Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Two ways to play Chandelure - the current BDIF

Lampent is the uncredited star in many match-ups
Hello and welcome to The Deck Out!

Today's update is about a deck which I'm very familiar with – Chandelure. I won multiple Cities with the deck and if you haven't checked out my tournament reports yet, please do. In this article, I'll analyze the 2 different Chandelure versions: the attacking version, which I'm very keen on and the also very popular ability version of this deck.

I decided to write about Chandelure because I noticed that my version caused a lot of discussion after my first report. Some people we're especially sceptic if an attacking version can win anything but so were the most people about Chandelure as well.

In order to get the most out of this article I encourage you to read my reports one and two. From there you can learn something about the match-ups and how to play them.

I hope you enjoy the article and learn a thing or 2 about the deck!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas from The Deck Out!

Hey all The Deck Out followers and merry Christmas everyone! I wanted to lighten up your Christmas with my awesome Paint drawing skills. Here is a Christmas card by me - hope you like it!


Click me to enlarge!




Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ross.dec / The Truth deck analysis

Hey all to The Deck Out followers!


Since CC season has started, I have lots of decks I have to analyze. The metagame is getting more versatile with each set, which I'm very glad to see. The format seems healthier than in a long time and without the first turn rule this would be a great season for Pokémon TCG. I'm also surprised how many trainer lock decks have been doing great. I have a few trainer lock decks left for analysis (including Vanilluxe and Chandelure) but I will start these analyses from the oldest trainer lock deck I haven't yet analyzed.

This update is about the deck called Ross.dec. You may know it as The Truth as well. Before NV was released, I was pretty sure that it was going to die but for some it has done well in Cities as well so I thought to myself that I have to analyze it. I was never a big fan of this deck and still aren’t because of its auto-loss factor to OHKOers and that's why I was pretty sure it would die when it loses its surprise factor. However, I was wrong so here I am with a Ross.dec analysis.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Double tournament report w/ Chandelure - once again

Still missing Litwicks
Hello to all The Deck Out followers!


I just came back from a great weekend of 2 Cities and here I am with a report from them. If you've read my latest report you know that I played the offensive version, which was surprising for many players worldwide. I think it's better than the healing version in the random match-ups, which are the scariest ones and that's why I play it. I also love how well trainer lock and Special Conditions comboes together.

I played once again Chandelure like in my last Cities weekend but this time with a bit modified list. I didn't feel like switching the deck since I did so well in the last Cities. I usually switch the deck only if I get too bored to it or if I don't do well enough with it.

I played this list in both of the Cities this weekend and didn't modify it between the tournaments like 2 weeks ago. Here is the list this time.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Power Player interview: Miska Saari

Hello all The Deck Out followers!

Today I'm doing something completely new for me so I hope you give your opinions and thoughts how to improve my interviews. For this entry, I have interviewed the first European World Champion of Pokémon TCG – Miska Saari. Miska is also one of the only players ever to be in top4 of World Championships two times. He is also a one-time National Champion of Finland.

Miska is also a very good friend of mine and me and my big brother practically taught him how to play this game. He is one of the players I consider real tournament players. When playing in league he doesn't seem like a pro player but ones he concentrates once and for all he is a world-class player able to win any tournament in the world.

That's for the introduction part, now for the facts and questions.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

About me(us)


Hello all The Deck Out followers!

This isn't a real entry so I'll be back with an another update in the next few days. However, I decided to do a info entry about myself and everythin what's behind this blog. You may have read my opening entry but for those who haven't this is completely new info. Anyways, the reason why I'm doing this kind of entry is because someone told me that my name wasn't mentioned anywhere in the blog. The other thing that lead me to do this was Mikey Fouchet writing my name as "Eskil" for a SixPrizes Underground -article. I thought something was wrong when someone told me about that.

Anyways here is a little introduction about me and which people and things has affected the development of this blog. I'll also add this to its own headline beside The Decklist Out so you can read it any time. You can also find all the social media links and my e-mail from there.  

Monday, December 12, 2011

Timosoininilmaveivistrippibaarijouni.dec


Hello all The Deck Out followers!


Today’s update is about a fun deck called “Timosoininilmaveivistrippibaarijouni” (Just try to pronounce it correctly). Yes -  that’s what we call the deck in Finland. However, you may know the deck as Sharpedo/Victini.

It’s fun to build rogues even though this deck could be considered as a metagame deck as well. In fact, in Finland the deck gained so much popularity because of its name that it has its own Facebook site where you can like it: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Timosoininilmaveivistrippibaarijouni/281490075203076

I don’t believe that this deck can win tournaments unless the player has a very good flipping day but it’s competitive nonetheless and can win any deck in the format when it’s getting decently lucky. 

Let’s get started with the skeleton list of Timosoininilmaveivistrippibaarijouni.


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Eye on Japan: Part 2


Hey to all The Deck Out followers!


Today is the day that many of you have anticipated for a long time. It’s the time for Eye on Japan: Part 2! If you’re not familiar with my Eye on Japan – series, please read the Eye on Japan: Part 1. Eye on Japan – series is something you don’t want to miss.

As you know, in the Eye on Japan series I’ll reveal how the always so mysterious Japan tournament system works. How is the game in Japan in general and of course the most interesting part – what’s their metagame like.

Last time I revealed a lot of things about their systems and how PCL people are really close to player base. I also revealed a lot of new decks and that Mewtwo EX is dominating the metagame at the moment. The two decks that rose to the worldwide fame were Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode and the so called 6-corners. In this entry I’ll concentrate on how their tournament system differs from ours and I’ll reveal some more info about Summer Carnival and the “Palace rules” –format. Last but not least, I’ll make a metagame update and check how things have changed from my last Eye on Japan entry.

That’s for the introduction part. I know you guys are thirsty for more information, so here we go!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Decklist Out updated!

I've now fully updated The Decklist Out with a HGSS-NV lists and all the decks I've reviewed in my blog. I'll be making an article about Vanilluxe, Chandelure and Ross.dec in the near future because I still miss articles of them. The Decklist Out is still missing a list of Magnezone/Eelektrik, which has dominated Cities so it will be my next deck article project so I can give you a deck list of it.

Let me know if you feel like anything is missing or is not working on The Decklist Out!

Eye on Japan: Part 2 coming hopefully later this weekend!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Double tournament report w/ Chandelure

I would love to play with this art
Hello to all The Deck Out followers!

This weekend was something special because it was my first real tournament weekend. I attended on Saturday in Turku City Championships and on Sunday I played in Sweden, Stockholm City Championships. I had played only in 1 Battle Roads earlier this year and if you want to check out how I did, read my tournament report.                 

The tournament weekend was also the reason for not being on a computer this weekend so sorry for the late answers for your comments!

Anyways, before even going to the tournament I knew that I wouldn’t want to play anything that included Reshiram or Zekrom. I also wanted to play a new deck so I can have a surprise factor in the tournament. That’s why I decided to go with Chandelure/Vileplume/Dodrio. I got the original list from my Japanese friend Ukinin-san and I modified it quite a bit. The final list looked like this.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Great Junk Arm

Hello all The Deck Out followers!


Today’s update is something I’ve promised to do few updates ago. No - this isn’t another Eye on Japan article. This is an article about Junk Arm. Yes – only and only about Junk Arm. I must admit that this is an update that I do first and foremost for myself so I don’t have to analyze Junk Arm in my every new deck article again and again.

In this article I try to get as in-depth with Junk Arm as is humanly possible. I’ll try to cover every single relevant aspect of Junk Arm and maybe some details as well. Even though this article is mainly for my own purposes, I hope that you can find this informative as well and maybe find new point of views to Junk Arm. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this article! 


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tournament winning decklists + analysis of HGSS-NV format


Does Zekrom keep on reigning?
Hi everyone!


I’ve been busy with the new The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword last few days so I wasn’t answering to your comments daily. Sorry for that! On Sunday I was in the first tournament in 1½ months and it was the last States of this year. But here is the catch, the tournament was held in HGSS-NV format and I didn’t have any NV cards. So, that’s why I ended up head judging the event. Thankfully I got very much out of judging because there really wasn’t many issues during the tournament and everything went smoothly. Also, I was able to get the permission from all the top4 finishers of Masters for using their decklists for my blog.

This far I’ve been able to give you guys tournament-viable decklists but now I can give you tournament winning decklists! I’m very grateful for all the Finnish players that allowed me to use their lists for my blog and I also hope you enjoy this update as well. In this update you will find all the lists of top4 finishers and my analysis of these decks.

Well, first of all, let’s look at the top8 and their decks of Helsinki States.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Changes of metagame decks with Noble Victories


N gives many decks a lot to think of.
Hello all The Deck Out followers!

Today’s update is for The Decklist Out. This is also a very interesting entry to all of you who are going to City Championships in the next few weeks. I’ll go through every already known metagame deck in this entry and I’ll reveal an updated list for each deck with NV in it. Hope you enjoy this article; there are lot of lists and even more thoughts about the decks in general!

Let’s get started:


Monday, November 21, 2011

Eelektrik/Zekrom/Tornadus - the new tier1?


Hello all The Deck Out followers!

Today’s entry is one of the most obvious “new” decks from the new set: Zekrom/Tornadus/Eelektrik. This deck has done fairly well in Japan in the HGSS-NV format and I’m expecting it to do well in our format as well. It’s very close to the normal Zekrom/Tornadus but with a ReshiPlosion-like build.

In this entry I’ll reveal 2 various ways to approach the deck and how they can be used in the upcoming City Championships format. This is an entry worth reading because you’re sure to face these decks in the first CC’s you’re going to!


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Eye on Japan: 6 corners

Hello and welcome to The Deck Out!

When I released my first Eye on Japan –article I received a huge load of e-mails. (Thanks everyone for the e-mails!) Based on these e-mails I decided make an update on few decks I mentioned in my first Eye on Japan article. For this article I chose the deck that received the 2nd most feedback.

In this article I try to explain the main purpose of this deck and how it works in general. Many people wondered what the strategy of this deck was so I’ll reveal a list for it and explain it more in-depth. This deckscan be considered a rogue deck since this is so weird so I won’t use skeletons but only full decklist. I try to add few tech options as well. I hope you enjoy this analysis because I really enjoyed this deck.

Now into the decklist…


Monday, November 14, 2011

Durant - milling day & night


Hey to all The Deck Out followers!


Today I’m back to normal. I’ve got lots of contacts for my “The Deck Out goes global” – feature but I’m still missing some countries! If you’re from the missing country and would like to help me, please e-mail me to:
thedeckout@gmail.com . You can find the missing countries here.

It’s refreshing to be back to normal. Noble Victories will be released in a few days and as promised I’ll have lots of new decks because of that. Today I’m concentrating on one of my favorite cards of the new set – Durant. Durant is one of my favorite cards in the new set just because it’s a milling card. It wins by decking out your opponent. And it’s very suitable Pokémon to be analyzed in my blog when you think about my blog’s name, don’t you think? I have said previously that I love different ways of winning games like milling or lost zoning and that’s why I waited Durant to be released for a very long time. I’ve had Durant deck together over a month already so I have done some serious testing with it.

In this article I will reveal 2 different ways to build a tournament-viable Durant deck that has a chance of beating any deck regularly in the format (except for one deck but about that later on in the article).

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Deck Out goes global / Power Player interviews


Hi everyone!

Since U.S. Regionals are this weekend and I’ve already covered their metagame AND because Noble Victories is not yet released there was nothing to write about today. However, after Regionals end, there are lots to analyze once again and thanks to Noble Victories I am able to analyze and reveal new decks every week. However, today’s update is something equally important as new decks and results.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Impact Crater: Noble Victories


N will be as popular among players
as he is among girls
Hello and welcome back to The Deck Out.

