Standard Psychic Terrors (Alakazam and Gengar)

[Decibal]

New to the forums, thought I would share my current starting deck on TCG, any and all feedback would be great!


Pokemon: 16

• 4 Alakazam EX FAC
• 2 M Alakazam EX FAC
• 1 Hoopa EX
• 1 Mewtwo EX (scatter shot)
• 3 Ghastly
• 3 Haunter
• 2 Gengar

Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums: 32

• 1 VS Seeker
• 1 Repeat Ball
• 1 Random Reciever
• 1 Town Map
• 2 Devolution Spray
• 1 Ultra Ball
• 2 Prof. Letter
• 2 Switch
• 2 Reserved Ticket
• 2 Alakazam Spirit Link
• 1 Super Rod
• 1 Delinquent
• 2 Prof. Birch's Observations
• 2 N
• 2 Lysandre
• 2 Tierno
• 2 Brigette
• 2 Wally
• 1 Teammates
• 1 Parallel City
• 1 Bursting Balloon

Energy: 12

• Psychic Energy

Strategy:

I chose Hoopa EX over Shaymin EX simply because I'd be able to pull 2 Alakazam and Mega consistantly as long as he's not my first draw. And if I didn't need that combination of 3 cards there's still 2 more Alakazam's, another Mega, and a mewtwo that could possibly be in there.

With Alakazam doing 30 to each pokemon with energy, plus his mega evolution, it would be crazy to not run Gengar (who insta knock outs anyone with 30 or more damage counters on them). The dev sprays give you the option of potentially evolving to M Alakazam 4 times, allowing you to put 2 damage counters on the active pokemon and 30 onto the bench pokemon of you choice. Simply Lysandre the one with 30 in, retreat M Alakazam (1 retreat cost) for your Gengar, and boom, knock out. Repeat as needed (Gengar has no retreat cost).

Mewtwo is there simply because he can put 30 damage down on the active for each energy attached to mewtwo, and with 3 he can use exchange damage counters with his opponent.

Gengar is also able to lay down 10 damage to each bench pokemon as well as poison the active.

And if worse comes to worse and you don't have gengar ready on the bench yet, M Alakazam does 10+ 30x the amount of damage counters on the enemy (so if they have 2 damage counters on them you would hit for 70 damage).

Let me know what you guys think.

I've won 40 total matches with this deck, 8 out of 10 since my last edit.

 

[TuxedoBlack]

Following are a few thoughts/comments:

• At first glance, this deck seems woefully "slow" by today's standards. In relying upon Gengar (as needed) to KO opponent's primary threats, you need, most likey, 2 - 3 turns to evolve to Gengar since you are running no Rare Candy. In the meantime, your other Pokémon are taking early damage.
• From my experience in running different types of spread decks, I'd suggest utlizing a non-EX Pokémon as a primary attacker to set the stage for KOs by M Alkazam EX. Examples of "setup" Pokémon are Celebi, Spinda and Hoopa. By using 1 of these Pokémon as your starter, you deck could be more streamlined, hence more efficient, IMO.
• Why run only 1 VS Seeker? This Item is one of the most beneficial staples one could have in a deck. Most, if not all, competitive players I know run 4. I suspect if you peruse the Deck Garage, you will see evidence of this.
• Similarly, 1 Ultra Ball is again woefully insufficient, especially when you are not running Skyla nor Shaymin EX.
• Are the 6 card-draw Supporters sufficient for fasr setup and on-going consistent draw support? Most decks not running Shaymin EX compensate by running 8 - 10 card-draw Supporters with/without supplemental card-draw support via Pokémon (e.g., Octillery) or Stadium (e.g., Scorched Earth).

Lastly, there are several M Alakazam EX deck threads here in the Deck Garage. You might find those interesting to review and compare.

 

[Lanstar]

I have a Gengar Deck that works quite well for your inspiration. It uses Hoopa to add the needed spread damage to do knockouts.