Help The "What Deck Should I Play?" Thread

Shaymin is considered a staple, much like Professor Juniper. There are alternatives, but they aren't as good. You could try going with the recent Octillery print or, in Expanded, Jirachi-EX, or perhaps add more Trainers Mail and Acro Bike.
 
Hmm, shame that such an expensive and rare card is a staple... really seems punishing for newer players trying to get into the game. Octillery looks neat at least, so I could give him a try if finding Shaymin proves tough, thanks.

Are there any decent status using pokemon/cards in the standard format? :3
 
Hey everyone,

I need a deck optimal for a specific meta game at a tournament. As I am a Senior from Europe, I don't expect too many players to participate, maybe around 8. I know for sure that one of my opponents will be playing either Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade or M-Mewtwo EX. I also think there will be two Manectric/Crobat and one Night March, but I don't know what those guys will play at last. Finally, I think there will be two to four guys with other/random decks, maybe even someone with a meta deck who I don't know yet.

I need a deck that is very favourable in that meta. I thought about playing Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade or Manectric/Crobat myself, but I am up to any other deck as I am not so good at finding counters or predicting the meta.

Thank you for your help
PlinfaTheBest
 
Hey there! This is actually my first post. Well with all the excitement of the Gen 1 games being rereleased for the 3ds and my local game store where I play Magic the Gathering at, is going to start doing Pokemon Tcg events. So now i've decided to start playing the Tcg. I got introduced to Pokemon years ago with Red and Blue version back for the original GameBoy and I still have some of my base set cards but i lost all my holographics :(.
I'm interested in Standard. Being a huge fan of Gen 1 is there like a Mewtwo/Alakazam maybe Gengar+ Dragonite deck?
Thanks in advance.
 
Mega mewtwo Y does the same thing mewtwo does, then run it with aromatisse and max potion so you can move the energy off of mewtwo, play max potion to heal everything and then put the energy back onto mewtwo sort of like alakazam but the dmg is dealt with then as opposed to making alakazam a target. gengar/dragonite, maybe take a look at a few bats list's, its the only thing that comes to mind. You can find these deck list's on team fish knuckle's youtube channel under main deck Mondays, good luck.
 
Hey everyone,

I need a deck optimal for a specific meta game at a tournament. As I am a Senior from Europe, I don't expect too many players to participate, maybe around 8. I know for sure that one of my opponents will be playing either Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade or M-Mewtwo EX. I also think there will be two Manectric/Crobat and one Night March, but I don't know what those guys will play at last. Finally, I think there will be two to four guys with other/random decks, maybe even someone with a meta deck who I don't know yet.

I need a deck that is very favourable in that meta. I thought about playing Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade or Manectric/Crobat myself, but I am up to any other deck as I am not so good at finding counters or predicting the meta.

Thank you for your help
PlinfaTheBest

A Gallade variant sounds like a pretty solid meta call. You could potentially run a Hitmonlee FFI to improve the Night March matchup depending on the player's skill level, if you run Gallade with [F] Energy.

Hey there! This is actually my first post. Well with all the excitement of the Gen 1 games being rereleased for the 3ds and my local game store where I play Magic the Gathering at, is going to start doing Pokemon Tcg events. So now i've decided to start playing the Tcg. I got introduced to Pokemon years ago with Red and Blue version back for the original GameBoy and I still have some of my base set cards but i lost all my holographics :(.
I'm interested in Standard. Being a huge fan of Gen 1 is there like a Mewtwo/Alakazam maybe Gengar+ Dragonite deck?
Thanks in advance.
Mewtwo variants and Gengar variants do have prevalence in the competitive meta. Mewtwo has recently been printed as a powerful Pokemon-EX with a powerful Mega Evolution (a mechanic introduced in the games in Generation VI). Running M Mewtwo-Y with Shrine of Memories would probably be your best Mewtwo deck in the current format, utilising a relatively mixed-aggressive strategy. You can find a PB article with a good deck list here.

Gengar also has its own interesting variant named Gengar-EX/Trevenant. It aims at preventing your opponent from using the versatile Items that most decks use an abundance of with Trevenant, while dishing out damage and pressure with Gengar-EX's second attack. You can find a good list here.

If you're unsure which deck to choose, Gengar/Trev has poor matchups against common archetypes of Mega Manectric-EX and Dark. Mega Mewtwo-EX has a poor matchup against the common archetype Night March.
 
Hello everyone,

This is my first time posting on a forum here. I want to create a deck that is competitive in the current meta. I don't know if Rayquaza/Bronzong is currently a good deck or not. I've also seen people talk about some gallade decks. Are any of those decks good and what are some good basics to have in those decks?
 
