Long story short, this is the deck I evolved to over 1000 games on PTCGO. I didn't want to adopt a meta deck, so started with the water cards I had and kept tweaking. I originally had Keldeo in as the main attacker, but it's better suited as a #2 and eventually found that Malamar fit the deck perfectly since it requires only one DE and, as importantly, the sleep ability frequently disrupts my opponent early in the game.
After adding Shaymin and Tapu Lele the win percentage vs high level decks was pretty consistently in the 60-63% range. Once it got into the range where my opponents were using all FA/SR card meta decks it would go on a short losing streak (or, worse, win a few games and then go on a longer losing streak) and get bumped back down -- but it was better than the decks in that lower range, so would climb again. Rinse/repeat.
The overall idea of the deck is to use Malamar to disrupt and, ideally, from T3 on to scale damage on Malamar using trick coins to help with consistency. Pre Shaymin/Tapu Lele the deck was very vulnerable to fast setup decks, but those cards helped a lot. While it might struggle in the early part of games, the Blastoise/Superior ERT combo makes it very tough late. It's a great deck for coming from behind and I won a ton of games by taking the last five or six prizes. It's also a deck that required a lot of ad hoc decision-making, which I like.
Anyhow, the writing is on the wall in the GX era. The win % is under 60% for recent games and more and more it just feels outclassed. I suspect it will dip below 50% soonish.
I'd like to know if anyone sees a way to incorporate new cards to make it almost competitive again, or if I'll have to retire it.
##Pokémon
* 3 Malamar-EX PHF 58
* 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 1 Keldeo-EX BCR 49
* 2 Remoraid BKT 32
* 2 Octillery BKT 33
* 2 Squirtle BCR 29
* 1 Wartortle BCR 30
* 2 Blastoise BCR 31
##Trainer Cards
One-off Supporters:
* 1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
* 1 Karen PR-XY XY177
* 1 Lysandre FLF 90
* 1 Mallow GRI 127
* 1 N FAC 105
* 1 Wally ROS 94
Search:
* 2 Professor Birch's Observations PRC 134
* 2 Skyla BKT 148
* 4 Ultra Ball FAC 113
* 4 Dive Ball PRC 125
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Misc Item:
* 1 Town Map BKT 150
* 1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
* 1 Field Blower GRI 125
* 1 Scoop Up Cyclone PLB 95
* 1 Rare Candy PRC 135
Energy Items:
* 2 Professor's Letter XY 123
* 2 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103
Tool:
* 2 Trick Coin PHF 108
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
Stadium:
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
##Energy
* 7 Water Energy Energy
* 2 Darkness Energy Energy
After adding Shaymin and Tapu Lele the win percentage vs high level decks was pretty consistently in the 60-63% range. Once it got into the range where my opponents were using all FA/SR card meta decks it would go on a short losing streak (or, worse, win a few games and then go on a longer losing streak) and get bumped back down -- but it was better than the decks in that lower range, so would climb again. Rinse/repeat.
The overall idea of the deck is to use Malamar to disrupt and, ideally, from T3 on to scale damage on Malamar using trick coins to help with consistency. Pre Shaymin/Tapu Lele the deck was very vulnerable to fast setup decks, but those cards helped a lot. While it might struggle in the early part of games, the Blastoise/Superior ERT combo makes it very tough late. It's a great deck for coming from behind and I won a ton of games by taking the last five or six prizes. It's also a deck that required a lot of ad hoc decision-making, which I like.
Anyhow, the writing is on the wall in the GX era. The win % is under 60% for recent games and more and more it just feels outclassed. I suspect it will dip below 50% soonish.
I'd like to know if anyone sees a way to incorporate new cards to make it almost competitive again, or if I'll have to retire it.
##Pokémon
* 3 Malamar-EX PHF 58
* 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 1 Keldeo-EX BCR 49
* 2 Remoraid BKT 32
* 2 Octillery BKT 33
* 2 Squirtle BCR 29
* 1 Wartortle BCR 30
* 2 Blastoise BCR 31
##Trainer Cards
One-off Supporters:
* 1 Hex Maniac AOR 75
* 1 Karen PR-XY XY177
* 1 Lysandre FLF 90
* 1 Mallow GRI 127
* 1 N FAC 105
* 1 Wally ROS 94
Search:
* 2 Professor Birch's Observations PRC 134
* 2 Skyla BKT 148
* 4 Ultra Ball FAC 113
* 4 Dive Ball PRC 125
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
Misc Item:
* 1 Town Map BKT 150
* 1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
* 1 Field Blower GRI 125
* 1 Scoop Up Cyclone PLB 95
* 1 Rare Candy PRC 135
Energy Items:
* 2 Professor's Letter XY 123
* 2 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103
Tool:
* 2 Trick Coin PHF 108
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
Stadium:
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
##Energy
* 7 Water Energy Energy
* 2 Darkness Energy Energy
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