Cyrus
Iron Chef - Master Emeritus
Metagross was no show this round, so the win goes to Ross. However, I still went ahead and graded the entry:
~~~Pidgeotto Trainer~~~
“I would like to lead you through the deck choosing process before I get to the list. I looked hard at Dusclops, and it’s poke-body just is quite limited unfortunately. Stopping many special energies and a safeguard attack can be devastating to some decks (Mew Lock, Delta, Mewtric, Medicham, Banette, Arcanine), but others it will hardly affect (Metanite, Charizard d, Flygon d) and others could be adept enough to play around the poke-body (I’m thinking Ludi and Meganium which have so much power they could afford to be a bit slow).
There just isn’t really a combo for Dusclops to fend off so many decks, it’s traits are VERY good for a certain type of deck but offer nothing for a large number of others. It would seem that no tech or 2nd line could help all those matchups that Dusclops would struggle against. However, there is a distinct pattern of decks we can look at that may have the answer. What I mean is, although the current metagame is pretty undefined, the types of deck groups are always pretty similar. Here’s what I mean, we have some faster, less setup decks. Delta, Mewtric, Medicham, Banette, Arcanine. These decks are hurt so much by Dusclops! Most of this type of fast deck are ex’s, Dusclops’ Psychic Shield would likely destroy them itself! Even if it isn’t ex’s, these fast decks often rely on DREs, or Holon’s Castforms. Every good deck should really rely on Holon’s Castform as an engine, it’s such a good card and so easily searchable.
So now let’s think, the decks that Dusclops doesn’t seem to have an advantage over are big, setup decks. Decks with lots of powers. In fact, one of the few reasons to play lots of basic energy these days, is because of powers such as Flygon, Meganium, Metagross dx, Dragonite ds, Typhlosion ex etc. Going back to last format, we see Blastoise, and before that, was Blaziken. The main reason to play basic energies (which Dusclops naturally HATES), is for these great poke-powers.
So it might’ve appeared that Dusclops had too many decks that it didn’t have an edge on to win. But, you may have realized my point by now. The decks Dusclops doesn’t affect are the slow, POWER ones. Power decks have a direct connection to being based on basic energies, Dusclops’ blindspot so to speak. So actually, all these matchups Dusclops struggles against can be fixed by another specialist Pokemon: Muk.
“Disoriented” (Just look at Dusclops’ picture)
Pokemon 17
4-4 Dusclops
4-3 Muk
1-1 Houndoom
Trainers 30
4 Holon Trans
2 Holon Mentor
1 Holon Farmer
4 Celio’s Network
3 Mary’s Request
1 Holon Adventurer
4 Reversal
4 ER2
1 Scott
1 Mr. Briney
2 Cursed Stone
1 Space Center
2 Windstorm
Energy 13
3 DRE
3 Holon’s Castform
2 Holon’s Magnemite
5 Grass
The list isn’t too complicated. 1-1 Houndoom line is a great tech for quick decks. Also, a big problem either of the decks attackers could face is Latias/Latios delta. Space Center lock with Doom would make their playing of Latias/Latios fatal. Houndoom isn’t a main focus though, I don’t think it is NEEDED to win, and so, a deck space efficient 1-1 works. It fits the disruption theme very well and is not hard to setup. The 4th Muk had to be cut, but it is a small deal with Farmer imo. Early it’s easier to find Muk thru Ascension, so we’re okay there also You only have 5 Grass, but with 3 Castform and 10 ways to search it, a t2 Muk shouldn’t be hard if you decide to go that route.
The Holon engine is good here. While you may not need or even want a lot of basics for a bench etc., the holon engine allows me to play less energy and with solid ways of searching Castform and Magnemite early, and midgame. Discard bait shouldn’t be a problem since often you won’t need Muk in certain matchups and won’t need Dusclops in certain matchups.
4 Reversal 4 ER2 are just too good to not have in a deck like this. It has been my experience that these cards just win games. I think the consistancy is good enough to be able to include these, these are darn good cards for a disruption deck.
Scott/Briney to help Houndoom, especially if we unfortunately get a Castform/Magnemite start. Scott obviously is another good card to get us setup and/or get gyms.
