Help Trying to Make Dusk Mane work.

S

Seastrome

Aspiring Trainer
Member
its the only deck I’ll play because I'm not a fan of Zoroark or Buzzwole decks. (My friend went 0-5-1 at a regionals with Buzzwole deck so that makes me skeptical of playing it since he's not a terrible player by any means.) I figure Dusk Mane is good because it's the same deck as Bulu pretty much but better since it takes out everything and has better access to energy retrieval. However, I have been getting beat by Bulu because I just can't get get Rare Candy like my opponents seem to which is infuriating.
 
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Lol its not better then vikabulu. While dusk mane is a better attacker then bulu, Vikavolt is much better then Magnezone. Getting 2 energys out of deck is just way better then having to get 4 metal energies in to your hand by yourself on top of getting your stage 2 set up and an attack on the table. Plus vikavolt can be seached with Heavy Ball making the deck get set up more consistently via skyla (since it can get one of any piece you are missing)

Needing Dusk Mane, Rare Candy + Magnezone, AND 4 metal energy is just too much to consistently do,
 
People have been pairing Dusk Mane Necrozma with Silvally GX and Max Elixir as an alternate way of energy acceleration.
 
I wouldn't say Dusk Mane/Magnezone is better than Tapu Bulu/Vikavolt. I've played both and Tapu Bulu is better all around. No weakness, able to accelerate Energy from the deck instead of needing it in hand, needs less Energy to attack. Dusk Mane has it's advantages, such as being able to hit higher numbers and access to Fighting Fury Belt which Tapu Bulu would love but can't run because it needs Choice Band. Both decks can be powerful when set up, but they can also brick.

If you want to run Dusk Mane/Magnezone, I'd start with this list the placed third at the Buenos Aires SPE: http://limitlesstcg.com/decks/?list=849
 
You want to run Dusk Mane, but are you focused on the Zone variant or just want to run DM?

I'm still not sure Zone is the best way to go, since you can just play VikaBulu, as mentioned, or a Solgaleo-GX variant accelerating with Sol Burst GX which is faster, bulkier (especially with Max Potion) and more consistent (due to Heavy Ball synergy and independence from Mt. Coronet).

I'd also advise a Garb(otoxin) variant with Max Elixir, if you don't want to deal with Candy shenanigans. Very fun, at least until rotation.
 
Dusk Mane just got better with Beast Energy, Beast Ring, Lady and Frying Pan. I been testing it out and gives Dusk Mane a boost and consistency. I would say it's the other way around compared to Bulu now that we have a new set.
 
K-Genesis said:
You want to run Dusk Mane, but are you focused on the Zone variant or just want to run DM?

I'm still not sure Zone is the best way to go, since you can just play VikaBulu, as mentioned, or a Solgaleo-GX variant accelerating with Sol Burst GX which is faster, bulkier (especially with Max Potion) and more consistent (due to Heavy Ball synergy and independence from Mt. Coronet).

I'd also advise a Garb(otoxin) variant with Max Elixir, if you don't want to deal with Candy shenanigans. Very fun, at least until rotation.
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I am barely over 50% with VikaBulu while winning over 70% with Dusk Mane variants. VikaBulu is more inconsistent in that it NEEDS Choice Bands to get knock outs and the energy recovery is limited to Recyclers. Sure, Dusk Mane needs 4 energies, but that's easily doable due to Mt. Coronet, Letters, Retrievals, and even using Prism Star Solgaleo to accelerate energies. Bulu does not have that. With Bulu, you really need to run hot more so than Dusk Mane and 180 hp is a lot easier to hit than 190 hp.

with Beast Ring and Lady, the deck only gets better. Lady can easily get me a charged up attack for the turn.
 
Seastrome said:
I am barely over 50% with VikaBulu while winning over 70% with Dusk Mane variants. VikaBulu is more inconsistent in that it NEEDS Choice Bands to get knock outs and the energy recovery is limited to Recyclers. Sure, Dusk Mane needs 4 energies, but that's easily doable due to Mt. Coronet, Letters, Retrievals, and even using Prism Star Solgaleo to accelerate energies. Bulu does not have that. With Bulu, you really need to run hot more so than Dusk Mane and 180 hp is a lot easier to hit than 190 hp.

with Beast Ring and Lady, the deck only gets better. Lady can easily get me a charged up attack for the turn.
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This can easily turn into a circular argument, if personal experience is to be accounted for.

