Blog Shunning Shaymin — An Intro to Competitive Play and Four Standard Decks Without Shaymin-EX

I managed to get a mint condition shaymin ex for a bent xerneas EX lmao.

I thought it'd be worth less since it has such low HP, but I guess I was wrong. Probably the best trade I've ever made.
 
hey man, trying to figure out how you got 220 for serperior's coil enhanced (60+) slashing strike (80) and bursting balloon (+60 = 200)?
 
Again, a great article and resource. I always like to see some stronger deck options that do not use Shaymin-EX!
 
davtico said:
hey man, trying to figure out how you got 220 for serperior's coil enhanced (60+) slashing strike (80) and bursting balloon (+60 = 200)?
Click to expand...
Lack of sleep. Honest mistake. It does do 200. Giovanni's Scheme can get you the extra 20.
 
I would say that Garchomp with talonflame is another option for budget just because it can function without Shaymin. But I would like to bring the biggest sin of shaymin is it forces rouge players to stick to strict specific formulas when testing which is disgusting in a game that should be all about making unique strategies, it is almost impossible to use anything stage 2 without in built turbo because hyper offensive shaymin will run you over, and anything powerful without turbo requires shaymin. I find it sad that shaymin is more expensive than mewtwo-ex and darkrai-ex when they were literally the undisputed top deck guess pokemon just couldn't think of a better way to get people to buy packs then "buy or be irrelevant, we will put the stuff you need outside of shaymin in the next set"
 
Garchomp/Talonflame is definitely a thing and is worth looking into.

In PCL's defense, it is hard to find ways to make most things viable. Stage 2 decks are typically not viable because Rare Candy was nerfed and most Stage 2 Pokemon don't do enough damage quickly enough to hold their own against Pokemon-EX. All the Shaymin in the world won't solve that problem.

The first step PCL should take in making them more viable is to let us go back to using Rare Candy on the first turn a Pokemon is in play. Next, they should have attacks or Abilities that are worth using. The Alpha Growth Swampert from Primal Clash is a great example of a good Stage 2. It has an amazing Ability, a passable attack, and the Ancient Trait makes it easy to power up. Yet it is never used because Pokemon-EX are still better and non-Grass Stage 2 decks are clunky as hell.

You could probably make it work with Talonflame. Thanks for the replies everyone :)
 
When Roaring Skies first came out, I pulled a Full Art Shaymin EX in an Elite Trainer Kit. I then bought 3 more full arts at 35 per copy. I also have 3 regular art on PTCGO.
 
lazyyak said:
Why is no-one talking about primal groudon in standard?
Click to expand...

Because it's awful. This is also outside the scope of the thread, so please start your own if you're interested in discussing it.
 
PMJ said:
Because it's awful. This is also outside the scope of the thread, so please start your own if you're interested in discussing it.
Click to expand...
Yes, this deck sucks so hard that i'm undefeated at my local league with it and i'm taking it to dortmund regionals
 
I managed to get 2 FA Shaymin from tcgplayer a couple months ago for $70 each, at the time the RA was actually $80 each so it made sense to go for the FA. Apparently they had more copies of the FA, it was less in demand at the time
 
1. Typhlosion - add Mew EX, it makes this a much more viable deck. Typhlosion's problem is that you can usually only get 2 or 3 Typhlosions powered up. Adding 1 more attacker actually almost puts this in the tier 2 category.

2. Yanmega Break / Vespiquen - Definitely a deck with good upside, esp. since Greninja is weak to it, and I think Greninja has a real good chance of being the BDIF (see below). I've only gone up against it twice this month, but I lost both matches.

3. Serperior - Sorry, but I only went 6-8 in testing with almost this exact same deck list. It's a fun deck to play and I've totally fallen in love with Servine, but it's just not a top tier deck.

