The Vespiquen Compendium
A new card was released in the Ancient Origins set (10/98) and has created quiet the hype being named “The New Flareon (PLF)”, and as soon as I saw this card released I had a huge grin on my face knowing that it was the resurgence of one of my favorite cards ever released. But then I noticed two things. 1: this card is not Flareon (PLF), it has a usable 1st attack that can be used in worse case scenarios to save a bad hand (if anyone remembers using Flareon’s second attack please let me know…) 2: everyone that has made decks with Vespiquen has not made them anywhere close to old Flareon decks. And this is what made me most sad, and has driven me to write this article.
So first off, why do I say that these new Vespiquen deck lists are nothing reminiscent of the old Flareon decks? Well, the whole reason I loved the Flareon deck is because it was “Flareon and Friends”. A deck where you got to use a collection of pokemon that together… didn’t even really have synergy, but they were anti-meta and you could find a reason to use every pokemon in some scenario. But what is everyone calling their Vespiquen decks now? “Vespiquen and Eeveelutions” or “Vespiquen and Night March” or “Vespiquen/Raichu”, but that last one is just boring. This deck is supposed to be an anti-meta deck, but when you make it like this it just becomes another part of the meta, it becomes a deck that relies on discarding (and maybe adding a couple of weaknesses). That’s it.
So instead I will be focusing on making, what I believe, is the first “Vespiquen and Friends” deck. I have gone through every set of XY and on (next rotation) multiple times and have continuously weened out cards while trying to also add in new ones that fit better. And of course, any comments for cards you think aren’t necessary in this deck, or cards I may have left out (as I may have missed some very basic cards just because of the scope of how many cards I looked at) or whatever you feel like saying. And a note, the cards below are listed in order of importance and type. This build is called a backwards skeleton, where I build a deck over 60 cards and then you may take out what you don’t think is necessary to make a 60 card deck.
Pokemon: 58
Combee/Vespiquen10 (4/4)
Importance: 10. This deck is called Vespiquen and Friends for a reason, it’s Vespiquen used in all possible scenarios, and then some extra pokemon to help when needed. Get as many pokemon in the discard as quickly as you can and start ripping apart the opponent.
Pikachu/Raichu43 (2/2)
Importance: 9. Because sometimes my Vespiquen won’t be able to attack early game, this is why I have this little poke. Also I run a lot of Sky Fields, and since I have so many pokemon in this deck that help to be on the bench (see the Pokemon: Ability section later) he can be powered up quiet quickly.
Golett/Golurk35 (2/2)
Importance: 8. This guy hits for a nasty amount of weaknesses himself. Being able to hit for four different weaknesses with my eeveelutions (5 if I find a need to add vaporeon one day). He does take quite a bit of energies to power up, but he helps me by being able to hit for 240 weakness and even resisting his own self-damage. Also, he destroys a certain deck that I think would have trouble without him otherwise: Wobbuffet/Crobat/Miltank. Hitting all of them for weakness under Jolteon (and his ability stays up past Wobbuffet). I’ve slowly started to see him as less and less useful, but without any play testing done yet I can’t say for sure.
Tailow/Swellow72 (2/2)
Importance: 8. I don’t think anyone could talk me out of putting this card in my deck. Although overall not being THAT important to my deck, he serves his purpose. Eeveelutions give him plenty of weaknesses to cover for an extra prize card. But the reason that I first wanted to include him in my deck, before I saw some other people with the same idea which has yet to be mentioned, is how well he does against the Night March matchup/ any matchup with low hp pokemon. He runs on only colorless energy (which works wonders in this deck) and can not only snipe pokemon that have been left with a low amount of hp, but also gets me two prize cards on a Joltik, or Pumpkaboo after a Muscle Band. He even helps in a ditto match against other Vespiquen (Flareon + Swellow anyone?)
Druddigon70 (1)
Importance: 7. A worthy tech just to save myself from dragon decks. Hits for 180 damage after a knockout just for a DCE. Although dragon type decks aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be. They are still out there and I think there are enough to include one or two of these into this deck.
Cubchoo/Beartic22 (2/2)
Importance: 6. Just barely making it on to this list, I can see him being useful for matchups against heavy retreat EXs as an early game attacker. Especially if he can hit for some weaknesses under eeveelutions. But overall I think I will cut him for more consistency and other cards.
Bouffalant119 (1)
Importance: 6. With Forest of Giant Plants coming out, a good amount of people are going to try and make certain grass decks viable (see meta list below). And his ability to discard a special energy may come in handy. But overall, I will probably end up taking him off of the list.
Pokemon [Support]
Bunnelby121 (1)
Importance: 9. Single-handedly helps me destroy Wailord EX so that I can show people in a single card how bad that deck is. Also, can save me in a REALLY bad situation to sacrifice a prize card and an energy to get two cards back into my deck I may need. But, mostly for the Wailord EX match-up.
