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 2^nd 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…



Pokemon:

4x Virizion (NV)
2x Kyurem(NV)
2x Reshiram(BW)
1x Zekrom(BW)
1x Terrakion (NV)
1x Bouffalant(BW)
1x Shaymin (UL)
= 12


Trainer:

4x Professor Juniper
4x Professor Oak’s New Theory
1x Cheren
4x Pokemon Collector
3x Pokegear 3.0
4x Pokemon Catcher
4x Switch
4x Junk arm
3x Eviolite (NV)
2x Super Scoop Up
1x Super Rod (NV)
=34


Energy:

6x Grass Energy
4x Rainbow Energy
4x Double Colorless Energy
= 14


I wanted to stay faithful for the original list of this deck. I understand why this made many people think “what the heck?” At first sight the deck seem to have zero logic but in fact it’s just a basic version of a 6-corner deck. The deck covers almost all weaknesses with its attackers.


Strategy

As I stated, this is a 6-corner deck which tries to abuse opponent’s weaknesses. Probably the strangest things in the list are random Kyurem, Reshiram and Zekrom. The deck only has 4 Rainbow Energy, why to run that many legendary Pokémon?  That’s because of the Outrage. Outrageing becomes viable option because the deck has Eviolite. You aren’t able to OHKO these 130 HP Pokémons as long as they have Eviolite attached to them.

If we look at for example Zekrom deck, it has 2 options: hit 100 with Zekrom when the Pokémon will immediately OHKO Zekrom back, or hit 60 with Tornadus, the deck can just Catcher Pachi/Shaymin and get the easy prize. Of course, if the Tornadus hit Zekrom, Zekrom can Outrage it away with weakness.

This deck is all about high HP Basics that really gives the opponent headache. How is anyone supposed to get 6 prizes against a deck that has like 6 150 HP Pokémon? For many decks that surely is a problem but that’s what makes this deck a good deck.

As you can see, this deck isn’t all about only Kyurem, Reshiram and Zekrom but a huge part plays Virizion(NV). Virizion is the deck’s starter and the main attacker. I’ll get to what Virizion does later on but mainly it’s there to draw cards with its first attack and help you set-up and from the 2^nd turn onwards it’s hitting some heavy damage with only 2 energy, forcing your opponent to use Catcher to minimize the damage Virizion is able to do.

The deck also has the “Avengers” Terrakion and Bouffalant, which are there simply to avenge their Koed Pokémon friends with a counter OHKO.

The deck tries to have an answer to everything and it pretty much does. This deck is a challenge to build properly but it’s even more difficult to play properly. This can be considered a real rogue because it will never see that much play because it’s so difficult.



Card Choices explanation

As I promised I’ll get inside the card choices a little more.


Virizion


Virizion was released in the Noble Victories set and is the main card in the deck. It’s the starter as I said earlier with its Double Draw attack. It’s rare to see cards like this have decent drawing attack and that’s probably the reason why Virizion is used as the main Pokémon of the deck. Double Draw needs only 1 Colorless so as long as you have energy in your hand you’re able to use it. Thanks to a huge amount of Switches in this deck, you are able to get Virizion Double Drawing T1 almost every game.

The second attack Leaf Wallop is decent but it isn’t that good because your opponent is able to use Catchers. Leaf Wallop's effect wears off if Virizion is benched via Catcher so your opponent may want to use Catcher just to minimize Leaf Wallop's damage. This is a good and a bad thing. It’s always not good if your attack powers loses steam but every time you are able to force your opponent use a Catcher “in vain”, it’s a small victory for you. The more they have to use Catchers in the early game, the more you are able to control the game in the late game with your Switches and high HP Pokémon. When anyone is playing the first time against this deck, the amount they do misplays is HUGE. But I think that’s what makes strange decks like this so good – it’s difficult to decide what to do against them.


Kyurem, Reshiram, Zekrom


These 3 are here for the same reason: Outrage. Why there are all of them? To cover as many weaknesses as possible. I love the ideology of Outrage with Eviolite. Eviolite makes these Pokémon impossible to get OHKOed and after one attack, these guys are able to OHKO almost everything even without Weakness. With Weakness they are able to OHKO everything with Outrage.

