Virizion EX / Genesect EX

Machamp The Champion

Machamp The Champion

TCG Articles Head
Member
This thread is used for all competitive discussion on Virizion EX/Genesect EX. This includes strategies, playstyles, and techs.

You may post decklists here, but only as a means to add to the discussion. If you're looking for advice on your list, post in the Deck Garage.

Virizion EX/Genesect EX Skeleton List:

Pokémon: 8
  • 4 Virizion EX
  • 4 Genesect EX
Trainers: 31
  • 4 N
  • 3 Professor Juniper
  • 3 Skyla
  • 1 Colress
  • 1 Shadow Triad
  • 3 VS Seeker
  • 4 Switch
  • 4 Ultra Ball
  • 3 Energy Switch
  • 3 Muscle Band
  • 1 Professor's Letter
  • 1 G Booster
Energy: 14
  • 10 Grass Energy
  • 4 Plasma Energy
Open Spots: 7

Strategy:
The strategy of Virizion EX/Genesect EX is to power up Genesect EX on the second turn with Virizion EX's Emerald Slash. Virizion EX's ability to prevents Special Conditions from affecting Pokémon with Grass Energy on them can also come in handy. Genesect EX is great for many reasons: Megalo Cannon is a solid attack, Red Signal allows you to keep control of the game by targeting your opponent's biggest threats, and the G Booster Ace Spec allows it to deal massive damage just when you need it. The deck's greatest perk next to G Booster is its consistency. Getting Emerald Slash on the second turn is very easy to accomplish, and all you need to attack the next turn is an Energy. Its main issue is its a bit slow, and its damage output can be very awkwardly low at times. Speedy decks like Night March can just trample you before you even set up, and some Mega Pokemon and healing/defense cards can really make it difficult to get KOs in a timely fashion. However, its crazy consistency and potential power can give you more wins than you might think. Its always something to look out for.


Good Additions:
  • Mew EX and Dimensional Valley
  • Seismitoad EX and Double Colorless
  • Raichu and Double Colorless
  • Deoxys EX
  • Golbat PHF with or without Crobat PHF
  • Mr. Mime
  • Lysandre
  • Lysandre's Trump Card
  • Hypnotoxic Laser and Virbank City Gym
  • Plasma Frigate
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Virizion variants are very very very powerful in this format. I personally think that VirGen is by far the superior version and I have tested Dragonite/Virizion a decent amount. I strongly disagree with Beartic in these decks because it does not warrant the ~4 slots at all. I don't think Pyroar will be very popular. Dragonite/Virizion has potential but has a couple (possibly obscure) bad matchups. Dragonite's core strategy is extremely strong and the deck is super consistent. Another thing I've noticed about Virizion variants is that they have a ton of room which is awesome.

I don't want to give away my VirGen list, but max Energy Switch and Shaymin EX are really good to include.

Here's my Virizion/Dragonite list:
http://www2.bebessearch.com/Pokedex/DecklistShare.aspx?id=1986258431&key=325023111
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I've tried a VirGen with a couple of twists.

1. LaserBank. It's an excellent source of early damage and like Darkrai, can allow Genesect to hit magic numbers with Megalo cannon (combined with muscle band of course). You may not even need the G Booster (though I added it anyway cause it's too good not to include). It's also another card that can be retrieved with Shadow Triad.

2. Leafeon (plasma). I haven't had to play this yet, but the idea is a surprise attack with energy evolve Eevee for those situations where an opponent has a lot of energy in play. It's also the obligatory stage 1 that can hurt Pyroar (3 opponent's energy + Muscle band + LaserBank). It's probably not the best counter, but I'm hoping that combined with lasers, red signal, and G Booster, I'll have a chance against that fiery lion.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Hi Pokedan,

I've actually used both versions with laserbank and having Leafon as my counter. I've found Leafon is a great tech but its still grass type weak to fire which exposes itself to being OHKO. Its a huge surprise to the other player though when you drop and Eevee.

