Empoleon/Terrakion & Empoleon/Donphan

Empoleon - the HC Jumpluff (and Ludicolo)

Hello everyone!

As I have covered all the played Darkrai EX decks (or have I –let me know if I haven’t!), it’s time for a different kind of deck. This deck has done fairly well in Battle Roads and I believe that this deck has potential for more as well. So far, Empoleon/Terrakion has won only 2 Battle Roads but to be honest, it’s pretty good for a deck that isn’t that played and that is assumed to be bad.

I’ll also take briefly a look at another Empoleon variant – Empoleon/Donphan and compare it with Empoleon/Terrakion, we’ll see, which one deck is the better choice in my opinion. I’ve tested Empoleon before my National pretty extensively because I thought it had potential and as ironical as it sounds, Hammertime had the most difficult time against Donphan/Empoleon (before I added Tornadus EXs that is).

Anyways, let’s start by first looking at the Empoleon/Terrakion.

Pokémon:

4x Piplup
2x Prinplup
4x Empoleon
2x Terrakion
1x Smeargle
2x Virizion
1x Cleffa
=16

Trainer:

4x Dual Ball
1x Ultra Ball
3x Pokémon Communication
2x Random Receiver
4x N
2x Professor Juniper
2x PONT
2x Super Rod
2x Exp. Share
1x Junk Arm
4x Rare Candy
4x Pokémon Catcher
1x Energy Search / Energy Switch
2x Switch
=34

Energy:

4x Fighting Energy
6x Water Energy
=10


Strategy

I don’t think there can’t be any more straightforward deck than this. The main goal is to set-up Empoleon as soon as possible because it’s your main attacker and your draw engine. It doesn’t really matter what you open with, just try to get Empoleon out T2. After you’ve set-upped Empoleon, it’s time to look for Terrakions and Exp. Shares ton them. It’s pretty big chance that you’re facing a deck that will be hurt by your Terrakion – it can be Eels or Darkrai. Just get 6 prizes before your opponent does and you’ll win the game. It will be very difficult if you play every single basic that you happen to draw on your bench so be sure that you need that Basic on your bench at the very turn. The metagame’s best cards hits the bench and every deck runs Catchers, so a deck that needs a full bench is in huge trouble if it isn’t played wisely. Probably the most difficult thing about this deck is to count how much damage does Empoleon do.


Card Choices

Empoleon

As said earlier, Empoleon is the main attacker and draw engine of the deck. You want to have as many as possible of them in the play at the same time because that way you’ll always draw into everything you need and it’s possible to N your opponent almost every turn. Empoleon is very close to Jumpluff(HS) but because it’s Empoleon, it’s a superior card.

Empoleon’s ability would be good on any Pokémon so it’s a bad sad that it has been put on a stage2 Pokémon that has a very hard time in the current format. However, the ability of Empoleon is what makes it playable and as possible surprise candidate.

The 4-2-4 line of Empoleon has been in my testings the best so far. It has also always been the “staple” in stage2 Pokémon lines and I don’t think that 9 years of testing has been wrong about that.

Terrakion

I think you can put Terrakion in any deck and get it working. Empoleon is no exception and what’s even better, Terrakion not only counters over half of the metagame, but also counters Empoleon’s weakness (lighting). So, there is real synergy between these two. Of course the deck has no other way energy accelerating Terrakions but Exp. Share and manual attachments but after all Terrakion is only as an insurance against Darkrai and Lighting decks.

Smeargle

Smeargle is a controversial card here because the deck is a stage2 deck. Even though I don’t like Smeargle in stage2 decks, I’ve seen some lists that have run even 4 Smeargles in their Empoleons! It’s all matter of preference. The reason why Smeargle doesn’t’ fit into stage2 decks as well as it fits any other deck is that whenever you are forced to Portrait a Juniper, you may be forced to discard some vital cards that you can’t get back. The reason why there is one Smeargle in the deck is that sometimes it’s still very good. For example in situations, where you only have a small a hand, and nothing really valuable in your hand.

