Justin Williams
The 2009-2010 Pokemon TCG season has begun, and with Autumn Battle Road tournaments in full-swing, the top decks are shaping up and shaking out.
While we are seeing a lot of carryovers from last season, some new decks have sprung up this Fall. Cards that saw very little play for the majority of last season - Memory Berry, Stormfront
Gyarados,
Ditto - are all making their way into tournament-winning lists.
Here are what I consider the top five plays for Battle Roads this Fall:
1. Flygon Variants
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Set:
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Rising Rivals
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Card Type:
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Colorless |
| HP:
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120
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| Number:
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5
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| Rarity:
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Holo Rare
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Set:
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Stormfront
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Card Type:
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Fighting |
| HP:
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130
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| Stage:
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Stage 2
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| Weakness:
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P+30
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| Retreat Cost:
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2
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| Number:
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20
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| Artist:
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Masakazu Fukuda
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| Rarity:
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Rare
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| Attacks:
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[F] Knock Out (40) If the Defending Pokemon isn't an Evolved Pokemon, that Pokemon is Knocked Out instead of damaged by this attack.
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What make
Flygon such a standout Stage 2 Pokemon is the versatility this card has - you can pair it with so many different things it's ridiculous. The benefit
Flygon draws from being a bulky Colorless-type is invaluable in any format, but especially so considering its exceptional attacks.
Sand Wall is a great attack to stall with when paired with
Flygon Lv. X's Wind Erosion. If your opponent has a stadium in play (generally,
Broken Time-Space sees quite a bit of play), you simply promote a
Flygon with two energies, do 40 damage and become vulnerable for the next turn. If you're leveled up, they're going to have to suffer through two in-between turn discards via Wind Erosion, and they won't be able to lay another stadium for fear of the same.
Another common deck-milling strategy being employed in
Flygon-decks is pairing Secret Wonders
Trapinch with Memory Berry.
Memory Berry?
Yes, it actually has functionality beyond the average "Rage" attack. By giving your
Flygons the ability to use Inviting Trap to pull up benched Pokemon with big retreat costs, you're giving yourself a few free turns of Wind Erosion discards. But it doesn't end there - if you manage to get an additional few turns of Sand Tomb, you can keep this going for even longer by letting their active Pokemon hang while you empty their card supply. This can prove to be very frustrating if you don't have an answer to this strategy. However, a simple
Unown G attachment to either your Active Pokemon or Benched Pokemon that is at risk of being Trapped will solve the problem. Yet another reason why two
Unown G should be considered standard in nearly every decklist right now.
Flygon is also solid because of its second attack, Power Swing, which maxes out at an impressive 110 damage for only three Energy. The only condition is that you have a lot of evolved Pokemon on your bench to add to that damage - which isn't terribly hard considering how many excellent pairings there are for this big bug (or is it a dragon?)
Rising
Rivals
Nidoqueen, Diamond/Pearl
Dusknoir and Supreme Victors
Exploud are all excellent partners for
Flygon. Of the possible 1-1 Stage 2 lines you should consider running, I feel that different choices should be made for different metagames. If you happen to see a lot of
Gengar or SP decks in your area,
Nidoqueen is likely to be the best partner - you can rotate between
Flygons and heal all of your damage in-between turns, keeping them fresh. If
Beedrill is a big buzz in your region,
Dusknoir is the play - simply limit their bench and keep your damage output higher than theirs. Finally, if you end up running into mirror matches a lot,
Exploud is an
Absolute necessity - it negates
Flygon's weakness and wins you those matches singlehandedly.
Flygon, while a great attacker on its own, can be paired with other Stage 1s and Stage 2s depending on your playstyle. Lately,
Machamp from Stormfront has been arguably the most popular version, as made famous by Sami Sekkoum's second-place Worlds list. Giving
Machamp free retreat with
Flygon's Rainbow Float makes it an
Absolute killing machine - simply spend a
Warp Point, forcing your opponent to promote a weakened or low-HP Stage 1 or Stage 2 that can be KO'd by
Flygon, or give up a free prize by sending in a Basic Pokemon to
Machamp's Take Out. The addition of
Machamp can also help the problems
Flygon typically has early-game - a couple of quick Basic knockouts can keep you in the game until you're able to Power Swing for huge damage much later.