Larvesta/Volcarona17 (1/1)
Importance: 6. Just BARELY included this guy into my deck. I love his first attack and it makes him seem almost useful enough to put in my deck. But most likely every other card that I could put into this deck will just be more important than him, especially since I already have Milotic that kind of does this for me.
Notes: Dedenne34 and Banette32 were almost put into this deck. But another pokemon AND a psychic energy just to try and shut down grass decks didn’t seem anywhere near worth it enough for me. And giving up a prize just to get two basics on my bench also just didn’t make it for me.
Pokemon [Abilities]
Eevee63/Flareon13/Jolteon26/Vaporeon22 (3/2/2/0)
Importance: 10. These Pokemon are not actually critical to Vespiquen. But they are critical to the rest of the deck. While I don’t entirely agree with Vespiquen/Eeveelution decks (because Vespiquen does not need two extra types to get strong knockouts, it only really needs the energy acceleration of Flareon) I think that a Vespiquen and Friends build needs them for the other pokes. So in summation on my opinion on other variants of Vespiquen decks: I don’t think a Vespiquen/Eeveelutions deck really works because you only add two other weaknesses, Vespiquen/ Night march just adds another attacker, and if anything Vespiquen/Flareon/Jolteon or Vespiquen/Raichu is the strongest of the other builds, but still not capitalizing on the strength offered by Vespiquen. SO after that long explanation, the two extra typings add me slightly more coverage for not so much Vespiquen, but instead my other pokes.
Unown30 (4)
Importance: 10. This card is a free discarded pokemon. Get him, bench him, discard him, and draw a card. It’s like a worse version of Bill from the old days (before he was a supporter). Unown is a free card that gets a pokemon in the discard and helps you draw another. Crucial.
Vulpix/Ninetales21 (2/2)
Importance: 9. Oh my word do I love this pokemon. All in all I may have stadium overkill with this deck, but I love the idea of being able to shut down an opponent from placing a stadium that is vital to their strategy. Absolutely think this poke will make it to the final cut just because of the sheer magnitude of match ups that this can help me in.
Feebas/Milotic23 (1/1)
Importance: 9. First of all, it helps me use Ace Trainer if I decide to use that in this deck. Second of all, it gets two more pokemon in the discard to power up Vespiquen. And lastly, it gets another pokemon ready to attack. That means in one turn I could attach a DCE, use a blacksmith, and KO my own Milotic to power up three separate Pokemon. Or it can save me if I don’t draw into a blacksmith and need to quickly get a poke ready. Love this Pokemon and MIGHT make a thicker line. But I don’t want to be knocking out two of these in one game so… probably not.
Shuppet/Banette31 (2/2)
Importance: 8. As long as I have Sky Field for more bench space, I think this guy takes that space very well. He helps me shut down mega evolutions looking to get a free turn after a spirit link. Also, some decks that look to build up damage rely on Muscle Bands and that makes their decks even slower. Stops hard charms from more defensive decks (Wailord EX). Overall just a useful tech in my opinion.
Litleo/Pyroar20/Pyroar12 (2/2/1)
Importance: 8. Does a Pyroar deck work? Absolutely not. Does a Pyroar make an absolutely amazing tech into a deck that can use it efficiently? Absolutely. Too many people are forgetting how amazing Pyroar CAN be in the right deck. Some decks have noticed how we don’t have as strong of answers to EX decks (the regi-family and… Beautifly?) but they are sleeping on our old hero. I firmly believe this pokemon in this deck is going to throw off a lot of decks. The second Pyroar allows me to use an extra fire energy as a Lysander. Most people may think this could be cut out for another card for more consistency. But Lysander is one of those cards that I think are MUCH more important than other people think (you will find a couple of cards in this deck you don’t think are as important as I think they are, just wait for it). But this completes that role without using the supporter for a turn.
Baltoy32 (1)
Importance: 8. Auto-win against Shiftry deck, and other very situational uses.
Swirlix/Slurpuff69 (1/1)
Importance: 7. While not overall that important to this deck (and will most likely be cut) being able to draw one more card every turn should never be underestimated. This could be the sway in a game where I am drawing dead or without a supporter.
Trainer [Disruption]
Startling Megaphone (1)
Importance: 8. I only think it’s worth running one of these in my deck. But it does do a good job of making certain decks work even harder. But because I will most likely have Banette in my deck, I may not even need one.
Enhanced Hammer (2)
Importance: 7. I don’t think this card is absolutely necessary. But with the sheer amount of decks that are running special energies (just think about all the special energies released for all the different types recently) and DCE/Double Dragon/Double Magma etc. make this a worthy inclusion to slow down my opponent if I can find the space.
Notes: I did not want to put a crushing hammer in this deck, just because I think that for a deck to be absolutely dominating it needs to be CONSISTANT. If I could write that word over and over in every section of this paper than I would. But that would be annoying. So I stay away from coin flips and overly situational cards (unless they’re pokemon cause I can just discard them for Vespiquen) at all costs. I also don’t run any Hex Maniacs because my deck relies a lot on abilities. I may tech in one for future match ups if I see fit, but for now it doesn’t seem worth the space.
