Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Running Blastoise with No Tropical Beach

T

TuxedoBlack

New Member
For those of us who refuse to pay big bucks for 2-3 Tropical Beach, try running 3 -4 Kangaskhan (PB) in your deck (possibly replacing your Level Balls). This Kangaskhan has 100 HP (not likely to get donked, unlike the CfF Emolga) and a Call for Family attack (for C energy cost) that can get and bench 2 basic Poké.

Through my testing, I'm consistently able to a get T2 (T3 at the latest) Blastoise in play. I'm finding this Poké to be a decent alternative to Tropical Beach which my opponents typically would replace and/or abuse themselves.
 
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I find tornadus EX from plasma freeze (it lets you shuffle draw 6) to be the best alternative to beach, but as stated above, soon that won't be an acceptable replacement as it can't be used T1 (when you need it most)
 
Tylertyphlosion said:
New rules make this invalid.
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Not if I go second.

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khit said:
I find tornadus EX from plasma freeze (it lets you shuffle draw 6) to be the best alternative to beach, but as stated above, soon that won't be an acceptable replacement as it can't be used T1 (when you need it most)
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I had considered this Poké too, but found I did not like having an EX Poké exposed to early game damage which usually became a liability later in the game.
 
TuxedoBlack said:
Not if I go second.
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You will go 2nd 50% of the time, on average. Of those times you go second, how many times will an opponent not have played their own Tropical Beach?
So you're looking at adding in cards to your deck with less than a 50% usefulness.

Does that seem sensible?
 
Tylertyphlosion said:
You will go 2nd 50% of the time, on average. Of those times you go second, how many times will an opponent not have played their own Tropical Beach?
So you're looking at adding in cards to your deck with less than a 50% usefulness.

Does that seem sensible?
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The point of this thread is to share with others who do want to run Blastoise, but have chosen not to purchase/borrow/trade for Tropical Beaches that there is a viable Poké starter that can facilitate setup. Should a player have access to TBs, I'd think that player would definitely want to use them.
 
Tylertyphlosion said:
You will go 2nd 50% of the time, on average. Of those times you go second, how many times will an opponent not have played their own Tropical Beach?
So you're looking at adding in cards to your deck with less than a 50% usefulness.

Does that seem sensible?
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I'm gonna respectfully disagree with this. Not everyone will win the toss and elect to go second. In fact, even with the new rules, I'd hazard that most decks are still going to opt to go first.

So for a deck that actually plans to go second to use Kangaskhan, it is matchup dependent. If they are up against another deck that wants to use an attack opener like Kanga or Emolga, then it'll be a flip to see who goes second. But in any other matchup, matchups where the opponent wants to go first, you will basically always go second.

It's most definitely not 50-50.
 
Good news?! - player at the AZ Regional ran Blastoise without Tropical Beach and made it to the T8; so, it can be done (still may not be the "ideal" situation, but can be done) successfully.
 
TuxedoBlack said:
Good news?! - player at the AZ Regional ran Blastoise without Tropical Beach and made it to the T8; so, it can be done (still may not be the "ideal" situation, but can be done) successfully.
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Yes I ran blastoise with no beaches and made t8. I ran a 2-2 electrode line. Helped out tremendously with late game N's and drawing into extra energies for keldeo
 
You really shouldnt play a tier 3 deck without Tropical Beach. It reduces it's effectiveness, say 15% if not more.
 
Naga said:
You really shouldnt play a tier 3 deck without Tropical Beach. It reduces it's effectiveness, say 15% if not more.
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Blastoise is tier 3 now? It wins sooo much more than plasma in my experience on PTCGO. I know this isnt a plasma thread but holy crap almost EVERYONE on there techs for plasma :p Oh well, I'm going to keep playing blastoise... without beach :(
 
I run Blastoise without Beach and it works just fine even only having Level Balls and Ultra Balls as search cards. They do enough favors the way it is without wasting a lot of money or using Call for Family cards.
 
PMysterious said:
I run Blastoise without Beach and it works just fine even only having Level Balls and Ultra Balls as search cards. They do enough favors the way it is without wasting a lot of money or using Call for Family cards.
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The advantages (?) I've found with a "high" HP, CfF Poké like Kangaskhan, is that: 1) I can more consistently setup T1 since I can get and place 2 basic Poké onto my bench; 2) I don't need to expend a Supporter like a Skyla to get a necessary Ball card and lose the opportunity to draw cards (via another card draw Supporter) in that same turn; and 3) when I ran Balls instead, that starting Poké (sometimes an EX) received damaged and became less effective (the remainder of the game since it was wounded) or a prime Catcher-1HKO target. I don't mind losing a Kangaskhan after my bench is set vs. losing Squirtles T1.

I'm finding a good, CfF starting Poké is preferable to running extra Balls in my deck.
 
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so with a CFF starter pokemon youre gonna
1. hope to open it
2. go 2nd and play from behind
3. concede one prize because of your starter and lose a spot on your board

sounds gross to me
 
thepokemonnetwork100 said:
so with a CFF starter pokemon youre gonna
1. hope to open it
2. go 2nd and play from behind
3. concede one prize because of your starter and lose a spot on your board

sounds gross to me
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1. In playtesting thus far, having it as a starter or getting it is quite probable. It is similar to (for example) my Tropical Beach playing opponent using a Skyla to get the TB (assume he/she runs 3, like I run 3 CfF Poke). In fact, the odds of my starting or getting the CfF Poke maybe actually higher than one starting or getting a Tropical Beach. In my case, I can utilize Ultra Balls Skylas to get the Poke, not just a Skyla.
2. How is this any different? Even with a TB playing opponent can go second. However, in my case, I will definitely have at least 2 Squirtles in play after my first turn CONSISTENTLY. May not be the case when playing TB - when playing against an opponent running Blastoise, I for one oftentimes will replace the Beach with my Stadium, as well as play an N). So, my opponent may not be able to reap the benefits of his/her TB draw.

3. Seems very similar to a Blastoise deck player either losing an early Squirtle or having a starting EX take early damage (which becomes a 2-prize liability later). After I get the 2 Squirtles on my bench, losing my starting CfF Poke (Kangaskhan in my case) is an acceptable sacrifice to get setup.

Please keep in mind the focus of this thread. If one does not wish to run TBs, I'm finding a strong starting CfF Poke to be a viable alternative.
 
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thepokemonnetwork100 said:
so youre just gonna go 2nd 100% of the time?
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As much as possible, yes.

Even if I don't, chances are my opponent will not KO my starting Kangaskhan. So, the probability of a subsequent CfF on my next turn is quite high and my objective of getting 2 benched Squirtles will most likely be achieved.
 
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