Preface
Greetings. It's me,
Not just another Typhlosion/Reshiram deck analysis
He charges forth into battle with unmatched strength, riding on calvary. He is an honorable combatant, with lance in hand and without tricks up his sleeve. He gets up after every fall, every defeat, and continues to plunge into the fray of battle until it be done, or his body would not yield to anymore punishment, whichever sooner. He is The Knight.
TOTAL CARDS: 60
POKEMON: 17
3 Typhlosion (Prime)
2 Quilava, GS
2 Ninetales, GS
4 Cyndaquil, GS
2 Vulpix, UL
4 Reshiram, BW
T/S/S: 30
3 PlusPower
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Revive
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
3 Junk Arm
3 Gust of Wind
1 Engineer's Adjustments
2 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
4 Pokemon Collector
ENERGY: 13
1 : Rescue Energy
12 : Fire Energy
This list is extremely straightforward. It is a vanilla list that focuses completely on developing the Typhlosion line and maintaining it past disruption, catcher kills, and other shenanigans that may befall the strongholds that contain the power source of Reshiram. This list allows Typhlosion/Reshiram decks to do what they do best: get up a Typhlosion swarm asap, and channel Afterburners towards hordes of waiting Reshirams and ride into battle.
Like the tough soldier The Knight is, he is equipped with more survival tools than the average bear. A Revive and a Rescue Energy to help in pinch situations, and a thick 4 - 2 - 3 Typhlosion line to weather early catcher kills. The Knight tends to be very good against disruption decks or decks with a powerful early game, for his armour allows him to weather the storms of battle, especially when the field is at its most vulnerable. However, this list is very predictable, and possesses nothing too special against similar decks and inherently tough matchups.
Like the tough soldier The Knight is, he is equipped with more survival tools than the average bear. A Revive and a Rescue Energy to help in pinch situations, and a thick 4 - 2 - 3 Typhlosion line to weather early catcher kills. The Knight tends to be very good against disruption decks or decks with a powerful early game, for his armour allows him to weather the storms of battle, especially when the field is at its most vulnerable. However, this list is very predictable, and possesses nothing too special against similar decks and inherently tough matchups.
The Marksman - Disruptive, Disruptive, Disruptive, Disruptive
They never saw it coming. A horizontal stretch of bladed wood, shot from an unknown location, by dangerous hands guided by cold, sharp eyes. More of these shots rang out, forcing the adversaries to panic, retreat in haste, and suffer more casualties. The advance raid was stifled, and The Marksman has done his job.
TOTAL CARDS: 60
POKEMON: 17
3 Typhlosion (Prime)
2 Quilava, GS
1 Cleffa GS
4 Cyndaquil, GS
4 Reshiram, BW
3 Smeargle UD
T/S/S: 30
3 PlusPower
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Revive
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
3 Junk Arm
3 Gust of Wind
1 Engineer's Adjustments
2 Professor Juniper
4 Judge
4 Pokemon Collector
ENERGY: 13
1 : Rescue Energy
12 : Fire Energy
The Assassin - Versatile, Versed, Varied, Venturesome
Equipped with multiple tools of the trade, for all manner of missions. A crossbow for environs with tall structures for an undetected kill. A dagger, to get close to, stab, and slip away from targets who choose to blend into crowded areas. A smoke bomb and firearms for guarded victims. The Assassin is hired to take down targets no one else can.
TOTAL CARDS: 55 (5 KINDLY PUT ASIDE SPACES)
POKEMON: 12
3 Typhlosion (Prime)
2 Quilava, GS
3 Cyndaquil, GS
4 Reshiram, BW
T/S/S: 30
3 PlusPower
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Revive
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Rare Candy
3 Junk Arm
3 Gust of Wind
1 Engineer's Adjustments
2 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak's New Theory
4 Pokemon Collector
ENERGY: 13
1 : Rescue Energy
12 : Fire Energy
The first thing you might have noticed about this list is that its not complete. It's short of the 60 cards a full list is supposed to have. This is not a full list. An Assassin is not fully ready and armed until he knows his mission specifics. Only when he does can he complete his inventory with the right tools for the job. Yes, this is a techy Typhlosion/Reshiram list, used against a metagame that is full of Typhlosion/Reshiram hate, to deal with bad matchups. When the situation is dire, and there are no means to set up an army, one should take to the shadows, muster as much resource and sagacity as one can, and hit back with counters. I shall run you through the specific tools against various matchups in the later section, when they are required.