Trainer [Draw]
VS. Seeker (4)
Importance: 10. Seriously, what deck isn’t running 4 of these? Being able to purposely discard or just use a supporter for a turn and then get it back at will is amazing. That means I can run less of other supporters just because I know I can use them again. Amazing Amazing card.
Sycamore (4)
Importance: 10. Again, can’t think of a reason not to have 4 of these in a deck. I don’t think I have to explain why this card is so amazing.
Shauna (3)
Importance: 9. Although a 5 card hand isn’t strong, sometimes I don’t want to discard what I have in my hand. It’s a toss-up between this and Prof. Birch Observations. While Prof. Birch gives me an average of 5.5 cards per use, it also can leave me with a weak 4 card hand…
Fiery Torch (2)
Importance: 9. Gets fire energy in the discard for my Blacksmith and Milotic and gives me draw power. May even have 3 but I don’t think that’s necessary.
Ace Trainer (2)
Importance: 7. I like that this is the “new” N. But it isn’t really, because you will have situations where this card is dead. Absolutely not a fan of that. But can disrupt the opponent.
Teammates (2)
Importance: 7. Same situation as the Ace trainer, it’s a great card if it wasn’t so situational. Likely, I will lose a Pokemon about every other turn so I can always find a time to use it. But other times I may not be able to and that’s just painful. Probably won’t make the final cut.
Acro Bike (2)
Importance: 6. Overall I haven’t been convinced to use this card yet. At least not as many as most people use. I can’t imagine how painful it would be to discard a card that you desperately needed. But it does allow another way to get a pokemon in the discard.
Trainer [Energy]
Blacksmith (2)
Importance: 10. Coupled with Flareon, this is my best (and pretty much only possible) option for energy acceleration. And if you look back at the history of decks that win major tournaments… Energy acceleration.
Professors Letter (2)
Importance: 9. Gets me fires from deck to attach or discard for future attachment.
Energy Retrieval (1)
Importance: 8. I thought about adding one more, but most likely I will want to be using other methods (such as blacksmith and Milotic) of getting energies from discard. But sometimes I may be caught in a position where I have pre-discarded an energy and can’t make an attachment for the turn. And this helps me correct that mistake.
Trainer [Other]
Town Map (1)
Importance: 10. This is one of those cards I was talking about where I stand by how absolutely important it is where other people might not agree. Giving up one card space to save yourself from all those times when you have a card prized that you absolutely need is crucial IMO. And worst case scenario, it takes up a prize card space. Feel free to disagree, but I’m mighty stubborn in how great I think this card is.
Battle Compressor (4)
Importance: 10. Ok, who isn’t running 4 of these in their Vespiquen decks? Who isn’t running a couple of these in ANY deck? Great to power up Vespiquen, get rid of dead cards in the deck, get rid of cards not needed for a certain match up, and get things in the discard to get out later (with VS Seeker and Blacksmith).
Trainer [Phaze]
Lysandre (2)
Importance: 9. I can’t stress how important it is to have a choice of which pokemon to pick off of your opponents, or making one of their pokemon get stuck in the active to give you time to set up. So many great situations for this card, the only reason I don’t put it as a 10 is because I have my other Pyroar and because it isn’t actually crucial to the deck succeeding.
Switch (2)
Importance: 8. My pokemon don’t have high retreat costs. But with such little energies and not too many options to get them out of the discard, this card is pretty important.
Escape Rope (1)
Importance: 7. Like I said, getting the opponents active out of the way is crucial sometimes, but not being able to choose who they switch with is… situational.
Trainer [Pokemon]
Ultra Ball (3)
Importance: 10. This isn’t only very important for finding Pokemon that I need, but also for discarding Pokemon to power up Vespiquen.
Level Ball (3)
Importance: 9. Most of my pokemon are 90hp or lower and this is a great and simple way to find almost all the pokes I need
Repeat Ball (2)
Importance: 8. Helps me dig out pokemon I need multiples of such as Vespiquen and Eeveelutions or a pokemon that I need to make sure I have another out in case it gets lysandered out. I may actually end up getting rid of this just for more consistency as I have such a variety of pokemon in this deck that play testing may show that it’s not as useful as I think.
Pokemon Fan Club (2)
Importance: 7. Because most of my deck is Stage 1s and because this uses up a supporter for a turn, I don’t know if I would keep this in my final build of the deck, especially with so many trainers to do this for me. But it will save me under an item lock. Keeping it in here for now.
Trainer [Stadium]
Sky Field (3)
Importance: 10. This card gives me three major strengths. 1 Helps me win the stadium battle against my opponent. 2 allows me to really take advantage of all the ability pokemon that I use in this deck (in hopes that they don’t get shut down. And 3, even if this stadium gets discarded, it allows me a free way to add more Pokemon to the discard. This is the last instance of a card that I think is absolutely crucial that others may disagree with me on. I don’t see you disagreeing with how important Sky Field is in this deck, but rather that I am DEAD SET on running 4 stadium in this deck, even with the Ninetales. In this next rotation I see stadium control as something that can make or break a game. So overtaking and winning the stadium battle consistently is going to throw a lot of opponents off and really make them try harder to perform well against this deck. So if I take out the one Rough Seas below I will add another one of these.
