I agree with you that the deck has some shortcomings with some of the combinations that you can draw but most of the decks in standard are at least a little clunky. Kevin Baxter wrote an article on another website that goes into his strategy of how to best play this deck. He also went into the details of what sequence to play your various item cards and what to battle compressor depending on the matchup. The power of the deck is the versatility against most of the meta decks.. For example, Against Manectric, you will likely need to get out Gallade (twice) and try not to to bench Yveltal EX until the end of the game for a final knockout, vs. Night March you must focus on using Baby Yveltal and Zoroark with Gallade to draw what you need and will need super rod to win; try not to bench or discard EX's including Shaymin since most NM decks play target whistle and puzzle of time. There is space in the deck to include cards that help you in whatever match ups you expect to see most but agree with you that Max Elixir is not a good card for this deck. If you are having a tough time getting out Gallade when you really need to, recommend testing 1 copy of Unown and 3-4 copies of Puzzle of time to help consistency and flexibility.
Yveltal-EX Variants
- Thread starter Asclepius24
- Start date
1. Discard your Gallade. You may discard Maxie's if you have a VS Seeker in hand to use when it is the only card left in hand. After the discard...
2. Use items(or pokemon that allow you to discard from hand)to discard your hand until you have 1 card left in hand, then provided the last card is Maxie's...
3. use Maxie's to scoop that gallade out of discard, and onto bench...
^ Due to the last card in hand stipulation, you might as well forget gallade if you are faced up against a Trevenant XY that can possibly lock your capability to use items on Turn 1, because if that's the case, if you want gallade out, you're forced to either rely on abilities(Ninjask's Wind Buzz, Greninja's Water Shuriken. etc.) or Lysandre the Trevenant back to bench to get around the lock, let alone break the lock, and get Maxie's either in the current turn, or the next, depending on whether or not you had to Lysandre, anyway(which could ruin this deck's consistency due to room issues for more pokemon slots to help you out in the event of item lock), because you can only use 1 supporter a turn, and since item lock means you can't use tools, pulling off the Maxie's and the Gallade skip while under such an effect is almost impossible unless you get lucky on top deck Maxie's on turn, or if you couldn't, use Lysandre right away to chase Trevenant and lock out of active hoping that the poke Lysandre'd into active doesn't retreat back, and if neither occurs, this deck auto loses...
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^ Due to the last card in hand stipulation, you might as well forget gallade if you are faced up against a Trevenant XY that can possibly lock your capability to use items on Turn 1, because if that's the case, if you want gallade out, you're forced to either rely on abilities(Ninjask's Wind Buzz, Greninja's Water Shuriken. etc.) or Lysandre the Trevenant back to bench to get around the lock, let alone break the lock, and get Maxie's either in the current turn, or the next, depending on whether or not you had to Lysandre, anyway(which could ruin this deck's consistency due to room issues for more pokemon slots to help you out in the event of item lock), because you can only use 1 supporter a turn, and since item lock means you can't use tools, pulling off the Maxie's and the Gallade skip while under such an effect is almost impossible unless you get lucky on top deck Maxie's on turn, or if you couldn't, use Lysandre right away to chase Trevenant and lock out of active hoping that the poke Lysandre'd into active doesn't retreat back, and if neither occurs, this deck auto loses...
This deck definitely will not auto lose to trevenant. It's dark type, which is trevenants weakness. You can hit him even with a baby yveltal for 60, which means 2 turn, if break, 3 turn knock out. And if you manage to get some energies on to a yveltal-ex on the bench you mostly won the game.
Actually, if went against Jolteon/ Vileplume, that's an autoloss. Basically any Vileplume deck is an autoloss, but if you play the deck right, you can usually get around it, especially if you play Hex Maniac. But Joltyplume is about a 95-5 matchup against us. Now that I really think about it, Shadow Circle would be a decent stadium choice, since Jolteon and Joltik(With FFB) are problems. At least this way, you survive a turn or 2 more, possibly even for game.
Has anyone playtested with Darkrai yet? I like the Max Elixirs and Darkrai for backup, though it can get klunky time to time.
I find the trevanant matchup, despite yveltal being super effective, difficult. because if you don't start with baby-yveltal it is hard to get out, due to the inability to use ultra ball, thus I would add 1 zoroark break, so I can use tree slam or silent fear on my opponents bench.
I haven't tested Darkrai in Standard Yveltal but am currently testing as a one of in Expanded in Yveltal Maxie's. I find it is useful in matchups against lightning types but is otherwise an inferior attacker to Yveltal EX and only use it for its first attack. In Standard, I think beating Night March is the priority and don't see Darkrai helping in that matchup... Better off adding another baby Yveltal or Zoroark line instead.
I'm planning to tech one BKT in Expanded, with Dark Patch available I run more Dark and less DCE, which makes Dark Pulse more useful. In standard, without Dark Patch, YZG isn't running enough Dark to make Darkrai EX good
Well, the thing about that is that people( Including me) use it primarily for non-EXs. Having FFB, it has enough output and HP to take down non-EX decks, though mostly Night March. My list is weird, but it works, only playing 1-1 Zoroark and 1-1 Maxie Gallade. And I do have OHKO potential with it.
Baby Yveltal doesn't do anything to NM, and FFB Darkrai does a great job. And in expanded, you can use it's second attack as OHKO potential if you use lasers, which most people do.
Reminder to everyone that this thread is for Standard Yveltal-EX variants. What works in Expanded is relevant only as far as it frames thinking about Standard lists. If you'd like to discuss Expanded Yveltal more, please use that thread
I've been playing this list:
Pokémon - 17
2 Shaymin-EX ROS 106
1 Yveltal BKT 94
1 Yveltal GEN 116
2 Yveltal XY 78
2 Yveltal-EX PR-XY XY08
2 Zoroark BREAK BKT 92
3 Zorua BKT 89
2 Zoroark BKT 91
1 Gallade BKT 84
1 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20
Trainer Cards - 31
1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
1 Lysandre FLF 90
3 Acro Bike PRC 122
1 Startling Megaphone FLF 97
3 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
2 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
3 Reverse Valley BKP 110
1 Judge BKT 143
1 Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick PRC 133
2 Float Stone BKT 137
4 Ultra Ball ROS 93
4 Professor Sycamore XY 122
1 Muscle Band XY 121
4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Energy - 12
8 Darkness Energy GEN 81
4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
I think if I had another Zoroark I would run 3-3-2, its amazing in so many matchups. I've had trouble recently with m alakazam bats and vileplume serperior. If I can start any mega deck with fright night yveltal in the active spot I have a much better chance, they are forced to lose a turn or delay their strategy while I can get better setup. I've considered wally because landing a foul play or even a big mind jack at the right time can be game changing. Even chaining hex maniacs against vileplume it ends up coming down to luck of the draw, but if they draw well and win the coin flip its an uphill battle for sure.
Some games if I don't get a draw supporter or Shaymin-Ex in the first few turns it can be a little too slow.
Pokémon - 17
2 Shaymin-EX ROS 106
1 Yveltal BKT 94
1 Yveltal GEN 116
2 Yveltal XY 78
2 Yveltal-EX PR-XY XY08
2 Zoroark BREAK BKT 92
3 Zorua BKT 89
2 Zoroark BKT 91
1 Gallade BKT 84
1 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20
Trainer Cards - 31
1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
1 Lysandre FLF 90
3 Acro Bike PRC 122
1 Startling Megaphone FLF 97
3 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
2 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
3 Reverse Valley BKP 110
1 Judge BKT 143
1 Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick PRC 133
2 Float Stone BKT 137
4 Ultra Ball ROS 93
4 Professor Sycamore XY 122
1 Muscle Band XY 121
4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Energy - 12
8 Darkness Energy GEN 81
4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
I think if I had another Zoroark I would run 3-3-2, its amazing in so many matchups. I've had trouble recently with m alakazam bats and vileplume serperior. If I can start any mega deck with fright night yveltal in the active spot I have a much better chance, they are forced to lose a turn or delay their strategy while I can get better setup. I've considered wally because landing a foul play or even a big mind jack at the right time can be game changing. Even chaining hex maniacs against vileplume it ends up coming down to luck of the draw, but if they draw well and win the coin flip its an uphill battle for sure.
Some games if I don't get a draw supporter or Shaymin-Ex in the first few turns it can be a little too slow.
Any copies of birch or judge are now automatically N. Also if you like zoroark so much, try a 4-4-2 line like Azul Garcia griego's.
I've found acro bike to hold back some decks. The wasted resources often come into play.
IMO, not necessarily. If your deck helps you to maintain a lead in the prize count (i.e., you're winning), then playing an N can sometimes hurt more than help you. I now run2 N, but also run 1 Professor Birch just for card-draw diversity.
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You make a strong case. I will take that thought into consideration.
I ran an adjusted list this past weekend and did well, but mega manectric still took me out. I really couldn't feel too bad about it because I lost the coin flip and then had bad luck with prizes. My best chance would have been to try for a 1st or 2nd turn maxxie's -> gallade but I didn't think I had the hand for it.
This is the list I ran:
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
Pokémon - 18
2 Shaymin-EX ROS 106
1 Yveltal BKT 94
1 Yveltal GEN 116
2 Yveltal XY 78
2 Yveltal-EX PR-XY XY08
2 Zoroark BREAK BKT 92
3 Zorua BKT 89
3 Zoroark BKT 91
1 Gallade BKT 84
1 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20
Trainer Cards - 30
1 Lysandre FLF 90
1 Acro Bike PRC 122
1 Startling Megaphone FLF 97
4 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
2 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
1 Reverse Valley BKP 110
1 Shadow Circle
2 N FAC 105
1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
1 Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick PRC 133
1 Float Stone BKT 137
4 Ultra Ball ROS 93
4 Professor Sycamore XY 122
2 Muscle Band XY 121
4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Energy - 12
8 Darkness Energy GEN 81
4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
Total Cards - 60
3-3-2 Zoroark seems much better than 3-2-2 which seems better than 2-2-2, which seems better than 2-2-1. The seismitoad doesn't really seem to work well for me; I always feel like unless I can drop it t1 they already have played out enough to make it not worthwhile. I don't normally run the Shadow Circle stadium, (don't use it on PTCGO) but I ran it to help with the mega man matchup. It helped for a turn but I find that stadiums that do stuff during your opponents turn are usually worthless (your opponent can just play a stadium to negate it), while ones that are effective during your turn end up being more useful. Startling megaphone is usually very helpful unless you start with it (another maxxie's block if you do...)
I know it seems like I run a lot of energy, but 11 seems light when I play online I will get stuck with no dark energy when I need it, but at 12 I have a harder time playing out maxxie's (2 energy in hand). I just recently got a couple of Darkrai EX BKP to try out, but I think next week I may run something different.
I wonder where things are going if a version that more consistently gets out Gallade would be better... I've seen lists that run 2 maxxie's and 2 gallade, but 4 cards seems like a lot. Yveltal BKP is also quite good, but then you either run 1 and never see it or if you run 2 then its harder to start with Yveltal XY. Somebody suggested I run AZ for shaymin-ex or to deny prize cards, but its another supporter that isn't great to start off with. In my meta hex maniac seems worthless but on PTCGO it seems necessary.
