Monday, February 27, 2012

Mewtwo EX & Emboar


I'm baack!
Hi everyone!


Today’s the time for already 4th Mewtwo EX entry. This time it’s time for something more unique and interesting that didn’t get so much attention in Japan. This deck has also been forgotten by the Western players mainly because of N. I name it, you know it – it’s Emboar.

This fire pig was big ever since it was released. Most people hyped it was broken and in the end it ended up winning the World Championships in Masters when combined with Magnezone. However, in this article I’ll discuss about Emboar by itself and with other supporting Pokémon than Magnezone. The time for Magnezone/Emboar will be later but I’ll touch that deck as well in the future since it might once again have a chance in the current metagame.

Without further introduction, let’s start with the skeleton list.

Pokémon:

4x Reshiram
4x Tepig
2x Pignite
3x Emboar(Inferno Fandango)
2x Mewtwo EX
=15


Trainer:

4x Pokémon Collector
3x Pokémon Communication
4x Professor Juniper
4x Sage’s Training
2x Eviolite(NV)
4x Rare Candy
3x Junk Arm
2x Energy Retrieval
2x Switch
1x Burned Tower
=29

Energy:

14x Fire Energy
=14

=58

Strategy:

Everyone should be familiar with ReshiBoar’s strategy if you have ever played with it, against it or read my earlier article about it. However, if you haven’t for some reason, here is quick refreshment for your memory.

Reshiboar uses Emboar(Inferno Fandango) to load its attacker, which were in the earlier versions mostly Reshirams. However, thanks to Mewtwo EX this deck has once again risen from its grave. You can get Mewtwo EX hitting for very high numbers in no time if you are able to time the energy attachments correctly. This deck also has an edge against some Mewtwo EX variants because this can also use non-EX attackers. Playing with deck that combines EX and non-EX attackers takes a great skill to use correctly and that’s why probably this deck has been seen in the Japanese metagame.

Emboar’s only weakness is that it doesn’t work well when there are disrupting cards like Judge and N around it. N won’t bother you in the early game like Judge does because your deck isn’t the fastest one around but it will do some serious damage in the late game. That’s why you must play the whole game late game in the back of your mind. The things you do in the early game (discarding cards like Fisherman, Energy Retrieval, Junk Arm) pretty much decide how your hands turn out in the late games after Ns. At first, it seems that this is one of the most straightforward decks of the format but when thinking a little bit more you see how in-depth thoughts this deck really requires.


Card Explanations


Reshiram

Reshiram is the main attacker in this deck. It OHKOs most things with Blue Flare and 2HKOs everything (even the EXs with Eviolite). It is fueled with Emboar’s Inferno Fandango Ability and as the name of the deck tells, it’s the main combo of this deck. Hitting with Reshiram wastes energy but the deck should be able to get a lot of energy from the discard pile. After all, Emboar only attaches energy only from the hand. Reshiram with Eviolite is almost impossible to OHKO in this format since the water weakness is very good. The only very played Water Pokémon in this format is Kyurem and it doesn’t OHKO anything, it just spreads around. Reshiram has been one of the best attackers since its release and things stays the same. It’s even better in this format because Mewtwo EX is the main attacker of many decks. Even Mewtwo EX has problems with OHKOing Reshiram because Reshirams discards energy from itself. It decreases the base damage of Mewtwo EX’s X-Ball radically and with Eviolite attached to Reshiram, it’s almost impossible for Mewtwo EX to OHKO it.

Emboar(Inferno Fandango)

Emboar is the energy accelerator deck. If you’re familiar with the old Reshiboar deck, you know how this deck works. Emboar has its pros and cons.

Emboar is better than Typhlosion because Inferndo Fandango doesn’t damage the Pokémon it attaches energy to. However, the reason why Typhlosion is widely played and Emboar is not is that Typhlosion takes the energy from the discard pile while Emboar gives them from hand. Because of disrupt cards like N and Judge, attaching energy from the hand is a very risky strategy when you’re using a stage2 Pokémon as your energy accelerator. You never know what you are going to draw from the and especially in the late game Emboar might have a problem of attaching enough energy even if it’s only 1 prize away from winning the game. When it comes to Typhlosion or Eelektrik, they completely ignore hand disruption and can still attach energy from the discard even if they have no hand. If Emboar was hurt by Judge, it’s killed with one card N.

