Discussion Mallow/Alolan Sandslash as a deck engine?

Draskk

Draskk

Blast From The Past
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Hey guys! I've been trying to come up with a fast, non-item reliant deck engine based off some of the new Guardians Rising cards, and I have something that shows a lot of potential: Mallow/ Alolan Sandslash. Mallow lets you search your deck for two cards and put them on top of your deck, and Alolan Sandslash lets you draw an extra card whenever you want during your turn. So the idea is to provide any card you want, when you want, which could be pretty good. We are using some Items, but not many as i'm getting afraid of the new Garbodor. If you wanted to go for a different version of this engine with tons of items, be my guest. Here is a list of essential cards:

Alolan Sandslash
Alolan Sandshrew
Tapu-Lele-GX
Mallow
Trainer's Mail
N
Shauna
Ultra Ball

My recomennded count of thess cards is:

2x Alolan Sandslash
2x Alolan Sandshrew
2x Tapu-Lele-GX
4x Mallow
4x Trainer's Mail (Hah, Garbodor! Now you can't even one shot a Vespiquen!)
4x N
2x Shauna
4x Ultra Ball (Well, um... now you can...)

Do you guys think this would work? I'd really like to add Acro Bike as it basically gets you any card from your deck as well as getting rid of one you dont need. Maybe i'll take Trainer's Mail out for it. Suggestions and comments are always appreciated! :D
 
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interesting theory mate,

The advantage of using mallow and then picking them up with your standard draw and sandslash is that it prevent people using "n" as can happen with other draw strategies which happen as your turn finishes etc.

Have you thought about what you would add to this base and if it would be a stalling deck or attacking?

This really interests me as i have the ability to use the above cards but not sure if to go:

1. Alolan Ninetails GX and Lapras GX to stick with the Water theme
2. go down the physic path with garbador etc
3. something thats probably better than the above options.

I'm quite (very) new tot he game so would love to hear your thoughts
 
Kangdaddy said:
interesting theory mate,

The advantage of using mallow and then picking them up with your standard draw and sandslash is that it prevent people using "n" as can happen with other draw strategies which happen as your turn finishes etc.

Have you thought about what you would add to this base and if it would be a stalling deck or attacking?

This really interests me as i have the ability to use the above cards but not sure if to go:

1. Alolan Ninetails GX and Lapras GX to stick with the Water theme
2. go down the physic path with garbador etc
3. something thats probably better than the above options.

I'm quite (very) new tot he game so would love to hear your thoughts
Click to expand...
I think Alolan Ninetales would be a good option with this you could really take advantage of Dive Ball to get everyone out. I think it would work with either stall decks or attacking decks, and, like I said above, Acro Bike would be extremely beneficial because, if combined with Mallow, Acro Bike might as well read "search your deck for two cards, put one into your hand, and discard the other card". Also, if you really needed the second card you got with Mallow you could use Alolan Sandslash and then Acro Bike. Being searchable with Dive Ball is great, but im sure this could work in something like Garb. Thanks for the reply! :)
 
This looks interesting, however, you won't be able to play a different Supporter such as Sycmore or N or Lysandre, etc. This really limits you in what you can do. Additionally, Sandslash-A is a Stage 1, meaning it's not hard to get out, but it's not super easy either. Also, Shauna really isn't that good and is normally outclassed by Sycamore and Hala. I'd say a good engine-ish thing right now is Drampa-GX's Big Wheel GX + Half, as it allows for great setup even if your N'd! Also, the engine itself you have takes up a lot of deckspace, so I'm not sure it would work. I would consider using something completely different such as Drampa-GX + Hala, just regular ultra ball for Shaymi, or Lele as well of course. Hope you found this helpful! :D
 
Kangdaddy said:
interesting theory mate,

The advantage of using mallow and then picking them up with your standard draw and sandslash is that it prevent people using "n" as can happen with other draw strategies which happen as your turn finishes etc.

Have you thought about what you would add to this base and if it would be a stalling deck or attacking?

This really interests me as i have the ability to use the above cards but not sure if to go:

1. Alolan Ninetails GX and Lapras GX to stick with the Water theme
2. go down the physic path with garbador etc
3. something thats probably better than the above options.

I'm quite (very) new tot he game so would love to hear your thoughts
Click to expand...

If you get N'd then you have to shuffle your deck, so whatever you put on top with Mallow is most likely no longer on top. So with Mallow and Sandslash you would for sure get the one card you were looking for, but not necessarily the second unless you paired it with another way to grab a card like the Acro Bike as mentioned.

Lapras GX has seen some success. Ninetails is too new to have made a splash in the tournament scene, but should be decent with the right build. Garb is really expected to shine in a few decks. You can't go wrong with whichever of those you pick.
 
Thanks guys,

being new i'm still learning and sticking with the water theme I have seen online that octillery is a option some people run for draw power?
Does anyone have experience with this?
i have a drampa GX so will have the and Tapu lele so not sure if its work the deck space to add the octillery line plus again its a stage 1.
Also I'm having trouble finding what will be coming out of standard later this year as dive ball & rough seas are both breakpoints I would like to know before buying 3 of each.
Basically funds are pretty tight and would like to buy cards to go towards a deck I can play for allot of time to come.
Thanks again guys!
 
Kangdaddy said:
The advantage of using mallow and then picking them up with your standard draw and sandslash is that it prevent people using "n" as can happen with other draw strategies which happen as your turn finishes etc.
Click to expand...

