Standard Scorched Roar (Incineroar / Talonflame / Turtonator)

[Yog]

Decidueye took all the plaudits when the SM starter GX cards were released, while the other two were shunned for their high energy costs and difficulty to get into play. But with the arrival of Turtonator-GX, I think the time is right for Incineroar to shine.

I've been tweaking this deck the past week and I've finally gotten it to the point where I was able to bring it off of the Versus ladder and into an online tournament and win with it, beating down Deciduplume, MRay, and even the new meta-King Garbodor in the finals.

Deck first:

Or for those who prefer text:

Spoiler

4-1 Talonflame / Break
3-1-3 Incineroar-GX (2 Rare Candy)
1 Turtonator-GX
1 Fliptini
1 Shaymin

4 Sycamore
2 Mallow
1 Kukui
1 Hala
1 Lysandre
1 Olympia
4 Vs Seeker

4 Ultra Ball
4 Acro Bike
2 Switch
2 Choice band

4 Scorched Earth

1 Energy Retrieval
11 Fire Energy

Opening
Obviously Talonflame is our ideal starter, and our counts of other basics is kept as low as we can get away with to try hit the Talonflame start as often as possible. Turtonator/Shaymin/Victini are kept as just one-of cards for this reason, and the fact that while very helpful to our strategy, none are incredibly essential on T1 and can be found later in the game at will.

Talonflame Break is an overlooked card in the game in general. 150 for two energy but discard them (and we want energy in the discard anyway ^_^ ). Add a choice band to that and you can swing at the big boys for 180 on your second turn with an easy way to find the right cards for that.

Should we fail to start with Talonflame our next most preferred option is Litten. We've gone with the promo SM08 Litten especially for it's first attack: Collect - Draw a Card.

If all else fails, Turtonator is not a bad opener. Victini or Shaymin you would rather not see, but if you do, they can always be retreated for one energy which will tie into our strategy of getting five energy in the discard asap.

Specific Draw
The draw engine here is a little unusual, it uses a combination of Aero Blitz, Scorched Earth, Acro Bike & Mallow to dump energy to fuel Turtonator's GX attack, while finding the specific cards you want. It is flexible enough to work around both Plume item-lock and Garb item-hate while still setting you up to take either out. Yet in a regular game can blitz through everything if speed is what you need. Those dead taonflame cards can become the fodder you need to find the guys you do want in your hand.

Lets talk about Mallow for a minute because she is MVP.

Mallow -> two cards you want -> Scorched Earth for both and fuel for Turtonator.
Mallow -> card you want & fuel for discard -> Acro Bike right one to hand.
Mallow without back-up -> Acro and energy to top of deck -> next turn draw Acro and play it knowing the following card is a discardable energy
etc. etc. etc.

I would love to make her become the entire draw engine here and up her count to four-of, but Sycamore is just too powerful in a deck that needs discards early. Acro Bike, Ultra Ball & Scorched Earth are all maxed out for this same reason.

With an eye on using a GX attack early in the game, Hala is justified and can later be used over and over to have a non-discard option (think Garb, always think Garb) alongside a single copy of N for hitting your opponent too. Lysandre is at just one copy since once you get going, you are steamrolling whatever is in font of you.


In terms of general strategy, you are mostly looking to discard five energy early to the point where you can set up a bench via Turtonator. On the way to that point, you use Talonflame, the Ultra Balls, and Scorched Earth/Mallow/Acro Bike shenanigans to ensure these Stage 2s aren't as difficult as usual to get set up. If that is impossible due to a prized Turtonator or whyever, you can still slow-build Incineroars. His one-energy attack can 2HKO most things, especially with Choice Band or Kukui in the mix - while his huge HP means he's going to stick around long enough for you set up a second except this one for the big attacks.