Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Making Trainer/tech lines more consistent

Well, I'm getting to be a pretty good player, but recently I've been losing my edge. What I think I need now is advanced tactical tips/tricks. Namely, how to make my Trainer and tech lines more consistent so I can set everything up as soon as possible. A good, solid core Trainer line I can use to build new decks around would be greatly appreciated.

Also, any tips and tricks on teching would be appreciated.

I'm putting together a tactical notebook that I plan to take and study before tournaments, so please help me fill it well!

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
Here are a few good combos to use in this format. Play Sableye with Darkness Energy with any items you can keep getting them back. This combo works extremely well in Hammertime where the object of the deck is to power up Darkrai Ex and keep attacking and use the random crushing hammer or keep using Sableye to to hammer stall by getting rid of as many of your opponent's energy as possible (I found mixing it up between both to be good). Another good combo will be when Magnezone Plasma comes out and it's ability to use 2 supporters a turn and I think it's stackable. A few other good tech combos are Skyla/Computer Search where the object is to use Skyla to get Computer Search when you need it. I found this to work well in Hammertime as well as Hydregion/Darkrai. Another combo is using Random Receiver to get a supporter when you need 1. Only problem is that it's a random supporter like the name says. A pretty good energy acceleration combo that will be playable when Plasma Storm comes out is Pokedex/Ether. This combo works by using Pokedex and you should see an energy within the top 5 cards of your deck. you put the energy you need on top then you use Ether which enables you to attach that energy. This combo works in almost every deck. For the lists I recommended using search websites like The Deck Out, SixPrizes and of course Pokegym. Pokebeach is sometimes a good site as well. Well I hoped I helped you.
 
Most decks all main the following

-4 Juniper
-4 N
-4 Pokemon Catcher
-4 Switch
-2-4 Ultra Ball
-2-4 Skyla
-Computer Search

Then depending on the type of deck you will see
-3-4 Bianca
-3-4 Cheren
-2-4 Random Receiver

And then you get deck specific with things like
-Max Potion
-Level Ball
-Super Scoop Up
-Super Rod
-Skyarrow Bridge
-Hammers (Enhanced and Crushing)

And then tech as in
-Tool Scrapper
-Evotile
-Tropical Beach
-Potion
-Gold Potion
-Cilan
-Town Map

And then the obvious deck exclusive stuff like Rare Candy, Dark Patch, Dark Claw, etc etc but I dont count these cards since they arent really universal.
 
^ Just out of curiosity, why 4 Switch? Hardly seems universal. Most decks I've seen only run 2-3 w/possibly 1 Keldeo ex. 4 seems...excessive.

ETA: Also, my decks do start out with a core like that, but I still find myself setting up slowly. What's going on?

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
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Its really hard to say because of how powerful trainers are now. it largely depends on the deck you're playing. If you're playing big basics, then you can get away with 40+ trainers. If you're playing any Stage 2 Pokemon or heavy stage 1 lines, then put in what you need for your engine first, then figure out other cards.

I'd say try what works for you and your deck.
 
^ Just out of curiosity, why 4 Switch? Hardly seems universal. Most decks I've seen only run 2-3 w/possibly 1 Keldeo ex. 4 seems...excessive.

ETA: Also, my decks do start out with a core like that, but I still find myself setting up slowly. What's going on?

- Croatian_Nidoking

Because of Catchers. They arent excessive since you will get Catchered a lot and plus if your playing people with Hammers sometimes its impossible to retreat other wise. What type of deck do you play?
 
^ Darkrai/Hydreigon and RayEels w/Keldeo ex and Skyarrow Bridge tech for now (don't know which would be the play for Regionals - help). Considering playing a Klinklang/ex deck later on. Still, I think 4 Switch is excessive when those spaces could be used for other things.

That said, how could I construct my Trainer core so I could get all my necessary Pokemon out as soon as humanly possible? That's the problem I have most of the time.

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
^ Darkrai/Hydreigon and RayEels w/Keldeo ex and Skyarrow Bridge tech for now (don't know which would be the play for Regionals - help). Considering playing a Klinklang/ex deck later on. Still, I think 4 Switch is excessive when those spaces could be used for other things.