If Mallow is worth using, it will be in conjunction with another draw effect to immediately access one or both of the cards placed on top of the deck. This is the strategy that made Oracle worth using in the past, though back then, it wasn't so bad to whiff on the draw part and get the card next turn.

Acrobike, Shaymin-EX (ROS), Octillery (BKT), and Alolan Sandslash are all options, I think. The latter might find its place specifically because of Mallow.
 
Some good ideas in this thread. I myself am looking to use mallow with some of those "check the top three cards of your deck, if any are energy do x" style attacks.

Kangdaddy said:
Basically funds are pretty tight and would like to buy cards to go towards a deck I can play for allot of time to come.
Click to expand...

Just as a general rule, your best bet is to trial run a deck like this on the online client where cards are cheap-to-free before you go investing.
 
I took out the Ns in my Vespiquen deck for Mallows and it was pretty helpful, I needed DCEs and 10 more damage to catch up so I mallowed for a DCE and a Klefki, used an Acro Bike, picked up the DCE, and discarded the Klefki to blast my opponent's M Mewtwo and won. However, something I did notice is when you're really stuck on cards Mallow is kind of useless. I think Mallow will definitely be something I put in to my decks that use Acro Bike because they combo so well. A 2-of or a 1-of but probably not a standalone engine. I haven't actually tried it as a standalone engine, though, because I need a fourth Mallow in TCGO. I'm going to try to get a fourth Mallow and then i'll see how it does by itself. Thanks guys! :)
 
So I've been trying Mallow in conjunction with Octillery. The key is to get Octillery out early. I run a 2-2 line and sometimes get both of them out. It's been good in precision draw decks that don't like to reshuffle or discard what's in your hand. I did something like this last rotation with a Gallade Garchomp deck where Korrina was my main driver. I've gone 4 and 2 with Solgaleo Metagross using Mallow and Skyla. I'm also going to try it with a Greninja Lapras build.
Acro Bike, Unown, and Scorched Earth are all potential cards that could help fuel a Mallow based engine. I'd also recommend Skyla and Teammates (Teammates more if running non EX / GX decks).
 
I tried Octillery+Mallow in my Passimian deck as well, even with the ridiculous amount of workaround I had to perform to get it into a Passimian deck, it came in clutch multiple times. In my Vespi deck I actually use it with Unown, Acro Bike, and Oranguru as supplemental support since the pieces were already there. A couple times it's actually won me a game, but i've also lost games because of not having an N. I think it's time to try it in my Golduck/Starmie deck as it already runs Octillery. Still hunting down a fourth Mallow though.
 
Kangdaddy said:
Thanks guys,

being new i'm still learning and sticking with the water theme I have seen online that octillery is a option some people run for draw power?
Does anyone have experience with this?
i have a drampa GX so will have the and Tapu lele so not sure if its work the deck space to add the octillery line plus again its a stage 1.
Also I'm having trouble finding what will be coming out of standard later this year as dive ball & rough seas are both breakpoints I would like to know before buying 3 of each.
Basically funds are pretty tight and would like to buy cards to go towards a deck I can play for allot of time to come.
Thanks again guys!
Click to expand...
Octillery is actually better than Shaymin in the right deck. Let me explain: Octillery provides steady draw over the course of the game, something that decks that need little set up first turn but consistent draw throughout the game really need. Shaymin provides instant burst draw for decks that need heavy draw first turn. Octillery is much more niche, as most decks would need a pretty crazy amount of workaround to fit it in. Octillery slides in perfectly to decks that run Level Ball or Dive Ball and lots of items to handshrink. Shaymin slides in pretty much anywhere. Shaymin is much more standard as it gives the burst draw that most popular decks need right now. Some decks actually need workaround to fit Shaymin in and thats usually where Octillery is used. Hope this was helpful! :)
 
So IMO I think the traditional Sycamore, N, Birch reshuffle/ discard engine is best for the basic decks like Passimian. I think the Mallow Skyla Teammates Octillery program will work best with Stage 2's and other evolutions decks.

But I could be wrong, and I don't really have any testing to support my theorymon.
 
21times said:
So IMO I think the traditional Sycamore, N, Birch reshuffle/ discard engine is best for the basic decks like Passimian. I think the Mallow Skyla Teammates Octillery program will work best with Stage 2's and other evolutions decks.

But I could be wrong, and I don't really have any testing to support my theorymon.
Click to expand...
Yeah pretty much figured that out with my Passimian deck xD
 
I use Octillery for this card and it works wonders in my game as it allows me to get what I need. I have a game showing what it does for my Pidgeot deck.

 
I think another really good Mallow combo in expanded is Musharna NXD, since you get any one card you want the turn you use Mallow with Forewarn, then if they don't use something to shuffle your deck the next turn you get another card of your choice.

I've been using it in Accelgor/Wobb to pretty good effect for the past few days.
 
Kietharr said:
I think another really good Mallow combo in expanded is Musharna NXD, since you get any one card you want the turn you use Mallow with Forewarn, then if they don't use something to shuffle your deck the next turn you get another card of your choice.

I've been using it in Accelgor/Wobb to pretty good effect for the past few days.
Click to expand...
Yeah, anything that reliably gets you cards off the top of your deck every turn is good for it. Octillery is probably the best as it can let you get both cards you need. I think this would be great in decks that need specific cards and not just the massive burn your deck stuff that everything seems to be right now.
 
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