Weavile from Secret Wonders serves as a decent option in
Flygon decks as well - energy acceleration is something certain
Flygon builds stress, and two free energy attachments early- or mid-game can be huge. When combined with Rising
Rivals
Trapinch and Upper Energies, the
Flygon player is never at a loss for energies, and Power Swing becomes less of a chore to power up. These lists are usually more likely to play
Nidoqueen in them since you'll be rotating between
Flygons without much difficulty. The added damage you can pull from Special Darkness Energies and Dark Engage can mean the difference in certain matchups as well - it certainly helps being able to one-hit knockout threats like
Beedrill or
Luxray GL Lv. X. The downside to this build is
Weavile doesn't really do anything for you attack-wise beyond energy acceleration, and power-locking decks can limit his effectiveness.
Finally, the lesser-played Pokemon in this debate -
Gliscor. Since you're running
Broken Time-Space anyway, these little buggers are incredibly easy to get into play quickly. This is essential when you need to Power Swing for big damage - and it's why these Stage 1 Pokemon mesh so well in this deck. Combining
Gliscor Lv. X's Poke-Power, Shoot Poison, with
Gliscor's attack, Burning Poison, make for an incredibly frustrating status lock. Shoot Poison paralyzes and poisons the foe, and Burning Poison adds a burn counter to their list of problems - and then promptly returns
Gliscor and all cards attached to your hand. Seems a bit silly to waste an attack on some statuses - until you consider Wind Erosion once again. After attacking with Burning Poison, you promote your
Flygon Lv. X and continue to discard cards from their deck in-between turns. If you can maintain two Glis cors on your bench in this span, you can keep this lock going until the active suffers a knockout. Needless to say, Power Spray completely throws off this strategy entirely, so it's best to scout ahead before deciding on a build this offbeat.
Overall, most
Flygon builds have good matchups against nearly every deck in the format. Bigger Stage 2 decks like
Kingdra and
Beedrill can give it problems, but those are waning in popularity. Having the most options at hand in this format make it the number one choice for Battle Roads this season.
2. Gyarados
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Set:
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Stormfront
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Card Type:
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Water |
| HP:
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130
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| Stage:
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Stage 1
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| Weakness:
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L+30
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| Resistance:
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F-20
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| Retreat Cost:
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3
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| Number:
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19
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| Artist:
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Midori Harada
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| Rarity:
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Rare
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| Attacks:
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[.] Tail Revenge (30x) Does 30 damage times the number of Magikarp in your discard pile.
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Consider
Gyarados an anomaly. It has the distinction of being the only deck that was probably playable for nearly the entire season last year, but never saw play (at least in the US) until after Worlds.
Popularized mainly by French players at that event, Stormfront
Gyarados was, up until that point, an overlooked beast of a card. After the release of that set, we were all busy fiddling with various
Machamp and
Gengar builds (and still some were trying to get that stupid
Raichu Lv. X to work.) Meanwhile, France was busy taking prizes for zero energy left and right with an ingenious and incredibly simple build.
The deck itself runs in a very unconventional fashion - it WANTS to play first. Nearly every deck in this format begs to "lose" the coinflip opening the match, but no, not
Gyarados.
Sableye ensures this to happen with its Poke-Body, Overeager. This can lead to some very quick games depending on the Defending Pokemon,
Sableye's Overconfident has been known to put players on tilt des tempes en tempes. But the deck itself doesn't really focus on the turn one donk - rather it aims to churn out 90 damage bolts consistently for no energy at all.
It accomplishes this via
Sableye's other attack, Impersonate, to utilize
Roseanne's Research and
Felicity's Drawing to throw
Magikarps in the discard, powering up
Gyarados' attack, Tail Revenge. With the help of various Regis to aid in this discarding process (Regice is my personal favorite), you can manage turn two knockouts without much difficulty. Factor in
Crobat G drops and you're wailing for 100 per turn on average.