4. Greninja - Definitely a top tier deck, could very well wind up being the BDIF. So Greninja is a real mystery to me. I completely wrote it off when I went 14-7 against it in the first month of the new rotation. However, after going 7-23 so far this month against it (1-14 in the last 15 matches), I have gone over to the Water Shuriken side and invested in my own deck, and I'm 7-1 in 8 matches since yesterday - which is still too early to make a definitive claim that this is BDIF, but it's definitely in the running.
 
21times said:
1. Typhlosion - add Mew EX, it makes this a much more viable deck. Typhlosion's problem is that you can usually only get 2 or 3 Typhlosions powered up. Adding 1 more attacker actually almost puts this in the tier 2 category.

2. Yanmega Break / Vespiquen - Definitely a deck with good upside, esp. since Greninja is weak to it, and I think Greninja has a real good chance of being the BDIF (see below). I've only gone up against it twice this month, but I lost both matches.

3. Serperior - Sorry, but I only went 6-8 in testing with almost this exact same deck list. It's a fun deck to play and I've totally fallen in love with Servine, but it's just not a top tier deck.

4. Greninja - Definitely a top tier deck, could very well wind up being the BDIF. So Greninja is a real mystery to me. I completely wrote it off when I went 14-7 against it in the first month of the new rotation. However, after going 7-23 so far this month against it (1-14 in the last 15 matches), I have gone over to the Water Shuriken side and invested in my own deck, and I'm 7-1 in 8 matches since yesterday - which is still too early to make a definitive claim that this is BDIF, but it's definitely in the running.
Click to expand...

Re: Typhlosion, getting 2 or 3 Typhlosion per game isn't that big a deal because you can usually get 2 kills per Typhlosion depending on how fast your opponent sets up. I do like the idea of Mew-EX.

I don't think Greninja has as bad a matchup against Yanmega/Vespiquen as you might think. They don't run Karen, but they do run Bursting Balloon which leaves Vespiquen open to Shadow Stitching KOs. Yanmega can't OHKO Greninja unless they have an item attached, which means eating a balloon every time you attack. Bad news.

If you're a subscriber, you should read up on Travis Nunlist's article: http://www.pokebeach.com/2016/10/the-creep-show He covers Serperior and he knows what he's talking about. I disagree with a few of his card choices, but he's the worlds-tier player, not me lol

Greninja is absolutely tier 1 and I love that it doesn't use Shaymin. It's definitely the exception to the rule, and that's why I wanted to cover it. Thanks for the reply.
 
A great partner for the Typhlosion Deck is also Steam Siege Infernape. Mill a ton of energies into the discard pile with Typhlosion, then sweep them back into the deck for 200 damage with Infernape's Flare Up. Lather, rinse, repeat. It works wonderfully!
 
I've never thought to try that, but I don't know how well it'd work. How many Infernape would you run? Even a 2-1-2 line takes away from your Energy pool by a substantial amount. Do you have a list?
 
PMJ said:
I've never thought to try that, but I don't know how well it'd work. How many Infernape would you run? Even a 2-1-2 line takes away from your Energy pool by a substantial amount. Do you have a list?
Click to expand...

Sure thing. I know it's a bit risky, but I run it without the Talonflame and 1 of the random receivers. This was the deck list I used for the Online Simulator.

Pokemon: 12

2 Chimchar STS 18
1 Monferno STS 19
2 Infernape STS 20
3 Cyndaquil BKT 18
1 Quilava BKT 19
3 Typhlosion BKT 20

Trainers: 20

1 Energy Recycler
2 Lysandre
4 N
2 Professor Sycamore
2 Random Receiver
3 Rare Candy
2 Skyla
4 Ultra Ball

Energy: 28

28 Fire Energy

Infernape acts as as two energy recyclers late in the game when the discard pile is full of energy, so it can fire off 1 or 2 Flare Ups for 200 damage each, and restore the deck for another Typhlosion to power up Massive Eruption for a few more moves. I won my first 5 battles in a row with this version of the deck on the simulator. Hope this helps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top