Farewell Friends — My Entire Collection

Big Stick Diplomacy
 

This here is an original Rogue deck of mine that's among my original collection of decks. The strategy here was to combine the immense disruptive power of Crushing Hammer and Virbank/Laser, alongside powerful Slugger Pokémon to bring the pain with the Big Stick Diplomacy between them. I complimented this with a heavy addition on Ghetsis, to up the irons on the disruption potential even more, and provide this deck the potential to strip the opponent of their own copies of Crushing Hammer, Hypnotoxic Laser, and other crucial Item cards (like Ultra Ball) to crush their overall setup potential.

 

The starting Pokémon for this deck was originally split between [Return] Tropius, [Double Draw] Virizon, and Virizon-EX. Each boasted their own unique advantages and startup potential. Tropius offers diversity against Fire-type Weakness, further boasting immense draw potential with [Return], which could quickly replenish depleted Crushing Hammers and Hypnotic Lasers at the start of the game.

 

Virizon was sorta just a backup to this. It's less liable as a single prize Pokémon, and offers solid draw potential at the start of the game like Tropius does. Virizon was also complimented by the disruption potential of Lysandre and Pokémon Center Lady, coupled with the offensive potential that [Leaf Wallop] boasted in this deck alongside the disruption assistance of Crushing Hammer and Hypnotoxic Laser which could also be used to stall for the turn needed to boost [Leaf Wallop] to its max damage. Virizion EX is the natural power setup. Not much needs to be explained here. It aces out other Virbank/Laser decks while quickly and heavily energizing this deck's powerful Slugger Pokémon.

 

[Double Draw] Virizon has since been replaced to split the starting Pokémon between just Tropius and Virizon-EX now, making room for a tech on Tauros-GX, as well as a tech on Eco Arm to help reinforce the new addition of the Bursting Ballon/Rock Guard suite I added in this final edit of the deck. I would normally prefer to run 2 Eco Arm, but honestly can't even begin to find the room for it—opting instead of a tech on Fighting Fury Belt—which hopes to compensate to some even greater potential.

 

The Bursting Balloon/Rock Guard suite is intended to best compliment the Slugger theme. It's really a power Slugger utility. So I figured it would naturally boost this deck's potential up a few leagues. Crushing Hammer and Hypnotoxic Laser can help to spare copies of Bursting Balloon when they're not going to be of any use yet, and I would further suggest (with the heavy addition of Lysandre) that a second copy of Eco Arm isn't even needed here.

 

The heavy presence of Lysandre and Pokémon Center Lady was another original strategic aspect implemented into this deck from the very start. Their purpose can basically be explained in the same way as the Bursting Balloon/Rock Guard suite—in the sense that I've legendarily found them to be power utilities for Slugger style decks. The Grass-type further enables the addition of Herb Energy here, which compliments Pokémon Center Lady very well, and creates a mini healing suite between them in the league of some super Gold Potion power.

 

One interesting quirk about this deck is the addition of just 2 Virbank City Gym, which back in the day was actually pretty intuitive, as it was a very popular card, and packing 4 of them could ultimately end up in them wasting 4 card in your deck if-and-when the opponent was able to play theirs first. Considering this, I figured 2 would be plenty, and strived to play off the opponent's Virbank City Gyms instead—using the space opened to squeeze in more copies of Lysandre and Pokémon Center Lady.

 

Another quirk could be the selection of Pokémon here, which are sentimental to me akin to the original theme of the deck, so they're not going anywhere despite how their arrangement offsets the balance against Type-disadvantage for this deck.

 

If there could be one adaptation I would suggest for this deck, it would be to dial back a copy of Ghetsis, Lysandre, Pokémon Center Lady, and/or Professor Juniper for three copies of Professor Kukui—which I strongly believe could boast some immense potential to the Slugger combat strategy—yet am not going to bother with it myself as this would be an experienced-based adaptation that I won't be able to evaluate.

 

Bird Flu

This is the original deck that Early Bird Gets the Worm spawned off of to become a pallet swap of. I came up with this deck at the release of the Dialga-EX card in Phantom Forces, intrigued by the art, and deciding to use it as centerpiece of flavor for a creative deck theme. The strategy for this deck revolved around preventive effects, pairing the immense power of Dialga's anti-EX attack back then, alongside the absolute preventive effect of Ferrow's [Fly] attack.

 

I believe Trick Coin was originally utilized to brace the success of [Fly] (with money being how they spread the Bird Flu), but was later replaced with {Victory Star} Victini to open up power potential in the Pokémon Tool card lot. This especially includes copies of Muscle Band, which is really crucial to up the power of [Fly] as much as possible. Although preventive effects can be amazing, one has to consider the liability of the time factor, which enables players to make powerplays on cards like Lysandre or Pokémon Center Lady, and potentially offset any advantage right away.

