LegendaryLugia
New Member
PHOENIX
Phoenix was a deck created by me and a friend of mine, Tyran-Itar on the ‘gym, in the run up to the 2010 UK nationals. The deck focuses on hitting for cheap and heavy damage early on and consistently throughout the whole game. The following is a quote from my nationals report:
Article by: LegendaryLugia
Title: Phoenix
Deck name: HoBl, Phoenix, HonchBlaze, Firebird
Date: 20/10/10
Latest set released: Undaunted
Current format: Majestic Dawn-on
THE DECKLIST
The original deck was created in the DP-on format, so the deck used cards that are now illegal. The following decklist wasn’t the one I used in nationals, it’s the updated MD-on version. The only cards the deck lost in the rotation were Night Maintenance and Roseanne’s Research, although the loss of these cards hit the deck hard.
Pokemon
1 Blaziken FB Lv.X – Supreme Victors
3 Blaziken FB – Supreme Victors
2 Honchkrow G – Platinum
2 Crobat G – Platinum
1 Ambipom G – Rising Rivals
1 Bronzong G – Platinum
1 Sableye – Stormfront
1 Unown Q – Majestic Dawn
1 Azelf – Legends Awakened
1 Uxie Lv.X – Legends Awakened
2 Uxie – Legends Awakened
Trainers
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 PokeTurn
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar
4 Pokemon Collector
1 Bebe’s Search
1 Luxury Ball
2 Premier Ball
1 Aaron’s Contribution
2 Professor Oak’s New Theory
Energy
4 Call Energy – Majestic Dawn
4 Darkness Energy (Basic)
3 Fire Energy
1 Blaziken FB Lv.X – Supreme Victors
3 Blaziken FB – Supreme Victors
2 Honchkrow G – Platinum
2 Crobat G – Platinum
1 Ambipom G – Rising Rivals
1 Bronzong G – Platinum
1 Sableye – Stormfront
1 Unown Q – Majestic Dawn
1 Azelf – Legends Awakened
1 Uxie Lv.X – Legends Awakened
2 Uxie – Legends Awakened
Trainers
4 Cyrus’s Conspiracy
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray
4 Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 PokeTurn
3 Team Galactic’s Invention G-109 SP Radar
4 Pokemon Collector
1 Bebe’s Search
1 Luxury Ball
2 Premier Ball
1 Aaron’s Contribution
2 Professor Oak’s New Theory
Energy
4 Call Energy – Majestic Dawn
4 Darkness Energy (Basic)
3 Fire Energy
The list above has 57 cards, so there’s room for three tech spots. Now before we go on, I’m going to explain a few of the list choices in here which some may find questionable:
Q. Why run 3-1 Blaziken > 2-2 Blaziken?
A. 3-1 is preferable because Blaziken is a useful starter and you run enough recovery to afford to run only 1 Lv.X.
Q. Why only 2 Honchkrow G?
A. I tested it with 3, and it’s really not necessary to run the third. In many cases, it’s not your ideal starter, and if you need to start with it Unown Q let’s you switch in for it easily. Simply, the third Honchkrow G slot can be used more effectively in the deck.
Q. Isn’t running 4 Power Spray and 3 SP Radar overkill?
A. No, not in this deck. Increased chance of drawing into both, the fourth Spray is to optimize disruption and the third SP Radar boosts consistency.
Q. 2 Premier Ball? Really?
A. Boosts consistency, boosts recovery (which you need when you’re only running the 1 Blaziken FB Lv.X), lets you get the T2 Blaziken FB Lv.X you often need more easily.
Q. Running more Darkness Energy than Fire Energy when you’re main attacker uses Fire Energy? Is this guy crazy?
A. Put simply, the fourth Darkness increases the chances of you getting the donk with either Honchkrow G or Sableye. I have run the deck the other way round with 4 Fire and 3 Darkness though, it’s just what you prefer. Personally I prefer it with the extra Darkness.
THE CARDS
Pokemon
Blaziken FB Lv.X – Blaziken FB Lv.X is the big daddy of the deck. Blaziken FB Lv.X is a big card in the game right now and it’s easy to see why. The base stats of the card – it has a healthy 110 HP, around average for an SP Lv.X; it’s Fire type (we’ll get back to that in a minute); it has a x2 Water weakness; it has no resistance (a Fighting type resistance might have been useful but it’s not a big point); it has one retreat cost (the low retreat cost often comes in handy). As far as type goes, this is one of the reasons the deck has an improved matchup vs. Jumpluff – fire type is a pretty good type in the current meta because of Jumpluff’s weakness. Water weakness hurts it though – makes playing Gyarados a lot less fun.
Its strength is in its attack – for one Fire Energy (when Energy Gain is attached) it deals 80 damage, a huge amount for that amount of energy. This easy setup means Blaziken FB Lv.X is the main hard hitter in your deck, and the reason your deck can deal cheap, heavy damage. Unfortunately it does have a downside – the possible recoil damage (+40). This makes Blaziken FB Lv.X quite a fragile Pokemon that is likely to be counter-KO’d (if you play the VGC, it’s sort of like a Glass Cannon). This means you need to “chain” Blaziken (I’ll explain that later). Blaziken FB Lv.X’s PokeBody is useful on occasion, predominantly when you use Blaziken FB’s Luring Flame to drag something up from the bench.
Blaziken FB – Without this, there would be no Blaziken FB Lv.X. It has 80 HP (around average for a Basic SP Pokemon), has one retreat cost (again useful) and x2 Water weakness like its Lv.X. Luring Flame (its first attack) is the reason this Pokemon is a brilliant starter. You can, for one Fire Energy, drag up one of your opponent’s benched Pokemon. This means your opponent has to waste one (or more) Energy retreating that Pokemon – it basically disrupts them. It’s often useful mid/late-game too if you need to stall while you get set-up again or snipe things with Honchkrow G while your opponent’s active is locked. Because you Burn the Pokemon as well, you can utilize Blaziken FB Lv.X’s PokeBody and avoid the recoil damage from Jet Shoot by using Vapor Kick. Vapor Kick is not as useful an attack, but is handy if facing a deck that runs Water Pokemon, where it can be used as a less costly substitute to Jet Shoot.
Honchkrow G – Honchkrow G provides the “backup attacker” for the deck. Honcho’s Command lets you grab two Team Galactic’s Inventions. This can be very useful – for example, you can have a Blaziken FB on the bench with a Fire Energy attached. You grab an Energy Gain and an SP Radar – voila, you have a Blaziken FB Lv.X. Your opponent’s running a swarm deck that needs Uxie to set up? Grab two Power Spray and cripple them. It’s sort of a Cyrus’s Conspiracy booster jab. Target Attack is a brilliant attack – for just one Darkness Energy (with an Energy Gain) you can snipe anything for 40 if it already has any damage on it. This combos well with Crobat G – if you drop a Crobat G then Target Attack then you get a 1HKO on a 50 HP Basic; a Crobat G followed by a PokeTurn then dropping the Crobat G again and using Target Attacking gives you a 1HKO on a 60 HP Basic. This combination can be used throughout the game for disruption and cheap prizes.
Crobat G – Very simply, 10 damage anywhere. Used to achieve KOs where you might be 10 damage off; in combination with Honchkrow G etc. If you decide to run Psychic Energy, it’s also a useful attacker vs. tanking decks like Donphan.
Ambipom G – Ambipom G is a very useful card. Its first attack is used to starve your opponent of Energy if you think they’re running few Energy or if they’re running short. I’ve won several games this way – getting an Ambipom G out late-game vs. a deck like Kingdra which doesn’t run that many energy and just moving them over to a useless benched Pokemon like Azelf then picking off their Pokemon slowly. Its second attack is used as a counter to Garchomp C Lv.X. After they’ve Dragon Rushed, they’re often left without Energy, so a Snap Attack can score an easy 1HKO. Players are being smart about this now though so you might not be able to use this tactic as often as you might’ve liked. Snap Attack can also be used to score easy donks.
Bronzong G – It lets you manipulate Energy around your field. That’s pretty much it, but it’s often useful.
Sableye – Sableye has a very useful first attack, Impersonate. You normally use it (in this deck) to start a Cyrus “chain” if you can’t draw into Cyrus’s Conspiracy. It can also let you use Supporters like Aaron’s Collection and Professor Oak’s New Theory if you can’t draw into them. Its second attack is a very useful for donking (it’s probably the best donker the deck has) and can score 1HKOs without a Crobat G on Gastly. It’s also useful for KO’ing Spiritomb if you’re under trainer lock as it doesn’t need Energy Gain to have a one-energy attack.
Unown Q – Unown Q lets you reduce the retreat cost of one of your Pokemon by one. Does what it says on the tin – useful card in a pinch if you can’t waste an Energy attachment. Also easily searchable with Pokemon Collector.
Azelf – If you look through your deck and see there’s a crucial card that you need that’s prized, you can use Azelf to grab it out of your prizes if it’s a Pokemon. If it’s not, you now know where it is in your prizes so you can get it as your next prize. It also gives you the advantage of being able to take the prize you need when you need it.
Uxie Lv.X – Uxie Lv.X is in the deck for its PokePower, Trade Off. It’s like getting a free PokeDex every turn. It lets you accelerate through your deck and gives you free draw every turn. Its attack, Zen Blade, can be used if needed for cheap-ish damage. It’s very useful against Psychic Pokemon because it can hit their Weakness.
Uxie – Uxie is your main draw power (other than Professor Oak’s New Theory) in the deck. Uxie lets you draw cards until you have 7 in your hand – on average you’ll be drawing 3 or 4 cards but you can draw more if you can empty your hand. An invaluable card in the deck, but watch out for an opposing Power Spray.
Trainers
Cyrus’s Conspiracy – One of the most useful cards in your deck. Cyrus’s Conspiracy lets you search out any Supporter you might need, any Team Galactic’s Invention you might need and a Basic Energy (it’s the only card in the deck that lets you search out Basic Energy). Using Cyrus, you can also grab another Cyrus – this is called Cyrus “chaining”. Unless absolutely necessary, it’s good advice not to break a Cyrus chain as in an SP deck, Team Galactic’s Inventions are essential, as is a constant supply of Energy. Put it this way – you don’t draw into a Cyrus the entire game, you lose.
Team Galactic’s Invention G-101 Energy Gain – It lets you reduce your SP Pokemon’s attack costs by a colourless energy. Effectively it means you’re only paying 1 Energy for Jet Shoot, Target Attack and Snap Attack.
Team Galactic’s Invention G-103 Power Spray – Power Spray is the main disruptive card in the deck – you can completely screw up your opponent using these. They try to use Uxie to draw for 5/6? Power Spray. You’ve completely disrupted them – they’re now without resources. They have an important Pokemon prized? Power Spray. They’re left without that Pokemon. This deck runs four in order to fully maximize this disruption.
Team Galactic’s Invention G-105 PokeTurn – Used in many situations: you can use it to pick up a Pokemon from Active and effectively retreat for nothing (i.e. if you have a Bronzong G stuck in active); you can use it to re-use a Crobat G; you can use it if an SP Pokemon is heavily damaged and is in risk of being KO’d; you can use it to clear a space from your bench. A crucial card.
Team Galactic's Invention G-109 SP Radar – The SP equivalent of Bebe’s Search, except it’s a trainer and searchable with Cyrus. This is the card that really pushed up the consistency of SP decks.
Pokemon Collector – Your deck runs almost no Pokemon apart from Basic Pokemon. Therefore it’s logical to play a card that lets you search for multiple Basic Pokemon. And that is what Collector is.
Bebe’s Search – Basically the same as SP Radar. Although it’s not a Team Galactic's Invention, and therefore can't be played the turn you use it with Cyrus, it has the plus of letting you search for non-SP Pokemon and it can be played under trainer lock.
Luxury Ball – Lets you search your deck for any Pokemon apart from Lv.Xs. You only run one because you can’t play it if you already have one in your discard pile. It can’t search for Lv.Xs either, I’m afraid, but it is a trainer and you don’t have to put a card from your hand back into your deck.
Premier Ball – A dual-purpose card that is mainly used for getting out Blaziken FB Lv.Xs and recycling Blaziken FB Lv.Xs from the discard. You use this card to “chain” Blaziken. If you have a Blaziken FB Lv.X in your discard, you can promote another Blaziken, play Premier Ball and get another Blaziken FB Lv.X straight back into play, allowing you to consecutively Jet Shoot even if Blaziken FB Lv.X is KO’d.
Aaron’s Contribution – Used for recycling SP Pokemon and Basic Energy and can be used to chain Blaziken FB Lv.Xs. Again, pretty self-explanatory.
Professor Oak’s New Theory – Professor Oak’s New Theory (or PONT) lets you get a new hand of six. Used if...er...you need a new hand.
Energy
Call Energy – Turns bad starts into good starts. Prevents donks. Gets you set up for a Power Spray. Lets you search out any Basics you need for next turn. There’s no reason not to use this card.
Darkness Energy – You need it for attacks.
Fire Energy – You also need it for attacks.
THE STRATEGY
Okay, the thing is this deck doesn’t really have one set strategy. In this deck, you have to play off of your opponent.
Your Turn 1 Attack is usually either Luring Flame to drag something up or Honcho’s Command to set you up (depending on the deck you’re playing against and your hand you take different things obviously). From there you have several options:
If you Luring Flamed, then you probably want to Level Up and start sweeping with Blaziken chains. If you Luring Flamed up a Pokemon with a big retreat, you can switch into a Honchkrow G and start sniping for cheap prizes. Either way you start taking prizes quickly.
If you Honcho’s Commanded, then what you do next mainly depends on what you took with Honcho’s Command. If you took cards that will let you set up a T2 Blaziken FB Lv.X, you’ll probably want to do just that – switch Blaziken in and start sweeping. If you took the Sprays and managed to damage your opponent’s setup, you can afford to be more lenient and start doing a bit of sniping before you sweep.
Essentially you take prizes any way you can, and do it as cheaply as you can (i.e. 1HKO snipes wherever you can, Blaziken chain and reel in the KOs). You also want to cripple their set up by utilizing your Sprays the best you can. For example, vs. Shuppet most games are won by Spraying them at crucial points and picking off their Pokemon afterward. The best way to play this deck is to play a lot with it and get a feel for it. It’s a deck that relies on intuition to play – play it the way you feel it works. The strategy of the deck also relies heavily on what deck you’re facing.
There is also an aspect of donking in the deck – it is relatively easy to achieve a donk if your opponent starts with a lone basic. You have three main donking tools – Sableye, Honchkrow G and Ambipom G. All three donking techniques are pretty self-explanatory, just make sure you don’t miss the donk accidentally.
MATCHUPS
Phoenix vs. LuxChomp [Slightly unfavourable without Toxicroak G, even with Toxicroak G]
LuxChomp admittedly is not one of your stronger matchups. The fact is, you’re left with very little to snipe with Honchkrow G, which becomes the downfall of this matchup. Honchkrow G also has an annoying Lightning weakness which means it’s going to be 1HKO’d by Luxray most of the time. The key to this matchup is to focus all your energy into chaining and swarming Blaziken. If you can get a T2 Blaziken FB Lv.X and chain it, you’re in with a chance. Ambipom G is a decent asset here, but it doesn’t always manage to score the 1HKO on Garchomp C Lv.X. In fact, vs. a good LuxChomp player they will almost never let you score a 1HKO on Garchomp C Lv.X with Ambipom G. A teched Toxicroak G can improve this matchup and even it out a little – without it you’re going to struggle.
Phoenix vs. Kingdra/Machamp [Even]
Surprisingly, this isn’t as bad a matchup as you might think. There are two obvious problems walking into this matchup: Machamp score a 1HKO on anything in your deck and Kingdra hits Blaziken’s weakness and can 1HKO most things in your deck as well. Seems dire? Well, it’s not too bad. Focus all of your energy into stopping their set up – in a deck running 2 Stage 2s, draw is essential. If you Spray their Uxie early on in the game and cripple their setup, you’re in with a chance. You can often score easy snipes in the first couple of turns with Honchkrow G, so cash in on that. You probably want to start a Blaziken chain here as well to try and overwhelm them. Another key card in this matchup is Ambipom G. One of my matches in nationals was won by first of all cutting off his draw, then moving his Energy over to a useless Pokemon with Ambipom G. Since he couldn’t draw into Energy, he couldn’t attack and I picked off his Pokemon with Blaziken and Honchkrow. Bear in mind this doesn’t always work though, and it’s a risky tactic. Also bear in mind for this matchup that if you have Blaziken out, the damage from Dragon Steam is reduced to 20.
Phoenix vs. Shuppet [Favourable]
Good matchup for Phoenix. As long as you run a Looker’s tech (which also helps with Gyarados). Basically, if you can keep up with their KOs (which you should be able to), then you’re in with a good chance of winning. Now Mr. Mime’s been rotated, Blaziken FB Lv.X will be able to score a 1HKO on pretty much everything in their deck unless they’re running a tech with over 80 HP. Power Spray is the key to this matchup – Spray their set-up and you kill their deck. You can also leave Pokemon like Unown Q and Unown R stranded on the bench and then pick them off next turn with Honchkrow G. Spiritomb (if they run it) shouldn’t be much of a problem – you can normally score a 1HKO on it. If you run the Looker’s tech, you can cripple them by shuffling their Shuppet away. Sableye is useful here since you can Impersonate for it straight from your deck. Basically, play smart and you’ll win the game.
Phoenix vs. Jumpluff [Slightly unfavourable without Ditto, favourable with Ditto]
In the run up to last year’s nationals, this was the matchup I tested most extensively. The matchup was quite a bit different back then due to the fact that the matchup revolved Claydol and KO’ing and locking Claydol. Basically, in this matchup you want to chain Blaziken as much as you can. It’s simple – they get a KO, you get a counter-KO. As long as you can keep up the Blaziken chain. You want to disrupt them as much as possible by Spraying their Uxie – cutting off their draw at crucial points can effectively cripple them. You can improve this matchup hugely by running Ditto with a teched Grass Energy. I will explain this later. In essence, you need to keep up with their KOs and try and disrupt their setup and recovery as you do so. If you can do this, then you can often take the last prize before them. However, a bad start on your part in this matchup is fatal. If you don’t manage to land the T2 Blaziken FB Lv.X, that’s often the matchup lost. Again, play smart.
Phoenix vs. PlumeGar [Even]
The PlumeGar matchup is relatively simple to play. The key to the early game in this matchup is in Sableye. After a Darkness Grace, you can 1HKO a Spiritomb with Overeager and a Flash Bite. Or, if you can’t grab the Crobat G, you can hit for 40 and then they’re forced to KO themselves if they Darkness Grace again. Sableye also gets a 1HKO on a Gastly without a Flash Bite, and on an Oddish with a Flash Bite. Try and delay them getting Vileplume out as much as you can. Snipe Oddishes with Honchkrow G if they leave them open. If they do get a Vileplume out, try and Luring Flame it up and then either try and KO it with Blaziken or Uxie Lv.X (Uxie Lv.X gets a 1HKO). Unfortunately, many PlumeGar lists run multiple Warp Energy to prevent Vileplume being locked in active. Try to Spray their Uxie when the trainer lock isn’t in play early game to possibly postpone their setup. And remember Gengar’s Darkness weakness means that you can use Honchkrow G (and Sableye) to hit it for weakness. This matchup is tricky though, as if they get a successful trainer lock going you’re going to find it hard to play around it.
Phoenix vs. Gyarados [Very unfavourable]
Simply put, this is a bad matchup. Your only chance is to get a KO or two with Sableye/Honchkrow G before they get the Gyarados out (which unfortunately will probably be about T2, possibly T3). A Gyarados with 3 Magikarp in the discard 1-shots every Pokemon in your deck. Try and chain Blaziken to score some KOs on Gyarados; dragging up a benched Regice and then sniping their bench can also work. If you tech Looker’s, it improves the matchup slightly – if you can leave them without Rescues then it’s sometimes possible to struggle on. Simply put, if a decent number of Gyarados are played in your area, this is a bad deck to play.
