So here is my build right now, and I will explain strategy as well:
35 Pokemon
3-3-3 Victreebel
2-2-2 Vileplume
2-2 Leafeon
2-2 Sunflora
2-2 Dodrio
2-2 Roserade
4 Tropius
12 Trainers
2 Prof Elm
2 Pokemon Collector
2 Copycat
2 Interviewer's Questions
2 Flower Shop Lady
2 Twins
13 Energy
3 Rescue Energy
10 Grass
Strategy:
Here is what each pokemon is there for:
Victreebel as a main attacker. Attack will burn, poison, hurt 30 and heal 30, as well as keep that pokemon in place by making retreat cost 2 more energy.
Vileplume to get set up on the bench, to get trainer lock. If Vile gets pulled or forced out, he will most likely die, unless I can retreat him with dodrio, or he stays alive for 2 turns and i have energy to retreat him. Hopefully I can at least get a rescue on there to try and get him back quickly.
Leafeon as secondary attacker. For one colorless energy, can use miasma wind for 50x number of status effects, and for one grass energy will attack for 30 and put defending pokemon to sleep. I would use Leafeon mainly after I got Dodrio set up. Victree will burn and poison, and then next turn Leafeon can come in and hit for 100, and can hopefully survive and retreat next turn to be replaced by Victree again. Leaf will also work well with Roserade, as Rose can confuse the pokemon, letting Leaf hit for 50, and hopefully not get hit next turn. If Leaf gets stuck out there against a pokemon with no status effects, it can still at least hit for 30 and put the pokemon to sleep, giving it a 50% chance of avoiding damage, and 25% chance the effect will still be active when it's Leafs turn again. Also, Eevee can be used as a good starter, as for one colorless energy, you can search for any basic and put it on your bench.
Sunflora is there to search for pokemon. It has a Poke Power that allows you to search your deck for any Grass pokemon once per turn (if I got two Sunflora up, I can use both, since it doesn't say there is a restriction)
Dodrio is there to give all pokemon here free retreat (Dodrio will be hardest to set up, as I cannot search for him as easily as my Grass pokemon)
Roserade will sit on the bench, and has a Power that whenever you attach an energy to Roserade, if it is grass, the defending pokemon is now confused, if psychic, the defending pokemon is now poisoned. I would use this to confuse the defending pokemon, which would give whoever I have in there a 50% chance of not getting hit. The second attack hits for 20x the number of energy attached to this pokemon, so it can be brought out in a pinch. I was originally planning on running a few rainbow energies as well, as attaching this would cause both confusion and poison, allowing Leafeon to come in hitting for 100, but I don't think I have any more room for them.
Tropius is there to be my starting pokemon, or as a filler pokemon to help out if one of my pokemon gets knocked out. For 1 grass energy, you can flip 2 coins, for each heads, you may get a grass pokemon from your deck. Obviously there is a 25% chance it will do nothing, but there is a 75% chance I will at least be able to get at least one grass pokemon of my choice from my deck. This would be great for early game, or to reset after a ko. And having 80 hp may help it survive a little longer than some other starters.
Here are why I picked the Trainers:
I got 2 elm, mainly to help set things up, as well as to find dodrio if I have a doduo.
2 Pokemon Collectors to help flesh out my bench, since almost all of my pokemon rely on being evolved to be useful. Will also help early game. Between Tropius, Eevee, and Poke Collector, that gives me 8 cards that will help set up early game. If my math is correct, I should have at least one of those in my starting hand appx 93% of the time.
2 Copycat to refresh hand, which will hopefully be large due to trainer lock.
2 Int. Qs for energy obviously
2 Flower Shop to recover pokemon that I didn't have rescue energy attached too, and also importantly, to get back energy since this deck runs low on it.
2 Twins because I almost plan on sacrificing my first pokemon (Tropius or Eevee will probably only come out if they either last long enough for me to get fully set up, which is unlikely, or until they get knocked out), which will leave me with more prize cards, and able to get 2 cards of my choice.