 

Considering this, despite the power of preventive effects, it's still in this deck's best intentions to Knock Out the opponent's Pokémon as quickly as possible to combat the time clench. Professor Kukui now backs this up immensely, I would consider to be a power addition to this deck for that reason.

 

This final edit of the deck also splits the heavy consistency of Dialga-EX between techs on Lugia-EX and Snorlax-GX, given how the anti-EX effect is likely to see increasingly less potential as the GX era carries on. Lugia and Snorlax help to diversify upon this deck's offensive potential some, coupled by a high consistency of Skarmory to provide a good alternative starter to the Fearow line.

 

[Call for Family] can be used when playing second to make a perfect setup for [Fly], with the potential to quickly switch up to [Blow Through] next turn and begin getting a jump on the damage stack for the follow-up with [Fly]. I wouldn't say that Skarmory is explicitly a better starter though, given one particular bad matchup with Jolteon-EX, where Spearow's [Whirlwind] can be an effective energy burn on the opponent, effectively biding the time needed to evolve into Fearow and begin the preventive effects of [Fly] to ultimately beat out Jolteon entirely.

 

On a final note, I polished this final edit of the deck off with a heavy addition on Delinquent. This should hold some immense potential to strip the opponent of game-changing cards. I was originally going to split this 2-2 between Ghetsis, given the potential powerplay there, but decided to just weigh heavy in favor of Delinquent, given its more universal potential to bring the sickness to the opponent.

Black Cloud

M Manectric deck apart of my first builds with the card—coupled with it's counterpart variant Thunder Climb. This deck sought to combine the power of [Turbo Volt] with the crushing power of [Black Ballista] Black Kyurem-EX. I thought to do something unique with this deck, so I implemented [Team Plasma] Rotom as a prime starting Pokémon for this deck, given its synergy with the [Turbo Volt] attack, and its ability to quickly enable a powerplay on Ace Trainer.

 

This final edit of the deck now replaces Ace Trainer for what I considered to be the more universal potential of Teammates, and prime synergy it holds with Mega Pokémon and Spirit Links. This final edit also includes a full playset of Judge, to enable more effective disruption potential at the start of the game without having to wait on a Knock Out to get it. [Electribonus] compliments this with a quick bounce back from a Turn 1 Judge—coupled with a heavy presence of Professor Juniper—Master Ball/Ultra Ball—and a tech on Shaymin-EX to back up the recovery potential further.

 

The heavy presence of Balls is mostly intended to enable the quickest powerplay with Hoopa-EX, for use of its {Scoundrel Ring} Ability to quickly resource Pokémon for the most effective setup on M Manectric (while also significantly thinning the deck for an even greater proficiency for a Turn 1 play on Judge).

 

The new Promo [Frosty Thunder] Black Kyurem now takes the place of the previous place holder here—[Outrage] Kyurem-EX. Black Kyurem is less liable as a single Prize Pokémon, and boasts a lot more natural potential with this deck's Electric/Water theme. A tech on [Outrage] Zekrom is further included to provide another good single Prize/non-EX Pokémon option behind Black Kyurem—while the tech on [Icecalibur] Kyurem-EX is intended to compliment the tech on Black Kyurem-EX in the same way.

 

One quirk about the addition of [Icecalibur] Kyurem that I would question here is the fact of just 5 lone Water energy here, which even despite the 3 Professor's Letter, could be a little difficult to resource for [Icecalibur]. I would suggest finding some way to bring the number up to 6 in the least, but strongly discourage from removing any Electric energy to do this. The reason being that 11 is a magic number to secure certain mathematical proportions needed for the best possible percentile clench from the opening of the game—proceeding through the first 5 turns of the game.

 

Another awkward quirk about this deck is that it originally included 3 copies of Manectric Spirit Link, which I dialed back one on with the addition of Teammates here, and would naturally question how significantly this will effect Manectric's potential as the starting Pokémon. However, I don't see any superior potential available dialing back on anything else here to bring the numbers back up to 3—so I guess it's just stuck like that.

Black Dog

"Hey, hey mama—said the way you move;
gon' make you sweat, gon' make you groove!"

 

This is a [Team Plasma] Umbreon deck pallet swap from the Dark Side of the Moon deck. This deck used to want to make explicit use of [Team Plasma] Absol to fit the theme, but Absol is a white dog? all things considered—and as Max Elixir and [Dark Pulse] Darkrai took precedence in this deck—the utility of Colress Machine and the potential that [Team Plasma] Absol boasts without it was too trivial in comparison to hang on to.

 

This updated version of the deck now includes a heavy lead from Tauros-GX, which hopes to boast immense potential mid-to-end game with the immense HP boost it can get from multiple {Dark Shade} Abilities. The new tech on Umbreon-GX is another card that hopes to see some elevated potential from the Plasma Badge/{Dark Shade} combo. Tauros-GX further makes a great Pokémon to [Strafe] behind at the start of the game after an {Energy Evolution} from Eevee to Umbreon-GX.

 

The Supporter array here does its best to support the quickest gathering of multiple [Team Plasma] Umbreon. 3 Bridgette help to see to this most of all, which I'd normally compliment with 3 or 4 Professor Juniper, but here have included 4 copies of Misty's Determination instead attempting to break new ground, and more tactically resource copies of [Team Plasma] Umbreon (or other important cards) after (rather than purging the hand in a number of desperate draws). Misty's Determination holds a lot of potential with Max Elixir as well—which is another notable point to add about this addition and why I sought to provide the utmost consistency of Misty's Determination for this deck.

 

Two Pokémon Center Lady offer a little cushion for the pushing—great at any time of the game. I'd normally like to include 3 copies of this card for best results, but here have dialed in down in suite of more technical support. 2 Fighting Fury Belt boast some stand-alone potential to this deck at the start of the game, it's a great compliment to Tauros-GX or [Dark Pulse] Darkrai starting out, and I was going to split the Pokémon Tool cards 3 to 1 here, but decided to cut loose the desperation for the additional 10 damage, to assert some decent consistency of Plasma Badge for Umbreon-GX.

 

Brain Freeze

Here's a deck about the cold burning pain of the legendary brain freeze. You know that sudden moment after you just guzzled down half your whole slushy, and suddenly the colors ring over you in a cascade as the ringing pain begins to tightly wrap around your burning head. This is a M Glalie/Spirit Link/Max Elixir deck that combines a number of Ice-type Pokémon to provide offensive diversity and add perfectly top off the flame.

 

This deck incorporates a Slugger strategy, through the crushing damage of this deck's heavy hitting Pokémon, with a tech on Manaphy to enable free retreat between them, Frozen City to amplify the damage factor abroad, and Pokémon Center Lady to help take the burn off this deck's Pokémon while they slug it out with the opponent.

 

This deck would have had an immense weakness to Metal-type, so I decided to include 3 [Outrage] Reshiram for the Type diversity it adds to the deck, coupled alongside the potential to gain a strong Type advantage against Metal decks instead. This was topped off last minute with a tech on Tauros-GX, which could easily be split between Reshiram, or replace another tech in this deck to some great success.

 

The Supporter array doesn't have any particular tricks to it. Slugger strategies generally have simple needs, where a bulk draw generally makes up for the majority of them, and creative additions from there can be implemented to help diversify the flow of the cards overall. That's basically what we have here, with N to make up the majority of the bulk drawn, then Misty's Determination to top it off, adding that crucial extended draw after a play on N that works so amazingly well to grab additional copies of Max Elixir while leaving the deck's energy consistency untouched. 

 

Two copies of Professor Juniper provide some fair draw potential for a power draw or two when it's needed. This is included with a split on Judge, which can compliment a Slugger deck very well, cutting off the opponent's card advantage in the face of crushing damage. Would consider a tech on Ninja Boy here with the potential it boast with various Pokémon (such as Kyurem and Tauros-GX), but just going to leave that as a suggestion, since it would be an experienced-based addition that makes my brain numb thinking where to include it as-is with how tight-knit the deck structure is here.

Bubble Bath
 

This is a parody deck I made with a theme about the Fat Hawaiians throwing Amy into the volcano. The strategy that the deck was built on is a M Groudon one that sought to setup with [Rip Claw] Groudon and {Victory Star} Victini for the energy disruption power play. Traditionally, Team Flare Grunt is a staple to this strategy, but I decided to take the high road and utilize a Crushing Hammer/Enhanced Hammer suite instead to supplement the energy disruption of [Rip Claw].

 

Another crafty addition to this deck comes in the form of [Stun Poison] Gligar and [Submission Hold] Gliscor. This pair of cards compliments the starting potential of Groudon, and enables Groudon to setup up from the bench with Float Stone instead of Groudon Spirit Link. I tech'd a single Groudon Spirit Link here just in-case it might come in handy, supplemented by the fact that Korrina can pair the two up (M Groudon and Groudon Spirit Link) in a single play.