Rough Seas (1)
Importance: 7. This does seem to help me in a few match ups that rely on spreading damage. Namely Mega Tyranitar and Crobat variants. But these are just the main ones I consider mentioning. There are still plenty of other cards that take use of spreading damage, and with Jolteon’s ability all of my stage 1s get free heals.
Training Stadium (0)
Importance: 6. Although some play testing might prove this card somewhat useful, the idea of not only giving the opponents stage 1 and 2s +30hp but also the +30hp doesn’t seem like it would help me THAT much in the long run. Then again, I’m actually really open to the idea of me underestimating this card in my deck.
Notes: I do not think Forest of Giant Plants has its place in this deck. I could run one just to make sure that I can get fast Vespiquen out. But the chances of me not being able to find it in the first turn or two means it just wastes valuable card space. The only way I see this card helping this deck in the long run is by running at least three of them, to make sure you can evolve early game, and after knockouts to immediately retaliate. But this deck has so many non-grass type Pokemon that I don’t see the need for it.
Trainer [Tools]
Muscle Band (2)
Importance: (7). There are going to be times when I’m not hitting for weakness or I need to sneak in an extra 20 damage (hopefully when Banette isn’t in play) especially with Swellow that makes me want to include this card. But if it comes down to a problem with space, I will take it out.
Notes: I didn’t include head ringer in this build as a very last minute decision because I just think any other card I can include in this sixty card deck will be more useful than it. But if you disagree feel free to comment below why I’m wrong.
Energy
Double Colorless (4)
Importance: 10. This card single-handedly powers up nearly every single card that I’m going to use in a single energy drop. Crucial for keeping this deck attacking at all times.
Fire (5)
Importance: 10. This deck cannot just run on special energies. There are too many ways of discarding special energies, or decks like metal variants that thrive off of the opponent having too many special energies. But where this also helps is using Fiery Torch/Blacksmith to have energy acceleration. Again, crucial in making sure that my deck is able to attack EVERY turn. I have five in this deck for now because I want to be able to have enough in discard to use Blacksmith to power up pokes. But if one is prized and I’m faced against a deck that does strong against special energy decks, this means I still have a way out.
Notes: I looked at a lot of other types of energies. But ultimately, running separate energies just so that one or maybe two other pokes can use their unique attacks takes away valuable space in this deck. I also looked at special energies (such as Strong, Herbal, and even Flash because Jolteon gives a lot of my pokemon extra typing) but because these are all energies that are not only special energies (which I don’t want to use a lot of) or are reliant on certain abilities, they just aren’t consistent or useful enough for me to include. IMO ANY Vespiquen deck should only be running DCEs and Fires UNLESS they have an attacker that uses a different energy that vastly swings a certain match up.
Match-ups:
Crobat/Wobbafet (Miltank)
Trevenant/Gengar-EX
Mega Rayquaza (Alteria/Bronzong)
M Tyranitar/ Bats
M Ampharos
Wailord EX/ Suicune
M Sceptile/Giratina
Machamp EX/Ariados
Beautifly/Miltank
Night March
Golurk/Eeveelutions
Shiftry
Metal Links (Dialga-EX/Aegeslash)
Seismitoad (Slurpuff/Garbador)
Raichu/ Crobat
Vileplume/Exeggutor
M Manectric (Garbador)
Wailord EX
I won’t finish this section until I can get in some play testing.
So just a final note: this is all deck theory. The list above is a list of all of the cards I can see fitting in this, but it is ONLY deck theory up to this point. (For anyone that doesn’t know, that just means I haven’t done any play testing). I want to take this to the next stage and start play testing it, but I can’t get any TCGO cards codes for a while unless I do trades. So if anyone would want to help me get some testing done on Pokemon TCG Online and has some extras of the cards I want to put into this deck or just doesn’t need them, feel free to message me and I have some full arts and EXs and such I can trade so that I can build on this article past deck theory (User: Spydar05).
tl;dr Vespiquen needs friends.
A new card was released in the Ancient Origins set (10/98) and has created quiet the hype being named “The New Flareon (PLF)”, and as soon as I saw this card released I had a huge grin on my face knowing that it was the resurgence of one of my favorite cards ever released. But then I noticed two things. 1: this card is not Flareon (PLF), it has a usable 1st attack that can be used in worse case scenarios to save a bad hand (if anyone remembers using Flareon’s second attack please let me know…) 2: everyone that has made decks with Vespiquen has not made them anywhere close to old Flareon decks. And this is what made me most sad, and has driven me to write this article.