Gyarados proves to be a real pain to knockout as well - the only real one-hit threat is from
Luxray GL, which has iffy to bad matchups against things like
Flygon to begin with. 130 HP is insane for this guy (he's as big as
Blissey!)
Super Scoop Ups make two-hit KOs even more difficult, and with
Broken Time-Space and free retreat from
Crobat G, the nightmare often does not end.
Is there a direct counter to
Gyarados? Aside from a Mysterious Treasures
Mr. Mime wall, not a whole lot can be done to slow this deck down. However, beefier Stage 2 Pokemon have a better shot at out-swinging it -
Kingdra,
Flygon and
Beedrill all pose threats to the deck.
Warp Point can also land a lot of cheap prizes for
Machamps, too.
Gengar isn't a bad option either, because Fainting Spell is just that good.
Hand Disruption can also prove problematic for the Hurricane Pokemon - if you win a Wager on this deck it becomes difficult for them to draw into the Pokemon Rescues they need to keep the assault going.
All in all,
Gyarados can
Absolutely wreck in the right metagame, as was proven at Worlds this year.
3. Palkia Lock
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Set:
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Platinum
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Card Type:
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Water |
| HP:
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130
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| Number:
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125
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| Rarity:
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Holo Rare
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While many players still consider this deck to be an underdog, it's probably the most consistent deck in the format at the moment.
Palkia G's uncanny ability to maintain an early Power-lock can shut down opponents before they even have a chance to get into the game. Even against decks it'd otherwise have a terrible late-game matchup against,
Palkia still has the edge early on. There might not be a single deck in the format (with the exception of maybe
Gyarados) that isn't at least 50-50 for
Palkia.
The strength of the deck comes in the form of Legends Awakened
Mesprit's Poke-Power, Psychic Bind. Timing is everything with these drops - it's usually best to play them consecutively if they've got several benched drawing options OR if you're busy knocking out a potential threat and want to keep them stymied for the time being. When combined with Power Spray, you've got roughly 6 to 7 turns of disabling your opponent's draw via
Claydol or
Uxie. No other deck can claim that sort of disruption at the moment (Gardevoir comes close, but has nowhere near the "umph" that
Palkia offers.)
A huge misconception about
Palkia is that it outright loses to decks featuring
Luxray GL. In my experience, the outcome is hugely in the
Palkia player's favor if their Mysterious Treasures
Azelf is not prized. Downer Material flat out wins ANY SP matchup when combined with Hydro Shot - you simply knockout their threats while they struggle to build them. If you can keep a
Palkia G fresh while you get the "pixie trio" into play, they're going to be behind a turn on energy drops instantly. This give you enough time to spread some quick damage and lay down a Hydro Shot for 80 before they're even able to attack. Even if you happen to run into a Bright Look from
Luxray GL Lv. X, the smart
Palkia player will always plan ahead and have Power Sprays in hand.
Obviously, a deck like
Flygon/Machamp can cause huge problems for
Palkia - the ideal option in that instance is to manipulate
Crobat G drops and Pearl Breaths to two-shot
Flygons. Don't level up unless you
Absolutely have to (and usually it's unnecessary until you have the option to kill their
Claydol) and be sure to manually power up
Palkia, enabling the
Unown G attachment. Should your
Palkia meet an untimely fate, you've got quick damage options in cards like
Ditto or
Toxicroak G Promo to help you recover.
The main threat to
Palkia decks are ones that don't at all rely on powers - which means
Gyarados. They can setup entirely on
Sableye if necessary, and once they're hitting you for 90 a turn, it becomes incredibly hard to put a dent in their plans.
This is why the deck isn't ranked higher on the list - while it is an incredibly solid choice, it's also incredibly difficult to play in a hostile metagame.