 

Even though a split between the two version might boast more adaptable potential, the Theta Max Groudon is the solo M Groudon for this deck to help consistently provide the dire healing factor if-and-when Groudon starts the game. Energy Disruption is nice, but it's not entirely reliable, and a split between the two would significantly detract from the ability to make the full heal when it's needed.

 

Shrine of Memories takes a nice spot here to support M Groudon's offensive potential in place of [Gaia Volcano]. This is especially important to enable Groudon-EX to M Evolve right away, and offset the damage stack entirely to suddenly set the opponent at an immense disadvantage, and get a jump on the Prize exchange. Shrine of Memories works wonders with Gliscor as well, enabling the use of Gligar's more definite [Stun Poison] attack if-and-when [Submission Hold] won't suffice.

 

A tech on Ancient Trait Regirock is a staple to [Gaia Volcano] as Float Stoning between them can return valuable Stadium card from the discard pile and effectively produce infinite full power attacks with [Gaia Volcano]. Reshiram is a heavy tech to this deck to support a little type diversity.

 

For best results, it would probably want to be 3 copies, but I figure the disruption of [Stun Poison] could hold down the fort in most cases. I had contemplated replacing a copy of Gligar for a tech on {Set Up} Shaymin-EX—or possible another [Outrage] Reshiram, but ultimately decided to leave it as it is, since the utility of this would need to be weighed out from experience.

 
Buck Hunter

 

Here's a deck from an original creation of mine that sought to combine the Xerneas and Klefki with Toxicroak-EX and the Virbank City Gym/Hypnotoxic Laser suite. The idea was to quickly energize off Xerneas, or [Triple Poison] with Toxicroak, then lock the opponent up with [Fairy Lock]. This deck now concentrates the Fairy-type theme and includes [Heavy Perfume] Aromatisse for some quicker and more advanced lockdown potential with the Virbank/Laser suite. Xerneas BREAK is a new addition for the power and diversity it provides, but could also be replaced with Tauros-GX for some Type diversity.

As the needs for this deck are so simple, the Supporter array just strives for some general potential. Getting its bulk draw from N, then leaning towards Professor Kukui for the nice power bonus, and lastly backed up by Professor Sycamore and Skyla for some more advanced resourcing potential. Two Lysandre provide the general hunt power that Lysandre has become so legendarily renowned for. Makes a neat powerplay with Aromatisse's [Hug] against Float Stone, and of course can be used with Virank/Laser + [X Blast] or [Life Stream] for the big game hunter's trophy bag.

Two VS Seeker provides a diverse extension wherever it might be needed. A great example here how less can be more, where actual copies of Supporters make up the reliable bulk, while an intuitive addition of 2 VS Seeker can provide an extension on Professor Kukui for some additional firepower; Lysandre for some advanced hunting techniques; or Skyla for an additional quick retrieval for a crucial resource such as Hypnotoxic Laser, Virbank City Gym, Fairy Garden, or a Pokémon Tool card.

To address the elephant in the room, there wasn't much room for those here, and in the end I decided to go with 2 Giant Cape and a tech on Fighting Fury Belt (for Xerneas-EX). The Giant Cape have universal potential that I believe would be more beneficial to this deck overall—especially in regard to Xerneas BREAK—and the boost its gets from Giant Cape up to 170HP. It can double to take Aromatisse up to 110HP, helping to stretch it farther. The 200HP boost for Xerneas-EX isn't exactly shabby either, as this boost can push Xerneas-EX's HP beyond the traditional conventions of the damage stack, effectively buying an additional turn to get an additional Knock Out before the opponent.

 

 

 

Buffalo Wild Wings

 

This is a deck about a job I once had as a kitchen boy at the legendary sports bar Buffalo Wild Wings. This is a [Hopeless Scream]/Mew-EX deck, coupled with an energy disruption suite to support the setup of [Hopeless Scream], and a diverse array of other Pokémon provide this deck with a powerful alternative strategy on-demand whenever needed. [Hopeless Scream] is a really powerful attack, but it could be very liable as well. Shedinja can only deal 100 damage on average with the attack—falling short of significant One-Hit KO damage. Mew can be stopped cold by preventive effects, so the offensive diversity provided by the other Pokémon I believe to be crucial to this deck.

 

Carnivine and Virbank City Gym allows some shenanigans at the start of the game. The Lysandre-like disruption can help to stall for time, while the Poison damage helps to wear down the opponent's Pokémon and bring them closer to Knock Out range. The energy disruption suite pairs well with Frozen City—which itself is a helpful enabler for the crushing power of [Hopeless Scream]. Professor Kukui makes a great addition to this deck while one of the powerful Swarmers lead. Their offensive advance is its own strategy, enabling this deck to gather cards little by little behind their powerful lead to resource cards for the Mew and Shedinja follow up.

 

The tech on Lysandre helps to create an extension on the potential of Carnivine in this scenario as well. Pokémon Center Lady is present in high volume as it's a powerhouse in this deck. Pokémon Center Lady is first a crucial guard against Special Conditions while heavy Swarmer's lead. It's secondly a powerful healer to support the frailty of Mew—and also provides powerplay like potential with Lugia, Tauros, and Yveltal by considerably offsetting the damage stack at a pivotal moment facing the crushing damage of [Aero Ball], [Horn Attack], and [X Ball].

 

Fighting Fury Belt is an obvious alpha Pokémon Tool card here given the disruption support that surrounds it. Life Dew provides a unique extension on this potential for 2 Prize Pokémon—and is also helpful with Shedinja alongside a tech on Giant Cape—included especially for Shedinja to increase the damage range of its [Hopeless Scream] attack.

 

  

Butterfly Garden

 

Here's a variant deck from a long stretching Sceptile-EX/Forest of Giant Plants/Stage 2 Grass-type deck series I came up with. This deck originally featured {Miraculous Scales} Beautifly as the centerpiece Stage 2, but was replaced last minute with [Dizzying Poison] Vivillon as the EX prevention is sure to increasing see less potential into the GX era.

 

[Dizzying Poison] Vivillon boasts a lot of natural potential with the theme here. The combination of Special Conditions it invokes are pretty useful disruption to stall for a turn and enable Vivillon to retreat for Sceptile's [Unseen Claw] to move in. Float Stone is a common staple in most Sceptile-EX decks of mine. It's included here once again to suite mobility for Vivillon and Sceptile mostly. Olympia provides an extension on this, coupled with Pokémon Center Lady and Herb Energy to create a powerful healing suite between them.

 

Cheren takes its place here for the bulk draw it provides, which is especially important for Stage 2 resourcing. The additional card Cheren draws does significantly put it over Professor Kukui in terms of raw potential. Great Ball and Trainers' Mail see a little additional potential from this as well, as their effects are particularly synergistic to the dynamics of straight draw—providing an additional reach so many cards ahead to further increase the full range of the draw and cards that can be resourced from it.

 

Steven then provides both an extension on this potential—as well as an axis between technical Supporters. Steven's ability to retrieve an additional energy card helps to thin the deck, for a more effective draw with Cheren next turn. It's also significant support to the low volume of energy in this deck. A tech on Professor Juniper is included as a must with Steven—given the powerplay draw option it provides if it's needed or available.  

 

 

Caltrops

 

Here's a neat deck I came up with wanting to centerpiece the elusive [Reflective Shield] Sigilyph. This deck originally began as a considerably budget deck, containing the same array below, with the adaptation of 2 Croagunk, 4 Sigilyph, 4 Toxicroak, 4 Wobbuffet, and 2 Wobbuffet BREAK, 4 Virbank City Gym, 1 Cassius, and 3 Ninja Boy.

 

This version of the deck diversifies upon that array a bit to give it a greater edge against Type-disadvantage. It also replaces Fighting Fury Belt with a Bursting Balloon/Rock Guard/Eco Arm suite to some greater or lesser potential. This suite could be replaced with 4 Fighting Fury Belt and 1 Life Dew as an optional variant.

 

Although Fighting Fury Belt does offer some advanced potential to this deck, one interesting factor to note is that if a Pokémon gets Knocked Out during the opponent's turn, it can actually win you the match. This can happen due to the effect of Bursting Balloon, but not from Poison damage between turns. So it's important to note that Bursting Balloon does boast some advanced potential in draw decisions.

 

The strategy here aims to bridge off the diverse sources of damage between this deck's Pokémon and the synergy between their effects with the Virbank/Laser—Bursting Balloon/Rock Guard combo.

 

The Supporter array here aims to provide bulk draw and bonus disruption to resource important cards, while putting an additional edge on the opponent facing heavy obstacles of this deck. The split between Cassius and Ninja Boy provides some adaptable maneuvers between this deck's Pokémon. Cassius can be used to rip the opponent off on a Knock Out, while providing extensions on crucial copies of this deck's Pokémon. Ninja Boy boast some advanced potential with Tauros-GX, can be used to resource copies of Wobbuffet for a BREAK evolution, and can also be used in a powerplay with Toxicroak-EX, Virbank City Gym, and [Triple Poison]—to move in a [Poison Up] Croagunk—and increase the Poison damage from 50 to 80 damage a turn.

 

The theme from this deck draws inspiration from a vintage Magic the Gathering design—promptly titled—Caltrops.