Serious Shutdown....Kabutops and the ATM

[Dendrobatida]

The Deck:


4 buried fossil
4 kabuto (SS)
3 Kabutops (SK)
2 Kabutops -ex
2 Wobbuffett
2 regirock -ex, or skyridge ditto, or whatever. Your extra pokemon aren't the point.
Total: 17

3 mysterious fossil
4 steven's advice
4 tv reporter
2 copycat
3 switch
4 Ancient Technical Machine: rock
1 town volunteers
1 underground lake
1 magnetic storm (more versatile than crystal shard)
2 fastball
Total: 25

14 fighting energy
4 psychic energy
Total: 18

Strategy:

First turn: Ideally, you're starting with buried fossil, attaching an energy, and using reconstruction. That will allow you to fill your bench by turn two with all your little kabutos, wobbuffets, and whatever other tech you have. Make sure to grab another buried fossil, too, and not just spam your bench with every other kabuto you can find. That's fairly key, since ATM can't be attached to kabuto put on the bench by underground lake or team assembly. Don't worry overly much about buried fossil's low HP...start with it, and it guarantees you a kabuto by turn two. It's that simple. Once you have turn two kabuto, you're set.

Early game: Build that active buried fossil, or whatever you've got active if you were unlucky enough to start with wobbuffet or regirock. Don't worry overly much about either of those starts, though. There's a good deal of draw in this deck, and as soon as you happen upon a buried fossil, you have the means to make the kabuto appear. Regirock will protect itself up there against irritating dunsparce sudden flashes until you have what you need. Anyway, you'll be attacking for damage by turn three. Ideally, you'll have skyridge kabutops active by turn three, shutting down any benched evolution that they may want to be doing (blazikens, blaziken -ex, gardevoir, delcatty, you name it). While they do the retreat thing to evolve their pokemon, or use rare candies to get around your pokebody, you build up your kabutops -ex, your wobbuffet, your regirock, your other skyridge kabutops...whatever. When they rare candy, you bust them back down with the ATM.

Midgame: the speed advantage of kabuto and buried fossil, coupled with kabutops' power and ATM, should have you ahead by now. Once you're ahead, regirock or kabutops -ex should be able to move in and clean up several pokemon. When they start evolving back up, retreat or switch your big hitter and ATM them back down.

Late game: If necessary, sacrifice your mysterious fossils to an active hitter in order to build up a wobbuffet or regirock. You have several, along with (if you have Underground lake in play) a neverending supply of kabuto. Kabuto can take a few hits with its pokemon power, and your fossils are a stalling staple. Of course, all of this assumes that you're not crushing your unable-to-evolve opponent.


Kabutops (SK) may be the pokemon that is most able to take advantage of the already-broken rock ATM. Sure, it's about to rotate out in a few months, but it might as well tear some stuff up while it still can....

[Pidgeotto Trainer]

Evil... Quite Evil. ;) Nice deck.

[Prime]

When I saw the Rock TM I thought of the same combo. It makes me happy that atleast one person is trying to make the deck. Can't really give you any suggestions, it is your deck and you are the professional with it. It'd be like telling a blaziken player how to play blaziken better, lol. You might try putting in some oracle, so that you can go get those TM's when you need them. Also, it might be a better idea to play warp point instead of switch for the sole purpose that it pushes your opponent's main attacker off the bench and they have to send up something to stall while you send up your kabutops and devolve their side. Also, you could try comboing the Rock TM with the anti-ex gym that lays the damage counters. Against a heavy EX deck, they get like 4-6 damage counters on them and you devolve them for the KO and prize.

I like the deck, good luck with it.

[Pablo]

Id say you need more Reversal than the Rock TM, 3 should do the trick, no need to push it to all 4, and whats with the Fast Ball?

-2 Fast Ball
-1 Rock TM
-1 Stevens (after playig 2-3 youll have enough cards and wont prolly be able to play the 4th)
-1 Magnetic Storm

+4 Reversal
+1 Desert Ruins

[Dendrobatida]

Yeah, I thought long and hard about reversal, but had a string of about seven games over apprentice where I used probably between 12-15 reversals. I succeeded in flipping heads precisely zero times. In my apprentice version of this I do have 3 reversal, but decided in a sudden rush of antipathy toward the card to just leave it off this list...

The presence of those reversals in the apprentice version is the reason for the lack of warp point on this list...still, though, either one is okay. Switch is the safer of the two: in this deck, their big hitter will usually be active earlier than they'd like it to be. I don't want to give them a chance to get it out of there when I bring up my big poke to KO it.