Thanks for the comments guys, I may try a 4-4-2 zoroark online and see how that does, the 2 Break are a little too much for the 3-3 line, but it can be so beastly when it works. On the same end there will be a resurgence of fight type decks and trying to build Zoroark or leaving one up on the board to get one shot after is tough (3-4 cards lost likely including a DCE). I have found that the acro bike is good, but I do sometimes run low on cards in longer matches (some if it is from over-sycamoring or battle compressing chaff). Trainer's mail is tough for me to run because I am more stranded when item locked and I've whiffed on it enough times to not like it in this deck. N is good but there are times when I wish I could judge (such as earlier in the game or vs certain decks that build their hand). N did me well when I was behind in the mega man game but not well enough to get me back into that game (he was pretty lucky, had gone first, and I was stuck with lightning weakness pokemon). The rest of the time I was helping my opponent as much as myself...
This is the list I ran:
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
Pokémon - 18
2 Shaymin-EX ROS 106
1 Yveltal BKT 94
1 Yveltal GEN 116
2 Yveltal XY 78
2 Yveltal-EX PR-XY XY08
2 Zoroark BREAK BKT 92
3 Zorua BKT 89
3 Zoroark BKT 91
1 Gallade BKT 84
1 Seismitoad-EX FFI 20
Trainer Cards - 30
1 Lysandre FLF 90
1 Acro Bike PRC 122
1 Startling Megaphone FLF 97
4 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
2 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
1 Reverse Valley BKP 110
1 Shadow Circle
2 N FAC 105
1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
1 Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick PRC 133
1 Float Stone BKT 137
4 Ultra Ball ROS 93
4 Professor Sycamore XY 122
2 Muscle Band XY 121
4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Energy - 12
8 Darkness Energy GEN 81
4 Double Colorless Energy NXD 92
Total Cards - 60
3-3-2 Zoroark seems much better than 3-2-2 which seems better than 2-2-2, which seems better than 2-2-1. The seismitoad doesn't really seem to work well for me; I always feel like unless I can drop it t1 they already have played out enough to make it not worthwhile. I don't normally run the Shadow Circle stadium, (don't use it on PTCGO) but I ran it to help with the mega man matchup. It helped for a turn but I find that stadiums that do stuff during your opponents turn are usually worthless (your opponent can just play a stadium to negate it), while ones that are effective during your turn end up being more useful. Startling megaphone is usually very helpful unless you start with it (another maxxie's block if you do...)
I know it seems like I run a lot of energy, but 11 seems light when I play online I will get stuck with no dark energy when I need it, but at 12 I have a harder time playing out maxxie's (2 energy in hand). I just recently got a couple of Darkrai EX BKP to try out, but I think next week I may run something different.
I wonder where things are going if a version that more consistently gets out Gallade would be better... I've seen lists that run 2 maxxie's and 2 gallade, but 4 cards seems like a lot. Yveltal BKP is also quite good, but then you either run 1 and never see it or if you run 2 then its harder to start with Yveltal XY. Somebody suggested I run AZ for shaymin-ex or to deny prize cards, but its another supporter that isn't great to start off with. In my meta hex maniac seems worthless but on PTCGO it seems necessary.
Thanks for the comments guys, I may try a 4-4-2 zoroark online and see how that does, the 2 Break are a little too much for the 3-3 line, but it can be so beastly when it works. On the same end there will be a resurgence of fight type decks and trying to build Zoroark or leaving one up on the board to get one shot after is tough (3-4 cards lost likely including a DCE). I have found that the acro bike is good, but I do sometimes run low on cards in longer matches (some if it is from over-sycamoring or battle compressing chaff). Trainer's mail is tough for me to run because I am more stranded when item locked and I've whiffed on it enough times to not like it in this deck. N is good but there are times when I wish I could judge (such as earlier in the game or vs certain decks that build their hand). N did me well when I was behind in the mega man game but not well enough to get me back into that game (he was pretty lucky, had gone first, and I was stuck with lightning weakness pokemon). The rest of the time I was helping my opponent as much as myself...
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