4. LuxApe or BlazeRay
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Set:
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Rising Rivals
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Card Type:
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Lightning |
| HP:
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110
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| Number:
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109
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| Rarity:
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Holo Rare
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The best thing these SP decks have going for them is their breakneck speed - nothing can set up as quickly or efficiently.
Luxray GL has incredibly cheap damage output, and in giving it an 80-for-one-energy partner in
Blaziken FB Lv. X, it's almost unfair (all while still having the option to run
Infernape 4.)
What keeps this deck from a higher seating on this list are the unfortunate weaknesses the cards possess - Water is still a problem in the form of
Palkia G and
Kingdra, while Fighting is prevalent through
Machamp and
Relicanth from Supreme Victors.
However, if you build the list for the sake of speed, you can out-muscle anything in the format. Previously untapped potential in cards like
Level Max can be utilized to make
Blaziken and
Luxray first turn threats. A healthy dose of
Premier Ball or
Aaron's Collection can keep your Lv. X's coming, exploiting
Luxray GL Lv. X's Bright Look Poke-Power for cheap prizes.
The deck also has some versatility to it - you can sway matchups like
Flygon or
Gyarados in your favor depending on your tech cards. Via
Bronzong G's Poke-Power Galactic
Switch, a
Ditto becomes a quick counter to
Flygon or
Flygon Lv. X. With the simple addition of
Lucario GL, you can earn OHKOs (sometimes with the help of
Crobat G) against
Gyarados,
Kingdra or
Beedrill.
When it comes down to it, LuxApe and BlazeRay are still viable in today's metagame - if you have a need for speed, this is your best course of action.
5. Gengar
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Set:
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Stormfront
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Card Type:
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Psychic |
| HP:
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110
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| Stage:
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Stage 2
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| Weakness:
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D+30
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| Resistance:
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C-20
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| Number:
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18
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| Artist:
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Hajime Jusajima
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| Rarity:
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Rare
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| Attacks:
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[P] Shadow Room - Put 3 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. If that Pokemon has any Poke-Powers, put 6 damage counters on that Pokemon instead.
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| Text:
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Fainting Spell - Once during your opponent's turn, if Gengar would be Knocked Out by damage from an attack, flip a coin. If heads, the Attacking Pokemon is Knocked Out. (Poke-POWER)
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The single most important reason I've placed
Gengar over other swarmy Stage 2 decks like
Kingdra and
Beedrill is because of its ungodly Poke-Power, Fainting Spell. It's probably the only reason it still squeaks out wins - flipping for free prizes is flat-out overpowered.
Seasoned players tend to argue that all facets of
Gengar can be played around - and to an extent this is a very true statement. But depending on the caliber of players in one's area,
Gengar is still a force to be reckoned with. Some decks still do not have options to play around Fainting Spell; other players simply don't see ways around it.
Unown G will always be
Gengar's bane - it's most powerful attack, Shadow Room, is stopped by Guard, making the chore of cheap prizes rather difficult at times. However, those little Unowns can find their way into the prizes or the discard pile in extreme cases, meaning you've still got plenty of targets to take down.
Poltergeist's damage can also be manipulated by the crafty veteran - I recently heard a story of a friend's opponent announcing the attack on a thirteen card hand...for zero damage.
Claydol can make trainers disappear, and negate
Gengar's damage output entirely.
The fact still remains, however -
Gengar still has Fainting Spell! Free prizes! Some of the options that were used to solve it before are no longer effective - Rising
Rivals
Nidoqueen prevents the average
Uxie knockout;
Unown G prevents
Crobat G's Toxic Fang from taking effect. Add in the fact that this guy has resistance to the best deck in the format (Flygon) and you've still got potential to earn upset victories.
Relicanth also gives it a new damage spread option, and an OHKO answer to
Luxray GL Lv. X.
Look out for this ghost, he isn't busted yet.
There's still a couple weeks left of Autumn Battle Roads - be sure to take all of this into consideration before you fill out your deck lists. Good luck, trainers!
-Absolution
Card Info/Spoilers