Emboar also has a huge retreat of 4. The deck’s whole trainer engine has to be built around Inferno Fandango’s requirements and for the huge retreat cost of Emboar. Your opponent will be Catchering Emboar a lot and you have to be prepared for it. However, the retreat cost of Emboar may also work in your favor if you use cards like Heavy Ball to get it and Pignite faster into play.

The Emboar line amount is a persona opinion. I have seen everything from 3-1-3 to 4-2-4 and I think everyone should test by themselves and see how each line work for them. I like 4-2-3 line because it’s good against trainer lock and gives you the needed protection from bad prizes.

Mewtwo EX

Oh, this baby should be familiar to every one of you. As you probably have guessed, you use Emboar to energy accelerate X-Ball and hit as hard as you need to. Emboar can easily load Mewtwo EX from 0 to 120 in just one turn. With things like Burned Tower heads and Fisherman in the same turn, you can get a 0 energy hand to a 5 energy hand. Mewtwo EX is a necessity in this deck in order to well because it’s the best Mewtwo EX counter and the best attacker of the whole format. If you can’t beat them – join them. It also has great synergy with the deck’s main idea to load your attackers with energy.

Pokémon Collector - Pokémon Communication – Heavy Ball

There shouldn’t be anything worth of telling about Pokémon Collector and Pokémon Communication. You want T1 Collector since you have a lot of different basics and you need T1 2 Tepigs on your bench. Communications help you set-up Emboar but this deck also has Heavy Ball. Let’s take a little bit closer look at Heavy Ball in this deck.

Heavy Ball searches a 3 or more retreat Pokémon from your deck. Usually it’s not a good thing that a stage1 Pokémon like Pignite has such a free retreat but in this deck it’s a good side. With Heavy Ball you can search for both Pignite AND Emboar. You don’t even need a Pokémon in your hand like with Pokémon Communication. Heavy Ball is a great addition into this deck trainer engine when compared to the old one.

Professor Juniper - Sage’s Training


Juniper is the best draw card here. It refreshes your hand so well when needed and draws the biggest amount of cards in this format. The cards that’s discussable is Sage’s. I put Sage’s in here because I want the Emboar up as soon as possible. However, there are two reasons why you could choose not to run Sage’s but PONT. First, since you already run Juniper, you’re already discarding a lot of cards. This wouldn’t be a problem with Typhlosion because you can afford discarding energy but with Emboar you don’t afford discarding all of your energy. Even though you can retrieve cards from your discard pile, the combination of Juniper, Sage’s and Junk Arm discarding your cards may be too much.

The second reason is that with Sage’s you can only get 2 new cards. With PONT you can refresh your hand and get a total of 6 new cards. This is a very important thing in this deck because you want to get all the energy in your deck into play as soon as possible. It’s PONT or Sage’s, whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Eviolite

This card is huge in this deck. As long as Mewtwo EX is around at least. Inferndo Fandango doesn’t hurt Reshiram so Reshiram with Eviolite is practically impossible to OHKO. Only things like Zekrom EX and Reshiram EX are able to do it easily. Mewtwo EX has a too difficult time OHKOing fully HP Reshiram because after Blue Flare it only has 1 energy on it. Eviolite is very important if Mewtwo EX will become very popular. Of course Eviolite will work on Mewtwo EX as well but I wouldn’t attach it to Mewtwo EX because it’s still too easy to OHKO with Mewtwo EX or 2HKO with Zekrom/Reshiram.

Rare Candy

Rare Candy should be self-explanatory. You want Emboar into play T2 – no exceptions.

Junk Arm

Did you know, I had a great article about this card?

Energy Retrieval

Many people decide between Energy Retrieval and Fisherman in this deck but I would go with Energy Retrieval (as long as Mewtwo EX is around at least). Mewtwo and other EXs are a blessing for this deck because that way with less energy, you can be more effective. Of course the final list will run Fisherman as well but Energy Retrieval is a 100% must.

