JBowroxmysox
New Member
Since the release of SP Pokemon in the revolutionary set of Platinum, the Galactic Pokemon Palkia and Dialga G have ravaged the metagame (Dialga, not so much recently, but this article isn't about him, is it? lol). Palkia, unlike its Dragon friend Dialga, has stayed immensely popular due to all the combos made possible by the power Lost Cyclone, the primary driving force behind this deck. Through use of the powerful Team Galactic Inventions, its powerful attacks, and synergy-driven combos with Lost Cyclone, Palkia claims its spot as one of the top decks in the format, and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon.
Deck Name: Palkia Lock
Author Name: Andy Meier
Date: 12 October 2009
Format: DP-SV
Latest Set: Platinum: Arceus
THE LIST:
23 Pokemon
3 Palkia G PT12
1 Palkia G LV.X PT125
1 Luxray GL RR9
1 Luxray GL LV.X RR109
2 Crobat G PT45
1 Bronzong G PT41
1 Toxicroak G PR41
3 Uxie LA43
1 Uxie LV.X LA146
4 Mesprit LA34
1 Azelf LA19
1 Azelf MT3
2 Unown (G) GE
1 Chatot MD55
12 Energy
4 Call MD
5 Water
2 Lightning
1 Psychic
25 Supporters/Trainers/Stadiums
4 Cyrus's Conspiracy PT
4 Roseanne's Research SW
1 Bebe's Search RR
1 Aaron's Collection RR
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-101 Energy Gain PT
4 Team Galactic's Invention G-105 Poke Turn PT
3 Team Galactic's Invention G-103 Power Spray PT
2 Team Galactic's Invention G-109 SP Radar RR
1 Night Maintenance SW
1 Luxury Ball SF
ANALYSIS:
POKEMON
3 Palkia G
Palkia G is the most important card in the deck, and makes it what it is. It starts off with a good type, Water, unresisted by all popular Pokemon and landing Weakness on a few important ones, notably Infernape, Blaziken, and the upcoming Charizard. It has a terrible Weakness to Lightning, possibly the most popular attacking type in the game right now due to Luxray GL LV.X. However, that concern will be covered later. His bulky retreat cost is mitigated by the useful Splashing Turn and Poke Turn, so it's not too bad. Lastly before we move on to attacks, we must look at Palkia's highly impressive HP. 100 means that nothing will be KO'ing him easily without Weakness, save cards like Gyarados. Next, the fun part. Splashing Turn is an immensely useful move, dealing 20 for a Water and an Energy Gain and returning Palkia to the safety of the bench. Considering that it is critical to have Palkia LV.X is play, this is a great ability to keep your Pink-Space Dragon safe. His harder hitting move, Pearl Breath, is even better. 50 is nothing to sneeze at, especially when its dealing 10 to the entire bench at the same time. Due to the Power-Lock that this deck is known for, it's really easy to string three or four Pearl Breaths together, dealing massive damage to everything your opponent has in play. Considering that the attack can start by T2 by way of Energy Gain, it becomes even more of a threat. Needless to say, his excellent type, attacks, and bulky HP make Palkia difficult to deal with even when it's not Leveled-Up.
1 Palkia G LV.X
Here is the driving force of the deck. His power is useful for many reasons, and I really can't do justice to its incredible utility in one Paragraph. Lost Cyclone basically lets both players keep three Benched Pokemon each time you use it; the rest are sent out of the game. The main two uses for this power are 1) To limit your opponent's bench to three, keeping them off-balance (Beedrill, anyone?) and more importantly, 2) To limit your bench and send the now-useless cards out of play, where you no longer need to deal with them. This effectively means that you have INFINITE bench space. All those Pokemon that you once saw and said, "That's cute, but not worth the bench space," suddenly have a great place to be played. Stuff like LA Mesprit, 2+Uxies, Giratina PT, Azelf, and techs that you may not need now can be sent out of play to keep them from cluttering your hand for the infinite Uxies you can now play. And that's without even going into his awesome attack! Hydro Shot is an amazing attack, it takes just one more Energy than Pearl Breath, so you can use Pearl Breaths for a couple turns and just attach one more Energy and shoot down anything. It may discard two Energy, but it's often worth it to kill off or severely weaken anything in play (coughcoughCLAYDOLcough haha). Plus, if you Hydro Shot and survive the next turn, you can move the Energy off of Palkia with Bronzong and Poke Turn it, allowing two Lost Cyclones that turn as well. Keep in mind, though Hydro Shot is a really good attack, it's definitely not the focus of the deck. Most of the time, it will be used twice during a game, maximum. On top of its awesome abilities, Palkia gains more survivability by Leveling-Up as it gains 20 HP. Not a huge deal, but it does make the difference between a one-hit Knock Out, two-hit Knock Out, or three-hit Knock Out often. Regardless, Lost Cyclone is ridiculously powerful and tied with Hydro Shot to provide insane disruption for the deck.
1 Luxray GL
Ahhh...Luxray GL. What can be said about him that most of y'all don't already know? He's mainly used to Level-Up into his ridiculous Level X, but he is capable of performing important functions in the deck by himself. He is another great start for the deck, as it's exceptionally easy to get a Turn-2 Level X out, and Bite on T1 can push your opponent faster than they wish to go. Trash Bolt is a powerful 70 for two, the most powerful two Energy attack in the deck. Beyond that, Luxray also covers Lightning as another Weakness you are able to pick on. Metal Resistance is useful for fighting Dialga G, and his Weakness basically says "Don't let Machamp attack me even if I have an Unown (G)!!!"
1 Luxray GL LV.X
Best power in the game at the moment. Bright Look has become one of the most common phrases that can be heard in tournaments nowadays, right up there with Cosmic Power and Setup. Dragging up ANYTHING you want and hitting it for an easy and almost-costless 60 is awesome in any format. Free Retreat is awesome too, permitting flexibility on what you want to do to the Bright Look victim. Perfect combinations with Poke Turn, a one-Energy attack for 60, and a game-changing power all combine in this single card to make something that needs to be in every SP deck in the format. He's just too good.
2 Crobat G
This one should be pretty self-explanatory, as well. A damage counter ANYWHERE on the board, every time this guy gets played, which can be up to 6 times in this deck (putting it down twice, then Poke Turning four times). He also has many other admirable qualities, thought that's the main reason he gets played. Free retreat, a cool attack, and Fighting Resistance are all awesome with him. Free retreat makes him yet another desirable starter, as he allows flexibility with who you attack with first, and can soak up the first blow or two that your opponent throws at you. His Toxic Fang, though rarely used, breaks Deafen locks, locks opposing Toxicroaks, can force Poke Turns due to the lingering Poison, etcetera. When he has an Unown attached against Machamp, you can use Uxie for 50, bring up Crobat G, and force out the Level X (which may not even KO if they only get one heads) or hope to get 4 heads on Hurricane Punch. As if I already hadn't covered the card sufficeintly already, he also makes good starts far more consistent than they otherwise would be. For example, if you have a Crobat G and Call Energy start, then you may want to go with that over almost anything else in the deck. Crobat G's free retreat allows you to search for Bronzong G and Palkia G. Then, next turn, Galactic Switch the Call over to Palkia, attach a Water and Energy Gain, and swing for 50 while setting up further. Crobat G just oozes playability in SP decks universally.
1 Bronzong G
Bronzong G is a really useful card as well, not as universally as Crobat G, but still very cool. His power, Galactic Switch, gives the uinique ability to move one Energy off of an SP Pokemon onto any other Pokemon. The fact that this ability can be fetched by Roseanne's Research and SP-Radar boosts its utility quite a bit as well. And the minute it stops being useful, you can Lost Zone it away! You may wonder why I haven't mentioned its drawback of two damage counters each time you use it, and that would be because it's almost never important with resources like Lost Cyclone and Poke Turn, and the fact that Bronzong should almost never be in the Active position. Overall, a very cool card.
1 Toxicroak G
This guy is our answer to opposing Lightning Pokemon that try and take advantage of Palkia G and Crobat G's Weakness. After anything is Knocked Out, Toxicroak G swings a fast [P]+Energy Gain for 60 and Poison, or more to those who have Weakness to Fighting. This immediately can bring the advantage and momentum lost by losing a Pokemon back into your favor. To compliment his obvious use as a One-Hit-Wonder, he has a power that acts like your TGI G-105, a built-in Super Scoop Up whenever he's active. Make sure that you still have a Poke Turn on hand, in case you get tails!
