Alt. Format Rainbow Road 2018

[MystikX]

4 Xerneas BKT
2 Joltik STS
2 Galvantula STS
2 Pawniard STS
2 Bisharp STS
1 Mew EX RC24
1 Volcanion EX STS
1 Marshadow GX BUS
1 Drampa GX GRI

4 Max Elixir
4 Ultra Ball
3 Fairy Drop
1 Switch
2 Field Blower
3 Professor Sycamore
2 N
1 Lillie
1 Bridgette
3 Fairy Garden
4 Choice Band
1 Float Stone

8 Fairy Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy
3 Rainbow Energy


Rainbow Road is a deck that I've used in the past before I started using Despair Ray, and with most things in my Despair Ray deck going out of rotation, I decided to bring this deck back, if only to have a secondary deck should I feel like not playing my new main.

Losing Sky Field won't hurt this deck too much, IMO, since having the 3 dual types will effectively give you 8 types on the Bench. Speaking of the dual types, both Galvantula and Bisharp are still great attackers in a pinch.

Marshadow adds another layer of copying Rainbow Force with a different type to spread the diversity of hitting Weakness. I've opted to play Mew EX over Mew FAC for the advantage of being able to use other attacks instead of only Basics. Well, that and Mew EX can't get sniped by Ninetales.

I've been thinking of adding 1 Xerneas BREAK for the added utility, as well as Oranguru over Drampa GX, but I'll test this out first before doing that, unless otherwise recommended.

 

[Jpkemperor]

I have been playing Rainbow Road myself for some time now. The biggest issue I see with the deck is streaming attackers. Skyfield is certainly not required, and Sudowoodo does not hurt that much because you can have 6-7 different types on 4 bench spots plus choice band.

Max elixir helps you set up Xerneas more quickly but is very unrealiable when you are only playing 8 energy. I would strongly advise playing 10-11 basic energies and the 4 DCE, rainbow energy is way to gimmicky in my opinion. Another thing you could do is play Exp. Share, but fieldblower makes it not as effective as playing more energies for max elixirs.

Instead of Mew (any version), I have been playing one Tapu Lele Gx to improve the consistency. Marshadow does provide an additional Xerneas but I believe one of the strongest points of this deck is using a non EX/GX attacker. (Same goes for Drampa, I would definitely switch it for Oranguru).

One thing I have been trying recently is drop max elixir all together and play 3 Rainbow Force Xerneas and 1 Geomancy Xerneas. The ideal start for a game would be ultra ball for Tapu Lele, then wonder tag for Brigette, get the geomancy xerneas and 2 rainbow force xerneas as well as getting either joltik or pawniard with a nest ball (which I play 4 of). If you already have a rainbow force xerneas in your initial hand that makes things easier. I would then let the Geomany Xerneas get killed and just keep using Geomancy until that happens. Following this process, then having 1 Xerneas Break would allow for a good secondary attacker should your opponent choose not to kill the Geomancy Xerneas.

So, trainer wise I don't like fairy drop, nor Lillie, nor Fairy Garden. You could use this slots on things like 4 Energy Loto (a really underated card that has done wonders to me), a couple rescue stretcher, 4 nest balls (this allows you to use Ultra Ball to find the evolutions and Tapu Lele, not the basic pokemon). I would go down to 3 choice band and go up to 2 float stones. Special Charge could be helpful as well as Lysandre (Guzma).

 

[MystikX]

I can see your point on the Elixirs. Honestly, those were just gutted from Despair Ray to fill up slots, so I'll definitely think about them, and maybe use Loto like you suggested.

I'd love to play Lele in here, but I've only been able to grab one so far on my limited budget, and it's actually in my other deck that I have built for post-rotation (Golisopod GX for those curious).

I'll definitely try out a 3-1 Rainbow/Geomancy at some point. I should be able to get an Geomancy Xerneas easily, what with me being the League Leader for my local shop and all. I'm sure we have some of League versions in our stock.

I honestly keep forgetting Nest Ball is even a thing...

 

[Adi]

This is a Rainbow Road decklist I have thinking about playing in the 2018 rotation.

Pokemon: 15

4 Xerneas
2 Joltik
2 Galvantula
2 Pawniard
2 Bisharp
1 Tapu Lele GX
1 Volcanion EX
1 Oranguru

Trainers: 31

Items
4 Ultra Ball
4 Energy Loto
4 Nest Ball
3 Choice Band
2 Field Blower
1 Rescue Stretcher

Supporters
3 Professor Sycamore
4 N
1 Brigette
2 Guzma

Stadium
3 Fairy Garden

Energy: 14

10 Fairy Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy

I hope this is helpful.