Virizion

Virizion is usually a very bad card in any deck but Six Corners but in some weird way it really works here. It has huge amount of HP so it’s not a free prize to either Mewtwo EX or Darkrai EX in the late game and it still draws a decent amount of cards with its attack. Combined with Empoleon’s ability, you usually have a very decent set-up by turn 2. Also, the big HP amount of Virizion will come in handy in the second variant, which I’ll introduce later on, in this article.

Cleffa

Cleffa is also a bit controversial card because the best attacker in the format hits 30 to the bench. It’s a free prize to any Darkrai deck but when you’re not facing Darkrai, it will be very handy. Sometimes your opening hand just isn’t that great and one Eeeeeek! can turn the game around.


Dual Ball - Ultra Ball - Pokémon Communication

The deck wants to play Ball Engine because it needs a lot of Pokémons – fast. However, if you feel like flipping tails in most of the Dual Balls, just use the old Pokegear – Collector –engine. Since the deck needs its basics, Collector is a more stable way to get them on your bench. But remember that using a supporter for a basic search is prettttyy slow in the current format.

Random Receiver

Is a very good card in every single deck that uses Ball engine. Even though the deck only runs 1 Junk Arm, Random Receiver is very good card because Empoleon usually draws the card necessary, the only thing you need to do with this, is to get the N whenever you need it in the late game.

N

N is the card that makes Empoleon playable. Empoleon doesn’t mind even if it’s N’d to one because if you have 2 Empoleons in play, you’ll be able to draw 6 cards in total (1 from N, 1 turn card and 2 Empoleon’s ability). The deck is also slow so early on you’re probably behind in prizes and N is the only card that can keep you in the game because the more prize cards your opponent draws, the more disruptive it gets. You want to play 4 N and that’s that. The less you have Ns in this deck, the worse this deck becomes.

Professor Juniper – PONT

The low amount of these cards has been explained earlier. You only want to use N in this deck and after you’ve set-upped, you’ll just end up discarding your draw cards anyways – Empoleon does the drawing job for you.

Super Rod

Super Rod is a must in this deck because you’ll discard a lot of cards with Empoleon’s ability even though you only have 1 Junk Arm in the deck. The discarding with Empoleon will keep on going the whole game through and you’ll need something to get the valuable discarded cards back to deck. Super Rod is the card for that job.

Exp. Share / Energy Switch

Exp. Share is only for Terrakion. The other option instead of Exp. Share is Energy Switch because in the end it usually delivers the same mission – to get 2 energy attached to Terrakion for a Retaliate KO. Without Exp. Share or Energy Switch this deck has very hard time functioning. I like Exp. Share better because the deck doesn’t have huge amounts of energy in it but some prefer Energy Switch. One thing that must be remembered is that if you want to play Energy Switch instead of Exp. Share, you’ll need more Junk Arms than one.

Junk Arm

Usually every deck playes 4 Junk Arms. However, lately after Hammertime and Empoleon, the amounts of Junk Arms has been decreasing. The reason for this is that some decks just don’t need that many Junk Arms. The reason why Empoleon doesn’t need 4 Junk Arms is that it discards a lot of cards even without Junk Arm. It can’t afford both – Empoleon’s ability and Junk Arm discarding.

Rare Candy

This should be obvious. No stage2 deck in the current format can afford running less.

Pokémon Catcher

You need 4 Catchers because you don’t run 4 Junk Arms. It’s very important to use them wisely and not discard them with Empoleon. You’ll only have 4 of them – don’t waste them.

Energy Search

You can run one Fighting/Water Energy instead of this or Energy Retrieval but I like Energy Search in here. When you need Water energy, it’s Water energy and whenever you need Fighting energy, it’s your fighting energy. Also, the synergy between Energy Search and Super Rod is great in this deck where the energy amount is very low.

