Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

HGSS-on "Phanssey" Yanmega

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Thunder

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I recently pulled two Yanmega Primes in booster packs, so I've been trying to find a rogue-ish deck build to use with them. I know Donphan Yanmega is already a deck, but this is slightly different.

18 Pokemon
4-4 Yanmega Prime
3-3 Donphan Prime
2-2 Blissey Prime

34 Trainers
4 Collector
4 Judge
4 Copycat
3 Seeker
2 Juniper
2 PONT
1 FSL
3 Super Scoop Up
4 PlusPower
4 Pokemon Communication
3 Switch



8 Energy
6 Fighting Energy
2 Rescue Energy

Yanmega is beastly, dealing 70 damage for no energy, but has troubles with Reshiram, Zekrom, and Magenzone. Donphan takes care of Zekrom and Magnezone, OHKOing both with a PlusPower. Reshiram is a bit harder to deal with, but I'm hoping the release of Pokemon Catcher will make that deck less playable, but any techs to deal with it would be helpful.

Blissey Prime allows me to heal all of my Pokemon, making Earthquake's negative side effect void, and allowing both attackers to tank a bit. Donphan can EQ, tank a Blue Flare, heal it off with Blissey, and then plus power EQ for the KO. Seeker and SSU not only allow me to pick Blissey back up, but also allow me to heal my attackers, and get Donphan out of the active slot if I can't get a switch. Right now, I'm having a bit of trouble getting cards fast enough, often times I'll run out of draw cards, and be stuck with Seeker, SSU, PlusPower, Switch etc.

All thoughts are helpful, but please be constructive! Thanks.
 
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I think your deck is very strong, with a powerful combo (Blissey). You might have a problem if somebody has lots of trainers/moves to drag Donphan or Blissey off the bench, especially if you don't have any switches in your hand. I think you could definitely play this deck competitively, and you should try it out. You might later want a few tweaks with the trainers if after playing your deck 50 times you notice you have a hard time pulling certain cards.
 
pnoodle5 said:
I think your deck is very strong, with a powerful combo (Blissey). You might have a problem if somebody has lots of trainers/moves to drag Donphan or Blissey off the bench, especially if you don't have any switches in your hand. I think you could definitely play this deck competitively, and you should try it out. You might later want a few tweaks with the trainers if after playing your deck 50 times you notice you have a hard time pulling certain cards.
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I tried playtesting it at my local league, but all I got to play against was Reshiboar, which is a tough match-up. I really have problems getting the pokemon out, I don't think I ever lost on Prize Cards, it was always because I ran out of Pokemon. As far as being dragged active, Donphan is fine attacking, but if I really need to get Donphan or Blissey out of the active slot, I have a total of 8 cards that will let me do that. At the very worst, they spend a turn or two knocking it out while I set up another attacker, and I can always attach Rescue Energy to scoop it back up after it dies.
 
Run Manaphy or Cleffa to help with consistency. Get rid of the Dual Ball to max out the Pokemon Collector - it's a better card. 4 Seeker is way too much; make that 2 and then add in 2 Cleffa. Also, what is FSL?

It seems like you're running this for Battle Roads, not worlds. If so, I'd try a couple of Kyruem for the Reshiram matchup - it's not getting any less playable. You EQ a lot to get damage on Kyurem and then Outrage KO their Reshiram. Donphan probably won't survive a Reshiram; they do run 4 PlusPower and 4 Junk Arms.

If I were you, I'd go 1-1 on the Blissey and take out 2 other cards in order to add in 4 Catcher - they are really helpful to this deck.

P.S. Yanmega is not a tank at all.
 
I don't see how nobody has said this yet.. But 7 energy, (5 of which are fighting) is way too few. IMO you need at the VERY LEAST 10 and they must be all fighting.
 
First off, yes, this is definitely not a Worlds deck. This is Battle Roads.

With Pokemon Catcher coming out, both Manaphy and Cleffa are going to be turned in to easy KOs. I'll try out 4 Collector, see if it still works. Seeker is very important, it helps me retreat/switch damaged Yanmega/Donphan, helps me win when my opponent only has two Pokemon, and helps me get even on hand size.

I can't run Kyurem, as the whole point of the deck is low energy attack costs. I can only really rely on outrage, which means I have to be attacked first, and even if I run 2 Kyurem and 4 DCE, I'll be killing only 1 Reshiram in a best case scenario, and more likely being stuck active searching for a DCE, or being KOd by a PlusPowered Blue Flare. "They do run 4 PlusPower and 4 Junk Arms."

I do want to add in Catcher, but I need the 2-2 Blissey. To easily prized otherwise.

Yanmega "tanks" against Donphan and Machamp, but the main point is that I can heal off attacks that almost kill it. So anything under 100 damage will be "tanked".

7 Energy has never really been a problem, 10 Fighting energy would be excessive.
 
I'd remove at least 1 of the Seeker, 4 is way too many, considering you'll probably need to Copycat/Judge to attack with Yanmega you won't be able to play too many other Supporters.

