What's up PokeBeach!?
I am back on the forums to post a deck that has been on my mind a bit lately. While attending one of my local Leagues, I had the opportunity to play against a deck that, at first seemed kind of trivial, but upon closer inspection appeared to be incredibly viable in the Post-Rotation Format. I will get into the decklist now before I begin to explain things.
The List:
Now, for the explaining part of things...
Marshadow-GX:
Marshadow-GX is the main focus of the deck, and was a card that reccieved quite a bit of hype when it was first announced, because of it's Ability, Shadow Hunt. Shadow Hunt allows Marshadow to use any attacks of Basic Pokemon in the Discard Pile, so long as the Energy requirements are met, much like Mew-EX from the BW Era. However, because the Attacks must be from Pokemon in the Discard, a few interesting strategies arise.
Aside from it's Ability, Marshadow also has 1 Attack, as well as it's GX Attack, available for use.
-The attack Beatdown, for 2 Fighting and 1 Colorless Energy, does 120 Damage with no additional effects.
-The GX Attack, Peerless Hundred Blows, for 1 Fighting, does 50 Damage times the amount of Basic Energy attached to Marshadow.
So, the first attack on it's own isn't all that impressive. 120 Damage for 3 Energy is not bad, but with no added effects, it might not seem like the best choice. However, coupled with 2 Strong Energy, a Fighting Fury Belt or Choice Band, and Professor Kukui, this attack can easily do a fair amount of Damage with ease.
The GX Attack itself is not all that useful, but can be used in an Emergency to take out a large threat.
The Backup Attackers:
Ok, this is where the deck starts to get a bit interesting. Marshadow, on it's own, is not all that impressive, but, when combined with other cards, makes the deck run quite well. There are several backup attackers included in this deck, and I will address them individually:
Turtonator-GX:
Only used for it's first Attack, Shell Trap, this card is a great addition to this deck. When discarded and combined with Marshadow, the Damage output on Shell Trap can go from a meager 20, to 60+ Damage easily due to Strong Energy, Fighting Fury Belt/Choice Band, and Kukui. With the added effect of forcing the Defending Pokemon to take 80 Damage for attacking, this card greatly increases the strength of the deck. If needed, this card can be used against Metagross-GX as an attacker, but does not get the Damage boost from Strong Energy, but can still hit for 60-140 Damage, depending on what cards are used with it.
*60 Damage with Fighting Fury Belt.
*100 Damage with Choice Band, or FFB and Kukui.
*140 Damage with Choice Band and Kukui.
(Please note, Weakness has been applied.)
Zygarde 10% Forme:
This is a very interesting card in this deck for many reasons. It has 2 attacks, one of which is a great way to counter a few current decks: Aura Break. This attack, for 1 Fighting and a Double Colorless Energy, does 70 Damage, and, if the Defending Pokemon is a Dark or Fairy Type Pokemon, it cannot attack during your opponent's next turn. IF you have been keeping track of the recent additions to the game, this is actually quite useful. This attack can be used against Gardevoir-GX to keep it from attacking, or against Darkrai-EX/GX in the same way (and hitting for Weakness. When combined with just one Strong Energy or a Kukui, this attack OKO's Darkrai so long as it doesn't have a Fighting Fury Belt.).
Tauros-GX:
This card can be quite useful, especially if Marshadow is beginning to accumulate a lot of Damage. Rage and Mad Bull-GX are used to for this purpose, discouraging your opponent from Damaging Marshadow or Tauros.
Glaceon-EX:
Ok, before you get confused/mad/etc, hear me out. Glaceon is a wonderful card in the current format, especially against very Evolution-heavy decks (Ex: Gardevoir, Metagross, etc.). By using Crystal Ray, you stop attacks from Evolution Pokemon during your opponent's next turn. Though it does require a Water Energy to use (I have included 2 in the Deck for this reason), when used via Marshadow, the base 70 Damage can be further increased by Tools/Strong Energy/Kukui. Second Bite can also be used to help finish off a previously Damaged Pokemon.
Tapu Lele-GX:
Now, here is another place where things start to get a little interesting. Tapu Lele, while usually used to set up, is also an incredible attacker when used with Marshadow. It's attack, Energy Drive, which does 20 Damage times the amount of Energy attached to both Active Pokemon (though unaffected Weakness/Resistace), helps deal with threats that use quite a bit of Energy, most notably Gardevoir, by forcing your opponent to make decisions on where and how to use Energy. With Tools/Strong Energy/Kukui boosting the Damage, it becomes very easy to take out potential threats.
That should do it for attackers. Now, I will move onto a few other things I have included:
Extras:
3x Po Town:
This card punished Gardevoir, Metagross, and any other decks that rely on Evolution Pokemon by placing 3 Damage Counters on a Pokemon when it evolves. With manually Evolving a Basic to a Stage 2, you are getting a free 60 Damage out of it. Now, if I am not mistaken, because Rare Candy requires you to play the Pokemon from your hand to Evolve, I believe the Damage is also applied.
