Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

BW-on Gym Leader Deck Help

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ryuninja

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Alright, so at my locals they have a format called "Gym Leader Challenge" where all the little kids at the shop challenge the appointed "Gym Leaders" and their respective theme-based decks. Each gym leader must only include pokemon of the type that they use in the game (i.e. normal, bug, ice, dragon), and only 1 ex is allowed per gym leader deck. I volunteered to be Burgh, the bug gym leader, callous to the fact that there are no good bug pokemon in the TCG.

This is my best attempt at making a mono-bug type deck. Plz lmk if you think there are better options for bug types in the TCG, or if there are any ways to improve this deck.

pkmn: 17

4x Nincada (Dragons Exalted)
4x Ninjask (Dragons Exalted)
4x Shedinja (Dragons Exalted)
3x Kricketot (Next Destinies)
2x Kricketune (Next Destinies)

supporters: 7

4x N
3x Bianca

trainers: 24

4x Level Ball
4x Devolution Spray
4x Rocky Helmet
3x Pokemon Communication
3x Random Receiver
2x Super Rod
2x Pokemon Catcher
2x Super Scoop-Up

energy: 12

8x Grass Energy
4x Blend DPFG
 
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Durant counts as a bug, right? You could go that route.

Or, you could try to build around the new Dustox and Volcarona. For one Psychic, Dustox inflicts Burn, Poison and Sleep. Then Volcarona doubles the burn damage from the bench...you're looking at a possible 50 damage between turns. Maybe you could even make room for the Scolipede that doubles poison damage. Top it all off with Beautifly for energy acceleration! Or maybe I'm crazy.

RM
 
Take out the Kricketune line and add in an Accelgor line. Deck and cover and then switch into either Ninjask for another swipe or Shedinja for a delaying move. I think you would need more Supporters to get through your deck and you will want level balls to grab accelgor and other low level buggies. Also DCE would need to be added.

You might also consider Pinsir for its Power Pinch to mess with energy lines.
 
@deashira - dustox is definately a beast, and i completely overlooked the synergy that it has with volcarona and scolipede. this definately seems like a good deck idea (although i'm not a fan of rare candy decks without twins in the format), do you think you could give me an example poke line-up, and if any key trainers would have to be in the deck?

i would use durant [devour] but that seems a little cheap to play against kids in the junior division :/ id also like to keep the deck primarily grass as that tends to be the systematic type for bugs in the TCG.

@RichD - i do like the deck and cover idea, but imo it requires too much board space and is hard to set up consistently without access to sunflora or venusaur. pinser is also solid, although a bit slow for my taste. seems like it would have better synergy in the accelgor variant that utilizes DCE. mind giving me an example list?
 
Okay, this is kind of off the top of my head, with no testing (I don't have most of these cards anyway), but here's a list you could start with:

Pokemon (20):
3 -1 - 3 Dustox (DRX)
3 -1 - 3 Scolipede (EP)
3-3 Volcarona (DEX)

Supporters (12):
4 Cheren
4 N
4 Professor Juniper

Items (16):
3 Level Ball
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
3 Switch

Energy (12):
4 Double Colorless Energy
4 Blend Energy (Fire/Psychic)
4 Psychic Energy
 
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deashira said:
Okay, this is kind of off the top of my head, with no testing (I don't have most of these cards anyway), but here's a list you could start with:

Pokemon (20):
3 -1 - 3 Dustox (DRX)
3 -1 - 3 Scolipede (EP)
3-3 Volcarona (DEX)

Supporters (12):
4 Cheren
4 N
4 Professor Juniper

Items (16):
3 Pokemon Catcher
3 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
3 Switch

Energy (12):
4 Double Colorless Energy
4 Blend Energy (Fire/Psychic)
4 Psychic Energy
Click to expand...

You are three off on your item count. You only have 13 listed not 16.
 
Personally, I like using the Kricketot_Kricketune from Next Destinies. This provides a good strategy in a lower-level enviroment, not so much to win hardcore, but to give the kids a run for their money.
Kricketot – Grass – HP60
Basic Pokemon

[G] Smack: 10 damage.
[G][G] Double Headbutt: 10 damage. Flip 2 coins, this attack does an additional 10 damage times the number of heads.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1

Kricketune – Grass – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Kricketune

[C] Tranquil Noise: 20 damage. The opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Asleep.
[G][C] Drain Razor: Flip 2 coins, this attack does 40 damage times the number of heads. Restore this Pokemon’s HP by an amount equaling the damage dealt to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
 
Griftiest said:
Just do the NVI accelgor. 60 for 1 and free retreat is better than kricketune.
Click to expand...

accelgor does seem interesting... i might have to try it, although drain razor is pretty devastating in a format where my opponents dont have catcher.

darck467 said:
Personally, I like using the Kricketot_Kricketune from Next Destinies. This provides a good strategy in a lower-level enviroment, not so much to win hardcore, but to give the kids a run for their money.
Kricketot – Grass – HP60
Basic Pokemon

[G] Smack: 10 damage.
[G][G] Double Headbutt: 10 damage. Flip 2 coins, this attack does an additional 10 damage times the number of heads.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1

Kricketune – Grass – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Kricketune

[C] Tranquil Noise: 20 damage. The opponent’s Active Pokemon is now Asleep.
[G][C] Drain Razor: Flip 2 coins, this attack does 40 damage times the number of heads. Restore this Pokemon’s HP by an amount equaling the damage dealt to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Click to expand...

lol yeah those are the crickets i use. idk why i put dragons exalted...theres not even a kricketot/tune from that set :/
 
to my surprise, some of the kids at the league brought specialized anti-decks to play against the gym leaders (mono-fire)! :O i barely scraped away a couple games, mostly because of catcher against BIG pokemon with no energy accel (reshiram ex, volcarona, emboar (flare blitz), entei ex, arcanine, etc.).

this is my updated list, since ill be given ample time to set up, i think using non-ex tanks seems like an effective strategy.

pkmn: 15

4x Larvesta (ram/flare/3 retreat)
3x Volcarona (scorching scales/burning wind/3 retreat)
4x Venipede (poison sting/tackle)
1x Whirlipede (venoshock/steamroller/3 retreat)
3x Scolipede (steamroller/poison claws/3 retreat)

t/s/s: 32

4x Heavy Ball
4x Level Ball
2x Ultra Ball
2x Random Receiver
2x Switch
3x Catcher
3x Energy Search
3x Rare Candy
4x N
2x Juniper
3x Bianca

energy: 13

4x DCE
4x Blend G/R/P/D
3x Psychic
2x Fire

the new list is soooo synergetic. everything (but venipede) is searched by heavy ball, and everything is fueled by DCE. blend conveniently fits the typing here, and energy search helps me with the missing attack requirements if necessary. id almost consider it competitive if not for catcher against my 3 retreat deck :/

suggestions?
 
When you have that many high retreat Pokemon in the deck, I always play max Switch. Either that or consider playing energy switch so you can shift energy to the active to make it useful if you can't switch it back. If you are going with a tanking strategy maybe add Potion or a similar healing item to keep the tank going longe.r
 
RichD said:
When you have that many high retreat Pokemon in the deck, I always play max Switch. Either that or consider playing energy switch so you can shift energy to the active to make it useful if you can't switch it back. If you are going with a tanking strategy maybe add Potion or a similar healing item to keep the tank going longe.r
Click to expand...

i might consider bumping switch up to 3, but since im not playing against any catchers, the normal strategy is to wall for a couple turns with a bulky active while i power up a scolipede on bench, then just catcher/switch to trade prizes in my favor for the rest of the game.
 
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