I Double Theme Decks: Improving Through Double-Decking
- Thread starter MegaVelocibot
- Start date
bullados
<a href="http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?
Nuts to strategy. I'd play the card just so I could scream out "IRON FIST OF JUSTICE" 30 times in a game.
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
XY Kalos Starter decks will be forthcoming over the course of the week. I've been experimenting with them, but have found them sadly lacking in comparison to the more recent theme decks. That said, it's not uncommon for the starter set to be comparatively weaker ("simpler") than the Theme Decks...
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
... Right. Forgot to come back and post the decks. Thought I had gotten to it. Apologies.
Spiky Shield (Double-Chespin Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Chesnaught
4 Quilladin
4 Chespin
4 Pansage
2 Snorlax
2 Miltank
Trainers: 16
4 Potion
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Grass
Strategy: This version of the deck focuses on a monotype-Grass build to always have the right Energy type at the right time. Build up multiple Chesnaught while using Snorlax to absorb damage. Miltank is an acceptable attacker, while Pansage allows you to draw additional cards during your turn.
Pixie Powder (Double-Chespin Deck)
Pokémon: 24
3 Chesnaught
3 Quilladin
4 Chespin
4 Pansage
4 Granbull
4 Snubbull
2 Miltank
Trainers: 16
4 Potion
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 20
12 Grass
8 Fairy
Strategy: This version of the deck takes advantage of Granbull as an additional attacker, though it may leave you with situations where you may wish you had only one Energy type in the deck. Snorlax is removed to make room for the Granbull line. If you feel you don't need Miltank, you can easily put the Chestnaught and Quilladin back in.
Tongue-Tied (Double-Froakie Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Greninja
4 Frogadier
4 Froakie
4 Panpour
4 Farfetch'd
Trainers: 16
4 Crushing Hammer
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Water
Strategy: This deck focuses on quick attacks and denying your opponent's Pokémon from access to Energy they need to attack. Farfetch'd does good damage for the Energy it needs to attack (30 damage for 1 Energy on a Basic Pokémon), Panpour helps with set-up, and Greninja can either continue to lock your opponent out of Energy on their Active Pokémon or just do a good amount of damage. If attacking with Greninja, try to save Crushing Hammers for Pokémon on your opponent's Bench, so they don't have something to bring out once you've knocked out their Active Pokémon.
Ice-Breaker (Double-Froakie Deck)
Pokémon: 24
3 Greninja
4 Frogadier
4 Froakie
3 Panpour
4 Bisharp
4 Pawniard
2 Farfetch'd
Trainers: 16
4 Crushing Hammer
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 20
12 Water
8 Metal
Strategy: This version of the deck uses Bisharp as a secondary attacker, one that fits in comfortably with its low demand for Metal Energy. As a result, if you feel you need more Water Energy, you can easily reduce the Metal Energy count. Sadly, Bisharp leaves less room for Panpour and Farfetch'd, though their Colorless set-up attacks still make them good in their own rights.
Fire Dogs (Double-Fenniken Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Delphox
4 Braixen
4 Fennekin
4 Pansear
2 Furfrou
2 Furfrou
Trainers: 16
4 Switch
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Fire
Strategy: This deck was what was holding everything up. There just wasn't much of a way to improve things, as the Darkness-type Pokémon don't add that much to support the deck. At least you have Pokémon Catcher to try and score Knock Outs with Delphox. Pansear helps with a bit of deck drawing acceleration, and Furfrou provides an additional attacker.
Spiky Shield (Double-Chespin Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Chesnaught
4 Quilladin
4 Chespin
4 Pansage
2 Snorlax
2 Miltank
Trainers: 16
4 Potion
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Grass
Strategy: This version of the deck focuses on a monotype-Grass build to always have the right Energy type at the right time. Build up multiple Chesnaught while using Snorlax to absorb damage. Miltank is an acceptable attacker, while Pansage allows you to draw additional cards during your turn.
Pixie Powder (Double-Chespin Deck)
Pokémon: 24
3 Chesnaught
3 Quilladin
4 Chespin
4 Pansage
4 Granbull
4 Snubbull
2 Miltank
Trainers: 16
4 Potion
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 20
12 Grass
8 Fairy
Strategy: This version of the deck takes advantage of Granbull as an additional attacker, though it may leave you with situations where you may wish you had only one Energy type in the deck. Snorlax is removed to make room for the Granbull line. If you feel you don't need Miltank, you can easily put the Chestnaught and Quilladin back in.
