PlasmaKlang

Durant is almost a staple I feel like at this point - it's just too good not to include.

I don't love the Frozen City idea; mostly because the deck is very tight on space and it's worth playing Tropical Beach as your stadium rather than Frozen City which will probably just immediately get replaced by Virbank anyway.
 
I think Float Stone could work well in this deck - with or without Keldeo. If, for example, your Plasma Klinklang is getting Catcher-spammed by a Sableye, you can attach a Float Stone and then you don't have to draw a Switch every turn. It's not like you're going to be playing Switch, and then retreating in the same turn.

Float Stone would at least be played as a 1-off, and it would most definitely replace Escape Rope as your 5th Switching card.
 
I only like the float stone idea if you play Keldeo EX. I think that'd be a more optimal move. as with the frozen city, it could be good considering you'd be attaching to the PKK and move it around with the shiftgear KK to avoid the damage but I'd still choose to play lasers though
 
With more and more testing I'm feeling the need to go 2/1 with Cobalion-EX and regular Cobalion. When I'm playing against Keldeo-EX/Blastoise, they see that I'm opening with Klink/Cobalion and start slapping Energy on Blastoise and hit for 100 by T2/3, and I can't keep up. (Unless I somehow get both the PlasmaKlang and Shift Gear Klang up so I can Max Potion, it's not a big deal.) Regular Cobalion can Energy Press for 100+ when Blastoise is attacking. It's an OHKO if Blastoise has five Energy attached. That's ridiculously overpowered, and it only takes two Energy to charge up. Where do you guys stand? (Furthermore, you're only giving up a Prize Card with this guy too, and you can lock your opponent with Iron Breaker.)
 
I played 3 Cobalion EX's at Regionals (no Coba NV) and burned through all three Blastoise decks I played, including not having a Klinklang up in one of them until about turn 4-5. You just need to be mindful of where you're putting energy before the Klinklang BW goes up, after which you can slowly stall them out with max potion until you get enough energy on the field. After you KO a few Blastoise, they kinda just run themselves out of energy. You normally won't have to take down the maximum of 4 Blastoise and a BK regular because they won't have any resources left. Half the time they just deck out if you drag the game on long enough because they burn through their deck so quickly to get the energy and Blastoises that they need.

I like Energy Press, but I hate the vulnerable 120 HP and Cobalion EX is just a generally better attacker.
 
Whoa. That's unusual. When they're able to drop 4 Energy on that Blastoise, I get scared quickly. It forces me to play Max Potion and set up Shift Gear Klang fast. Without Energy acceleration, Blastoise can drop my Cobalion-EX and it's tough to recover three turns of Energy attachments. I dunno.
 
Spread your energy out. If you're in a bad spot, don't focus all of your energy on one Cobalion EX unless you know it's needed to take down something crucial. Always remember that PlasmaKlang has a pretty good attack also. Make sure to get that Shift Gear Klinklang up as fast as you can (running Klang helps a lot with this) and when it does go up, you're all set. Since they can't really OHKO a Cobalion EX, once your energy is mobile a switch is almost like a max potion; you can switch to a fresh Cobalion EX, move all of your energy to it, and then they need another two attacks to take your energy off the field. The combination of Switches and Max Potions pretty much tears them apart. As you said, the most crucial part of the matchup is getting that Shift Gear Klinklang out quickly (although remember to get the PlasmaKlang first.)
 
I have a couple of concerns with the current Klinklang version and how it will work during BRs.
If starting Cobalion EX is ideal against PlasmaBox, is it a good idea to run 3?
Also, since PlasmaBox will be really popular, how many Beaches should be run? You'll want to be attacking with Cobalion EX early game anyway, right?
And running more doesn't really matter much against Blastoise, since they'll be running Tropical Beach themsleves.

@Blah, how many Durant do you run?
 
I haven't done enough testing with PlasmaKlang in the new format to confirm anything, but yes, I think 3 Cobalion EX should still be run (and probably 1 Cobalion NV, it helps a lot against Kyurem and is a half-decent attacker for 2 energy.)

I still think Tropical Beach should be run. It's not just there for the early game - beaching mid-late game to refill your hand often isn't a bad idea. 2 is probably optimal if you can get your hands on them, although 1 is acceptable (as proven by my regionals run).

I ran, and will run, 1 Durant. You don't really need more than that as long as you run Super Rod.
 
Got it. I run 2 Klang, so I'm gonna test some more then and get back to you.

Registeel-EX sounds good in theory, being Heavy Ball-compatible and everything, but it's just not powerful enough. You can't 2HKO anything, and against opposing PlasmaKlang decks, you'll have one less Cobalion-EX to attack with. Triple Laser is nice, but three Energy for 90 to spread is just ok. If you could focus that damage to one Pokémon, that'd be pretty solid, but its second attack is what makes Registeel not worth running. Four for 80? And a built-in Eviolite? It's just ok. It stalls so you can 3HKO everything, but by that time it gives your opponent more time to get a surprise Victini out or charge up a non-EX. And that's not time we have to waste.
 
I don't know if it's that terrible, but it might just be a meta call since it's pretty good against PlasmaBox (in my testing, Kyurem just can't do a thing with this guy and catchers).
And (in my current build) it doesn't take away from my other attackers, since I also run 3 Cobalion EX and 1 Cobalion NV.

@Blah, I have access to 2 Tropical Beach, but still only play one. It's really good for set up (and late game), but since you'll be attacking most of the time against Plasma decks, it turns into a dead draw some games. Plus, if it's really needed, Skyla can search it out and Durant can get it back from the discard.
 
Don't you think fitting in at least 3 Enhanced Hammers or Lasers would swing the PlasmaBox matchup around a bit?
 
I run 2 HTL. I don't think Enhanced Hammers are necessary when an active Cobalion-EX is enough already. You force them to Raiden Knuckle every turn until they gain some sort of momentum, (which is unlikely by the time you get PlasmaKlang out), so HTL is the better option in my opinion. You can take advantage of their Virbank City Gym and will make Righteous Edge even more deadly when you're essentially doing 60 for 1 Energy.
 
point taken. but i still feel the need to tech in at least 1 hammer to discard the special energies on the bench to further disrupt my opponents setup

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It's nice to be a turn ahead when you can discard two Special Energy in one turn, not going to deny that. If you can squeeze one in your list, by all means go for it. I prefer to run Tool Scrapper instead.

I found Cobalion NV really helpful against PlasmaBox. Took out my opponent's Kyurem in one hit after an HTL. Two for 120? Yes please.
 
Cobalion NVI is really good at taking down those pesky Kyurems. And, after they are down, the lock in unbreakable if the opponent is not running Snorlax
 
I played this deck last week and it was tons of fun. Played a Blastoise/Keldeo with my opponent having two fully loaded Keldeo's ready and once plasmaklang came out it was over. Took out Blastoise then his remaining squirtles.
 
That's the only strategy you need right there. You just lock down your opponent, keep the pressure on, and then shake their hand. What a lovely deck.
 
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