Professor Sycamore
Active Member
Cover 2 Defense
You are reading right. This deck has Masquerain as a main component. Well, you guys know me. I am always outside the box. (mainly because I can’t fit in the box) I was thinking about this deck idea for a while ever since the Arceus set came out. I was fishing for ideas one day and stumbled across an uncommon, Masquerain from Supreme Victors. I saw that it has the same Pokebody as Abomasnow from Stormfront. I figured that since the City Championships were coming to a close, I may as well work with it. I built it and played some pick up games against from good players during some free time in one cities and saw that it completely worked over some top tier decks so the next week I worked on it, placed some logical techs in and it was ready to go for the last Cities for this season. I got some great results from this deck too. It only lost to its ABSOLUTE WORST match up and a round where nothing went right as in I had a bad hand and drew nothing. Well, let’s get started.
Deck Name: Cover 2 Defense
Name: DeMarcus Reddick (deredd04)
Date: January 11, 2010
Format: DP – AR
Division: Masters
Pokemon
3x Abomasnow SF
3x Snover SF
3x Masquerain SV
3x Surskit SV
2x Uxie LA
2x Zangoose PL
Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
3x Bebe’s Search
3x Professor Rowan
2x Cynthia’s Guidance
2x Roseanne’s Research
2x Underground Expedition
1x Department Store Girl
4x Pokedex
3x Buffer Piece
3x Expert Belt
3x VS Seeker
2x Warp Point
2x Night Maintenance
1x Luxury Ball
1x Technical Machine TS-2
Energy
3x Cyclone Energy
1x Upper Energy
6x Grass Energy
2x Water Energy
Strategy
To get the strategy, let me explain the name of the deck. As those of you that follow football know, the Cover 2 is a type of defense that’s designed to take apart opposing offenses. This is the case with this deck. Both Abomasnow and Masquerain can stop 20 damage with their poke-bodies. Now, how you start depends on your hand. The strategy is to get Masquerain going really quickly. With Expert Belt, Masquerain can be doing 50 damage for one grass energy and you’re drawing two cards. Abomasnow can spread around while being protected as well. It’s designed to slow down your opponent’s progress and stack up on what you do. Have a buffer piece to Abomasnow to shield for 40. The Buffer Piece and Expert belts can go with either Pokémon for some real funny situation. Zangoose is in there for certain situations.
Deck Breakdown
[gal=41023] Abomasnow SF [/gal]
Abomasnow SF: Main hitter. Its body, “Snow Veil,” blocks 20 to all Pokémon that takes damage. (As long as it’s active.) It “Snow Play” attack is a cheap way to get spread damage. “Below Zero” should be used if you need to go agro with the deck.
Snover SF: This Snover is the better version of the two Snover cards out there. Snover SF has the attack "Hide" that makes Snover unaffected by the effects and damage from attack if you get heads. The other attack cost only one water that does 10 damage and places you asleep. The other Snover in this rotation is from Mysterious Treasures. It has a free attack, "Curiousity," that let's you look at your opponent's hand. The other attack, "Snowball Fight," cost a water and a colorless. It does 30 damage. The drawback to using the MT is that it costs 2 colorless to retreat, while the SF one has one retreat cost and an attack that prevents damage.
[gal=48223] Masquerain SV [/gal]
Masquerain SV: A much underrated card. It’s body, “Intimidating Pattern,” blocks 20 damage, like Abomasnow (except that it's before weakness and resistance.), it’s resistance is to fighting, it’s attack brings deck acceleration, it’s retreat cost is 0, and, with expert belt, can do 50 for one grass, which is good with the speedy decks out there. The main drawback of Masquerain is its low HP. It's not that bad because of it's body, but its something that you have to worry about when you're facing lightning pokemon, i.e. Luxray GL.