So first off, why do I say that these new Vespiquen deck lists are nothing reminiscent of the old Flareon decks? Well, the whole reason I loved the Flareon deck is because it was “Flareon and Friends”. A deck where you got to use a collection of pokemon that together… didn’t even really have synergy, but they were anti-meta and you could find a reason to use every pokemon in some scenario. But what is everyone calling their Vespiquen decks now? “Vespiquen and Eeveelutions” or “Vespiquen and Night March” or “Vespiquen/Raichu”, but that last one is just boring. This deck is supposed to be an anti-meta deck, but when you make it like this it just becomes another part of the meta, it becomes a deck that relies on discarding (and maybe adding a couple of weaknesses). That’s it.
So instead I will be focusing on making, what I believe, is the first “Vespiquen and Friends” deck. I have gone through every set of XY and on (next rotation) multiple times and have continuously weened out cards while trying to also add in new ones that fit better. And of course, any comments for cards you think aren’t necessary in this deck, or cards I may have left out (as I may have missed some very basic cards just because of the scope of how many cards I looked at) or whatever you feel like saying. And a note, the cards below are listed in order of importance and type. This build is called a backwards skeleton, where I build a deck over 60 cards and then you may take out what you don’t think is necessary to make a 60 card deck.
Pokemon: 58
- 4 Vespiquen
- 4 Combee
- 2 Raichu
- 2 Pikachu
- 2 Golurk
- 2 Golett
- 2 Swellow
- 2 Tailow
- 2 Beartic
- 2 Cubchoo
- 2 Pyroar FLF
- 1 Pyroar PHF
- 2 Litleo
- 2 Flareon
- 2 Jolteon
- 3 Eevee FFI
- 2 Banette
- 2 Shuppet
- 2 Ninetales
- 2 Vulpix
- 1 Milotic
- 1 Feebas
- 1 Volcarona
- 1 Slurpuff
- 1 Swirlix
- 1 Larvesta
- 4 Unown
- 1 Baltoy
- 1 Bouffalant
- 1 Bunnelby
- 1 Druddigon
- 4 Professor Sycamore
- 3 Shauna
- 2 Ace Trainer
- 2 Blacksmith
- 2 Lysandre
- 2 Pokemon Fan Club
- 2 Teammates
- 4 Battle Compressor
- 4 VS Seeker
- 3 Level Ball
- 3 Ultra Ball
- 2 Acro Bike
- 2 Enhanced Hammer
- 2 Fiery Torch
- 2 Muscle Band
- 2 Professor's Letter
- 2 Repeat Ball
- 2 Switch
- 1 Energy Retrieval
- 1 Escape Rope
- 1 Startling Megaphone
- 1 Town Map
- 3 Skyfield
- 1 Rough Seas
- 4 Double Colorless Energy
- 5 Fire Energy
Combee/Vespiquen10 (4/4)
Importance: 10. This deck is called Vespiquen and Friends for a reason, it’s Vespiquen used in all possible scenarios, and then some extra pokemon to help when needed. Get as many pokemon in the discard as quickly as you can and start ripping apart the opponent.
Pikachu/Raichu43 (2/2)
Importance: 9. Because sometimes my Vespiquen won’t be able to attack early game, this is why I have this little poke. Also I run a lot of Sky Fields, and since I have so many pokemon in this deck that help to be on the bench (see the Pokemon: Ability section later) he can be powered up quiet quickly.
Golett/Golurk35 (2/2)
Importance: 8. This guy hits for a nasty amount of weaknesses himself. Being able to hit for four different weaknesses with my eeveelutions (5 if I find a need to add vaporeon one day). He does take quite a bit of energies to power up, but he helps me by being able to hit for 240 weakness and even resisting his own self-damage. Also, he destroys a certain deck that I think would have trouble without him otherwise: Wobbuffet/Crobat/Miltank. Hitting all of them for weakness under Jolteon (and his ability stays up past Wobbuffet). I’ve slowly started to see him as less and less useful, but without any play testing done yet I can’t say for sure.
Tailow/Swellow72 (2/2)
Importance: 8. I don’t think anyone could talk me out of putting this card in my deck. Although overall not being THAT important to my deck, he serves his purpose. Eeveelutions give him plenty of weaknesses to cover for an extra prize card. But the reason that I first wanted to include him in my deck, before I saw some other people with the same idea which has yet to be mentioned, is how well he does against the Night March matchup/ any matchup with low hp pokemon. He runs on only colorless energy (which works wonders in this deck) and can not only snipe pokemon that have been left with a low amount of hp, but also gets me two prize cards on a Joltik, or Pumpkaboo after a Muscle Band. He even helps in a ditto match against other Vespiquen (Flareon + Swellow anyone?)
Druddigon70 (1)
Importance: 7. A worthy tech just to save myself from dragon decks. Hits for 180 damage after a knockout just for a DCE. Although dragon type decks aren’t nearly as popular as they used to be. They are still out there and I think there are enough to include one or two of these into this deck.
Cubchoo/Beartic22 (2/2)
Importance: 6. Just barely making it on to this list, I can see him being useful for matchups against heavy retreat EXs as an early game attacker. Especially if he can hit for some weaknesses under eeveelutions. But overall I think I will cut him for more consistency and other cards.