Switch

Switch is super important in this deck because Emboar will be Catchered a lot. You must have a Switch in your hand at all times because you can’t afford getting your only Emboar killed at any time. Switch is a card that will be seen along with Heavy Ball in every deck that has big retreat Pokémons.

Burned Tower


Burned Tower was super important for ReshiBoar players before the release of NDE but now it isn’t as good as it used to be. At this time there are already 3 Stadiums that can be played: Burned Tower, Tropical Beach and Skyarrow Bridge. Burned Tower is no longer guaranteed to be in play for the whole game since there are counter stadiums. However, at the same time you can add the number of Burned Towers in your deck and cause problems to decks that live with their stadiums like Chandelure, Ross.dec and upcoming basic decks that are going to take the advantage out of Skyarrow Bridge. Burned Tower is a great cards because it benefits you at the same time it may disrupt your opponent.



Energy

This original list runs only 14 Fire energy but I’ll show you some alternative lists that will have very varied energy lines compared to the straight fire lines.


The full deck and optional strategies for Reshiboar

I’ve gotten a lot of requests about the Japanese Reshiboar/Cobalion deck and I thought it would be a good idea to reveal all the Reshiboar lists, I’ve tested and gotten from Japan in this article. So here is the 3 lists, I’ve prepared for you. One with straightforward attackers, another with Cobalion and 3rd with everything. I’ll add the explanation about the decks after each list. Enjoy.


Stick with the Basics

Pokémon:

4x Reshiram
4x Tepig
1x Pignite
3x Emboar(Inferno Fandango)
2x Mewtwo EX
1x Cleffa
=15


Trainer:

4x Pokémon Collector
2x Pokémon Communication
2x Heavy Ball
4x Professor Juniper
3x Professor Oak’s New Theory
2x Eviolite(NV)
4x Rare Candy
3x Junk Arm
2x Energy Retrieval
2x Switch
1x Burned Tower
2x Fisherman
=31

Energy:

14x Fire Energy
=14


This decks concentrates on the very basic idea of Reshiboar – load your attackers with Emboar and win the game. There is nothing unnecessary or teched in the deck. Use Emboars to load Reshirams / Mewtwo EXs (depending on the situation) and OHKO your opponent Pokémons with them. It’s almost everytime to attack if you can’t OHKO them and if you find space for this list, I suggest trying running 1-2 PlusPowers. They help OHKOing with Reshiram and they make OHKOing with Mewtwo EX even easier. I would’ve run PlusPower in this list if I had found space for it. However, I love consistency so I didn’t want to compromise the consistency for PlusPowers.

The Japanese Cobalion variant with a NDE Twist

Pokémon:

4x Reshiram
3x Tepig
1x Pignite
3x Emboar(Inferno Fandango)
1x Mewtwo EX
2x Cobalion
1x Cleffa
=15


Trainer:

4x Pokémon Collector
2x Pokémon Communication
2x Heavy Ball
4x Professor Juniper
3x Professor Oak’s New Theory
4x Rare Candy
3x Junk Arm
4x Energy Retrieval
1x Eviolite
2x Switch
1x Super Rod
=30

Energy:
4x Special Metal
1x Prism Energy
10x Fire Energy
=15

I was going to make a complete entry about this but because I have only 2 updates per week, I didn’t find time on my schedule for it. So here it’s, the longed Cobalion/Reshiram/Emboar. I understand where the deck’s idea is coming from. Cobalion 2HKOs almost every Pokémon in this format with its first attack and it’s the best tech you have against Kyurem and Kyurem EX. Not to mention that Cobalion is a great card against the notorious Mewtwo EX.

One Cobalion might be able to take down Mewtwo EX very quickly if played at the correct time. Mewtwo EX also has problems dealing with Cobalion that has Eviolite and Special Metal attached to it. Mewtwo EX should hit 170 damage to Cobalion if it wanted to OHKO a Cobalion like that. That’s not an easy task to any Mewtwo variant and that’s one of the reasons why I think this variant could have a great success in our future format. Its trainer engine differs a bit from the original one but the consistency has still been taken into account.

There are 2 things you can’t take away from Reshiboar no matter what you do – Reshiram and Mewtwo EX. These two cards form the cornerstone of this deck in this format.

Consistency hater or tech lover?