THE TECHS AND VARIATIONS
The Anti-LuxChomp
+1 Toxicroak G – Promo
+1 Palmer’s Contribution
+1 Psychic Energy
The Anti-LuxChomp
+1 Toxicroak G – Promo
+1 Palmer’s Contribution
+1 Psychic Energy
This variation of the deck is currently the one I’m using. The Toxicroak G is an asset in the LuxChomp matchup as it gives you the 1-hit counter-KO on Luxray. If you come up against any other deck with a Fighting weakness, it’ll also be useful. The Palmer’s gives you extra recovery, very useful when you’re chaining Blaziken (which you need to do in the LuxChomp matchup). The Psychic Energy lets you use Toxicroak G’s attack, as well as Crobat G’s and Azelf’s attacks if needed. It also boosts your pretty meager energy count to 11.
This variation is one to use in a meta stuffed with Jumpluff. The Ditto and teched Grass Energy lets you use Jumpluff’s Mass Attack against itself, almost always scoring a 1HKO. This basically gives you an alternative to Jet Shoot if you need an extra turn to get a Blaziken FB Lv.X set up. Palmer’s again gives you more recovery, which helps chaining Blaziken and also lets you recycle the Ditto and Grass Energy for a second use.
The Anti-Gyarados
+1 Honchkrow – Supreme Victors
+1 Murkrow – Supreme Victors
+1 Looker’s Investigation
+1 Honchkrow – Supreme Victors
+1 Murkrow – Supreme Victors
+1 Looker’s Investigation
This variation gives you a couple more outs vs. Gyarados. Honchkrow lets you drag Magikarp out of their discard and reduces their damage output by 30 per Magikarp. This gives you a little more space to breathe, although Gyarados players often can play around this. Looker’s lets you shuffle away their hand, hopefully meaning they’ll be without a Rescue. I used this variation in my nationals list because I was very afraid of Gyarados. In the end, I faced no Gyarados but if you are determined to play this deck in a Gyarados filled-meta, this variation is definitely something to consider.
Note: You can use any of the Murkrow, but I think the Supreme Victors one is the best because of the 70 HP and only +10 Lightning weakness.
Standalone cards
Infinitely useful card. It gives you an extra possible hand refresher for yourself, and if you do refresh your own hand knowing what’s in your opponent’s hand is a real advantage. If not, the shuffling away effect benefits your matchup vs. Gyarados, Shuppet, PlumeGar and SP decks. My joint favourite tech card for the deck.
My other joint favourite tech card for the deck. The extra recovery helps a lot since your Pokemon are going to be KO’d frequently. Especially useful since you’re running minimal numbers of the Basic Energy and only 1 Blaziken FB Lv.X.
An alternative to Looker’s. Not as useful in my opinion in this deck as you often want to keep your often large hand. However, it does give your opponent one less card.
Another hand refreshing card. Probably superior to Professor Oak’s New Theory in a meta filled with SP, PlumeGar, Shuppet and Gyarados, although I still like Professor Oak’s New Theory because of the guaranteed six.
Yet another hand refreshing card. Good because Pokemon are being frequently KO’d, although I still prefer guaranteed six.
A counter to Garchomp C. It requires two Energy to 1HKO it rather than the one that Ambipom G needs, but it does get the guaranteed KO.
Since most of your Pokemon already have x2 weakness, if your meta is filled with Grass-type decks with +30 Fire weakness, then it’s a card to consider.
Gives you an extra 10 damage with Sableye and Honchkrow G. Useful for achieving donks – it means you don’t need the Crobat G drop. The downside is it’s not recoverable with Palmer’s and Aaron’s and it’s not searchable with Cyrus.
The techs listed above are just a few suggestions, but remember to experiment! Think about how you can make the deck bigger and better in your own way.
THE CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Phoenix is a very fun deck to play. However, it’s not an easy deck to play and it requires a lot of play to get used to the intricacies of the deck. It may be past its peak in MD-on, but it still has a lot of life left in it, and who knows – maybe one day, like the phoenix, it’ll rise again out of the ashes.
THE THANKS
Thanks go out to the following people:
- - The Cumbernauld League for all their help and patience with testing
- - Tyran-Itar for his enormous help with the deck
- - Tyran-Itar and nnaann for the talks in the run up to the nationals
- - The peeps on the RedShark Hamachi networks for their testing
That’s me for now folks, keep playing rogue –
LL
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You at nats next year?