Tongue-Tied (Double-Froakie Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Greninja
4 Frogadier
4 Froakie
4 Panpour
4 Farfetch'd
Trainers: 16
4 Crushing Hammer
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Water
Strategy: This deck focuses on quick attacks and denying your opponent's Pokémon from access to Energy they need to attack. Farfetch'd does good damage for the Energy it needs to attack (30 damage for 1 Energy on a Basic Pokémon), Panpour helps with set-up, and Greninja can either continue to lock your opponent out of Energy on their Active Pokémon or just do a good amount of damage. If attacking with Greninja, try to save Crushing Hammers for Pokémon on your opponent's Bench, so they don't have something to bring out once you've knocked out their Active Pokémon.
Ice-Breaker (Double-Froakie Deck)
Pokémon: 24
3 Greninja
4 Frogadier
4 Froakie
3 Panpour
4 Bisharp
4 Pawniard
2 Farfetch'd
Trainers: 16
4 Crushing Hammer
4 Switch
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 20
12 Water
8 Metal
Strategy: This version of the deck uses Bisharp as a secondary attacker, one that fits in comfortably with its low demand for Metal Energy. As a result, if you feel you need more Water Energy, you can easily reduce the Metal Energy count. Sadly, Bisharp leaves less room for Panpour and Farfetch'd, though their Colorless set-up attacks still make them good in their own rights.
Fire Dogs (Double-Fenniken Deck)
Pokémon: 20
4 Delphox
4 Braixen
4 Fennekin
4 Pansear
2 Furfrou
2 Furfrou
Trainers: 16
4 Switch
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Poké Ball
4 Tierno
Energy: 24
24 Fire
Strategy: This deck was what was holding everything up. There just wasn't much of a way to improve things, as the Darkness-type Pokémon don't add that much to support the deck. At least you have Pokémon Catcher to try and score Knock Outs with Delphox. Pansear helps with a bit of deck drawing acceleration, and Furfrou provides an additional attacker.
Last edited:
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
I am looking forward to the XY double-theme decks. Working on lists now, I have a decent number of Trainers and strong Basic Pokémon to work around.
X-Plosive Propogation (Double-Resilient Life)
Pokémon: 14
4 Xerneas
2 Aromatisse
3 Spritzee
2 Slurpuff
3 Swirlix
Trainers: 24
2 Evosoda
2 Fairy Garden
4 Great Ball
2 Max Revive
4 Tierno
4 Professor's Letter
2 Professor Sycamore
2 Roller Skates
2 Super Potion
Energy: 22
22 Fairy
Strategy: I didn't even have to think when I saw the deck list; just copied and pasted the two main Fairy evolution lines cherished from the set with its strongest Basic Pokémon. For those unfamiliar with how Xerneas functions, Geomancy is used to power up Benched Pokémon. Aromatisse allows these two Energy attachments from the attack to be rearranged onto other Pokémon, and Slurpuff prevents the Pokémon with those Energy from being affected by Special Conditions. With Fairy Garden, you can retreat injured Pokémon with little to no concern. Super Potion should be used on a Pokémon only after the Aromatisse has removed the Energy from it, to prevent discarding Energy from Great Potion's secondary effect. If you feel you need more Basic Pokémon, remove two Fairy Energy and add one more each of Spritzee and Swirlix.
Y-Mpending Doom (Double-Destruction Rush)
Pokémon: 22
4 Yveltal
2 Krookodile
4 Krokorok
4 Sandile
2 Malamar
2 Inkay
4 Dunsparce
Trainers: 24
4 Tierno
2 Evosoda
2 Poké Ball
4 Potion
2 Max Revive
4 Professor's Letter
2 Roller Skates
2 Shadow Circle
2 Shauna
Energy: 14
14 Darkness
Strategy: Yveltal plays the role of primary attacker in this deck. In the event that its second attack prevents you from attacking next turn, retreating isn't so bad, as you can send out another Yvetal and use its first attack to recharge the Energy discarded by retreating. Despite this, Switch would have been a welcome addition to this deck. Admittedly, Krookodile is nothing to write home about. That said, you might find yourself attacking more comfortably with Krokorok or Malamar. Max Revive should generally be used to bring back Yveltal for additional uses, requiring little more investment than a Darkness Energy for it coming back into play. Energy shouldn't be too hard to get out of the deck with the high Professor's Letter count. In fact, an earlier version of the deck write-up had four more Energy without the 2-2 Malamar line. Consider this if you feel the Energy count is still too low in this deck. One last note, Dugtrio can be an excellent attacker against Fighting-weak Pokémon and should not be disregarded, but the deck is more streamlined as a mono-type Darkness deck. Do not feel discouraged against using Dugtrio by this list.
