I like the rogue concept of the deck, and this was a great article!
I just have two questions:
First, why only 1 Crobat G? It would seem that to maximize damage you would like to have two or even three. If you needed the space for extra T/S/S I understand.
Second, why no Rainbow Energy? It would save you the trouble of having to attach a Water and a Psychic to Starmie to fully utilize it, and the 1 damage counter isn't that much of a drawback. Or did you find that you could search for the necessary energy consistently with Cyrus's Conspiracy?
Again, great article!
It's mainly a metagame choice. The Poke-Turns are primarily for DGX, which allowed me to deal with Vileplume locking up my Pluspowers, but all other scenarios it was primarily for Crobat G. As such, I really usually only relied on one Crobat G.
Ultimately I ended up finding out through the playtesting that adding more Crobat G meant I ended up drawing into more Crobat G, which in theory is fine, but the issue was that it would quickly get Hurled, or sniped, or it took up space that could have been otherwise completely useful trainers/supporters/stadiums. Which, is not to say that I don't approve of the multiple Crobat G thing, it's just that I've never really needed to use more than one: once Luxray GL Level. X or Garchomp or what-have-you was gone, it was gone for good, and the need for Crobats take a backseat to hitting for as much damage as possible. Multiple are perfectly fine if that's the individual player's fancy.
As for the Rainbow Energy question: yep, pretty much. I eschewed Rainbow Energy for a few reasons. Firstly, it ensured that I didn't get locked by Red Armor. Secondly, it's not searchable. Thirdly, that one damage counter has spelled the difference between life or death for Starmie, since it's so low on HP in the beginning. I focused on minimizing as many possible risks as I could in an already risky deck, which was why I did not utilise Rainbow Energy.
Cyrus, essentially, was the major search card that saved my life.
Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of the list, but wow.
I never expected you to write such a well thought out and full explanation to a "fun competitive deck". Great job, great ideas, and a great example for the gym to go on.
Sooo... Dunsparce and Shuppet get no love?
Dunsparce and Shuppet were not used primarily for four major reasons. Firstly, no retreat cost: All cards, save for Dialga G, have no retreat cost, which is extremely vital in being able to play flexibly to your opponent's play style. Energy attachments can make or break a game in this situation, so you cannot risk running low energy and then end up discarding it. Likewise, because of the low basic count, running Unown Q is just asking to be donked.
Secondly, the larger HP: Starmie, despite weakness, is still stronger than Shuppet or Dunsparce, so the chances of being OHKO, while still formidable, is much lower when you're not facing a Luxray. This is vital against decks such as Vilegar and Gyarados, as now if you Hurl one Magikarp (or chain KO a Gyarados), a belted Starmie can last you the entire game. Shuppet and Dunsparce, due to their 50HPs, are still in Gyarados' shoot range.
Thirdly, Core Flash: Shooting Core Flash is helpful against Spiritomb's Keystone Seal and Vileplume's Pollen. A 50 onto either of them could be crucial to getting out of an early lock (Darkness Grace takes Spiritomb to 50, putting him straight into KO range with Core Flash). Dunsparce is colorless, so his default Fade Out does nothing (and it cannot be augmented since you're under Keystone Seal) against Spiritomb. Likewise, Shuppet is generally not as good because of his lack of ability to snipe.
Fourthly, the redundancy and multi-task of the BTS line. I'm running a Stage 2 anyways, so there's technically no harm in running a Stage 1, since the engine to quick evolve Gengar Prime can be used for Starmie. What this means is that the advantage of a basic Pokemon is marginal, at best.