Laserbank is nice but is dead weight on a Virizion Variant match. Which will overall lower your damage output and hurt deck consistency. Mewtwo Ex is a must to counter fighting decks and it is good damage but here is the issue I'm running into is teching in Beartic too alongside Mewtwo Ex. It is a little painful.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

pokedan24 said:
I've tried a VirGen with a couple of twists.

1. LaserBank. It's an excellent source of early damage and like Darkrai, can allow Genesect to hit magic numbers with Megalo cannon (combined with muscle band of course). You may not even need the G Booster (though I added it anyway cause it's too good not to include). It's also another card that can be retrieved with Shadow Triad.

2. Leafeon (plasma). I haven't had to play this yet, but the idea is a surprise attack with energy evolve Eevee for those situations where an opponent has a lot of energy in play. It's also the obligatory stage 1 that can hurt Pyroar (3 opponent's energy + Muscle band + LaserBank). It's probably not the best counter, but I'm hoping that combined with lasers, red signal, and G Booster, I'll have a chance against that fiery lion.
Click to expand...

LaserBank has always seemed like a good idea in this deck. It allows Virizion to actually deal a good amount of damage (50 + 20 X 2 + 30 = 170), and makes it easier for Genesect to get KOs. There's also not many good Stadiums for this deck anymore, which leaves room for Virbank to be the deck's Stadium. The only issue is it's not particularly good against any match up, and I'd rather fill the deck with cards that help some of the deck's worse match ups, like Beartic and Mewtwo.

I played a Vir/Gen/Leafeon deck back in the Legendary Treasures format, and I loved it. It has a cheap 1 Energy Attack (something this deck lacks), is a non EX, and helped a lot of match ups. Unfortunately, in this format, it doesn't help with quite as many match ups. In the mirror match it helps if your opponent decides to Emerald Slash too many times, it's not very helpful against Pyroar, since it can't really one shot Pyroar very easily, and it gets OHKO'd by Pyroar, and every other match up it's just kinda okay; not great, but not bad either. It definitely doesn't seem that bad, but again, I'd prefer to use that space for cards that are really helpful against bad match ups, and not just okay-ish against everything.

I haven't tested either of these ideas, but they both seem like they could work to be honest. I might have to try them out.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Machamp The Champion said:
LaserBank has always seemed like a good idea in this deck. It allows Virizion to actually deal a good amount of damage (50 + 20 X 2 + 30 = 170), and makes it easier for Genesect to get KOs. There's also not many good Stadiums for this deck anymore, which leaves room for Virbank to be the deck's Stadium. The only issue is it's not particularly good against any match up, and I'd rather fill the deck with cards that help some of the deck's worse match ups, like Beartic and Mewtwo.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've found that it's not really needed. With Muscle band, you can easily hit those numbers anyway. And the stadium and lasers take up space that could be used for more energy, switching cards, ect.

I played a Vir/Gen/Leafeon deck back in the Legendary Treasures format, and I loved it. It has a cheap 1 Energy Attack (something this deck lacks), is a non EX, and helped a lot of match ups. Unfortunately, in this format, it doesn't help with quite as many match ups. In the mirror match it helps if your opponent decides to Emerald Slash too many times, it's not very helpful against Pyroar, since it can't really one shot Pyroar very easily, and it gets OHKO'd by Pyroar, and every other match up it's just kinda okay; not great, but not bad either. It definitely doesn't seem that bad, but again, I'd prefer to use that space for cards that are really helpful against bad match ups, and not just okay-ish against everything.

I haven't tested either of these ideas, but they both seem like they could work to be honest. I might have to try them out.
Click to expand...

The one energy attack combined with energy evolve Eevee is what attracted me to the idea in the first place. Raichu and Beartic are good (especially Beartic), but their attacks require two energy in a deck that doesn't naturally run DCE.

