (as it's an 80 damage attacker when it comes to the active slot for free [Thunder Mountain <>] or one attach).
Click to expand...

Wouldn't Machoke's ability prevent this kind of absurd move? I know the new Blastoise ability can bring many energies if you're lucky (or use something to order your top cards) and attach them to your Wailord, would this make this monster more deadly?

Thanks!
 
I have tried many different versions of the deck. Tech cards are nice but consistency is better as you want an aggressive playstyle. I would play no less that 5-10 games before changing anything at all
 
Toni Kensa said:
Lately I've been changing decks whenever I lost for some reason, and the more I tried to acelerate those things, I realize I didn't give proper time to assimilate the deck. For example: when I one match for not having enough energies, i went and put some Lady on my deck, then the following match I had another problem.
I'll give a chance to Lost March, and try many matches (taking note of results and problems) before changing things. Do you suggest any number of tries before changing?

Thanks Christopher Shehan!
Click to expand...

Hi, this isn't related directly to your qn but I found that before making changes to your deck, make sure to play enough number of games with it (20-30 is a good range). PTCGO is a good place to get familiar with the deck. Reason being you want to really understand whether your losses are due to consistency, bad matchups or inoptimal cards etc. Whenever you lose, I recommend taking note what deck you were playing against, the sequence of cards you played and what specifically from your opponent's board or play that you had trouble dealing with. With those notes you can then decide if it was really the decklist that was a problem, or if it was due to matchup, your own play, or bad draws.

Lost March has really come into its own, you basically want to focus on consistency and maybe some disruption. This list (https://imgur.com/2EjmW6S) which I believe is AzulGG's I feel is closest to a consistent Lost March list. The 2 Let Loose Marshadows can really disrupt your opponent's plans once you set up your jumpluffs.
 
Madifz said:
Hi, this isn't related directly to your qn but I found that before making changes to your deck, make sure to play enough number of games with it (20-30 is a good range). PTCGO is a good place to get familiar with the deck. Reason being you want to really understand whether your losses are due to consistency, bad matchups or inoptimal cards etc. Whenever you lose, I recommend taking note what deck you were playing against, the sequence of cards you played and what specifically from your opponent's board or play that you had trouble dealing with. With those notes you can then decide if it was really the decklist that was a problem, or if it was due to matchup, your own play, or bad draws.

Lost March has really come into its own, you basically want to focus on consistency and maybe some disruption. This list (https://imgur.com/2EjmW6S) which I believe is AzulGG's I feel is closest to a consistent Lost March list. The 2 Let Loose Marshadows can really disrupt your opponent's plans once you set up your jumpluffs.
Click to expand...

I’ll follow this advice, now I’m focusing on gathering enough cards to create a lost march in our TCG online account, the trades rarely ask for something fair so I’m openinjg Lost Thunder’s booster to replicate mine there.

This variant with Marshadow seems cool, but wouldn’t professor elm also help? I mean, sometimes I use it to bring Skiploom (sometimes 3 of then) wouldn’t that card being really important to Lost March?

Thanks!
 
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