Help Investing in Leles

AlphaVoxel

Definitely still in development...
Forum Mod
Member
Hey Pokebeach!

I've been doing a bit of thinking lately regarding playing competitively, and the cost of doing so. I've been looking into purchasing at least 1 Lele, as I am trying to adapt a deck to post-rotation Standard. However, given the current cost of Leles at the moment (around $25-30ish), as well as tuition being a very big thing, I am trying to evaluate whether or not I can still get by with purchasing only one, and running only one in a deck. I am very aware that running only one kind of hurts consistency, but it's better than nothing (and I can't exactly use Jirachi/Shaymin in Standard). So, what do you guys think? Can you get away with running only 1 Lele? If so, what is the best way to do it? If not, why?

If y'all can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Alpha
 

CrownAxe

Aspiring Trainer
Member
The issue with running a single Lele is it's less likely to be accessible when you need it as you have a notable chance at prizing it (~10%) or it not being not being in your deck later in the game when you would want to go search for a key supporter

So it really comes down to the deck. Decks that want a strong opening supporter like with Brigette or Steven's Resolve will feel the lack of Lele much more then other decks. Just as decks that inherently have consistency issues will want Lele to more consitently draw cards to keep the deck going. Ultimately you're going to have to utilize a deck that is more self sufficient in consistency to reduce the need for running multiple Leles.
 

Lord Goomy

Got Goomies?
Member
Hey Pokebeach!

I've been doing a bit of thinking lately regarding playing competitively, and the cost of doing so. I've been looking into purchasing at least 1 Lele, as I am trying to adapt a deck to post-rotation Standard. However, given the current cost of Leles at the moment (around $25-30ish), as well as tuition being a very big thing, I am trying to evaluate whether or not I can still get by with purchasing only one, and running only one in a deck. I am very aware that running only one kind of hurts consistency, but it's better than nothing (and I can't exactly use Jirachi/Shaymin in Standard). So, what do you guys think? Can you get away with running only 1 Lele? If so, what is the best way to do it? If not, why?

If y'all can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
-Alpha
A: Heck yeah you can. You could pull off a “Look Mom, no Leles!” with only delayed efficiency.
To pull of a 1 Lele-r, you need an Acro-Retrieval deck style. Simple. Use furious speed to set up, and play high amounts of the same card so if one gets discarded, it won’t matter in the long run.
If you do so, you gotta play Acro Bike, Timer and Nest Ball, a LOT of Volkner, and perhaps Rotom Dex Poké Finder Mode as well.
That’s what I think. See ya!
 

F4H_Jay

Aspiring Trainer
Advanced Member
Member
I would just invest in lele's, the prices will probaly dip a little lower and i don't see them being any cheaper then they are. They'll only raise in price.
 

AuraJackle

Aspiring Trainer
Member
It's quite simple if you want to play seriously for the next year and quite possibly 2 if the lele in the box is a promo number you should get a hold of 2 leles. If you purely want to play at the casual level and dont care that you are not playing at optimum capacity then dont get them but dont complain when your opponent is willing to put more money down on a hobby your limits are self imposed even if you need to go to college its easy to find a way to save 50 dollars
 

jessalakasam

Floette is love Floette is life
Member
Hate to break it to you but 2-3 Lele are almost a necessity. The only deck that can get away with 1 Lele is really Stakataka/Naganadel. So if you want to stick with that deck for a year, go ahead :p
 

MiniMads

The misunderstood Hero of Disasters
Member
I would just invest in lele's, the prices will probaly dip a little lower and i don't see them being any cheaper then they are. They'll only raise in price.
Lele is coming out as a Box Promo so I see it being at most a $15 card after that.
 

OppositeAttract

Aspiring Trainer
Member
As someone who bought a Lele a few months ago well before the box came out, the cost really isn't that high. If you think it's maybe its worth waiting till the Lele box drops and then pick up 2 then. Either way, most decks that are in the meta utilize 2 Lele's, not sure how that will change post rotation (if anything it could see an increase in use do to the immediate loss of staples like N/Sycamore) so it probably would be best to pick up 2.
 

TorchHG

Aspiring Trainer
Member
To succinctly answer the question, you certainly can run a deck with only 1 Lele. Now, there are a few caveats:

You will be limited to decks you play. There are only a few decks that will run 1 or 0 Leles and function well, and that is due to the number of supporters they run and not needing instant access to them. Some of these decks are focused on 1-prize attackers, and some decks are less focused on combos to setup and function. Essentially, you will have to base your deck on what current metagame functions well without, which sometimes may be more expensive to get cards for (looking at you Buzzwole GX and Rayquaza GX).

Honestly, the 10% prizing of Lele only really hurts if your deck relies on certain supporter setup strategies, but sometimes you can innovate by running really aggressive setup strategies. The main example of this is when Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu decks sometimes ran Lillie and Nest Ball with more priority on drawing more cards to setup. This is more dependent on what cards are available to draw more cards or certain cards from your deck.

To follow on the last statement, it is Pokémon’s best interest to create cards that make the metagame quicker, and so it is inevitable we will get cards outside of Tapu Lele and standard supporter cards that will help speed up the metagame.
 

AlphaVoxel

Definitely still in development...
Forum Mod
Member
After looking over the above posts, I suppose I can say the general consensus is that 2 Leles are pretty much necessary for most decks to work well in the current format, which I suppose makes sense. I think I have decided that, at this point, investing in 2 Leles is probably the best course of action for now, though probably not at once. These will most likely be used solely for Standard, as I have access to 2 Jirachi and 2 Shaymin to use in Expanded. Thanks so much for the input!

I should note that the deck(s) I have been playing have seemed to work out relatively fine with only 1 Jirachi thus far, though it does get a bit annoying. I hope that having the 2 Leles will make things go a bit more smoothly.
 

GamePhoenix

Fellow Mortal
Member
After looking over the above posts, I suppose I can say the general consensus is that 2 Leles are pretty much necessary for most decks to work well in the current format, which I suppose makes sense. I think I have decided that, at this point, investing in 2 Leles is probably the best course of action for now, though probably not at once. These will most likely be used solely for Standard, as I have access to 2 Jirachi and 2 Shaymin to use in Expanded. Thanks so much for the input!

I should note that the deck(s) I have been playing have seemed to work out relatively fine with only 1 Jirachi thus far, though it does get a bit annoying. I hope that having the 2 Leles will make things go a bit more smoothly.
Lele is much better than Jirachi in Expanded.
 

Lord Goomy

Got Goomies?
Member
After looking over the above posts, I suppose I can say the general consensus is that 2 Leles are pretty much necessary for most decks to work well in the current format, which I suppose makes sense. I think I have decided that, at this point, investing in 2 Leles is probably the best course of action for now, though probably not at once. These will most likely be used solely for Standard, as I have access to 2 Jirachi and 2 Shaymin to use in Expanded. Thanks so much for the input!

I should note that the deck(s) I have been playing have seemed to work out relatively fine with only 1 Jirachi thus far, though it does get a bit annoying. I hope that having the 2 Leles will make things go a bit more smoothly.
Might I remind everyone that the format you speak of changes tomorrow.
 
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