Expanded Three Strikes Yikes! (Slowbro/Victini) (For Seniors)

[Merovingian]

Ok. So it's a bit too early to tell as of yet, but my daughter wants to pick the game back up again, but will only play decks that fit the following criteria:

- Is it annoying?
- Is it embarassing to lose against?

She is a control player at heart and has played a $50 Wailord EX control deck back in 2017, so she gets the idea of the resource control game. However, I showed her Three Strikes Slowbro from Unbroken Bonds and that has definitely caught her eye. I HIGHLY doubt anyone wants to lose, especially to something as off-kilter as Three Strikes Slowbro.

The thing is that she wants to do this in a Regional setting and this is her first go in Seniors. I'm trying to get familiar with what gets played in Seniors (which at this point, I figure there is a severe lack in ANY Tropical Beach deck and control is less of a thing?). Another issue is that I know how to build control, I am the most awful player to build aggro-anything; it's completely out of my wheelhouse. Here's what I have so far:

POKEMON: 12
- 4 - Slowpoke (LOT)
- 4 - Slowbro (Three Strikes)
- 3 - Victini (GRI)
- 1 - Ditto Prism Star

TRAINERS: 35
- 4 -Professor Sycamore
- 4 - Cynthia
- 4 - Guzma

- 4 - Level Ball
- 4 - Pokegear 3.0
- 4 - Aqua Patch
- 3 - Ultra Ball
- 3 - Rescue Stretcher
- 1 - Special Charge
- 1 - Computer Search

- 3 - Shrine of Punishment

ENERGY: 12
- 8 -Water Energy
- 4 - Double Colorless Energy
- 1 - Triple Acceleration Energy

The idea here would be to constantly stream Slowbros as I figure you're going to be eating back-to-back KOs.

I'm utilizing a Pokegear 3.0-centric engine to help prevent bricking in the face of Red Card and Let Loose. Not sure if Cynthia or N is the better play. I'm onboard with Cynthia as that helps you when you can start taking Prizes. I don't know. Not an aggro player and if N would be worth it in this case.

Also not sure if Computer Search is the better Ace Spec or Dowsing Machine. Computer Search helps against Red Card/Let Loose and is never a dead draw, Dowsing Machine is a "5th" Aqua Patch and a sort of VS Seeker.

Again, I want to try and tune this to "Regional-quality meme" for the Seniors division, but I'm not privy to Seniors metagaming or aggro decks. And this is all hoping Dallas is Expanded again. Riding on the wave of hopes and memes!

Any suggestions?

 

[NaganadelIsBeast]

It looks pretty good, but you have a 37.5 % (I think) chance of not starting with a something that can evolve into Slowbro. I reccomend a couple Switch fora Level Ball and Stretcher.

 

[Missilistico]

Probably you should focus on DCE and TCE by removing many Water Energy and Aqua Patch framework. If you do this, you get a lot of room, and you can add more aggro stuff. For example, you cann add Acro Bike and Vs Seeker, and an Oranguru UPR for energy recycle and control matchup! And what about a mono Archie? Too much random?

 

[Merovingian]

Probably you should focus on DCE and TCE by removing many Water Energy and Aqua Patch framework. If you do this, you get a lot of room, and you can add more aggro stuff. For example, you cann add Acro Bike and Vs Seeker, and an Oranguru UPR for energy recycle and control matchup! And what about a mono Archie? Too much random?

I did some proxy testing last night (I don’t have PTCGO) again Hitmonchan / Wobbuffet, as well as look at the Hartford Regional Day 2 decks and throw ideas against that. Here’s what I have:

- The Pokegear 3.0 engine I use here is the same that I use in a control deck. The numbers are sound, it works there, but not as well here as evidenced by unexpected and near-unrecoverable bricking. So I might have to incorporate other draw or something.

- Because Slowbro hits really really weird numbers in regards to the Expanded metagame. 100 hits a fair amount of 1 prize basic Pokémon. 200 OHKOs soft GX Pokemon and virtually anything with one Prize. But 300 KOs pretty much anything. Shrine helps with numbers like Zoroark-GX and PikaRom. PikaRom also needs Choice Band WITH Shrine AND 2 heads for a OHKO. Zoroark can be hit by either Shrine or Choice with 2 heads for a OHKO. But PikaRom is the only reason why you’d run something like Choice Band—the chance to get a OHKO.

- Did light testing between Victini and Trick Coin. Victini is the better choice, but Victini also works best when you run switching options like Guzma. And Guzma and Aqua Patch go together really well when you want to launch an assault. Trick Coin isn’t searchable or retrievable, but it allows you some...weird options. I’m looking into Robo Substitute. And I’m testing a Guzma-less build to use Random Receiver, and without Guzma, Aqua Patch isn’t as strong. And with that:

- been testing Slumber Forest and it has been nothing short of AMAZING. Being able to hold the opponent off and (more than likely) NOT eat a KO when you go first, as well as make it to where you could potentially take the first KO of the game. It’s proven super super valuable. What’s even cooler is that it is super synergetic with Hypnotoxic Laser. Now you can hold something down like PikaRom AND do Three strikes in the same turn. And the poison provides that valuable chip damage to OHKO things like Zoroark GX.


I’m going to try a Trick Coin variant with Slumber Forest, Laser, and Robo Substitute and see how it does. On paper, it seems like it’d be a bit more impervious to an opponent using Guzma to get out from under Slumber Forest and try taking an easy KO (as they’d be hitting right into a Robo Sub and they accomplished nothing but minorly inconvenience me).

 

[Missilistico]

I didn't known Trick Coin - you know, I don't play Expanded - but I think you should add at least one for the Wobbufett matchup!