Their only weakness is that in order to attack with them, you need your opponent to hit you. Doing 20 with Outrage won't win you games. Your opponent may try to avoid hitting these Pokémon until they've burn their all Catchers and Junk Arms but eventually they have to hit these Pokémon and when they do, you're ready with your Outrage.

If your opponent tries to avoid attacking to the Legendary Dragons, you may even consider loading these Pokémons with Rainbow Energy. When you have Kyurem spreading as your active Pokémon, your opponent can't just continue Catchering - they must KO Kyurem. When they attack Kyurem, you can just move Rainbows away with Shaymin, attach DCE and hit Outrage.

The way you want to run these 3 Pokémons is up to you. You can change them as you like the way it’s better for your metagame. If your metagame has only Fire decks, running 3 Kyurems isn’t overkill, it’s just a metagame choice. There is no right or wrong way to run these 3 Pokémon in this deck.


Terrakion and Bouffalant



These two are the avengers of this deck. Whenever your Pokémon is KOed, it’s time for these to step up and take the prize. I admit that Bouffalant is my own addition but I thought it would be a great addition for this deck because it already runs 4 DCE and it gives this deck one type more, so why not.

At first sight, it might seem that Terrakion is just a horrible version of Bouffalant because it needs F energy for its Revenge and the damage it deals, is the same as Bouffalant’s. However, Terrakion has one HUGE asset compared to Bouffalant – its type. One thing that has to be remembered is that once this set is legal, Zekrom’s will also run Eviolites. 90 isn’t enough anymore to OHKO Zekrom after Bolt Strike and that’s where Terrakion comes in. Terrakion Vengeances Zekrom for 180 damage because of weakness – I guess that’s enough…

If Terrakion survives one turn longer it might even be able to use Land Crush on the second Zekrom that could cause great havoc on your opponent’s side. Terrakion isn’t a great card but it plays a huge role in this deck.

Shaymin (UL)

Well everyone should be familiar with this little guy. Its purpose in this deck is simple – add versatility and speed to the deck. Without Shaymin you would end up attacking with the same Pokémon until they’re KOed but Shaymin gives you the possibility to move energy around, Switch attackers and surprise your opponent with things like Terrakion. Shaymin enables you to attack with any Pokémon at the any point of the game. It’s one of the key cards of the deck. In fact Shaymin is so important in this deck that you may even consider putting in a second one.



Trainers

The trainers section includes some very ”japanese” kind of deck building.

Juniper, PONT, Cheren, Collector + Pokegear 3.0

Well, the draw seems very “western” excluding Pokegear amount. In the beginning this deck ran 4 Pokegears. After a little testing I decided to drop 1 Gear and add 1 Cheren. I understand why to play 4 Gears because it’s such a great card especially in the format, which is full of N but I settled for 3. In total, this deck has 20 draw cards, which is more than enough because you already have your own starter in Virizion. Lack of consistency surely isn’t this deck’s weakness.



Pokemon Catcher,  Switch, Junk arm

This deck wants a full board control and it’s easily achievable with 4 of Catcher, Switch and Junk Arm. Your opponent has every time the Pokémon you want to attack as the active Pokémon and you have always the Pokémon you want to attack with as your active Pokémon. Maximizing these 3 cards guarantees it and is essential for this deck to work because the deck’s main strategy is to COUNTER the opponent’s Pokémon.

Eviolite

Eviolite, as mentioned before, is probably the card that makes this deck work. It takes the Outrage Pokémons away from the OHKO range of opponent’s Pokémon so they really can use Outrage for some serious damage. Eviolite is also a great card on every Pokémon of the deck because once you’ve found a good attacker against your opponent’s deck; you don’t want to lose it right away. Eviolite usually gives your Pokémon 1 turn more. Eviolite can be taken from the discard pile with Junk Arm and it means that your opponent has to use a huge load of resources against this deck to take all the 6 prizes. I’m pretty sure that some decks will run out of resources against this deck’s “tankness” thanks to Eviolite.


