Terrakion with and without Landorus Discussion Thread

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Nigel

Nigel

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Terrakion with and without Landorus - for Pros and Pros alike.​
By Nigel.​

terrakion.jpg


Introduction:​

At the beginning of the state championship season, Zekrom/Eelektrik was the almost unstoppable deck that couldn't be countered properly. After taking over many states, people played something new... Terrakion. Terrakion can counter almost every card in Zekrom/Eelektrik, OHKOing them all except Mewtwo-EX (which is an easy 2-shot for it). This has made this surprise deck do overwhelmingly well, arguably reaching up to the Tier 1 spot after winning a state championship. Not only has it won a state championship, but it has top cut many more, including the Florida state championship where it got 3rd place (Yay for you, Matryoshka!). As a matter of fact, straight Terrakion and Terrakion/Landorus builds have made Top 8 at States a total of 4 times after only the first week of states!

No matter where I go I see people asking about Terrakion, how to play it, and how to do well with it. If you are ready to take on this sudden earthquake that hit states, then this is the thread for you!


Sample Decklists:​

Solo- Terrakion:​


Terrakion/Landorus:​



How do you play Terrakion?​

Well, the strategy is simple. You simply charge up your Terrakion with fighting energies early game, while getting out more Terrakions with Heavy Ball, Pokemon Collector, and Dual Ball. Once you get them out, you attach EXP shares to all of them and wait until your active Terrakion gets knocked out (after you take some early prizes, that is, such as benched Tynamos). Then, once that Terrakion gets knocked out, you move the energies attached to it to your benched Terrakions (one energy per Terrakion) thanks to EXP share. Then, you bring up another Terrakion, attach a fighting energy, and Retaliate + Catcher KO on any lightning Pokemon you see on your opponent's field (especially Zekrom-EX, which is way less powerful thanks to the reign of the dinosaur king).

In other words, Terrakion is an anti-metagame deck, killing everything in Zeel and Eelzone while having a semi-good chance against other decks that have established themselves in the metagame such as MTC. Check below for the major matchups!

Zekrom/Eelektrik: 90/10 in your favor. Obviously, a deck that is meant to counter Zekrom/Eelektrik must have an amazing matchup against it. During this match, your only real threat is Tornadus (if they play it). This makes Black Belt and PlusPower useful so you can get some easier KOs on it.

MTC: 50/50 in equal favor. This is because MTC can get some fast KOs on you with their Mewtwo, which can make you really struggle as you are trying to set up. Also, they run Tornadus which will be their main way to counter you throughout the entire game. While this may seem like a nuisance, you are going to run Pokemon Catcher which can KO their Celebis, making the matchup much easier.

Durant: 60/40 in your favor. This is because once you get one Terrakion set up, you will sweep their field of Durants by OHKOing every single one of them. Even if they have a Special Metal on their Durant you can one-shot them thanks to PlusPower, which this deck plays in heavy amounts.

Important Card Explanations:​

Terrakion: Terrakion is the super star of this deck. In other words, it's the Justin Bieber of the Pokémon world. It's always causing people to flee because of its sheer awesomeness. This is because it can OHKO almost any Electric Pokemon in the format without the need of any help. Normally, this wouldn't be too good but at this time and place in the format, it is significant because Zekrom/Eelektrik is currently BDIF, and is played by almost every competitive Pokémon player.

EXP Share: This handy card allows you to continuously move Fighting Energies from knocked out Terrakion onto new ones that are ready to roll. Since Terrakion needs 2-3 Energy to attack, you’re going to run into trouble if your opponent is able to get a couple OHKOs early in the game, which is where Exp. Share comes in. This (second to Landorus, which not all lists run), is the best way to recycle fighting energies in the current format, and will continue to make this deck good, especially once Terrakion-EX comes out.

Junk Arm: This card allows you to reuse EXP Shares along with Pokemon Catchers and PlusPowers. Four of them is a staple in any deck that doesn't rely on trainer lock. The reason is because you can pick and choose what trainers you want out of the discard pile and not be limited in usage. This card can work very well with Revive in the fact that you can discard a Terrakion as part of Junk Arm's cost, and Revive it back onto the field!

Terrakion-EX: This card, which was just revealed in Japan, is going to be a staple in this deck. The reasons why are its hefty HP and awesome attacks. Its second attack is what's really good. It's essentially a better Land Crush that can help you set up much faster. Check below for the translation of this awesome card.

Terrakion-EX – Fighting – HP180
Basic Pokemon

[F][C] Rock Tumble: 50 damage. This attack’s damage isn’t affected by Resistance.
[F][F][C] Pump Smash: 90 damage. Choose 2 Basic Energy cards from your hand, then attach them to your Benched Pokemon in any way you like.

When Pokemon-EX has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Grass (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 3
Click to expand...