The release of the new set - Noble Victories - is very close and some of you may already own cards from the new set. When a new set is released there, it has always at least a little impact on the current format and metagame. In the Impact Crater - series I’ll analyze all the cards of the new set that will have impact on our current format and explain why. There will be also new combos and new metagame deck ideas along the way so be sure to read the whole entry carefully!

You can find the Impact Crater –article of the set Emerging Powers here. Without any more delay, it’s time to find out what lies in the Impact Crater of the Noble Victories.


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND going rogue


Hi everyone!

Regionals are just around the corner and so is the release of the Noble Victories. Prereleases are going on in the U.S. (and hopefully somewhere in the Europe as well). However, today I’m not discussing about the upcoming tournaments or the new cards in the set. I already made my metagame predictions in my BR + Regionals –article and I must admit that I’m a bit fed up with the current format. Thankfully NV will be released in 2 weeks and the game will get much more interesting than at the moment. I’ll release my Impact Crater article of the Noble Victories next week so be sure to check it out.

Today I feel like going rogue and I’ll analyze one of the cards I’ve loved ever since it was released – Rayquaza&Deoxys LEGEND (later on referred as RDL). For those who don’t know what it does – shame on you - and check the picture on the right.

RDL is one of those cards I’ve been working on a very long time. I spent countless hours making RDL based Secret Deck for the World Championships but due the lack of testing and time I didn’t manage to get the decks decent enough. In this entry I’ll reveal some of my lists I was working on for the World Championships and look deeper into RDL. I hope you enjoy my article so just sit back and relax.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Eye on Japan: Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode


Hello and welcome to The Deck Out!

Today I have a very special deck analysis for you guys. It’s about the deck, I’ve received the most contacts after my Eye on Japan article. Many of you wondered about the decklist and how it works. I’ve tested this deck a good amount and like I already said in Eye on Japan article – I love it. Electrode Prime is always fun to play but things get way more interesting with N in the format – Electrode Prime really combos with it.

Then let’s start off with the decklist. If you don’t know what the certain cards do in the Noble Victories check the scans out from: www.pokebeach.com


Thursday, October 27, 2011

New Layout!

Hi everyone!

As you may have noticed that I changed my blog's layout a little. Now I can have more updates in a one page. I also hope that the page runs faster for some people now because I've been told that the blog runs slow in some browsers. I also hope that you find this layout easier to navigate. Feel free to comment if this modification made this blog faster for your browser.

My next update will be about the longed Cobalion/Electrode/Kyurem deck!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Battle Road results analysis and Regionals metagame

Which one shall rise victorious?
Hello and welcome to The Deck Out!

Battle Roads season has ended in most countries and it’s a good time to look at the results from the U.S. Battle Roads. What was the most popular deck in the top4 and why? Was any deck dominating like no other or were there only little difference between some decks. That’s what I’m here to find out and analyze. First, let’s take a look at the results from the Battle Roads.

Let’s take a quick look first at the Results (directly from the Pokegym.net)

Friday, October 21, 2011

ReshiBoar - doing better than expected


Hello all The Deck Out followers!


Today, after the every extraordinary Eye on Japan article, it’s time for something very ordinary – metagame deck analysis! You may wonder are there any decks I haven’t yet analyzed but there sure is. Today I’ll open up ReshiBoar – the deck that has won both Battle Roads here in Finland. The player winning these 2 tournaments were kind enough to let me publish his decklist in my blog so thanks for the decklist goes to Bloodbane – thanks a lot!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Deck Out now on Facebook and Twitter!

Hello all The Deck Out followers!

And this time I really mean followers. Thanks to Adam from the SixPrizes I decided to expand The Deck Out to Facebook. I hope you like the page if you like my blog! You can find The Deck Out facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Deck-Out/224210994308067

I also made a Twitter account. I’m new with Twitter (in fact I haven’t ever visited the site before) so I’m excited what possibilities it gives me. I don’t yet have a smart-phone so I can’t tweet through my phone. You can find my twitter page here:
http://twitter.com/#!/TheDeckOut

From now on, I won’t probably update every Tuesday and Friday at the same time as before because I’m busy with things but I’ll still update 1-2 times every week. I’ll Facebook and I’ll try to remember Tweet every time when I release a new article so be sure to follow either one of those (or even both) and check daily my blog to know when my blog has new entries!

Thanks for liking and following my blog!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Eye on Japan - Part 1

Hi everyone!

This is the first part of my probably the most awaited – feature – Eye on Japan. Those of you who have no idea what Eye on Japan is about, I’ll explain briefly. In the Eye on Japan series I’ll reveal how the always so mysterious Japan tournament system works. How is the game in Japan in general and of course the most interesting part – what’s their metagame like.

Eye on Japan is just around the corner!

Hello all The Deck Out followers!

As promised, I made this update ot inform that my Eye on Japan article is scheduled for SixPrizes and it will be released: 2011-10-17/ 16:00:12 /UTC -4
I'll also release here on The Deck Out as my Tuesday update so be sure to check it out and comment on it so I can develop it!

Thank you for the interest.

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Decklist Out revealed!


Hello for all the followers!


Today I won’t have an analysis of anything but I will introduce a new feature to my blog. You may have probably noticed The Decklist Out. You want to know what it is? I’m here to reveal it.

My blog has started more popular than I first thought was even possible and that’s all thanks to you! Since the blog updates have been piling up I noticed that the few articles are already lost in to my blog’s massive update pile. That’s why I decided to make a new site “The Decklist Out”, where I will gather all the decklists of the metagame and Rogue decks I have written into this blog and I will write in to this blog in the future.

I will update the lists of the metagame decks regularly so they’re up to date and of course I will add new cards every time new sets will be published. I hope that in the future The Decklist Out can become a common library for all the metagame decks, where anyone can check out lists of well-built metagame decks with just one click. I hope that this can become a common place for new players to check out competitive decks out. I also hope that this will become popular among more experienced players who don’t have time to make a well-built list of every deck for testing. From The Decklist Out anyone can find everything with just one click.

Check out The Decklist Out and let me know what you think about this new feature in the poll on the right. You can also add comments to the comment field. Thanks for following my blog!


P.S. I’m almost done editing my Eye on Japan article. My next update will be the start of the Eye on Japan feature and you are able to find it on the Six Prizes as well after it’s released. I can’t tell you the exact date yet but I’ll make an update about it once the release date is settled.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Max Potion - Part 2


Hello and welcome to The Deck Out!


Today is the time for Max Potion part 2! In my last update, I reviewed what Max Potion could do with Donphan Prime but today I have a whole new Pokémon. I think you all are familiar with Tyranitar Prime.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Max Potion - Part 1


Hello and welcome back to The Deck Out!

Today’s blog is about my favorite trainer card – Max Potion – and how to make it playable going rogue. This will be a 2 part article and the second article will be in my next update. In this blog update I focus on how to build a working Donphan deck around Max Potion.

Pokémon:


4x Phanpy(CL)
4x Donphan Prime
2x Manaphy
=10

Trainer:

3x Dual Ball
1x Pokegear 3.0.
2x Judge
4x Cheren
4x Sage’s Training
3x Professor Oak’s New Theory
1x Professor Elm’s Training Method
2x Pokémon Communication
3x Max Potion
4x Pokémon Catcher
4x Junk Arm
1x SSU
1x Energy Retrival
1x Lost Remover
1x Crushing Hammer
2x PlusPower
2x Defender
=39

Energy:

9x Fighting
2x Rescue Energy
=11



Strategy

This deck’s strategy revolves around the combo Donphan/Max Potion. Donphan is a great partner for Max Potion because it can hit hard with 1 energy and it isn’t easily OHKOble. The deck idea is to get T2 Donphan every game and start Catchering easy prizes and disturb your opponent’s set up with Earthquake. This deck is all about speed so your main priority in every game should be getting the T2 Donphan.
After getting T2 Donphan begins the tricky part. You have to Catcher just the right things. I’ll get into match-ups later but let’s just say that you try to destroy their deck’s main idea. There are trainers like Catcher, Crushing Hammer, Lost Remover and Judge, which are helping to achieve this goal. While attacking, you try to use Max Potion every time it seems like your Donphan is about to get KOed. After you have run out of Max Potions/Junk Arms you can just start attacking with Donphans because practically you have 6 of them in your deck (4 Donphans and 2 Rescue Energies.



