Standardising First Deck (Militank w/Gallade, Mew2)

[Limbs]

So this is what I bummed together with the mental might theme deck, traded for a few trainers and mewtwo-ex. I kind of want a functioning deck for standard, but I'm sure I would need to cut a lot of cards. I'm also not sure which and what I should trade them for so I guess I'll just keep playing expanded with it.

So far it seems to have gone rather positive in win rate but I presume that will slow down as I begin vsing ppl with more competitive decks. My trainers are definitely just a big jumble of cards I may have read about being good.

I don't really want to dump money into the game by buying packs but I'd be willing to grab a few to get a standard deck going. ($15 worth maybe more)

Totally open to other completely different (at least slightly viable) standard deck lists that I could put together with cards I won't have to trade much for as well.

tl:dr I just want a mildly viable deck for standard that won't cost all that much and that I can put together with mainly the stuff I have. (few theme decks, mew2ex etc)

The list as is:

Pokemon (15)

2 Bouffalant 2 Militank Gallade EX Mewtwo EX

4 Ralts 3 Kirlia 2 Gallade

Trainers (31)

2 Evosoda 2 Great Ball 1 Rare candy 2 Ultraball 1 VS Seeker 1 Cilan 1 Fisherman 2 Lysandre 2 N 2 Pokemon Centre Lady 3 Proffesor Sycamore 2 Shauna 1 Skyla 1 Wally 1 Dimension Valley 2 Exp Share 1 Fighting Fury Belt 2 Muscle band 2 Rescue Scarf

Energy (14)

4 DCE 1 mystery energy 9 psychic energy

TYTY

 

[TuxedoBlack]

A few thoughts for your consideration:

• For 2016-2017 Standard format play, only the Primal Clash-on sets are legal. So, following are some of the cards in your current list that would need to be replaced since their respective sets have rotated-out for this season:
  • Miltank
  • Dimension Valley
  • Cilan
  • Muscle Band
  • Rescue Scarf
  • Mystery energy
• Consider replacing the Bouffalant with Skamory, another Colorless Pokémon with about the same HP, cheaper Retreat Cost and cheaper attack costs. One of its attacks though can help you setup your bench faster. I would suggest adding 4 Skamory (cheap too).
• Consider adding another Gallade in order to increase your chances of getting 2 into play.
• To also help search for needed Pokémon, you could also add Brigette, Great Ball, Level Ball, Repeat Ball and/or Ultra Ball. I'd suggest:
  • +1 Brigette
  • +1 Great Ball
  • +2 Ultra Ball
• You currently have 7 card-draw Supporters; this count needs to be bumped up to 9-11 in order to support smooth deck operations. So, considering adding more card-draw Supporters.
• Consider adding 2 Super Rod for discarded Pokémon and/or Basic energy recovery.

So, assuming you accept the proposed suggestions, your revised deck would be:

4 Skamory
1 Gallade EX
1 Mewtwo EX (assuming set PRC-on)
4 Ralts
3 Kirlia
3 Gallade
= 16 =​

1 Brigette
2 Evosoda
3 Great Ball
1 Rare Candy
4 Ultra Ball
1 VS Seeker
1 Fisherman (may not really be needed with Super Rod)
2 Lysandre
2 N
2 Pokémon Center Lady
3 Professor Sycamore
2 Shauna
2 (Judge / N / Professor Birch's Observations / Professor Sycamore / Tierno) - note: total of 4 for any given Supporter
1 Skyla
1 Wally
2 Exp. Share
1 Fighting Fury Belt
= 31 =​

4 DC
9 Psychic
= 13 =​

The suggested changes (i.e., any new cards) should be hopefully within your budget.

Secondly, to further enhance your deck, your can add more VS Seeker which would reduce your dependence upon a higher count of card-draw Supporters and would also allow you to recover and reuse discarded Supporters. Most players run 4 in their decks. IMO, you could replace a Fisherman, 1 Judge / N / Professor Birch's Observations / Professor Sycamore / Tierno, and 1 Psychic energy for 3 more VS Seeker.

I hope you find these comments helpful.

 

[Limbs]

Thanks so much for your help. I had a couple responses from a thread on /r/ptcgo that also mentioned many cards are rotated out (including non ex gallade also) and to just stick to expanded format because standard is rather expensive to get into at the moment as well due to being EX heavy. If I were to keep it as an expanded deck should I keep the muscle bands/rescue scarfs/militanks etc or would you still recommend your changes or something else entirely???? ty again it's all a bit overwhelming atm

I really just wish I could copy and paste an existing known decklist that fares alright, but without spending much lol

Edit I dunno if its worth mentioning but I'm just playing online not getting into real cards ever
Edit Edit skarmony seems to be metal type but I do have lugia which is the same with 20 more hp

 

[TuxedoBlack]

Thanks so much for your help. I had a couple responses from a thread on /r/ptcgo that also mentioned many cards are rotated out (including non ex gallade also) and to just stick to expanded format because standard is rather expensive to get into at the moment as well due to being EX heavy.

The Standard format play this season is currently EX Pokémon heavy, but there are a few non-EX Pokémon decks (e.g., Yanmega-Vespiquen) that are quite popular (and not expensive either).

If I were to keep it as an expanded deck should I keep the muscle bands/rescue scarfs/militanks etc or would you still recommend your changes or something else entirely???? ty again it's all a bit overwhelming atm

Even if you wanted to play your deck in Expanded format play, I'd still recommend the aforementioned changes with the exception of keeping the 2 Muscle Bands which could replace 1 DC energy and 1 Ultra Ball. The suggested revised list above is a bit more "focused" than your original list. Needless to say, play-test both lists and then decide which 1 you like more.

I really just wish I could copy and paste an existing known decklist that fares alright, but without spending much lol

Consider searching the Deck Garage Forum for examples of "budget," "Yanmega," and/or "Vespiquen" decks. You'll find some low-cost decks. Review the resulting list and try play-testing those online (tcgone.net is a website where you can build and test Expanded and Standard format decks for free). There are even some "public" decks you can copy and test too.