Super Scoop Up

Super Scoop adds some more annoying momentum to your side. Your opponent is finally able to KO your Terrakion next turn but you go and flip heads. There the 3 energy Terrakion ,with Eviolite goes to your hand while your opponent wants to turn the table around. SSU is a flip card – yes – but it’s a very good card especially in this deck when it hits heads. SSU is also great with Shaymin because that way you can use Shaymin more than once.


Super Rod

Super Rod’s function is pretty much the same as Super Scoop Up’s but Super Rod isn’t a precautionary card. There is a very big chance that once you lay down Shaymin, your opponent wants to take an easy prize from it. This always works in your favor because that way you can recycle Shaymin with Super Rod without flipping SSU. Super Rod is also a nice addition to this deck because it runs so many 1 copy and 2 copy cards. Super Rod is also recyclable with Junk Arm so you can use it more than once or just put in the discard pile with Juniper.  



Energy

The deck’s energy is focused on Virizion and of course it runs 4 Rainbows and DCE to make the energy section as versatile as possible. However, there are changes that could be made. If you feel like you would like to attack for example with Kyurem 1-2 times to guarantee OHKOs, you can add 1-2 Water Energy. This change can be applied to any Pokémon you want to attack with and require only small adjustment to energy lines. The way you play energy depend on which Pokémon you feel to be the most important ones.



Teches

Energy Exchange Unit

This is a great tech to add some versatility. EEU may help you getting DCE when you need it any of your tech energies if you need any. It’s also reusable with Junk Arm so it might turn out to be very good in this particular deck.

Energy Search

I can’t believe what I’m writing. Yeah, if you plan to go all-out on teches, Energy Search may be even a good idea. IF you have lots of 1 copy energy, Energy Search is worth trying since its recycable with Junk Arm.

N

N works in every deck and 1 or 2 is always a good addition. This deck doesn’t NEED N because as long as your opponent starts taking prizes, you’re able to OHKO back. This deck shouldn’t have problems with quick decks so N isn’t a necessity in this deck.

Cobalion


One type more. And Cobalion is an awesome card. It’s a superb Kyurem or Beartic counter because it OHKOs them with only 2 energy. Iron Break may be annoying sometimes as well. Cobalion is probably one of the best additions this deck can fit in easily.

Revive

This deck has a lot of 1 copies of Basic Pokémon cards. That’s why Revive should be explanatory. If you feel like Super Rod isn’t enough, Revive could work together with it.

Tornadus

This deck works in all decks that run DCE and could be a good replacement in Bouffalant’s place as a colorless type Pokémon. Hurricane also works very well with the deck’s idea to load Pokémons you need to win the match-up you’re playing at that moment.




Deck in general

There is no point listing match-ups because the metagame for HGSS-NV is yet unknown. However, I’ll make a list of the pros and cons of this deck so you can get the full idea how it works and what are its strengths and weaknesses.

Pros:

- The deck is able to OHKO almost any Pokémon in the format
- Your opponent might run out of resources(this can especially happen to a deck like Reshiboar, Magneboar or Yanmega/Magnezone
- Versatility, this deck is very techable
- No autoloses in the current format
- Consistency

Cons:

- High retreat Pokémon make the deck slow
- Requires a lot of support trainers to cover its weakness (Switch etc.)
- Difficult to play
- Can be outplayed
- Uses mainly “counter” attackers


Future

This deck gets only better with the future sets. Cards like Skyarrow Bridge, Prism Energy and Shaymin EX are perfect for this deck. They make the deck more versatile and agile. If you don’t know what those cards to, check them from the Pokebeach.com. The more sets this format will get, the better and versatile this deck will become. I’m really looking forward for unique builds of players for this deck. 



Conclusion


I don’t even try to make up a name for this deck. I can just call it 6 corners. I love the deck because it’s unique and it takes a good player to play it well. You can also build it so many ways that there are no 2 similar lists of this deck. You can fix it and tweak as much as you like and try to build it as good as you can against your own metagame.

I hope this article was inspirational for you and made you think about new things for your deck. If someone is interested in building the deck, I’m happy to help as well. If there was something I missed in this article or you didn’t understand something, feel free to ask! Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!