I'd take out the Flower Shop Lady, since you have enough lines of Pokemon and I'm going to suggest adding in more Basic Energy.

I'd thin down some of the Trainer lines, I'd drop the Super Scoop Up down to 2 and drop the Switch down to 2 and add in 4 Junk Arm, it's so widely versatile giving you many options throughout the game.

I'd also remove both Twins since you should be attacking and taking prizes quickly so if you're behind then your deck's not working right.

I'd also drop the PlusPower down to 3 because you have the 4 Junk Arm.

I'd then add in 2 Pokemon Catcher when it's released (Reversal for now) and use the left over spaces for more Fighting Energy.

I do like the strategy but it's a little slow and is susceptible to Pokemon Catcher.

In the next set along with Catcher we get Max Restore which does the same as Blissey for 1 Pokemon but it can be re used with Junk Arm and would allow you to remove the 2-2 Blissey, the Super Scoop Up's and the Seeker's giving you much more space to work with to make your deck more consistent.
 
take out 2 dual balls and max collectors, some combination of ponts/elms/junipers would probably help considering i dont see any draw power
 
I tested with a deck similar to this; trust me you only need 1-1 Blissey. I ultimately took the Blissey out of mine because SSU and Seeker were enough.

And the Kyurem is FOR Outrage. You pile a bunch of damage on with Earthquake then bring him out and he hits Reshiram for 60x2+PlusPower for the KO. Haven't you ever heard of Donphan/Zoroark/Reshiram/Zekrom?
 
All right, I might remove a seeker or two.

As far as taking out FSL, I might add in one or two Fighting Energy, but I need at least some recovery.

I tried using Junk Arm at one point, but it just ruins the deck's ability to keep at the same hand size as the opponent.

For removing twins, really don't think planning on success is going to win me very many games, but I see your point. I'll probably remove two for PONT.

I will definitely add in Pokemon Catcher when it comes out, I just need to make room.

"As far as being dragged active, Donphan is fine attacking, but if I really need to get Donphan or Blissey out of the active slot, I have a total of 8 cards that will let me do that. At the very worst, they spend a turn or two knocking it out while I set up another attacker, and I can always attach Rescue Energy to scoop it back up after it dies. "

Also, in what way is it slow? My main attackers only require two turns to be set up, one to play the basic, one to evolve and attach energy for Donphan. The point of the deck is to be fast, if you see a reason it won't be, let me know, please.

Full Restore is OK, but since I'm not running Junk Arm, and because a large point of using blissey is to heal EQ damage, I don't think I'm going to run it.

I forget to update my decklist, I have already taken the Collector>Dual Ball advice, and I have decided to add in two PONT.

OK, no, Kyurem does not work in this deck. First off, DCE is hard to get consistently, and if it has to sit on the bench for 6 turns before it can OHKO, I'll have used EQ 6 times, for 360 damage at a minimum. And as long as it's sitting there taking damage, my opponent might as well Catcher it up and kill it with Blue Flare. And besides, the point of the deck is to heal damage. Every time I play Blissey, I'll have to to start all over again, and if I don't play Blissey, my Donphan will get KOd.

SO, changes made:

-1 Switch
-1 SSU
-1 Seeker
-2 Twins
-2 Dual Ball
--------------
+2 Juniper
+2 PONT
+2 Collector
+1 Fighting Energy

After I've made these changes, I will try running Junk Arm again, and will probably try out Manaphy as well.
 
I like this deck a lot. Great strat and it looks to be very fast as well.

The only change I would like to see made is the addition of Pokemon Reversal to maximize Yanmega's speed early game to knock out your opponent's key basics. Other than that it looks great.
 
I didn't mean the whole deck was slow, obviously you can set up an attacker quickly but that's not your whole strategy, your strategy revolves around also consistently healing with the Blissey and this is the part I have found to be slow when I've tested decks with Blissey.

The susceptibility to Catcher was aimed towards the fact that to heal with Blissey you need to bench the Chansey first and then wait a turn where usually the Chancey will get pulled active and KO'd before you can evolve it.
 
Do the math...
4 DCE = 1/15 cards is a DCE. After you Juniper/Oak's/Copycat, you hit a DCE. By your logic, every card except basic energy is hard to draw into. How do you think the deck that got second at Nationals worked? Attach 2 Fighting to Zoroark? :X

Also, you'd run Rainbow Energy as well to help pile the damage on even faster. Kyurem is not intended to be a main attacker; it's just a tech to pressure your opponent. Don't bash it until you try it, or at least play against it.

I run Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark and I've done a good amount of testing against and with Donphan/Zoroark/Zekrom/Reshiram. If I see them drop Zekrom, the first thing I do is get Donphan active, Reversal it up and kill it. Zekrom is a huge threat to my Yanmegas if I don't. The second they drop Zekrom my entire gameplay has to change until it's removed from play because it's a threat. It removes my attention from killing your Donphan/Yanmega and directs it onto wasting my Reversals, PlusPowers and Junk Arms to kill a potential threat instead of using them to take free prizes on unevolved basics. It also forces my Donphan into the active position, when if it weren't for the Zekrom I'd have Yanmega up there no question.