Surskit SV: You are able to use either Surskit in SV or MT, because both have up sides to them. The one from SV can do max forty for one energy (w/ heads from Quick attack and an Expert Belt.) It also can handle those baltoy starts that your opponent may get. The other can cause some disruption by switching the active and putting the new one to sleep. SV requires colorless to attack, while the SV uses Grass to attack.
Uxie LA: Just a common tech. “Set Up” can give you a fresh hand when you need it. "Psychic Restore" with Expert Belt is a good trick to recylce Uxie and Expert Belt with heavy damage.
[gal=42296] Zangoose PL [/gal]
Zangoose PL: Another underrated card. It’s body, “Thick Skin” prevents being affected by special conditions, which can come in handy. It’s first attack, “Invite and Strike” is great for bringing up Claydols to buy yourself more time. Also, with Expert Belt, It can be a heavy hitter in a Dragon Heavy format with Flygon and Garchomp C.
Bebe’s Search: Self explanatory. It’s Bebe’s Search, ‘nuff said. I do have to explain the number. It’s a higher number because of the importance of getting the Pokémon out.
Professor Rowan: This card is a personal favorite because I tend to get hands that I would like to be better. It’s gotten me out of certain situations to help draw my cards.
Roseanne’s Research: The answer of “why this card being in here” is self-explanatory. The explanation of the number of them in here needs some explaining. Roseanne’s Research at times becomes a dead draw. I’ve placed VS Seeker in so that I can lower the number of Roseanne’s Research.
Cynthia’s Guidance and Underground Expedition: Sometimes I’m in search of certain cards that aren’t searchable by the normal methods. Cynthia’s is a deep search for any card at the top and Underground Expedition is for the cards that may be on the bottom. I placed these in given my luck with draws sometimes. Underground Expedition is also a good cheap trick to get back the Uxie the turn after you use "Psychic Restore" to place it on the bottom of the deck.
Department Store Girl: This is a staple for decks that rely on searching for tools. It can bring out the Buffer Piece and Expert Belt cards. But taking out three potential dead draws, you're making the deck draw more consistantly. By taking them out the deck, you can increase the odds of drawing into the things that you need.
Pokedex: This is another underrated card. It thins out the deck with speed without wasting a supporter. It also places the dead draws on the bottom of the deck until you need them. Also, a good trick... Play Pokedex before playing Underground Expedition. If you see that you want both cards, place one on the bottom and get with Underground Expedition.
[gal=49171] Buffer Piece [/gal]
Buffer Piece: It’s designed to mostly be attached to Abomasnow or Masquerain. It can help throw your opponent off, making it so that they can’t get that quick edge or chip shots. Combined with their bodies, "Snow Veil" and "Intimidating Pattern" respectively, the total blocked damage to that pokemon is 40 Damage. If 10 damage matters, then 40 is a game changer.
[gal=49210] Expert Belt [/gal]
Expert Belt: It’s primary purpose is to go on a Masquerain to get the 50 for one and draw two going. Also, if you place this on Zangoose, it can get rid of those colorless Pokémon that are weak to colorless. It can bring faster KO's to higher HP pokemon with Abomasnow's "Snow Play." It also never hurts to have Abomasnow's "Below Zero" to be doing 80 damage.
VS Seeker: By placing these in here, I am able to thin out my support count and expand on them. Instead of trying to draw into a supporter, you can just pick them back up to use for some clutch situations.
Night Maintenance: Staple. It’s needed to get back Pokémon and energy, especially if a Water gets discarded.
Warp Point: Staple. They are needed when you can’t manually retreat them or don’t have the energy count. Also, it helps Abomasnow to retreat without having to take off THREE energies to do so. It also makes some good tricks to use Zangoose with.
Luxury Ball: Staple. Luxury Ball is hands down the best trainer in the format in my opinion. It allows you to get any pokemon (except Lv. X) that you want to get. That's the reason why it's in every deck. Because of the fact that you can't play one if one is in the discard pile, only one is placed in each deck.