2 Cursed Stone may seem small but I don’t think it is THAT great honestly. The decks that are VERY dependent on powers are the only ones that really get beaten by this, and they also should get beaten by Muk. To not have a stadium to at least try to stick with Houndoom though would not be good. 2 is enough to try to stick one early, that’s all I really need.
Space Center was already explained. 2 Windstorm are insurance against Cessation Crystal and stuff like Crystal Beach. I don’t think more would be needed, since I have Houndoom to keep them out as well, but I need SOMETHING to get rid of Cessation Crystal just in case.
Energy is small but a solid Holon’s basic group so I have lots of ways of getting out energy. Castforms work so well for conserving energy, I could go a couple attackers on just Castforms and Magnemites, that is very nice. 3 DRE is fine, Muk usually uses the 2 energy attack so mostly Dusclops will be using them. You can also conserve them with Castforms.
The main idea I really think is good about this deck is the Muk addition to it. I really think it fits incredibly well, that is why I spent so long talking about it and that is where the strength of my entry is imo.
Thanks for reading.”
Deck (8/10): All right, let’s see here. Your Holon engine seems to flow all right, but Scientist would still be nice. Houndoom is an absolute necessity to this deck in my opinion, so it’s a shame to see it in a 1-1 quantity (I’d prefer 2-2), but it’s still great to see. Pokemon lines work well, but the one thing that really puts me on tilt are the energy. With only three DRE your odds of a fast second attack (all three stage ones have the three cost) are low, and with only five grass energy/two magnemite, you put lots of pressure on you going second…or dropping DRE/the stage one turn two, which is hurt by the aforementioned DRE comment. Draw and versatility are all around great, though!
Creativity (2/5): I get a ferocious feeling that this is just Muk/Weezing with a new label, but it’s still effective.
Card Use (4/5): The big secret many Iron Chef competitors may ask is…”which of Patriarch’s own choices does he HATE more than the others?!” Well, the answer to that for these picks I made back in September is simple: DUSCLOPS!!! However, you worked well with the challenge. You chose a good type to aid Dusclops, good strategy to balance out any troubles to come your way, and overall protected Dusclops big weaknesses. With a little more tweaking in other areas, this could be viable >_>.
OVERALL: 14/20
~~~Pidgeotto Trainer~~~
“I would like to lead you through the deck choosing process before I get to the list. I looked hard at Dusclops, and it’s poke-body just is quite limited unfortunately. Stopping many special energies and a safeguard attack can be devastating to some decks (Mew Lock, Delta, Mewtric, Medicham, Banette, Arcanine), but others it will hardly affect (Metanite, Charizard d, Flygon d) and others could be adept enough to play around the poke-body (I’m thinking Ludi and Meganium which have so much power they could afford to be a bit slow).
There just isn’t really a combo for Dusclops to fend off so many decks, it’s traits are VERY good for a certain type of deck but offer nothing for a large number of others. It would seem that no tech or 2nd line could help all those matchups that Dusclops would struggle against. However, there is a distinct pattern of decks we can look at that may have the answer. What I mean is, although the current metagame is pretty undefined, the types of deck groups are always pretty similar. Here’s what I mean, we have some faster, less setup decks. Delta, Mewtric, Medicham, Banette, Arcanine. These decks are hurt so much by Dusclops! Most of this type of fast deck are ex’s, Dusclops’ Psychic Shield would likely destroy them itself! Even if it isn’t ex’s, these fast decks often rely on DREs, or Holon’s Castforms. Every good deck should really rely on Holon’s Castform as an engine, it’s such a good card and so easily searchable.
So now let’s think, the decks that Dusclops doesn’t seem to have an advantage over are big, setup decks. Decks with lots of powers. In fact, one of the few reasons to play lots of basic energy these days, is because of powers such as Flygon, Meganium, Metagross dx, Dragonite ds, Typhlosion ex etc. Going back to last format, we see Blastoise, and before that, was Blaziken. The main reason to play basic energies (which Dusclops naturally HATES), is for these great poke-powers.
So it might’ve appeared that Dusclops had too many decks that it didn’t have an edge on to win. But, you may have realized my point by now. The decks Dusclops doesn’t affect are the slow, POWER ones. Power decks have a direct connection to being based on basic energies, Dusclops’ blindspot so to speak. So actually, all these matchups Dusclops struggles against can be fixed by another specialist Pokemon: Muk.