Switch

You only have one free retreating Pokémon in your deck and you have Terrakion in your deck. I would love to play 3 Switches in this deck, maybe even 4 but the space is very very tight so I had to settle with 2.

Energy

The 6-4 Energy line has worked perfectly with me with the 1 Energy Search. It’s not too much and you’ll usually draw into either Water Energy when you need it, or into Fighting energy when you need it. No matter how your trainer line looks like, this is the way to run the energy.


Summary:

It’s pretty obvious that even though Empoleon/Terrakion has won a few Battle Roads and has done quite well compared to the amounts of it in the tournament, it isn’t a tier1 deck. However, I wouldn’t put it under tier2. It really is a good and consistent deck even though it’s a stage2 deck. Terrakion helps against its worst match-ups (Eelektrik and Darkrai) but the fact is that it doesn’t help enough. That’s what puts Empoleon in the tier2, it has mediocre match-ups against the tier1.




Empoleon/Donphan

Empoleon/Donphan hasn’t been discussed as much as Empoleon/Terrakion (due the fact Empoleon/Donphan didn’t do well in Japan) but I feel that Empoleon/Donphan is a better deck than Empoleon/Terrakion! The reason for this is that Donphan really gives Darkrai and Zekrom a hard time because there are no cards that can OHKO it. Terrakion is too easily OHKOed by i.e. Mewtwo EX but thanks to Donphans low energy cost, Mewtwo EX will have a hard time dealing with it as well.

One thing that must also be remembered is that Max Potion works really well with two attackers that have high HP but low energy cost. The following list only includes 1 Max Potion but the deck can easily play 3 of them. Even though Max Potion seems like a theorymonical dream in this deck, in real life it’s not that good. The sad fact is that sometimes the 140 HP just isn’t enough and they will be OHKOed nonetheless.

Here’s the list.

Pokémon:

4x Piplup
2x Prinplup
4x Empoleon
3x Phanpy
3x Donphan
2x Smeargle
1x Virizion
=19

Trainer:

4x Dual Ball
1x Ultra Ball
3x Pokémon Communication
2x Random Receiver
4x N
2x Professor Juniper
2x PONT
2x Super Rod
4x Rare Candy
3x Pokémon Catcher
1x Energy Search
2x Switch
1x Max Potion
=31

Energy:

4x Fighting Energy
6x Water Energy
=10




Differences:

As you can see, the list isn’t that different compared to the Terrakion list. The reason for this is that the skeleton of the deck works very well, there is no need to change it. One thing I want to say about this deck is that it was one of the rare decks that gave Hammertime trouble in my testings before Nationals. That was before I added Tornadus EX to the deck. The low energy cost of Donphan with huge HP and annoying body gave Darkrai difficult time in every single match. I think, in most matches, this deck was able to beat Hammertime. On the other hand, Terrakion/Empoleon was almost an autowin for Hammertime.

Other thing I want to say about this deck is that I think it has real potential but the fact that it struggles for example Eviolited Mewtwo Ex is undeniable. Also, Zekroms with Eviolite can cause some trouble because you can’t OHKO them with your Donphans. Donphan damages your own bench and Empoleon attacks the more you have Pokémon on your bench. In theory it sounds like a horrible combo but it’s surprisingly decent. If you like Empoleon/Terrakion and haven’t yet tried out Empoleon/Donphan yet, you should. I think, you’ll like it even more!

Conclusion

All in all, the deck is good but in today’s metagame it isn’t good enough. I’m sure this format isn’t the last we hear from Empoleon because when you look at the card, you’ll immediately notice its potential. The BW-on format is promising time for stage2 decks and after that maybe even Empoleon can stand its ground as a real tier1 deck. Until then, the only thing I can hope for is that I’ve overlooked some possibility with Empoleon and someone will do well with it in this season as well.

I hope you enjoyed today’s article. Let me know if you have any questions, comments etc.

Thanks for reading!