Technical Machine TS-2: One thing I learned about playing with Abomasnow is that you need to have this deck. It’s so that when you have enough damage on an evolved Pokémon (*Cough*Claydol*Cough*) you can take them out if you can’t get them on the bench.
Cyclone Energy: This format is a bit Spiritomb heavy here. With this deck being trainer heavy, you need to make sure that you have a way to easily get Spiritomb out the way.
Upper Energy: This card is great with Abomasnow. It's provides two energy if you're behind on prizes. This may be the case since you're running Expert Belts. Upper Energy, when the effect is active, will give you a quick turn use "Snow Play" in one turn, or "Below Zero" if it already has a Water energy already attached to it.
Water: This is an auto tech in Abomasnow. Even though you’re looking to spread with “Snow Play,” you also may also find yourself in situation where you may need to use “Below Zero”
Grass: To attack with Masquerain. It can be used for attaching to the others as well. Grass is the choice because it's the only one that needs a specific energy to attack properly.
Possible Techs
Porygon-Z G
Porygon-Z G has a poke power called "Dousing Code." When you play Porygon-Z G is played onto the bench from your hand, search your deck for two pokemon tools from the discard pile and shuffle them into the deck. The reason why this is a possible tech is because of late game situations. "Dousing Code" can recover lost buffer pieces and Expert Belts. They can be researched with Department Store Girl. (If Department Store Girl is discarded, use VS Seeker to get it out.)
Mismagius SF
Mismagius from Stormfront has a free attack named "Crash Chant." You can discard a combination up to 4 Pokemon Tools and technical Machines from play. It does 20x the tools and TMs you discard. This attack can take off your and your opponents. This tactic can be used to remove your Expert Belts from your weakened pokemon so that you can save a prize when they are KO'd. It also can hurt the SP decks that use the Energy Gain. Also it hurts the decks that tech in Relicanth from Supreme Victors (#79). If you plan on teching this card, I would suggest teching in a single psychic energy so you will be able to use Horror Chant if you need to. Side Note: Use the Misdreavus from Platinum if you use Mismagius from Stormfront.
Pokemon Contest Hall
This card is a Stadium Card. If you need a push out stadium, this is a good choice. Each Player can flip a coin. If heads, the player searches the deck for a basic pokemon and place it on the bench. You can also search for a tool and attach it to the searched pokemon. There is a draw back to this card, though. First, you have to be picky against SPs as they can search for theirs and attach an Energy Gain to it. Also, you need to pick your spot on attaching Expert Belts.
Miasma Valley
This card is good for spreading more damage. Miasma Valley is a stadium card. When a player places a non grass or psychic on the bench, place 2 damage counters on that pokemon. In order to use this card, you will have to change your Snover to the one from Mysterious Treasure because it's a grass pokemon. It will also make you think about your spots on playing Zangoose down, since it's a colorless pokemon.
Match ups
Dialga G/Garchomp C: Even.
The disadvantage against this deck is Dialga G. It's "Deafen" attack can prevent you from playing your tools. The Pokebody on Dialga G Lv. X., "Time Crystal" shuts off all non-SP pokebodies. It will take down your ability to block damage consistently because the bodies are turned not activated and you cannot play buffer pieces. The advantage of this deck, you can pick off Garchomp C with Zangoose and an Expert Belt attached. Also, your opponent can't defean lock for the whole game. Spreading would not be a good option because of the Poke Turns and Garchomp C Lv X's Poke power, "Healing Breath" makes it hard for you to spread. It's best to go agro in this situation.
FlyChamp: Heavily your favor.
Defense over Offense. Masquerain is your best bet to take the lead against FlyChamp. Because with the combination of Masquerain's resistance and body, the fighting types' damage is reduced by 40 before adding a Bufferpiece. You can completely neutralize the "No Guard" pokebody of the Machamp LV. X. with a Buffer Piece. You can use Zangoose to pick off Flygon and Vibrava in the same manner as you did against Garchomp C. Abomasnow is good to add a little extra damage to the pokemon on the bench to make things easily with "Snow Play"
Kingdra: Heavily your favor.