I've also tested with Donphan/Reuniclus/Zekrom/Blissey (does not work by the way) and I took the Blisseys out. SSU was more than enough to heal my Pokemon and Blissey was dead draw. It doesn't do anything more than get in the way. But the point is that when I dropped Zekrom my opponent would have to waste all of their resources to kill it. The point of attacking techs is to change your opponent's gameplay to ultimately sway the game in your favor, not necessarily to take 6 prizes on its own.

Also, how does Junk Arm make it harder to match hand size? It lets you make your hand size 2 cards lower and it's a great consistency card. My similar deck (DYZ) couldn't run well at all without the Junk Arm. I can grab a Reversal or PlusPower when I need it, not when I draw into it. I'd give them a try, as they're basically staples right now. :)
 
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untitled said:
Do the math...
4 DCE = 1/15 cards is a DCE. After you Juniper/Oak's/Copycat, you hit a DCE. By your logic, every card except basic energy is hard to draw into. How do you think the deck that got second at Nationals worked? Attach 2 Fighting to Zoroark? :X

Also, you'd run Rainbow Energy as well to help pile the damage on even faster. Kyurem is not intended to be a main attacker; it's just a tech to pressure your opponent. Don't bash it until you try it, or at least play against it.

I run Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark and I've done a good amount of testing against and with Donphan/Zoroark/Zekrom/Reshiram. If I see them drop Zekrom, the first thing I do is get Donphan active, Reversal it up and kill it. Zekrom is a huge threat to my Yanmegas if I don't. The second they drop Zekrom my entire gameplay has to change until it's removed from play because it's a threat. It removes my attention from killing your Donphan/Yanmega and directs it onto wasting my Reversals, PlusPowers and Junk Arms to kill a potential threat instead of using them to take free prizes on unevolved basics. It also forces my Donphan into the active position, when if it weren't for the Zekrom I'd have Yanmega up there no question.

I've also tested with Donphan/Reuniclus/Zekrom/Blissey (does not work by the way) and I took the Blisseys out. SSU was more than enough to heal my Pokemon and Blissey was dead draw. It doesn't do anything more than get in the way. But the point is that when I dropped Zekrom my opponent would have to waste all of their resources to kill it. The point of attacking techs is to change your opponent's gameplay to ultimately sway the game in your favor, not necessarily to take 6 prizes on its own.

Also, how does Junk Arm make it harder to match hand size? It lets you make your hand size 2 cards lower and it's a great consistency card. My similar deck (DYZ) couldn't run well at all without the Junk Arm. I can grab a Reversal or PlusPower when I need it, not when I draw into it. I'd give them a try, as they're basically staples right now. :)
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While other cards aren't as hard to get to because there are search cards for them, I get your point. Yes, I will be able to get Kyurem set up a fair bit of the time. However, it's still easily Catcher'd, and if I'm running Rainbow energy to damage it, why bother running DCE? Should I pick one? Or are you really asking me to run two redundant cards? In any case, it's still going to be on the bench for at least 4 turns, disrupts my strategy a fair bit, AND will only get ONE Reshiram KO (assuming it's not killed before hand, and I manage to get a PlusPower) before it is revenge killed by a Blue Flare. If I was playing a ReshiBoar deck, I would LET them set the Kyurem up, and not bother changing my whole strategy to defeat it. Because, after all, we both end up losing a basic with a couple of energies attached, but ReshiBoar has better recovery, and we both lose the time it took to set up our Pokemon, which, for my deck, involves a basic, two special energy and 4 turns/one special energy, one basic energy and 5 turns/one special energy and 6 turns, and a complete disruption of my Blissey healing strategy, and for Reshiboar, probably consisted of playing down Reshiram, and Infernal Fandango-ing three energy one right away. As the Reshiboar player, I would take that deal in a heartbeat. At this point, I'm hoping running four catcher will be enough to win against Reshiboar, seeing as I can Catcher + Double Sonicboom the Emboar to death.

Junk Arm makes it harder to match hand size because I usually find myself with less cards than my opponent, not more. Then again, that was before I added in Juniper and PONT, so I wouldn't be surprised if my opinion of the card changes. As I said before, I will try the deck out with Manaphy, Cleffa, Junk Arm, and also with Kyurem, and let you all know which works the best.
 
I'm going to leave the Kyurem thing at rest because you're going to test it. I encourage you to test with 3 Kyruem in the deck. I suppose I should have made it more clear to bench multiple Kyurem in order to build up a force that can match Reshiboar in the prize exchange for a few turns.

Also, I've tested Reshiram/Typhlosion and Reshiram/Emboar extensively and it's not hard for me to get multiple Emobar out when they are needed. Your strategy will work fairly well against Reshiram/Typhlosion though. Just apply for them actually powering up the Typhlosion or Emboar and being able to discard your energy/two-hit you.
 
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