Bouffalant119 (1)
Importance: 6. With Forest of Giant Plants coming out, a good amount of people are going to try and make certain grass decks viable (see meta list below). And his ability to discard a special energy may come in handy. But overall, I will probably end up taking him off of the list.
Pokemon [Support]
Bunnelby121 (1)
Importance: 9. Single-handedly helps me destroy Wailord EX so that I can show people in a single card how bad that deck is. Also, can save me in a REALLY bad situation to sacrifice a prize card and an energy to get two cards back into my deck I may need. But, mostly for the Wailord EX match-up.
Larvesta/Volcarona17 (1/1)
Importance: 6. Just BARELY included this guy into my deck. I love his first attack and it makes him seem almost useful enough to put in my deck. But most likely every other card that I could put into this deck will just be more important than him, especially since I already have Milotic that kind of does this for me.
Notes: Dedenne34 and Banette32 were almost put into this deck. But another pokemon AND a psychic energy just to try and shut down grass decks didn’t seem anywhere near worth it enough for me. And giving up a prize just to get two basics on my bench also just didn’t make it for me.
Pokemon [Abilities]
Eevee63/Flareon13/Jolteon26/Vaporeon22 (3/2/2/0)
Importance: 10. These Pokemon are not actually critical to Vespiquen. But they are critical to the rest of the deck. While I don’t entirely agree with Vespiquen/Eeveelution decks (because Vespiquen does not need two extra types to get strong knockouts, it only really needs the energy acceleration of Flareon) I think that a Vespiquen and Friends build needs them for the other pokes. So in summation on my opinion on other variants of Vespiquen decks: I don’t think a Vespiquen/Eeveelutions deck really works because you only add two other weaknesses, Vespiquen/ Night march just adds another attacker, and if anything Vespiquen/Flareon/Jolteon or Vespiquen/Raichu is the strongest of the other builds, but still not capitalizing on the strength offered by Vespiquen. SO after that long explanation, the two extra typings add me slightly more coverage for not so much Vespiquen, but instead my other pokes.
Unown30 (4)
Importance: 10. This card is a free discarded pokemon. Get him, bench him, discard him, and draw a card. It’s like a worse version of Bill from the old days (before he was a supporter). Unown is a free card that gets a pokemon in the discard and helps you draw another. Crucial.
Vulpix/Ninetales21 (2/2)
Importance: 9. Oh my word do I love this pokemon. All in all I may have stadium overkill with this deck, but I love the idea of being able to shut down an opponent from placing a stadium that is vital to their strategy. Absolutely think this poke will make it to the final cut just because of the sheer magnitude of match ups that this can help me in.
Feebas/Milotic23 (1/1)
Importance: 9. First of all, it helps me use Ace Trainer if I decide to use that in this deck. Second of all, it gets two more pokemon in the discard to power up Vespiquen. And lastly, it gets another pokemon ready to attack. That means in one turn I could attach a DCE, use a blacksmith, and KO my own Milotic to power up three separate Pokemon. Or it can save me if I don’t draw into a blacksmith and need to quickly get a poke ready. Love this Pokemon and MIGHT make a thicker line. But I don’t want to be knocking out two of these in one game so… probably not.
Shuppet/Banette31 (2/2)
Importance: 8. As long as I have Sky Field for more bench space, I think this guy takes that space very well. He helps me shut down mega evolutions looking to get a free turn after a spirit link. Also, some decks that look to build up damage rely on Muscle Bands and that makes their decks even slower. Stops hard charms from more defensive decks (Wailord EX). Overall just a useful tech in my opinion.
Litleo/Pyroar20/Pyroar12 (2/2/1)
Importance: 8. Does a Pyroar deck work? Absolutely not. Does a Pyroar make an absolutely amazing tech into a deck that can use it efficiently? Absolutely. Too many people are forgetting how amazing Pyroar CAN be in the right deck. Some decks have noticed how we don’t have as strong of answers to EX decks (the regi-family and… Beautifly?) but they are sleeping on our old hero. I firmly believe this pokemon in this deck is going to throw off a lot of decks. The second Pyroar allows me to use an extra fire energy as a Lysander. Most people may think this could be cut out for another card for more consistency. But Lysander is one of those cards that I think are MUCH more important than other people think (you will find a couple of cards in this deck you don’t think are as important as I think they are, just wait for it). But this completes that role without using the supporter for a turn.
Baltoy32 (1)
Importance: 8. Auto-win against Shiftry deck, and other very situational uses.
Swirlix/Slurpuff69 (1/1)
Importance: 7. While not overall that important to this deck (and will most likely be cut) being able to draw one more card every turn should never be underestimated. This could be the sway in a game where I am drawing dead or without a supporter.
Trainer [Disruption]
Startling Megaphone (1)
Importance: 8. I only think it’s worth running one of these in my deck. But it does do a good job of making certain decks work even harder. But because I will most likely have Banette in my deck, I may not even need one.