Because of Abomasnow's "Snow Veil" and Masquerain's "Intimidating Pattern" pokebodies. Kingdra cannot snipe your bench. Also, to do regular damage, your opponent must discard. You can't spread against Kingdra, but you can focus on your Kingdra deck's techs with "Snow Play." The techs in that deck aren't Water or Grass. You can attack a few turns with Masquerain's "Skim Attack" to damage Kingdra (Idealy w/ Expert Belt attached to it.) This should be simple to take out the Kingdra.
Gliscor Lock: Your favor
Zangoose can easily break the lock because of it's pokebody "Thick Skin." It can't be affect by special conditions. It can break the lock with “Invite and Strike.” Cyclone Energy is your friend against Gliscor Lock, too. You may get Abomasnow to take out Gliscor because of the weakness. Masquerain is resistance to Gliscor if they need to go agro. With these in your favor, it may be hard for you to break the lock once you're in it.
Speed Gengar: Heavily their favor
Now, normally a deck that doesn’t rely on powers is a good thing against Gengar. But, when you run a deck that has the amount of trainers that you do, one word comes to mind… “POLTERGEIST!” I would suggest that you get your spreading going quickly. Try knocking out the Gengar at the same time. Use up your trainers and Supporters quickly. The Rowans will help in keeping your hand size low. A little Fainting Spell luck doesn’t really hurt either. One way to dodge "Fainting Spell" is to KO Gengar is to use Uxie with Expert Belt to do 40 damage and get out of dodge to be KO'd becaues it's not on the field anymore to be KO'd.
Mother Gengar: Heavily their Favor.
The same as Speed Gengar, but you lose the spreading option. You’ll have to go agro and get some lucky flips on their “Fainting Spell.” The added effect of Nidoqueen's Poke Body, "Maternal Comfort," makes it an unwise idea to use Abomasnow's "Snow Play." This is because by the time it's your turn, the damage is gone. This forces you to use "Below Zero" to do damage. Don't forget about Uxie and Expert Belt on the Gengars.
Gyarados: Slightly your favor
Since you can throw off the damage from the blocking, just like with Machamp. It’s a race to get set up first with the deck. The Technical Machine TS-2 may be key to getting rid of the Gyarados. It gives the pokemon Devoluter. Since Majikarp has only 30 HP. It's easy to get 30 on it and devolve them. Just be cautious of how you use your Expert Belts and buffer pieces. The real key is to take advantage of the techs in the deck. They are a literal liability against spread decks. While they are getting the single KO at a time. You're setting up multiple KOs on them with will take about 4 turns.
Speedrill: Even
This match up is even because of the sheer speed of the deck. Just like with Gyarados, it will take some planning and careful execution to get out of the speediness of the Beedrill. It’s harder pick off techs on Beedrill. It’s the fact that Speedrill doesn’t have as many techs as Gyarados.
Conclusion
Why should you give this deck a try? This deck is competitive and fun to play with. You'll love the shocked expressions on their face when they underestimate the deck. Also, it's a very cheap deck to make. It only have five rare cards in it. (3 Abomasnows and 2 Uxies) It shouldn't be too hard to gather the cards to create the deck. I really got some great reviews on doing it. This deck is really great. I’m going to hear it and see it. Everyone did it on the last deck I posted. I know that it’s a heavy disadvantage against Gengar. Don’t try and fix it too much. It will hurt the deck and open it up some different worms. Here’s a fact. Every deck loses to some deck, that’s going to happen. Not everyone will be running that deck that beats this deck. With all that said, I hope that you enjoy the deck. Here’s a final remark that best describe gaming.
“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships”
Special Thanks
To all of those that gave a good opinion it. Jarvis for bringing up Zangoose. Fish for helping with the article.