Why fast ball: It takes a bit of forethought to see why fastball is effective in this deck. It really revolves around the "team assembly" attack, and the effectiveness of underground lake. Those two things in conjunction will allow you to spam your bench with kabuto by turn two (ideally, and quite often). That done, the only evolutions you will have left are your kabutops. Fastball is a spiffy way to scream through your deck to get the kabutops out. You'll be successful 100% of the time, because all of your kabuto are already on the bench.

[Shdwchu]

If you're Flips are good. may I advise Boost NRG for the deck. and instead of Psychic use multi. and you're gonna need More than just 1 Underground lake... trust me...

[Dendrobatida]

You can't use multi to take advantage of reconstruction.....hence the psychic.

[TrueGamerX]

Praise you Dendro! A Kabutops deck that actually works!

[JasonthePwnda]

dudemen this is my idea, hos, http://www.pokegym.net/showthread.php?t=7304
hmm, nice deck though, i like it and i think it could see some play, though an active bex would still pwn.

[Dendrobatida]

Your idea, hmmmm? Fascinating intellectual property claim there....

And against what deck does an active Bex, fully powered, not "pwn"? At least this one can shuffle a kabutops -ex up there to take a shot, then give it right back to the tune of an auto 140 and heal, or 0-240. The point of this is to reduce the opponent's ability to get that Bex fully powered in time, before you start rolling through stuff. You'll also note the addition of wobbuffet...The deck has water...it has psychic...it has wobbuffet...it has the ability to curtail the effectiveness of benched delcatty, blazikens, and manectrics by stopping them, or devolving them, before they get a chance to roll. Through the ATM, and multiple uses thereof, along with its ability to get started quickly via buried fossil and team assembly, it can slow down fast blazikens using rare candy enough to go toe to toe, assuming you don't start off atrociously, like with a lone wobbuffet and six fighting energy. But vice versa, a blaziken could start off with a lone skitty and six fire. How much more anti-blaziken-ex can you get without running your own blaziken deck?

/COVERT (kabut)OPS

[JasonthePwnda]

its awesome, thats why i thought of the idea :) some boosts would help, methinks.btw, i dont like the "claiming of decks," the strategy is pretty obvious and i made the deck even before HL. i was expecting it sooner or later.

[Dendrobatida]

Boosts would be pretty good, especially after something ko's your built active, and you want to bring up a kabuto, evolve to 'tops -ex, and lay the hurt on without making the benched kabuto a target. The trick is getting them in the hand at the right time. Without something like delcatty/oracle to get you what you need when you need it, anything less than, say, three boosts would be risky. By the same token, there's only one pokemon in the deck (tops -ex) that can really use boost effectively, and that's not the focus of the deck....So the question becomes, how do you fit boosts in there and give yourself a chance to use them effectively? Switch the trainer engine to oracle/pokenav? Revamp the thing to use delcatty/oracle (doing this is risky, because once you get 'tops up, you aren't going to evolve that skitty...it also adds another evo, which throws the fastball idea out the window)? Just add two boost, maybe take out the fastball, and hope that you get what you need when you need it? I'm extremely open to suggestions...

[Dek]

hey dendro,

why not have Dunsparce in the 2 free spaces as a way to get Wobbufett/Buried Fossil out instantly?

[davechri]

Great deck Dendro (and kudos to Jason for having a similar idea, although no deck was presented).

One thing we're seeing a lot of down here in Florida is Muk EX. This looks like it may be brutal against that as well.

[psycodad]

Dendro
Interesting concept. The rock atm/sky kabuto combo is good. I have few questions and then perhaps a suggestion or 2. First the questions.
You mention in the initial post "or use rare candies to get around your pokebody," I did not think rare candy got around sky kabutops poke body. Is this documented somewhere? Next, you mention "That will allow you to fill your bench by turn two with all your little kabutos, wobbuffets, and whatever other tech you have". Reconstrution only allows you to trade nrg from your hand for omanytes or kabutos. Is your strategy to use team assembly to get the wobbies/tech? One last question, do you really need 3 mysterious fossils and 4 burried fossils?

Now for a few possible (or possibly lame) suggestions. I have been playing non delcatty draw engines for a bit here. I have found that without a way to make your hand small, you'll never use all 4 stevens advice. Here's what I might try

My weak and feeble attempt @ "The Deck":


4 buried fossil
4 kabuto (SS)
3 Kabutops (SK)
2 Kabutops -ex
2 Wobbuffett
4 dunsparse - if you like regirock, drop 1 sparse and 1 fast ball (I added 1 fast ball - it works in this list well)
Total: 19


4 steven's advice
4 tv reporter - discard sparse or omanyte
4 oaks reserach or shaman or any combo of the 2 - shaman might fit here well
2 switch
4 Ancient Technical Machine: rock
2 underground lake
1 magnetic storm (more versatile than crystal shard)
3 fastball
Total: 24

13 fighting energy
4 psychic energy
Total: 17

This deck will have problems with muk ex. Both kubutops cards are weak to grass and muk stops the sky versions power. GL

[Dendrobatida]

'dad,

First, answers to your questions:


1) You mention in the initial post "or use rare candies to get around your pokebody," I did not think rare candy got around sky kabutops poke body. Is this documented somewhere?