Card Choices

There is no such things as “obvious” card choices in this deck. It’s very techable on the trainer side and very simple on the Pokémon side. I will have to run card by card this deck so you get the whole idea of what is this deck trying to achieve and how.


Phanpy-Donphan

The only thing that needs explanation about this evolution line is Phanpy because it should be obvious that I run 4-4 Donphan because it’s my only attacker in the deck. The Call of Legends Phanpy fits this deck better because I want an undamaged Donphan when starting to attack. The Poké-Body of Phanpy(CL) helps me to get rid of the unnecessary bench damage from Earthquake and that way I can evolve Phanpys into Donphan unharmed.


Manaphy

First I thought I wouldn’t be running any basic Pokémons but the Phanpys but noticed soon enough that I would be mulliganing far too many times with only 4 basics. Manaphy is a great starter because it attack with Colorless and has a free retreat. I didn’t want to play Cleffa here because the chance of opening with a lone Cleffa in this deck would be huge and they would be KOed very soon with Earthquake. Manaphy has 60 HP so it isn’t that easily KOed by Earthquake damage.


Straght Draw – Cheren – Sage’s Training

This deck needs straight draw because it pretty much wants everything from the deck – energies, trainers, even Pokémons. Only 2 cards that may be “meaningless” after the first turn are the 2 Manahpys. Cheren is the best straight fraw card we have because it has no drawbacks. Draw 3 cards, it works.

I thought about Sage’s very much in this deck. This deck doesn’t want to discard any cards from the deck but it can discard cards because of Energy Retrieval and Junk Arm. Some trainers are even better of in the discard pile than in your hand so after Shuffle & Draw card you are able to get them with Junk Arms. I also thought of Juniper first. But the problem with Juniper is that it’s just too hardcore discarding in the beginning of the game if you have an ok hand but need just 1 card. Sage’s is good when trying to find the one last needed card.



Shuffle & Draw – Judge – PONT

This deck has no bad cards so hand refresh is always welcome. PONT is there to give you some Shuffle & Draw and since it’s the best Shuffle & Draw card in this format it was an obvious choice (Copycat usually gets too few cards). Judge is simply for disturbing your opponent’s set-up. This deck can get a huge profit if your opponent draw passes in just one turn. This one turn can be crucial in winning the game and because of the huge amount of draw cards in this deck; Judge shouldn’t disturb your game that much.


Other draw cards – Communication – PETM – Dual Ball – Pokegear 3.0.

I have praised Pokegear before and will praise it even more. For this kind of deck it’s more than perfect. This deck has many supporters so it won’t whiff a supporter that often. This deck also plays Judge so you can recover with Junk Arm if you happen to draw a supporterless hand from Judge. There is no reason not to run at least 1 Pokegear in this deck.

Dual Ball’s meaning is self-explanatory – it’s there to search for some Phanpys. This deck doesn’t want to use Supporter for searching Basic Pokémon because it needs to be fast. That’s why Dual Ball is the only real choice for this deck.

Pokémon Communication seems weird here. Why I’m not running 4 of them as usual? The reason for this is the low amount of Pokémon in this deck. If you ran 4 Communications in this deck, you would end up having Pokémon Communications in your hand, without a Pokémon many times during a game. This deck plays the Pokémons to the bench as soon as they hit the hand so you won’t have time for Communicating Pokémons around. There are 2 Communications, however, because it’s such a good card. If you happen to have it in your opening hand, you’re guaranteed to have T2 Donphan.

PETM is the last “draw card”. It seems weird to run PETMs in a deck running only 1 stage1 but, in fact it’s very wise. PETM is like a Pokémon Communication for this deck with the exception that you can use PETM if you don’t have Pokémon in your hand. PETMs are needed for this deck to get 4-6 Donphans to the play – you can’t rely on shuffle&draw and straight draw cards for that. Of course PETM has its downsides because it’s a supporter but still it’s the best you can do in this deck.


