Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Infernape 4 vs. Luxray 4

In all the Infernape 4 decks I've seen, Fire Spin (the one that discards Energies to do 100) seems to be used fairly infrequently. Mostly as a "now I have my last prize" attack. Mostly, I've seen Infernape played like I've seen Kingdra played...using its minor spread and 1 Energy (plus Energy gain) attack to quickly do a lot of damage early on. Add insane SP supports and a few useful techs (Lucario GL, Dialga G, Turtwig GL, whatever) and you look at the next fast deck to sweep small tournies with. And, it's faster than Kingdra so it tends to beat Kingdra over the long-run, from what I've seen.
 
A couple of weeks ago, I played Infernape 4/ Luxray G deck at BR. The deck performed really well. I made top-cut after going 5-0 in Swiss. It's a strong deck, but in my experience, it has some problems against MaChamp, Gengar, and Mewtwo. I've tried a lot of different techs, but these match ups are still tough. You have to disrupt set up really early to have a shot.

Machamp - Take Out, Hurricane Punch, and Machamp Lv. X all cause headaches for this deck. I play 3 Unown Gs, but having to attach those rather than Energy Gains is a real hinderance. Luxray G is an OHKO from Hurricane Punch, and Infernape 4's attacks can't keep up with Machamp when you can’t use Energy Gain. I tried Uxie spam, but still I have yet to win a match up against Machamp, where starts were equal.

Gengar - I haven't found a way to get around Faint Spell reliably. Nidoqueen makes it almost impossible, and she keeps your spread damage to a minimum. Also, you have lots of Poke-Powers on your Pokemon. It’s hard to get Unown G on them all. Of course, you can chose not to Level-Up, but that's advantageous for your opponent.

Mewtwo - Intimidating Roar and Bright Look aren't enough to get around Mewtwo. You'll be able to circumvent him for awhile, but eventually, you'll be stuck with just Mewtwo. Without away to KO it, you lose.

I've tried lots of different techs, but the problem is too many techs make the deck inconsistent. Here are some techs that I’ve tried.

Toxicroak G and Skuntank G - Require 3 to 4 deck spaces plus Stadiums, which you need a reliable way to draw into.

Dialga G Lv. X - Requires a minimum of 2 spaces, and when you Level-up, you'll need away to retreat safely to the bench to fully utilize Time Crystal. You could waste 2 Energies, but that's not really possible a lot of the times. You'll need Warp Points or Switches, and, like Stadiums, a way to reliably get them.

Houndoom 4 - Requires only 1 space. I like this tech. It's helpful against Gengar and Dusknior.

Ninetails (MT) - I thought this was the magic tech. I put a 2-2 in my deck, thinking it'd help against Flygon, Machamp (via using Color Swift on my opponent’s Uxie), and Mewtwo. It got mixed results. It was helpful, but it was also hurtful at times. Vulpix starts aren’t good and Ninetale's Fire Blast discards a :fire: Energy, so to retreat it, cost another Energy. It couldn’t hit-and-run like I’d hoped. Also, I had trouble getting it out quickly when I needed it.

I'm not saying these decks are bad. Actually, I think the quite good. I had some issues with it and wanted to share my experience.
 
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japple52 said:
Machamp - Take Out, Hurricane Punch, and Machamp Lv. X all cause headaches for this deck. I play 3 Unown Gs, but having to attach those rather than Energy Gains is a real hinderance. Luxray G is an OHKO from Hurricane Punch, and Infernape 4's attacks can't keep up with Machamp when you can’t use Energy Gain. I tried Uxie spam, but still I have yet to win a match up against Machamp, where starts were equal.
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Play a Uxie LvX. Use Ape to spread, and deny prizes with Bronzong/Poketurn. Play A luxray with and Energy Gain to take out Claydol ASAP. Afterwards use Uxie and Ape to sweep Machamps. Early game, if you need to stall or need Warp Point fodder, play a Crobat with a G on it (fighting resistance).

japple52 said:
Gengar - I haven't found a way to get around Faint Spell reliably. Nidoqueen makes it almost impossible, and she keeps your spread damage to a minimum. Also, you have lots of Poke-Powers on your Pokemon. It’s hard to get Unown G on them all. Of course, you can chose not to Level-Up, but that's advantageous for your opponent.
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Getting around Gengar's power is pretty difficult. Fortunately, you don't have to do it. Keep a field of Claydol, Luxray, and Infernape, all with Unown Gs. If you want you may not have to G the Luxray, and have another bench instead, as Luxray will be Poketurned anyways. Simply use Luxray to pull up Claydol, Uxie, Crobat, Cresselia, Azelf, Haunter, anything that either Luxray or Infernape can OHKO. Play conservative and do not let Gengar pull a single prize from you.

japple52 said:
Mewtwo - Intimidating Roar and Bright Look aren't enough to get around Mewtwo. You'll be able to circumvent him for awhile, but eventually, you'll be stuck with just Mewtwo. Without away to KO it, you lose.
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Yes they are. Mewtwo will be active as much as possible, which means he should pull prizes an average of one per two turns. All you have to do, is keep up with that statistic. Pull up other pokes and KO as often as possible, which will easily match Mewtwo.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Ignatious.

With the Mewtwo match up, what if your opponent doesn't bench anything? You've taken 4 or 5 prizes, and your opponent has just an active Mewtwo, no bench. Without an evolved Pokemon, you'd have no way to KO it. In my meta-game, I've been seeing a lot more Mewtwo.
 
Ignatious said:
Yes they are. Mewtwo will be active as much as possible, which means he should pull prizes an average of one per two turns. All you have to do, is keep up with that statistic. Pull up other pokes and KO as often as possible, which will easily match Mewtwo.
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That is true but won't the Mewtwo player just put out only Mewtwo?
 
japple52 said:
Thanks for the suggestions, Ignatious.

With the Mewtwo match up, what if your opponent doesn't bench anything? You've taken 4 or 5 prizes, and your opponent has just an active Mewtwo, no bench. Without an evolved Pokemon, you'd have no way to KO it. In my meta-game, I've been seeing a lot more Mewtwo.
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Then try not to let them take any more prizes, if you can. Most players will have enough bench, most of the time. If it concerns you to a certain extent, run Ninetails MT. Hits Mewtwo, Flygon, Machamp, etc.
 
luxray and gengar, both have minimal energy costs, are very fast, and gengar blows mewtwo out of the water, runs two laps around him, kicks him, punches him, and kills an uxie while it is at it, all before mewtwo falls back into the water, bam!
 
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