I would not advice the use of this list against matchups that are already favourable or even, for fear of the lack of consistency ruining matches that one could have taken with a plain list, but if the metagame is full of anti-Typhlosion/Reshiram decks, such as defensive trainer lock decks, then The Assassin is ready to slip in past those bulwarks and deliver a fatal blow to the offending party. This list can be outfitted with very specialized techs and tech lines that would hopefully act as a panacea against games where you would otherwise have a headache. The rest of the list is quite similar to The Knight list, for you would need some basic consistency to see you through your already wavering consistency in other games.
I would not advice the use of this list against matchups that are already favourable or even, for fear of the lack of consistency ruining matches that one could have taken with a plain list, but if the metagame is full of anti-Typhlosion/Reshiram decks, such as defensive trainer lock decks, then The Assassin is ready to slip in past those bulwarks and deliver a fatal blow to the offending party. This list can be outfitted with very specialized techs and tech lines that would hopefully act as a panacea against games where you would otherwise have a headache. The rest of the list is quite similar to The Knight list, for you would need some basic consistency to see you through your already wavering consistency in other games.
Meet the Contenders - A Beastiary of Adversaries
The list below is a compilation of all the metagame decks that I have tested thus far. Some of the less common but still pertinent members of the metagame have not been included, not because I view them to be less threatening than the ones listed, but because I did not test them sufficiently enough to give a fair appraisal and game plan. Some matchups are inherently tougher than others, requiring more steps, so I shall then classify those decks into different difficulty levels as a heads up. Expect a little more to be written on the decks rated hard.
Easy Mode:
Reshiram/Typhlosion
Emboar/Reshiram
Magnezone/Yanmega
Medium Mode:
Emboar/Magnezone
Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
Pachirisu/Shaymin/Zekrom
Pachirisu/Shaymin/Zekrom
Hard Mode:
Gothitelle/Reuniclus
Gothitelle/Reuniclus
The Truth
These are the difficulty levels you will experience when using Typhlosion/Reshiram. This is purely from my testing and my opinion. You may feel free to disagree with my classifications if you so wish, but I do hope you will gain something from my further elaboration on the individual matchups. I will not write about matchup percentages, since these are included in various Typhlosion/Reshiram guides, including the one I have provided a link to. I will now focus on how you can make those matchups better.
A higher difficulty does not necessarily equate to a harder inherent matchup, though it is a huge factor. Sometimes it just means it harder to do something tangible about it. For example, I would not consider the Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin matchup to be particularly difficult, but there are really few things you can do to improve the matchup. Matters like T1 donk and gusted Cyndaquils early in the game are harder to deal with, than say, mirror matches. Now I will include a general description of how each matchup will tend to go, your outs and finally which variant is the best to pick if a certain deck is rampant in the metagame.
Easy Mode:
Easy Mode - Reshiram/Typhlosion
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: The scenario is simple. The deck with the faster Typhlosion/Reshiram set up, together with the usual very aggressive kills on Typhlosion lines, tends to win. This is why I qualify the matchup as "easy", because there is only one simple thing you need to know: set up swiftly. The faster you do your usual stuff, the easier it will be for you.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: I would suggest a rather speedy build to overcome this matchup. Perhaps a touch of disruption as well. By outspeeding them, you definitely can start swinging for heavy damage ASAP, with disruption, you increase your relative speed, which is what matters. In the end, everything will boil down to the prize exchange, of Reshirams hitting one another's sides to get prizes turn by turn. Being the first to hit, and crippling their prize taking fuel, the Typhlosion lines via Pokemon Catcher, faster, will give you the game.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: I would suggest The Marksman. It would be good to score a T1 Portrait, then leech upon their resources, or spy on their plight. Be sure to empty your hand and expend as many resources as you possibly can. It's likely you would hit a hand refresher or a Juniper. On top of what you already have, coupled with the ability to set up even further than them, you gain superior speed. With Judge to complete the equation, you bog them down. Hard.
A T1 Judge screws a typical Typhlosion/Reshiram deck up for the long run, and a T1 Judge followed by a set up that is speedier than ordinary just makes it a whole lot worse. With accelerated supporter usage, T2 Typhlosions tend to be more common for you, and a world of pain, closer to them. Smeargles can be used liberally here throughout the game, speeding you up, as long as you can support the energy count. Aggressively use Smeargles when you do not need to return a KO urgently, such as when they are scrambling to set up, or are in recovery mode. Keep them away when the battles do somehow get evenly matched once more, and every fire energy would then be crucial.
A T1 Judge screws a typical Typhlosion/Reshiram deck up for the long run, and a T1 Judge followed by a set up that is speedier than ordinary just makes it a whole lot worse. With accelerated supporter usage, T2 Typhlosions tend to be more common for you, and a world of pain, closer to them. Smeargles can be used liberally here throughout the game, speeding you up, as long as you can support the energy count. Aggressively use Smeargles when you do not need to return a KO urgently, such as when they are scrambling to set up, or are in recovery mode. Keep them away when the battles do somehow get evenly matched once more, and every fire energy would then be crucial.
Easy Mode - Emboar/Reshiram
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: Emboar/Reshiram tends to wreck havoc upon an unprepared Typhlosion/Reshiram deck. Your opponent will score hits using often undamaged Reshirams, forcing the PlusPowers out of you. An additional option to punish with Bad Boar (Emboar BW #19) and kill benched Typhlosion more easily with a bulky, hard-to-kill-in-one-shot striker adds to the mixup.
Emboar/Reshiram decks tend to lead in prizes upon a whiff or when Bad Boar hits the field at an opportune moment, most likely late game when resources on Typhlosion/Reshiram's side are depleted, notably trainers like PlusPower. It is easy to fix because all you need is to focus on how to gain an edge in a very elementary prize exchange game. It is not the easiest of matchups, but it is definitely a piece of cake to grasp the situation and find that room for improvement.
Emboar/Reshiram decks tend to lead in prizes upon a whiff or when Bad Boar hits the field at an opportune moment, most likely late game when resources on Typhlosion/Reshiram's side are depleted, notably trainers like PlusPower. It is easy to fix because all you need is to focus on how to gain an edge in a very elementary prize exchange game. It is not the easiest of matchups, but it is definitely a piece of cake to grasp the situation and find that room for improvement.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Similar to the Typhlosion/Reshiram mirror, I would suggest you outspeed them. Eventually a whiffed PlusPower, or a late game Bad Boar will allow them to cruise narrowly over you and steal the lead. What you can do is to take prizes early. Early prizes such as those off Tepigs and Vulpix via Pokemon Catcher will slow their set up, giving you an early lead prize-wise, to compensate for a tough late game. It is certainly a case of making hay for a rainy day.
By the time the going gets tough, you can eke out the last one or two prizes for the win. Disruption is also welcome to increase the lead that you need to hang on very dearly to, for it only gets tougher the longer it wears on.
By the time the going gets tough, you can eke out the last one or two prizes for the win. Disruption is also welcome to increase the lead that you need to hang on very dearly to, for it only gets tougher the longer it wears on.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: Simple, it is once again The Marksman who can bring down such combo-ish decks. You try to nail a T1 Portrait, leeching off their resources, nab a very quick Typhlosion combo, get everything going, and then wreck some havoc, taking a much needed lead. Judge tends to be much more devastating against them than against Typhlosion/Reshiram deck mirror matches.
They are very hand-reliant, needing a bunch of energy, or a crucial energy retrieval to score kills. Limiting their hand sizes causes them to occasionally whiff on the energy needed to score a kill, compensating for the whiff you might get when fishing for that crucial PlusPower to score a kill, putting you on even ground, and then some. Judge often during early - early-mid game, where there need to set up, and when they need 3 instead of 2 fire energy to initiate a blue flare on a fresh Reshiram.
Mid game onwards, they would start putting Energy Retrieval to good use, and Judging them into merely either Junk Arm or Energy Retrieval still gives them the kill for the turn. Thus, use Judge aggressively early on. Smeargles would disappear into the shadows when the action gets hot later on, and when every energy not used for something iffy like retreating counts.
They are very hand-reliant, needing a bunch of energy, or a crucial energy retrieval to score kills. Limiting their hand sizes causes them to occasionally whiff on the energy needed to score a kill, compensating for the whiff you might get when fishing for that crucial PlusPower to score a kill, putting you on even ground, and then some. Judge often during early - early-mid game, where there need to set up, and when they need 3 instead of 2 fire energy to initiate a blue flare on a fresh Reshiram.
Mid game onwards, they would start putting Energy Retrieval to good use, and Judging them into merely either Junk Arm or Energy Retrieval still gives them the kill for the turn. Thus, use Judge aggressively early on. Smeargles would disappear into the shadows when the action gets hot later on, and when every energy not used for something iffy like retreating counts.
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: You would be killing Yanmegas by the dozen, using Blue Flare, as they try hard to get Magnezones to score KOs. Should not be too hard. Though be wary of Kingdra/Jirachi combos. A snipe and splash on Typhlosions multiple times would suddenly give rise to a Jirachi drop, KO-ed Cyndaquils, and the eventual retardation of your deck's speed. This all comes down to whether or not you can down them faster than they can mount their combo together.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Kingdra/Jirachi is an elaborate combo, requiring very precise damage counter allocation to the relevant parties. The basic combo itself, to get Yanmega and Magnezone running, is pretty tough by itself, especially with Pokemon Catcher now in the format. By cutting their basic combination, especially the Magnezone line, off, you prevent them from even getting close to using their Kingdra/Jirachi tech combo together. It is a chain reaction.
Magnezone Primes supplement draw power and enable other combos to take shape. If you stem the bleeding by knocking out Magnemite and Magneton earlier on via Pokemon Catcher, and ruining their hand with repeated disruption, you should be safe. Adding speed to your Typhlosion/Reshiram decks allow you to take all 6 prizes before they get their act together.
Magnezone Primes supplement draw power and enable other combos to take shape. If you stem the bleeding by knocking out Magnemite and Magneton earlier on via Pokemon Catcher, and ruining their hand with repeated disruption, you should be safe. Adding speed to your Typhlosion/Reshiram decks allow you to take all 6 prizes before they get their act together.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: Once again, for decks that require a combo to be up, particularly one which requires at least a Stage 2 and Stage 1 Pokemon to be up at the very least, The Marksman is here to stay. Such decks will run many supporters to keep the deck consistent enough to enable it to set up their elaborate battle formation. To this, I advise you to Portrait away with Smeargle once more. The sheer abundance of help Magnezone/Yanmega decks tend to give you allows you to get your set up going and killing Magnemite lines via Pokemon Catcher, or simply tearing away are hordes of dragonflies, the first to be out due to a typically thicker line of it and its status as a Stage 1, taking prizes before they can deliver killings via repeated Sonicboom attacks, Lost Burn attacks, and the Kingdra/Jirachi combo. Be sure to empty your hand of resources that can reasonably expended pre-Portrait as a rule, for you might be forced to refresh or dump your hand much more often than against most other decks.
Magnezone/Yanmega tends to add decidedly heavy lines of Copycat and Judge on top of the usual Professor Oak's New Theory or Professor Juniper, so do take note. Judge aggressively early, for getting a Rare Candy + Magnezone Prime/means to nab Magnezone Prime in a hand with 4 + 1 cards is a rather tough feat. Ease off the hand disruption once there are no Magnemites on the field. On that subject, remember to score KOs on the Magnezone Prime line to the best of your ability. This prevents them from going off altogether, and allowing you to score kills almost unopposed, for Yanmegas alone inherently do not present a threat to Typhlosion/Reshiram decks. A stage 2 Kingdra line and enough Psychic energy for Jirachi to be powered up with is also very difficult to pull off with Magnezone Prime's support, so do take down Magnezone Prime lines whenever reasonably possible.
Medium Mode
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: Emboar/Magnezone tends to have a slight advantage over Typhlosion/Reshiram. David Cohen did state that he ran this deck due to its slight edge over that deck, which was rampant in the Worlds metagame. He ran 2 Reshiram in his build, slightly more than what the average Emboar/Magnezone deck does, but not enough to warrant it being called a Emboar/Reshiboar deck. His lines are very similar to that of typical Emboar/Magnezone decks, so it qualifies.
Nowadays with respect to that deck's properties that allow it to succeed, Emboar/Magnezone decks beef up their Reshiram lines, giving them a Reshiboar feel to it, with Magnezone Prime holding the lines together and giving a consistency boost to solve the problem of the deck inherently being energy deficient if it dead draws, as well as making a great substitute attacker. With a thin Reshiram line, they probably will lose out in the prize exchange eventually, especially if Revives and Rescue Energy do not come timely. Rayquaza/Deoxys LEGEND comes into the picture here, with the same damage output as Bad Boar, and more punishment coming with it, as a clean up to fix the final 2 or so prizes.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Emboar/Magnezone is inherently very slow, needing a high Twins count of 3 or 4 to survive in this metagame. With 2 stage 2s forming the main strategy, you can expect it to be very disruption prone. Go with a strong hand disruption to ruin any chances of them setting up in time, for if they do, they are simply unstoppable. If you disrupt their hand, their chances of nabbing that crucial Twins needed to get back into the game are greatly diminished.
Use Pokemon Catcher to drag their Magnemite/Magneton out and erase any form of consistent, on-the-board drawpower they have, or cut off any energy acceleration from the Emboar line, and you will be complete. Which line you take down will depend on which side has less lines on the board, or in the event of a tie, the dependency of the player on the line. The player has a bad hand? Crush Magnemite/Magneton. The player is attaching energy consistently turn by turn, waiting for the day he can dump all of the energy cards in his hand? Go for Tepig/Pignite.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: Once again, its The Marksman who does the job well. He can fire a volley of disruption early game using Judge repeatedly. Smeargle is of course welcome, but not needed urgently because you outspeed them by far.
Focus on disruption and sticking to your main strategy as much as possible to down weak benched Tepig or Magnemites quickly, whichever more applicable. You will not require much to devastate the board of an early game Emboar/Magnezone deck, so sticking to the raw essentials instead of taking a detour in the hopes of a better set up is a better choice. Only use Smeargle in the case of a horrid hand. If they do set up, opt to take cheap prizes to wrap the game up, or use Pokemon Catcher to drag Emboar in active position to buy time and potentially rid yourself of their main power source.
Medium Mode - Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: Against Typhlosion/Reshiram decks, the strategy adopted by a Donphan/Yanmega/Zoroark deck user would be to reach out for that Zoroark. It comes as no surprise. Zoroark imitates Blue Flare for a mere 2 colourless energy, and can thus be instantly powered up by a Double Colourless Energy. Since Reshiram is almost always partially damaged as a result of Typhlosion Prime's Afterburner, making Foul Play the attack that could land a clean kill.
If this is not enough, Yanmega Prime could nappear very early and take down benched Cyndaquil via Pokemon Catcher and Sonicboom or Quilava via Pokemon Catcher, PlusPower and Sonicboom. Not only can this deck return Reshiram's KOs easily without energy acceleration of any sort, your opponent can tear your power source to bits before it even becomes a power source.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Bring along a thick Typhlosion line to battle. You will need it. The first few potshots by Yanmega Prime will be ugly, but if you bench enough Cyndaquils, and have a consistent, no-nonsense list with you, you should be able to set up past Judge and get at least 1 or 2 Typhlosions running. Add heavy recovery options like Revive and Rescue Energy to outnumber their Zoroarks and return KOs.
Once their Zoroark line is expired, they should have significant trouble killing anything. Sweep and make your comeback. Do not think of using disruption on this deck. It is low maintainence and can get set up even with minimal resources in hand. A techy list will just cause you to be on the short end of a fatal Judge drop and slow you down with a very likely dead hand and many dead draws.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: The Knight will be suitable here. The Knight is very straightforward, without techs or odd tricks. This is best to deal with disruption. You get a serious hand to for serious business post-Judge, and the thick Typhlosion line allows you to eventually power past repeated Cyndaquil and Quilava kills to get the set up going. Rescue Energy and Revive w/ Junk Arm allows you to keep the flow of Reshirams going, expiring their Zoroark lines while being the last man standing, enabling you to sweep, OHKO-ing everything while they have to 2HKO everything on the board.
The match will be close no doubt, as there is some prize giving and prize exchange going on first. However, your raw power should be able to pull through everything most of the time. Just keep a steady frame of mind as you aim to make a comeback, for this is an expected outcome, part of the plan and not a setback. Aim to return with a bang and watch the clock.
Medium Mode - Pachirisu/Shaymin/Zekrom
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: Pachirisu/Shaymin/Zekrom decks tend to go for the donk early. Failing which, they will use Pokemon Catcher to drag Cyndaquils and Quilavas from the bench and start cutting off your power source before they run out of steam. If the build is consistent enough and the user of the deck is lucky enough, he can cause a world of pain by totally denying your Typhlosion line from entering the game, and then rip Reshiram to shreds with 120 hp worth of damage a turn and PlusPower.
However, it is most likely a Reshiram deck can weather the storm by benching multiple Cyndaquils early, developing them to Typhlosion Primes, clean Zekroms up with a PlusPower drop, leaving them with the feat of charging up a Zekrom and 3 energy from scratch if they are too burnt out to conduct any form of energy acceleration. You can use Pokemon Catcher to kill off slowly developing Zekroms, and replenish a KO-ed Reshiram with another with a fresh 120 or more.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: I rate this as a medium level matchup despite this being rather straightforward. Its really a test of resilience and survival. If you survive, its easy, and if you do not, you're a goner. Unfortunately, a good part of it is very luck based, and if Zekrom goes off with a lucky streak, or if it is part of a good build, then it is hard to do anything about it indeed, making it slightly harder than the easy mode matchups. This is basically an easy mode matchup with less control on your side. Typhlosion/Reshiram mirrors are slugfests, but it is not entirely luck reliant. Some games with this matchup, far more than the mirror, make you feel really helpless, elevating it to medium mode, for the average bear at least.
However, it is not impossible, or hard even. Keeping your mind steady despite the near-inevitable prize lead they will take, and focus on making your Cyndaquil lines last, with the help of recovery options. Once you get past that turbulent phase, you are free to run amok, killing Zekroms with the most energy first, and taking your 6 prizes by licking off your opponent's devastated board. Just do not give Zekrom an opportunity to take any more prizes, for your opponent is likely to have taken quite a lead already, and giving him any more leeway is simply plain risky. Even Outrage attacks can be planned to deliver deadly blows. Also, watch the clock.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: The Knight is ready for action here. The sheer consistency and heavy emphasis on recovery is simply tailor-made for you to get your game going despite the attacks they throw at you, and gear you for the comeback. If you find your Cyndaquil lines being assaulted, Rescue Energy and Revives help you get back into the game. Eventually they will run out of Pokemon Catcher, thus so long as you wall with Reshiram long enough, you should be able to keep enough Cyndaquil secure, or at least alive for it to evolve to a Typhlosion Prime. With that, Zekrom will have expended its resources taking you out, and it should be very easy to wreck havoc on them.
Use all resources at your disposal, except for Pokemon Catcher, to build your board up. Save the Pokemon Catcher for killing fresh Zekrom being built on the bench, or at the very most, use one or two in a pinch to drag out bench sitters like Pachirisu and Shaymin, but only if you are absolutely certain that they are experiencing an energy drought, e.g not attaching any energy to build up a benched Zekrom, with a really small hand size.
Hard Mode
Hard Mode - Gothitelle/Reuniclus
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: You should be able to pull ahead in prizes pretty early, but this only gives them legroom to use Twins, and then chain it to get Gothitelle up, then Reuniclus. Gothitelle has a very annoying 130 hp, just out of reach of your typical Blue Flare attacks. Without access to PlusPower, Gothitelle can wall you turn after turn, then use Reuniclus to swap damage over to damage sponges like Reshirams and Zekroms on the bench to keep Gothitelle fresh while she increases her damage output by putting energy on herself, turn after painful turn, eventually gaining enough power to OHKO anything on your field.
Even if you keep piling on 120 hp worth of damage constantly to push to a corner, and leave them with no space to place damage counters, a simple Max Potion or a rare Blissey Prime drop will set you back prizes, while Gothitelle continues to increase the prize difference between you and your opponent. Add that to the fact that your opponent can run trainers to benefit themselves, such as Pokemon Catcher, while you cannot, and you will see the very apparent difference in maximum defensive, offensive and speed capabilities the deck has over you once the lock is up. It is thus not hard to see why this is classified as a Hard Mode deck.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Of course there are a few things you can do. Gothitelle is highly reliant on Twins to set up. Not letting them use it by not taking a single prize off them is the key. Firstly, focus on building up your board position. Ensure that you have what it takes to belt out 120 damage steadily, and ideally follow up with Afterburner. Also, in this interim period, make very sure to use up all the trainer cards from your hand if possible to minimize dead drawing into unusable cards later on. When everything is up nicely, pull the trigger and continuously apply pressure.
If they are foolish enough to charge their energy solely onto their active Gothitelle, punish them by using Flare Destroy repeatedly until they begin to place energy on their benched Gothitelle, in which case you can resume spamming Blue Flare. With enough pressure, they will crumble. Of course, there are techs out there to help you make this matchup a whole lot easier instead of becoming that race for arms which can get interupted with a mere Gothitelle appearance. This will be elaborated in the next section.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: The Assassin is especially equipped with the tools for the job to take out this rather troublesome adversary. Here are the possible techs you can include into the blank spaces in the deck list. Mix, match, and test to see which combinations are the best for you. Each tech has a job to do against Gothitelle/Reuniclus decks. For more general techs, refer to the linked article in Team Robo forums. There, you will find good explanations for Kingdra Prime, Samurott and Serperior as techs.
Rainbow Energy: Gun for Outrage KOs with this guy. Smart players carefully use their Madkinesis damage. They will take into account Afterburner damage and then stay out of KO range with Madkinesis. However, as you are equipped with 2 - 3 Typhlosions if you chose to develop your board aggressively, it will be hard for them to circumvent around this without being close. Close the gap with Rainbow Energy and you have a sweet KO on your hands, and a troll face to present to your opponent.
Smoochum HS: Unorthodox tech which gives you something to do while you set your board up. It pushes your opponent up the wall with pressure on energy, something Gothitelle needs to attack, and get even stronger. This will not last forever. There is a 25% chance of them sneaking past your antics, so do take note. However, Smoochum should hold the fort long enough for them to be on backfoot, and you can start out much stronger, with their comeback much later.
Rainbow Energy: Gun for Outrage KOs with this guy. Smart players carefully use their Madkinesis damage. They will take into account Afterburner damage and then stay out of KO range with Madkinesis. However, as you are equipped with 2 - 3 Typhlosions if you chose to develop your board aggressively, it will be hard for them to circumvent around this without being close. Close the gap with Rainbow Energy and you have a sweet KO on your hands, and a troll face to present to your opponent.
Smoochum HS: Unorthodox tech which gives you something to do while you set your board up. It pushes your opponent up the wall with pressure on energy, something Gothitelle needs to attack, and get even stronger. This will not last forever. There is a 25% chance of them sneaking past your antics, so do take note. However, Smoochum should hold the fort long enough for them to be on backfoot, and you can start out much stronger, with their comeback much later.
If Smoochum does survive after you set up, you can alternate energy manipulation with 120 a turn. If they attach an energy, stall them out and waste their energy by shifting it. If they whiff on energy or refuse to attach, punish them with a Blue Flare. This will make them crumble at a fast rate, with you suffering minimal casualties.
Bellsprout TM/Carnivine TM: Both drag out Pokemon without needing specific energy, making them very splashable into Typhlosion/Reshiram decks. If they do set up prematurely, drag their highest retreat cost bench sitter and keep them in. Next turn, load up Blue Flare w/ Pluspower, and Pokemon Catcher to wreck havoc on their now benched Gothitelle, or simply Pokemon Catcher to KO their Reuniclus. Or if Reuniclus is already dragged active, so much the better.
Bellsprout TM/Carnivine TM: Both drag out Pokemon without needing specific energy, making them very splashable into Typhlosion/Reshiram decks. If they do set up prematurely, drag their highest retreat cost bench sitter and keep them in. Next turn, load up Blue Flare w/ Pluspower, and Pokemon Catcher to wreck havoc on their now benched Gothitelle, or simply Pokemon Catcher to KO their Reuniclus. Or if Reuniclus is already dragged active, so much the better.
Draggers are slightly unreliable due to Switch and Double Colourless Energy run in Gothitelle decks, but works wonders if combined with a very well-timed and annoying Smoochum. They would make a fine pair. I prefer Carnivine TM over Bellsprout TM simple because it can take a hit after a whiff on dragging up, giving it a second chance, especially if Smoochum did its job properly. Its retreat cost of 2 is no object, with Typhlosion Prime accelerating energy for you.
Black Belt: Last but not least, Black Belt is great if you have been docile and setting up without taking a single prize. If they mount an offense against you and take a prize lead, bring them down to earth with this card. Beware of putting damage counters on them if you intend on using Black Belt later. Smarter Gothitelle players might play it Regigigas style and move the damage to one of their benched Pokemon, killing it, and denying you of the prize disadvantage needed to trigger the effect of the card. Simple, effective, surprising against the unaware, Black Belt is just good ol' 40 damage increment, to cross that hp barrier that Gothitelle constructed.
Black Belt: Last but not least, Black Belt is great if you have been docile and setting up without taking a single prize. If they mount an offense against you and take a prize lead, bring them down to earth with this card. Beware of putting damage counters on them if you intend on using Black Belt later. Smarter Gothitelle players might play it Regigigas style and move the damage to one of their benched Pokemon, killing it, and denying you of the prize disadvantage needed to trigger the effect of the card. Simple, effective, surprising against the unaware, Black Belt is just good ol' 40 damage increment, to cross that hp barrier that Gothitelle constructed.
Hard Mode - The Truth
How the match tends to pan out most of the time: Similar to Gothitelle, the match will go very smoothly for Typhlosion/Reshiram decks, but when The Truth starts going off on a Twins rampage, it will lock Typhlosion/Reshiram in place, denying Typhlosion/Reshiram of prizes by causing them to be unable to one hit anything via trainer lock and a 160 hp Suicune Entei LEGEND wall, damage swap, and mass heal via Blissey drops, and Seeker to rinse, lather and repeat.
To add insult to the injury, Suicune Entei LEGEND hits Typhlosion/Reshiram decks for weakness, one hitting everything on the board with Bursting Inferno, unlike Gothitelle, which takes a while to reach that state. The Truth then makes a comeback by sweeping the board and taking 6 prizes.
To add insult to the injury, Suicune Entei LEGEND hits Typhlosion/Reshiram decks for weakness, one hitting everything on the board with Bursting Inferno, unlike Gothitelle, which takes a while to reach that state. The Truth then makes a comeback by sweeping the board and taking 6 prizes.
How do you gain an edge over the matchup: Just like Gothitelle, refrain from taking any prizes unless you have a donk on your hands. Set up Typhlosions as quickly as you can, for they will be the key to dealing with the Suicune Entei LEGEND threat. Once you are ready, allow the floodgates to open by taking the first prize, then strike aggressively with Reshiram, taking a huge lead before they gather both the LEGEND pieces, enough energy to use Bursting Inferno, and the 2 stage 2 Pokemon, Reuniclus and Vileplume.
Then wear their SEL down by continuously using Flare Destroy to bog them down via energy discard, preferably when the prize difference is closing and they cannot chain Twins for a fresh supply of energy. Watch the clock or the damage on their board until their lights go out, or when time is called, hopefully with you managing to hold on to, or getting back the prize lead.
Then wear their SEL down by continuously using Flare Destroy to bog them down via energy discard, preferably when the prize difference is closing and they cannot chain Twins for a fresh supply of energy. Watch the clock or the damage on their board until their lights go out, or when time is called, hopefully with you managing to hold on to, or getting back the prize lead.
What deck variant is the best to bring into a metagame full of these decks and why: The Assassin is ready to deal with this tough customer. The Truth is one very defensive deck, he Assassin knows exactly where and what to do with the chinks in its armour. Here are the techs that you can use. I know it is rather unimaginative of me to regurgitate these techs, but these cards are simply good against these manner of lock decks that I could find no viable replacement. Let me know of any tricks you have up your sleeves in the chatbox.
Bellsprout TM/Carnivine TM: The draggers are back in action. This time, they are much more effective, seeing as energy attachments come rather slowly in The Truth, efforts being channeled towards developing the Pokemon line more often than not. The lack of Switch in The Truth also make these draggers all the more annoying. If they do drop the Double Colourless Energy needed for Vileplume, the preferred target of being dragged into active position, they are most likely unable to power up an attacker. Rinse, lather and repeat. When Vileplume is exposed, hit it hard for with Blue Flare, then prepare for the next Vileplume.
Or you can attack any benched oddish if possible, so that there might not be another Vileplume to worry about. Their strategy will fall here. You might wish to add in more than one dragger in case they do manage to power up a Zekrom with Double Colourless Energy in retaliation, which is a move I found very good for punishing draggers. Its easy to get a Zekrom out, and load it with damage counters as well as a Double Colourless Energy. Some players would make detours such as that if they do see what you run, especially in best of 3 matches, where they would know what to expect.
Or you can attack any benched oddish if possible, so that there might not be another Vileplume to worry about. Their strategy will fall here. You might wish to add in more than one dragger in case they do manage to power up a Zekrom with Double Colourless Energy in retaliation, which is a move I found very good for punishing draggers. Its easy to get a Zekrom out, and load it with damage counters as well as a Double Colourless Energy. Some players would make detours such as that if they do see what you run, especially in best of 3 matches, where they would know what to expect.
Black Belt: Understand that the better players might pull a Regigigas and KO their own Pokemon by shifting the requisite number of damage counters to them, keeping themselves completely out of range of Black Belt's wrath. This is however ideal if you take great care not leave damage counters on the board at all, and wait for targets like Suicune Entei Legend to show up.
Enjoy running down the clock by taking very clean kills that leave no residual damage,and then taking 2 prizes out of nowhere when they are making a comeback, as well as a good part of the game's duration. This card is best played, when played smartly.
Enjoy running down the clock by taking very clean kills that leave no residual damage,and then taking 2 prizes out of nowhere when they are making a comeback, as well as a good part of the game's duration. This card is best played, when played smartly.
Why NOT Rainbow Energy and/or Smoochum: Unlike Gothitelle/Reuniclus, The Truth has a Pokemon that cannot be knocked out in one shot by Outrage under trainer lock, barring Special Conditions, Black Belt, and the like. What makes it worse is that Suicune Entei LEGEND is used alot against Typhlosion/Reshiram decks. Rainbow Energy to fuel Outrage is thus not a solution.
Unlike Gothitelle/Reuniclus, The Truth is capable of powering up killers with one energy drop, causing Smoochum to be ineffective. It is because powering up Gothitelle for its attack is typically a 2 turn affair does Smoochum have a role to play in disrupting the game. Now with Zekrom or even Donphan being charged instantly after one energy drop on the turn itself, putting Smoochum out there in the active spot to attack is akin to giving away a free prize, and wasting your deck space.
Unlike Gothitelle/Reuniclus, The Truth is capable of powering up killers with one energy drop, causing Smoochum to be ineffective. It is because powering up Gothitelle for its attack is typically a 2 turn affair does Smoochum have a role to play in disrupting the game. Now with Zekrom or even Donphan being charged instantly after one energy drop on the turn itself, putting Smoochum out there in the active spot to attack is akin to giving away a free prize, and wasting your deck space.
Conclusion
Till next time,
dɥɐитσɯ z
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