According to the compendium:

== PRIMAL AURA (Kabutops - Skyridge)

Q. Can I use Rare Candy on my PokÈmon to go to their evolutions if either Kabutops or Omastar from Skyridge is in play (with the powers/bodies that stop evolution)?
A. You can use Rare Candy when an evolution-preventing Body or Power is in play (except for the first turn of the game). (Mar 25, 2004 PUI Rules Team)

Hinders the deck a bit, but that's what the Rock ATM is for :)

2)Next, you mention "That will allow you to fill your bench by turn two with all your little kabutos, wobbuffets, and whatever other tech you have". Reconstrution only allows you to trade nrg from your hand for omanytes or kabutos. Is your strategy to use team assembly to get the wobbies/tech?

The team assembly attack is the one to which I refer. My sentence could more clearly read, "That will allow you to fill your bench by the end of turn two with all...."

3)One last question, do you really need 3 mysterious fossils and 4 buried fossils?

Buried fossil, yes, though it is a bit vulnerable early game (reconstruction really mitigates that negative, though). The mysterious fossils aren't as necessary, though I like them for protection in a pinch. The trouble with the rock ATM is that you can't attach it to kabuto put onto the bench via team assembly.

Not including dunsparce was a tough, tough choice. On the one hand, you have the ability to SAR for a turn-two kabuto (SAR for the buried fossil, use reconstruction and evolve). On the other hand, team assembly serves the same purpose...I opted for the mysterious fossil route.

My list has changed a bit...the magnetic storm, pretty though it was, was dropped in lieu of crystal shards...yes, Magnetic storm addresses more issues, but it doesn't make it possible for kabutops to OHKO rayquaza with a single heads like CS does. Also, there's no regirock. It's a blaziken -ex target. Against muk -ex, the key is wobbuffett. Yes, wobby's power is shut down, but in order to shut off kabutops' power, muk -ex has to become active. Once that's done, you hit it for 100, which either knocks it out or leaves it with 10 (Low pressure system). In the worst-case scenario, you'll then face another one right on top of the first. It'll hit you for 60 (you're at 70 now). You knock it out, too. That's a 4-1 prize swap, and an 10-4 card swap. Hard to recover from, even for Muk -ex. The bottom line is that you must protect your kabutops, particularly your kabutops -ex, before muk -ex hits play. Thank goodness for team assembly. It'll get your wobbuffet, which you should do anyway, but you should absolutely do if they show grimer. You should also hold onto the underground lake, to countergym the low pressure prior to your initial attack. Against everything else, this deck should be majorly offensive, gunning for a turn three kabutops active and hitting. Against Muk -ex, you must play defensively, and it is there that the mysterious fossils become important. A solid plan is to sacrifice a kabuto, hitting their dunsparce and whatnot (whynaut?) while taking no damage, forcing the muk -ex to come up. Alternatively, you could go ahead and start bashing with the kabutops, once you've got a wobbuffett powered. That will also force the grimer active, to become muk -ex, or the muk -ex active, to stop the power and whatever damage you're spreading around the board with dual cut. Muk -ex is a difficulty, but less so with wobbuffett. There's other things you could do...take out the wobbs, put in 4 steel and a couple registeel, which would pile damage up on the benched pokes as well, which you could then devolve and ko. Thus far, though, wobbuffett has been a lifesaver, even if it manages to show up in your starting hand as your lone basic about 55% of the time....

Shaman is a solid idea...shuffle all those evolutions back into the deck after you ATM....


Cheers,

[psycodad]

Hello dro!
Thanks for the clarification. I can see how you get around the sparse thing. Dropping the regirock ex was a wise move. We have a fella who plays a similar yet different deck @ the PoKeShaQ. I have done well with muk against him. There are now a ton of good muk back up hitters thanks to the last 2 sets. Sceptile comes to mind as a problem in combo wiith muk given thhe resistance to water. I think you need to play for speed against it. If muk is out second turn and you have not used reconstuction that power is now off and it hurts the deck speed.

[Prime]

Because rare candy get past the power, I would run 4 of the Rock TM. And definitely run oracle to go get them. But heck, that is the way I would run them.

[JasonthePwnda]

if you just want to get the rock tm, traveling salesman is better than oracle.

