Standard Mega Gardevoir & Friends

[Rooie]

Pokemon: 15

• 4 Gardevoir-EX (STS)
• 3 M Gardevoir-EX (STS)
• 3 Shaymin-EX (ROS)
• 2 Hoopa-EX (AOR)
• 2 Dragonite-EX (EVO)
• 1 Rattata (EVO)

Trainers: 37

• 3 Professor Sycamore
• 2 N
• 2 Hex Maniac
• 2 Lysandre
• 2 Skyla

• 4 VS Seeker
• 4 Ultra Ball
• 3 Trainers' Mail
• 2 Mega Turbo
• 2 Super Rod
• 1 Escape Rope
• 1 Switch
• 1 Buddy-Buddy Rescue
• 1 Professor's Letter

• 4 Gardevoir Spirit Link
• 3 Sky Field

Energies: 8

• 8 Fairy Energy

Strategy:
You load up your Sky Fielded bench, toss away any pesky Fighting Fury Belts with Rattata and one-shot (almost) anything with less than 200 HP or two-shot anything with more than 200 HP (and you don't even need to discard anything to one-shot Shaymin-EX or Hoopa-EX!). Super Rods, Dragonite-EXs and Buddy-Buddy Rescue help refill your bench for another Despair Ray if need be.

Some possible considerations:

• +1 Hawlucha (STS). The ability can be really good at times and it can be reused, unlike an Escape Rope.
  
• +1 Absol (ROS). Being able to functionally do 220 damage sounds amazing, and it's practically a direct Gyarados counter which is a nice plus. It does require spreading some damage against non-Gyarados decks, though, which might prove to be a bit difficult.
• +1 Rattata (EVO). Prizing your only one against a belted Pokemon with more than 190 HP sounds like the kind of Hell I never want to end up in.
• +1 Basic Pokemon that has no retreat cost. Could be useful for Escape Rope shenanigans, and it can be discarded away so it could very well be something really weak like an STS Joltik.
• +n Basic Pokemon with useful abilities. I think one of the strongest elements of M-Gardy is being able to use something like EVO Rattata without it becoming a liability on your bench. However, I can't scour through every single standard-legal basic Pokemon, so if anyone has any suggestions, they're very welcome.

• -1 Skyla. I'm definitely keeping at least one (and I'd like to keep two because I have two full ar- I mean, because they're super useful, yes), but the other one might indeed be a bit superfluous.
• -1 N. I'm slowly leaning towards the "N generally does more good than bad to your opponent" camp, and if I fall behind in prizes, I can most likely find the one copy I have or simply VS Seeker it.
• +1 Giovanni's Scheme. We're slowly going into jank territory, but 190 is kind of a sloppy amount of damage, because it doesn't one-shot any Mega. With Giovanni, you could do 210 (which is coincidentally the perfect number for a mirror match) or even 240 if you pair it up with Absol. Throw in a Meowstic-EX and you can one-shot a Wailord-EX, officially becoming the God of Jank.

• +1 Escape Rope or Switch. Two "switching cards" doesn't quite feel like it's enough.
• +1 Mega Turbo. Gardevoir isn't very energy-hungry, but being able to load one up in one turn is sweet. 2 Mega Turbos does seem like a good amount, though (especially with 2 Skylas).

• +1 Sky Field (or +1 Delinquent). Stadium wars are serious business.
• +1 Parallel City. Might be good against Rayquaza or Raichu. I dunno.

 

[Neb714]

I'm curious how buddy buddy had been working for you. I never considered it in my testing, but it seems descent. Instant 10 damage, can be played under Garbodor, and can be obtain with Skyla. Still, Skyla for UB hoopa, UB Dragonite,or lysandre/VS, all seem generally better.
I dislike professor's letter, although with the 2 Skyla it may can be useful to guarantee energy, I think it's much weaker than a potential Hawlucha or Absol as you've considered. Wondering what you've been liking about letter.
Parallel city is very useful for Ray, which without the parallel is a very difficult match up. Olympia may have a place in the deck if you feel more than two switch cards are necessary.

 

[Rooie]

I'm curious how buddy buddy had been working for you.

I haven't played very much with this deck yet, but the beauty of Buddy-Buddy Rescue is that you can use it to retrieve Dragonite, which you can then use to retrieve two more Pokemon. Use Super Rod to put Shaymins back into the deck, retrieve Hoopa and Rattata with Dragonite, get the Shaymin with Hoopa and bam, you've got a full bench and a full hand.

I dislike professor's letter, although with the 2 Skyla it may can be useful to guarantee energy, I think it's much weaker than a potential Hawlucha or Absol as you've considered. Wondering what you've been liking about letter.

Maybe I'm just not playing well, but I feel like I don't have enough energy very often. Having a guaranteed way of getting some with Skyla -> Professor's Letter is pretty nice.

Parallel city is very useful for Ray, which without the parallel is a very difficult match up.

True dat. Played against one and lost almost right away. I'm just not sure what to replace with PC.

Olympia may have a place in the deck if you feel more than two switch cards are necessary.

That's a good point. If I put Hawlucha in, I could probably replace the Escape Rope with Olympia.

 

[Y-Guy3]

Cut the skyla's, add a shaymin ex and a trainers' mail. Cut the professors letter and add a hawlucha.