appleatingoat said:
Ah, I see now how you managed to hit the 180 mark... you used laser bank in the first 2 (interesting idea), but then you seemed to take them out later in favor of Manectric EX.
Remember: these decks were built and played at the beginning to early mid-season... The hottest deck at that time was arguably VirGen. Needless to say, these decks had NO issues with VG decks. As Yveltal emerged as a formidable Poké, one needed to be able to deal with it, hence Zekrom and later Manectric EX.
These deck have not been updated at all for the current meta.
appleatingoat said:
I'm not sure how effective this will be when trying to OHKO stuff. Especially now that mega Gardevoir is out there.
It is not necessary to always be able to OHKO an opponent's Poke. For example, in many cases, one needs to 2HKO the Mega Poké.
I recently played against a M Gardevoir deck at a recent State tournament. I played Yveltal-Seismitoad-Garbodor. This is a very favorable match-up for me since I can stop my opponents' "healing" their attackers, as well as easily KO the deck's "engine" (i.e., Aromatisse).
appleatingoat said:
Also the lack of stadiums and ways to retreat are very disturbing.
Interesting observation... This was a planned tactic. THE best starter in my deck was Reshiram (Outrage). This Poké bought me some time while I setup; plus, my opponent really had to think about whether or not he/she wanted me Outrage attack on my next turn after my Reshi was attacked (keep in mind, there is a very high probably that Reshi can take a hit or 2 before being KOd). Even if I did retreat the Reshi, I discarded 2 R energy that I could then be Blacksmith'd onto another of my Poké.
appleatingoat said:
Also the lack of stadiums and ways to retreat are very disturbing. I have found that stadiums are a key part of the new meta, and that you should take advantage of them as much as possible.
IMO, that depends upon your deck, strategy, playing style, and metagame. Now, in the current meta, such Stadiums like Rough Seas, Fighting Stadium, Fairy Garden, ?? (Metal) and even Virbank seem to be custom-fitted for certain decks. And, if you are playing a W, F, Y or M deck, it would be hard not to play the Stadium that provides you advantages. However, one could still build and run a solid deck successfully without a Stadium, usually in favor of some other tech cards perhaps.
appleatingoat said:
Ways to switch are very important as well, because so many people play laser bank it's getting ridiculous.
Understood, but sometimes it's "OK" to leave your Poké active and let it take damage while you are building something else up. Sacrifices are made to win games. In the current meta, there are a variety of ways to relieve/save your active (or benched) Poké. I've used Cassius quite a bit, but you also have Az now. Other options include Keldeo EX (Rush In), Switch, Escape Rope, Super Scoop Up, Pokémon Center lady, etc. Lots of nice options; all have positive(s) and negative(s). Just got to find what works best for you in your deck.
appleatingoat said:
There are just to many variable singletons with no spare to back it up, for if any one of them gets prized or/and you decide to discard one or another early game not knowing if the other is prized then that would be over for you.
These decks were quite consistent and there was ample backup - for me (very important to also take under consideration). Note:
- There's more than 1 attacker with different Types to cover opponents' Weaknesses.
- More than one "big hitter" to inflict massive damage, if need be.
- Ability to power-up any of my Poké in just one turn.
- Multiple ways to relieve/save active Poké, if need be, with either PCL or Switch.
- A way to recover discarded Supporters.
Each version of my deck was quite flexible and provided me the consistency I wanted. Also, the versions evolved as new cards were released and in response to the changing metagame at those times. And the deck was quite resilient even if some resource was either prized or in the discard pile.
By the way, I've learned that when you have your first chance to search through your deck, you must "take inventory" of your available resources. This could alter your strategy in the particular match-up. So, backup for the key resources, as you noted, is quite important to game winning.
appleatingoat said:
A consistent/successful deck from my view point has these 7 things.
1) Ways switch or create free retreat for all of your Pokémon on the field. (unless your deck is a glass canon)
2) If you have a big EX up there doing the hitting, then have a way to heal it or scoop up (yet again, unless it's a glass canon deck) lol
3) Have at least 2 or 3 copies of the most necessary cards in your deck like each type of draw supporter and balls your using (ace spec's are the exception)
4) A method of utilizing the discard pile to your own advantage (this could mean VS seekers)
5) If your using EX's to attack, then a way to bump it's health above the 180 mark. (toads, mew, and such are the exception here)
6) At least 1 or more ways to hit the 180+ mark with 1 or more of your Pokémon
7) At least 1 or more well thought out strategies in order to win, and view points that cover most (at best, all) of your opponents.
Good list of principles - for you/your playing style. These principles may not all apply to all decks given the deck strategy perhaps.
Also, your point 7 is one that has generated "discussions" amongst me and my Poké pals for years. Essentially, no one deck can dominate ALL the other decks in the format. There would probably me at least one "bad" match-up for any deck. Just got to accept it, play well, and do your best against the remainder of the field.
Since this is a Pyroar/Charizard deck discussion, I will not post any comments here about the Kyogre deck.