MAX POTION

The heart and soul of this deck and the whole article. Max Potion is one of my favorite cards because it gives metagame some versatility and it gave me some new ideas as soon as I saw it. The only problem with Max Potion is that, it’s easily countered. Any trainer locking thing (Gothitelle and Vileplume) destroys the deck’s whole idea but I decided not to care about it. In this format is so much versatility that you must to live with bad match-ups. It’s impossible to build a perfect deck.

Max Potion works well with cards that have huge HP and can hit with 1 energy. As I said before, Donphan Prime is a perfect of a card like that.The best thing about Donphan, however, is that its weakness is almost non-existent in the present format. That and Donphan’s resistance makes it almost impossible to OHKO at the moment.

This deck doesn’t play 4 Max Potions because you can’t be using Max Potion ALL the time. You can give your opponent 5 prizes so you don’t have to use 1 Donphan all the time. Max Potions just help you to cope some more turns. You also want an energy attachment to Phanpy so when you play down Phanpy and are hitting with Earthquake, you can’t use Max Potion that turn. Since you have Max Potion you must also be careful while playing Rescue Energies – don’t Max Potion them away!


Junk Arm – Pokémon Catcher

Catcher is as important as Max Potion in this deck. In fact, the list has 4 of them so you may think, they’re even more vital for the strategy than the Max Potions. I would say Max Potion and Catcher have an equal importance in this deck. Your goal is to Catcher from T2 to T6, EVERY TURN if your opponent doesn’t bring a good to kill Pokémon as an active and saves you from Catchering.

If we think about Catcher and Max Potion, this deck looks like a lot of Luxchomp. Its goal is to take cheap prizes early game and somehow manage the late game while doing bench damage to itself and healing in the between. I didn’t notice it before but it’s true – I just don’t know if it’s a good thing…

Junk Arm is a natural add to this deck. This deck lives and dies with Trainers so you want to use trainer as much as possible every turn. Junk Arm is a perfect card for this. With that you can use Catcher, Max Potion and Pokegear whenever you need. It gives you more versatility for tech trainers as we will now see. 


Tech Trainers

The reason I wanted to build this deck was because of this section. This deck has so much space in the trainer section that I could fit my every favorite disturbing trainer easily in the deck list.

Lost Remover and Crushing Hammer are in the deck list for the same reason – to slow down your opponent. Lost Zoning this like DCE or discarding energies from Magnezone can dramatically slow them down. This deck needs so much everything that I decided to go with 1-1 of both because you can use them with Junk Arm if you really need them. They both are great teches and might come in handy in situations that are unimaginable.

Super Scoop Up is in the deck because it’s a 4th Max Potion + Switch at the same time. Of course it requires heads but it’s only a small set back since its effect would be great in a Donphan deck. Super Scoop Up is also the unexpected card in your deck because if your opponent starts counting your Junk Arms and Max Potions from discard pile, you can mess his counting by playing SSU. This deck doesn’t play Switch (even though it maybe should) so SSU is a must card here.

Energy Retrieval is a must and obvious tech card. You discard energies with Max Potion and get them back with Energy Retrieval. I thought first that I would like to play Energy Returner in this deck but decided for Energy Retrieval because it was Junk Armable and could be used in many situations.

Defender and PlusPower are counterparts of each other and they both work well in this deck. Defender adds some more durability for Donphan so it’s impossible to OHKO. Pluspowers adds the magic 10 damage, which will help you OHKO things with Earthquake. This way, you can OHKO undamaged things like Magnezone Prime, Tepig, Zekrom etc. with only one earthquake. PlusPower is a great in any “low” damage decks (60 is considered low in this format) so it’s a perfect fit for this deck.