:thumb:ENJOY!:thumb:
You are reading right. This deck has Masquerain as a main component. Well, you guys know me. I am always outside the box. (mainly because I can’t fit in the box) I was thinking about this deck idea for a while ever since the Arceus set came out. I was fishing for ideas one day and stumbled across an uncommon, Masquerain from Supreme Victors. I saw that it has the same Pokebody as Abomasnow from Stormfront. I figured that since the City Championships were coming to a close, I may as well work with it. I built it and played some pick up games against from good players during some free time in one cities and saw that it completely worked over some top tier decks so the next week I worked on it, placed some logical techs in and it was ready to go for the last Cities for this season. I got some great results from this deck too. It only lost to its ABSOLUTE WORST match up and a round where nothing went right as in I had a bad hand and drew nothing. Well, let’s get started.
Deck Name: Cover 2 Defense
Name: DeMarcus Reddick (deredd04)
Date: January 11, 2010
Format: DP – AR
Division: Masters
Pokemon
3x Abomasnow SF
3x Snover SF
3x Masquerain SV
3x Surskit SV
2x Uxie LA
2x Zangoose PL
Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
3x Bebe’s Search
3x Professor Rowan
2x Cynthia’s Guidance
2x Roseanne’s Research
2x Underground Expedition
1x Department Store Girl
4x Pokedex
3x Buffer Piece
3x Expert Belt
3x VS Seeker
2x Warp Point
2x Night Maintenance
1x Luxury Ball
1x Technical Machine TS-2
Energy
3x Cyclone Energy
1x Upper Energy
6x Grass Energy
2x Water Energy
Strategy
To get the strategy, let me explain the name of the deck. As those of you that follow football know, the Cover 2 is a type of defense that’s designed to take apart opposing offenses. This is the case with this deck. Both Abomasnow and Masquerain can stop 20 damage with their poke-bodies. Now, how you start depends on your hand. The strategy is to get Masquerain going really quickly. With Expert Belt, Masquerain can be doing 50 damage for one grass energy and you’re drawing two cards. Abomasnow can spread around while being protected as well. It’s designed to slow down your opponent’s progress and stack up on what you do. Have a buffer piece to Abomasnow to shield for 40. The Buffer Piece and Expert belts can go with either Pokémon for some real funny situation. Zangoose is in there for certain situations.
Deck Breakdown
[gal=41023] Abomasnow SF [/gal]
Abomasnow SF: Main hitter. Its body, “Snow Veil,” blocks 20 to all Pokémon that takes damage. (As long as it’s active.) It “Snow Play” attack is a cheap way to get spread damage. “Below Zero” should be used if you need to go agro with the deck.
Snover SF: This Snover is the better version of the two Snover cards out there. Snover SF has the attack "Hide" that makes Snover unaffected by the effects and damage from attack if you get heads. The other attack cost only one water that does 10 damage and places you asleep. The other Snover in this rotation is from Mysterious Treasures. It has a free attack, "Curiousity," that let's you look at your opponent's hand. The other attack, "Snowball Fight," cost a water and a colorless. It does 30 damage. The drawback to using the MT is that it costs 2 colorless to retreat, while the SF one has one retreat cost and an attack that prevents damage.
[gal=48223] Masquerain SV [/gal]
Masquerain SV: A much underrated card. It’s body, “Intimidating Pattern,” blocks 20 damage, like Abomasnow (except that it's before weakness and resistance.), it’s resistance is to fighting, it’s attack brings deck acceleration, it’s retreat cost is 0, and, with expert belt, can do 50 for one grass, which is good with the speedy decks out there. The main drawback of Masquerain is its low HP. It's not that bad because of it's body, but its something that you have to worry about when you're facing lightning pokemon, i.e. Luxray GL.