But, sticking to the facts, Vikabulu is more consistent in that getting energy out of the deck every turn thins it out, making it significantly easier to hit whatever you need (including Choice Band, whether through hard draw, Skyla or draw support).
Its energy recovery is almost always a one-time process, whereas Duskzone needs recycling every turn, which is dependent on a card (you listed them) while Vikabulu only needs an energy in hand (provided that you only have 1 Vikavolt in play). Deny its recovery and Duskzone has to race through the deck to find 3 energy (not that it's difficult, but it's more prone to bad luck).
Nowadays, you're either hitting for 210, 190 or 120, outside rogue territory. 180 or 190hp is a small (although nice) detail.

Summing it up, there are pros and cons to both. But there are other ways (in my view, more effective) to play DM other than Bulu 2.0.
 
I've played a fair amount of both of these decks, and there's a couple of notes I have to make:

The nest ball / Lillie variant of Vika Bulu (or Kica Bulu if you'd like to call it that) is very consistent in setup. It's quite easy to setup Vikavolts by turn 2, and the way the deck functions makes it easy to stream them later on in the game. Because of this, knocking out your Vikavolts is no longer a viable game plan for your opponent, as they waste a turn taking 1 prize as opposed to 2. It's a good list also being able to search your deck for energy with the ability, the large number of cards you draw, and the flexibility to be able to deal a decent amount of damage without having to discard energy, being able to deal with 1 prize attacking decks.

The traditional Dusk Mane Necrozma / Magnezone list also has a lot going for it, as well. Granted, sometimes it gets a little clunky as some turns you really are forced to use Skyla to get a piece to get something set up to draw next turn, but being able to attach any number of energies within a turn has a lot of perks. Also, Dialga GX being able to give you an extra turn can substantially turn certain matchups around (looking at you, Volcanion...). The damage that the deck is able to hit means that only in certain matchups do you need to be able to grab Choice Band, and you really can focus your time on just grabbing energy.

Honestly, both decks have been good to me, but in an effort to answer the original question, I just started testing a "Kica" Dusk Mane variant, where I use mainly nest balls and other draw cards to get pieces out. And it actually works very similar to the regular Kica Bulu lists. Don't know how some of the new cards fit into it, but I'm sure a couple of Beast Rings and Beast Energy will help out the deck even more.

Here's the list I started using, with plenty of room for adjustment. Also, my view on the deck is kind of inflated right now because of the good luck I've been having. I'll have to crunch the numbers later to see if it actually is good.

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 14

* 1 Oranguru SUM 113
* 1 Dialga-GX UPR 100
* 4 Magnemite BKT 51
* 3 Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX UPR 90
* 3 Magnezone UPR 83
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 137

##Trainer Cards - 35

* 4 Ultra Ball PLF 122
* 2 Professor's Letter XY 123
* 2 Skyla BKP 122
* 2 N DEX 96
* 3 Mt. Coronet UPR 130
* 1 Energy Recycler AOR 72
* 2 Nest Ball SUM 123
* 2 Cynthia UPR 119
* 3 Field Blower GRI 125
* 3 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 Rare Candy PLB 85
* 2 Choice Band GRI 121
* 1 Lillie UPR 125
* 4 Professor Sycamore PHF 101

##Energy - 11

* 11 Metal Energy 8

Total Cards - 60

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******
 
I use Lillie in my Dusk Mane/Magnezone, and it gets Magnezone on turn 2 fairly often, and is overall very consistent. What I've learnt from other Dusk Mane lists is that Skyla and Dialga GX are not needed. Dialga is overall too gimmicky and terrible and Skyla is only good in Bulu, it doesn't advance your board state in Dusk Mane.
 
Yeah, I’ve tweaked the list to be similar to Sebastian Lugo’s Sao Paulo list. Things I’ve learned from it:
Skyla is indeed bad for DMN Magnezone
Dialga is actually really good, especially with Mew in the list. It’s allowed me to do a lot of different things, especially since it allows me to use a powerful GX when I’m ahead on prizes.
I do like the inclusion of Lillie.
3 professor’s letters helps a ton for consistency

Has been my takeaway so far
 
Nwabumblebee said:
Dusk mane can be an absolute monster or an absolute brick. Hard to be consistent.
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It's more consistent for me than Buzzwole. I draw 5 energy hands when I play Buzzwole or just Buzz and a bunch of nothing. Dusk Mane is just as good really, it's just not enough people play it for it to day 2 more.
 
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