In regards to the discussion for techs for the Sceptile match-up: don't bother. You know how some decks just have those auto loss match-ups, but better than evens chance in all other areas? This is the case here. If Sceptile is a problem in the meta, and running rampant, Greninja is just a bad deck choice, you need a deck capable of OHKOing, otherwise you get nowhere, as the Sceptile player can just heal cycle all day, and Glaceon and Regice to nothing to stop that. And with Pokemon Ranger in the format, they just drop that and away they go.
The other problem with Regice and Glaceon is their energy costs, both for attacking and retreating are far too high for this deck, without giving more spaces to them, in the shape of Float Stone and Max Elixir. Playing Elixir with less than 10 energy makes it too likely to fail, so you need to up energy count (I'm playing 8 right now). So, for even a 1 Regice and 1 Glaceon, adding 2 Float Stone, 3 Elixir and 2 Energy means 9 slots have gone to some 'tech choices'. Nope, not worth it.
As for Talonflame, its a really interesting solution to the mulligan problem the deck obviously has, and the ability to search for 2 cards means the deck gets a whole load more consistent, those two cards can easily set up multiple breaks a few turns earlier. I've seen discussion of running 4 Talonflame, dropping Jirachi, 1 Froakie and something else. Seeing as we lose Hard Charm and Muscle Band anyway, as well as Xerosic and Startling Megaphone, plenty of spaces open up.
And finally, on the topic of those tools that rotate, I've been testing Bursting Balloon more and more. It is fantastic. If they attack, its basically a free GWS, and that makes KOs much better. If they don't, you get another turn of setup, which can make a huge difference. And with Xerosic and Megaphone out, an extra Lysandre (I'm at 2 now) makes grabbing the Garbodor a little easier.
The other problem with Regice and Glaceon is their energy costs, both for attacking and retreating are far too high for this deck, without giving more spaces to them, in the shape of Float Stone and Max Elixir. Playing Elixir with less than 10 energy makes it too likely to fail, so you need to up energy count (I'm playing 8 right now). So, for even a 1 Regice and 1 Glaceon, adding 2 Float Stone, 3 Elixir and 2 Energy means 9 slots have gone to some 'tech choices'. Nope, not worth it.
As for Talonflame, its a really interesting solution to the mulligan problem the deck obviously has, and the ability to search for 2 cards means the deck gets a whole load more consistent, those two cards can easily set up multiple breaks a few turns earlier. I've seen discussion of running 4 Talonflame, dropping Jirachi, 1 Froakie and something else. Seeing as we lose Hard Charm and Muscle Band anyway, as well as Xerosic and Startling Megaphone, plenty of spaces open up.
And finally, on the topic of those tools that rotate, I've been testing Bursting Balloon more and more. It is fantastic. If they attack, its basically a free GWS, and that makes KOs much better. If they don't, you get another turn of setup, which can make a huge difference. And with Xerosic and Megaphone out, an extra Lysandre (I'm at 2 now) makes grabbing the Garbodor a little easier.
