Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Scizor/Cherrim - The Deck That Just Doesn't Die!

Barkjon

Barkjon

Active Member
Scizor/Cherrim - The Deck That Just Doesn't Die!

By: Sebastian H. (also known as Barkjon)
Format: MD-ON
Newest Set: Undaunted
Date: October 6, 2010

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Before I start talking about the contents and strategy of this deck, I'll talk about the long history of Scizor/Cherrim. Ever since the release of Stormfront, Scizor/Cherrim has been an archetype, albeit a less successful and less popular one. It was one of the greatest and most popular decks in the 2008-2009 season, it wasn't as good or as popular in the 2009-2010 season, and, now, at the start of the 2010-2011 season, it's back. Scizor/Cherrim is possibly the greatest deck for beginners. It doesn't cost much (the most expensive cards in it being Double Colorless Energy, Pokemon Collector, and Expert Belt), it's relatively simple to play, its speedy, and the variations of this deck are many. I've seen people play this deck with Vespiquen from Undaunted and I've seen people play it with Shaymin Level X (Land Form). However, I prefer straight-up Scizor/Cherrim.

Onto the list.


4 Scizor SF: The card this deck is based off of. First of, 100 HP is great for a Stage 1. +20 weakness to :fire: is decent - in my metagame, the only fire really played is Blaziken FB X and Charizard AR, to some extent. No resistance is common, and only :colorless: for retreat is great. Scizor also has a great Poke-Body, Honeycomb Defender. It states that if Scizor has 6 or more damage counters on him, all damage to him is reduced by 40, which is great against cards that do slow (or low) amounts of damage.

His second attack, Pound Down, is great - 70 base damage for 2 grass energies, if you have no Pokemon with Poke-Powers in play. This deck plays no Pokemon with powers, so the attack rocks. You can increase the damage with an Expert Belt to 90, and then further the damage output with Cherrims and PlusPowers.

You will sometimes use his first attack, Accelerate, which does 30 base damage for two colorless energies. Basically, if the opponent is knocked out by Accelerate, Scizor is invincible next turn. You will want to chain together Pound Downs and Accelerates to maximize the amount of time Scizor can't be hurt.

4 Scyther SF: This is my favorite Scyther in the modified format. He has 60 HP, which isn't great, but he has free retreat, and two attacks that are great chained together if you fail to get out a Scizor quickly.

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4 Cherrim SF: Cherrim is the deck's main tech and a good secondary attacker. His Poke-Body, Sunny Day, increases all damage done by your fire and grass Pokemon by 10. Have four of these guys on your bench, and you'll be doing 40 more damage.

You will occasionally use Cherrims first attack, Salty-Sweet Pollen, which does 20 base damage (almost always increased by at least 10) for free, and you get to heal 2 damage counters off one of your Pokemon.

4 Cherubi SF: I like this Cherubi the most. It has 50 HP, which stinks, but it's attacks kind of make up for that. Nap is free and heals 20 damage off him, and Bullet Seed, though flippy, can do anywhere from 0 - 40 damage.

1 Chatot MD: This card rocks. Free retreat, and two awesome attacks. Mimic lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw a fresh hand equal to the number of cards in your opponents hand. If you start with Chatot, using Mimic early on can net you a whole bunch more cards. Chatter is also good against Spiritomb or Sableye, by preventing them from retreating.

T/S/S​

4 Bebe' Search: I run 4 Bebe's Search to maximize consistency. Virtually every deck out there plays at least 1 Bebe's.

2 Pokemon Collector: Pokemon Collector is pure awesomeness. If you play one of these early on you will be filling your bench with Scythers and Cherubis. I only play 2 because they can be useless later on.

3 Pokemon Communication: Pokemon Communication is amazing in speed decks. It also combos well with Pokemon Collector.

1 Luxury Ball: There's no reason a deck (except maybe VileGar) shouldn't play one of these. It's awesome.

2 Professor Oak's New Theory: Basically, I shuffle my hand into the deck and draw 6 cards, pretty simple. I only play 2 because, though these are awesome, I have plenty of other draw cards in here.

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2 Volkner's Philosophy: This is another form of draw in the deck. You have the option of discarding a card from your hand - then, you draw cards until you have 6 in your hand. This is my only non-hand refreshment draw in the deck.

2 Cynthia's Feelings: Yet another form of draw in this deck. You shuffle your hand in your deck and draw 4 - you draw 8 (!!) if one of your Pokemon was knocked out in your opponent's last turn. I usually happen to draw into this right after my active Scizor is knocked out. You want to try to hang onto this until one of your Pokemon is KO'd.

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2 Looker's Investigation: This is one of my favorite cards. It has decent drawpower, but also hand refreshment - and this card is awesome against SP decks. Shuffle their amazing hand of Turns, Gains, and Cyrus's back in.

3 Broken Time-Space: This card seriously helps with set-up, as well as adding some donking potential to the deck. It's also fun as it basically just breaks the laws of evolving! I run 3 so that they won't clog your hand later game, and so that your chances of getting one early on in the game early.

4 PlusPower: PlusPowers can help you donk (with Scizor or Cherrim). They can also help you score a KO on a Pokemon just 10 HP from knock-out. I play 4 to maximize consistency.

3 Expert Belt: This is also one of my favorite cards ever. It adds 20 HP to the Pokemon it's attached to - as well as making that Pokemon's attacks do 20 more damage to the active. You can do 90 damage with Scizor's Pound Down if he's belted (50 on accelerate) - that damage can be raised with PlusPowers and Cherrims.

2 Warp Point: Warp Points can really help getting an active out of there that you don't want up - it can also help get KO's around higher HP tanks (Steelix, T-Tar).

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1 Palmer's Contribution: Palmer's is your sole form of recovery in this deck. You can get two full lines of either Cherrim or Scizor back from the discard.

ENERGIES​

11 :grass: energy: I like 11 energies because it provides a good amount of energy to maximize T2 Scizor, but it doesn't affect draw and it doesn't clog your hand later-game.

1 Double Colorless Energy: This is the only way to get a T1 Scizor that you can actually attack with. I only play 1 because they're not that useful once you already have a powered-up Scizor.

Now, onto the strategy for Scizor/Cherrim.

STRATEGY​

Like I said before, Scizor/Cherrim's strategy is very simple - get out a belted, fully powered Scizor as fast as possible, preferably by T2. You want to have as many benched Cherrims as possible, and also a Scizor ready on the bench.

One of the great things about this deck is that it can't be power locked. Thus, all the Power Sprays and Mespirits are virtually useless.

MATCH-UPS​

Mirror - Even: This game will depend on who get's the quicker set-up and the better start. Not much else to say here.

LuxChomp - Unpredictable (but generally Even): It really depends on their list. If they run a 1-1 DGX line like the Masters World Champion did, then you're in a rough spot. If they don't, you need to outspeed them. One of the things of playing against Chomp means that they can snipe your benched Cherrims. In this match-up you don't want to play many Cherrims on the bench to prevent from them getting easy prizes - focus on getting Scizors up instead. Try to get as many Scizors out as possible so that even if they Bright Look your bench, you can have a new attacker up.

Sablelock - Even/Slightly Favorable: It depends on how quickly they start disrupting you. Anyways, since SableLock's disruption in part comes from Sprays, then you are safe in that regard. You can also counter disrupt them with Looker's. Like I said with LuxChomp, avoid having tons of Cherrims benched, as they give easy prizes to Chomp.

DialgaChomp - Very Unfavorable: Dialga wrecks you - he shuts off Scizor and Cherrim's bodies, and he get's easy prizes with Dragon Rushes to bench. However, if you get a Scizor up quick enough, you have a slightly better chance of winning.

VileGar - Slightly Favorable: This game will be interesting. As you don't play large amounts of Trainers (compared to SP) and you generally won't have T/S/S/ sitting in your hand, outside of Palmer's and BTS, Poltergeist isn't as useful against you. Also, Shadow Room is virtually useless against you, as you don't play Powers. It really depends upon Fainting Spell flips, but generally you will win.

Machamp - Favorable: If they don't donk you, then this will be an easy game for you. If they run Champ X, it will get slightly harder, however.

Kingdra - Very Favorable: Like I said with Machamp, if they don't donk you, this game is easy. Kingdra can't donk your Cherubis (though it can the Scythers) without an Expert Belt, so in the long run this game will generally come out as a win for you.

Jumpluff - Even/Slightly Favorable: Since Jumpluff has low HP, it is fairly easy to KO him, even if he has an Expert Belt on. However, you need to be careful with swarming Cherrims as that gives them more power.

OPTIONAL TECHS/DECK CHANGES:​

-1-1 Cherrim - If you want to make room for other techs, you can do this - it won't change your deck too much. I just prefer 4-4 Cherrim for extra damage.

1-1 Blazekin FB X + fire energies - Blazekin can be a handy backup attacker and tech to both Dialga G X and Vileplume.

DCE's - If you want to increase donking potential, you can play 2 more DCE.

Unown Q - A free retreat Cherrim is scary, however, you don't want to start with it.

+2 PONT - More Professor Oak's New Theory can be helpful for increased draw.

DECK VARIATIONS:​

Scizor/Landmin/Cherrim - Landmin X provides extra HP for Scizor and turns him into a bit of a tank. However, the deck will be much slower.

Scizor/Cherrim/Vespiquen - Scizor/Cherrim. but with either Vespiquen SF (as a secondary attacker) or Vespiquen UD (really improves your SP matchups).

Scizor/Cherrim Defender - This variation will also make the deck tank more. Play Defenders, Buffer Pieces, and Cherrim ARs to reduce damage done to Scizor.

Scizor/Cherrim with trainer engine - I used to play the deck like this - it will make the deck have less draw but be a little quicker. You will use Pokedexes, Pokedrawers, Victory Medals, and Quick Balls to make the deck speedier.



CLOSING

Well, I hope you liked my first article on the PokeGym. Go on, give Scizor/Cherrim a try - I think it has a chance in the MD-on format! This is a great deck for both beginners and more experienced players!

THANKS TO

Thanks to my fellow leaguers at Phoenix Games, WA for helping me playtest and perfect this list - as well as giving me fun playing it!​
 
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You're going to get a lot of criticism for those match ups. If this deck really had a favourable match up with everything except Dialgachomp, it would be tier 1. And it isn't.

Some of your thinking seems a bit off, in the Vilegar match up, you say . . .

Barkjon said:
As you don't play large amounts of Trainers (compared to SP) and you generally won't have T/S/S/ sitting in your hand, outside of Palmer's and BTS, Poltergeist isn't as useful against you.
Click to expand...

18 Supporters, when you can only play 1 per turn, will likely leave plenty in your hand for Poltergeist. Not to mention all those Comms, Belts and PlusPowers you can't use under Trainer Lock. Even if you PONT them away, over half your deck is T/S/S, giving Gengar a fair chance of a KO.

I have major issues with your Luxchomp and Pluff match ups as well, but I don't want to get into bashing the article too much. It's nicely set out and you've tried to explain things clearly. Plus, I like Scizor/Cherrim. You could go into a lot more depth on strategy . . . explain how/when to use Accelerate, for example.

Oh, and you do overuse the word 'awesome' . . . Chatot, Lux Ball, Collector, PONT, Looker . . . I think someone needs a thesaurus.
 
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Ah well, everyone bashes into match-ups.

This deck is Teir 2 at most, IMO. Yes, I messed up on the Luxchomp match-up, it should be Slightly Unfavorable/even.

Remember that this is my first Gym article and this is my first year of competitive playing.

On the VileGar matchup, in my experience I haven't had many t/s/s in my hand outside the ones I mentioned. In theory, it should be a rougher matchup. Maybe I'm just lucky.

On how/when to use Accelerate - I actually said a little about it in the part where I talked about Scizor, i guess it wasn't very obvious.


But thank you for your criticism - and that isn't being sarcastic, btw.
 
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Barkjon said:
Ah well, everyone bashes into match-ups.

This deck is Teir 2 at most, IMO. Yes, I messed up on the Luxchomp match-up, it should be Slightly Unfavorable/even.

Remember that this is my first Gym article and this is my first year of competitive playing.

On the VileGar matchup, in my experience I haven't had many t/s/s in my hand outside the ones I mentioned. In theory, it should be a rougher matchup. Maybe I'm just lucky.

On how/when to use Accelerate - I actually said a little about it in the part where I talked about Scizor, i guess it wasn't very obvious.


But thank you for your criticism - and that isn't being sarcastic, btw.
Click to expand...

Other than the match ups it's a decent article :thumb:

Only thing is, if that was the case, you shouldn't be making front page articles, until you really know everything well.

But yeah, nice job.
 
^
This isn't my first year of playing - I've played for about 2 years and I know most of the stuff in the game really well - like the popular decks. This is just my first year of going to tournaments and whatnot.

Thanks for the comments! And very sorry about the matchups.
 
I could say the same, because I've been playing since Base Set.

But I only really played properly since GE was released.

The years before don't make much of a difference so it basically is 1 year.

That's ok.
 
I agree with most about teh matchups, but I do know taht if this deck gets cracking early even Luxray has a hard time dealing with 110 dmg a turn, lol. I run Pokemon Rescues in mine and also Sableye SF for the set up, if you go first and drop a scizor with an energy then you're golden for set up.
 
Unown R? Great card in speed decks. Also, Pokedex, PokeDrawer, and any Trainer-based Draw you can think of. You're basically sacking your Plume matchup for better matchups across the board.

What about a TecH Scizor Prime for SP decks? Or using the reprint Scyther for the +10 HP and free retreat?
 
I'd use Unown R, but it can be sprayed and then there is -30 damage on Scizor...

I used to play Drawers and Pokedexes, but the draw didn't help tons. I may try them in the future tho.
 
Nice deck list and explinations.

As another tech, I would suggest either a 1-1 or 2-2 line of Vespiquen SF. Its Green Dignity is a PokéBody so it won't disrupt Cherrim, and it is a great last-ditch Pokémon if you lose your Scizors too quickly.

EDIT: Since this deck is Supporter-heavy, I would suggest 2 or 3 Sableye from SF.
 
There's one thing about T2 decks based on two colored energies that always makes me cringe, and that's if you miss an energy drop on the first turn you're already very behind. I can't say I agree with the energy count, even in the modern TCG era where many decks favor such low counts I really can't stay away from 15ish energy in these kinds of decks to maximize consistency. I know your article says 11 is an appropriate number, but I often can't come up with an energy in my opening hand with that number. DCE is a creative remedy to turn an energyless hand, but you need to ensure you draw into it.

Besides that and couple match ups, I enjoyed seeing SF Scizor getting some attention. It's often overshadowed by its new Prime, but they're two completely different cards.
 
I'm afraid you don't beat Kingdra either :(

---------- Post added 10/10/2010 at 01:58 AM ----------
Shen said:
There's one thing about T2 decks based on two colored energies that always makes me cringe, and that's if you miss an energy drop on the first turn you're already very behind. I can't say I agree with the energy count, even in the modern TCG era where many decks favor such low counts I really can't stay away from 15ish energy in these kinds of decks to maximize consistency. I know your article says 11 is an appropriate number, but I often can't come up with an energy in my opening hand with that number. DCE is a creative remedy to turn an energyless hand, but you need to ensure you draw into it.

Besides that and couple match ups, I enjoyed seeing SF Scizor getting some attention. It's often overshadowed by its new Prime, but they're two completely different cards.
Click to expand...

Its not even the turn 1 drop alone your main guy takes 2 energy, you need to drop one every turn 100HP isn't much any more scizors will be going down fast.
 
How about vespiquen UD?

It's poke-body protects ur bench from sniping by garchomp, making ur match-up against luxchomp much more favourable
 
@shadowanimelover - Thanks! I may try that Vespiquen in the future, I'll look into it.

@Shen - I used to play Cyrus in here , it helped get out energy if I don't have it in my hand, and I generally have enough energy for T2 Scizor. I actually used to play less energy because of space issues, but I like this amount best.

@Jaeger - If I do come up against Kingdra (isnt common in my metagame) then I will attack with Cherrim while powering Scizor up, I generally have 50 or so damage from Salty-sweet Pollen.

@flash2351 - I'll look into that. Though my bench space is kinda limited, I could do -1-1 Cherrim for the Vespiquen.
 
I have a Scizor/Cherrim in my deck bag. Thus I will give my list for comparision.

4 Scyther JUNGLE/PL-130(70 HP, Free Retreat)
4 Scizor
2 Cherim
2 Cheribi
2 Shaymin PL 38
1-1 Shaymin Level X PL126&127
1 Turwig G
1 Combee SF57
1 Vespaqueen UD
4 Unown R
1 Unown Q
1 Chatot

3 Pokemon Collector
3 Bebe
1/2 Luxury/Communication
4 PONT
2 Looker
1 Underground Expedition
1 Warp Point
3 Expert Belt

14 Grass
4 DCE

I do believe in Unown R and a Q for the build. SP sprays can catch you, but this list is more versatile than you think.
The JUNGLE scyther is clearly the best one. 70 HP over 60 HP is the one and most important reason.
The Shaymin's could be replace to be beef up the Cherrims to a 4-4.
15 energy to me seems a minimum. 11 does mean you miss energy drops.
Turtwig GL is a really fun card, combo'd with Vespqueen can win the game for you. Could easily buff up the Vesaqueen line.
 
Barkjon, I was writing an article, but didn't know if you'd get one up first or not.

Amazing job on front page, see a few flaws in the list, but it's your list, your metagame.

Should have a Beedrill G article up at some point.

But besides that, like I said, wonderful job on writing a good article with minimal flaws.
 
@SLOW DECK - Nice list. I may modify my deck at sometime.

@ KimgdomHearts - Thanks! I'd make a Steelix match-up, but it ain't that common here. I'd prob be Even though.

@Porii Sames - Hey man! Thanks for the comments. I'll be looking forward to a Beedrill G article! Could you tell me what the flaws are, to change my deck for the better?
 
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