3 Uxie LA
Alright, here we go with the engine of the deck. Uxie is the arguably the most abusable card in the current format. Every time that you play Uxie to your bench, you can draw until you have seven cards in hand. No drawbacks, no catches, it's absolutely free. In SP decks, it's pretty simple to play down a few Basics, an Energy, and draw 4-6 cards, still being able to use a Supporter. Thats about the easiest and most efficient draw in the format. And the bench space issue? As said in Palkia's description, that's no problem in this deck. He's highly searchable, relatively durable at 70 HP, and carries only a [C] of retreat cost. Beyond that, he has an awesome attack as well. Psychic Restore does 20 for an Energy of any color and has the cool option to return Uxie to the bottom of the deck, ready to be reused again! Plus, against Machamp, you can use this attack to deal 50 to a Champ (or 120 if it's Leveled-Up) and return Uxie to the bottom. When you do, bring up a Crobat with an Unown (G) and wall the Champ for a turn! Uxie is just too cool! There's not another way to say it, and in addition, I honestly don't know how to do justice to Uxie's amazing...amazingness! Haha
1 Uxie LV.X
As if Uxie didn't already have it all, Leveling him Up grants two new useful abilities. Trade-Off, another free power, allows what amounts to a free PokedexHandy every turn. This can accelerate towards that Night Maintenance, Poke Turn, Mesprit, etcetera; very useful. Also, he gains a new, more effective attack in Zen Blade. It may have the minor drawback of not allowing an additional use next turn, but a fast 60 can change a game, and Uxie LV.X allows a Palkia Lock player to cover Psychic-weak Pokemon as well. Uxie LV.X just upgrades everything already good about the regular Uxie, and who couldn't like that!
4 Mesprit LA
Pinky here is the reason that Palkia Lock exists, hence why there's four. Psychic Bind is a cute power when you first look at it, but everybody knows that power locks are most effective when strung together for turns on end. And how are you gonna do that with a Pokemon that's essentially useless after you lay it down? As you should probably already know, the answer is, or course, Palkia G LV.X. Multiple Mesprits can be played with no penalty to yourself, and your opponent will pull their hair out after just a couple turns of Psychic Binding, let alone four followed by Power Sprays. The interaction between Mesprit and Palkia is just too good to be ignored in a format that is completely power-driven. The power of this card in this deck is simply sickening, in a good way. Starting with him will be frustrating, yes, but a single [C] retreat cost makes it bearable at least.
1 Azelf LA
There's a bunch of important Pokemon in the deck, if you haven't noticed, notably Palkia G LV.X and Luxray GL LV.X. Azelf is the only card in the game that lets you delve into your prizes and pull something out at will. And in this deck, he can be used without consequence because of Lost Cyclone. Without that drawback, there is asolutely no reason to not use a copy.
1 Azelf MT
This is the "bad" Azelf, compared with the one above. This one has been largely ignored since its release, save from AMU. Why use it here? If you'll notice that we utilize many copies of both Mesprit and Uxie here, then look to a format where Basic Pokemon are excellent attackers, you realize the time is perfect for a card like Azelf in here. He easily locks off many SP attacks and forces Energy Gain on all of them if they want their attackers to be even decently priced. Just look at Palkia up there! I wouldn't wanna pay three Energies for Pearl Breath, ever!
2 Unown (G) GE
The quintessential card in SP decks, let alone the rest of the metagame. Unown here allows you to stay safe from Gengar getting cheap prizes with Shadow Room, Flygon trapping in the deck, and most importantly, Machamp's Take Out attack that scares many players in the game now. He's just a great card in general, as he can't take up hand space due to being able to be attached easily, and he can even donk people with Hidden Power, if you are unfortunate enough to start with him.
1 Chatot MD
This guy is one of the most popular one-of cards in the game, as he gets around brutal power locks (you know, like the ones this deck can do) and allows you to hide behind a no-energy wall while you look for what you need. Chatot may be this deck's worst enemy, but at the same time he helps you get to your power cards under dire circumstances. Too good not to use, in my opinion.
ENERGY
4 Call Energy
Call Energy belongs in every deck in the game, save Beedrill and Kingdra and other obscure low-energy decks. It turns any start into a good start. You can search for SP's to start setting up the Level X's, Chatot to refresh your hand, or get a fast Power Spray setup. And at the same time, it can be used as useful Energy at any point in the game. Use 4, or you might get pointed at and whispered about for using less. Seriously.
5 Water
I'm not gonna explain why the basic Energy is needed, but I will explain the numbers. Hydro Shot's discard makes it more comfortable to run more Water Energies, as you usually have to discard them for the attack. Five is just a comfortable number, as it allows you to get a couple Hydro's off and still have a decent amount of Energy.
2 Lightning
Honestly, 2 Lightning's are here due to my phobia that I'll need to attack with Luxray but have one prized and therefore be forced to Bite instead of Flash Impact, which will rarely kill or even dent anything. Besides, it's not like you need more Waters or Psychics.
1 Psychic
The difference between Psychic and Lightning counts is that Psychic is always used later on rather than abusing a fast Luxray on Turn Two. It allows Toxicroak G to KO stuff (mainly Luxray), so it's needed.
TRAINERS
4 Cyrus's Conspiracy
The heart and soul of the SP's existence. I'd like to think that Cyrus's Conspiracy's text is enough to explain it's overwhelming awesomeness, but I digress. First, you grab a Supporter. Be it another Cyrus to start a chain, Roseanne's to grab attackers or pixies, or Aaron's to get back a discarded SP or Energy, Cyrus is your man. Searching an Energy allows you to run lower amounts of Energy and get away with it, because you can search them with Cyrus anytime you need. Grabbing a Galactic Invention is nothing short of amazing, either. SP-Radar turns this search into a Supporter+Energy+Level X, Poke Turn lets you heal off or use Bright Look again with Luxray or Flash Bite again with Crobat, a free shutdown of a power with Power Spray, or the essential Energy Gain that makes SP's so freaking fast. I'll repeat myself: Nothing short of amazing.
4 Roseanne's Research
Thought she was good in other decks? Roseanne achieves new levels of greatness and utility in Palkia Lock decks. Just look at all the cards she's capable of netting for you! Attackers, draw, power lock, extra damage, Energy-moving, Energy itself, and the list goes on. This would be another of those card's that scream "RUN FOUR OF ME! NOW!!!!" in SP decks.
1 Bebe's Search
Strictly to get around Spiritomb and grab Uxie LV.X, among other cards, at the exactly right time. Bebe's preforms many functions in evolution decks, but she's inferior, albeit a necessity in this deck. Still, she's searchable with Cyrus, which is the biggest reason that she is staying here.
1 Aaron's Collection
Aaron is able to grab SP's back from the discard, which is an amazing and indispensable ability to have in a deck. Especially when it's a searchable Supporter form, and is capable of pulling back your ever-important SP Level X's. You gotta run one.
4 Team Galactic's Invention G101 - Energy Gain
Energy Gain has become one of the most well-known cards in the game, for the immense advantage it gives Pokemon SP. Dropping the Energy costs really needs no explanation, as it lets all of your attackers get going a turn earlier. Palkia wouldn't be playable it if had to keep its original attack cost for Pearl Breath and Hydro Shot, and Luxray and Toxicroak gain a surprise factor in being able to swing for one instead of two. Searchable by Cyrus, Energy Gain is the most important Galactic Invention and therefore needs to be run in fours.
4 Team Galactic's Invention G105 - Poke Turn
Another powerful Invention, Poke Turn is possibly one of the most effective and ridiculous cards in the game. Remember Briney's Compassion? This is the same thing, except a Trainer, and it's highly searchable. It allows massive healing, extra uses of Bright Look and Flash Bite, can clear space off of the bench, and makes sick combos with Bronzong G. Also, if you need an extra Lost Cyclone, you can scoop up Palkia X as well. Overall, this thing's amazing. Run 4, or don't play the deck.
3 Team Galactic's Invention G103 - Power Spray
Power Spray is another rule-breaker, courtesy of our buddies over at Team Galactic. This thing's has been complained about so much, and y'all are about to see why. You can play Power Spray on your opponent's turn (if you've got three Pokemon SPs in play) to cancel out a Poke-Power. It's got the surprise factor (unless, of course, you use Cyrus to fetch it) and can literally ruin an entire turn by itself. Luxray works well with it especially well, as you can cancel out a power and then kill its user next turn. If it breaks the rules, usually, it's pretty good. And such is the case here. If you can find space, throw in another copy :wink:.
