Iron Chef-FINAL FOUR (Dendrobatida VS Slimeygrimey)

[Cyrus]

~~~Dendrobatida~~~

Infinity Engine, Redux:

My card this week is Rayquaza Ex d, and it's one I've toyed with quite a bit. Awhile ago, I submitted a deck that utilized it on the forums, and since have playtested the heck out of it. Back then, I called it infinity engine, and I still do, though its form has changed dramatically from the clunky thing it once was. I want to be able to utilize Ray EX d's biggest strengths, and keep utilizing them - a cheap, hit 'em anywhere attack, over 100 hp, a helpful pokebody, and absolutely no weakness. Also gotta get those creativity points in there, so here we go....


Infinity Engine:

Pokemon (28):

3 Ray EX d
2 mareep d
2 flaafy d
2 Ampharos (UF)
2 pidgey d
2 pidgeotto d
2 Pidgeot (POP2)
2 spearow
2 Fearow d
2 wingull
2 pelipper d
1 tauros
1 tropius d
1 shellder d
1 cloyster d
1 holon’s Castform

Trainers (22):

3 Windstorm
3 Holon Mentor
2 Holon Adventurer
4 Holon Transceiver
1 Holon Farmer
1 Holon Researcher
1 Holon Scientist
3 Copycat
4 Celio's Network

Energy (10):

8 Lightning Energy
2 Fighting Energy


Strategy:

Bear with me....The objective is to recycle Rayquaza Ex d ad infinitem, so that any deck incapable of doing greater than 110 damage cannot take a prize. To do this, one needs an Ampharos, a Pidgeot, a fearow, and a pelipper in play. That leaves 2 slots - the active, and another bench spot, which is one we'll reserve for tech or an "out" turn. The active will be rayquaza most often. Once the above four pokemon are in play, your turn sequence progresses as follows: Swap damaged rayquaza out for pidgeot with pelipper. Move energy from rayquaza to pidgeot with ampharos. Shuffle rayquaza in with Pidgeot. Use fearow to grab the rayquaza you just shuffled in. Put it on your bench in the space created by pidgeot's shuffle-in. Retreat pidgeot for the refreshed rayquaza. Trans the energy back up with Ampharos. Presto, undamaged fully powered rayquaza.

The trick, of course, is getting all of that up. Fortunately, you have a bit of time. A ray start is a great start for this deck, since you can effectively use a few turns sniping away at things and allowing ray to soak up that early damage. Tauros makes a fine, fine starter as well. The rest of the pokemon aren't entirely detrimental either, even if you have to sacrifice one - a dead wingull or pidgey at the beginning of the game allows your rayquaza to snipe for darn near free, which grants you great recovery. The farmer is necessary in case your other of the two pokemon is prized. It also comes in handy late game - if they knock out a ray, fearow means you can farmer and have it right back out attacking on the next turn. The first objective should be getting a fearow d out. Once that's done, the deck sets up fairly quickly. Reserve celio's for grabbing Pidgeot and Ampharos if you can.

There's a fair bit of tech here, so an individual card explanation is in order....

Rayquaza EX d: The ingredient, and the primary attacker in this deck. Of all the cards in the format, only this one has the necessary components to make this deck viable - high hp, no weakness, cheap attack cost, sniping ability, basic, and that little delta symbol next to its name that lets fearow grab it. The original incarnation of this deck had Ampharos d and ho-oh Ex, but there was not enough space on the bench to make it usable (the tech spot, that free bench space, is so key...the reason why is coming later).

Ampharos line: The understages are d so that fearow d can grab them. UF ampharos is a beastly pokemon in its own right, and is the only one with the energy transing ability this deck requires. I tried it before with mewtwo d, but pidgeot couldn't pick up both the mewtwo and the ray EX d every turn, and so the deck stalled out. Ampharos ensures that the combo can repeat. It's non-delta status is a double-edged sword. Holon Legacy does not shut it down, which is great, but fearow cannot fetch it - hence the 4 celios in the deck. Perhaps its most underrated feature is its resistance to metal - a spectacular thing to have in this format.

Pidgeot line: The understages are d so that...well, see above. This is what saves your ray every turn, erases all that damage it might have accrued. It carries the same sort of issues Ampharos does, being non-delta, but the same advantage as well. It is a colorless attacker, and for a flip can do 100 to colorless weak pokemon you might encounter.

Fearow line: Early game setup engine, and mid-to-late game refresher of rayquaza; every time you shuffle something in, fearow can get it back for you. Either get that rayquaza, or grab a delta pokemon you aren't using in order to Adventurer for four.

