Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Sablock theory

Porii Sames

Porii Sames

Active Member
Here is something I cannot comprehend.

Lostgar has just gotten 2nd at Europe cup, so its popularity went up even more than before.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Luxchomp has half the top cut and won the tourney.

Vilegar is huge down here in TX, dunno about anywhere else, but Vilegar is still a beast of a deck.

With all these decks, I can only assume the popularity of Dialgachomp, Gyarados, and Machamp are going down.

So...why not Sablock? It beats Lostgar OK if you disrupt them early and they use a lot of stupid techs, it can normally get the first Drush in the LC matchup (huge) and can stop Vilegar OK, better if you run Blaziken.

Am I missing something?
 
Yes you are. That deck is... ugg. Both times I've used it, it's taken a poop on me, and I would rather not have that same experience ever again. blehh

Inconsistent deck is... inconsistent.
 
Dude, except for Initiative, that deck is mad consistent.

I think it's the most underrated deck in the format, except for maybe the donk trio (Uxie, Shuppet, Beedrill) as it has good matchups with most of the format.
 
Say what you want. I've used it twice and had HORRIBLE runs with it both times. I know others who have had a similar experience with it. It's either great, or it's horrible. I would rather go into an event with something a little less risky.
 
Not even worth testing a game without blaziken imo. Chenlock locks even better with luring flame and more ways to take prizes. No reason not to run it. But I've been crushing chenlock with vilegar. The Luxchomp matchup is meh. Nothing extremely special this format.
 
I personally like the LuxLock variant of sablelock but yeah IDK why but the deck does just tend to poop on me, i'd rather play D-chomp again(which i went all of 4-3 w/)
 
I run classic Sablock to fit in more consistency and tech cards, as 2-1 Blaze + 2 fire=5 spaces. My list is a bit different however, runs 3 Judge, 2 Aaron's, etc.

Luxchomp for me was good because my Sablock was teched to beat Luxchomp, and did amazingly against Luxchomp
 
Sablelock is harder to use than people are willing to admit.

The problem is when you get the Sableye start but not much else in hand. Do you Impersonate for Collector or Initiative? The deck uses too many conditional disruption cards to be that effective. Certain more aggressive variants work, but the traditional Sablelock isn't great in the current format. Too slow and too flippy.
 
^Really? The deck is easy enough in my opinion. If there's anything my meta knows. It's chenlock. We've been testing it since battle roads.
 
Sablock is by far the hardest deck I have ever played...

I think it's better than people give it credit for.
 
its hard to play.
if youre worried about Gengar Prime, I'd rather just add a 1-1 Absol G X with a darkness energy to my luxchomp.
but that could be bulky.

idk. my encounters with Sablelock are that its good but it's not consistant enough for me to ever be comfortable with it.
 
I guess Sablock is just good for certain people, like Jwittz and me, and bad for others.

I think its good since it has a favorable LC matchup (if you run a build similar to mine) and it doesn't lose to the rest of the format coughdonphan.
 
Sablelock requires effort, time and experience to run, even against idiots playing overglorified theme decks.

Frankly, most players don't have at those traits, so they don't bother.
 
Guys, this deck is NOT easy to use. It's also not anywhere near as consistent as half of you seem to think. I wouldn't say it has better than a 50/50 against anything out there really. It's very fragile, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone break the lock, and then pound the sablelock into the dust. It's just too luck dependent to really work, as it only takes 1 good card for your opponent to turn your world upside down if you're trying to lock their hand. I've used many forms of SP, some that were far harder than this, and I dislike this one the most. It worked a few times because of the surprise factor, but I really don't think it can go much beyond that.

Oh, BTW. If you want a deck that gets REALLY messed up by random stuff (which tends to come out at states), this is it. I got the life beat out of me by a butterfree deck, a Plox (yes, it still was around last year), almost lost to a tangrowth, and got creamed to heck and back by a weird Donphan deck that got set up first. Sableye is good, but there's only so much it can do.