I definitely agree that Beartic (or even Abomasnow) are probably the better choices since they are an easy solution to the only really bad matchup (stupid Pyroar). But there is an appeal to Leafeon in this deck.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

One more thing, if you can find room, Tornadus LTR is not a bad non EX for this deck. If safeguard pokemon ever become big again, it can take them out with a muscle band and then conserve energy before it goes down (so it really only needs 2 energy to attack). Tropius (PB) is also very good.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I have been trying out random things in Virizion Mewtwo, the most recent being Seismitoad. It's definitely an interesting inclusion. It feels like the deck doesn't know whether it wants to be Seismitoad Mewtwo or Virizion Mewtwo, so it's just going to be both. For example I don't know whether I should go for Quaking Punch or Emerald Slash turn one.That being said, I think I like it; I just haven't figured out all of the ins and outs with it yet. Got first place with it at a League Challenge (Extended) today. Beat a Donphan Trevenant because I Quaking Punched first turn, and I didn't give my opponent a chance to play Float Stones until I had taken three prizes and had a Mewtwo that could sweep the field. The last match I also got to Quaking Punch for the first few turns against Yveltal Garbodor, and it slowed him down tremendously.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I've been testing with Seismitoad in this deck as well as a Landorus counter. I was playing with a 2-2 Beartic line originally, but it proved inconsistent so I figured I'd just accept a poor matchup against Pyroar and try to do well against other decks. I am still running a VirGen build, no stadium and a heavy Megaphone count to deal with Garbodor. Losing Skyarrow Bridge defintely cut the "Smoothness" of this deck, but it's still a great play. I actually took a loss at regionals of the weekend to Virizion/ Mewtwo/ Drifblim (i was playing Plasma Eeveelutions and was unfortunate enough to prize both Flareons one game), so I have a lot more respect for that than ever before.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Any thoughts on the best builds for VirGen? I cant decide if i want to play M Manectric or Balloons in this deck.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I wouldnt play either of these, as none really help the deck. Sure, attaching 2 from discard for 2 energy is nice, but the space it requires is just too much for the deck. Also, losing a turn for M evolving (i dont think this can afford to run the spirit link as well as electric energy as well as the manetric line) isnt very good for the deck. About drifblim, what version is it? If its PLB, there is just no reason to run it, as Plasma is dying.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I think that M Manectric in the deck makes the deck harder to beat, but Drifblim makes the deck more consistent. For example, Drifblim gives your opponent the 7 prize rule, and can help stall the game with hammers (which are 100% consistent). Manectric gives some decks a run for their money (Pyroar/Yveltal), but is somewhat difficult to set up at the right time.

Here are the 5 main options of VirGen right now IMHO:
Beartic - Good for Landorus, Donphan, and Pyroar
Raichu - Good for Yveltal, Lugia, and semi-Pyroar
Drifblim - Good for Aromatisse, semi-Plasma, Donphan/fighting, semi-Yveltal, semi-Pyroar, semi-Virgen
M Manectric - Good for Yveltal, Mirror, Plasma, Pyroar
Consistency - Good for anything Seismitoad/Big Basics, Donphan

I'm thinking that Drifblim may be the way to go in this format. With DCE's, strong energy, and rainbow energy ruling the format, I think that it can be a dominant force. Its also pretty easy to set up and can be good late or early game.
I'll test it out and I'll let you know.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

