G-Dog4377
New Member
I have here an article on my deck of choice for this season, which is based on Magnezone Lv.X. I have been working with the master manipulator since April, and the process has been long and arduous. I came up with the name Project: Paralyze in August (I liked the alliteration), and enjoy referring to my personal deck here by that name, but you can just call it Magnezone if you wish. I should also say this now before I get too far into this: Magnezone Lv.X is a very deep card, in that there is an immense number of possible combinations and strategies that can be employed with it. I have included a very deep analysis to present as much information as I could about this deck in particular. The result was an extremely long article.
Project: Paralyze
POKÉMON: 23
1 : Magnezone Lv.X, LA-142
2 : Magnezone, DP-8
1 : Magnezone, SF-6
2 : Magneton, DP-54
3 : Magnemite, DP-87
2 : Ampharos, SW-1
1 : Flaaffy, SW-50
2 : Mareep, SW-94
2 : Claydol, GE-15
2 : Baltoy, GE-60
2 : Palkia Lv.X, GE-106
2 : Palkia, GE-26
1 : Azelf, LA-19
SUPPORTERS/TRAINERS/STADIUMS: 21
1 : Night Maintenance
1 : Premier Ball
3 : Rare Candy
2 : Switch
4 : Roseanne's Research
4 : Bebe's Search
2 : Team Galactic's Wager
4 : Technical Machine TS-1
ENERGY: 16
4 : Special Metal Energy
6 : Basic Metal Energy
6 : Lightning Energy
INTRODUCTION
I will begin the main portion of the article here with just a general explanation of the strategy. I will delve deeper in to the nuances of it after I have completed the individual card analyses. Now, I know most of the typical Magnezone decks around include only a 1-1 Palkia Lv.X line, if any. I incorporate a 2-2 line for Palkia Lv.X because it is a core piece of the strategy. I find the 1-1 line to be extremely difficult to put into play quickly and consistently, and the strategy can not fully function properly without Palkia Lv.X in play. The strategy, in general, is this: acquire total control of the cards on both sides of the field, and then demoralize the opponent by abusing that control and preventing the potential threats from ever seeing the light of day.
Now, I will discuss each Pokémon’s specific purposes, aspects of the strategy directly related to each Pokémon, and other details pertinent to each Pokémon’s inclusion in the deck. I will not repeat the functions of each attack, Poké-Power, or Poké-Body for each Pokémon. The name of each Pokémon can be clicked on to view its card scan.
INDIVIDUAL ANALYSES: POKÉMON
Magnezone Lv.X is the core of the entire deck. It is the mother ship on the field. Protect it at all costs. It requires several turns of effort to put it into play, and mid game is not a point in the match when you want to have to deal with that. Electric Trans is the basis around which the entire strategy is based. Its Poké-Power, Electric Trans, allows you to give any of your Pokémon a Retreat Cost of 0 when used in combination with Magnezone DP-8’s Magnetize Poké-Body. It also allows you to keep your energy relatively safe by allowing you to keep them off of heavily damaged Pokémon. It also allows you to play attackers and immediately be able to use them. I really can’t name all of the uses of Electric Trans; they are endless. Magnezone Lv.X’s attack, Cyber Shock, is groundbreaking as well. It is important to know that the strategy of this deck is not to use Cyber Shock repeatedly for several turns to keep your opponent from using his/her Active Pokémon. I haven’t the energy acceleration for it. On the contrary, you want to use Cyber Shock sparingly, usually to set up a threat for Ampharos to finish it off. It can also be used to stall for a turn, if absolutely necessary.
Magnezone DP-8 is crucial to the strategy due to its Poké-Body, Magnetize. You will want to have either this Pokémon in play or Claydol in play as your first priority of the game, depending on your opening hand. The attack it possesses, Metal Blast, is often forgotten about by opponents. Late game, when you are likely to have four or five Metal Energy in play, it becomes a surprise game finisher that your opponent may not see coming. Don’t forget you have it. I use two Magnezone DP-8 and one Magnezone Lv.X rather than two Magnezone Lv.X and one each of Magnezone DP-8 and Magnezone SF-6 because it is much more consistent. It is imperative to the strategy of the deck that Magnezone DP-8 is in play quickly and consistently.
Magnezone SF-6 assumes the roll of a tech in this deck, which is the reason I have only one in the deck. Previously, I did not have any means of energy recycling besides Night Maintenance, and no more than that is necessary. Super Connectivity is an exceptional Poké-Power. With it, I can discard energy more freely than previously and losing energy that was attached to a knocked out Pokémon is not as much of a set back as it would be otherwise. Its attack, Gyro Ball, is very unique, and offers the ability to further preserve your resources and eliminate the opponent’s threats at the same time. By switching out after scoring a knock out, it takes the precious energy used for Gyro Ball with it to the safety of the bench. Just one more thing this Magnezone offers is its Lightning type. At this point in time, it is the only Lightning Magnezone available, and brings something to the table that the other Magnezones could not. Before moving on, I should note that I have not included this card in the Strategy Analysis because it is a tech. It is not meant to be its own part of the strategy, but it is present merely to augment the deck’s ability to carry out its strategy effectively.