Pelipper line: The deck requires, essentially, a double retreat, and here's how you accomplish it. If ray EX d has one negative, it is the retreat cost - pelipper negates it. As a plus, it has auto-status and can save a number of your pokes from spider trappage and the like. Also reduces the risk of status effects stalling you out - Rayquaza is essentially immune to sleep, confusion, and paralysis as a result of the infinity engine.

Tauros: Really nice starter, and really nice "countergym". Cursed stone, battle frontier, and holon legacy hurt this deck. Tauros can knock them all out. And, with the ability to shuffle it back into the deck, it does not take up space on the bench. Further, a mentor or celios will allow you to grab it and use it again. And again. And again. It is a constant counterstadium, which is always good to have.

Tropius d: This could just as easily be another windstorm; it depends on what your metagame looks like. We face a fair amount of Gardevoir EX d here in North Carolina, so my actual version plays one of these. Like tauros, this can be used over and over and over again to nullify the negative effects of both status and imprison markers (shockwave, too, but we see less Tyranitar EX d). Really helps if Flariados decides to spider trap your ampharos or pidgeot, the two pokemon Pelipper cannot save.

Cloyster d line: Here both as protection for our fairly weak bench pokemon (fearow, pelipper) and as a late game attacker. It has grind. We can trans as much energy as we like up to the active on a turn...Not a bad final shot. Raieggs is, of course, a problem for this deck, but cloyster d can help a great deal with that.

Holon's Castform: Only 1, because it is untransable, but it makes another nice starter for its draw, and can be used to power tropius d's attack, a grind much like cloyster. Mentorable, celio'sable.

Windstorm: Our way of removing cessation crystal and gyms (in addition to Tauros).

Holon line: 3 Mentor are key to early game setup, which is when this deck is most vulnerable, provided you started with something other than ray or tauros. Adventurer is solid draw, and the farmer makes it possible to sac a pokemon early to activate Ray's pokebody.

Copycat: More draw. It's simple hand refreshing, and given the popularity of large hands these days, works wonders.

Celio's network: Grabs everything but ray, and fearow does that (so, too, does researcher). Needed for Ampharos and Pidgeot.

Energy: 2 fighting are for Cloyster's attack and to allow Ampharos to get off a few attacks with heavy status without having to blow 3 lightning energy. We run relatively few energy because we do not intend to give many up, and it does not take much to power rayquaza, particularly if we are down on prizes. It is possible to run an entire game only playing 2 energy onto the board. Once you have the two energy on rayquaza, the rest should be spread out among the rest of your bench; they can be transed at any time if need be.

Deck (8/10): It’s a clean and efficient list. I can’t help but feel like a couple of adjustments would have made Nidoqueen d superior to Fearow d as a setup card, but it doesn’t seem like a long-term issue: I see it as just a minor problem the list encounters once every ten-ish games. Lines make sense pretty much, and single copies all make sense. Draw and search are very well rounded. However, I see energy as the #1 issue in this deck. Even though you can run off of only 3-4 all game, setting up is a whole other story, and if you don’t have the fuel to setup, then it won’t be happenin’. Even a Holon’s Voltorb/Magnemite would have made it considerably better, but as it stands, I almost never breathe a sigh of relief whenever I hit a mentor. A more aggressive Rare Candy setup might have also been preferred, but the list doesn’t need it unless you made that switch to Nidoqueen d (still sounds pretty nuts, considering the deck would be running three stage two’s and a couple stage one lines).

Creativity (5/5): Maybe I’m just blind, but I never saw an infinity engine-type deck being combined with Rayquaza ex d. This is a really cool, innovative idea, and although it’s a bit too techy in some places, the concept is fresh and unique. This is the first infinity deck I’ve seen that can actually win games!

Card Use (5/5): Well, you took advantage of this card subtly, yet excellently. Special Circuit is made into a nearly untouchable killing machine versus decks that can’t handle it. You even compensate for the 110 HP issue by running researcher. I think you could have done something more with the Poke-Body, but that is balanced out by you finding the role that, as of right now, ONLY Rayquaza ex d can fit.

OVERALL: 18/20


~~~Slimeygrimey~~~

“To me, Rayquaza ex d was a difficult card to build a deck around. It’s not because the card isn’t good, but rather because there were a lot of choices to make and a lot of different routes to go. I could have gone a half-dozen different ways with this card and come up with that many solid decks with potential. The deciding factor however, was to find a build that accentuates Rayquaza’s qualities, and hides its weaknesses. Rayquaza needed to be the central focus of the deck, not half of a two-punch attack, and it needed to fit into a deck that could properly use all the different pats of the card.

At first, I considered Beedrill d for a while. The card seems to go well with Rayquaza, but there are a couple of problems here. 1. If you’re using Beedrill, Rayquaza won’t have as central a role in attacking. 2. You’re probably going to go down a prize in the process of setting up a Beedrill d anyway. 3. This is already a deck that has done well in a few City Championships in which it has been played. After realizing these things, I tossed the Beedrill idea aside. I also considered playing Rayquaza with Dustox ex and Houndoom UF as a sort of ‘cover everything’ deck, but once I thought about it, I noticed that Rayquaza wasn’t a focus in this deck, but rather a single element used for certain matchups. Again, I tossed the deck aside. The deck I eventually came to choose does in fact use Rayquaza as the focus, primarily around it’s first attack, Special Circuit, which for LC does 30 damage to any one of your opponent’s Pokemon, or 50 damage if that Pokemon has a Poke-Power or Poke-Body. This deck uses Rayquaza ex d with Wobbuffet LM and some basics that provide you with a gust effect in order to trap them with Wobbuffet’s Poke-Body.

Because all of the cards mentioned so far turn out to be basic Pokemon, I decided it would be more efficient to run no evolutions and just go with a Pokemon set up that can be entirely searched by Holon Mentor. This has the effect of making the deck much less prone to starting the game with a lot of useless cards in your hand since they all can be used right away and are not intended to be saved for later when you have drawn into a bunch of other things to play them with. Another effect is that you have to use a lot less space on evolutions, cards to search them, and Rare Candy. As a result we get a lot more room to work with, particularly in the Trainer card section, and so we can add any draw or tech cards in order to help the deck function properly.

The basic strategy of this deck is to use one of your ‘gusting’ basics in order to bring up a card that is exceptionally weak offensively, such as any Holon’s basic, (primarily Holon’s Castform which almost every deck plays, but Unown E can bring out Voltorb or Magnemite as well.) or almost any starting basic (Mawile, Plusle, Tauros), as well as some tech basics like Chimecho d or Tropius d. In the first few turns while you’re finding your basics and getting something weak into your opponent’s active position, you should also be searching out and playing several Wynaut and evolving them into Wobbuffets. That way, once you’ve brought something of theirs up into the active position, they need to throw several energy onto it in order to retreat it back to the bench. In the meantime, you bring up Rayquaza ex d and start attacking their bench for a bunch of damage. When they finally do retreat, you put them through the same thing again.

Here’s the list:

Pokemon: 20
4 Rayquaza ex d
4 Wobbuffet LM
4 Wynaut LM
2 Roselia LM
1 Unown E
1 Unown P
3 Holon’s Voltorb
1 Holon’s Castform

Trainers: 29
4 Holon Transceiver
4 Holon Mentor
2 Holon Adventurer
1 Holon Scientist
4 Cursed Stone
4 Windstorm
2 Warp Point
2 Copycat
2 Mary’s Request
4 Energy Removal 2

Energy: 11
11 Lightning Energy


Some specifics:

The idea is to get a Rayquaza attacking the opponent’s bench while your opponent sits helplessly behind an impotent attacker with a huge retreat cost. In order to do this we need to get a Rayquaza with one or two energy (depending on if its Poke-Body is activated), at least two Wobbuffet evolved through Wynaut, and a way to get that weak basic active if it isn’t already there because your opponent is using it to get set up. We play 4 Rayquaza not because we want to start with it, but because we are hoping to be able to use three, if your opponent can get through that many. Four makes them easy to get and compensates for one or two being trapped in your prizes. A 4-4 Wobbuffet line seems pretty obvious as we want as many of them as possible as fast as possible. A nice effect of Rayquaza’s Poke-body is that you could actually play without a second one benched in order to fit an extra Wobbuffet, and then when the active one gets knocked out, play the new one, attach a lightning and retreat or switch to it.

Roselia and Unown E can be used in different ways to get a weak basic active for your opponent. Roselia can be used if you want to soften up the active for an easier KO later, prevent that Pokemon from using a Poke-Power, or just need a sure thing. Unown E can be used if your opponent doesn’t have any suitable basics on the table by allowing you to pull one out of their hand. Unown P can be used late game in instances in which attacking with an ex could prove fatal, or if you want to hit multiple targets at once. For CC, Unown P places one damage counter on each of your opponent’s Pokemon that already has a damage counter on it. This could work very well by saving you some attacks in which you might otherwise be attacking with Rayquaza to do a small amount of damage to knock out one Pokemon. Unown allows you to do that as well as get a little progress on everything else you’ve damaged. It could also be used to allow you to set up multiple KO’s with Rayquaza without getting ahead on prizes, and then draw several in one or two turns. Unown P can also be used quite well with Cursed Stone (although it hurts Unown as well, but you could just wait until Cursed Stone is out of play before you attack with Unown P) as a sort of Spin Tail against decks like Metanite that are quite popular. Combined, Roselia and the two Unowns give you four cards (because Unown P can become Unown E) that can perform the dragging off trick. This is good because you want to start with one of these so that you don’t have to waste time and energy finding one and retreating to it, allowing you to get Wobbuffets instead and start attacking with Rayquaza sooner.

Since you can control whether or not you take a prize with Rayquaza, it is easy to see how its attack works with its body. In addition though, your opponent may get annoyed with your constant gusting attacks and decide to knock out one of your Unown E or Roselia. This of course is great for you since you play three, and you get behind on prizes much faster, allowing you to use Rayquaza’s attacks for half as many energy. If they don’t though, it’s not really a problem. Two energy isn’t a lot more than one for Rayquaza’s first attack, and you should get enough time to put two on there anyway. You can still play without an extra Rayquaza in play as well, because once they knock out your active one, you will then be behind on prizes and only need one energy.


I realize I haven’t mentioned Rayquaza’s second attack at all yet, but it is actually a very useful thing to have. One problem that decks like this one sometimes have is that they lack a powerful attack that can just clean out a threat quickly. If you’re behind on prizes, (which you should be by the time you would need to use this attack) then for just two energy you have the ability to deal 70 damage. It’s always a good thing to have a power attack there for when you need it instead of having to rely on pulling some kind of defensive maneuver to allow you to chip away at them instead.

You may think Lati’s would be a problem, in that it shuts off your Wobbuffets’ Poke-Body. However, since Rayquaza does 50 to Pokemon with Poke-Bodies as well, they are really just an easy two attacks while they’re sitting on the bench, and if you bring one active instead, then it’s just one 70 attack from Rayquaza.

Trainers:

4-4 Transceiver/Mentor is obvious in a deck like this. The search out all your Pokemon, as well as allowing you to get some energy early game to retreat or attack with. I like to play two Holon Adventurer over just one in case one is prized because it’s jus a solid, reliable draw card. I include one Holon Scientist because we always want more draw, and this is sometimes more powerful than a Holon Adventurer. Copycat and Mary’s Request are just standard draw. Neither one is really clear-cut better; I’d rather go with two of each. Cursed Stone is used in conjunction with Rayquaza ex d to draw you prizes. A damage counter between every turn makes damage add up a lot faster. Cursed Stone can also be used in order to knock out one of your Unown to get yourself behind on prizes to activate Rayquaza’s Poke-Body. Windstorm is primarily included to get rid of Opponent’s Cessation Crystals, but can also be used to combat stadium-heavy decks and Houndoom. It could also be used to knock your own windstorm out of play if you want to keep it from damaging your unowns, or to keep an opponent’s Pokemon from falling victim to Cursed Stone so that you can remain behind on prizes for the time being. Two Warp Point are included to switch Rayquaza or Wobbuffet out of the active position when necessary, but can also be used to mess with your opponent by making them bring up a new active which then has to deal with your Wobbuffets if it wants to get back to the bench. 4 Energy Removal 2 are added to complicate your opponent’s struggle with retreating. You’re basically flipping for damage here, as each heads on an ER2 gets you an additional attack with Rayquaza.

