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Zekeels for BRs and Nats

Trexroarr

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hey, all! So I just finished putting together my Zekeels deck which I plan on using at my Battle Roads and then eventually Nationals. I based my deck on Pooka's State and Regional winning deck, which he posted on The Top Cut's YouTube channel. The only difference, is that my version is Post-DE.

I have a fourth Catcher on the way, and I have some other good cards which I can add in, including Raikou-EX, Tornadus-EX, more Ultra Ball, more Level Ball, more Dual Ball, etc.

My first Battle Roads is on May 19th, so any help is welcomed and appreciated! Thanks!

Deck List (60 Cards):

Pokemon (16):
4 Tynamo (2x NV 38) (2x DE 45)
3 Eelektrik (NV)
2 Zekrom (BW)
2 Thundurus (EP)
1 Bouffalant (BW 91)
1 Tornadus-EX (EP)
2 Mewtwo-EX (ND)
1 Raikou-EX (ND)

T/S/S (31):
4 Junk Arm [TM]
3 Dual Ball (CL)
3 Pokemon Catcher (EP)
2 Eviolite (NV)
2 PlusPower (BW)
2 Level Ball (ND)
1 Switch (BW)
1 Super Rod (ND)
1 Random Receiver (DE)

4 Professor Juniper (BW)
3 Professor Oak's New Theory (HS)
3 N (NV)

2 Skyarrow Bridge (ND)

Energy (13):
4 {C}{C} Double Colorless Special Energy
9 {L} Basic Energy

Strategy:
Use Eelektrik's Dynamotor ability to attatch Lighting Energy from the Discard Pile to your Benched attackers; Zekrom, Thundurus, and Mewtwo-EX. Tornadus-EX is in as a counter to Terrakion and Groudon-EX, and Bouffalant for it's Revenge attack.
 
-2 PONT (4 is way too much)
-1 Bouffalant

+1 Level Ball (used to get Eelektrik out)
+1 Ultra Ball
+1 Dual Ball (to maximize chances of getting it)
 
Why don't you try
-2 PONT (2 is enough)
-1 electric energy (9 is enough)
-1 DCE (3 is enough)

+1 dual ball (consistency)
+1 tornadus EX (good counter)
+1 level ball (search for eelektriks)
+1 random receiver (2 is better IMO) or any other card needed
 
Pooka won the Wisconsin State Championships and Wisconsin Regional Championships with Bouffalant, 4 PONT, and 4 DCE. I'm gonna leave those in. They have been very good in testing.

I can take out a Lightning Energy. 9 should be fine. I'll add in a Dual Ball or a Level Ball. Whichever works best in testing. Probably Dual Ball.

Should I take out Tornadus for Tornadus-EX?
 
Well, since not very many Pokemon in this deck ran DCE (not counting zekrom's outrage)
I thought three would be sufficient. Bouffalant is very good so definitely do not take that out. I think a 1/1 split between the two would be good because sometimes tornadus would help more than tornadus EX.
 
Well quite a few use DCE. Mewtwo-EX x2, Bouffalant, Zekrom x2, Tornadus, and Tornadus-EX.

Hmm... I'm not sure what to take out for Tornadus-EX then. I simply figured Tornadus originally lol.

In a few days, I'll also have a fourth Catcher that I will need to fit in somewhere.
 
I got my cards in the mail, so I am all ready to go. I will probably take out Tornadus for Tornadus-EX.

I'd love to work in Raikou-EX but then I'd have to fit in a Skyarrow Bridge. Any ideas on what i should take out for them? What about my fourth Catcher?

Lastly, out of the three 40 HP Tynamos, which is considered to be the best one? I'm guessing it's the one that does 10 and then snipes for 10, right?
 
Well, skyarrow bridge would help anyways for some of the tynamo with the retreat cost. To fit in skyarrow bridge ad raikou, you could try
-1 electric energy (9 may be enough)
-1 PONT (3 could be enough)
-1 thundurus? (I guess one could be taken out for raikou)
I would also try to fit in another level ball and dual ball for more consistency if it were me.
 
I can definitely take out a Lightning Energy. Pooka won with 8 (even though he said 9 or 10 would have been better).

Not too sure about PONT. I would have to test that.