That said, how could I construct my Trainer core so I could get all my necessary Pokemon out as soon as humanly possible? That's the problem I have most of the time.

- Croatian_Nidoking

i play darkrai/hydregion myself. to truely get nightspear and hydregion out as quickly as possible run a 4-4-4 line and 4 darkrai along with 4 rare candy, 4 dark patch, 4 ultraball, 4 levelball, and a comp search. realistically i play a 4-1-3 line, 3 darkrai, 3 rare candy, 4 dark patch, 3 ultraball, comp search, and other trainers. i almost always am ether using night spear or have out hydregion on T2 and get the other on T3. sometimes both on T2, sometimes (very rearly) it will take me most of the game for hydregion. it all comes down to knowing your deck inside and out, and being able to think ahead to see how the game will most likely play out.
 
i play darkrai/hydregion myself. to truely get nightspear and hydregion out as quickly as possible run a 4-4-4 line and 4 darkrai along with 4 rare candy, 4 dark patch, 4 ultraball, 4 levelball, and a comp search. realistically i play a 4-1-3 line, 3 darkrai, 3 rare candy, 4 dark patch, 3 ultraball, comp search, and other trainers. i almost always am ether using night spear or have out hydregion on T2 and get the other on T3. sometimes both on T2, sometimes (very rearly) it will take me most of the game for hydregion. it all comes down to knowing your deck inside and out, and being able to think ahead to see how the game will most likely play out.

What about Sableye? And what tech lines do you use (looks like you don't have much room for any)?

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
^ Darkrai/Hydreigon and RayEels w/Keldeo ex and Skyarrow Bridge tech for now (don't know which would be the play for Regionals - help). Considering playing a Klinklang/ex deck later on. Still, I think 4 Switch is excessive when those spaces could be used for other things.

That said, how could I construct my Trainer core so I could get all my necessary Pokemon out as soon as humanly possible? That's the problem I have most of the time.

- Croatian_Nidoking

Its really a matter of luck seeing the right cards come out at the right time. Check out other peoples builds and mix and match what you like and dont like.

I run Ho-Oh, I run only 3 N since I hate giving my opponent cards along with not being able to discard my HoOh but when Im up against Darkrai I have to keep cancelling out their Sabeleye so at times its a necessity. I play 4 Juniper since thats a given, 4 Ultra Ball but thats because I play HoOh. Only run 3 Bianca, no Cheren. Random Recievers since I need Juniper asap. 4 Switch since I play Terrakions and they are hard to retreat, 2 Skyla, Energy Search since I play 6 different types of energy , 4 Energy Switch since this card is amazing in that deck and 4 Catchers. The only tech i have room for is Shaymin EX and thats not a trainer so I guess it doesnt count. Personally I think tech is sometimes overrated when the meta is only really 3-4 decks. I wouldnt worry about really random stuff that can beat you since sometimes you cant do anything about that no matter what you run. I was running Zapdos at a point to counter Empoleon (my worst match up surprisingly) and I just took it out since it just wasnt cutting it.

Im almost positive your going to see lots of draw power with Juniper, N, and some combination of Cheren and Bianca and maybe random receivers in almost every deck. Then you must play 4 Catcher. Probably 3-4 switches depending on your deck (probably less in Darkrai since it retreats itself for free), Computer Search (or sometimes Gold Potion depending on how your deck is set up but this card is amazing with Sabeleye and just amazing in general), then the obvious Darkrai stuff like Dark Patch, Max Potion, Rare Candy, or Rayquaza stuff like Skyarrow, Level Balls, etc.

Its just trial and error. Trainers are usually maxed out I noticed, at least the more important ones. Only a few trainers do you play in single or a few copies like Tool Scrapper or Super Rod. Sometimes its really just luck, you cant help it no matter how much you max things out.
 
In general, a Trainer core should be how many Supporters, how many deployment aids (Ultra/Level Balls/Rare Candies), and how many deck-specific Trainers?

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
In general, a Trainer core should be how many Supporters, how many deployment aids (Ultra/Level Balls/Rare Candies), and how many deck-specific Trainers?