Energy:

Holon’s Voltorb is included to provide easy-access energy via Holon Mentor, primarily to satisfy retreat costs or to fuel a Roselia or Unown E attack. They could also be attached to Rayquaza if you’re not behind on prizes to help pay for Special Circuit. I chose Voltorb over Magnemite because the deck plays 11 Lightning Energy. Holon’s Castform is played in just a single copy because it is only needed for Wobbuffet’s Shadow Tag attack, however it can also be used if you have just a single Holon’s Voltorb attached to a Rayquaza and need to do 70 damage for LL. 11 Lightning are included so you can use Rayquaza’s attacks, and combined with the 3 Voltorb, provide plenty of energy to attach early game.

THE END =/

Deck (8/10): This is a well-built list. You have Great lines on Pokemon overall, a good trainer scheme, and an appropriate energy count. Cursed Stone may get a bit annoying if you “have” to play it versus an opponent while your power Pokemon (Roselia/Unowns/Wynaut) are out on the board, and I don’t think that your two switching compensates for some of the weak starts you’d get with this deck. Also, I see potential late game issues, such as Rayquaza ex d not being readily available to play (impossible to Mentor as you already know), and not having a Farmer to make up for earlier discards.

Creativity (4/5): When it comes to creativity, you put it all on the line here, making this a Mew-lock wannabe of sorts. However, I’d say that this was certainly a unique way to pull off the card. Rayquaza has “BEATSTICK” written all over it, but you found a way to actually make a conservative and aggressive attacker. The Unown P is a solid touch, too. Good going!

Card Use (5/5): Undoubtedly you abused the Poke-body, not only through the natural mechanics of the deck, but also through Cursed Stoning away your own Pokemon if necessary…I like it! Cursed Stone goes onto compliment you even more thanks to Special Circuit. Besides that, the general strategy of the deck is a very powerful way to abuse Rayquaza.

OVERALL: 17/20



The score really doesn't express how close this matchup was (if I had a 200 point system, it would seriously be more like 177 to 174 ). A salute goes out to both of you for making very good, playable decks with Rayquaza ex d! GL in the finals, Dendro, and hold your own in the consolation, Grimey! =)

 

[Curry]

GJ Jake!!! GL in the finals

 

[moza]

Dendro!

 

[Danjel]

Holy moly!

Such decks.. I stand amazed and stunned.

 

[Dendrobatida]

Patriarch pwning the world with scores in BEFORE the announced deadline...a first in Iron Chef judging (I should know...been in every single one...well, except the grinder, but I wasn't allowed in that one).

 

[Pidgeotto Trainer]

Gordon: Rayquaza ex? Hmm, I'll make a deck where everything can be Mentor'd for. What? You can't Mentor for Ray ex? Oh.
HOW COULD YOU GORDON? AHHHHH! *smacks head*

 

[Lord Broly]

Grimey got Slimed!

 

[PSYCO829]

brilliant deck ideas guys

 

[Kenshin's Garde]

UGGH!!! And here I thought ross' 11 mentor idea was bad! I guess I can mentor ray and wynaut and wobb . . . oops. Uggh, i h8 u so much!

Cursed Stone may get a bit annoying if you “have” to play it versus an opponent while your power Pokemon (Roselia/Unowns/Wynaut) are out on the board, and I don’t think that your two switching compensates for some of the weak starts you’d get with this deck.

Oh, and roselia isn't hurt by cursed stone by the way

 

[Cyrus]

Sorry about that! It didn't figure in the grading like Wynaut/Unown did, I swear. ^^""

 

[Jim Ferrell]

Congratulations Jake. I had hoped deep down it would be us two in the finals. Looking forward to competing against you bud. :smile:

Here's hoping the in-laws are not driving you insane yet.

~Jim

 

[SlimeyGrimey]

UGH. I'm soo bad at Pokemon. =/