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Standard Rotom / Zangoose

ShinySylveon

ShinySylveon

Aspiring Trainer
Member
So I was looking at the Zangoose from Team Up, whose first attack on the surface looks inherently worse than Alolan Vulpix's first attack, as it costs 1 Energy instead of 0, and it only searches the top 6 cards of the deck. However, there's one thing it does better, and that is discarding Non-Pokemon cards. So I thought for a while, and realized this paired up nicely with every Rotom that requires 9 Tools be in the discard. Thus, this deck idea was born. Note that I haven't tested this yet, this is just an idea I wanted some feedback on.

2x Zangoose (Team Up) (You can use Counter Gain instead of attaching an Energy.)
3x [P] Rotom (Forbidden Light) ([P] type gives access to Spell Tag.)
3x Fan Rotom (Ultra Prism) (Zero retreat cost, and 20 spread damage.)
1x Mow Rotom (Ultra Prism) (Discards Special Energy.)
1x Heat Rotom (Ultra Prism) (This could be cut for something else.)
4x Jirachi (Team Up) (You're using Tools anyway, so Escape Board.)
2-2x Zebstrika (Lost Thunder) (Discards your Tools.)

18 Pokémon
--

(Use more Tools than you need so you can discard them, as well as increase your odds of discarding many of them with Zangoose.)
4x Choice Band
4x Escape Board
4x Spell Tag
4x Counter Gain (The first knock out will likely be your Jirachi.)
2x Poison Barb (Just to pad out the Tool lineup. You could use 4 of these and 1 Seviper if you wanted.)

18 tools
--

2x Shrine of Memories
4x Switch (Allows you to use multiple Jirachi per turn.)
4x Nest Ball (Jirachi and Zangoose.)
4x Ultra Ball (Zebstrika will give you draw power every turn.)
1x Rescue Stretcher
2x Sightseer (Discards Tools.)
4x Lillie (4 for seeing it turn 1.)
1x Guzma
2x Bill's Analysis (If you got Non-Tools you can take, and know you will use Zangoose that turn, shuffle back as many Tools as possible to improve your odds of discarding them with Zangoose.)

24 non-tool trainers
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So the general idea is setup with Jirachi and end the turn using Zangoose's attack for even more setup. Then, soften them up with Fan Rotom and Shrine. Finally, sweep with [P] Rotom and Spell Tag.

You could use the [L] Rotom with Electropower and the Blitzle whose first attack searches 2 Electropower, however Electropower isn't a Tool, and Spell Tag is, and the deck seems too crowded to fit both.

Edit: Removed the 2 Energy for more Trainers. Just use Counter Gain for Zangoose.

Need to find room for another Guzma, perhaps another Rescue Stretcher, and a 3rd Shrine. Might want to add another Mow Rotom or [P] Rotom in place of the 3rd Fan Rotom, not sure yet.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and perhaps even respond!
 
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Ugh, I actually tried this (I play rotom wayyyy too much) , but I don't think zangoose is worth it since you might find more zangeese or no pokemon and all your sightseers or some other horrible fail. Though now I am tempted to try it again with skitty/delcatty to get those sightseers back. Hmmm. Will report back.
 
rewster1 said:
Ugh, I actually tried this (I play rotom wayyyy too much) , but I don't think zangoose is worth it since you might find more zangeese or no pokemon and all your sightseers or some other horrible fail. Though now I am tempted to try it again with skitty/delcatty to get those sightseers back. Hmmm. Will report back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! tbh the couple of games I've played with this deck I haven't pulled off Zangoose, so it isn't something you want to bank on, but it doesn't have to work every game to be worth the deck space. It's more of a nice occasional bonus. I only use 2 Zangoose anyway, so you usually won't find multiples. If I did take out Zangoose, what would I use in place of Counter Gain? I kind of like how efficient Counter Gain is since it doubles as both an Energy and a Tool.

I think if you're going to use a Stage 1, Zebstrika would be the best one to use, as then you don't have to ever worry about not having a draw supporter. Delcatty is just a one time thing. Although, Guzma recovery might be nice. I guess you could use both, but the deck space is an issue, and also a 4-4 line of Zebstrika sounds more consistent than 2 separate 2-2 lines of Zebstrika and Delcatty.
 
So I went and played it a few games, and I liked it but it wasn't used often enough to earn the deck space over either another 1-1 zeb (I normally do 3-3) or actually a 1-1 delcatty which turned out to be somewhat useful, because I only play 2 and 2 brock and guzma and they are always collateral damage in early game. The other thing that made it somewhat neat though was I played 3 viridian forests and 4 lightning energy, so I could viridian a tool away to get him up turn one sometimes, and then viridian ended up being really handy late game because I could brock 3 or 4 rotoms and 2 or 3 energy back, and immediately get a retreat for a rotom that was left stranded if too many boards had to be destroyed. The lightning I chose just so Zebstrika could be a backup attacker. Only time I used it was against vileplume and it was too little too late (played against the stall version).
 
rewster1 said:
So I went and played it a few games, and I liked it but it wasn't used often enough to earn the deck space over either another 1-1 zeb (I normally do 3-3) or actually a 1-1 delcatty which turned out to be somewhat useful, because I only play 2 and 2 brock and guzma and they are always collateral damage in early game. The other thing that made it somewhat neat though was I played 3 viridian forests and 4 lightning energy, so I could viridian a tool away to get him up turn one sometimes, and then viridian ended up being really handy late game because I could brock 3 or 4 rotoms and 2 or 3 energy back, and immediately get a retreat for a rotom that was left stranded if too many boards had to be destroyed. The lightning I chose just so Zebstrika could be a backup attacker. Only time I used it was against vileplume and it was too little too late (played against the stall version).
Click to expand...

Oh neat, I also tried using Viridian + Lightning, but I went with Lightning bc I also tried out a couple of Volkner, for getting Escape Board or Switch, to use Jirachi several times a turn. I ultimately decided the Energy wasn't worth the deck space just for a turn 1 Zangoose so I stuck with just Counter Gain since Jirachi usually gets knocked out anyway, but I might revisit a build with Viridian and more of a focus on Zangoose in the future, since using Viridian to discard Tools is nice.

If Delcatty & Zebstrika, then maybe Ditto Prism as well? idk. Zangoose does pair well with Delcatty, since Zangoose can discard Guzma while adding Delcatty to your hand at the same time.
 
Cutting Heat Rotom for addition draw supporter. Let loose?


List seems great though. How zangoose synergizes with roto motor. Do you want more trapping cards, guzma or counter catcher to spread more efficiently.

Absol would help disrupt a zapdos player.
 
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