While Drifblim is indeed a very very very good card this format, in Virigen I don't think it's really helpful. First, it's a Stage 1, but it's actually pretty good. However, being a Stage 1 means it's gonna take about 4-5 slots in the list (wich isnt really a problem if it's your only tech), so you may dead-draw into a Drifblim from time to time. Second, your opponent is more likely to have his Strong Energy in play than in the Discard (happened A LOT during my testing,, although I wasn't testing Drifblim). Third, while it does OHKO Lucario with a Muscle Band, so does Gensect with G-Booster. A lot could be said on Drifblim vs Genesect in terms of KOing Lucario, but really imo Virigen doesn't need to tech for that match-up. However, I'll give it a try.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Vom said:
While Drifblim is indeed a very very very good card this format, in Virigen I don't think it's really helpful. First, it's a Stage 1, but it's actually pretty good. However, being a Stage 1 means it's gonna take about 4-5 slots in the list (wich isnt really a problem if it's your only tech), so you may dead-draw into a Drifblim from time to time. Second, your opponent is more likely to have his Strong Energy in play than in the Discard (happened A LOT during my testing,, although I wasn't testing Drifblim). Third, while it does OHKO Lucario with a Muscle Band, so does Gensect with G-Booster. A lot could be said on Drifblim vs Genesect in terms of KOing Lucario, but really imo Virigen doesn't need to tech for that match-up. However, I'll give it a try.
Click to expand...

1st) Virgen is practically a 50 card list. The last 10 slots are what you want to put in it (eg., more consistency, techs, etc.). 4-5 slots isn't a big deal.
2nd) I don't think you realize that if you use drifblim, you use enhanced hammers. And since there's no way that your opponent can get special energy back into play without using Lysander's last resort, its pretty fool proof.
3rd) This is a really bad argument for you on the 3rd point. While it is true that Genesect with 3 energy can KO a Lucario EX, why would you rather want to do this with an EX rather than a basic? Driflblim gives one prize and can KO Lucario with 1 energy. Genesect need 3 energy and G-booster and is susceptible to a megaphone or a large attack next turn.

Its also true that Genesect doesn't NEED Balloons for the fighting matchup, but it literally makes the game 80-20 in your favor if you play it.
Here's a popular video with Drifblim in VirGen against fighting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFNUF3wVo1Y&list=UUs7J5ya8VIVAfiQ4QPZAiFQ
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

I have played both and i'm more afraid that i will run into a pyroar deck with no special energy. That leaves me with 6 dead cards in my deck.M Manectric is always playable, but takes up more space.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Ivy_Profen said:
I have played both and i'm more afraid that i will run into a pyroar deck with no special energy. That leaves me with 6 dead cards in my deck.M Manectric is always playable, but takes up more space.
Click to expand...

In today's Pyroar decks, they can't function without DCE. They run Charizard, Toad, and even Mewtwo EX, which all are harder to play without DCE.
I don't really want to derail the thread here, but if you are concerned with Pyroar in your area, beartic is the way to go. He's not easy to be countered by Pyroar, can be set up somewhat easily, and also takes care of Charizard EX and Landorus EX.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Nevermind everything I said about Drifblim. I've been using him all day, and is AWESOME. Completely worth running, I suggest it over Beartic.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Has anyone played a match against a metal deck? I feel like M Manectric would help against metal since it cant be OHKOed since it resists and is immune to poison with a grass energy. Driblim might also be good if they run DCE in their deck.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Ivy_Profen said:
Has anyone played a match against a metal deck? I feel like M Manectric would help against metal since it cant be OHKOed since it resists and is immune to poison with a grass energy. Driblim might also be good if they run DCE in their deck.
Click to expand...

It still wins. If they have 3 DCE in the discard, your doing 130 damage (150 with a band). After being attacked from an emerald slash it can finish the KO. Genesect sweeps later on.
 
RE: Virizion EX Variants

Elbow said:
Ivy_Profen said:
Has anyone played a match against a metal deck? I feel like M Manectric would help against metal since it cant be OHKOed since it resists and is immune to poison with a grass energy. Driblim might also be good if they run DCE in their deck.
Click to expand...

It still wins. If they have 3 DCE in the discard, your doing 130 damage (150 with a band). After being attacked from an emerald slash it can finish the KO. Genesect sweeps later on.
Click to expand...
With 3 DCE, you do 150, and 170 with the band. Just saying XD
Also, there is a very popular deck centered about Virigen+M Manetric EX. I really like M Manetric EX, so I might give it a try. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be as good as Drifblim XD
 
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