Surskit SV: You are able to use either Surskit in SV or MT, because both have up sides to them. The one from SV can do max forty for one energy (w/ heads from Quick attack and an Expert Belt.) It also can handle those baltoy starts that your opponent may get. The other can cause some disruption by switching the active and putting the new one to sleep. SV requires colorless to attack, while the SV uses Grass to attack.
Uxie LA: Just a common tech. “Set Up” can give you a fresh hand when you need it. "Psychic Restore" with Expert Belt is a good trick to recylce Uxie and Expert Belt with heavy damage.
[gal=42296] Zangoose PL [/gal]
Zangoose PL: Another underrated card. It’s body, “Thick Skin” prevents being affected by special conditions, which can come in handy. It’s first attack, “Invite and Strike” is great for bringing up Claydols to buy yourself more time. Also, with Expert Belt, It can be a heavy hitter in a Dragon Heavy format with Flygon and Garchomp C.
Bebe’s Search: Self explanatory. It’s Bebe’s Search, ‘nuff said. I do have to explain the number. It’s a higher number because of the importance of getting the Pokémon out.
Professor Rowan: This card is a personal favorite because I tend to get hands that I would like to be better. It’s gotten me out of certain situations to help draw my cards.
Roseanne’s Research: The answer of “why this card being in here” is self-explanatory. The explanation of the number of them in here needs some explaining. Roseanne’s Research at times becomes a dead draw. I’ve placed VS Seeker in so that I can lower the number of Roseanne’s Research.
Cynthia’s Guidance and Underground Expedition: Sometimes I’m in search of certain cards that aren’t searchable by the normal methods. Cynthia’s is a deep search for any card at the top and Underground Expedition is for the cards that may be on the bottom. I placed these in given my luck with draws sometimes. Underground Expedition is also a good cheap trick to get back the Uxie the turn after you use "Psychic Restore" to place it on the bottom of the deck.
Department Store Girl: This is a staple for decks that rely on searching for tools. It can bring out the Buffer Piece and Expert Belt cards. But taking out three potential dead draws, you're making the deck draw more consistantly. By taking them out the deck, you can increase the odds of drawing into the things that you need.
Pokedex: This is another underrated card. It thins out the deck with speed without wasting a supporter. It also places the dead draws on the bottom of the deck until you need them. Also, a good trick... Play Pokedex before playing Underground Expedition. If you see that you want both cards, place one on the bottom and get with Underground Expedition.
[gal=49171] Buffer Piece [/gal]
Buffer Piece: It’s designed to mostly be attached to Abomasnow or Masquerain. It can help throw your opponent off, making it so that they can’t get that quick edge or chip shots. Combined with their bodies, "Snow Veil" and "Intimidating Pattern" respectively, the total blocked damage to that pokemon is 40 Damage. If 10 damage matters, then 40 is a game changer.
[gal=49210] Expert Belt [/gal]
Expert Belt: It’s primary purpose is to go on a Masquerain to get the 50 for one and draw two going. Also, if you place this on Zangoose, it can get rid of those colorless Pokémon that are weak to colorless. It can bring faster KO's to higher HP pokemon with Abomasnow's "Snow Play." It also never hurts to have Abomasnow's "Below Zero" to be doing 80 damage.
VS Seeker: By placing these in here, I am able to thin out my support count and expand on them. Instead of trying to draw into a supporter, you can just pick them back up to use for some clutch situations.
Night Maintenance: Staple. It’s needed to get back Pokémon and energy, especially if a Water gets discarded.
Warp Point: Staple. They are needed when you can’t manually retreat them or don’t have the energy count. Also, it helps Abomasnow to retreat without having to take off THREE energies to do so. It also makes some good tricks to use Zangoose with.
Luxury Ball: Staple. Luxury Ball is hands down the best trainer in the format in my opinion. It allows you to get any pokemon (except Lv. X) that you want to get. That's the reason why it's in every deck. Because of the fact that you can't play one if one is in the discard pile, only one is placed in each deck.
