1. Eggs/Hand-Job (Exeggutor LA/Flygon RR)
The Intro.
When Judge was released, everyone quickly discovered that Pokemon had released the most disruptive Supporter card in our format. It was briefly legal while Team Galactic’s Wager was legal, and people began to switch to Judge because they would rather have their opponent draw a guaranteed 4 cards than give them the chance of drawing 6.
Judge was a fundamental card in the new up-and-coming Midwest/Florida disruptive deck that would ultimately become, “Sablelock”. Josh Wittenkeller took this deck under the Gateway Arch and won Regionals. Con Le was the underdog at Nationals; besting his opponent’s with his innovative Honchkrow SV tech to take the win.
It was this powerful disruptive quality that lead me to make a double-take at the Exeggutor in my binder. For zero energy, “Psychic Strategy” makes both players shuffle their hands into their decks, then draw the number of cards that were in each other’s hands. It became obvious that potentially giving your opponent zero cards, while you take 5 to 7, could be lethal.
The deck never strayed away from it’s fast, Trainer engine based roots, with the goal being a T2 “Psychic Strategy” for zero. What changed was the decks main attacker. In the beginning, I went with Gardevoir SW. With its powerful “Psychic Lock” attack, not only could you swing for 80 with an Expert Belt, but you could lock your opponent from using Powers, such as Uxie’s “Set Up” and Claydol’s “Cosmic Power”. This was the build I took to US Nationals, but ultimately chose to play Tyranitar. (You can read my Nats report here).
The biggest problem with the deck was Claydol. It didn’t matter how many cards you gave them if they can just “Cosmic Power” every turn for a fresh 6. After Worlds, the deck exploded. It had nothing stopping it, spare the random Charizard Deck (“Roast Reveal” posed the same problem as “Cosmic Power”).
Gardevoir was replaced by Flygon Lv.X for it’s incredible sniping ability, cheap, powerful attack in “Power Swing”, it’s ability to give the entire deck free Retreat, and the amazing power of “Wind Erosion”. Combined with Slowking from HGSS, “Wind Erosion” could discard key cards and further destroy your opponent’s set up.
From the day after Nats all the way up until Fall Battle Roads, Jimmy Ballard and I relentlessly worked on the list. By now, the goal of the deck was simple. T2 “Psychic Strategy” for zero. Set up Slowking to manipulate your opponent’s top decks while taking prizes with Flygon. Use Flygon Lv.X to discard good cards, and give them bad ones. On a perfect set up, the deck’s Win Condition is met by T3.
The List.
Pokemon – 25
3 Trapinch RR
2 Vibrava RR
2 Flygon RR
2 Flygon Lv.X RR
4 Exeggcute LA
2 Exeggutor LA
2 Slowpoke UD
2 Slowking HS
2 Uxie LA
1 Regice LA
1 Ambipom G RR
1 Unown Q MD
Trainers – 28
3 Pokemon Collector
2 Looker’s Investigation
4 Poke Drawer +
4 Pokedex Handy910is
3 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
2 Junk Arm
1 Energy Search
1 Expert Belt
1 Luxury Ball
3 Broken Time-Space
Energy – 8
2 Double Colorless Energy
2 Cyclone Energy
3 Psychic Energy
1 Water Energy
The Choices.
4 Exeggcute – It is your optimal starter. He can Call for Unown Q and another Exeggcute if you have to go first. Remember, your goal is to “Psychic Strategy” starting on T2, so wanting to start with Exeggcute in the active position as much as possible is a no-brainer. 4 of them also gives you good “fuel” for Pokemon Communication.
3-2-2-2 Flygon Lv.X - This is the beefiest line that this list will allow room for. 3 Trapinch just in case 1 gets KO’d early. The 3rd Vibrava is optional, but I have won too many games due to a well-timed “Energy Typhoon.”
However, it had to be cut to 2 due to the space Junk Arm needed when it was released. 2-2 Flygon Lv.X split gives you the best ability to sustain the lock if one of your Flygon’s goes down. Remember, if you lose the lock for even 1 turn, it can swing the entire game.
2-2 Slowking - “Second Sight” is what makes the lock work. You need to set it up ASAP to ensure your opponent doesn’t draw any searching cards. This line could be reduced to 1-1, but you would need to add Azelf into the list, and you wont have the option to “Second Sight” twice per turn which can be nice.
1 Regice - This card serves 2 functions in this deck. The 1st is to gust away Spiritomb early game in order to go off with your Trainer based engine. The 2nd, is to simply discard cards in order to help you get down to zero T2. The lone Water Energy is included in the list only to give Regice free Retreat.
1 Ambipom G - During testing, we quickly realized that if the opponent was able to get a T2 one Energy attacker, (Donphan, Kingdra, etc..) the lock didn’t matter. They could just roll through you doing 60 per turn. Because of this, Ambipom G was added. On T3, follow the strategy like normal, giving your opponent zero cards. Pray they don’t top an energy or an Uxie.
During your next turn, continue to set up your field with Flygon and Slowking, then promote Ambipom and “Tail Code” the only energy in play onto a non-threatening benched Pokemon. You’ve just solved the problem. “Second Sight” them to make sure they don’t draw the energy, and you’re good to go.
3 Collector - 3 of only 5 Supporters in the deck, this is mainly used to counter Spiritomb. You can Collect for Regice amongst other Basics, “Regi Move” and then start setting up. It’s also great to get stuff to use later on with Pokemon Communication.
2 Looker’s Investigation - This card is genius in this deck. Not only can you look to see if you are going to need to “Psychic Strategy” again, but you can shuffle your own hand in and draw 1 or 2 cards for an amazing “Psychic Strategy”. I like to draw 2, then discard them both with Regice.
2 Junk Arm - Crazy good for taking another Luxury Ball, Pokemon Communication, or best of all, the 2nd pair of Poke Drawer +. Works in synergy with “Psychic Strategy” because it allows you to discard more cards.
1 Energy Search - Re-Useable with Junk Arm, it helps you find crucial energy of a specific type to help you get out of tight spots. Pairs wonderfully with Flygon’s “Rainbow Float”.
2 Cyclone Energy - Mainly included for the VileGar matchup to push Spiritomb out of the way.
The Problems.
After Worlds, something funny happened. VILEGAR BECAME INSANELY POPULAR. VileGar basically says “You can’t play half your deck.” This is a huge problem. It is this main problem that shelved the entire project.
Another big problem facing the deck was the dreaded “One Top-Deck.” You see, after a “Psychic Strategy” for zero, the opponent had 1 “Blind” top-deck. After that, you can safely control them with Slowking. Obviously, it would be disastrous to the deck’s strategy if you give them zero cards and their uncontrollable top-deck was an Uxie, Luxury Ball, or Pokemon Collector.
So, in your average meta-game deck, that is 6 outs they hold to be released from the lock before it even starts. Even worse, there are more cards that can rid them of the lock on the turn after that! Cyrus’s Conspiracy, Bebe’s Search, and Pokemon Communication just to name a few. That’s an average of 13 outs that most decks hold to be released from the lock almost immediately.
The Future.
If and when Lost World is released, the focus will shift from Trainer Lock based Gengar SF decks to Speed based Gengar Prime decks. If and when this happens, one of Eggs’ main obstacles is solved. The other is still uncontrollable.