Energy:
3 Rescue (mainly to attach to Victreebel, as it is my main attacker, and needs one grass and one colorless for it's attack, but also to attach to Vileplume in case he gets pulled out)
10 Grass (every pokemon in this deck can run off grass alone)
What I see as strengths and weaknesses:
This deck has (or can have) very strong seeking power. If I start with an Eevee or Tropius (70% chance of starting with at least one or the other), I will be able to set up my bench faster. And especially if I get some luck with Tropius, I can get my Sunflora up in 2, and hopefully my trainer lock up in 3. I may put out 2 Tropius' back to back if I can. While I may lose 2 prize cards early on, having the strong bench, trainer lock, and drawing power will set me up for a strong mid to late game, which is where this deck is more powerful (it's not a early game deck by any means)
What makes this deck faster to set up, also gives it a big weakness. All of my pokemon are grass (w/ doduo, dodrio, and eevee as the only exeptions), and weak agains fire (except Vile, who is week to psychic for some reason). Fire will probably be a very popular deck this rotation, but so will water probably, to combat the fire decks. I can still beat fire decks, but have to get some luck (hope they get bad draws, get my trainer lock up fast, get them confused, and hope they miss and hurt themselves a lot). Even so, I like this slower kind of play, and will sacrifice a weakness to the popular reshiboar decks to play with my kind of deck.
Another strength is I don't need to worry about splitting energy, as they can all run on grass. However, I'm not sure I have enough energy. What do you think? None of my pokemon take much energy for the attacks they will use: Victree needs 2, and is the most energy hungry. Leafeon needs only 1 grass for both attacks, Vileplume, Dodrio, and Sunflora will hopefully never see life off the bench, and if they do, there is a good chance they will die if they cannot be retreated by Dodrio. Roserade will only be out in emergencies, but depending on how often I use it's power to create confusion, may take more energies.
One thing that I don't think I can do, however, is pull out a pokemon I want to attack. There was one technique I saw using a Memory Berry on Victreebel so that it can use a Bellsprout attack to pull out a pokemon, and then use BTS to quickly set up your trainer lock again, but all that will be rotated out. Muk was good for this, but he doesn't fit in this deck the way it's built now, and I couldn't find a good way to incorporate him into a deck like this. I thought about using him as the secondary attacker instead of Leafeon, but then I would have to run Psychic Energy, and with the lack of energies already in the deck, splitting them means I am much less likely to have the kind of energy I need when I need it (and Muk also cannot be pulled out via Tropius or Sunflora). This means that I can't pull someone like Emboar 20 Magnezone Prime, or Feraligatr Prime off the bench to really mess up those kind of decks (with high retreat and trainer lock up)
Here would be my list of things to do in the beginning of the game, in order of importance:
1) Start with Tropius, or Eevee if I don't get Tropius
2) Set up Sunflora and Vileplume as soon as possible (if I have to choose one or the other, would pick Sunflora, as Sunflora can help set up Vileplume quicker, as well as help with other things each turn.
3) Hope to keep Tropius (or multiple Tropius' or Eevees) in there long enough to set up my Victreebel
4) Go to work with Victreebell and Leafeon (and hope Dodrio comes along in due time, possibly using Twins to acquire)
Other than that, if I can get things set up relatively early on, it should be able to sustain itself. Assuming I don't get important pokemon or chains stuck in my prizes (which could mess everything up), once I get Sunflora up, I can keep getting pokemon to replenish my bench, as well as set up the pokemon already there, and use Flower Shop Lady (I may end up using Twins to get a FSL at times depending on what i lost in the discard pile)
Copycat and Interviews Questions are both there to get energy for the most part, as getting pokemon should be relatively easy once I get set up, and elm is for if i need to evolve more than one at at time, or to help set up Sunflora.
Ideally, after setting up, I would have Victreebel out there as active, Vileplume, Sunflora, Roserade, and Dodrio on my bench, with either another Victreebel or Leafeon waiting in the wings (and I will use Sunflora to get the necessary cards for my next pokemon to be built once my waiting pokemon has to go in there.
Through playtesting, I found that sometimes I can get stuck with a bad hand, and I don't have many hand refreshing abilities (like, if I'm stuck with a bunch of evolves but no basics), since I run low on supporters, and no trainers, since I want to get the lock. It also takes a minimum of 3 turns to get the trainer lock up, which is unfortunate, but with Spiritomb out, there isn't much other choice (altho, there is the card Teddiursa, who's attack states that if you flip heads, your opponent can't use trainers next turn, but I think Tropius would ultimately prove more useful)
What do you think about this deck, what would you keep/change, and what do you think would be good ways to combat the weaknesses of this deck?