Pokémon:

2x Reshiram
3x Tepig
1x Pignite
3x Emboar(Inferno Fandango)
1x Mewtwo EX
1x Cobalion
1x Reshiram EX
1x Cleffa
=13


Trainer:

4x Pokémon Collector
2x Pokémon Communication
2x Heavy Ball
4x Professor Juniper
3x Professor Oak’s New Theory
1x Pokegear 3.0.
4x Rare Candy
4x Junk Arm
4x Energy Retrieval
2x Switch
2x PlusPower
=32

Energy:
2x Prism Energy
2x DCE
11x Fire Energy
=15

This version has everything that you’ll ever needed (excluding one card that I’ll mention soon). You have Cobalion, Reshiram, Mewtwo EX, Reshiram EX and even DCEs for your EXs. This list is going all-in with attacking and has no defense at all. Its main goal is to OHKO anything and everything your opponent puts into way. It has no Catchers just like the other lists but in this deck the reason is more simple than just the low amount of space- this doesn’t need it. Well, in fact, teching 1 Catcher to any deck is prudent thanks to Junk Arm but this deck’s strategy doesn’t require it.

I put in PlusPowers to increase the damage dealt by both non-EX and EX attackers. You want to OHKO everything, I can’t emphasize it enough. Thanks to the OHKO mission, this deck may use less resources on getting energy since you only need to attack 6 or less times during the game. You should have more than enough resources to do that.


Rayquaza&Deoxys LEGEND

I’m a huge fan of this card and I’ve made an own entry about it. However, RDL is also a great card in ReshiBoar. You only need one lighting energy from your hand and you have a killing machine ready thanks to Inferno Fandango.

In the current format RDL can be considered as a great killing machine because it’s one of the rare ones that can OHKO Mewtwo EX thanks to RDL’s Psychic/Colorless typing. And RDL sure doesn’t leave the job unfinished, it hits Mewtwo EX for 300 damage and takes 3 prizes out of Mewtwo EX. It’s funny how you can win the game with one attack even if you have as many as 3 prizes left. RDL is one of the most difficult cards ever to be played correctly but the one, who manages to play it correctly, will have huge success in this format.


Conclusion

With the help of all the different attackers, Reshiboar might just enough power to make a comeback to the tournament scene. I’ve never been a huge fan or hater of ReshiBoar but I have always been in the neutral zone. I think Reshiboar has its own problems like inconsistency and disrupting cards like N and Judge but it still can compete with at least tier2 decks. Only the future shows how well players want to develop and test ReshiBoar. I believe in Reshiboar but the question is, do YOU believe in it?


Thanks a lot for reading!

21 comments:

  1. hello esa, in north america most lists run reshi ex - reshiram - mewtwo ex lines and some actually omit reshiram bw entirely. some lists substitute reshiram bw with audino ep in response to the expected popularity of eel decks with the idea of being able to donk tynamos at turn 1 providing you roll heads. another innovation to this deck is the heavy usage of super scoop up to recycle any damaged EXes. Super scoop makes sense in reshiboar since emboar can reload all those scooped up energy with ease. if you roll heads the effect is devastating, the introduction of a fresh undamaged EX.

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  2. i also forgot another list which runs psychic darmanitan. in the ko exchange with mewtwo the darmanitan is just one prize whereas mewtwo gives up 2 prizes.

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  3. Umm yeah idk where you are getting this from anonymous, but most reshi variants(of any kind) usually run reshi bw since it is so great against mewtwo ex. And audino or darmaxitan? Idk where you are playin, but the they must be scrubbin hard. No offense, but it is the truth
    to Esa ~ great article again, most people that play this in North America do run reshi bw and reshi EX.

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  4. Another nice article! I like the Cobalion list very much =).

    However Esa I believe you forgot to discuss the usage of Cilan in Reshiboar. This supporter actually gives this deck more consistency.

    @ Anonymous : Audino EP as a counter to Tynamos? Hmmm at first it seems ridiculous but on the other hand if you come to think about it, it will take 3 energies for a Reshiram BW to KO a Tynamo while if you get lucky with 1 energy you can KO a Tynamo. The same when dealing with Celebi Prime, you get two heads and you KO it. You'll need to have the gods in your favor to flip a lot of heads. However I will have to disagree with the usage of Darmanitan. It will make Reshiboar slower. You know what I mean, Stage 2 + Stage 1 = slooooow.

