Rate my Deck

[WhoKnows_WhoCares]

I'm probably asking for a lot of negative comments here by doing this, but still - it would be nice to get someone else's opinion on this.

So recently I've started to try and play the card game instead of just collecting (some of) it. Since theme decks arent great, I decided to buid my own deck based on all the cards I have. Thankfully I have a fair amount to pick from, which gives me a lot of choice. Unfortunatly, a lot of choice means sometimes its difficult to chose. If you've read my other topic, I was drawn to the dark types (as a fan of them anyway), so that's what I've decided to build a deck on.

I've yet to play with this deck yet (although hoping that will change in a couple of weeks), So i dont know just how well it plays. I'm guessing its not as good as the best players decks, but I am just starting out and I'm not starting out in a POP event, so not completly worried about that. I also think I know a couple of points that might be raised about this deck, but I wont mention them yet, see if anybody else sees or brings them up.

So here is the list of cards in my first completly built from scratch deck:
4x Larvitar [50/95] (HS-Unleased)
2x Pupitar [38/95] (HS-Unleased)
2x Pupitar [47/100] (Stormfront)
1x Tyranitar [30/100] (Stormfront)
1x Tyranitar [26/95] (HS-Unleashed)
2x Tyranitar prime [88/95] (HS-Unleashed)
1x Darkrai [4/106] (Great Encounters)
1x Darkrai [52] (DP Promo)
2x Darkrai LvX [19] (DP Promo) {NB: Same as Great Encounters version - but for some reason i just own 2 of these and none of them)
2x Sneasel [100/130] (Diamond & Pearl)
2x Weavile [40/130] (Diamond & Pearl)
1x Arceus dark [AR1] (Arceus)
2x Sableye [48/100] (Stormfront)

2x Energy Returner
2x Bebe's Search
3x Potion
2x Moonlight Stadium
2x Leftovers
4x Energy Search
2x Roseanne's Research

20x Basic Dark Energy

So there it is, what do you think? I know it's leagal for the current modified format and that come September i'll loose about half of this deck, but I'm looking for on comments as it is now.

[Raikou Trainer]

Looks like your strategy is to get a Tyranitar or two out to beat down the opponent, while using Darkrai lv. X to increase damage. I'll go over each section of Pokemon, Trainers, and Energy and offer my suggestions. Afterwards, I'll post a revised decklist. If you don't have any of the cards I suggested, just let me know and I can try to work around that, okay?

4x Larvitar [50/95] (HS-Unleased)
2x Pupitar [38/95] (HS-Unleased)
2x Pupitar [47/100] (Stormfront)
1x Tyranitar [30/100] (Stormfront)
1x Tyranitar [26/95] (HS-Unleashed)
2x Tyranitar prime [88/95] (HS-Unleashed)
1x Darkrai [4/106] (Great Encounters)
1x Darkrai [52] (DP Promo)
2x Darkrai LvX [19] (DP Promo) {NB: Same as Great Encounters version - but for some reason i just own 2 of these and none of them)
2x Sneasel [100/130] (Diamond & Pearl)
2x Weavile [40/130] (Diamond & Pearl)
1x Arceus dark [AR1] (Arceus)
2x Sableye [48/100] (Stormfront)

I'm willing to bet that you don't have Claydols, so you didn't put any in this list, right? With the way I plan on fixing this deck, you probably won't need them.

Just wondering, do you have any Rare Candy? If you do, drop a Pupitar or two and add three Rare Candy. Regardless, try adding some Spiritomb from Arceus, since it can evolve your Pokemon for no energy, as well as stopping Trainers from being played. Also, I would drop the Arceus and maybe a Darkrai lv. X for two more Sableye, since it's a great starter Pokemon, and I added more Supporters to take advantage of that. If you have them, drop the DP Weavile and add the SW Weavile instead, since it can attach two Darkness Energies from your deck for no Energy. Also, swap the UL Tyranitar (non-Prime) for its Stormfront cousin and the promo Darkrai for the GE version you're using.

2x Energy Returner
2x Bebe's Search
3x Potion
2x Moonlight Stadium
2x Leftovers
4x Energy Search
2x Roseanne's Research

Add two Bebe's Search and another Roseanne. If you add the SW Weavile, you can drop the Energy Search and add more useful Trainers like Pokemon Communication and Luxury Ball. I would also swap the Energy Returner for Night Maintenance, since it also recycles Pokemon. As I mentioned earlier, you might want to consider adding Rare Candy for your Tyranitar. Lastly, I would remove the healing cards and maybe add Felicity's Drawing or Engineer's Adjustments, so you can discard Energy and get them back (maybe) with the Stormfront Tyranitar's Poke-Body. Felicity has the edge in the fact that you can throw out extra Sableye/Spiritomb if you don't need them anymore, but again, that decision is up to you. I'm also adding in 2 Judge, so that way you can send extra cards you don't need back to your deck, as well as mess up the opponent's hand.