2 Team Galactic's Invention G109 - SP Radar
As its name suggests, the Radar goes to find an SP Pokemon from your deck. What differentiates it from Bebe's Search is that it's, once again, searchable, and most importantly, a Trainer! Cyrus, as mentioned, becomes a better version of Bebe's Search upon searching this card. I'd run three, but space issues once again. If you can find the space, go ahead and try it!
1 Night Maintenance
Because of Aaron's Collection, we only need one Night Maintenance. It's a more powerful version of it, as it retrieves any Pokemon and an extra card, but shuffles them back into the deck. It is necessary, though.
1 Luxury Ball
Luxury Ball is the one card in the format that there is absolutely no downsides to. Most cards either "only provide Colorless" or "take up your Supporter for the turn." Luxury Ball does none of that. Just straight-up, grab a Pokemon, SP, not, etc. Just has to be a non-LV.X, but we have SP Radar for that. Must have one.
Alright! Now that we're done with that, we can delve into the matchups to see how Palkia Lock fits into the format.
MATCHUPS:
Gengar
Gengar is a prevalent force in the game right now, in big part to the Level X introduced in our latest set. However, Gengar, as well as other Stage 2 decks, tend to buckle under the power lock that Palkia Lock is named for. Power Locking and Lost Cyclone stop Gengar from taking any easy prizes with Shadow Room, and you can drop cards out of your hand easily to get around Poltergeist. That leaves Fainting Spell, the problem of many decks at the moment. Your only true out is Uxie's Psychic Restore or Crobat G's Flash Bite. If they don't have Nidoqueen out then Pearl Breath+Pearl Breath+Psychic Restore or Flash Bite. And with power lock, hopefully you can stop Queen from coming out too early. Just keep them from setting up, if possible. If they do, then go after everything else with Hydro Shot and Luxray, and only go after the Gengars once you need to. Not too tough of a matchup, as you are usually in control of what happens.
Flygon
Depending on what exactly they choose to tech, this can either be a terrible matchup or actually relatively comfortable. A 2-1-2-1 Machamp line just walks right through you, and it can come out at any time. Usually, Machamp can be handled, but when you go from taking down a Flygon to a fresh Machamp out of nowhere Taking Out your Palkia G Lv.X, it becomes a lot more difficult to get over. Uxie+Luxray+a couple Crobat drops can kill off one Machamp while staying relatively safe from it. Of course, Flygon will come right back into the fray and kill off a Level X afterwards. One can see why Champ becomes such a roadblock to the deck. No other Flygon tech really hurts too much (well, compared to Machamp). Nidoqueen (Rising Rivals) can certainly get annoying, but if you kill off Claydol and Trapinches early, often the Flygon player will be forced to choose setting up Flygon over Queen. If it comes to it, you can use Uxie Lv.X to fight off Queen by 2HKO'ing it. Your opponent's Dusknoir is no problem to this deck, as you can freely limit your bench down to three or Power Spray it if it comes down at an unexpected time. Pachirisu is certainly annoying, but not impossible to fight off. Besides that, Flygon is not too difficult by itself. Palkia goes faster than it and willl often prevent it from getting a fast-enough setup. If you have further trouble with it, you can tech Garchomp C Lv.X or Ditto (Legends Awakened). Flygon is popular enough in most places to warrant a couple spots of techs, so it's often a good choice to tech if you have trouble with it. Unless the opposing Flygon runs Machamp, it's definitely in your favor.
Luxray GL/Blaziken FB/Garchomp C
As in all SP matchups, your use of Azelf MT is imperative here. Palkia keeps Blaziken FB from acting too much, due to its devastating Water x2 Weakness. Toxicroak and Azelf MT's work together allows you to handle Luxray (to an extent). Because of how easily Luxray GL Lv.X KO's Palkia G Lv.X, it's important not to rely too much on the big pink dragon. Attacking with Luxray and Toxicroak is actually going to be more beneficial here, while keeping Palkia G Lv.X on the bench to keep Lost Cyclone in play while not letting it get KO'ed by a Luxray. Above all, it is important to keep Azelf in play for as long as possible. It is the most important advantage you have over other SP decks, and you can't let it get Bright Looked and KO'ed by Flash Impact. Use your Sprays on either early Setups or Bright Look. It's actually a pretty even matchup overall, though I think the advantage is very slightly yours.