Thanks
35 Pokemon
3-3-3 Victreebel
2-2-2 Vileplume
2-2 Leafeon
2-2 Sunflora
2-2 Dodrio
2-2 Roserade
4 Tropius
12 Trainers
2 Prof Elm
2 Pokemon Collector
2 Copycat
2 Interviewer's Questions
2 Flower Shop Lady
2 Twins
13 Energy
3 Rescue Energy
10 Grass
Strategy:
Here is what each pokemon is there for:
Victreebel as a main attacker. Attack will burn, poison, hurt 30 and heal 30, as well as keep that pokemon in place by making retreat cost 2 more energy.
Vileplume to get set up on the bench, to get trainer lock. If Vile gets pulled or forced out, he will most likely die, unless I can retreat him with dodrio, or he stays alive for 2 turns and i have energy to retreat him. Hopefully I can at least get a rescue on there to try and get him back quickly.
Leafeon as secondary attacker. For one colorless energy, can use miasma wind for 50x number of status effects, and for one grass energy will attack for 30 and put defending pokemon to sleep. I would use Leafeon mainly after I got Dodrio set up. Victree will burn and poison, and then next turn Leafeon can come in and hit for 100, and can hopefully survive and retreat next turn to be replaced by Victree again. Leaf will also work well with Roserade, as Rose can confuse the pokemon, letting Leaf hit for 50, and hopefully not get hit next turn. If Leaf gets stuck out there against a pokemon with no status effects, it can still at least hit for 30 and put the pokemon to sleep, giving it a 50% chance of avoiding damage, and 25% chance the effect will still be active when it's Leafs turn again. Also, Eevee can be used as a good starter, as for one colorless energy, you can search for any basic and put it on your bench.
Sunflora is there to search for pokemon. It has a Poke Power that allows you to search your deck for any Grass pokemon once per turn (if I got two Sunflora up, I can use both, since it doesn't say there is a restriction)
Dodrio is there to give all pokemon here free retreat (Dodrio will be hardest to set up, as I cannot search for him as easily as my Grass pokemon)
Roserade will sit on the bench, and has a Power that whenever you attach an energy to Roserade, if it is grass, the defending pokemon is now confused, if psychic, the defending pokemon is now poisoned. I would use this to confuse the defending pokemon, which would give whoever I have in there a 50% chance of not getting hit. The second attack hits for 20x the number of energy attached to this pokemon, so it can be brought out in a pinch. I was originally planning on running a few rainbow energies as well, as attaching this would cause both confusion and poison, allowing Leafeon to come in hitting for 100, but I don't think I have any more room for them.
Tropius is there to be my starting pokemon, or as a filler pokemon to help out if one of my pokemon gets knocked out. For 1 grass energy, you can flip 2 coins, for each heads, you may get a grass pokemon from your deck. Obviously there is a 25% chance it will do nothing, but there is a 75% chance I will at least be able to get at least one grass pokemon of my choice from my deck. This would be great for early game, or to reset after a ko. And having 80 hp may help it survive a little longer than some other starters.
Here are why I picked the Trainers:
I got 2 elm, mainly to help set things up, as well as to find dodrio if I have a doduo.
2 Pokemon Collectors to help flesh out my bench, since almost all of my pokemon rely on being evolved to be useful. Will also help early game. Between Tropius, Eevee, and Poke Collector, that gives me 8 cards that will help set up early game. If my math is correct, I should have at least one of those in my starting hand appx 93% of the time.
2 Copycat to refresh hand, which will hopefully be large due to trainer lock.
2 Int. Qs for energy obviously
2 Flower Shop to recover pokemon that I didn't have rescue energy attached too, and also importantly, to get back energy since this deck runs low on it.
2 Twins because I almost plan on sacrificing my first pokemon (Tropius or Eevee will probably only come out if they either last long enough for me to get fully set up, which is unlikely, or until they get knocked out), which will leave me with more prize cards, and able to get 2 cards of my choice.
Energy:
3 Rescue (mainly to attach to Victreebel, as it is my main attacker, and needs one grass and one colorless for it's attack, but also to attach to Vileplume in case he gets pulled out)
10 Grass (every pokemon in this deck can run off grass alone)
What I see as strengths and weaknesses:
This deck has (or can have) very strong seeking power. If I start with an Eevee or Tropius (70% chance of starting with at least one or the other), I will be able to set up my bench faster. And especially if I get some luck with Tropius, I can get my Sunflora up in 2, and hopefully my trainer lock up in 3. I may put out 2 Tropius' back to back if I can. While I may lose 2 prize cards early on, having the strong bench, trainer lock, and drawing power will set me up for a strong mid to late game, which is where this deck is more powerful (it's not a early game deck by any means)
What makes this deck faster to set up, also gives it a big weakness. All of my pokemon are grass (w/ doduo, dodrio, and eevee as the only exeptions), and weak agains fire (except Vile, who is week to psychic for some reason). Fire will probably be a very popular deck this rotation, but so will water probably, to combat the fire decks. I can still beat fire decks, but have to get some luck (hope they get bad draws, get my trainer lock up fast, get them confused, and hope they miss and hurt themselves a lot). Even so, I like this slower kind of play, and will sacrifice a weakness to the popular reshiboar decks to play with my kind of deck.
Another strength is I don't need to worry about splitting energy, as they can all run on grass. However, I'm not sure I have enough energy. What do you think? None of my pokemon take much energy for the attacks they will use: Victree needs 2, and is the most energy hungry. Leafeon needs only 1 grass for both attacks, Vileplume, Dodrio, and Sunflora will hopefully never see life off the bench, and if they do, there is a good chance they will die if they cannot be retreated by Dodrio. Roserade will only be out in emergencies, but depending on how often I use it's power to create confusion, may take more energies.
One thing that I don't think I can do, however, is pull out a pokemon I want to attack. There was one technique I saw using a Memory Berry on Victreebel so that it can use a Bellsprout attack to pull out a pokemon, and then use BTS to quickly set up your trainer lock again, but all that will be rotated out. Muk was good for this, but he doesn't fit in this deck the way it's built now, and I couldn't find a good way to incorporate him into a deck like this. I thought about using him as the secondary attacker instead of Leafeon, but then I would have to run Psychic Energy, and with the lack of energies already in the deck, splitting them means I am much less likely to have the kind of energy I need when I need it (and Muk also cannot be pulled out via Tropius or Sunflora). This means that I can't pull someone like Emboar 20 Magnezone Prime, or Feraligatr Prime off the bench to really mess up those kind of decks (with high retreat and trainer lock up)
Here would be my list of things to do in the beginning of the game, in order of importance:
1) Start with Tropius, or Eevee if I don't get Tropius
2) Set up Sunflora and Vileplume as soon as possible (if I have to choose one or the other, would pick Sunflora, as Sunflora can help set up Vileplume quicker, as well as help with other things each turn.
3) Hope to keep Tropius (or multiple Tropius' or Eevees) in there long enough to set up my Victreebel
4) Go to work with Victreebell and Leafeon (and hope Dodrio comes along in due time, possibly using Twins to acquire)
Other than that, if I can get things set up relatively early on, it should be able to sustain itself. Assuming I don't get important pokemon or chains stuck in my prizes (which could mess everything up), once I get Sunflora up, I can keep getting pokemon to replenish my bench, as well as set up the pokemon already there, and use Flower Shop Lady (I may end up using Twins to get a FSL at times depending on what i lost in the discard pile)
Copycat and Interviews Questions are both there to get energy for the most part, as getting pokemon should be relatively easy once I get set up, and elm is for if i need to evolve more than one at at time, or to help set up Sunflora.
Ideally, after setting up, I would have Victreebel out there as active, Vileplume, Sunflora, Roserade, and Dodrio on my bench, with either another Victreebel or Leafeon waiting in the wings (and I will use Sunflora to get the necessary cards for my next pokemon to be built once my waiting pokemon has to go in there.
Through playtesting, I found that sometimes I can get stuck with a bad hand, and I don't have many hand refreshing abilities (like, if I'm stuck with a bunch of evolves but no basics), since I run low on supporters, and no trainers, since I want to get the lock. It also takes a minimum of 3 turns to get the trainer lock up, which is unfortunate, but with Spiritomb out, there isn't much other choice (altho, there is the card Teddiursa, who's attack states that if you flip heads, your opponent can't use trainers next turn, but I think Tropius would ultimately prove more useful)
What do you think about this deck, what would you keep/change, and what do you think would be good ways to combat the weaknesses of this deck?
Thanks