20x Basic Dark Energy

Swap 4 of the basic Dark with their Special versions, just in case you don't get Darkrai lv. X out and need extra damage.

Here's the revised list based on my suggestions:

Pokemon (23)
4x Larvitar UL
2x Pupitar SF
2x Tyranitar SF
2x Tyranitar Prime
2x Darkrai GE
1x Darkrai Lv. X
2x Sneasel DP
2x Weavile SW
4x Sableye SF
2x Spritomb AR

Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums (22)
2x Night Maintenance
4x Bebe's Search
2x Moonlight Stadium
3x Roseanne's Research
3x Rare Candy
3x Felicity's Drawing or Engineer's Adjustments (your pick)
2x Judge
1x Luxury Ball
2x Pokemon Communication

Energy (15)
11x Basic Dark Energy
4x Special Dark Energy

Total- 60

Hope this helps!

[WhoKnows_WhoCares]

it helps, but not by much... your right in the plan on tyranitar, although the secondary plan was using DP weavile's Dark Pulse attack to do major damage. This really only works when the bench is full and there's a lot of energy out in play... still, 10x all dark energy on my pokemon, plus the bonus damage from Darkrai LvX's ability (which is at least 30 if Weavile has only the energy attacthed that it needs for the attack), it could be doing some insane damage... then again, it was just in theory.

I knew the Arceus may be a bit redundent, i just figured it might be a good back up for if i was losing. The 2 Darkrai LvX was so that there was less chance of one ending up in the prize cards, so i'd have a better chance of getting it. No idea why i didnt put night maintenance in, that's now changed.

Now for the bigger problems. I DONT have a second GE Darkrai, Spiritomb, any more Sableye or the SW Weavile - OH how i wish i had that Weavile, if for nothing more than the energy thing and the Poke-power, letting me use none dark types in the deck but still taking advantage of Darkrai LvX's power... that would have given me a few more options to chose from. No claydols either, just for reference. I only have the 1 Stormfront Tyranitar, which is why there is a UL none prime - i have however just come across a 3rd prime - that may be added in UL's place, it seems more useful

The lack of suporter cards was something i expected to be mentioned, but when i built it, i used added the trainers first - i actually had more, but removed a few to squeze those supporters in. I'll throw out the potions and leftovers to add 2 more bebe's, 1 more rosanne's and 2 felicity's. Wouldnt you know it, when i built this deck i had 1 rare candy, and thought it was pointless on its own - recent boster packs have now increased it to 3, so those are in now

Slightly new deck looks like this:
Pokemon (20)
4x Larvitar UL
2x Pupitar SF
1x Tyranitar SF
3x Tyranitar Prime
1x Darkrai GE
1x Darkrai Promo (52)
2x Darkrai Lv. X
2x Sneasel DP
2x Weavile DP
2x Sableye SF

Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums (23)
2x Night Maintenance
4x Bebe's Search
2x Moonlight Stadium
4x Roseanne's Research
2x Felicity's Drawing
3x Rare Candy
1x Judge
1x Luxury Ball
2x Pokemon Communication
2x Intervewer's Questions

Energy (17)
13x Basic Dark Energy
4x Special Dark Energy

Total- 60

Any better (considering the lack of the decent cards) or am i still on the wrong track?

[Raikou Trainer]

Slightly new deck looks like this:
Pokemon (20)
4x Larvitar UL
2x Pupitar SF
1x Tyranitar SF
3x Tyranitar Prime
1x Darkrai GE
1x Darkrai Promo (52)
2x Darkrai Lv. X
2x Sneasel DP
2x Weavile DP
2x Sableye SF

Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums (23)
2x Night Maintenance
4x Bebe's Search
2x Moonlight Stadium
4x Roseanne's Research
2x Felicity's Drawing
3x Rare Candy
1x Judge
1x Luxury Ball
2x Pokemon Communication
2x Intervewer's Questions

Energy (17)
13x Basic Dark Energy
4x Special Dark Energy

Total- 60

Any better (considering the lack of the decent cards) or am i still on the wrong track?

It's definitely better than your original list. If you're able to find two more Sableye, definitely throw them in the deck, since you'd have a better chance of starting with it.