“Disoriented” (Just look at Dusclops’ picture)
Pokemon 17
4-4 Dusclops
4-3 Muk
1-1 Houndoom
Trainers 30
4 Holon Trans
2 Holon Mentor
1 Holon Farmer
4 Celio’s Network
3 Mary’s Request
1 Holon Adventurer
4 Reversal
4 ER2
1 Scott
1 Mr. Briney
2 Cursed Stone
1 Space Center
2 Windstorm
Energy 13
3 DRE
3 Holon’s Castform
2 Holon’s Magnemite
5 Grass
The list isn’t too complicated. 1-1 Houndoom line is a great tech for quick decks. Also, a big problem either of the decks attackers could face is Latias/Latios delta. Space Center lock with Doom would make their playing of Latias/Latios fatal. Houndoom isn’t a main focus though, I don’t think it is NEEDED to win, and so, a deck space efficient 1-1 works. It fits the disruption theme very well and is not hard to setup. The 4th Muk had to be cut, but it is a small deal with Farmer imo. Early it’s easier to find Muk thru Ascension, so we’re okay there also You only have 5 Grass, but with 3 Castform and 10 ways to search it, a t2 Muk shouldn’t be hard if you decide to go that route.
The Holon engine is good here. While you may not need or even want a lot of basics for a bench etc., the holon engine allows me to play less energy and with solid ways of searching Castform and Magnemite early, and midgame. Discard bait shouldn’t be a problem since often you won’t need Muk in certain matchups and won’t need Dusclops in certain matchups.
4 Reversal 4 ER2 are just too good to not have in a deck like this. It has been my experience that these cards just win games. I think the consistancy is good enough to be able to include these, these are darn good cards for a disruption deck.
Scott/Briney to help Houndoom, especially if we unfortunately get a Castform/Magnemite start. Scott obviously is another good card to get us setup and/or get gyms.
2 Cursed Stone may seem small but I don’t think it is THAT great honestly. The decks that are VERY dependent on powers are the only ones that really get beaten by this, and they also should get beaten by Muk. To not have a stadium to at least try to stick with Houndoom though would not be good. 2 is enough to try to stick one early, that’s all I really need.
Space Center was already explained. 2 Windstorm are insurance against Cessation Crystal and stuff like Crystal Beach. I don’t think more would be needed, since I have Houndoom to keep them out as well, but I need SOMETHING to get rid of Cessation Crystal just in case.
Energy is small but a solid Holon’s basic group so I have lots of ways of getting out energy. Castforms work so well for conserving energy, I could go a couple attackers on just Castforms and Magnemites, that is very nice. 3 DRE is fine, Muk usually uses the 2 energy attack so mostly Dusclops will be using them. You can also conserve them with Castforms.
The main idea I really think is good about this deck is the Muk addition to it. I really think it fits incredibly well, that is why I spent so long talking about it and that is where the strength of my entry is imo.
Thanks for reading.”
Deck (8/10): All right, let’s see here. Your Holon engine seems to flow all right, but Scientist would still be nice. Houndoom is an absolute necessity to this deck in my opinion, so it’s a shame to see it in a 1-1 quantity (I’d prefer 2-2), but it’s still great to see. Pokemon lines work well, but the one thing that really puts me on tilt are the energy. With only three DRE your odds of a fast second attack (all three stage ones have the three cost) are low, and with only five grass energy/two magnemite, you put lots of pressure on you going second…or dropping DRE/the stage one turn two, which is hurt by the aforementioned DRE comment. Draw and versatility are all around great, though!
Creativity (2/5): I get a ferocious feeling that this is just Muk/Weezing with a new label, but it’s still effective.
Card Use (4/5): The big secret many Iron Chef competitors may ask is…”which of Patriarch’s own choices does he HATE more than the others?!” Well, the answer to that for these picks I made back in September is simple: DUSCLOPS!!! However, you worked well with the challenge. You chose a good type to aid Dusclops, good strategy to balance out any troubles to come your way, and overall protected Dusclops big weaknesses. With a little more tweaking in other areas, this could be viable >_>.
OVERALL: 14/20
