Hey guys, I took a break from some serious Regionals testing to mess around with a Gengar deck concept that has been rumbling around in my head for a while now. Decided to post the list here to see if anyone would be interested in testing it and/or wanted to provide some feedback. So without further ado, here is the list.
Pokémon: 15
4 Talonflame
3 Gastly
3 Haunter
3 Gengar
2 Primal Kyogre
Trainers:Supporters/Items/Stadiums: 31(8/21/2)
3 Professor Sycamore
2 Archie's Ace in the Hole
2 Lysandre
1 N
4 VS Seeker
4 Ultra Ball
4 Trainers Mail
3 Acro Bike
2 Float Stone
2 Maintenance
1 Escape Rope
1 Professor's Letter
2 Silent Lab
Energy: 11
7 Water Energy
4 Psychic
Open Slots: 3
So there she is, a list built around starting with Talonflame to get the right pieces into my hand to play Archie's Ace in the Hole as consistently as possible, which nets me Primal Kyogre. From there all I really need is for it to attack my opponent's field once! In case you're not familiar, Tidal Storm does 150 damage to the active and 30 damage to each of my opponent's Benched EXs, which means that if my opponent plays Hoopa EX then they practically played into my win condition. That bench-wide 30 damage is essential to having Gengar mop up the survivors with his Creep Show attack, that instantly KOs those with 3 damage counters on them.
I should also mention that Tidal Storm's secondary effect, "Move 2 Energy from this Pokemon to 1 of your Benched Pokemon" can be used to power up your Gengars. And as a side note Primal Kyrogre has no energy type restrictions on both his Growth ability and the Tidal Storm effect, meaning Psychic Energy can be moved this way as well. Moving on to Archies, it is certainly possible to get it down turn 1 without needing to use Talonflame to set it up but it can be a safety net to help ensure that you get it down turn 2.
One issue with the current list is that it struggles against any non-ex decks since they avoid damage from Tidal Storm bench snipes. I was considering adding a single Alakazam EX for this reason but it diminishes my Talonflame start percentages so I'm not sure if its worth it. Primal Kyrogre is strong enough to deal with most non-exs but the deck is not really built to sustain multiple Tidal Storms. I've also got 3 slots open still, that I'm not sure what they should be. I'm thinking maybe just a Super Rod/4th Acro Bike and a 3rd Stadium (probably Parallel City, because hype).
So that's where I'm at right now. I'd love to hear some criticism of the list. Like I said earlier, I realize that its not the most competitive strategy, especially without Battle Compressor but I've seen a few posts on sites that I frequent asking about Creep Show Gengar and wanted to chime in with what I thought was a creative and fun way of playing it.
Pokémon: 15
4 Talonflame
3 Gastly
3 Haunter
3 Gengar
2 Primal Kyogre
Trainers:Supporters/Items/Stadiums: 31(8/21/2)
3 Professor Sycamore
2 Archie's Ace in the Hole
2 Lysandre
1 N
4 VS Seeker
4 Ultra Ball
4 Trainers Mail
3 Acro Bike
2 Float Stone
2 Maintenance
1 Escape Rope
1 Professor's Letter
2 Silent Lab
Energy: 11
7 Water Energy
4 Psychic
Open Slots: 3
So there she is, a list built around starting with Talonflame to get the right pieces into my hand to play Archie's Ace in the Hole as consistently as possible, which nets me Primal Kyogre. From there all I really need is for it to attack my opponent's field once! In case you're not familiar, Tidal Storm does 150 damage to the active and 30 damage to each of my opponent's Benched EXs, which means that if my opponent plays Hoopa EX then they practically played into my win condition. That bench-wide 30 damage is essential to having Gengar mop up the survivors with his Creep Show attack, that instantly KOs those with 3 damage counters on them.
I should also mention that Tidal Storm's secondary effect, "Move 2 Energy from this Pokemon to 1 of your Benched Pokemon" can be used to power up your Gengars. And as a side note Primal Kyrogre has no energy type restrictions on both his Growth ability and the Tidal Storm effect, meaning Psychic Energy can be moved this way as well. Moving on to Archies, it is certainly possible to get it down turn 1 without needing to use Talonflame to set it up but it can be a safety net to help ensure that you get it down turn 2.
One issue with the current list is that it struggles against any non-ex decks since they avoid damage from Tidal Storm bench snipes. I was considering adding a single Alakazam EX for this reason but it diminishes my Talonflame start percentages so I'm not sure if its worth it. Primal Kyrogre is strong enough to deal with most non-exs but the deck is not really built to sustain multiple Tidal Storms. I've also got 3 slots open still, that I'm not sure what they should be. I'm thinking maybe just a Super Rod/4th Acro Bike and a 3rd Stadium (probably Parallel City, because hype).
So that's where I'm at right now. I'd love to hear some criticism of the list. Like I said earlier, I realize that its not the most competitive strategy, especially without Battle Compressor but I've seen a few posts on sites that I frequent asking about Creep Show Gengar and wanted to chime in with what I thought was a creative and fun way of playing it.