1x Parallel City:
Used to help get Pokemon into the Discard, or to force an opponent to work with a smaller Bench size. If you are looking to add a second one, you could drop 1 Po Town.
2x Field Blower:
Having 2 Field Blower allows you to keep Tools off of the opponent's Pokemon, and helps shut off Garbotoxin (Which almost completely shuts this deck down), as well as get rid of any unwanted Stadiums.
1x Delinquent:
This card is mostly to be used mid-to-late game to help clear off a Po Town or other unwanted Stadium, and force your opponent to get rid of a few cards in the process.
That is all that I feel I need to explain for the time being. If you have questions regarding why I put something in the deck, please feel free to ask. Now, I feel like it is important I suggest a few things that I personally would like to see added to the list, and some of my reasoning behind it. I don't really have much that I would like to change, other than possibly adding 1 Mew/Mew-EX, just in case I am unable to Discard the Pokemon I need for Marshadow, and instead must Bench them. Mew can also be used to hit for Weakness against Espeon/Garb.
Due to Marshadow being weak to Psychic, I would also like to try and fit in 1-2 Weakness Policy, where possible, though the extra Items do not help with Garbodor.
Possible Changes:
Ok, because I am not quite done with my this thread, I am going to call this Post 1. I will now make a second post with a few more pieces of information that I would hope is useful. Please refrain from posting until after the second post has been made, so I have enough chance to explain myself.
Thanks,
-AV
I am back on the forums to post a deck that has been on my mind a bit lately. While attending one of my local Leagues, I had the opportunity to play against a deck that, at first seemed kind of trivial, but upon closer inspection appeared to be incredibly viable in the Post-Rotation Format. I will get into the decklist now before I begin to explain things.
The List:
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 13
* 1 Tauros-GX SUM 100
* 4 Marshadow-GX BUS 80
* 2 Zygarde FAC 52
* 2 Turtonator-GX GRI 18
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 2 Glaceon-EX FAC 20
##Trainer Cards - 33
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 3 Po Town BUS 121
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 1 Acerola BUS 112
* 3 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 2 Special Charge STS 105
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 3 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 2 N FAC 105
* 3 Choice Band GRI 121
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 2 Professor Kukui SUM 128
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
##Energy - 14
* 4 Strong Energy FAC 115
* 4 Fighting Energy 6
* 2 Water Energy 3
* 4 Double Colorless Energy SUM 136
Total Cards - 60
****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******
##Pokémon - 13
* 1 Tauros-GX SUM 100
* 4 Marshadow-GX BUS 80
* 2 Zygarde FAC 52
* 2 Turtonator-GX GRI 18
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 2 Glaceon-EX FAC 20
##Trainer Cards - 33
* 1 Lillie SUM 122
* 3 Po Town BUS 121
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 1 Acerola BUS 112
* 3 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 2 Special Charge STS 105
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 3 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 2 N FAC 105
* 3 Choice Band GRI 121
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 2 Professor Kukui SUM 128
* 1 Delinquent BKP 98
##Energy - 14
* 4 Strong Energy FAC 115
* 4 Fighting Energy 6
* 2 Water Energy 3
* 4 Double Colorless Energy SUM 136
Total Cards - 60
****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******
Now, for the explaining part of things...
Marshadow-GX:
Marshadow-GX is the main focus of the deck, and was a card that reccieved quite a bit of hype when it was first announced, because of it's Ability, Shadow Hunt. Shadow Hunt allows Marshadow to use any attacks of Basic Pokemon in the Discard Pile, so long as the Energy requirements are met, much like Mew-EX from the BW Era. However, because the Attacks must be from Pokemon in the Discard, a few interesting strategies arise.
Aside from it's Ability, Marshadow also has 1 Attack, as well as it's GX Attack, available for use.
-The attack Beatdown, for 2 Fighting and 1 Colorless Energy, does 120 Damage with no additional effects.
-The GX Attack, Peerless Hundred Blows, for 1 Fighting, does 50 Damage times the amount of Basic Energy attached to Marshadow.
So, the first attack on it's own isn't all that impressive. 120 Damage for 3 Energy is not bad, but with no added effects, it might not seem like the best choice. However, coupled with 2 Strong Energy, a Fighting Fury Belt or Choice Band, and Professor Kukui, this attack can easily do a fair amount of Damage with ease.
The GX Attack itself is not all that useful, but can be used in an Emergency to take out a large threat.