Definitely not Thundurus. Thundurus is the main Pokemon which I would want to start with for the turn two 80 damage.

I had two Level Ball in but I took one out for the Ultra Ball.
 
In my opinion for this deck level ball is a much better choice than ultra ball because most likely you will be using it to get your eels going anyway. I also agree with Jirachi that you need to include another Dual Ball and my suggestion for a drop would be a catcher. Although I know it is tough to drop a catcher I think having the dual ball is much more useful. Also with 4 Junk Arms you can always get a catcher back if you need it. My suggestions would be:
- 1 Ultra Ball
- 1 Catcher

+ 1 Level ball
+ 1 Dual Ball

If you want to fit in Raikou/SAB I would also add:
- 1 Lighting
- 1 N/PONTs
- 1 switch

+ 1 Raikou EX
+ 2 SAB

Personally, I don't know if your deck is built to run Raikou efficiently as two SAB seems like a waste without at least 1 Tornadus EX. I can see your deck list running Zekrom EX better than running the raikou just because you can keep a catcher/switch/supporter/lighting energy and don't have to give up a lot to fit in one attacker. In regards to Tynamo I think that will come down to personal preference because optimally you shouldn't have to attack with it, but you should replace the 30 hp one with darkrai in the format IMO.
 
Here. I think you guys should take a look at these videos. Then you will know why I don't really want to move away from Pooka's deck. It won tournaments. It works. Its that simple lol.

Honestly, the last time people gave me advice on here, and I listened, I got destroyed at my last tournament (Regionals). I was playing Durant.

So, I don't want to make insane changes to this deck. If I can fit in Raikou-EX, then great. If not, that is also ok.

By the way, Zekrom-EX is terrible. Winning Zekeel decks don't run it anymore.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAzS6EfMs5s&list=UUs7J5ya8VIVAfiQ4QPZAiFQ&index=1&feature=plcp[/video]

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH8SP7oMNK4&feature=channel&list=UL[/video]
 
I have seen those videos and although his deck won tournaments, that was before DE was released. I am not saying basing your deck around his is a bad idea by any means as I still think his deck (even that exact decklist) will be competitive in every sense of the word, I just think there are a lot of upgrades that can be made to his list (and I'm sure he would agree). IMO the meta has gotten only faster with the release of DE and my suggestions are my ideas on how to make your decklist faster and more consistent, but they are only suggestions so please feel free to reject them or adjust them. The reason why I suggested Zek Ex though is because I think you would need to make too many changes to your decklist that you don't want to in order to fit in Raikou. IMO at least 2 SAB are required if you are trying to incorporate Raikou and this would involve a huge change to your decklist to try and accommodate 3 cards. Zek Ex on the other hand would only need 1 card and although it isn't used a lot, there are actually quite a few players who still utilize it for its massive attack and the fact that you can recharge it in the active with a DCE drop and it can hit for 150 back to back. I'm not saying he is the proper play (I don't even use him in my RaiZeels deck), I just think if you are looking for another large attacker he may be worth it. Also, if you can post an updated decklist or edit the OP so we can see what changes you have made it would be more helpful in suggesting changes.
 
I posted an updated decklist. Took out Tornadus and a Lightning Energy for Tornadus-EX and a second Level Ball.

I'd still love to work in a Skyarrow, Raikou-EX, and maybe either a fourth Dual Ball or a fourth Catcher.
 
IMO I think you need at least 2 Skyarrow Bridges with Raikou and Tornadus, here are my suggestions if you want to fit them in:
- 1 ultra ball
- 1 switch (with skyarrow the only retreat you need to worry about are bouffalant/eelektrik which a DCE should take care of)
- 1 PONTs

+ 2 Skyarrow Bridge
+ 1 Raikou

If you want another dual ball or catcher, I'd say you can drop a lighting energy for one of them. I've been testing a list similar to yours with a 8-4 energy combo and it is usually pretty consistent at getting energy out but it isn't as consistent as a 9-4 line.
 
Hmm... I'll do some testing tonight with different versions of the deck to see which works best. Thanks. :)
 
Ok I have updated my list again. I was able to work in the Skyarrows, Raikou-EX and Tornadus-EX.
 
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