- Croatian_Nidoking

The main core is:

4 Juniper
4 N
4 Catcher
2-3 Skyla
2-4 Switch (probably 2-3 in Darkrai since you have Sabeleye)
3-4 Bianca/Cheren
Computer Search
2-4 Ultra Ball (again depends on the deck)

Everything above is basically the core of all meta decks. I wouldnt be able to tell you deck specifics like Rare Candy, Level Balls, etc. since that all depends on what you run and what you want your deck to look like. You would have to look at the type of deck your trying to play, see what others play and see what works for you. Everyone has different preferences to numbers but everything above is the norm.
 
^ How's all this going to change when Plasma Storm comes into play?

ETA: How am I to know what works for me? Becuse I never know for sure what works for me.

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
^ How's all this going to change when Plasma Storm comes into play?

ETA: How am I to know what works for me? Becuse I never know for sure what works for me.

- Croatian_Nidoking

Im really not sure how things will change with Plasma Storm or what the game will be like by then, thats not for another month or so. You will just have to wait and see.

Since your playing Darkrai I would just look at other Darkrai decks, build yours based on how you like your deck built and try it out a bit. From my experiences with this game you just have to learn what are good cards and what are not so good cards. Cards that generate a lot of advantage, energy acceleration, being able to manipulate your opponent and your own moves with next to no cost are usually some of the best cards. You also just have to learn how to play the game better in general. I would check out six prizes they have a lot of good player tips on there. Id read one article where it says benching certain pokemon for no reason is a bad idea, which is very true. You wouldnt want to bench a Terrakion against a Blastoise deck for example, unless you had absolutely no choice since it wouldnt serve any purpose and it would hurt you more than it would help.

This game is kind of an art. It just takes a lot of trial and error and luck sometime to win. That and sometimes some studying about the game. Sometimes its even good to go back to when the game first started and see what was good and not good. Ironically, even back in the day around the 1st few sets people were playing a lot of the same trainers and the same strategies as today (not exactly but a lot of similar strategies). The only difference between then and now was the lack of supporters and less damage. Now we have supporters but the Pokemon cause ALOT more damage now a days than back then.
 
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That's the problem. I'm not sure how exactly I want my deck to be built - except that I want to win as much as possible and get my troops out as quickly as possible.

Also, how am I to know when to put a particular Pokemon out or not? All I want to do is deploy, deploy, deploy. "Quick step - I'm with them 'ere the dawn."

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
That's the problem. I'm not sure how exactly I want my deck to be built - except that I want to win as much as possible and get my troops out as quickly as possible.

Also, how am I to know when to put a particular Pokemon out or not? All I want to do is deploy, deploy, deploy. "Quick step - I'm with them 'ere the dawn."

- Croatian_Nidoking


Well thats the thing is that you have to look at what wins and understand why it wins. You have to play these decks and understand how they work. Darkrai decks arent as easy to play as Blastoise or any Mewtwo variants since the deck doesnt stack damage really meaning that you cant OHKO everything. Darkrai is a control based deck, its not one where you can drop everything and try to win. With that deck you have to progressively pick off your opponent, unless you get super lucky and get 3 energies + Evotile on Darkrai 1st/2nd turn every single game which is unlikely and with all the EX's out there its still not a first turn win.

Based on your match up depends on what you will put out and what you wont put out. Like your not going to drop a bunch of energy on a Darkrai without an Evotile if you see a Terrakion out and proceed to knock out one of their Pokemon. That would be terrible since they would kill your Darkrai leaving you with next to nothing and your chances of winning would be slim unless you drew bananas after and got all your stuff back which is unlikely.

You will have to learn the meta to figure out what to play what when. Theres a lot of different decks out there and you have to play accordingly against them. Just as examples, with my Hooh deck I usually dont bench Shaymin EX most of the time unless Im against Blastoise where I know I can make use of it. It usually dies to everything else easily so I dont play the card against everything else. I dont bring back Hooh against Blastoise unless I really need it. I dont play Silgyph against most red face powder decks since theres no EX's for him to be effective against. These are just some examples, its different for each deck.
 
I don't play Eviolite in my Darkrai deck, and based on all the Trainers you say I need, it looks like I have no room for Eviolite. What then?

Also, what do I do in unfamiliar territory when I don't know the meta? In my state (FL) anything seems to go.

- Croatian_Nidoking
 
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