The Backup Attackers:
Ok, this is where the deck starts to get a bit interesting. Marshadow, on it's own, is not all that impressive, but, when combined with other cards, makes the deck run quite well. There are several backup attackers included in this deck, and I will address them individually:
Turtonator-GX:
Only used for it's first Attack, Shell Trap, this card is a great addition to this deck. When discarded and combined with Marshadow, the Damage output on Shell Trap can go from a meager 20, to 60+ Damage easily due to Strong Energy, Fighting Fury Belt/Choice Band, and Kukui. With the added effect of forcing the Defending Pokemon to take 80 Damage for attacking, this card greatly increases the strength of the deck. If needed, this card can be used against Metagross-GX as an attacker, but does not get the Damage boost from Strong Energy, but can still hit for 60-140 Damage, depending on what cards are used with it.
*60 Damage with Fighting Fury Belt.
*100 Damage with Choice Band, or FFB and Kukui.
*140 Damage with Choice Band and Kukui.
(Please note, Weakness has been applied.)
Zygarde 10% Forme:
This is a very interesting card in this deck for many reasons. It has 2 attacks, one of which is a great way to counter a few current decks: Aura Break. This attack, for 1 Fighting and a Double Colorless Energy, does 70 Damage, and, if the Defending Pokemon is a Dark or Fairy Type Pokemon, it cannot attack during your opponent's next turn. IF you have been keeping track of the recent additions to the game, this is actually quite useful. This attack can be used against Gardevoir-GX to keep it from attacking, or against Darkrai-EX/GX in the same way (and hitting for Weakness. When combined with just one Strong Energy or a Kukui, this attack OKO's Darkrai so long as it doesn't have a Fighting Fury Belt.).
Tauros-GX:
This card can be quite useful, especially if Marshadow is beginning to accumulate a lot of Damage. Rage and Mad Bull-GX are used to for this purpose, discouraging your opponent from Damaging Marshadow or Tauros.
Glaceon-EX:
Ok, before you get confused/mad/etc, hear me out. Glaceon is a wonderful card in the current format, especially against very Evolution-heavy decks (Ex: Gardevoir, Metagross, etc.). By using Crystal Ray, you stop attacks from Evolution Pokemon during your opponent's next turn. Though it does require a Water Energy to use (I have included 2 in the Deck for this reason), when used via Marshadow, the base 70 Damage can be further increased by Tools/Strong Energy/Kukui. Second Bite can also be used to help finish off a previously Damaged Pokemon.
Tapu Lele-GX:
Now, here is another place where things start to get a little interesting. Tapu Lele, while usually used to set up, is also an incredible attacker when used with Marshadow. It's attack, Energy Drive, which does 20 Damage times the amount of Energy attached to both Active Pokemon (though unaffected Weakness/Resistace), helps deal with threats that use quite a bit of Energy, most notably Gardevoir, by forcing your opponent to make decisions on where and how to use Energy. With Tools/Strong Energy/Kukui boosting the Damage, it becomes very easy to take out potential threats.
That should do it for attackers. Now, I will move onto a few other things I have included:
Extras:
3x Po Town:
This card punished Gardevoir, Metagross, and any other decks that rely on Evolution Pokemon by placing 3 Damage Counters on a Pokemon when it evolves. With manually Evolving a Basic to a Stage 2, you are getting a free 60 Damage out of it. Now, if I am not mistaken, because Rare Candy requires you to play the Pokemon from your hand to Evolve, I believe the Damage is also applied.
1x Parallel City:
Used to help get Pokemon into the Discard, or to force an opponent to work with a smaller Bench size. If you are looking to add a second one, you could drop 1 Po Town.
2x Field Blower:
Having 2 Field Blower allows you to keep Tools off of the opponent's Pokemon, and helps shut off Garbotoxin (Which almost completely shuts this deck down), as well as get rid of any unwanted Stadiums.
1x Delinquent:
This card is mostly to be used mid-to-late game to help clear off a Po Town or other unwanted Stadium, and force your opponent to get rid of a few cards in the process.
That is all that I feel I need to explain for the time being. If you have questions regarding why I put something in the deck, please feel free to ask. Now, I feel like it is important I suggest a few things that I personally would like to see added to the list, and some of my reasoning behind it. I don't really have much that I would like to change, other than possibly adding 1 Mew/Mew-EX, just in case I am unable to Discard the Pokemon I need for Marshadow, and instead must Bench them. Mew can also be used to hit for Weakness against Espeon/Garb.
Due to Marshadow being weak to Psychic, I would also like to try and fit in 1-2 Weakness Policy, where possible, though the extra Items do not help with Garbodor.
Possible Changes:
+1 Mew-EX, or the Basic Mew from Fates Collide, for a more budget-friendly option.
+1-2 Weakness Policy, for Espeon/Garb Matchups.
+1-2 Weakness Policy, for Espeon/Garb Matchups.
Ok, because I am not quite done with my this thread, I am going to call this Post 1. I will now make a second post with a few more pieces of information that I would hope is useful. Please refrain from posting until after the second post has been made, so I have enough chance to explain myself.
Thanks,
-AV
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