Magneton is present in the deck mainly to evolve into Magnezone. I happen to use two because it is all that is necessary. If you happen to have one in play very early in the game, however, Magnetic Ray can also take the opponent by surprise. Again, do not forget you have it.
Magnemite can be used early if necessary. Again, there are three because that is all that is necessary. Metal Sound can be effective if you get the heads on the coin flip. Other than that, you want to evolve it as soon as possible.
Ampharos is a secondary attacker. It is part of the strategy indeed, but it is the lowest priority to have in play. I use two because it isn’t so important that I need three, but it is more important than a tech. Ampharos is the complement to Magnezone Lv.X that is most suitable for my strategy. Its Poké-Body Jamming can torment your opponent after you have eliminated the support Pokémon and he/she is forced to use Supporters frequently just to stay in the game. Cluster Bolt is an incredible attack, and I will cite some of its uses in the Strategy Analysis. Under any circumstances, you should try very hard to avoid discarding more than one Lightning Energy for the extra bench damage. Magnezone Lv.X helps to prevent that if you have the energy necessary in play. If you do not have the necessary energy in play, then I’d say discarding the energies is not worth it.
Flaaffy is nifty in that it can grant me early game energy acceleration with Attract Current, which is extremely valuable in this deck. I wouldn’t use Electromagnetic Kick that often, but it is there if it is convenient. There is only one present because I do not need more than that.
Mareep has a nifty attack as well in Thundershock. The potential to paralyze the opponent’s Active Pokémon from the first turn can be quite useful. I don’t think I have ever used Static Shock during the time I have used Mareep in this deck. I run two because I run two Ampharos.
Claydol has a pretty self explanatory use. It allows you to draw the extra cards using Cosmic Power. That is all that I shall say. I run two because it is important for setting up, but there is not sufficient space in the deck for me to run three.
Baltoy is sometimes started with, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Psychic Balance can be extremely useful, but try and avoid discarding energy to retreat it if you can get Magnezone DP-8 into play quickly. You must save as much energy early game as you can. I use two because it is the same number of Claydol that I use.
Palkia Lv.X is a sweet card in this deck. In my opinion, it is the single most effective application of Palkia Lv.X's Restructure Poké-Power currently available within the metagame. When combined with Magnetize and Electric Trans, this grants you the ability to choose any Pokémon on your opponent’s side of the field and bring it active as long as Palkia Lv.X is in play. It is the only card in the deck that allows you to manipulate your opponent’s side of the field. Palkia Lv.X is a main part of the strategy, which is atypical of common Magnezone Lv.X decks. Most decks run it in a 1-1 line just as an accessory when it is convenient. That is not the case with this deck. It needs to be in play for the strategy to function properly. That is why I run two and not one. When you want to Level Up to it while Palkia is on the bench, you will need to have a Switch in your hand. I will discuss the reason for this further in the analysis of Switch itself.
Palkia does not attack. Most of the time it sits on the bench until you bring it active to Level Up. I run two here for consistency and to match the number of Palkia Lv.X in the deck. Now, if you have the convenience of having it in your opening hand along with Palkia Lv.X, by all means, start with it. Having access to Restructure, even in the early game, is extremely useful.
Azelf is here because I need to be able to get Magnezone Lv.X out of the prizes early game. If you search through your deck in the start of a match and see that Magnezone Lv.X is in the prizes, Azelf becomes as high a priority to get into play as Magnezone Lv.X would. Other than the Time Walk Poké-Power, it serves no purpose. For this reason, only one copy is necessary.
INDIVIDUAL ANALYSES: TRAINERS, SUPPORTERS, AND STADIUMS
Only a few of these require in-depth explanation, as the uses of most of these are completely self-explanatory.
Premier Ball is useful in this deck for being able to get me either Lv.X at any moment I see fit. I would actually like to find room for one more if possible, because that can help me early game if I can draw Premier Ball in the early game more consistently.
Rare Candy is of course useful for getting Stage 2 Pokémon in play very quickly. I choose to run only three in this deck because I don’t want to be using them early on. I prefer to use TM TS-1 to get evolutions early, and then I will have Rare Candies saved for mid and late game when I cannot afford to interrupt my offensive campaign to use an Evoluter attack.
Switch is an important card in this deck for one reason: getting Palkia Lv.X into play. With Switch, I can Retreat my active Pokémon, granted it has a Metal Energy attached to it and Magnezone is in play, and send up Palkia. Then I Level Up, and use Restructure if I want to attack a Pokémon on the bench. After that, I will play Switch to send up Magnezone and Level Up to Magnezone Lv.X if I still need to. Now I can attack the new Active Pokémon I just brought up with Restructure. Without Switch in this situation, I would be forced to keep my opponent’s Restructure choice active with no way to get it to the bench. I run two because I absolutely must have it to safely Level Up to Palkia Lv.X from the bench, but I don’t run three because it becomes unnecessary after Palkia Lv.X and Magnezone Lv.X are both in play.