Consider (in no particular order):
  1. Trevenant BREAK only requires 1 Psychic energy to attack while Dimension Valley is in play; but Giratina EX requires 4.
  2. Trevenant BREAK only requires a Basic energy to attack, but Giratina EX requires at least 1 Special energy.
  3. It is much faster and easier to get a single Psychic energy vs. multiple Double Dragon and/or Double Colorless energy. The number of Psychic energy in a deck can be double-digit vs. Double Dragon energy which is limited to just 4.
  4. Trevenant BREAK only requires 1 energy attachment to attack while Dimension Valley is in play; but Giratina EX requires a minimum of 2 attachments (without energy attachment acceleration - e.g., Bronzong).
  5. Trevenant XY can be Wally'd onto a Phantump T1 in order to prevent opponents from using Items as long as it is Active. This can be quite disruptive.
  6. Nothing can stop nor minimize the damage counter drop or Trevenant BREAK's attack; but Giratina EX's sole attack can be minimized if the Defending Pokemon has an attached Assault Vest.
  7. Trevenant BREAK drops damage counters onto ALL opponent's Pokemon, not like Giratina EX's Chaos Wheel.
  8. Vileplume can also be setup T1 and its Item-locking Ability can be maintained while its sits on the bench.
  9. Giratina EX's sole attack only inflicts 100 damage, BUT it prevents opponents from playing, Stadiums, Tools and Special energy on their next turn.
  10. Giratina EX gives up 2 prizes when KOd vs. Trevenant BREAK's 1.
IMO, Trevenant BREAK has more advantages vs. Giratina EX; and, there are some other choices (e.g., Meowstic) to partner with Trevenant BREAK that would make its spread damage more effective.
 
Do you have any example decklists?
I would first suggest you checkout the Deck Garage Forum and enter "trevenant" in the Search field. You can then see several, different Trevenant-Gengar deck examples. Perhaps find one you like and use that as a starting point for your deck? Afterwards, post a Thread in the Deck Garage with your revised deck list.

At this moment, I like the Trevenant line, but I have not yet built and tested my version of the Trevenant-Gengar deck. The deck concept seems interesting and inviting "in theory," but, in "practical" game reality, I am not convinced it is actually viable. Consider the following thoughts:

  • Trevenant and Gengar lines are weak to dark Pokemon attacks and Dark Pokemon decks are quite prevalent right now.
  • Water and Lightning Pokemon decks can easily counter the damage counter drops with Rough Seas.
  • Trevenant requires at least 2 turns to evolve in order to start dropping damage counters. Those 2 turns provide ample time to counter the threats.
  • Even if a player does succeed in placing 3+ damage counters onto an opponent's Pokemon, you may still need to expend resources 3+ times in order to take 6 prizes. At some point, one could deplete those needed resources before taking 6 prizes.
  • Even if a player does succeed in placing 3+ damage counters onto an opponent's Pokemon, the opponent can play a Parallel City limiting his/her bench to just 3 Pokemon and perhaps save his/her important Pokemon from being KOd.
  • IMO, Gengar is the real threat and an opponent can just focus on KOing the Gastlys early.
  • Setting up multiple Trevenant BREAKs and Gengar are time consuming and the setup can be disrupted.
Given Trevenant BREAK's capabilities, I think the BKP Aegislash would be a better partner than Gengar. For CCC (or just CC when Dimension Valley is in play) energy cost, Aegislash's Painful Sword attack doubles all the damage counters on each of your opponent's Pokemon. Combining these 2 Pokemon with 1-2 Meowstic would seem more efficient than Trevenant-Gengar. Thoughts?
 
Is there a deck that stops my opponent from doing everything while ripping my opponent to shreds in the process? I want to control and be aggressive at once.
 
While I don't think that deck is a meta play right now, I would recommend Giratina/Vileplume. If you have a Vileplume out and attacked with Giratina, your opponent can't play Items, Stadiums or Special Energy while you do 100 damage every turn. It needs a lot of setup though and can be quite slow, but if there is no need for Item lock and Giratina lock at the same time, you could play a normal Seismitoad/Giratina variant.
 
My experience if Giratina/Vileplume is that you need to be slightly lucky with energy, if you can't attack then there's problems. Only doing 100 damage is also an issue. However it does seem to counter a lot of the meta generally.
 
Been a long time.
Coming back again and I'm looking for something aggressive. Something that hits hard quickly. Expanded Format please. My budget isn't really an issue, but I would prefer not to spend a bucket-ton. :3

Thank you guys!
 
Archie's Blastoise, Night March and Vespiquen are all particularly aggressive, high tier decks.
 
Hello

I'm going to play in some standard tournaments soon and I don't know which deck to play. The meta in my area is made up of mainly Y/Z/G, M Manectric and Toad. Are there any fast decks that have good match ups against these?
 
Hello

I'm going to play in some standard tournaments soon and I don't know which deck to play. The meta in my area is made up of mainly Y/Z/G, M Manectric and Toad. Are there any fast decks that have good match ups against these?

So if you are looking for a fast consistent deck to go with, Night March is a great option as it's gaining even more momentum with each set being released. Another good deck would be Vespiquen as it can abuse the AOR Eeveelutions to hit for weakness. If you want to try to speedy while aggressive too, you can always go Rayquaza EX/Lugia EX with Shaymin EX, though the downfall of this is that you're weak to Mega Manectric/Raichu BREAK. If you find another deck you want to know more about let me know and I'll help you out as much as I can!

I hope this helps! Good luck and have fun!
 
What are some good standard decks out their? I'm currently considering standard yveltal/BPT Darkrai and vespiquen/vileplume.
 
Hey everyone, long time no see. I haven't played Pokemon in around 2 years and I find myself missing it more practically every week, so I decided I might give it a shot again. Back when I was pretty competitive and was really enjoying the game my favorite decks were(in order): Chandelure/Vileplume, Eelecktrik/Zekrom, and Durant. I really love decks that are satisfying to play (if that makes sense). I started to drift away from the game when EX's were becoming really OP and ges were often decided or could be heavily to one persons favor on turn one. Since I hardly even know what cards are in the format I would really appreciate some suggestions as to decks or even just cards similar to those that I mentioned.
Thanks in advance!
 
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