Beedrill
Beedrill has to be one of the most fun matchups for this deck. They should have trouble setting up, so you get a couple free prizes off the bat. Once they do setup 4 Bees and KO Palkia, you can send up Luxray, Bright Look Claydol, and retreat/Turn to send up Palkia. Get the G Lv.X back from the discard and Level it up to remove from play a Beedrill, screwing their setup for the rest of the game. Without a 4th Bee, they can't KO Palkia in one shot, leaving you able to Turn off damage as you please. Luxray can also 2HKO Beedrills, which is nice, and bring up Flutter Wings multiple times to KO it after two times, or waste one of their Energy. Just watch out for Cynthia's Feelings and heavy Warp Points to get out of locking Claydol active and you should be fine.
Gyarados
Okay, this thing is really tough. Sableye allows them to setup onder a Mesprit Lock, so you might not even drop them early and instead use them to stop critical Crobat drops. Palkia might take a couple prizes early, but once Gyara comes out and gets a large-enough hand, it will keep pounding you for usually the remainder of the game. Palkia (without Hydro Shooting) 3HKO's Gyara, a Stage 1. Gyara can OHKO with a couple modifiers, which is terrible. Lucario and Looker's can be used to help out the matchup, though. Another Luxray also really helps, even in other matches.
Dialga-Based Decks
They're back people. Dialga's whole arsenal of annoying and deadly attacks is getting more popular again, and you have to watch out for it. Dialga already has the advantage of having Special Metals to block off attacks and an awesome first attack, along with his devastating Remove Lost. Palkia may have power lock on its side, but Dialga has sheer bulk and doesn't rely too much on powers. Luxray can help the matchup considerably, but it's still quite tough (by the way, a second Luxray helps out a lot). You really just have to hope that you can setup before they get a SP Metal or two on Dialga, because once he's sufficiently tanked, it's going to take a couple turns to kill him, and that's if they don't Poke Turn him. Not a terrible matchup, but certainly not great either. A Blaziken FB Lv.X tech will go miles for this matchup, so if you're having serious trouble with it, then throw him in.
Shuppet Donk
This is honestly more of a joke than a matchup. The fact that you have Power Spray, Mesprit, AND Azelf in the same deck completely and totally shuts them down. If you get any kind of setup with the Pixies in play, then they can't win. Palkia can't be KO'ed under a Psychic Bind due to Expert Belt+4 Pluspowers+Fade Out=90. If you drop the aforementioned Mesprit, they can't dig through their deck effectively either. And an Azelf MT and Uxie later, they have to pay a Psychic and Colorless for Fade Out, ensuring that they only attack you every two turns. Once Mr. Mime is out of the way, they have no more defense against you. Once again, if you get any kind of proper setup, then you can't really lose this one.
Gliscor Lock
As with Shuppet, they are completely driven by a Power-based combo. Mesprit, Power Spray, Luxray, and Palkia's Water-type win this one, hands-down. Their deck only works if they are given liberal use of their powers, which Palkia completely shuts down, hard. Harder, in fact, than any other deck in the format.
Kingdra
Kingdra has recently seen a dramatic increase in play due to his incredible ability to do 80 for a Water with an Expert Belt. The fact that he is also Super Scoop Up-able and reaches 150 HP with 1 Retreat makes him difficult to kill effectively, too. However, he is also very dependant on his powers, moreso than other decks due to the "discard two cards from your hand" part of Dragon Pump. Plus, Luxray+Palkia+Flash Bite KO's a Belted Kingdra, assuming no Super Scoop Up. A consistent Mesprit Lock will eventually wear them down, assuming that they don't hit an early Cynthia's Feelings. I'd say this is in your favor, mainly through smart use of Poke Turn to block off Dragon Pumps. An extra Luxray helps here too.
Those are the biggest decks in the format, at the moment. Let me know if you need to see another, and I'll edit it in.
Thanks for reading, guys! Let me know what you think of the big, scary space-dragon known as Palkia G X!
Last edited:
