Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

How to beat durant with zekeels

S

sirlavitz22

New Member
Hello guys and gals, I'm playing zekeels for states and I can beat every deck in format but durant is the only deck I can't beat. So what is the best way to beat it. Now for the sake of discussion, let's say I'm using simple non teched out zekeels. Thank you.
 
Zekrom BW. Bolt Strike 1-2 times, then Outrage for the next few KOs.
 
honchvire said:
Zekrom BW. Bolt Strike 1-2 times, then Outrage for the next few KOs.
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This, but it's not that simple.

I like to set up at least 1 eel on the bench to recycle milled lightning energy, and have a free retreater on the bench just to give myself some options WHEN (not if) my zekrom gets KOed. 2 zekrom is staple because you're always expecting your first zekrom to be KO'd, either by cobalion, rotom, or black belt + durant. Switches/junk arms/and DCE are the most important cards in your deck at this point.

Also, if you can get a 40hp tynamo to start with, you can use its attack to paralyze durants, potentially saving you a few turns while you're trying to set up the field I described above.
 
K2theAblaM said:
This, but it's not that simple.

I like to set up at least 1 eel on the bench to recycle milled lightning energy, and have a free retreater on the bench just to give myself some options WHEN (not if) my zekrom gets KOed. 2 zekrom is staple because you're always expecting your first zekrom to be KO'd, either by cobalion, rotom, or black belt + durant. Switches/junk arms/and DCE are the most important cards in your deck at this point.

Also, if you can get a 40hp tynamo to start with, you can use its attack to paralyze durants, potentially saving you a few turns while you're trying to set up the field I described above.
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Varying on your opponents build of course, since if they don't play Cobalion and they use Rotom (since not all of them run Black Belt) then Eviolite (if available) can ruin your opponent's chances.

In any case getting a second Zekrom set-up ASAP will only help you.
 
Thank you guys. My league had a tourny thus past Sunday with 22 people. 5 rounds top cut of 4 and I came in second only to durant. He had a teched tyrogue
 
StormFront said:
You shouldn't even be evolving those Tynamo's.
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disagree. You're lightning energy is already being milled. Set up one Eel and you will make it a lot easier to get a second attacker up. it also nullifies crushing hammer flips, since you can simply dynamotor onto a secondary attacker.

If you're playing against a good durant list/player, then 1 attacker won't be enough, especially if it's a zekrom with 80 damage on it.
 
Man I miss BTS...... oh I mean try to get the free retreat tynamos on the bench and maybe try a Skyarrow Bridge.
 
StormFront said:
You shouldn't even be evolving those Tynamo's.
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Saying you should never evolve tynamos, and saying you should ALWAYS evolve tynamos is too black and white in my mind. You should always be benching tynamos, and then evolving if the situation requires it.
 
Zebras are only optimum vs durant without eviolite/special metal. The 80 damage cap is too slow to deal with EVERY other deck out there too. And if they are eviolited, it's a 4hko to keep the lock on.
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The point isn't to ohko them, get disconnect going on them and that shuts down the entire deck pretty much and you can catcher around the ants and take out the weak ones first to make them not devour as many cards then just keep using disconnect.
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---------- Post added 03/07/2012 at 05:49 PM ----------

And you'd only have to tech in like 2-2 zebras, they have uses elsewhere besides durant so it's not a complete waste
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But you still have FSL to get those ants back. Personally, I'd run fsl in ants over super rod any day. It's better for the mirror, plus truth is still out there as well as the horses. And if your running 2-2 Zebstrika for ants( which seems like more than just a 'tech) you better be counting on seeing like30-40% ants in your meta or else those ponies are gonna be whipped like government mules by zekroms, terrakions,EX anythings, etcetera. You don't survive very long when ur only hitting 40 against all the dragon Poke running around. I'm not saying it's impossible to have them work, just that it's very meh.
There are so many better ways to do it. Like benching a second attacker for when the first one gets Rotom killed or black belt killed
And thundurus is more optimal in the overall meta than Zebstrika. I just wonder what it is you DON'T play so you can run a 2-2.

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Calm_Lava said:
The point isn't to ohko them, get disconnect going on them and that shuts down the entire deck pretty much and you can catcher around the ants and take out the weak ones first to make them not devour as many cards then just keep using disconnect.
Posted with Mobile style...

---------- Post added 03/07/2012 at 05:49 PM ----------

And you'd only have to tech in like 2-2 zebras, they have uses elsewhere besides durant so it's not a complete waste
Posted with Mobile style...
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Posted with Mobile style...
 
I run Magneel with 2 Zekroms and I've only lost to Durant in testing once. Like you, I am terrified of Durant for some reason, more so then Mewtwo/Celebi. Here's a list of things I wrote down to be successful against durant:

  1. Dont use Magnezone
  2. Always have a Zekrom. If yours dies, make sure you get one back asap
  3. Avoid Sage's (duh)
  4. Try to keep 2 pokemon on bench to avoid being Seekered
  5. Use N to replenish deck
  6. Only evolve Tynamo when you have enough recourses to charge up an Eel

And always remember, only play cards that are 100% necessary to get a Zekrom, or an Eel charged up. Big hands = more cards not getting milled and more cards going back into your deck with N.

That's about it for my advice
 
It's hard to avoid Sage's Training against Durant when you need card advantage and energies to Dynamotor with. Prism with V-Create Victini and a full bench sounds good and it hits Durant for Weakness, problem is that in my MagEel deck I run 2 Mewtwo EX and X-Ball doesn't really do that much damage to Durant especially when it also has -20 Resistance to :psychic:.

Lost Remover can help against the Sp. :metal: but other than that, it's almost an auto-loss. I'd say go Regular Zekrom to Bolt Strike twice then Outrage for everything else. The Pachirisu/Shaymin charge up is too frail especially when you don't have space to run SSU/Seeker.
 
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its actually in zekeels favor if they play it right. zekrom destoys durants

tynamo can pretty much be evolved as soon as an energy hits the discard pile (which is usually quick) and one dynamotored to it (to make it easy to retreat).

a little foresight may be needed, be sure to have a second attacker ready to get out and attack as soon as your zekrom is in range of a knockout from rotom(which is only 30 damage considering blackbelt and if you have 3 energy attached, 50 if you have eviolite) that way you can keep taking prizes while they use a turn to kill your zekrom.

if you dont run max collector it would be a good idea, that way you can pull the basics you need out of your deck easier to avoid them getting milled
 
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I have played zebstrikas with my durant and I do not find them a problem. it may be annoying not to be able to use the trainers, revive especially but even if you dont have eviolite already itll take forever to KO the four durants (8 turns without a single eviolite, defender or sp. metal)
 
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