Technical Machine TS-1 is the starter for this deck. That is why I run four of them. It synergizes well in this deck where it is possible to start with several different Pokémon that cannot help you at the very beginning of the match. The Technical Machine turns these sub-par starts into favorable ones. I can start with Palkia knowing I can Level Up to Palkia Lv.X the next turn, and attach a TS-1 to it. Now my Palkia is a fine starter, and can set me on my way to evolving to all of the Pokémon that I need to get into play. Another nice thing about TS-1 is that I can attach them at anytime as the match progresses with no restriction. I never have to put them on the bottom of the deck via Cosmic Power, only to draw them again later on. Most other starters cannot do the same thing without costing a bench space. However, one minor drawback is that TS-1 cannot be used on the first turn if you start the match. Just be aware of that.
ENERGY ANALYSIS
I will summarize all of the energy here since an individual card analysis is not necessary. I find 16 to be the perfect number of energy for this deck. The energy do not crowd my hand for most of the game, but it almost always grants me energy every turn from the start of the game, which is crucial. That is frequently the chief determining factor in how fast I can begin attacking, whether or not I can have the sufficient energy in play to do so. That number is generally either three energies if I am going to use an attack that does not discard energy or four energies if I am going to use a Cyber Shock or Cluster Bolt with discard for spread. The idea behind that is that I don’t want to be in a situation where I am unable to keep up the offensive, and all of the attacks that I have for that purpose either require three energies or discard energy. As long as you avoid giving your opponent a free turn, you will be fine. Magnezone SF-6 can help immensely in this regard. As for which energy to attach, you should play mostly Metal Energy, while keeping one or two Lightning Energy in play for Ampharos and Cyber Shock. This is for making Metal Blast the surprise game finisher that it can be. Try to avoid discarding the Special Metal Energy as much as possible. If you know you are going to need to play a Metal Energy to discard with Cyber Shock, use a basic one.
That is all I will say about the energy cards in the deck. In regard to how to play your energy in this deck, the best way to learn is by doing it yourself. Note: it is possible to remove one of each color of Basic Energy for tech cards, but I recommend that you refrain from doing so until you are comfortable with the deck as it is and have experience using it.
STRATEGY ANALYSIS
I will start this analysis by repeating the general strategy as stated in the Introduction. The strategy, in general, is this: acquire total control of the cards on both sides of the field, and then demoralize your opponent by abusing that control and preventing the potential threats from ever seeing the light of day. At this point I should mention that when I say “potential threats,” that means anything that can or will threaten the livelihood of Magnezone Lv.X, Palkia Lv.X, or Claydol. Most of the time, that is keeping the opponent’s main attackers from seeing play. This can be done easily by using Palkia Lv.X’s Restructure to bring benched Pokémon active and knocking out that Pokémon by any means found to be most appropriate. When I say “demoralize,” I do not mean treat your opponent with disrespect or belittlement. What I mean by that is that you should use the abilities you have within the game to put your opponent in a hopeless state of mind. It affects one’s ability and desire to continue on in a match. The deck is designed to control almost everything the opponent can do during his/her turn through the manipulation of his/her Pokémon.
Now, there are numerous ways to go about doing this. A good way to start is to have a good early game setup. If your opening hand contains any Pokémon that can evolve, such as Magnemite, and Technical Machine TS-1, you are probably in good shape. This way, you can begin getting the evolution Pokémon in play quickly, and getting them all out is generally the most time consuming task. It is not necessarily difficult to do, but it requires numerous resources and a capacity for planning out the moves that are made in future turns. You are running a Stage 2 Lv.X, Stage 1, Basic Lv.X, and a second Stage 2 line in the strategy. It is a lot more than most decks out there. However, try to refrain from using the Rare Candy in the early game and exclusively accelerate evolutions with Technical Machine TS-1.
One of my favorite starts is Palkia with another Basic Pokémon that can evolve, a TM TS-1, and Palkia Lv.X. On the first turn that it is possible, TM TS-1 can be attached to Palkia to begin getting evolved Pokémon into play. On the second or third turn Palkia can be Leveled Up to Palkia Lv.X. Many times, people underestimate the difficulty of trying to operate in the early game whilst being manipulated with Restructure. If you can draw another TM TS-1, you don’t necessarily have to worry about what your opponent forces active with Restructure. TM TS-1 can be attached to that Pokémon to continue evolving Pokémon. In addition, having Palkia Lv.X in play early on like that makes the deck set up more smoothly and quickly. The start of the game is about getting Pokémon out there, and getting energy into play. The mid and late game is where the real fun begins.
