Raikou/Magnezone (Thunder Cats)

[Roderic86]

Hi everyone,

I created a deck and was looking for some feedback. It's a deck I've dubbed Thunder Cats. I haven't seen it played before, not sure if it's around at all. It works similarly to the old Blastoise/Keldeo EX decks. Magnetic circuit a bunch of energy onto Raikou and hit hard, 6 energy + fury belt for 180 EX knock outs. Here's the list as it is.

Pokemon: 15
Raikou x3
Magnezone x3
Magneton x1
Magnemite x3
Talonflame x1 (not critical for the deck but helps when starting with it)
Octillery x2
Remoraid x2

Trainers: 34
Sycamore x4
N x3
Fisherman x1
Skyla x1
Teammates x1
Lysandre x2
Ultra Ball x4
Rare Candy x3
VS Seeker x3
Trainers Mail x2
Professor's Letter x1
Super Rod x1
Switch x1
Eco Arm x1
Fighting Fury Belt x2
Float Stone x1
Rough seas x3

Energy: 11
Lightening Energy

I'm around a 60% win percentage in standard format but would like to do better. Fire away with suggestions.

 

[rayquazatopaz34]

I'm not to experienced with unlimited energy decks (Archies' Blastiose/ Magnezone variants), so I'm only gonna put forward some logic based ideas.

I would definitely replace the 2-2 octillery line with 2 Shamin EX for ultra ball-able draws, and burst drawing (we all know what it does)
Unless you strongly believe that the eco arm is necessary to the function of this deck (unless you keep reading), i would cut it for a 4th VS Seeker.

With the slots emptied, I would add +2 Trainers' mail or 2 Bursting ballon for extra damage and making your opponent think twice about messing with a sparking dog (and keep the Eco arm).

These are my thoughts, so take them with a grain of salt,

Rayquazatopaz34

 

[TrevGallade]

I completely see the strategy you're going for, since I have some experience with energy style decks. PERSONALLY, I believe that you should switch the Fighting Fury Belt for 2 Energy Pouches from Fates Collide. What it does is when your Raikou is knowcked out, you can get your energy back into your hand. And since you run Magnezone, you don't need to worry about reattachments. Yes, this does mean that you will get knocked out easily, but it means that you can easily replace Fisherman for another card (possibly another Energy Pouch?). Not to mention the fact that even 160 HP Pokémon can get knocked out pretty easily, and since you don't run cards like energy retrieval and energy recycler, Your energies are going to run pretty low pretty quickly. I also recommend switching the Talonflame for another Raikou, to make your deck more consistent, and to eliminate a dead card (talonflame's best when you have 4). Now, if you do make these changes, I also recommend getting rid of rough seas, and replacing them with more important cards such as energy retrieval (it really is helpful) and get rid of a Lysandre (two seems like a bit much....) and one energy (if you run cards like energy pouch and energy retrieval, ten is plenty) and add in some more professor's letter (EXTREMELY important for this style of deck).
However, these are just my recommendations, and you should make whatever adjustments that you're comfortable with. Hope this helps!

 

[Arizaiaz]

I really like playing my Raikou/Magnezone deck. Here is my list in case you wanted to compare.

Pokemon: 13
2 Shaymin EX
3 Raikou
3 Magnemite
1 Magneton
3 Magnezone
1 Mew

Trainers (Supporters/Items/Stadiums): 36(10/25/1)
4 Professor Sycamore
3 N
3 Lysandre

4 VS Seeker
4 Ultra Ball
4 Trainers' Mail
3 Energy Pouch
3 Max Elixir
3 Rare Candy
2 Float Stone
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Super Rod

1 Parallel City

Energy: 11
11 Lightning Energy

So as you can see, like others have mentioned, my tool of preference is Energy Pouch. FFB, Assault Vest, and Bursting Ballon are all decent at protecting your Raikou but I've often found that the current meta is filled with Pokemon that can set up easily and still OHKO you through FFB. In my testing Energy Pouch has proven to be invaluable at keeping the "thundercat" train moving without needing to use a supporter on Fisherman or clog up my deck with multiple Energy Retrievals.

The other thing I tried to focus on with my list was coping with a Garbodor infested meta. Its why I play 3 Max Elixir to charge up quickly in the early turns and 3 Lysandre to gust up Trubbish/Garbodor before they affect my game plan for too long. I thought I would hate playing 3 Lysandre but with a deck like this you can often afford to neglect the biggest threat on the field and just use your Raikou/Mew to OHKO Shaymins and Hoopas respectively to win the prize race. Nearly always having access to it can open up some nice plays for you but I can see some people wanting to cut one out for something like a Skyla or Teammates.

 

[TrevGallade]

I really like playing my Raikou/Magnezone deck. Here is my list in case you wanted to compare.