X-Plosive Propogation (Double-Resilient Life)
Pokémon: 14
4 Xerneas
2 Aromatisse
3 Spritzee
2 Slurpuff
3 Swirlix
Trainers: 24
2 Evosoda
2 Fairy Garden
4 Great Ball
2 Max Revive
4 Tierno
4 Professor's Letter
2 Professor Sycamore
2 Roller Skates
2 Super Potion
Energy: 22
22 Fairy
Strategy: I didn't even have to think when I saw the deck list; just copied and pasted the two main Fairy evolution lines cherished from the set with its strongest Basic Pokémon. For those unfamiliar with how Xerneas functions, Geomancy is used to power up Benched Pokémon. Aromatisse allows these two Energy attachments from the attack to be rearranged onto other Pokémon, and Slurpuff prevents the Pokémon with those Energy from being affected by Special Conditions. With Fairy Garden, you can retreat injured Pokémon with little to no concern. Super Potion should be used on a Pokémon only after the Aromatisse has removed the Energy from it, to prevent discarding Energy from Great Potion's secondary effect. If you feel you need more Basic Pokémon, remove two Fairy Energy and add one more each of Spritzee and Swirlix.
Y-Mpending Doom (Double-Destruction Rush)
Pokémon: 22
4 Yveltal
2 Krookodile
4 Krokorok
4 Sandile
2 Malamar
2 Inkay
4 Dunsparce
Trainers: 24
4 Tierno
2 Evosoda
2 Poké Ball
4 Potion
2 Max Revive
4 Professor's Letter
2 Roller Skates
2 Shadow Circle
2 Shauna
Energy: 14
14 Darkness
Strategy: Yveltal plays the role of primary attacker in this deck. In the event that its second attack prevents you from attacking next turn, retreating isn't so bad, as you can send out another Yvetal and use its first attack to recharge the Energy discarded by retreating. Despite this, Switch would have been a welcome addition to this deck. Admittedly, Krookodile is nothing to write home about. That said, you might find yourself attacking more comfortably with Krokorok or Malamar. Max Revive should generally be used to bring back Yveltal for additional uses, requiring little more investment than a Darkness Energy for it coming back into play. Energy shouldn't be too hard to get out of the deck with the high Professor's Letter count. In fact, an earlier version of the deck write-up had four more Energy without the 2-2 Malamar line. Consider this if you feel the Energy count is still too low in this deck. One last note, Dugtrio can be an excellent attacker against Fighting-weak Pokémon and should not be disregarded, but the deck is more streamlined as a mono-type Darkness deck. Do not feel discouraged against using Dugtrio by this list.
Last edited:
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
For Pokemon? Arguably on the Resilient Life. For Trainers? There are better, for sure.
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
Quite welcome. You are correct about the Pokemon count; I forgot to change the number when I copy/pasted the template from the deck before it. Thanks for pointing it out. The typo has now been fixed.
BTW Malamar is rather gross (that first attack).
So using that is way more preferable than Krookodile.
I used Malamar to pretty good success in the Pre-release.
Ever thought about doing decks where you combine one of each starter?
Just in case some people are on a budget, and just buys 1 of each kind.
So using that is way more preferable than Krookodile.
I used Malamar to pretty good success in the Pre-release.
Ever thought about doing decks where you combine one of each starter?
Just in case some people are on a budget, and just buys 1 of each kind.
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
I have, but while I will not say it is the whole purpose of the thread, one of the major points I try to emphasize here is a transition to more consistent decks. When it comes down to it, things get even less consistent when using one of each deck, and it feels like more Pokemon evolution lines are wasted, even if it is still 60 of the 120 cards from the theme decks being left out. I understand the circumstances that often lead to a parent (or player) buying one of each theme deck to get things started. In those cases, things tend to end up with the parent playing with the leftover cards (if playing at all) while leaving the good deck (the best of both decks) to their child. The emphasis of the double-decks is on improving on deck-building skills by bringing more consistency to decks in a way that is easily done without ordering cards online, which is not an option considered by or available to many new players.
It's a good thought, but not an avenue I want to pursue in this thread. I'm not discouraging others from doing so here, but my posts will generally focus (with a few exceptions) on doubled theme decks.
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
Well... part of the thing is I'm still trying to figure out what I can piece together with it two weeks later. I have a good percentage of my write-up done, but I just have a hard time committing to the final deck list and strategy simply because I'm not pleased with the end result. It should be ready by the end of the week, though.
MegaVelocibot
<a href="http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.p
Alright, good news and bad news. Bad news is that I'm still not happy with the Trainer Kit double-deck, but it will be coming out later this week. To tide you over, here's a doubled Mystic Typhoon, fresh from Flashfire!
