You're right, Focus Sash Isn't a necessity, Although playing 2 of them can be nice to get a 2HKO with Hawlucha. This rarely happens though. Pokémon with fighting weakness like Manectric EX/Mega Manectric could be a 2HKO. But they have a bad match-up anyway.
You might have problem with retreating your Pokémon. Playing only Escape Ropes can be a nuisance. Why? because your opponent chooses which of his Pokémon becomes It's active, also 2 is not sufficient. If an uncharged Machamp is forced to the active spot by a lysandre. It might be stuck for a while and you lose precious time.
Here's a suggestion, I know you already play a lot of tool cards but this one is important:
Float Stone got a reprint, it's great because you will have free retreat costs for the rest of the game. (Well except if your opponent plays a Startling Megaphone or Xerosic) Attach Float Stone to the right Pokémon and switch/Escape Rope become almost unnecessary. Thought I would recommend playing an additional Switch just in case.
Head Ringer is great, but not efficient all around, Some popular Non EX decks like Vespiqueen, Raichu and Regice rely on Double Colorless Energy. Sadly you can only attach Head Ringer to EX Pokémon. that's why many people prefer Enhanced Hammer.
Silent Lab is good, but this deck has better stadiums to play, Fighting Stadium to increase damage output and Scorching Earth for draw power and to get Fighting Energies in the discard pile. I recommend playing a combination of them. 3-2 or 2-3
I hope this helps.
Yes, I bought some Float Stones with the intention of putting in around 2 of them, but ended up just playing the 4 Muscle Bands. It is definitely good for Machamp's high retreat cost, or even just on Ariados/Landorus if I haven't gotten Hawlucha out to pivot. Will definitely put 2 in now to try it out, probably by dropping a Muscle Band and an Escape Rope.
Originally, I was going to play 2 Fighting Stadium and 3 Scorched Earth, but decided to try and get Landorus going as consistently as possible, hence 4 Scorched Earth and 2 Professor's Letter. I will try out the Fighting Stadiums.
Thank you for your response!
Welcome back.
I too have been running a Machamp-Ariados deck for awhile now; it is quite competitive. Following are some comments for your consideration:
First of all, I concur with @Robin Aisaga comments in that I have not found Focus Sash to be that "critical" vs. other cards; Silent Lab can be amazing when you drop it at a critical time to disrupt your opponent; Head Ringers can be really annoying, but can also be countered and not of much help against certain top decks.
Although it has the same Weakness as Machamp EX, Lucario EX has been a real asset to my deck.
Without running DCEs in my deck, I do not run more than 1 Shaymin EX - I have not found a good enough reason to replace my current card-drawing engine with a 2nd Shaymin EX and these become more of a liability as the game progresses.
When Korrina first was released, I ran 4 in my deck at the time. I soon found from that experience that since Korrina is a Supporter, it started "clogging" my normal card-drawing engine. I'd suggest not running more than 1, increase your Ultra Ball count (which also helps with getting energy into your discard pile for Landorus' Shout of Power attack, and increase your Supporter card-drawing engine (which can't be Item-locked) nor disrupted should your opponent replaces Scorched Earth (and you don't have immediate access to another one).
Instead of Scorched Earth, I run Fighting Stadium in order to get the extra damage output boost on opponents' EX Pokémon - which is HUGE in certain match-ups.
Following are some suggested deck changes for your consideration:
-1 Shaymin EX
-3 Korrina
-2 Escape Rope - not critical, plus room is needed for higher priority cards - IMO
-1 Professor's Letter - 1 is sufficient, IMO
-1 Super Scoop Up - only 50% chance of success
-4 Scorched Earth
+1 Lucario EX
+1 Ultra Ball
+4 Professor Birch's Observation - Supporter-based card-draw
+1 Giovanni's Scheme - Supporter-based card-draw / extra damage output boost
+1 AZ - Pokémon recovery (especially Shaymin EX which you coud then replay)
+4 Fighting Stadium
Other considerations:
Battle Compressor - can be used as an alternate means to "dump" energy and Supporters
Trainer's Mail - helps to search for needed Trainer
I hope you find these comments helpful.
I have seen other people run 1-2 Lucario, and I honestly like the idea. However, I really don't like the additional weakness to Psychic. I will still take it into consideration, though. I need to buy one.
I considered initially using only 1 Shaymin EX, however, after playing a few games and seeing one prized frequently, it made me completely rethink the idea. Yes, the 2nd one is usually useless and/or much riskier to play, but you can just Sycamore it away. Playing 2 if you have them is never bad, in my opinion.
I have experienced Korrina clogging sometimes. After the first one or two, you no longer really need Pokemon, but it is still great to search for specific items (unless you are item locked, of course). I have never considered dropping it to a single copy, though. I don't think I can agree with that. I also don't feel like I need to be adding more Supporter cards; I think 15 is too many in this deck.
Removing Scorched Earth completely isn't so bad, but I would definitely need to be playing some number of Battle Compressors to make up for the Energy ditch. I was initially using 1 AZ over the Scoop Up but I dislike the fact that he trashes everything attached to the Pokemon. I've always wanted to put in a 3rd Ultra Ball so I will try to figure out how to get that in..
Thank you for your response!
Pokemon 15
1X Lucario EX
3X machamp ex
3X landorus
2x Ariados
2X Spinarak
2X hawlucha (Furious Fists)
2X shaymin ex
Trainers 34
4X sycamore
4X Korrina
2X Lysandre
2X birch's Observation
1X Ace Trainer
1x hex maniac
3x VS Seeker
3X Trainer Mail
2X Professor letter
2X Level ball
2X Ultra Ball
2X Switch
2X Focus Sash
2X Exp. Share
2X Fighting Stadium
Energy 11
7X fighting Energy
4X Strong Energy
I was playing this list and i think that the Exp.Share is very useful in this deck!
Just to pass over your precious energy if a pokèmon dies!
I prefer Judge to Ace Trainer big time. I don't really feel like so many Trainer's Mail are needed with Korrina there to give you whatever item you want. EXP Share is a pretty good idea; I will pick some up to try it out. Playing 4-5 Stadium if you can is pretty standard nowadays so you don't lose the Stadium war.
Thank you for your response!
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