Monarchy (Nidoking/queen tank)

[Shinigami]

So, my first States is this weekend. I'm nervous and excited, to say the least. I finally got the final pieces of my deck last night after MONTHS of searching and digging through binders. Please be gentle, as this is my first States and I'm rather new to the TCG as a whole. On to the deck!

Pokemon- 25
4 Spiritomb AR 032
1 Azelf LA 019
2 Uxie LA 043
4-2-3/1 Nidoking (TM 070, RR 074, TM 006, RR 029)
3-2-2/1 Nidoqueen (TM 069, TM 045, RR 030,TM 028)

Trainer/Supporter/Stadium- 20
1 Luxury Ball SF 086
2 Warp Point MD 088
2 Super Scoop Up UL 083
2 Expert Belt AR 087
3 Rare Candy UL 082
1 Twins TM 089
2 Cynthia's Feelings LA 131
2 Bebe's Search RR 089
3 Pokemon Collector HS 097
2 Broken Time-Space PL 104

Energy- 15
5 Fighting Energy
4 Rainbow Energy HS 104
4 Double Colorless Energy HS 103
2 Rescue Energy TM 090

Basic Strategy: The deck is very straighforward. Get as many Nidoqueen and maybe Nidoking RR onto the bench as fast as possible with a Nidoking TM in the Active spot, preferably with an Expert Belt attached, and tank your way to victory. If that doesn't pan out, Nidoking RR and Nidoqueen RR are perfectly acceptable as attackers as well.

My choices: First, obviously, was the choice to play Monarchy at all. I realize that it's a very slow deck in a very fast format, but I like the flow and feel of the deck. As a newer player with a limited cardpool, I had to build something that stood at least a small chance while maintaining a budget and simplicity.

Rainbow Energy-I can't tell you how much this deck needs it. There's no real drawback (thanks, Maternal Comfort!), and it's extremely rare that I can't find a place to put it.

Super Scoop Up- This is in debate right now. I've never been a fan of helping my opponent out, which is why i don't run Seeker at the moment. But SSU is only a 50-50 shot, and I'm seriously considering switching over to Seeker for States.

Cynthia's Feelings- It does quite a few things in this deck. Obviously, if one of my Pokemon is KO'ed, I draw a nice full hand, and can probably set myself up for a nice turn. Second, and this is the imprtant part, it gets around a couple of the big decks in the format. Played effectively, it keeps your hand free of Trainers for VileGar, or Pokemon for LostGar/LostPlume, which is why I chose to run it over Professor Oak's New Theory.

What I want to do with the deck- If there's a way to make it any faster, I'd love to hear it. I think that with intelligent play, the deck stands to surprise a lot of people. And if there are any cards I might have missed that would seem effective, please, let me know. Thanks in advance for all the help guys, I really appreciate it!

 

[The Yoshi]

A Pokemon set-up like this would be so much more helpful:

4-2-3/1 Nidoking TM/RR
3-2-2/1 Nidoqueen RR/TM
4 Spiritomb AR
2 Uxie LA
1 Azelf LA

I don't think Nidoqueen TM is needed. If anything, another Nidoqueen RR is best to use. Your lines of King/Queen should be 4-3-4 and 3-2-3 for consistency.

For your T/S/S line, you may want to use Palmer's Contribution from SV. It helps with recovery so you can set up again. You can drop Twins for this. Cynthia's Feelings is good, but this deck doesn't focus on being knocked out turn after turn. I would rather use Copycat.

For energy, you don't need 4 DCE. Cut it down to 2 or so to beef up the lines as I suggested earlier, and to add Palmer's.

So, in summary:

-1 Nidoran M
-1 Nidoqueen TM
-2 DCE
-1 Twins
-2 Cynthia's Feelings

+1 Nidorino
+1 Nidoqueen RR
+1 Palmer's Contribution
+2 Copycat/PONT/Judge/Looker's(hand refresh, basically)
+1 Bebe's Search
+1 Fighting Energy

Hope this helped.

 

[Shinigami]

I'll edit the main post for ease of reading.

I'm finding that the lines are fairly consistent as is, but you might be right in suggesting another Nidorino, I'd probably cut the Twins for that. I run the one Nidoqueen TM to handle Umbreon, so she has to stay. Otherwise, I auto-lose to Moonlight Fang.

The deck really does need all that DCE. Every 'king and 'queen has a DCE in their attacks, so I run four for consistency. Running only two would probably shaft me on energy when i need it most. I MIGHT cut it down to three for either a Psychic or a Call energy, I'm not sure which yet.

I'm out of Palmer's, but I do have two Flower Shop Lady I could throw in. I'll give it a shot. I'm also switching over to Seeker rather than SSU to get around Trainer-lock.