Enhanced Hammer (2)
Importance: 7. I don’t think this card is absolutely necessary. But with the sheer amount of decks that are running special energies (just think about all the special energies released for all the different types recently) and DCE/Double Dragon/Double Magma etc. make this a worthy inclusion to slow down my opponent if I can find the space.
Notes: I did not want to put a crushing hammer in this deck, just because I think that for a deck to be absolutely dominating it needs to be CONSISTANT. If I could write that word over and over in every section of this paper than I would. But that would be annoying. So I stay away from coin flips and overly situational cards (unless they’re pokemon cause I can just discard them for Vespiquen) at all costs. I also don’t run any Hex Maniacs because my deck relies a lot on abilities. I may tech in one for future match ups if I see fit, but for now it doesn’t seem worth the space.
Trainer [Draw]
VS. Seeker (4)
Importance: 10. Seriously, what deck isn’t running 4 of these? Being able to purposely discard or just use a supporter for a turn and then get it back at will is amazing. That means I can run less of other supporters just because I know I can use them again. Amazing Amazing card.
Sycamore (4)
Importance: 10. Again, can’t think of a reason not to have 4 of these in a deck. I don’t think I have to explain why this card is so amazing.
Shauna (3)
Importance: 9. Although a 5 card hand isn’t strong, sometimes I don’t want to discard what I have in my hand. It’s a toss-up between this and Prof. Birch Observations. While Prof. Birch gives me an average of 5.5 cards per use, it also can leave me with a weak 4 card hand…
Fiery Torch (2)
Importance: 9. Gets fire energy in the discard for my Blacksmith and Milotic and gives me draw power. May even have 3 but I don’t think that’s necessary.
Ace Trainer (2)
Importance: 7. I like that this is the “new” N. But it isn’t really, because you will have situations where this card is dead. Absolutely not a fan of that. But can disrupt the opponent.
Teammates (2)
Importance: 7. Same situation as the Ace trainer, it’s a great card if it wasn’t so situational. Likely, I will lose a Pokemon about every other turn so I can always find a time to use it. But other times I may not be able to and that’s just painful. Probably won’t make the final cut.
Acro Bike (2)
Importance: 6. Overall I haven’t been convinced to use this card yet. At least not as many as most people use. I can’t imagine how painful it would be to discard a card that you desperately needed. But it does allow another way to get a pokemon in the discard.
Trainer [Energy]
Blacksmith (2)
Importance: 10. Coupled with Flareon, this is my best (and pretty much only possible) option for energy acceleration. And if you look back at the history of decks that win major tournaments… Energy acceleration.
Professors Letter (2)
Importance: 9. Gets me fires from deck to attach or discard for future attachment.
Energy Retrieval (1)
Importance: 8. I thought about adding one more, but most likely I will want to be using other methods (such as blacksmith and Milotic) of getting energies from discard. But sometimes I may be caught in a position where I have pre-discarded an energy and can’t make an attachment for the turn. And this helps me correct that mistake.
Trainer [Other]
Town Map (1)
Importance: 10. This is one of those cards I was talking about where I stand by how absolutely important it is where other people might not agree. Giving up one card space to save yourself from all those times when you have a card prized that you absolutely need is crucial IMO. And worst case scenario, it takes up a prize card space. Feel free to disagree, but I’m mighty stubborn in how great I think this card is.
Battle Compressor (4)
Importance: 10. Ok, who isn’t running 4 of these in their Vespiquen decks? Who isn’t running a couple of these in ANY deck? Great to power up Vespiquen, get rid of dead cards in the deck, get rid of cards not needed for a certain match up, and get things in the discard to get out later (with VS Seeker and Blacksmith).
Trainer [Phaze]
Lysandre (2)
Importance: 9. I can’t stress how important it is to have a choice of which pokemon to pick off of your opponents, or making one of their pokemon get stuck in the active to give you time to set up. So many great situations for this card, the only reason I don’t put it as a 10 is because I have my other Pyroar and because it isn’t actually crucial to the deck succeeding.
Switch (2)
Importance: 8. My pokemon don’t have high retreat costs. But with such little energies and not too many options to get them out of the discard, this card is pretty important.
Escape Rope (1)
Importance: 7. Like I said, getting the opponents active out of the way is crucial sometimes, but not being able to choose who they switch with is… situational.
Trainer [Pokemon]
Ultra Ball (3)
Importance: 10. This isn’t only very important for finding Pokemon that I need, but also for discarding Pokemon to power up Vespiquen.
Level Ball (3)
Importance: 9. Most of my pokemon are 90hp or lower and this is a great and simple way to find almost all the pokes I need
Repeat Ball (2)
Importance: 8. Helps me dig out pokemon I need multiples of such as Vespiquen and Eeveelutions or a pokemon that I need to make sure I have another out in case it gets lysandered out. I may actually end up getting rid of this just for more consistency as I have such a variety of pokemon in this deck that play testing may show that it’s not as useful as I think.
