Cyrus
Iron Chef - Master Emeritus
Directions on how to differentiate Voter Input over other comments:
-Read carefully through each deck.
-Title your post as "Voter Input."
-Tell me which deck right off the bat deserved the win.
-In a few sentences, tell me why that deck deserved the win, and the other deck didn't.. Remember, this is a 1 v. 1 format, meaning that you aren't choosing the best of four, but the best of two...twice.
-Use some grade at the bottom of your post to rationalize your decision - preferably the system I've been using this whole contest.
~~~PokemansforGeeks VS ARMondok~~~
FINAL VERDICT:
PokemansForGeeks:
Solid, solid list. My only concerns are that you may encounter a few problems if a piece of the Rhyperior line is prized, and that in case you ever _want_ to attack, you won't due to the low energy count. 9/10.
Neat idea. It does a good job centering the deck around deck-out in a cohesive way. 3/5.
Abuses the second attack to a near-maximum potential, but neglects the rest of the card. 3/5.
ARMondak:
Solid list. The Energy Pickup doesn't flow too well in here, but otherwise nice. 9/10.
Weavile + Pokemon is a common strategy for energy manipulation. In this instance, Gyarados is just a plugged-in variable for X. 2/5.
I don't see a ton of card usage on most fronts, but you make it pretty easy to use the neat third attack! 3/5.
WINNER: PokemansForGeeks
~~~Pooka VS Profesa Magma~~~
I will grade this match sometime later.
-Read carefully through each deck.
-Title your post as "Voter Input."
-Tell me which deck right off the bat deserved the win.
-In a few sentences, tell me why that deck deserved the win, and the other deck didn't.. Remember, this is a 1 v. 1 format, meaning that you aren't choosing the best of four, but the best of two...twice.
-Use some grade at the bottom of your post to rationalize your decision - preferably the system I've been using this whole contest.
~~~PokemansforGeeks VS ARMondok~~~
PokemansforGeeks
Hey John,
Here is my T32 Iron Chef deck -
Pokemon: 23
x4 Rhyhorn
x2 Rhydon
x4 Rhyperior
x3 Magikarp
x3 Gyarados
x2 Baltoy
x2 Claydol
x2 Absol
x1 Chatot
Trainers: 25
x4 Bebe's Search
x4 Roseanne's Rsrch
x4 Super Scoop Up
x4 Rare Candy
x3 Prof Oaks Visit
x2 Team Galactics Wager
x2 Night Maintenance
x2 Warp Point
Energy: 12
x4 Fighting
x4 Water
x4 Call
Strategy: This deck is all about decking your opponent. The optimal start here is to get an Absol out to start pecking away at their hand. While you're getting rid of any threats in their hand you should be building a Gyarados or two, Rhyperiors and a Clay. I really love this Gyarados because of his second attack which can discard a card off the top of their deck for each heads I flip. Combined with Rhyperior I can be discarding a massive amount of cards off of the opponent's deck which greatly cripples their strategy. The Super scoops are maxed out at 4 to re-use Rhyperiors as are the rare candies. Wager is just a great card as well because if they win they get 6 in their hand and I can Claydol for another 3. The night maintenance is for more Rhyps. This deck doesn't call for much energy since Gyarados only needs 2, but just in case I decide to go aggrop with Rhyp I added some fighting as well. Call energy is self-explanatory. Remember, when you're looking at this deck my main strategy is to disrupt the opponent's setup and deck them out, not get 6 prizes. Thanks!
ARMondok
Pokemon: 22
4 Magikarp MT
4 Gyarados SF
3 Sneasel
3 Weavile
2 Baltoy
2 Claydol
1 Palkia MD
1 Palkia Lv X
1 Uxie
1 Azelf
Trainers: 22
4 Roseanne's Research
4 Bebe's Search
3 Moonlight Stadium
2 Night Maintenance
3 Warp Point
3 Cynthia's Feelings
3 Energy Pickup
Energy: 16
4 Call
4 Special Dark
3 Basic Dark
5 Water
Strategy: Gyarados isn't going to get many opportunities to use its big attack, so it's best to make them count. Palkia allows you to do this while gusting up their strongest Pokemon. Weavile is a great multi-purpose card, accelerating energy and giving everyone free retreat with Moonlight Stadium. Energy Pickup can help you recover faster from a KO'd Gyarados.
FINAL VERDICT:
PokemansForGeeks:
Solid, solid list. My only concerns are that you may encounter a few problems if a piece of the Rhyperior line is prized, and that in case you ever _want_ to attack, you won't due to the low energy count. 9/10.
Neat idea. It does a good job centering the deck around deck-out in a cohesive way. 3/5.
Abuses the second attack to a near-maximum potential, but neglects the rest of the card. 3/5.
ARMondak:
Solid list. The Energy Pickup doesn't flow too well in here, but otherwise nice. 9/10.
Weavile + Pokemon is a common strategy for energy manipulation. In this instance, Gyarados is just a plugged-in variable for X. 2/5.
I don't see a ton of card usage on most fronts, but you make it pretty easy to use the neat third attack! 3/5.
WINNER: PokemansForGeeks
~~~Pooka VS Profesa Magma~~~
Pooka
INGREDIENT: Gyarados SF
// Pokemon
4 Gyarados SF
4 Magikarp L13 MT
4 Rhyperior L61 DP
2 Rhydon L43 DP
4 Rhyhorn L19 DP
3 Claydol GE
2 Baltoy GE
1 Lunatone GE
1 Uxie L.55 LA
1 Unown Q MD
1 Unown V LA
// Trainers
4 Roseanne's Research
4 Bebe's Search
4 Rare Candy
4 Super Scoop Up
3 Poké Ball
2 Night Maintenance
2 Cynthia's Feelings
// Energy
6 Water Energy
4 Call Energy
I've had this deck made for a while, but I just remembered to turn it in! Let's make this quick.
Gyarados is a pretty interesting card. Let's look at the important things, the attacks. Tail Revenge obviously combos with something that discards cards, so Lunatone is there to discard Magikarps and provide a costless, effective attack. Unfortunately, Dragon Beat cannot be the focus of the deck because five Energy is an outrageous cost without the availability of DRE/Scramble. Either way, these attacks are not the focus of the deck, but it's always good to remember they're there.
"Wreak Havoc" is an appropriate name for Gyarados' second attack. With an improbable amount of coin flips, you could discard your opponent's entire deck! What, that's not a reliable strategy? Fine. Well, you can at least try to discard some cards from your opponent's deck, which can be devastating - especially early in the game. Seeing the potential of Wreak Havoc, it only made sense to base the deck around it.
So, I decided to go with a stall/make your opponent run out of cards strategy. Starting on T2, you can get a 130 HP beast sit there and try to rip up your opponent's deck. If you get the correct discards early, you can eliminate any chance of your opponent ever winning. More realistically, you can slowly wither away your opponent's deck and eventually hope he/she runs out of cards. Still, Wreak Havoc on its own won't get the job done. Gyarados needs a little help!
Enter Rhyperior, the reliable way to discard your opponent's deck. I have seen the potential chaos an early Rhyperior can cause. I have seen someone's Claydols been discarded immediately, leaving the victim hopeless. With the combination of Rhyperior and Gyarados, you have plenty of chances to discard crucial cards and, eventually, the entire deck. Another cool thing about Rhyperior is that it resists Lightning, which happens to be the weakness of Gyarados. Sending out Rhyperior vs Lightning Pokemon will extend the game for quite some time.
Super Scoop Up just adds many dimensions to the deck. With Gyarados' 130 HP, it'll take a hit or two. By scooping up a heavily damaged Gyarados, you can limit your opponent's chances to take prize and extend the game - this is good. Furthermore, SSU has clear uses with Rhyperior, allowing an extra use of Earth Fissure. Plus, it always has that psuedo-Switch effect option. Overall, it's a great fit for both Gyarados and Rhyperior.
The key to this deck (besides discarding cards) is extending the game as much as possible. From the start of the game, your opponent is on a clock to take six prizes. Against a 130 HP like Gyarados and a 140 HP Pokemon like Rhyperior, this is a daunting task in itself. For this reason, I have added Unown V. To make your opponent's life a nightmare, you can promote a Rhyperior that's sitting there doing nothing and just pass. When it starts taking damage, take a Vacation! Heal off some of that damage and prolong Rhyperior's life. Plus, Unown V makes life miserable for any spread decks. Good luck spreading 130-140 damage across the board when 20 is being healed off every turn! If your opponent does manage to KO a Rhyperior, it opens up a bench slot for another Rhyperior, and it gives you the opportunity to Night Maintenance the line back in for another Earth Fissure.
I tried to make this deck as simple and consistent as possible. Since I don't run any "real" switching cards, Unown Q has to be there for Rhyhorn's two retreat cost. The 2/3 Claydol line improves the odds of getting it out quicker, and three Poke Ball add to that. While the low Energy count may seem like a concern, I don't see it that way. Between Super Scoop Up, Night Maintenance, and sending out Rhyperior to pass the time, you should have plenty of Energy to power up your Gyarados army.
Well, there you have it!
Profesa Magma
I feel that the voter override system encourages me to not only describe why my deck is the best, but also argue my case. I thought I should explain my thought processes, key nuances, support for my claims, and why other ideas are less than optimal. With that being said, I hope that my write-up will be convincing in all of these aspects. It is pretty long. But it’s all good information. I could throw in some matchups and pics and call it an article. I had an extra hour or two, so why not put some work into it. Maybe people will get something out of it.
Let’s Get to it.
The List:
4 Magikarp
4 Gyrados
2 Cress MD
2 Cress LvX
2 Uxie LA
1 Uxie LvX
2 Claydol GE
2 Baltoy GE
4 Unown R LA
1 Unown Q MD
1 Azelf LA
2 Regice
27 Pokemon
4 Psychic Energy
2 Multi Energy
2 Water Energy
8 Energy
4 Roseanne’s
2 Bebe’s Search
2 Cynthia’s
4 Pokeradar
2 Moonlight Stadium
2 Night Maintenance
2 warp point
3 Time-Space Distortion
4 Rare Candy
25 Trainers Supporters Stadiums
When I first saw this challenge, I was neither overly happy nor disappointed with the choice of Gyrados as my ingredient. Gyrados is an interesting card with a variety of different abilities that don’t really work together well. Its got a lot going for it, but its attributes lack focus.
My first thought was to try a deck-your-opponent deck. This seemed like an interesting idea, but I quickly realized that there was no point to doing this. I would have paired it with rhyperior to try and maximize the amount of cards that I discarded from my opponents’ deck. Absol SW is simply better at the job, there’s no reason to use Gyrados over Absol. Gyrados averages one discard a turn while absol averages over one, and discards it from a more useful place. Either way, pretty much every deck will be able to deal with decking threats while dealing much more damage than any of these options would. If you try to play a decking deck with this card, your opponent will avoid the threat long enough to win on prizes (or win on time). So that idea was out.
I spent little time considering Gyrados’ third attack. The energy cost is simply too high to ever be worth it. You would have to build a deck around getting all those energies onto it, and that’s not a good idea. Other cards work better with those energies. It’s not worth it.
This brought me to the first attack. The real gem of this card. It allows for quick big damage, but is tricky to work with.
I decided that Gyrados’ first attack was unique and possibly the best way in the format to get consistently high damage for no energy. In order to make this deck run, however, I would need to create a strong engine that could get Gyrados out early and often.
The main concern with this card is that it compels you to discard 3 of your Magikarp. Then, once your Gyrados dies, you are left without anything. This is the main problem to overcome.
By having a strong engine that gets out gyrados by turn one or two, I was also able to consistently revive a Gyrados on the same turn in which it got knocked out.
Often you will want to only discard 2 Magikarps at a time, and have a second Gyrados ready to go after the active dies. But with such an active engine, you can often afford to hit for 90 and still be able to recover after a KO.
I then chose to combo this card with Cresselia LvX. I felt that this card was the best compliment to Gyrados for a number of reasons. Its damage moving ability allows for Gyrados to deal exact damage making the number of Magikarps needed in the discard often a more attainable number. With Cress, a 130 hp Pokémon (the magic number these days) can be two hit ko’ed by a Gyrados with only 2 Magikarps in the discard. A variety of other favorable situations will arise with Cress, especially with two in play at time, that will make creatively managing Gyrados a much more manageable option.
Furthermore, cress requires 3 energy in order to attack. This is relatively high these days, and is the main reason why Cress doesn’t see more play. By coupling it with Gyrados you have a lot of extra energy attachments available. Because Gyrados does not require any energy in order to attack, you have ample time to power up Cress, solving its major problem. Cress will then be able to finish off a two hit KO mid-game, after Gyrados gets the first hit. Attacking with cress not only allows you to draw extra prizes, but gives you an extra turn to rebuild a Gyrados.
I feel that the choice to combine Gyrados with Cresselia and the other aspects of this deck to not only be creative, but the absolute best way to run this deck.
And now….
Card By Card - Details
4 Magikarp
4 Gyrados
I considered only running 3 gyrados, because you only need to max out on Magikarp. However filling out a 4-4 Gyrdaos is too important to pass up.
2 Uxie
1 Uxie LvX
These are very strong cards for this deck. Uxies provide speed turn one, and possibly an extra boost late. Having the LvX makes good use of the uxies that are just lying around after their power has been used.
4 Unown R
Most people will either underestimate this cards use or think its outright bad. It’s really good. With radar and all of the other ways to manipulate these guys, they will act as a catalyst, making the engine run smooth.
1 Unown Q
A good one-of. This helps create a free retreat pokemon that can get active after each KO then retreat for gyrados. Also, lets you bring up cress or uxie, lvx, then retreat for someone else.
2 Cress
2 Cress LvX
A main component of the deck. See the above strategy description.
1 Azelf
A very important one-of. Only one of this card is needed, because if its prized it makes other cards less likely to be prized, and makes it more likely to draw it or the right prize. That being said, this card is important because prizing magikarp(s) is devastating for this deck.
2 Claydol
2 Baltoy
A staple for almost every deck. This is so important.
2 Regice
This is important, because it allows for the turn one/two double magikarp discard. There are a lot of other basics, so it unlikely that you will have to start with this guy. If you do, find a warp quick.k
27 Pokemon
The number of pokemon is a little high, but it mostly is engine, so the decks functionality is not inhibited by a somewhat high pokemon count. It also makes Pokeradar amazing.
4 Psychic energy
2 multi
2 Water Energy
8 Energy
This decks nature lends itself to a low energy count. You don’t need a turn one energy drop, or turn two for that matter. For this deck, energy drops are an added bonus. You power up a cress or two over the course of the game. That’s pretty much it for energy, so you don’t need that many.
The mulities and water energies allow for flexibility, weird situations always arise, so having the ability to power up anything in the deck is nice to have.
4 Roseanne
So good. Especially with this engine.
2 Bebe’s Search
Only two because of the radar count.
2 Cynthia’s
Great card. Especially for after a gyrados death.
This is a slightly low number of supporters, but this is fine for this deck because of the Radar and high number of draw pokemon.
4 Pokeradar
A staple, which is key to this engine. 27 Pokémon? Radar will hit, and hit big.
2 Moonlight Stadium
Provides a great counter stadium, and free retreat for around half the deck.
3 Time-Space Distortion
See Below. Also, this goes to the hand which is nice.
2 Night Maintenance
A great card in this deck. It’s a guaranteed three cards. They go back into the deck though, so you have to fish them out. This combined with the TSD, should be enough to get enough Gyrados out a game.
2 warp point
A staple.
4 Rare Candy
A trump card. This will likely surprise the opponent. Early on, and by that I mean turn one going second, you can candy a Gyrados and hit for big, quick, no energy damage. If not, you can save them and drop a Gyrados without having had a Magikarp in play last turn. Go ahead and deal 90 with Gyrados. After they kill you, just TSD a Magikarp and candy to Gyrados.
Here is the abridged edition of the above submission:
This deck uses a quick, strong engine in order to get Gyrados out fast and revive it quickly after it dies. It combos Gyrados with Cresselia LvX in order to create situations in which Gyrados can achieve Kos that would normally be impossible. Also, because Gyrados requires no energy in order to use its main attack, you have time to power up Cresselia for the double prize threat. This deck requires skill in order to: manage Magikarps in and out of the discard, get out Gyrados fast and often using a somewhat unusual engine, manage damage in terms of the number of Magikarps in the discard and the extra damage generated by Cresselia, and make sure that a continuous line of Gyrados are ready to attack.
Thanks for reading. Be kind.
I will grade this match sometime later.
Last edited:
