Blog No More Night March! Celebrating the New Standard Format and Some Theorymon

Personally, for the Autumn Regionals I'm going to be running M Rayquaza. I'm testing it with Manaphy, Glaceon, Octillery, and of course Hoopa and Shaymin. However I'm debating between running a 1-1 Zebstrika or 1-1 Altaria line. I feel Zebstrika is a fine enough attacker, however I often find myself Compressing it away because it's not that useful in most situations, and would rather just thin out the deck, or save my bench space for another Pokemon. Altaria could be more useful, as I feel like it's unnecessary to have a secondary attacker, when you could just attack with M Rayquaza while removing the Lightning weakness off your back. Plus it has the Delta Plus, so you can get it into play when you first play Swablu:

Here's my Pokemon list by the way:
3x M Rayquaza-EX (Colorless)
2x Rayquaza-EX (Colorless)
2x Rayquaza-EX (Dragon)
2x Shaymin-EX
1x Glaceon-EX
1x Manaphy-EX
1x Hoopa-EX
2x Octillery
2x Remoraid
1x Zebstrika/Altaria
1x Blitzle/Swablu

*I wish I could add 2 more Shaymin-EX, but there to expensive, so I find Octillery the best option to keep this deck running smoothly without having to spend $200 on Shaymins.*
 
Right, there's no way Volcanion will replace Blacksmith but boy will it be a staple. Volcanion/EX/Scorched Earth could very well be the Fire-type engine it's looking for.

Volacnion/Volcanion EX/Scorched earth/acrobike is a very legit engine from the testing I've done. But Acrobike is a key player, 3 or 4 of guaranteed.
 
@Draaka i didn't think about Acro Bike! I forgot it was in Primal Clash. I would expect to see more of this card seeing as it might have a little utility with VS Seeker and Mega Turbo. And in the case of Pokémon that accelerate Energy from the discard pile, then it's even better in that regard.
 
Volacnion/Volcanion EX/Scorched earth/acrobike is a very legit engine from the testing I've done. But Acrobike is a key player, 3 or 4 of guaranteed.
Unfortunately, the new Infernape doesn't benefit from Volcanion half of the engine because it's a Stage 2 and his main attraction, Flare Up, wants energies to stay in the discard pile. Kinda disappointed that Infernape came one expansion too late to really shine in Standard.
 
Tbh I wasn't considering infernape, purely the Voctocanion? Octcano? Volcanion squared? (an eight volcanion deck, 4 baby, 4 EX). I'm sure there is a terrible pun in this decks name somewhere...

I feel your pain about infernape, but who knows what the future holds, and it could work wonders in expanded with all the weird and wonderful combos available out there. (seriously expanded is huuuuuuge, you CAN build a playable infernape deck for local league play if you try hard enough). You could put a volcanion (baby) out for a turn and attack, set up some stuff on your bench, then ninja boy it into a chimchar then rarecandy it as Volcanion has been in play for a turn so you can evolve the chimchar you replace it with. I dunno how that helps or speeds up the deck but it's just something random that can be done in standard. I've worked nine days in a row with no break, so my mind is fried, but I'm sure there is a exploit in ninjaboy/rarecandy somewhere around standard. Chimchar might be it.
 
With Talonflame I could see some attempt at bringing Stage-2s back. I mean, N is still a thing so they can bounce back the Candy and whatever Stage-2 card you needed for next turn but it might be worth considering.
 
I don't like Talonflame. If you don't start with it, it's dead weight. Pure Ultra Ball fodder and nothing else. I guess you can toss it with Acro Bike if you get lucky, but that along with the whole N thing makes it sound super inconsistent and not worth the time.
 
I might see Talonflame in Battle Compressor decks for Expanded builds more than anything. I agree on it being a dead draw, but dat early game consistency might be all you need for one Prize.
 
One other card I think could counter the Primals... How about Pinsir? Sure, you'd need a Grass energy and a DCE to attack with it, but it is a simple Basic that can 1-hit those two threats. You just have to keep Manaphy in check with Hex Maniac, and it could help against these matchups.
 
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