Pokemon Fan Club (2)
Importance: 7. Because most of my deck is Stage 1s and because this uses up a supporter for a turn, I don’t know if I would keep this in my final build of the deck, especially with so many trainers to do this for me. But it will save me under an item lock. Keeping it in here for now.
Trainer [Stadium]
Sky Field (3)
Importance: 10. This card gives me three major strengths. 1 Helps me win the stadium battle against my opponent. 2 allows me to really take advantage of all the ability pokemon that I use in this deck (in hopes that they don’t get shut down. And 3, even if this stadium gets discarded, it allows me a free way to add more Pokemon to the discard. This is the last instance of a card that I think is absolutely crucial that others may disagree with me on. I don’t see you disagreeing with how important Sky Field is in this deck, but rather that I am DEAD SET on running 4 stadium in this deck, even with the Ninetales. In this next rotation I see stadium control as something that can make or break a game. So overtaking and winning the stadium battle consistently is going to throw a lot of opponents off and really make them try harder to perform well against this deck. So if I take out the one Rough Seas below I will add another one of these.
Rough Seas (1)
Importance: 7. This does seem to help me in a few match ups that rely on spreading damage. Namely Mega Tyranitar and Crobat variants. But these are just the main ones I consider mentioning. There are still plenty of other cards that take use of spreading damage, and with Jolteon’s ability all of my stage 1s get free heals.
Training Stadium (0)
Importance: 6. Although some play testing might prove this card somewhat useful, the idea of not only giving the opponents stage 1 and 2s +30hp but also the +30hp doesn’t seem like it would help me THAT much in the long run. Then again, I’m actually really open to the idea of me underestimating this card in my deck.
Notes: I do not think Forest of Giant Plants has its place in this deck. I could run one just to make sure that I can get fast Vespiquen out. But the chances of me not being able to find it in the first turn or two means it just wastes valuable card space. The only way I see this card helping this deck in the long run is by running at least three of them, to make sure you can evolve early game, and after knockouts to immediately retaliate. But this deck has so many non-grass type Pokemon that I don’t see the need for it.
Trainer [Tools]
Muscle Band (2)
Importance: (7). There are going to be times when I’m not hitting for weakness or I need to sneak in an extra 20 damage (hopefully when Banette isn’t in play) especially with Swellow that makes me want to include this card. But if it comes down to a problem with space, I will take it out.
Notes: I didn’t include head ringer in this build as a very last minute decision because I just think any other card I can include in this sixty card deck will be more useful than it. But if you disagree feel free to comment below why I’m wrong.
Energy
Double Colorless (4)
Importance: 10. This card single-handedly powers up nearly every single card that I’m going to use in a single energy drop. Crucial for keeping this deck attacking at all times.
Fire (5)
Importance: 10. This deck cannot just run on special energies. There are too many ways of discarding special energies, or decks like metal variants that thrive off of the opponent having too many special energies. But where this also helps is using Fiery Torch/Blacksmith to have energy acceleration. Again, crucial in making sure that my deck is able to attack EVERY turn. I have five in this deck for now because I want to be able to have enough in discard to use Blacksmith to power up pokes. But if one is prized and I’m faced against a deck that does strong against special energy decks, this means I still have a way out.
Notes: I looked at a lot of other types of energies. But ultimately, running separate energies just so that one or maybe two other pokes can use their unique attacks takes away valuable space in this deck. I also looked at special energies (such as Strong, Herbal, and even Flash because Jolteon gives a lot of my pokemon extra typing) but because these are all energies that are not only special energies (which I don’t want to use a lot of) or are reliant on certain abilities, they just aren’t consistent or useful enough for me to include. IMO ANY Vespiquen deck should only be running DCEs and Fires UNLESS they have an attacker that uses a different energy that vastly swings a certain match up.
Match-ups:
Crobat/Wobbafet (Miltank)
Trevenant/Gengar-EX
Mega Rayquaza (Alteria/Bronzong)
M Tyranitar/ Bats
M Ampharos
Wailord EX/ Suicune
M Sceptile/Giratina
Machamp EX/Ariados
Beautifly/Miltank
Night March
Golurk/Eeveelutions
Shiftry
Metal Links (Dialga-EX/Aegeslash)
Seismitoad (Slurpuff/Garbador)
Raichu/ Crobat
Vileplume/Exeggutor
M Manectric (Garbador)
Wailord EX
I won’t finish this section until I can get in some play testing.
So just a final note: this is all deck theory. The list above is a list of all of the cards I can see fitting in this, but it is ONLY deck theory up to this point. (For anyone that doesn’t know, that just means I haven’t done any play testing). I want to take this to the next stage and start play testing it, but I can’t get any TCGO cards codes for a while unless I do trades. So if anyone would want to help me get some testing done on Pokemon TCG Online and has some extras of the cards I want to put into this deck or just doesn’t need them, feel free to message me and I have some full arts and EXs and such I can trade so that I can build on this article past deck theory (User: Spydar05).
tl;dr Vespiquen needs friends.
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