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Standard Post Team Up Malamar Deck

Geist1848

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Deck List
Pokemon: 18
4 Inkay
4 Malamar
2 Jirachi
2 Giratina
2 Snorlax & Eevee TT GX
2 Tapu Koko
1 Necrozma GX
1 Tapu Lele GX

Energy: 11
3 DCE
8 Psychic Energy

Trainers: 31
4 Guzma
3 Cynthia
3 Erika’s Hospitality
2 Lillie
1 Acerola
4 Mysterious Treasure
3 Nest Ball
2 Ultra Ball
2 Escape Board
2 Rescue Stretcher
2 Switch
1 Buff Padding
2 Viridian Forest

I am restructuring my Malamar deck to include the new Snorlax and Eevee Tag Team GX and wanted some advice.

The first issue is regarding the inclusion of Jirachi or not. In the Zapdos Shrine and Jolteon/Zapdos decks I an also making, the Jirachi engine plays a central role but for it to work consistently it requires 3 or 4 copies. However, with Malamar I simply do not have that much room and Jirachi would serve as a supplement rather than a critical trainer draw engine since I only envision having room for 2 as the deck stands now. Therefore, the question is weather it is useful enough to warrant its inclusion if I only have room for two and could use the space for more classic Malamar techs like Promo Lele or Acro Bike (more issues with that later.)

Second is the question of Necrozma GX. I previously had Onix as a major part of the deck to counter Zoroark, but I am going with Snorlax/Eevee GX since it is useful against far more than just Zoroark. Necrozma for sure is useful for spread against GX and can win you games when behind, but I don't know if that slot can best be used if I included Promo Tapu Lele instead. So the question is should I keep Necrozma GX, replace it with Promo Lele, or cut one pokemon slot out to use for something like an additional DCE or another trainer?

Next is the Supporter engine. I think Acerola is very important and would like to include a second. But, since there are only 2 Snorlax/Eevee Tag Team GX , and since it is not the sole attacker in the deck, I don't know if including a second Acerola is worth it. As for draw Supporters I am excited about the new supprter Erika's Hospitality. I think it largely replaces the usefulness of Lillie outside of the first turn. While I certainly still will use Cynthia, I think 3 might be sufficient along with 3 Erika's Hospitality. My question is should I include another Lillie? Beyond the first turn and the very early start of the game it seems like Erika's Hospitality is superior for the most part. Since as now I am including no Altar of the Moone and will be trying to use the escape boards primarily with Jirachi, Guzma will me the the main means by which I can rotate out and in both the opponent's and my own pokemon. Snorlax/Eevee is a prize liability as much as a strength so rotation is very important for this deck. Is 4 Guzma a good idea or should I use 3?

The last issue is the engine to discard energy which is necessary for the Malamar energy acceleration to work. I used to run 4 Ultra Ball, 4 Acro Bike, and 4 Mysterious Treasure and never had any problems getting enough energy in the discard pile. I have cut the Acro Bikes and cut 2 Ultra Ball but have included 2 Viridian Forest which ideally will allow me to discard and draw energy. However, this trainer is a two edged sword and will allow the opponent to pull necessary energy as well. I am still uncertain if Viridan Forest is a better option than Altar of the Moone. But, as I planned on cutting Acro Bike and some of the Ultra Balls I feel that I need to have alternative ways of discarding energy. So my question is does the deck offer enough ways to get energy quickly in the discard pile of should I restructure the deck to re-include the Acro Bike and the 2 cut Ultra Ball, or some other option?

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to make sure those providing help understood what my ideas and concerns are. Any help or opinions are welcome.
 
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Jirachi isn’t worth it. I’d put in another DCE, too, and anything else you need.
I love the idea of Necrozma. And, now that I think about it, I’d go for another Psychic Energy with that Jirachi cut too, so you can pull off Megaton Friends GX. Black Ray GX and Tapu Cure GX are cool, but if you can use Megaton Friends GX to take a KO on turn 2, that’s such a massive advantage your opponent won’t be able to recover.
 
I'm not sure I love the Viridian Forest in Psychic Malamar. It's useful for finding energies of various types, but is it really going to help you more than it helps your opponent when you're playing a monochrome deck?

I'm also very mixed about the Buff Padding, and the second Eevee/Snorlax. One of unsearchables are pretty much the opposite of the point of the deck, and I'm not convinced you need to use that deck space on a second E/S when you still have a shot with Necrozma in those matchups when you do prize Eevee/Snorlax. I'd rather have a second Tapu Lele, probably, or a Dawn Wings Necrozma which I notice you removed but is one of my favorites for that deck.
 
Team Up Malamar is the deck I'm most excited about right now in the SuMo-Team Up meta. I've only played 5-6 games with it and I'm still trying to find the optimal 60 cards, but I'm having fun playing it. Here's my current list.

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

##Pokémon - 17

* 2 Eevee & Snorlax-GX TEU 120
* 2 Tapu Koko PR-SM SM30
* 1 Gengar & Mimikyu-GX TEU 53
* 1 Giratina PR-SM SM151
* 4 Inkay FLI 50
* 1 Marshadow SLG 45
* 1 Necrozma-GX BUS 134
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 137
* 4 Malamar FLI 51

##Trainer Cards - 32

* 2 Viridian Forest TEU 156
* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 4 Mysterious Treasure FLI 113
* 2 Switch SUM 132
* 1 Erika’s Hospitality TEU 140
* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 135
* 4 Acro Bike CES 123
* 4 Cynthia UPR 148
* 4 Guzma BUS 143
* 4 Lillie SLG 62
* 2 Nest Ball SUM 123

##Energy - 11

* 4 Double Colorless Energy SLG 69
* 7 Psychic Energy 5

Total Cards - 60

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

I tried using Jirachi but agree that if you're going to use it you really need to run 3-4 copies along with 3-4 Escape Boards and that just takes up so much space along with changing the way the deck runs. Malamar usually runs pretty smooth by itself because of all the search cards it has access to so I don't think you really need Jirachi. I do like Acro Bike in the deck which is why I run 4 but I think you can cut one if you need to make room for something else. I don't think the promo Lele makes a lot of sense in this build.
 
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