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  5. Hi I do like reading your articles but I think you need more time to proof read. For example, there are only 58 cards in your last given list.

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    Replies
    1. Lol, there is actually 59. Your numbers add up to 61.

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  6. First of all, sorry for the deck lists, I proofread this one two times but I guess I didn't proofread the decklists.. Anyways, I'll be updating The Decklist Out soon so no need to worry about decklists any more. After all, all the decklists I list in my blog are very good lists to start. If you build my list and notice that it only has 59 cards, it's a good thing because when building this decks, I had some serious space issues. I also fixed the lists know that they all have 60 cards, so feel free to have a look at them now. I'll be more careful with the lists in the future.

    Anonymous: Sounds like your ReshiBoar is full of everything just like hg22 said. I would like to see that deck in practice because I believe that ReshiBoar with cards like Darmanitan may have some serious consistency problems.

    HG22: Thanks a lot! I don't like Reshiram EX in this deck because Mewtwo EX usually OHKOs it once, you've hit with Reshiram EX and flipped tails. Reshiram BW is so much better. But I just need to wait and see if ReshiBoar can make a stand in the U.S. States.

    Anonymous2: I was arguin with myself, should I touch Cilan or not and decided not to since it's a supporter. For my experience, ReshiBoar doesn't have time for supporters to search energy from the deck. In fact, I don't even like Fisherman in this deck even though it's a must just because it's a supporter. It's a personal preference I guess but I wouldn't recommend running Cilan in ReshiBoar. If you want to run a supporter, you should run Fisherman in my opinion.

    Thanks a lot for the comments and corrections everyone. Next time, I'll be back with 60 cards lists once again, haha. Keep those comments coming.

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  7. Why no Badboar? It's amazing against Mewtwo EX in the late game :D

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  8. hello esa please answer mi last coment in the post the deck out goes finally global:finland! i wrote nice info for your global tour

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  9. I have been playing around with this deck, and I've found that adding in a Hydreigon can lead to some interesting results. You can run as low as a 2-1-2 and still get it out with more or less the same trainer engine as listed in this article. Both Deino and Zweilous have attacks for one colorless, so if they ever get sent out they aren't quite completely helpless, but the main idea would be to candy to Hydreigon sometime after your Emboar is set up.

    With Hydreigon's power, all energy attached are considered darkness, so it has that synergy with inferno fandango; you can load it up after one of you attackers has been KOd with a fisherman and Emboar. Also, while 60 isn't a lot of damage, it is normally enough for a revenge kill, and its resistance to psychic makes it that much harder to be OHKO by the likes of Mewtwo EX. The 40 damage to 2 of your opponent's bench is where this really shines... with a little bit of luck, you can get a revenge kill, and 40 on two weak pokemon on your opponents bench. It's pretty hard to OHKO Hydreigon unless it's at a typing disadvantage, so you can probably get another berserker blade out before he is KOd. This potentially leaves you with a revenge kill, sniping off 2 prizes from undeveloped pokemon on the bench, and another 60 damage on the attacker, which is a total of 3 prizes in 2 turns.

    This may not be the most competitive card to play in your deck, but it tends to be somewhat unexpected, and I've had some decent games running one in my deck so far. Not to mention, having a deck with shiny emboar and shiny hydreigon is pretty sweet.

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  10. I cant wait to see your updated list of the decklist out. Will you be updating older decks in there too?

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  11. Anonymous: I want to run my Reshiboar as consistent as possible and that's why I don't like BAdBoar in it. Setting-up BadBoar is a difficult task against fast Mewtwo EX decks.

    m(4)uro: Thanks a lot, I saw it but didn't have time to answer that!

    Anonymous2: Hydreigon is a nice card, if it only wasn't a stage2 Pokémon. ReshiBoar has some serious problems with consistency even without running multiple stage2 Pokémons and putting in 2-1-2 Hydreigon, oh man, where do you find space for it? Iäm having space problems for my ReshiBoar even with those lists.

