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Expanded Ninja Box - Lost Origin

Laurier_Ex

Ninja master
Member
Tired of playing the same meta decks over and over again? Looking for a competitive deck that is ultra versatile and will remain viable after every expansion with very little maintenance? Search no more because the Ninja Box mechanic is the way to go.

While people will obviously have doubt about the viability of such a deck due to the fact it works on some odd mechanic, rest assured that the deck showed good performance and results on a meaningful timeline. As a matter of fact, in the last 3 tournaments I have played online, I ended finalist in two of them and won the other while I maintained on average a win rate between 60-70% on the PTCGO ladder.

With no further ado, let me present you the Ninja Boy deck or should I say, one of the many Ninja Boy deck because it can be played in so many different ways. I have tweaked the deck over the past years since the Ninja Boy card has been printed. While the current iteration of the deck is far from what it was in it's early days, the core essence remains. Because of the fact that this deck is so versatile, I will underline cards that should be treated as tech cards and give afterwards different options of replacing these cards against the most classic encounters of the current meta.


****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 16

* 1 Arceus V BRS 166
* 1 Arceus VSTAR BRS 184
* 2 Crobat V LOR 237
* 1 Drapion V LOR 182
* 1 Galarian Moltres V BRS 183
* 1 Clefairy EVO 63
* 1 Galarian Zapdos V BRS 182

* 1 Radiant Charizard PGO 11
* 1 Dedenne-GX UNB 195
* 1 Jolteon-EX GEN 28
* 1 Xurkitree-GX UPR 142
* 1 Girafarig LOT 94

* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 137
* 1 Lumineon V BRS 155
* 1 Phione CEC 57

##Trainer Cards - 31

* 1 Professor Sycamore STS 114
* 1 N FCO 105
* 1 Scramble Switch PLS 129
* 1 Wally ROS 107
* 1 Thorton LOR 195
* 3 Ninja Boy STS 103
* 1 Marnie SSH 200
* 2 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
* 2 Choice Belt BRS 135
* 1 PokéNav CES 181
* 2 Ultra Ball SUM 161
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 3 VS Seeker ROS 110
* 1 Field Blower GRI 163
* 4 Pokémon Communication TEU 196
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 216
* 1 Guzma BUS 115

##Energy - 13

* 2 Lightning Energy SMEnergy 4
* 4 Double Colorless Energy GRI 166
* 2 Darkness Energy SMEnergy 7
* 4 Prism Energy NXD 93
* 1 Triple Acceleration Energy UNB 190

Total Cards - 60

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******


The Ninja Boy mechanic is something to get used to and is not intuitive at first sight. The card as more depth to it than meets the eye. It can be used to indirectly improve draw power by recycling Crobat V, Dedenne Gx, Tapu Lele Gx and Lumineon V. This makes it so that you usually will want to keep your Pokémon attacker of choice in your deck for the surprise attack and attach your energy to your support Pokémon's instead. It can also be used as a mean to retreat from the active in order to allow a bench Pokémon to attack if you were unable to draw that Float Stone by turning your active Pokémon into a Pokémon with 0 retreat cost. And there is much more to it.

With the latest patch release, we have seen the introduction of a card that synergize well with the deck:

- Thorton: A good alternative to Rescue Stretcher. Since the deck plays one Pokémon of each, this card can come in very handy in the middle or later stages of the game.

About the deck and ways to tweak it:

The cards I would consider using against most decks:

- Arceus V-VStar: The ability is insane and the attack provides energy acceleration.
- Phione: Phione is used to clear bench space and helps to avoid loosing to Guzma when your win condition is stall.

Tech cards for matchups against the current most played expanded decks:

1. Shadow Rider: Galarian Moltress V, Tauros Gx, Drapion V, Starmie V, Crobat VMax
2. ADP Dragonite: Ninetales V, Clefairy EVO, Pokemon Ranger
3. Tsareena: Jolteon Ex, Tauros Gx, Ninetales V
4. Stall: Jolteon Ex, Phione (using it to clear the bench)
5. Mew3 Gx Weavile: Jolteon Ex, Tauros Gx, Zapdos V, Mew3 Gx
6. Trashapult: Jolteon Ex, Tauros Gx, Galarian Moltress, Wobbuffet V
7. Meloetta: Drapion V, Jolteon Ex, Galarian Moltress, Vikavolt V, Yveltal Celebrations
8. Ultra Necrozma: Wobbuffet V, Big Parasol (pile up energy on Wobbuffet and deck them out)
9. Fusion Strike: Drapion V, Galarian Moltress, Vikavolt V, Yveltal Celebrations
10. Volcarona: Jolteon Ex, Lumineon V
11. ADP, Palkia: Clefairy EVO, Raikou V, Tapu Koko Gx
12. Eggrow: Ninetales V, Wobbuffet V
13. Tinachomp: Xurkitree Gx, Jolteon Ex
14. Dialga: Magearna Ex, Big Parasol
15. Arceus Malamar: Zapdos V, Hisuian Lilligant V, Shaymin V, Buzzwole&Pheromosa Gx
16. Dracozolt V: Zapdos V
17. Mad Party: Jolteon Ex, Xurkitree Gx

There are many more cards to explore and to add depending on the situation so this does not stop here. Here are some other cards worth mentioning because they find some niche uses:

- Comfey GRI, Virizion V: Counters deck that rely on special conditions
- Regirock Promo: A very special card that can be used to trick some decks due to the fact that it prevents all effect of trainer cards
- Unown AOR: Phione's predecessor which used to serve the same purpose, cleaning the bench space
Enamorous V: While I do not see sufficient reasons to use this card at the moment, if hitting for psychic weakness was a thing and it could block some meta defining abilities maybe this card could find it's way into the deck.
- Girafarig LOT: Very useful card against some mill decks or decks that run a one of you need to get rid of. Lusamine, Pokemon Ranger or V-Union parts are exemple of card that can be sent to the lost zone in order for you to break your opponents strategy.
- Latias-Ex: A good way to stall decks relying only upon Pokémon with abilities.

I hope you enjoyed the review but more important, will enjoy playing the deck. Hoping to see some of you around on the ladder board for some fun.

Cheers,
 
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