Energy

9 fighting energies, because you need them all the time, but only 1 at a time. The Rescue energies are – as already stated – getting back Donphan when KOed. The tricky part is to play Rescue energy to a Donphan that will be KOed. This is tricky because your opponent can use Catcher and try to KO something else. The problem with Rescue energy also comes when you get the Donphan line back to hand. If your opponent has any idea how to play, he will Catcher your Phanpy as soon as you play it again on the bench and get an easy prize. You have to figure out preventing this.


 
Problem officer?

Yes. As mentioned this deck has problems with trainer locks. But there must be some other problems too right? I’ll get into the problems of this deck.

Trainer lock

As I said before, the whole deck will stop once the trainer lock is played. Vileplume variants can be won if they don’t run Reuniclus but Gothitelle/Reuncilus is an autoloss. That is unless you’re able to just outdamage then. The only way to outdamage Gothitelle is to start very aggressive by destroying their Gothitas or Zekrom/Reshiram. Don’t even try to hit Solosis unless they have only 1 in play. The great thing about killing Digimons or Gothorita is that it will be harder for them to move damage. Zekrom kill could be VERY big in the early game.

Against trainer lock, you must focus on your set-up. Use all your trainers all the time, when you still have the chance. After Gothitelle is in play, you won’t be able to use trainers in the rest of the game. With Rescues and decent set-up you’re able to attack with 6 Donphans so you must be sure to divide your energies wisely. You only have 9 of them so play them wisely!

Big hitters

By heavy-hitting I mean cards that can OHKO Donphan. If they can OHKO you, you have no chance in winning them because your deck relies on Max Potion. There aren’t many of OHKOers in the format but if you face them, you’re probably screwed. Donphan’s worst nemesis is Samurott(BW) which can OHKO Donphan with DCE and any energy because of the weakness. Samurott isn’ t  that popular but there is always the possibility. The other card is Rayquaza&Deoxys LEGEND. It can easily OHKO your Donphans and get 2 prizes! And you won’t be able to OHKO them back. If you’re facing a deck playing RDL, you must destroy their set-up (they’re probably running Emboar) and not concentrate on RDL. Once their energy acceleration and draw engines are gone, you can start attacking RDL.


Catcher

It’s funny. In fact, this deck has problems with Catcher in the late game. That’s because you don’t want to give away easy prizes and if your opponent is able to Catcher late game Phanpy from your bench, he/she gets an easy prize. You don’t want that to happen so you must prepare for the Catcher, by Catchering a Pokémon that is unable to hit during your opponent’s next turn. Remember not to KO the Pokémon you Catchered!


Slow Set-up

This deck is not the forgiving type. You either go T2 (or in the emergency situations T3) and unless you go T2 or T3, you will automatically lose the game (unless your opponent has a horrid start). If this list doesn’t work for you, try to fix it first so that it gets a T2 every game. After you have managed T2 Donphan in 98% of the games, you can start putting in teches. The set-up is everything with this deck so If you don’t manage to set-up, you don’t manage to win.



Match-ups

Favorable



Slightly Favorable
Stage1 variants
Magneboar
Zekrom/Tornadus

Even
Magnezone/Yanmega
Mew/Vileplume


Slighly Unfavorable
Reshiram/Typhlosion


Unfavorable
Trainer lock/Reuniclus


As for good match-ups, Zekrom can’t OHKO you and you get easy prizes from everywhere. It’s very difficult for them so this might be a very good choice in the current metagame. Stage1 is slightly favorable because you out-Donphan them. If they play fighting weak things like Cinccino and Zoroark you can get easy OHKOs with Catcher.  Magneboar is probably slightly favorable because you can OHKO them Magnezones and stop drawing and OHKOing. You must be aware of RDL threat in this match-up.

As for unfavorable, Reshiplosion can Outdamage you with Reshiram or outrun your energies with Typhlosion if they play smart. Trainer lock/Damage moving decks are beyond your chances. The only way you can win these decks, is for them to get a totally horrifying start.




Conclusion

Hope you enjoyed the read and try this deck out. It’s different from the mainstream decks what I have seen and I think it has great potential in a certain metagame that isn’t prepared for it. Please leave comments and feedback! Thanks for reading.


// Be back to The Deck Out next Tuesday for Max Potion part 2!