Technical Machine TS-2: One thing I learned about playing with Abomasnow is that you need to have this deck. It’s so that when you have enough damage on an evolved Pokémon (*Cough*Claydol*Cough*) you can take them out if you can’t get them on the bench.
Cyclone Energy: This format is a bit Spiritomb heavy here. With this deck being trainer heavy, you need to make sure that you have a way to easily get Spiritomb out the way.
Upper Energy: This card is great with Abomasnow. It's provides two energy if you're behind on prizes. This may be the case since you're running Expert Belts. Upper Energy, when the effect is active, will give you a quick turn use "Snow Play" in one turn, or "Below Zero" if it already has a Water energy already attached to it.
Water: This is an auto tech in Abomasnow. Even though you’re looking to spread with “Snow Play,” you also may also find yourself in situation where you may need to use “Below Zero”
Grass: To attack with Masquerain. It can be used for attaching to the others as well. Grass is the choice because it's the only one that needs a specific energy to attack properly.
Possible Techs
Porygon-Z G
Porygon-Z G has a poke power called "Dousing Code." When you play Porygon-Z G is played onto the bench from your hand, search your deck for two pokemon tools from the discard pile and shuffle them into the deck. The reason why this is a possible tech is because of late game situations. "Dousing Code" can recover lost buffer pieces and Expert Belts. They can be researched with Department Store Girl. (If Department Store Girl is discarded, use VS Seeker to get it out.)
Mismagius SF
Mismagius from Stormfront has a free attack named "Crash Chant." You can discard a combination up to 4 Pokemon Tools and technical Machines from play. It does 20x the tools and TMs you discard. This attack can take off your and your opponents. This tactic can be used to remove your Expert Belts from your weakened pokemon so that you can save a prize when they are KO'd. It also can hurt the SP decks that use the Energy Gain. Also it hurts the decks that tech in Relicanth from Supreme Victors (#79). If you plan on teching this card, I would suggest teching in a single psychic energy so you will be able to use Horror Chant if you need to. Side Note: Use the Misdreavus from Platinum if you use Mismagius from Stormfront.
Pokemon Contest Hall
This card is a Stadium Card. If you need a push out stadium, this is a good choice. Each Player can flip a coin. If heads, the player searches the deck for a basic pokemon and place it on the bench. You can also search for a tool and attach it to the searched pokemon. There is a draw back to this card, though. First, you have to be picky against SPs as they can search for theirs and attach an Energy Gain to it. Also, you need to pick your spot on attaching Expert Belts.
Miasma Valley
This card is good for spreading more damage. Miasma Valley is a stadium card. When a player places a non grass or psychic on the bench, place 2 damage counters on that pokemon. In order to use this card, you will have to change your Snover to the one from Mysterious Treasure because it's a grass pokemon. It will also make you think about your spots on playing Zangoose down, since it's a colorless pokemon.
Match ups
Dialga G/Garchomp C: Even.
The disadvantage against this deck is Dialga G. It's "Deafen" attack can prevent you from playing your tools. The Pokebody on Dialga G Lv. X., "Time Crystal" shuts off all non-SP pokebodies. It will take down your ability to block damage consistently because the bodies are turned not activated and you cannot play buffer pieces. The advantage of this deck, you can pick off Garchomp C with Zangoose and an Expert Belt attached. Also, your opponent can't defean lock for the whole game. Spreading would not be a good option because of the Poke Turns and Garchomp C Lv X's Poke power, "Healing Breath" makes it hard for you to spread. It's best to go agro in this situation.
FlyChamp: Heavily your favor.
Defense over Offense. Masquerain is your best bet to take the lead against FlyChamp. Because with the combination of Masquerain's resistance and body, the fighting types' damage is reduced by 40 before adding a Bufferpiece. You can completely neutralize the "No Guard" pokebody of the Machamp LV. X. with a Buffer Piece. You can use Zangoose to pick off Flygon and Vibrava in the same manner as you did against Garchomp C. Abomasnow is good to add a little extra damage to the pokemon on the bench to make things easily with "Snow Play"
Kingdra: Heavily your favor.