Also, I figured you didn't have Claydols, which is why I didn't suggest them.

[WhoKnows_WhoCares]

ok, new rules coming into force soon, so this deck needs to change (a shame, it was powerful and almost undefeated in all the time i played it (only lost one in a best of three match, and the only reason i lost that was due to nothing on my bench from the start... even darkrai lvX can only last so long)

ok, so here's what's staying in the deck:
Pokemon (12)
4x Larvitar UL
2x Pupitar SF
1x Tyranitar SF
3x Tyranitar Prime
2x Sableye SF

Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums (13)
4x Bebe's Search
3x Rare Candy
1x Judge
1x Luxury Ball
2x Pokemon Communication
2x Intervewer's Questions

Energy (17)
13x Basic Dark Energy
4x Special Dark Energy

total [so far] 42

so, i need 18 more cards to replace my awesome stratagy. i'm very disapointed that rosane's research has now gone - that was an awesome card. the absance of moonlight stadium is also slightly annoying as the no retreat cost was helpful as well.

so at the moment i'm thinking on these cards from undaunted set.

Flower Shop Lady - gonna put 2 of these in as a replacement for night Maintance. does basically the same job, but its a supporter, so sableye can play it, and it cranks it up from a 3 in any combo of pokemon and energy cards to 3 of each.

Houndour/Houndoom - with 2 of each, i'm not sure which to use. the Jump on Hounodur(54) is cheep at only one energy, and will do either 10 or 20 damage depending on coin flips. 53 is more expensive in energy cost but does 30 damage. i'm thinking on the 54 version since this would be setting up more for tyranitar prime than needing to be hard attacking. The houndoom normal is nice as it can do 80 damage for one energy if there are any fighting types on the opponents bench (or active) - and since fighting is always a big problem for me anyway, any advantage is good - then again, houdoom prime is very nice on its own... so no idea which i'll use

Mukrow/Honchkrow - again, 2 choices on each of these. I think i'll use 59 Murkrow as it has 10 more health, and the glide attack is only 1 energy. Honchkrow on the other hand is a trickier choice. the Idea with 15 Honchkrow is obviously to hit it for 20 with whirlwind and send whatever it is back to the bench, then use blindside to hit it for 50. 16 Honchkrow cand do more damage the more your losing, adding 10 for each (dark) pokemon in the discard pile - doesnt even have to be KO'd either, if i've discarded it for whatever reason will add another 10 damage. i'm leaning towards the 15 one though, simply because it can do more damage, asuming its been hit already.

the new sableye is interesting, getting any card out of the discard pile and putting it on top of the deck to draw for the next turn. still might just stick with my SF saybleye though, but still considering this as an option.

Eevee/Umbreon - as an umbreon fan, being able to have an umbreon in my deck would be a dream for me. the Eevee is an obvious choice - call for family lets me fill up my bench quickly like Rosanes research does at the moment. the normal umbreon is nice in that for 1 energy i can avoid damage from any pokemon with a poke-power or body, while the Prime version is nice in that if you time it right, you have a chance to deny the opponent a KO, return all the cards back to your hand and move in the main attacker i (should have been) setting up on the bench. down side is it need 3 energy before being able to attack itself, and its better offwith more Eeveelutions in the deck.


that's what i'm thinking on at the moment - any comments, helpful pointers or other suggestions greatly apreciated - especially a replacement for Rosane's Research would definatly be helpful.

[Raikou Trainer]

Flower Shop Lady - gonna put 2 of these in as a replacement for night Maintance. does basically the same job, but its a supporter, so sableye can play it, and it cranks it up from a 3 in any combo of pokemon and energy cards to 3 of each.

Personally, I prefer Palmer's Contribution from Supreme Victors, as it returns up to 5 Pokemon or basic Energy in any combination between the two to the deck. Flower Shop Lady is a bit too restrictive in my opinion. Not to mention that if you plan on using the Vengeance Honchkrow, you wouldn't want to return Pokemon to the deck to reduce the damage, would you?

Mukrow/Honchkrow - again, 2 choices on each of these. I think i'll use 59 Murkrow as it has 10 more health, and the glide attack is only 1 energy. Honchkrow on the other hand is a trickier choice. the Idea with 15 Honchkrow is obviously to hit it for 20 with whirlwind and send whatever it is back to the bench, then use blindside to hit it for 50. 16 Honchkrow cand do more damage the more your losing, adding 10 for each (dark) pokemon in the discard pile - doesnt even have to be KO'd either, if i've discarded it for whatever reason will add another 10 damage. i'm leaning towards the 15 one though, simply because it can do more damage, asuming its been hit already.

