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ZPS -AKA BLACK OUT
By: Carl Scheu
Division: Masters (Ohio)
Format: HGSS-B/W
Date: June 2, 2011
THE CORE STRATEGY
Hello, welcome to my second article. This article is about not only a deck that I love, but one that seems to be a very good metagame play. First, I’ll explain the main Pokemon that make up the core of the deck.
Zekrom- This is your main attacker. The primary goal of the deck is to be hitting with Bolt Strike as early as turn one using the combination of Pachirisu and Shaymin. Outrage is used when Zekrom is heavily damaged and can also provide a good late game attack.
Pachirisu- This could be best non-reprinted card from Call of Legends. Pachirisu has very low hit points and a sub par attack, but his power is simply amazing. It lets you attach two lightning energies from your hand to itself when played.
Shaymin- The last piece of the combo comes from Unleashed in the form of Shaymin. When played, Shaymin's power lets you move your energies around as you wish. This allows you to move your energies from Pachirisu to Zekrom. You then just have to attach your normal energy attachment for the turn and you attack for 120 damage on turn one.
I named the deck ZPS based off of the 2005 deck, ZRE.
Zapdos –
Rayquaza –
Electrode
That deck was built in a similar fashion trying to obtain the same goal.
Since Austin already named his deck Black Out in his article I figured I would use that name as well to avoid confusion.
The List
Here’s the list that I’ll be using to discuss the deck
Pokemon (14)
4 Zekrom
3 Pachirisu
3 Shaymin
2 Yanma
2 Yanmega Prime
T/S/S (32)
3 Plus Power
1 Switch
4 Dual Ball
4 Junk Arm
4 Super Scoop Up
2 Pokemon Communication
3 Judge
2 Energy Search
3 Pokemon Collector
4 Professor Juniper
1 Revive
1 Energy Retrieval
Energy (14)
14 Lightning
Card Strategy
Now onto the main strategy for the deck. You need to have the following in place for the deck to start attacking:
1). Get Zekrom active (preferably as your starter)
2). Use Pachirisu with two lightning energy in hand.
3). Use Shaymin to move your energies onto Zekrom.
4). Attach a third energy to Zekrom from your hand.
There are slight variants to do this depending on your hand, but that’s the general guide.
Pokemon- I explained most of them at the top so not much here.
2 Yanma- While this is the only Yanma in format, it helps that it has free retreat. Two are used to evolve into Yanmega Prime.
2 Yanmega Prime- The only Pokemon left to explain is the inclusion of Yanmega Prime in the deck. Yanmega Prime is in here as a Donphan counter. This card also allows you to be more disruptive in your play style because of being able to play Judge more effectively, you will still hit for either a 40 snipe or 70 damage without worrying about energy costs. Also 2 Yanmega Prime coupled with plus powers can last long enough to get rid of two Donphan Prime.
T/S/S I use an odd lineup of trainers and supporters in this deck, so I'll explain my choices.
3 Plus Power- Playing a Plus Power allows you to OHKO a Reshiram or Zekrom. Playing twoin combination with Ruins of Alph allows you to OHKO a Donphan with an Outrage when Zekrom has 120, which he would have after being attacked by Donphan's Earthquake. This card gives you a lot more ways to get a key OHKO, which the deck strives for.
1 Switch- This is used to get Zekrom into the active spot if you do not start with one. It also lets you hide a damaged Zekrom on the bench for later use without discarding the energy on it. It also helps save a valuable Super Scoop Up.
4 Dual Ball- This card is your main Pokemon search engine. While the card is flippy, you only need to get out three basic Pokemon. Junk Arm also helps in solving the card's weakness of being flippy.
4 Junk Arm- In my opinion this is the best trainer in the HGSS-on format. It can be used in any deck to get any other trainer in the discard pile back into your hand. It works very effectively with Plus Power since they now go directly into the discard pile when played. Consider it new Crobat G in this deck.
4 Super Scoop Up- This card is in here to reuse powers such as Pachirisu and Shaymin and to save Pokemon from getting KO'd. Even though it is reliant on a flip, it can help provide you with a better late game and more consistency.
2 Pokemon Communication- This card allows you to exchange any pokemon in your hand for another in your deck. Only two are used because of the low pokemon count in the deck. It is also the only way to search out Yanmega Prime.
3 Judge- This card is a godsend in this deck. This card's main purpose is for Yanmega's body, but it can also provide a lock on your opponent. Most decks without Magnezone Prime will have a tough time recovering from a Judge. It doesn't really hurt you that much because once you have a Zekrom or two going, you can take prizes for the rest of the game. Lastly, this card allows you to attack with Yanmega for free using it's Body. Judge can also be crippling to any deck if you go first and Judge their starting hand away.