Pokemon: 13
2 Shaymin EX
3 Raikou
3 Magnemite
1 Magneton
3 Magnezone
1 Mew

Trainers (Supporters/Items/Stadiums): 36(10/25/1)
4 Professor Sycamore
3 N
3 Lysandre

4 VS Seeker
4 Ultra Ball
4 Trainers' Mail
3 Energy Pouch
3 Max Elixir
3 Rare Candy
2 Float Stone
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Super Rod

1 Parallel City

Energy: 11
11 Lightning Energy

So as you can see, like others have mentioned, my tool of preference is Energy Pouch. FFB, Assault Vest, and Bursting Ballon are all decent at protecting your Raikou but I've often found that the current meta is filled with Pokemon that can set up easily and still OHKO you through FFB. In my testing Energy Pouch has proven to be invaluable at keeping the "thundercat" train moving without needing to use a supporter on Fisherman or clog up my deck with multiple Energy Retrievals.

The other thing I tried to focus on with my list was coping with a Garbodor infested meta. Its why I play 3 Max Elixir to charge up quickly in the early turns and 3 Lysandre to gust up Trubbish/Garbodor before they affect my game plan for too long. I thought I would hate playing 3 Lysandre but with a deck like this you can often afford to neglect the biggest threat on the field and just use your Raikou/Mew to OHKO Shaymins and Hoopas respectively to win the prize race. Nearly always having access to it can open up some nice plays for you but I can see some people wanting to cut one out for something like a Skyla or Teammates.

That's actually a really nice list. How competitive do you think that this list is? Also, how do you think it stacks up against decks like Mega Mewtwo, and other takes on Raikou?

 

[Arizaiaz]

That's actually a really nice list. How competitive do you think that this list is? Also, how do you think it stacks up against decks like Mega Mewtwo, and other takes on Raikou?

In my opinion, this list is about as competitive as it gets for Raikou/Magnezone in the current standard format. The only thing I'm currently considering is adding a Pikachu EX to act as turbo nuke. Since the whole deck runs on abilities Garbodor is obviously the biggest obstacle to it's success. Luckily, in my experience thus far most decks that run Garbodor are EX-heavy, meaning that Raikou will trade favorably against decks like DarkTinaGarb, Yveltal/Garb, and M-Mewtwo/Garb. Outside of Garb-based decks, I'd say match ups are fairly neutral to positive across the board with Rainbow Road being another of those decks that can cause problems. Especially if they are hitting everything they need to early on, however a well timed Parallel City can neuter their output in case the deck struggles to get a Magnezone out in the first few turns.

That being said, M-Mewtwo/Garb is still definitely my hardest match up. At the moment I'm only playing 1 stadium so there is a good chance that Shrine of Memories will stick. Raikou needs 8 energies to OHKO the mega and while not impossible will still require time, not to mention the need to hit Energy Pouch early to preserve those energies. This is where the 3 Lysandre will help. Assuming you can get to the Trubbish/Garb before it seriously hinders you, you should be aiming to grab KOs on Shaymin, Hoopa, benched Mewtwo-EXs if possible and leave the Megas for the mid to late game where you should have enough energies in play/hand. Mew can also be a nasty surprise for two prizes on their mega but once again this whole match boils down to handling Garb which is not always as easy as it sounds.

The deck has performed well for me online and I actually think it may be worth trying since I believe most people would not be expecting Raikou/Mag at a tournament. And with Yveltal and M-Ray winning the first two major standard tournament thus far the deck may be a decent sleeper pick to capitalize on weakness.

 

[TrevGallade]

In my opinion, this list is about as competitive as it gets for Raikou/Magnezone in the current standard format. The only thing I'm currently considering is adding a Pikachu EX to act as turbo nuke. Since the whole deck runs on abilities Garbodor is obviously the biggest obstacle to it's success. Luckily, in my experience thus far most decks that run Garbodor are EX-heavy, meaning that Raikou will trade favorably against decks like DarkTinaGarb, Yveltal/Garb, and M-Mewtwo/Garb. Outside of Garb-based decks, I'd say match ups are fairly neutral to positive across the board with Rainbow Road being another of those decks that can cause problems. Especially if they are hitting everything they need to early on, however a well timed Parallel City can neuter their output in case the deck struggles to get a Magnezone out in the first few turns.

That being said, M-Mewtwo/Garb is still definitely my hardest match up. At the moment I'm only playing 1 stadium so there is a good chance that Shrine of Memories will stick. Raikou needs 8 energies to OHKO the mega and while not impossible will still require time, not to mention the need to hit Energy Pouch early to preserve those energies. This is where the 3 Lysandre will help. Assuming you can get to the Trubbish/Garb before it seriously hinders you, you should be aiming to grab KOs on Shaymin, Hoopa, benched Mewtwo-EXs if possible and leave the Megas for the mid to late game where you should have enough energies in play/hand. Mew can also be a nasty surprise for two prizes on their mega but once again this whole match boils down to handling Garb which is not always as easy as it sounds.

The deck has performed well for me online and I actually think it may be worth trying since I believe most people would not be expecting Raikou/Mag at a tournament. And with Yveltal and M-Ray winning the first two major standard tournament thus far the deck may be a decent sleeper pick to capitalize on weakness.

Good to know. Maybe to help combat Garb you could try running either Zapdos from Roaring Skies or steam siege Galvantula to hit the Garb for bench damage. I don't know how you would make the room, but they could potentially help out with the Garb problem.