Eevee/Umbreon - as an umbreon fan, being able to have an umbreon in my deck would be a dream for me. the Eevee is an obvious choice - call for family lets me fill up my bench quickly like Rosanes research does at the moment. the normal umbreon is nice in that for 1 energy i can avoid damage from any pokemon with a poke-power or body, while the Prime version is nice in that if you time it right, you have a chance to deny the opponent a KO, return all the cards back to your hand and move in the main attacker i (should have been) setting up on the bench. down side is it need 3 energy before being able to attack itself, and its better offwith more Eeveelutions in the deck.

Of the choices you mentioned, Honchkrow and Umbreon are probably the best options. I'm personally leaning towards Honchkrow, as it can work with Tyranitar Prime (as mentioned below) and has a Resistance to Fighting as opposed to a Weakness. Use whichever of these two you think would be more useful.

Either a 3-3 or a 4-4 Honchkrow line will work (4-4 works best in my opinion, with two of each Honchkrow). You can use Blindside Honchkrow for early to mid game damage and Vengeance Honckrow for the late game when you have several Dark types in your discard pile. Ironically, both Honchkrow work well with Tyranitar Prime. Tyranitar's Darkness Howl sets up Blindside, while Megaton Tail could set up Vengeance! Nifty, eh?

You can also use a 3-3 line on Umbreon, two regular and one Prime. You can even tech in an Espeon Prime, which can use attacks from any Eeveelution in play, as long as you have the correct Energy attached to Espeon, and gives you another type to work with (and can hit many Fighting types for Weakness). If you can get an Umbreon from Majestic Dawn, put that in, as it gives all Eeveelutions no Weakness and no retreat!

Regardless of which you choose, I'd replace a few of your Basic Dark energy for Double Colorless Energies, as they can allow Tyranitar Prime, both Honckrow, and Umbreon Prime to attack a turn sooner. Now that Darkrai lv. X is rotated out, I think focusing on getting your main attackers out faster would be a priority.

that's what i'm thinking on at the moment - any comments, helpful pointers or other suggestions greatly apreciated - especially a replacement for Rosane's Research would definatly be helpful.

The only Supporter that can search for Basic Energy is Cyrus's Conspiracy from Platinum, while Pokemon Collector from HG/SS can grab up to three Basic Pokemon. Interviewer's Questions might still be worth keeping (even try adding another), since it's the only other Supporter besides Cyrus that gets Energy, even though it may be unreliable at times.

[WhoKnows_WhoCares]

Right, finally decided on what my new deck will look like for the forseable future, and I'm going with the Umbreon choice (what can i say, favouratism sometimes outwieghts common sense). The new deck looks like this, with the new cards in Italics

Pokemon (21)
4x Larvitar UL
2x Pupitar SF
1x Tyranitar SF
3x Tyranitar Prime
2x Sableye SF
4x Eevee UD 48
1x Umbreon MD
2x Umbreon UD
1x Umbreon Prime
1x Espeon Prime

Trainers, Supporters, Stadiums (22)
4x Bebe's Search
3x Rare Candy
1x Judge
1x Luxury Ball
2x Pokemon Communication
4x Intervewer's Questions
2x Pokemon Collector
2x Palmer's Contributions
3x Professor Elm's Trainning Method

Energy (17)
11x Basic Dark Energy
4x Special Dark Energy
2x Double Colourless Energy


Unfortunatly i only have 2 Double Colourless energys and 2 Pokemon Collectors - and the only place i know where to buy single cards from doesnt stock these two cards... they're also not stocking singles for undaunted yet - meaning i cant get Umbreon Prime or Espeon Prime yet - so i'm going to need to find them in boosters soon... next tournament where i want to try this deck is the 19th, and i'm only in the shop i buy boosters from on a friday.

before you ask, i only have the one type of Murkrow at the moment - so i cant even play that in the interim while i wait for the 2 Primes.

EDIT: Found Espeon Prime this week in booster packs (actually found 2 of them, but i'll only play one) - also found Umbreon Prime cheep on Ebay (cheeper than my online supplier sells Prime cards anyway) - still wish i could change one of those Interviewers Questions for a Pokemon collector... and maybe one or two Double Colourless as well... I'll have to ask around at the next tournament, see if anyone can help me out there.

Suggestions or comments are always welcome - but i'm thinking this is a deck i'm going to try out...

[teamgalactic2]

****and 3 quarters
It's ok
(P.S. I ment 4 stars not a bad word)