In the strategy of the deck, you are using a great deal of different options to severely limit and control the opponent. It is important to know the specific capabilities of the deck so that can the most effective method to limit the opponent can be recognized. There are literally so many different things you can do with the Pokémon you use that you must learn all the different sorts of plays you can make. Basic ones include simply targeting the opponent’s benched Pokémon with Restructure and using Magnezone or Ampharos to knock them out. Doing this to a Claydol can be particularly effective, but you must be wary of the retaliation that is likely to follow from an opponent’s attacker. A play you can make to avoid that is to first use Magnezone Lv.X’s Cyber Shock on that attacker, thus bringing it within ten or twenty damage of being knocked out. Assuming your opponent’s Pokémon have previously suffered the effects of Ampharos’ Jamming Poké-Body once, his/her Claydol would then be within seventy damage of being knocked out. That would allow you to use Restructure to bring it active, and then knock it out with Ampharos’ Cluster Bolt attack. The discard of Lightning Energy for 20 damage to all of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon that have energy attached would then knock out that Pokémon you had used Cyber Shock on the previous turn as well, resulting in two knock outs in one turn. Being able to make this sort of play is Ampharos’ main purpose in this deck.
Another course of action you can take is to set up a Magnezone DP-8 with 2 or 3 Special Metal Energy attached, and simply use its Metal Blast attack repeatedly. The Special Metal Energies would make Magnezone extremely durable, which would give you plenty of time to be stockpiling energies on the field. When that Magnezone is eventually weakened to the point of nearly being knocked out, you can retreat it to the bench and send up a second Magnezone to Level Up to Magnezone Lv.X. At that point, you can use the energies you have been stockpiling to abuse Cyber Shock and Cluster Bolt. The more energy in play, the more freedom you have to use all of your Pokémon’s attacks to their fullest potential. This strategy is also good for allowing you to put large number of Metal Energies into play, which can provide you with a devastating Metal Blast in the late game. If you see your opponent struggling to set up during the early game, this strategy can be extremely effective, as it may take your opponent a great deal of time to inflict any serious damage on that heavily armored Magnezone.
For more strategy ideas than that, I will have to ask you to try it out and see what you can come up with. That is the best way to become familiar with using this deck and formulating strategies successfully.
POTENTIAL TECH IDEAS
Magnezone SF-5 can be substituted for Magnezone SF-6 if you prefer it, but I highly advise against doing that. I choose Magnezone SF-6 because it is better suited for being a tech than Magnezone SF-5 is. Magnezone SF-5 is used for getting set up in the early and mid game. A tech is not a reliable source of early game set up. In addition, its attacks do nothing that the deck wasn’t capable of doing itself one way or another. Palkia Lv.X can use Restructure do bring any of the opponent’s Pokémon active, which eliminates the need to be able to attack just the bench. Magnezone DP-8 can easily exceed eighty damage with Metal Blast, and it doesn’t discard energy.
Luxray LA can be used as a 1-0-1 tech if your area is filled with Lv.X based decks such as AMU and other Magnezone Lv.X decks. It can also work beautifully with either of the two Magnezones from Stormfront.
Bastiodon MT can be used as a 1-0-1 as well. I have only heard about success with this card in Magnezone Lv.X decks, and have not done my own personal testing with it. However, it would appear to be just the Pokémon to switch to after using Magnezone SF-6’s Gyro Ball. The protection of the bench can be extremely useful against most spread decks, and vital to the success of this deck against contemporary Magmortar decks.
Blissey MT can be used as another alternate attacker and simultaneous energy recycler. I have only read of this use, and I have not witnessed it firsthand by any means. I present it here for readers to provide their insight on what this can actually do in this deck.
Electivire DP/SW/Lv.Xis used in various combinations as a primary source of energy recycling in many Magnezone Lv.X decks. I have been informed that it can be used as a tech for guarding against Stadiums and Tools as well. Again, I open this to the readers to tell me of firsthand accounts of this combination’s abilities as a tech in a Magnezone Lv.X deck of an atypical nature.
Unown G can provide just that sort of protection that you need against certain decks, such as Froslass and Dusknoir. Don’t forget that it does not interfere with the TM TS-1s in play already, as those are not Tools. This is largely a metagame choice, but including one in this deck can be a safe decision.
One last thing to note in this section is about what I said at the end of the Energy Analysis. It is possible to remove one Basic Metal Energy and one Basic Lightning Energy for making changes. Those are the two most variable cards there are in the deck. I have been experimenting with things that may improve the deck over those two energy cards. Right now I am using Luxury Ball and a second Premier Ball, and it has been very effective.
Feel free to inform me of any other techs that I may have missed and I will evaluate and include them here as warranted.
CONCLUSION
This deck can be difficult to set up and requires practice, but it provides you such a vast arsenal of moves and abilities that it can be a lot of fun. I use this deck because it is able to deal with just about every deck thrown at it, and it has many different methods for dealing with each of those decks. I admire this deck, and also Magnezone Lv.X specifically, because it can teach you a great deal of Pokémon strategy, basic and advanced. If you are struggling to learn how to strategize in Pokémon, you can pick up this deck, and if you learn to play it, you can teach yourself how to strategize. Because there are so many options within the scope of the deck’s general strategy that you can try something, see whether or not it works, and then try something else in various situations to find what is successful. Through this trial and error sort of process, you can eventually learn why and how different strategies work. After some time, it will eventually become natural to you. I also like that anyone can pick this deck up and come up with strategies that are completely different from the ones I supplied above. It is completely different for everyone, depending on each player’s individual style. I like to equate it to playing music. Anyone can play a certain song, but each person plays it differently according to their personal style and taste. Now if you have read this far, I thank you sincerely for your time, I am sure you took a lot of it reading this very long article. Good luck with Project: Paralyze.