    Thanks for comments, and keep em' coming!

    desufnoc: Thanks for reminding, I'll get to updatin thedecklist out this week!

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  12. It's funny, today I was just thinking of making a Reshiboar with Mewtwo EX in it. Then I check the deckout and bam! Really appreciated. I never really liked playing Reshiboar because of the extreme difference in play style compared to Typhlosion, but always felt like I should give it another try.

    My prospective list was going to run 3 Reshi, 2 Mewtwo EX and a revive though. And I was thinking about teching a Terrakion and a couple fighting energy (in place of revive) to have a better matchup against ZekEels without hurting consistency too much.

    Was definitely also thinking of running Cilan, with a more Heavy Ball oriented list (Terrakion FTW!). First turn collector is a must, but after that, a lot of your problems can be solved with heavy Ball. Collector gets you 2 Tepig and a basic attacker. Presumably you started with at least one basic (:P) so you should have 4 after collector. After that, Heavy Ball is all you should need to really get set up. This means using a Cilan to get you the 3 energy for a T2 Blue Flare or EX Ball shouldn't be too disruptive. A Juniper may be necessary though to get the candy emboar. At the same time, a Cilan on T3 after a T2 Juniper can really help with consistency I would bet.

    All in all, theorymon to the max. But I definitely would test out a list with 2 Cilan and more pokegear 3.0. I also know how limited this deck gets on space but it's worth trying to fit it in.

    Probably.

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  13. Crawdaunt: It's no wonder that ReshiBoar crossed your mind because Emboar got so many good cards to help it from Next Destinies like Heavy Ball, Mewtwo EX, Reshiram EX etc.

    Yeah, I haven't tested Cilan either, just theorymoned it but in my theorymon it doesn't work. If someone has time to test Cilan in Rehisboar I would be more than happy to hear the results. I'm playtesting so many decks at once that I don't have time to test everything of every deck!

    Thanks for your thoughts!

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  14. Esa: Don't holds your breath on this deck doin good in the USA. EXTC outruns it and Zeel Ex sets up faster and Zek EX OHKOs Emboar and the synergy between Zek and Eels is so much better and efficient then Emboar/reshiram

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    Replies
    1. I know, Reshiboar is probably only tier2 jsut like it always has been but I want to be optimistic, lol :D

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    2. More liek tier 3 :p

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  15. In regards to Cilean: I find it helps quit abit if your running RDL or Cobalion (id just run normal metals tbh)as it allows you to drop Enough energy to charge RDL or Cobalion in a single turn Assuming you have 1 energy in hand. I say this because often times ill fetch 1 lightning 2 fire or 1 metal 2 fire. Declare my 1 manual attachment then the Inferno fandango. I find that Reshiboars ability to charge high energy count pokemon in a single turn to be one of its only trumph cards.

    Mostly tested doing 2-2-2 Cilean/fisherman/energy retrieval

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  16. I just got back into the game after a 10 year hiatus (last time was Neo Destiny) and this was the first deck I wanted to play. Fire has always been my favorite type and it plays similar to the old school Rain Dance deck I used to play.

    In my build, I've been testing 2 Cilan/1 Fisherman/2 Retrieval. Fisherman's good, but the fact that it's a Supporter is why I choose to run a solo copy. Whereas it could be a Juniper or a PONT to lead up to a better set up.

    Also, I've been testing out a 3 Reshiram/1 Reshiram EX ratio and it's worked pretty well. It's quicker to play than Badboar and RDL as it is highly searchable via Collector/Communication/Heavy Ball. It may lose out to Mewtwo EX and it not be necessary, but it is able to OHKO practically any non-EX.

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  17. This is looking really into the future but Rayquaza EX would be good in this deck, no? I see Rayquaza EX seeing play in both Eel decks along with Emboar decks. 180 for 3 fire energies discarded, except you have to have a lightning attached as well.

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  18. Anonymous: Rayquaza EX will be best in decks that can get energy from the discard pile steadily. So, Eelektrik is probably the number one option for this. Emboar won't be that good because it doesn't get the energy from discard pile that easily. Since Junk Arm will be rotated out, Fisherman is the best way to get energy from discard pile and that makes the deck very slow.

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