Techs:​

Landorus: Like I've stated earlier on, Landorus can be a crazy good card at the right time. If you start with it and play a Sage's Training, you can hit for 80 damage + weakness T2 with barely any effort. Then, when Landorus gets knocked out, the energies to to your Terrakions because of EXP share! This is certainly a great tech in this deck, and I would highly recommend it for this reason, since it's good for doing loads of damage early game and for getting back energies late game. Landorus also helps cover this decks weakness against Shaymin EX techs.

Shaymin: This excellent card can be paired with Landorus and Switch to get energies on Terrakions faster. It can make for a nice surprise way to get your Terrakions up and running much faster. Also, your non-set-up Terrakions are going to be Catcher Bait because of their massive 4 retreat, so if you run Shaymin, then you can move your energies from your bench right to the active Terrakion.


Conclusion:

While there isn't that much to write about for a deck that only runs between 4 and 8 Pokemon, I feel that Terrakion is going to stay a strong deck as long as Zek/Eels stays powerful. In Japan, even with the release of the newest sets, Zekrom/Eelektrik is still strong, promising an awesome new future for this deck (Along with the new Terrakion-EX!). Hope that I've helped some of you Pokebeachers understand how to play this deck! Keep lurking around this thread for more updates as this deck gets more and more played!

Discuss!
 
I don't know If Donphan would do well being teched in Terrakion w/o Landorus, it's one of those cards that works good solely as it's own deck like with Mew in Messie Mew. Just pair Donphan with Mewtwo and Rocky Helmet to get the ball rolling and you should do alright depending on your meta.
 
The Zekeels matchup is waaay off. My Zekeels list is average, and currently I am 17-11 in Zekeels favor against Terrakion. It also has like a 45-55 against MTC in MTC's favor. This deck doesn't have many amazing matchups anymore because people have figured out how to play against it and it has lost some of its shock factor.
 
I disagree that the Eels matchup is that easy.

Mewtwo with Eviolite is a huge pain. If Zapdos is played, many attackers can knock out Terrakion.
 
Nigel said:
Terrakion:... In other words, it's the Justin Bieber of the Pokémon world. It's always causing people to flee because of its sheer awesomeness.
Click to expand...

So essentially, Terrakion is the "queer" Pokemon of the format that everyone hates because it's not really good, it's just an alternative to what is actually good. The overgrown Jigglypuff that puts everyone to sleep with its monotonous 'attach; retaliate'.

But I digress. Wouldn't straight Terrakion run into muligan issues. There's a 64.85% chance of getting a muligan the first time and a 42.06% chance of getting 2 muligans. I wouldn't want to give up muligan cards that often.

EDIT: "fabulous" = word beginning with "q" and rhyming with "ear"
 
The matchup against ZekEels is a lot different. It's 60-40 at best, if the ZekEels person knows how to play it.
 
The Durant matchup for pure Terrakion lists is 50/50. As equal as it gets, even, because the matchup depends almost purely on Crushing Hammer flips. Out of 40 games tested, I won 22 with Durant. In 21 of those games, I flipped at least 3 heads on CH. In 15 of the games I lost, I flipped 2 or less heads, or didn't draw my Hammers at all.

With Landorus, the matchup is strongly in favor of the Fighting player.
 
Terrakion usually can beat Durant if the player knows what he is doing. It is a lot of skill and Plus Power/Eviolite drops.
 
I have seen people wanting to add Groudon EX to this deck. What is your opinion of that addition?
 
Not needed. A lot of the deck is not giving up easy prizes which Groudon is doing. Terrakion is hard to OHKO, so it is giving up .5 prizes a turn/ Groudon is giving up 1 a turn because it is almost always a 2HKO
 
I've actually done testing with Groudon in Terrakion. As iisnumber said, it is often problematic because it gives two prizes. HOWEVER, that's not to say its not useful, even amazing, in this deck. The trick is to know when to play it. Leading with it is awesome, as you can start tromping and putting damage on their bench T2. Dropping it in the middle of the game is a terrible idea because of reasons mentioned earlier. At the end, it becomes good again to nab that last prize or two with a massive 120 from Giant Claw, which can get crucial KO's that Terrakion can't pull off. Overall, it's great at the beginning and at the end and it is definitely an addition worth considering for this deck.
 
Groudon is amazing. It is so much better against Mewtwo and so much better against Darkrai, the two things that really hurt Terrakion. Not only does Groudon not care about either of those, but it is also really easy to tank with, and it has resistance to electric. I think Groudon should be it's own deck though, and I think that it completely outclasses Terrakion.
 
alexmf2 said:
Groudon is amazing. It is so much better against Mewtwo and so much better against Darkrai, the two things that really hurt Terrakion. Not only does Groudon not care about either of those, but it is also really easy to tank with, and it has resistance to electric. I think Groudon should be it's own deck though, and I think that it completely outclasses Terrakion.
Click to expand...

lolwat. Darkrai needs Eviolite and 4 in some combination of special dark and pluspower every turn or a Darkness Claw/Special Dark/PlusPower and Catcher every turn just to evenly prize trade with Terrakion. Meanwhile. it has an even prize trade with Groudon without any extra cards, and actually can win the prize trade with the bench damage. Mewtwo is 2HKOed by Terrakion and Groudon and 3HKOed by Terrakion and Groudon when it has an Eviolite, and Groudon takes the same amount of energy or more than Terrakion yet has less hp per prize given. I can't see how it helps against Mewtwo or Darkrai-rather its worse than Terrakion. Another reason that it can't make its own deck is because it requires 3 energy to deal serious damage so it can't threaten a 90 on the next turn so long as it has a single exp share on the bench. Resistance to Lightning really isn't that important since Zekrom BW can now evenly prize trade without needing a PlusPower like it would with Terrakion and on top of that Tornadus no longer needs an Eviolite for an advantageous prize trade, and Tornadus EX can actually win the prize trade (also without needing an Eviolite).
 
Darkrai deals 110 to the active with a Dark Claw. Then Catcher up some other benched Terrakion that doesn't have energy that you dealt 30 to last turn, and knock out those two. And now you have no energy (EXP Share is not activated as it was knocked out from the bench) and you are two prizes down.

Groudon 2HKOs Mewtwo even if it has an Eviolite, which Terrakion cannot, which is way Mewtwo is so hard for it.

Zekrom cannot 2HKO if Groudon has an Eviolite.

Tornadus EX is easy to deal with, you 2HKO it. It becomes a problem when it has an Eviolite attached. Even then, it's only at best 3HKOing Groudon with an Eviolite, and your 3HKOing it. Ruins of Alphs also makes it so you can 2HKO Tornadus, but you only want to be using that against CMT and Darkrai. Plus you can always just Catcher around it.
 
alexmf2 said:
Darkrai deals 110 to the active with a Dark Claw. Then Catcher up some other benched Terrakion that doesn't have energy that you dealt 30 to last turn, and knock out those two. And now you have no energy (EXP Share is not activated as it was knocked out from the bench) and you are two prizes down.

Yes but then Terrakion is OHKOing Darkrai on the first turn so that's not going to work at all.

Groudon 2HKOs Mewtwo even if it has an Eviolite, which Terrakion cannot, which is way Mewtwo is so hard for it.

...no, 60+100=160<170, Mewtwo's hp.

Zekrom cannot 2HKO if Groudon has an Eviolite.

Fighting decks can't run Eviolite, all of their tools must be Exp Share.

Tornadus EX is easy to deal with, you 2HKO it. It becomes a problem when it has an Eviolite attached. Even then, it's only at best 3HKOing Groudon with an Eviolite, and your 3HKOing it. Ruins of Alphs also makes it so you can 2HKO Tornadus, but you only want to be using that against CMT and Darkrai. Plus you can always just Catcher around it.

Once again 60+100<170, you don't 2HKO it without an Eviolite, and once again Groudon can't run Eviolite if it intends to attack every turn (and even then its tough).
Click to expand...
 
- How is Terrakion attacking on the first turn?

- 100 + 100 = 200.

- My Groudon doesn't run EXP Share.

- Once again, 100 + 100 = 200.
 
alexmf2 said:
- How is Terrakion attacking on the first turn?

- 100 + 100 = 200.

- My Groudon doesn't run EXP Share.

- Once again, 100 + 100 = 200.
Click to expand...

How are you hitting 100 on the first turn? You need 20 damage on them already and if they have an Eviolite the only way you can accomplish that is with Giant Claw, aka 60. If your Groudon doesn't run Exp. Share, then if something can 2HKO you (aka Tornadus EX or Darkrai EX or Zoroark) you're pretty much done for.
 
I run both Eviolite and Rocky Helmet. Depending on the situation I use whichever one I need to.

The way I play Groudon is as a tank. Tornadus EX can only 3HKO you if you only even have an Eviolite. Same with Darkrai. Against Zekrom or other things that can deal 90 damage or more even after an Eviolite (or just regularly if I need to use Rocky Helmet) I use Potion or other ways to heal. And then they are taking 2 prizes (or less if I can manage) every 3 turns while I am taking 3 prizes every 3 turns. As long as I can keep it in that form of a trade, I should win. And besides, Groudon OHKOs an undamaged Darkrai with simply a Pluspower. Darkrai has a really hard time keeping up with OHKOs basically every turn, and the only Darkrai decks I have ever lost to with Groudon were ones that played Weavile.

Now that I think about it, Zoroark might be a hard matchup, but lolzoroark.
 
Guys, calm down. I'm updating this with all your suggestions and it should be done really soon.
 
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