Edit: And for any of you who say I must have been playing it wrong, or I'm just not very good:

I'm not a bad player. I'm not the best, but I know how to play this game, and do not make mistakes when using decks often. I have been very successful with SP in the past, so I definitely know how to use decks of this nature. I don't want to turn this into an argument about player skill, so please don't question that I knew how to use the deck. I'm not the kind of guy who picks up a deck once and then says how good/bad it is off of one game.
 
Most people don't play Sablock because a. It has ONE flippy card, and is a bit luck dependent, b. because they tried it and didn't like it, or c. because it takes so much skill and devotion to make a good list.

My list is consistent, and can lock up decks pretty easily, and I think it beats SP as you normally get the first Drush.

~imo~
 
The reason i would imagine people dont try it is because luxchomp sets up if you dont hit stuff out of their hand turn 1, and vilegar has spiritomb. Initiative is not the reason people wouldnt use it, in that case no one would use SSU. Or gengar fainting spell. Though you have to be prepared for the instance where a double tails comes.
 
Porii Sames said:
Most people don't play Sablock because a. It has ONE flippy card, and is a bit luck dependent, b. because they tried it and didn't like it, or c. because it takes so much skill and devotion to make a good list.

My list is consistent, and can lock up decks pretty easily, and I think it beats SP as you normally get the first Drush.

~imo~
Click to expand...

Don't be silly. People don't play it, because it's not very good. I was using a good list, I was actually hitting heads on most of the Cyrus, and I was STILL losing games. Don't be foolish and think you're going to be faster than SP. They out speed you, especially if you open sableye.

Also, for your lock, it takes 1 card to ruin it. Then you're now in a very serious hole, and will be fighting for your life. Sablelock just isn't that consistent. Luxchomp is far superior. Heck, I lost to a gengar due to not starting sableye, and him opening spiritomb. Pray tell, how do you plan to deal with that? I had the Plox in a lock, and was doing quite well... until he broke out and obliterated me. Think what you want, but all the evidence I've seen points to the deck not being very consistent, and prone to disruption. Seriously, for a disruption deck, it really gets screwed up very easily if your opponent messes with it a bit. Even with Luxray going around, I think Palkia is probably the better option if you want disruption.
 
I don't buy Sablelock as a deck that is only for the dedicated and skilful. Is it really harder to play than Gigas or Dialgachomp? I don't think so.

The only reason it seems that way is because 1) you have to choose what to discard with Initiative and 2) you have to cope with a lack of attacking power if the disruption fails. 1) is usually obvious and 2) is a weakness of the deck which people try and fix with Blaziken and/or Krow.

It's a competitive deck, but it can have issues performing consistently for a lot of rounds.

Porii Sames said:
My list is consistent, and can lock up decks pretty easily, and I think it beats SP as you normally get the first Drush.
Click to expand...

How are you able to 'normally' get a Drush before a consistent Luxchomp? Both decks have a similar trainer engine and Chomp line. I see no reason why that should be.
 
^^ maybe because the sabelock player is always going first. Playing a 3-1 Garhomp gives you good odds to bench one on the first turn, thus getting the first chance to Level Up and D-Rush the Chomp your opponent has sittin on their bench.
 
^ Usually, going first = giving the Luxchomp player supporters T1, which makes it VERY hard to get a Drush before they do. Trust me, I've seen it done it, Luxchomp out speeds this. You help them SO much by opening Sableye. Also, if you get of Drush first, don't assume that they're and idiot and won't have a counter waiting. If it goes to chomp wars, Luxchomp is going to win in the end.

Edit:

@ baby mario,

I would say it's harder than those two decks simply because you spend most of your battles either holding on to a very frail lock by the skin of your teeth avoiding being obliterated by your opponent should the lock fail, or trying to desperately dig your self out of a hole because you could not establish a lock, or the lock failed, or finding that the game has dragged on too long, and you're now fighting harder than you've ever fought just to take the last 2 prizes you need to win. At least with Dialga and Gigas you aren't constantly under preasure, and have a little more breathing room, and room for error. Salbelock... ugg.
 
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