[Dendrobatida]

Prime...yup. The 4 ATMrock have been in there since day one. Dunno about Oracle...this deck searches itself (reconstruction, team assembly) pretty well, and has solid general draw. With 4 of the ATM, they come frequently enough to be of use when I need them, particularly with copycat and steven's advice in use.

In another deck I've been messing around with, I've been using chimechoes (which I pronounce Chime-echo...anyone else got a thought on that one?). They might work well here as well, since they're an auto 60 vs. a fully-powered Muk -ex (in devolution range then, even with LPS in play), can't be OHKO'ed by muk -ex, and are nifty early game as well...I had a game this weekend at league where my opponent, running a ninetails deck (blaziken/ninetails -ex/safeguard ninetails), used a tech pokemon nurse early game. His willow-the-wisp ninetails hit my chimecho 4 times for 50 each time, and each time, since I couldn't draw a kabutops to save my life, I copied the effect of the pokemon nurse and discarded my energy, getting the energy back with town volunteers at the end of the fourth turn, evolving my kabuto to kabutops (finally), retreating chimecho, and hitting him for 50. Next turn I devolved the thing to win the game. Yay chimecho!

Though I'd rather not change too much what is a pretty tightly running deck so far, in order to counteract one card, Muk -ex is something to watch out for. Pokemon reversals might also help....

[Masamune156]

Heres a list to play around with...

4 Kabuto
3 Kabutops
2 Kabutops ex
2 Wynaut
2 Wobbuffet

2 Desert Ruins
2 Underground Lake
3 Desert Shaman
4 ATR
2 Steven's Advice
4 TV Reporter
4 Mysterious Fossil
3 Crystal Shard
2 Switch
4 Pokemon Reversal

10 Fighting
4 Psychic
3 Double Rainbow

[Jim Ferrell]

Hey Jake,

Great deck idea. Here's what I'd do...

Pokemon: 17
4 Buried Fossil
4 Kabuto (Sandstorm)
3 Kabutops (Skyridge)
2 Kabutops ex
2 Wobbuffett
2 Chimecho

Energy: 18
13 Fighting
5 Psychic

Trainers: 25
4 Steven's Advice
4 TV Reporter
4 Ancient Technical Machine: Rock
3 Switch
3 Mysterious Fossil
2 Copycat
2 Underground Lake
2 Crystal Shard
1 Town Volunteers

I agree with you on your idea with Chimecho. It'd also be reeeeally good versus Gardevoir too. Give up one prize, lose one energy card to do a crap load of damage to the Gardevoir or GEX? Hecks yeah! Once again, great deck. Looks very nice. Only problem would be Muk ex. It's nasty, just plain nasty.

~Jim

[Dendrobatida]

Jim: That's the exact list I took to league this weekend, with 2 exceptions: the chimecho were skyridge ditto and there was a 1 energy difference (18 total still, but 14-4, which would, of course, change to 13-5 with the addition of chimecho and the dropping of skyridge ditto). I think the chimecho will be going in. It's just a fun pokemon. The deck did very well, despite my constant inability to start with anything other than a lone wobbuffett, and my surreal ability to flip double or triple tails with freakish regularity.

Masamune: your list, though it frees up several spots for extra trainers, scares me just a bit too much. Of the 8 "basic pokemon" in your list, four of them are mysterious fossil that, if I play as my lone active, lose me the game if I go second. Of the other four, only two are viable early game: the wynaut. In order to power the wynaut, I also need a specific energy, of which, in your list, there are only four. Assuming I get both the wynaut and the psychic energy in my starting hand, there are only three other basic pokemon I can search the deck for: another wynaut, and two wobbuffet. You cannot use wynaut to get a mysterious fossil, since they are trainers while in your deck. I see having to mulligan multiple times, thus giving my opponent a pretty decent start. Yes, you could lessen the impact of that with desert shaman, but the last thing this deck needs is to mulligan 3 times, start out with a lone wobbuffet, go second, and then have to shaman away a six card hand for a four card hand. That'd be putting yourself into too big a hole too early: one from which you're not going to recover if you're playing against, well, anything.....But if you're keen on trying the deck out without buried fossils, please let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

[Masamune156]

I'm not a big Buried Fossil fan so personally i'd rather use Myst. Fossil and have the option to mulligan than use Buried Fossil and not. Especially if I can mulligan until I get a Myst. Fossil/Lake/Reporter/Kabuto.

Wobbuffet isn't a problem, it can get powered up quickly enough with DRE when evo'd from Wynaut. (Which is why I put in 4 of the DRE)

I'm probably going to drop the Reversals and a Shard for Fast Balls and something else.