Project: Paralyze
POKÉMON: 23
1 : Magnezone Lv.X, LA-142
2 : Magnezone, DP-8
1 : Magnezone, SF-6
2 : Magneton, DP-54
3 : Magnemite, DP-87
2 : Ampharos, SW-1
1 : Flaaffy, SW-50
2 : Mareep, SW-94
2 : Claydol, GE-15
2 : Baltoy, GE-60
2 : Palkia Lv.X, GE-106
2 : Palkia, GE-26
1 : Azelf, LA-19
SUPPORTERS/TRAINERS/STADIUMS: 21
1 : Night Maintenance
1 : Premier Ball
3 : Rare Candy
2 : Switch
4 : Roseanne's Research
4 : Bebe's Search
2 : Team Galactic's Wager
4 : Technical Machine TS-1
ENERGY: 16
4 : Special Metal Energy
6 : Basic Metal Energy
6 : Lightning Energy
INTRODUCTION
I will begin the main portion of the article here with just a general explanation of the strategy. I will delve deeper in to the nuances of it after I have completed the individual card analyses. Now, I know most of the typical Magnezone decks around include only a 1-1 Palkia Lv.X line, if any. I incorporate a 2-2 line for Palkia Lv.X because it is a core piece of the strategy. I find the 1-1 line to be extremely difficult to put into play quickly and consistently, and the strategy can not fully function properly without Palkia Lv.X in play. The strategy, in general, is this: acquire total control of the cards on both sides of the field, and then demoralize the opponent by abusing that control and preventing the potential threats from ever seeing the light of day.
Now, I will discuss each Pokémon’s specific purposes, aspects of the strategy directly related to each Pokémon, and other details pertinent to each Pokémon’s inclusion in the deck. I will not repeat the functions of each attack, Poké-Power, or Poké-Body for each Pokémon. The name of each Pokémon can be clicked on to view its card scan.
INDIVIDUAL ANALYSES: POKÉMON
Magnezone Lv.X is the core of the entire deck. It is the mother ship on the field. Protect it at all costs. It requires several turns of effort to put it into play, and mid game is not a point in the match when you want to have to deal with that. Electric Trans is the basis around which the entire strategy is based. Its Poké-Power, Electric Trans, allows you to give any of your Pokémon a Retreat Cost of 0 when used in combination with Magnezone DP-8’s Magnetize Poké-Body. It also allows you to keep your energy relatively safe by allowing you to keep them off of heavily damaged Pokémon. It also allows you to play attackers and immediately be able to use them. I really can’t name all of the uses of Electric Trans; they are endless. Magnezone Lv.X’s attack, Cyber Shock, is groundbreaking as well. It is important to know that the strategy of this deck is not to use Cyber Shock repeatedly for several turns to keep your opponent from using his/her Active Pokémon. I haven’t the energy acceleration for it. On the contrary, you want to use Cyber Shock sparingly, usually to set up a threat for Ampharos to finish it off. It can also be used to stall for a turn, if absolutely necessary.
Magnezone DP-8 is crucial to the strategy due to its Poké-Body, Magnetize. You will want to have either this Pokémon in play or Claydol in play as your first priority of the game, depending on your opening hand. The attack it possesses, Metal Blast, is often forgotten about by opponents. Late game, when you are likely to have four or five Metal Energy in play, it becomes a surprise game finisher that your opponent may not see coming. Don’t forget you have it. I use two Magnezone DP-8 and one Magnezone Lv.X rather than two Magnezone Lv.X and one each of Magnezone DP-8 and Magnezone SF-6 because it is much more consistent. It is imperative to the strategy of the deck that Magnezone DP-8 is in play quickly and consistently.
Magnezone SF-6 assumes the roll of a tech in this deck, which is the reason I have only one in the deck. Previously, I did not have any means of energy recycling besides Night Maintenance, and no more than that is necessary. Super Connectivity is an exceptional Poké-Power. With it, I can discard energy more freely than previously and losing energy that was attached to a knocked out Pokémon is not as much of a set back as it would be otherwise. Its attack, Gyro Ball, is very unique, and offers the ability to further preserve your resources and eliminate the opponent’s threats at the same time. By switching out after scoring a knock out, it takes the precious energy used for Gyro Ball with it to the safety of the bench. Just one more thing this Magnezone offers is its Lightning type. At this point in time, it is the only Lightning Magnezone available, and brings something to the table that the other Magnezones could not. Before moving on, I should note that I have not included this card in the Strategy Analysis because it is a tech. It is not meant to be its own part of the strategy, but it is present merely to augment the deck’s ability to carry out its strategy effectively.
Magneton is present in the deck mainly to evolve into Magnezone. I happen to use two because it is all that is necessary. If you happen to have one in play very early in the game, however, Magnetic Ray can also take the opponent by surprise. Again, do not forget you have it.