Pokémon: 22
4 Miltank
3 Furfrou
2 Walrein
4 Sealeo
4 Spheal
2 Milotic
3 Feebas
Trainers: 22
2 Evosoda
2 Muscle Band
4 Pokémon Center Lady
4 Pokémon Fan Club
4 Professor's Letter
2 Professor Sycamore
4 Roller Skates
Energy: 16
16 Water
Strategy: While not perfect at achieving this goal, this double-deck hopes to use Miltank's Powerful Friends attack with Walrein in play to do 80 damage for one Energy card. Getting the Stage 2 Pokémon into play may prove difficult. Milotic acts as a cross between an interesting secondary attacker and a useful utility for the deck: If low on HP, you can take control of the situation and choose to Knock Out Milotic on your own terms while also providing three turns of Energy attachment to one of your Pokémon (typically Walrein). Furfrou is forgetable, but fills some extra slots for Basic Pokémon; if you want the Poké Balls back in the deck, flippy as they may be, Furfrou is easily the first to go. The Trainers provided, while not idea, give a nice coverage for things you might want to do with your deck, including drawing, searching for Basic Pokémon or Energy cards, getting Evolutions into play, and doing more damage.
Pokémon: 22
2 Pidgeot
3 Pidgeotto
4 Pidgey
4 Torkoal
3 Luxio
4 Shinx
2 Snorlax
Trainers: 22
2 Evosoda
4 Fiery Torch
4 Pokémon Center Lady
4 Pokémon Fan Club
4 Professor's Letter
2 Blacksmith
2 Roller Skates
2 Startling Megaphone
Energy: 14
6 Lightning Energy
8 Fire Energy
Strategy: To be honest, this is not one of the theme decks I would suggest doubling (or using). Torkoal is probably your strongest option of the easy to set-up attackers. It can take advantage of the Fiery Torch / Blacksmith combo to use its second attack in one turn (with an Energy attached from the hand as well). Luxio has a very strong second attack if you are losing, but it does require three Energy (at least two Lightning-type) to use. Luxio also has relatively low HP. If you make any additional changes, consider Exp Share to help power this Pokémon up while it sits on your Bench. It will take some time to set up Snorlax, but using Pokémon Center Lady can help keep it around longer than one might expect, so long as it isn't Knocked Out in one hit.
Pokémon: 22
4 Miltank
3 Furfrou
2 Walrein
4 Sealeo
4 Spheal
2 Milotic
3 Feebas
Trainers: 22
2 Evosoda
2 Muscle Band
4 Pokémon Center Lady
4 Pokémon Fan Club
4 Professor's Letter
2 Professor Sycamore
4 Roller Skates
Energy: 16
16 Water
Strategy: While not perfect at achieving this goal, this double-deck hopes to use Miltank's Powerful Friends attack with Walrein in play to do 80 damage for one Energy card. Getting the Stage 2 Pokémon into play may prove difficult. Milotic acts as a cross between an interesting secondary attacker and a useful utility for the deck: If low on HP, you can take control of the situation and choose to Knock Out Milotic on your own terms while also providing three turns of Energy attachment to one of your Pokémon (typically Walrein). Furfrou is forgetable, but fills some extra slots for Basic Pokémon; if you want the Poké Balls back in the deck, flippy as they may be, Furfrou is easily the first to go. The Trainers provided, while not idea, give a nice coverage for things you might want to do with your deck, including drawing, searching for Basic Pokémon or Energy cards, getting Evolutions into play, and doing more damage.
Pokémon: 22
2 Pidgeot
3 Pidgeotto
4 Pidgey
4 Torkoal
3 Luxio
4 Shinx
2 Snorlax
Trainers: 22
2 Evosoda
4 Fiery Torch
4 Pokémon Center Lady
4 Pokémon Fan Club
4 Professor's Letter
2 Blacksmith
2 Roller Skates
2 Startling Megaphone
Energy: 14
6 Lightning Energy
8 Fire Energy
Strategy: To be honest, this is not one of the theme decks I would suggest doubling (or using). Torkoal is probably your strongest option of the easy to set-up attackers. It can take advantage of the Fiery Torch / Blacksmith combo to use its second attack in one turn (with an Energy attached from the hand as well). Luxio has a very strong second attack if you are losing, but it does require three Energy (at least two Lightning-type) to use. Luxio also has relatively low HP. If you make any additional changes, consider Exp Share to help power this Pokémon up while it sits on your Bench. It will take some time to set up Snorlax, but using Pokémon Center Lady can help keep it around longer than one might expect, so long as it isn't Knocked Out in one hit.
Last edited: