Dr. Mason
New Member
Okay so for the past month or so, and having done poorly at Nationals(need to topdeck Claydol moar), I've been testing for next season's beginning, trying to get an edge for next season. Extensive testing has shown a lot to me about next season, barring any amazing Secret Deck that suddenly comes out of nowhere and blows my mind. I have played Kingdra, I have played AMU, I have not played PLOX due to an extreme disgust for the deck, I have played new versions of every other deck out right now, I have played Vilelossom, and then, I have played TurnCruel.
This deck has the biggest potential of any that I've seen for the DP-LA format. It can be viciously fast and oppressive. There are plenty of ways to build it, like a Turn2Cruel. This is actually my least favorite way to build because any deck that does not need to discard energies to have good attacks with not discard if they are smart and avoid being trapped by this strategy. Not only that, but you will usually max at 80 damage, which is only OK. You also have no tanks at akk and a quick 90 damage will kill you, something not terribly hard to manage these days. Tentacruel can be dangerous in his own right with Dangerous Toxin, which can really surprise the opponent. People might want to think twice about Forretress decks or overloading their Vileplumes. However, even that's not enough to redeem a Turn2Cruel deck. If only the original Energy Removal was legal...
Another way to build the sucker I've tried is with Zapdos, which mostly only succeeded in cluttering my Bench and giving Dusknoir some chow time. Spiritomb start is pretty bad too.
As I played with it more and more it became obvious that TurnCruel needed bigger bulkier support, something that could take hits. It also needed help spreading even more. The obvious answer...was Ampharos.Ampharos's Jamming puts a damage counter on each of your opponent's Pokemon every time they use a supporter. I've had situations where the opponent simply would not play a supporter because they knew it would result in their own death. Ampharos also has 130 HP and a good attack that also spreads on energy manipulation. To me, he is the perfect combo with TurnCruel.
A good starter for the deck is Absol. He can discard energy early on and slow down your opponent, allowing you to really get annoying. Watch how funny it is when your opponent gets his beloved Kingdra and Rare Candy in their starting hand, only for you to Baleful Wind both of them from his hand!
Claydol is still the best draw in my opinion. Don't know what else to say here.
Try something I haven't? Any ideas at all, just post 'em here. Personally, I think the deck can take both Kingdra and AMU.
I suppose you could play straight Lanturn/Tentacruel and do well.
Oh yes, translations for those hwo have not seen yet:
Tentacool LV.16 – Water – HP50
Basic Pokemon
[C] Crystal Barrier: Flip a coin, if heads prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Tentacool during your opponent's next turn.
[W] Mysterious Beam: Flip a coin, if heads discard 1 Energy attached to the Defending Pokemon.
Weakness: Lightning (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
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Tentacruel LV.37 – Water – HP90
Stage 1 – evolves from Tentacool
[.] Tentacle Tease: Choose up to 2 Energy cards from your opponent's discard pile, and attach them to your opponent's Pokemon in any way you like. Then, do 20 damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon that had Energy attached, for each Energy card you attached.
[W][C][C] Dangerous Toxin: 60 damage. If Tentacruel has fewer Energy cards attached to it than the Defending Pokemon, the Defending Pokemon is now Poisoned and Paralyzed.
Weakness: Lightning (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Chinchou LV.15 – Water – HP60
Basic Pokemon
[C] Supersonic: Flip a coin, if heads the Defending Pokemon is now Confused.
[W] Splash: 10 damage.
Weakness: Grass (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
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Lanturn LV.39 – Water – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Chinchou
[C][C] Wild Current: 20 damage. Move 1 Energy attached to the Defending Pokemon to one of your opponent's other Pokemon. (If your opponent only has 1 Pokemon in play, ignore this effect.)
[W][L] Confuse Ray: 40 damage. The Defending Pokemon is now Confused.
Weakness: Grass (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Chinchou LV.13 – Lightning – HP50
Basic Pokemon
[C] Razor Fin: 10 damage.
[L][C] Aqua Spark: 20 damage. If Chinchou has any Water Energy attached to it, this attack does an additional 10 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
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Lanturn LV.43 – Lightning – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Chinchou
[L] Energy Split: Does 30 damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon that has any Energy attached to it.
[L][C][C] Aqua Bolt: Does 60 damage plus an additional 10 damage for each Water Energy attached to Lanturn.
Weakness: Fighting (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Translations from Pokebeach.
This deck has the biggest potential of any that I've seen for the DP-LA format. It can be viciously fast and oppressive. There are plenty of ways to build it, like a Turn2Cruel. This is actually my least favorite way to build because any deck that does not need to discard energies to have good attacks with not discard if they are smart and avoid being trapped by this strategy. Not only that, but you will usually max at 80 damage, which is only OK. You also have no tanks at akk and a quick 90 damage will kill you, something not terribly hard to manage these days. Tentacruel can be dangerous in his own right with Dangerous Toxin, which can really surprise the opponent. People might want to think twice about Forretress decks or overloading their Vileplumes. However, even that's not enough to redeem a Turn2Cruel deck. If only the original Energy Removal was legal...
Another way to build the sucker I've tried is with Zapdos, which mostly only succeeded in cluttering my Bench and giving Dusknoir some chow time. Spiritomb start is pretty bad too.
As I played with it more and more it became obvious that TurnCruel needed bigger bulkier support, something that could take hits. It also needed help spreading even more. The obvious answer...was Ampharos.Ampharos's Jamming puts a damage counter on each of your opponent's Pokemon every time they use a supporter. I've had situations where the opponent simply would not play a supporter because they knew it would result in their own death. Ampharos also has 130 HP and a good attack that also spreads on energy manipulation. To me, he is the perfect combo with TurnCruel.
A good starter for the deck is Absol. He can discard energy early on and slow down your opponent, allowing you to really get annoying. Watch how funny it is when your opponent gets his beloved Kingdra and Rare Candy in their starting hand, only for you to Baleful Wind both of them from his hand!
Claydol is still the best draw in my opinion. Don't know what else to say here.
Try something I haven't? Any ideas at all, just post 'em here. Personally, I think the deck can take both Kingdra and AMU.
I suppose you could play straight Lanturn/Tentacruel and do well.
Oh yes, translations for those hwo have not seen yet:
Tentacool LV.16 – Water – HP50
Basic Pokemon
[C] Crystal Barrier: Flip a coin, if heads prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Tentacool during your opponent's next turn.
[W] Mysterious Beam: Flip a coin, if heads discard 1 Energy attached to the Defending Pokemon.
Weakness: Lightning (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tentacruel LV.37 – Water – HP90
Stage 1 – evolves from Tentacool
[.] Tentacle Tease: Choose up to 2 Energy cards from your opponent's discard pile, and attach them to your opponent's Pokemon in any way you like. Then, do 20 damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon that had Energy attached, for each Energy card you attached.
[W][C][C] Dangerous Toxin: 60 damage. If Tentacruel has fewer Energy cards attached to it than the Defending Pokemon, the Defending Pokemon is now Poisoned and Paralyzed.
Weakness: Lightning (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Chinchou LV.15 – Water – HP60
Basic Pokemon
[C] Supersonic: Flip a coin, if heads the Defending Pokemon is now Confused.
[W] Splash: 10 damage.
Weakness: Grass (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lanturn LV.39 – Water – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Chinchou
[C][C] Wild Current: 20 damage. Move 1 Energy attached to the Defending Pokemon to one of your opponent's other Pokemon. (If your opponent only has 1 Pokemon in play, ignore this effect.)
[W][L] Confuse Ray: 40 damage. The Defending Pokemon is now Confused.
Weakness: Grass (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
Chinchou LV.13 – Lightning – HP50
Basic Pokemon
[C] Razor Fin: 10 damage.
[L][C] Aqua Spark: 20 damage. If Chinchou has any Water Energy attached to it, this attack does an additional 10 damage.
Weakness: Fighting (+10)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lanturn LV.43 – Lightning – HP90
Stage 1 – Evolves from Chinchou
[L] Energy Split: Does 30 damage to each of your opponent's Pokemon that has any Energy attached to it.
[L][C][C] Aqua Bolt: Does 60 damage plus an additional 10 damage for each Water Energy attached to Lanturn.
Weakness: Fighting (+20)
Resistance: none
Retreat: 2
Translations from Pokebeach.