2 Energy Search- What a format we live in that there is a legitimate use for this card! It works as a Junk Arm target and helps pull your lighting energy out of the deck when you need it.
3 Pokemon Collector- This card is not always needed in this deck, but the bottom line is that it adds so much consistency to the deck that I usually wouldn't run any less than three. Simply put, it gets out all three pieces of your combination with no coin flips.
4 Professor Juniper- This is a card that I was skeptical about at first, but I have found that it is very useful in the deck. With the relatively high count of trainer-based search cards, you can usually empty your hand before playing this for a new seven card hand to continue your turn.
1 Revive- This card is one of two recovery cards included in the deck. Revive lets you put a basic Pokemon from your discard pile back onto your bench. Typically, this will be a Zekrom. If the game goes on long enough you are likely to have several, if not all, of your Zekroms KO'd.
1 Energy Retrieval- This is the second recovery card in the deck and is used to get back two lightning energies. By getting two energies back, you can get a Zekrom charged up in one turn relatively easily even late in the game.
Energy-
14 Lightning - I run 14 lightning. With Energy Search, that gives me a total of 16 ways to start with an energy card. In an 8 card hand, that is on average 2 energy cards.
Techs
Research Record/Pokedex
Draw cards can be added so you know what you are getting with your top decks instead of gambling on cards like dual ball. Personally, I don’t like the engine because it takes at the minimum two cards and Professor Juniper will draw all 5 anyways.
Twins-This card can be included for the mirror match. It allows you to have a better chance of coming back after falling behind early. Since you are generally faster than almost every other deck, I would only recommend this card if ZPS becomes very popular in your area or at Nationals.
Copycat/PONT
Another hand refresher, but it lets you draw more than Judge. These are both pretty self-explanatory. PONT is not as effective as Judge or Copycat with Yanmega Prime in the deck.
Smeargle
This card is probably the most popular tech I left out. Smeargle is used to help set up. I don’t run it because it increases switch count. I am also afraid of walking into a Juniper when I have a good hand or even Judge, so I find the card to be too risky in a fast and streamlined deck.
Magnezone Prime-This is a very versatile card and can be used in several ways in this deck. He can be used as your draw engine with Magnetic Draw which when used with Judge can turn into a deadly and disruptive late game. This card also can benefit from Pachirisu and Shaymin as in two turns he can be charged up and hit for at least 100 damage, giving you a solid back up attacker. I didn’t use him because I couldn’t find space for him, however I do believe that a Magnezone/Zekrom deck could work, but a stage 2 in this deck is slower and less consistent than the stage 1 Yanmega Prime. Having weakness to fighting along with Zekrom doesn't help, either.
Rescue Energy--This is a recovery card for Zekrom, it can act as a third energy and allows you to return a KO quicker. I also find it to occasionly be useful on Shaymin or Pachirisu, you can sacrifice a prize but, get to reuse their powers. A very versatile recovery card, the only downside being that you can't reuse it with Junk Arm.
Fisherman/Flower Shop Lady-These are the other recovery cards we can use, beside Rescue Energy, and I don't like either of these. Most games you won't need to recover multiple Pokemon or energies. Energy Retrieval and Revive are more efficient and can be reused with Junk Arm.
Ruins of Alph-This card is for the Donphan match up, allowing you to more easily KO Donphans with Zekrom. However, it hurts Yanmega as it eliminates its resistance to fighting. I still would consider running one as it can help you get a surprise KO occasionally.
Sage's Training-This card is another useful supporter, allowing you to take two cards from the top five of your deck. This card can increase your deck consistency as you might just be fishing for a card or two to complete the combo. It also may be a better option than discarding your hand with Professor Juniper.
Alph Lithograph 4- This card lets you look at your prizes and see what you need to grab to keep the pressure on your opponent up. I could see this card being used, but the thick lines used here lessen the need for it.
Rotom-This is a tech pokemon card that you would most likely used in conjunction, with Alph Lithograph 4 and a drawing card of your choice. With his power, Mischievous Trick, it can act as a reusable Azelf, when the combo is pulled off successfully. But, the reason I love this card is because of his attack, it does 20 damage times the amount of energy on a pokemon. He becomes one of the few snipers in the format and most importantly, can easily get a knockout on Shuckle, not only netting you a prize, but forcing that player to watch as their Magnezone loses the ability to dish out damage.
Seeker-This card would be used to give you a guaranteed reuse of a power and to help generate a bench out win. Overall, I felt a fourth Super Scoop Up had more merit in the deck because of Junk Arm.
Pokemon Reversal -This is a card I will be mentioning a lot because it can change a game drastically in a format where you can hide behind an attacker. However, I chose to exclude it from my list because it has inconsistent results and doesn't contribute to the first turn attack. I would recommend adding them in if you wanted more disruption in your list.
Ampharos Prime-This is a tech for Emboar based decks. Its body puts a damage counter every time your opponent attaches an energy to their pokemon, thus it can act as a Plus Power or even snag a KO if you play it late game after a Bolt Strike and then they can't attach energy to Rayquaza Deoxys Legend because it would be KO'd.
Victory Medal- This is a card that has been under the radar as far as a new form of trainer draw power. Without Pokedrawer+, Uxie, and Azelf it is difficult to draw multiple cards without the use of Supporters or Magnezone Prime. Victory Medal, while a bit flippy, can draw a card or any card from your deck. This is a good effect to have, especially in a speed based deck, and if you are lucky you can get any one card from your deck, which can be seven new cards, a Professor Juniper, or that last card you need to obtain turn one Zekrom.
Tyrogue- This is a tech card that has been gaining popularity because of Cleffa's rise as a starter. Tyrogue is used to get a cheap early game knockout, or possibly, a donk. The body,free attack cost, and free retreat make him ideal, as he does his job quickly and efficiently.
Unown and Dark Energy- This is a combo that uses Unown's Dark to get the third and final energy, to charge up a Zekrom, it is a searchable energy card that can be brought out using Pokemon Collector or Dual Ball.
THE MATCHUPS
I have split the decks into groups based on what they do or how much I think they will be played.
Vs. The “Big 4” hyped decks -These have all been hyped for a while and two of them are from B/W. These decks should all be considered threats in the metagame and could be teched for.
V. ZPS, mirror match- This is our mirror and it is a prize exchange. Ideally you’ll get the first KO and be able to just build on your prize lead. Twins is included for this reason. Also, when going for the first prize make sure you hit with Plus Power or they’ll just get a KO on you with Outrage. A timely Judge can help to cripple your opponent (especially if you are going first). Smeargle also tends to have mixed results here if you walk right into a judge or Juniper. Lastly, Yanmega is also relatively useless with the exception of the snipe attack.
Even
V. DonChamp-This is supposedly an auto loss for ZPS, but I think it is very close to even because you are a turn faster and, if you play it, reversal can slow down their setup as well. Yanmega Prime can, and probably will, be your main attacker. Their deck also has problems against Judge. Also, Donphan needs a Plus Power to get the first prize on a Zekrom with Earthquake or they’re an easy Outrage target. Ruins of Alph can help you, but late game will hurt your Yanmega. Lastly your Plus Powers will be very thinned out by the end of the game, so use them wisely. Also the general hope is that by the time you see a Machamp you have the lead or have enough Plus Powers to get the OHKO. Machamp is the bigger threat to you and Yanmega is needed to beat Machamp.
Unfavorable
V. White out-This is the other legendary card in the B/W set and you should be able to out speed them. Hopefully, by the time they’re setup (we’ll say turn three) you should have a one to two prize lead. After that, they have an advantage as they can replace and re-energize their Reshirams quicker than you can your Zekroms. Pokemon Reversal can be key card here to set them back a turn as well as take an easy prize. Plus Powers again will be at a premium in this match up. Judge can also hurt them as well as they don’t recover as well as you do.
Slightly Favorable
V. LostGar-This deck has been hyped for a while and still has yet to live up to it, but it is gaining popularity again. Your goal is to take 6 prizes before they get 6 in the lost zone. This is something that I think is relatively easy to accomplish. You can Junk Arm away any extra Pokemon, which as this build runs only 14 is relatively easy to accomplish. Also, no matter what variant, you OHKO them easily with a Plus Power. So, just overextend to get prizes and you should be fine. On a side note, you win this on time somewhat frequently too. The last thing that I want to add about this match up is that you can discard most of your Pokemon via Junk Arm and Prof. Juniper, so you might not even have 6 for them to Hurl. Spooky Whirlpool and Seeker are annoying but again unless they hit multiple pokemon you will win with relative ease as they have no good way of getting a quick KO on Zekrom, therefore your setup isn't disrupted and you can take your prizes quickly.
Favorable
V. Tank/Healing Decks These are decks that are designed to take little to no damage and rely on their high hit points to win. They are generally very slow, but have no problems getting KO's once they are setup.
V. Steelix-The definition of a tank deck for the past year now. Its main problem has always been fire decks/techs, which will be popular. I think that Zekrom can handle the deck nicely as you can take a three to four prize lead before they get fully set up. However, if you don’t build up a lead early on you are in trouble. Reversals can also save the game for you by getting a KO on a backup Steelix that only needs two plus Powers for a KO.
Slightly Favorable
V. Magnezone variants-Right now the best Magnezone deck appears to be Magneboar with Rayquaza Deoxys Legend. The deck tends to be pretty slow on the setup, but once it gets going they will come back with a fury. The deck revolves around getting Magnezone and Emboar setup while giving them many options late game. The big problem for ZPS is that it doesn't get OHKOs on their attackers without Plus Powers or some Yanmega sniping. Magneboar can also take several prizes in a row and is perfectly content giving up a three prize lead. For ZPS the best way to win is to get a donk or cripple their early game setup with Judge. Lastly, Ampharos Prime can be included to make the matchup Slightly Unfavorable to Even because of its body.
Unfavorable
V. Serperior/Reuniclus - This is the famed gym deck that’s goal is to take damage and heal it all off. The problem is that it doesn’t OHKO anything in your deck unless it hits reversals. You can also easily one shot the attacker with one plus power, so there’s nothing to heal. Defender can also be a problem for you, however you can just try for a Pokemon Reversal and KO the Reuniclus instead.
Favorable
V. Stage Two Decks -These are simply stage two decks that use stage twos as their main attackers.
V. Jumpluff-This deck has lost a lot of speed since its debut, but it is thought to gain some power back in the new format with Sunflora as the back bone of the deck. Even still, Jumpluff being a stage two slows it down too much for it to be a truly fast deck. It is also very easy to manipulate the bench in ZPS as you only need two benched Pokemon to get going. However, you do have to keep in mind that when you hit yourself for 40 with Bolt Strike, they OHKO you back if you have a bench of two. Before that prize exchange happens you will probably have a one or two prize lead to work with.
Slightly Favorable
V. Tyranitar-I've seen this deck being played with Mandibuzz, so it can snipe for its prizes. However you easily OHKO Mandibuzz and can use Super Scoop Up so that they don't KO your small bench Pokemon. Tyranitar is a pain to OHKO for Zekrom. However the deck seems to be a little slow and by the time they get going you could have a two prize lead. You should be OK as long as you don't over extend your bench.
Slightly Favorable
V. Samurott /Blast/ Gatr Variants-Not much to say here. They need to setup two stage twos and you hit them for weakness across the board.
Very Favorable
V. Stage One Decks -These are stage one decks that I have yet to mention.
V. Cinccino-This is a very close match up as they are only one turn slower, and after hitting yourself for 40 they OHKO you easily. You should be able to grab a prize lead, and just trade prizes to win the game. It also doesn’t matter what techs they run as you OHKO all of them just as easily unless they play Donphan, or something strange like that. The usual secondary attackers are Boufallant and Zoroark. A one card recovery wouldn’t be a bad idea for this match up, as you will probably have all of your Zekrom KO’d by the end of the game.
Slightly Favorable
V. Mandibuzz /Kingdra-This deck relies heavily on sniping. The bottom line is you hit them for weakness across the board, and they are more of a turn three deck than turn two, so your prize lead should be big enough to win comfortably. They also have no good way of OHKOing Zekrom unless they pull off four Spray Splashes in one turn.
Very Favorable
V. Scizor- Here’s a potential surprise deck. Luckily, it doesn't threaten Zekrom. Scizor can’t OHKO you until about turn three, and by then your prize lead should be too big for it to matter. Not to mention they in general have a low count on basics so donking is a big possibility here.
Very Favorable
While this isn't a match up, this is what you fear most-
The reason being, that you run the most Pokemon with powers with less than 80 hit points in the entire format. Because of that, this guy can come out in one turn and either force sudden death, or single-handedly steal a game from you. Be aware of this card and what it can do to you.
Well, that’s the end of my article. If you have any match ups you’d like to me
add or changes made to them, please post them so I can test it out!
Thanks guys and I hope you enjoy it
Credits-
Thanks to
Darkwalker for being my editor and fixing my grammar.
DarkStar20 for also being an editor and being patient enough to help me make the article the best it could be.
Team TacoBell, Alex S, Ryan K, and David C for helping me test the deck and constantly improving the list, which we are still doing right now
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