Magnemite can be used early if necessary. Again, there are three because that is all that is necessary. Metal Sound can be effective if you get the heads on the coin flip. Other than that, you want to evolve it as soon as possible.
Ampharos is a secondary attacker. It is part of the strategy indeed, but it is the lowest priority to have in play. I use two because it isn’t so important that I need three, but it is more important than a tech. Ampharos is the complement to Magnezone Lv.X that is most suitable for my strategy. Its Poké-Body Jamming can torment your opponent after you have eliminated the support Pokémon and he/she is forced to use Supporters frequently just to stay in the game. Cluster Bolt is an incredible attack, and I will cite some of its uses in the Strategy Analysis. Under any circumstances, you should try very hard to avoid discarding more than one Lightning Energy for the extra bench damage. Magnezone Lv.X helps to prevent that if you have the energy necessary in play. If you do not have the necessary energy in play, then I’d say discarding the energies is not worth it.
Flaaffy is nifty in that it can grant me early game energy acceleration with Attract Current, which is extremely valuable in this deck. I wouldn’t use Electromagnetic Kick that often, but it is there if it is convenient. There is only one present because I do not need more than that.
Mareep has a nifty attack as well in Thundershock. The potential to paralyze the opponent’s Active Pokémon from the first turn can be quite useful. I don’t think I have ever used Static Shock during the time I have used Mareep in this deck. I run two because I run two Ampharos.
Claydol has a pretty self explanatory use. It allows you to draw the extra cards using Cosmic Power. That is all that I shall say. I run two because it is important for setting up, but there is not sufficient space in the deck for me to run three.
Baltoy is sometimes started with, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Psychic Balance can be extremely useful, but try and avoid discarding energy to retreat it if you can get Magnezone DP-8 into play quickly. You must save as much energy early game as you can. I use two because it is the same number of Claydol that I use.
Palkia Lv.X is a sweet card in this deck. In my opinion, it is the single most effective application of Palkia Lv.X's Restructure Poké-Power currently available within the metagame. When combined with Magnetize and Electric Trans, this grants you the ability to choose any Pokémon on your opponent’s side of the field and bring it active as long as Palkia Lv.X is in play. It is the only card in the deck that allows you to manipulate your opponent’s side of the field. Palkia Lv.X is a main part of the strategy, which is atypical of common Magnezone Lv.X decks. Most decks run it in a 1-1 line just as an accessory when it is convenient. That is not the case with this deck. It needs to be in play for the strategy to function properly. That is why I run two and not one. When you want to Level Up to it while Palkia is on the bench, you will need to have a Switch in your hand. I will discuss the reason for this further in the analysis of Switch itself.
Palkia does not attack. Most of the time it sits on the bench until you bring it active to Level Up. I run two here for consistency and to match the number of Palkia Lv.X in the deck. Now, if you have the convenience of having it in your opening hand along with Palkia Lv.X, by all means, start with it. Having access to Restructure, even in the early game, is extremely useful.
Azelf is here because I need to be able to get Magnezone Lv.X out of the prizes early game. If you search through your deck in the start of a match and see that Magnezone Lv.X is in the prizes, Azelf becomes as high a priority to get into play as Magnezone Lv.X would. Other than the Time Walk Poké-Power, it serves no purpose. For this reason, only one copy is necessary.
INDIVIDUAL ANALYSES: TRAINERS, SUPPORTERS, AND STADIUMS
Only a few of these require in-depth explanation, as the uses of most of these are completely self-explanatory.
Premier Ball is useful in this deck for being able to get me either Lv.X at any moment I see fit. I would actually like to find room for one more if possible, because that can help me early game if I can draw Premier Ball in the early game more consistently.
Rare Candy is of course useful for getting Stage 2 Pokémon in play very quickly. I choose to run only three in this deck because I don’t want to be using them early on. I prefer to use TM TS-1 to get evolutions early, and then I will have Rare Candies saved for mid and late game when I cannot afford to interrupt my offensive campaign to use an Evoluter attack.
Switch is an important card in this deck for one reason: getting Palkia Lv.X into play. With Switch, I can Retreat my active Pokémon, granted it has a Metal Energy attached to it and Magnezone is in play, and send up Palkia. Then I Level Up, and use Restructure if I want to attack a Pokémon on the bench. After that, I will play Switch to send up Magnezone and Level Up to Magnezone Lv.X if I still need to. Now I can attack the new Active Pokémon I just brought up with Restructure. Without Switch in this situation, I would be forced to keep my opponent’s Restructure choice active with no way to get it to the bench. I run two because I absolutely must have it to safely Level Up to Palkia Lv.X from the bench, but I don’t run three because it becomes unnecessary after Palkia Lv.X and Magnezone Lv.X are both in play.
Technical Machine TS-1 is the starter for this deck. That is why I run four of them. It synergizes well in this deck where it is possible to start with several different Pokémon that cannot help you at the very beginning of the match. The Technical Machine turns these sub-par starts into favorable ones. I can start with Palkia knowing I can Level Up to Palkia Lv.X the next turn, and attach a TS-1 to it. Now my Palkia is a fine starter, and can set me on my way to evolving to all of the Pokémon that I need to get into play. Another nice thing about TS-1 is that I can attach them at anytime as the match progresses with no restriction. I never have to put them on the bottom of the deck via Cosmic Power, only to draw them again later on. Most other starters cannot do the same thing without costing a bench space. However, one minor drawback is that TS-1 cannot be used on the first turn if you start the match. Just be aware of that.
ENERGY ANALYSIS
I will summarize all of the energy here since an individual card analysis is not necessary. I find 16 to be the perfect number of energy for this deck. The energy do not crowd my hand for most of the game, but it almost always grants me energy every turn from the start of the game, which is crucial. That is frequently the chief determining factor in how fast I can begin attacking, whether or not I can have the sufficient energy in play to do so. That number is generally either three energies if I am going to use an attack that does not discard energy or four energies if I am going to use a Cyber Shock or Cluster Bolt with discard for spread. The idea behind that is that I don’t want to be in a situation where I am unable to keep up the offensive, and all of the attacks that I have for that purpose either require three energies or discard energy. As long as you avoid giving your opponent a free turn, you will be fine. Magnezone SF-6 can help immensely in this regard. As for which energy to attach, you should play mostly Metal Energy, while keeping one or two Lightning Energy in play for Ampharos and Cyber Shock. This is for making Metal Blast the surprise game finisher that it can be. Try to avoid discarding the Special Metal Energy as much as possible. If you know you are going to need to play a Metal Energy to discard with Cyber Shock, use a basic one.
That is all I will say about the energy cards in the deck. In regard to how to play your energy in this deck, the best way to learn is by doing it yourself. Note: it is possible to remove one of each color of Basic Energy for tech cards, but I recommend that you refrain from doing so until you are comfortable with the deck as it is and have experience using it.
STRATEGY ANALYSIS
I will start this analysis by repeating the general strategy as stated in the Introduction. The strategy, in general, is this: acquire total control of the cards on both sides of the field, and then demoralize your opponent by abusing that control and preventing the potential threats from ever seeing the light of day. At this point I should mention that when I say “potential threats,” that means anything that can or will threaten the livelihood of Magnezone Lv.X, Palkia Lv.X, or Claydol. Most of the time, that is keeping the opponent’s main attackers from seeing play. This can be done easily by using Palkia Lv.X’s Restructure to bring benched Pokémon active and knocking out that Pokémon by any means found to be most appropriate. When I say “demoralize,” I do not mean treat your opponent with disrespect or belittlement. What I mean by that is that you should use the abilities you have within the game to put your opponent in a hopeless state of mind. It affects one’s ability and desire to continue on in a match. The deck is designed to control almost everything the opponent can do during his/her turn through the manipulation of his/her Pokémon.
Now, there are numerous ways to go about doing this. A good way to start is to have a good early game setup. If your opening hand contains any Pokémon that can evolve, such as Magnemite, and Technical Machine TS-1, you are probably in good shape. This way, you can begin getting the evolution Pokémon in play quickly, and getting them all out is generally the most time consuming task. It is not necessarily difficult to do, but it requires numerous resources and a capacity for planning out the moves that are made in future turns. You are running a Stage 2 Lv.X, Stage 1, Basic Lv.X, and a second Stage 2 line in the strategy. It is a lot more than most decks out there. However, try to refrain from using the Rare Candy in the early game and exclusively accelerate evolutions with Technical Machine TS-1.
One of my favorite starts is Palkia with another Basic Pokémon that can evolve, a TM TS-1, and Palkia Lv.X. On the first turn that it is possible, TM TS-1 can be attached to Palkia to begin getting evolved Pokémon into play. On the second or third turn Palkia can be Leveled Up to Palkia Lv.X. Many times, people underestimate the difficulty of trying to operate in the early game whilst being manipulated with Restructure. If you can draw another TM TS-1, you don’t necessarily have to worry about what your opponent forces active with Restructure. TM TS-1 can be attached to that Pokémon to continue evolving Pokémon. In addition, having Palkia Lv.X in play early on like that makes the deck set up more smoothly and quickly. The start of the game is about getting Pokémon out there, and getting energy into play. The mid and late game is where the real fun begins.
In the strategy of the deck, you are using a great deal of different options to severely limit and control the opponent. It is important to know the specific capabilities of the deck so that can the most effective method to limit the opponent can be recognized. There are literally so many different things you can do with the Pokémon you use that you must learn all the different sorts of plays you can make. Basic ones include simply targeting the opponent’s benched Pokémon with Restructure and using Magnezone or Ampharos to knock them out. Doing this to a Claydol can be particularly effective, but you must be wary of the retaliation that is likely to follow from an opponent’s attacker. A play you can make to avoid that is to first use Magnezone Lv.X’s Cyber Shock on that attacker, thus bringing it within ten or twenty damage of being knocked out. Assuming your opponent’s Pokémon have previously suffered the effects of Ampharos’ Jamming Poké-Body once, his/her Claydol would then be within seventy damage of being knocked out. That would allow you to use Restructure to bring it active, and then knock it out with Ampharos’ Cluster Bolt attack. The discard of Lightning Energy for 20 damage to all of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon that have energy attached would then knock out that Pokémon you had used Cyber Shock on the previous turn as well, resulting in two knock outs in one turn. Being able to make this sort of play is Ampharos’ main purpose in this deck.
Another course of action you can take is to set up a Magnezone DP-8 with 2 or 3 Special Metal Energy attached, and simply use its Metal Blast attack repeatedly. The Special Metal Energies would make Magnezone extremely durable, which would give you plenty of time to be stockpiling energies on the field. When that Magnezone is eventually weakened to the point of nearly being knocked out, you can retreat it to the bench and send up a second Magnezone to Level Up to Magnezone Lv.X. At that point, you can use the energies you have been stockpiling to abuse Cyber Shock and Cluster Bolt. The more energy in play, the more freedom you have to use all of your Pokémon’s attacks to their fullest potential. This strategy is also good for allowing you to put large number of Metal Energies into play, which can provide you with a devastating Metal Blast in the late game. If you see your opponent struggling to set up during the early game, this strategy can be extremely effective, as it may take your opponent a great deal of time to inflict any serious damage on that heavily armored Magnezone.
For more strategy ideas than that, I will have to ask you to try it out and see what you can come up with. That is the best way to become familiar with using this deck and formulating strategies successfully.
POTENTIAL TECH IDEAS
Magnezone SF-5 can be substituted for Magnezone SF-6 if you prefer it, but I highly advise against doing that. I choose Magnezone SF-6 because it is better suited for being a tech than Magnezone SF-5 is. Magnezone SF-5 is used for getting set up in the early and mid game. A tech is not a reliable source of early game set up. In addition, its attacks do nothing that the deck wasn’t capable of doing itself one way or another. Palkia Lv.X can use Restructure do bring any of the opponent’s Pokémon active, which eliminates the need to be able to attack just the bench. Magnezone DP-8 can easily exceed eighty damage with Metal Blast, and it doesn’t discard energy.
Luxray LA can be used as a 1-0-1 tech if your area is filled with Lv.X based decks such as AMU and other Magnezone Lv.X decks. It can also work beautifully with either of the two Magnezones from Stormfront.
Bastiodon MT can be used as a 1-0-1 as well. I have only heard about success with this card in Magnezone Lv.X decks, and have not done my own personal testing with it. However, it would appear to be just the Pokémon to switch to after using Magnezone SF-6’s Gyro Ball. The protection of the bench can be extremely useful against most spread decks, and vital to the success of this deck against contemporary Magmortar decks.
Blissey MT can be used as another alternate attacker and simultaneous energy recycler. I have only read of this use, and I have not witnessed it firsthand by any means. I present it here for readers to provide their insight on what this can actually do in this deck.
Electivire DP/SW/Lv.Xis used in various combinations as a primary source of energy recycling in many Magnezone Lv.X decks. I have been informed that it can be used as a tech for guarding against Stadiums and Tools as well. Again, I open this to the readers to tell me of firsthand accounts of this combination’s abilities as a tech in a Magnezone Lv.X deck of an atypical nature.
Unown G can provide just that sort of protection that you need against certain decks, such as Froslass and Dusknoir. Don’t forget that it does not interfere with the TM TS-1s in play already, as those are not Tools. This is largely a metagame choice, but including one in this deck can be a safe decision.
One last thing to note in this section is about what I said at the end of the Energy Analysis. It is possible to remove one Basic Metal Energy and one Basic Lightning Energy for making changes. Those are the two most variable cards there are in the deck. I have been experimenting with things that may improve the deck over those two energy cards. Right now I am using Luxury Ball and a second Premier Ball, and it has been very effective.
Feel free to inform me of any other techs that I may have missed and I will evaluate and include them here as warranted.
CONCLUSION
This deck can be difficult to set up and requires practice, but it provides you such a vast arsenal of moves and abilities that it can be a lot of fun. I use this deck because it is able to deal with just about every deck thrown at it, and it has many different methods for dealing with each of those decks. I admire this deck, and also Magnezone Lv.X specifically, because it can teach you a great deal of Pokémon strategy, basic and advanced. If you are struggling to learn how to strategize in Pokémon, you can pick up this deck, and if you learn to play it, you can teach yourself how to strategize. Because there are so many options within the scope of the deck’s general strategy that you can try something, see whether or not it works, and then try something else in various situations to find what is successful. Through this trial and error sort of process, you can eventually learn why and how different strategies work. After some time, it will eventually become natural to you. I also like that anyone can pick this deck up and come up with strategies that are completely different from the ones I supplied above. It is completely different for everyone, depending on each player’s individual style. I like to equate it to playing music. Anyone can play a certain song, but each person plays it differently according to their personal style and taste. Now if you have read this far, I thank you sincerely for your time, I am sure you took a lot of it reading this very long article. Good luck with Project: Paralyze.
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