Because of Abomasnow's "Snow Veil" and Masquerain's "Intimidating Pattern" pokebodies. Kingdra cannot snipe your bench. Also, to do regular damage, your opponent must discard. You can't spread against Kingdra, but you can focus on your Kingdra deck's techs with "Snow Play." The techs in that deck aren't Water or Grass. You can attack a few turns with Masquerain's "Skim Attack" to damage Kingdra (Idealy w/ Expert Belt attached to it.) This should be simple to take out the Kingdra.
Gliscor Lock: Your favor
Zangoose can easily break the lock because of it's pokebody "Thick Skin." It can't be affect by special conditions. It can break the lock with “Invite and Strike.” Cyclone Energy is your friend against Gliscor Lock, too. You may get Abomasnow to take out Gliscor because of the weakness. Masquerain is resistance to Gliscor if they need to go agro. With these in your favor, it may be hard for you to break the lock once you're in it.
Speed Gengar: Heavily their favor
Now, normally a deck that doesn’t rely on powers is a good thing against Gengar. But, when you run a deck that has the amount of trainers that you do, one word comes to mind… “POLTERGEIST!” I would suggest that you get your spreading going quickly. Try knocking out the Gengar at the same time. Use up your trainers and Supporters quickly. The Rowans will help in keeping your hand size low. A little Fainting Spell luck doesn’t really hurt either. One way to dodge "Fainting Spell" is to KO Gengar is to use Uxie with Expert Belt to do 40 damage and get out of dodge to be KO'd becaues it's not on the field anymore to be KO'd.
Mother Gengar: Heavily their Favor.
The same as Speed Gengar, but you lose the spreading option. You’ll have to go agro and get some lucky flips on their “Fainting Spell.” The added effect of Nidoqueen's Poke Body, "Maternal Comfort," makes it an unwise idea to use Abomasnow's "Snow Play." This is because by the time it's your turn, the damage is gone. This forces you to use "Below Zero" to do damage. Don't forget about Uxie and Expert Belt on the Gengars.
Gyarados: Slightly your favor
Since you can throw off the damage from the blocking, just like with Machamp. It’s a race to get set up first with the deck. The Technical Machine TS-2 may be key to getting rid of the Gyarados. It gives the pokemon Devoluter. Since Majikarp has only 30 HP. It's easy to get 30 on it and devolve them. Just be cautious of how you use your Expert Belts and buffer pieces. The real key is to take advantage of the techs in the deck. They are a literal liability against spread decks. While they are getting the single KO at a time. You're setting up multiple KOs on them with will take about 4 turns.
Speedrill: Even
This match up is even because of the sheer speed of the deck. Just like with Gyarados, it will take some planning and careful execution to get out of the speediness of the Beedrill. It’s harder pick off techs on Beedrill. It’s the fact that Speedrill doesn’t have as many techs as Gyarados.
Conclusion
Why should you give this deck a try? This deck is competitive and fun to play with. You'll love the shocked expressions on their face when they underestimate the deck. Also, it's a very cheap deck to make. It only have five rare cards in it. (3 Abomasnows and 2 Uxies) It shouldn't be too hard to gather the cards to create the deck. I really got some great reviews on doing it. This deck is really great. I’m going to hear it and see it. Everyone did it on the last deck I posted. I know that it’s a heavy disadvantage against Gengar. Don’t try and fix it too much. It will hurt the deck and open it up some different worms. Here’s a fact. Every deck loses to some deck, that’s going to happen. Not everyone will be running that deck that beats this deck. With all that said, I hope that you enjoy the deck. Here’s a final remark that best describe gaming.
“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships”
Special Thanks
To all of those that gave a good opinion it. Jarvis for bringing up Zangoose. Fish for helping with the article.
:thumb:ENJOY!:thumb:
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