Hello everyone. Most of you know me as Asmer, your friendly suggestion fiend and the creator of the Houndoom Discussion Thread. Typically, I do not like sharing my ideas because I personally like keeping them to myself (and I usually create a bazillion of them, which does not help this case at all!), but I felt that I would share this idea with you all because I find it both surprisingly powerful as well as budget-friendly. Today, I will be presenting a fun deck variant of my favorite Basic Pokemon, Miltank FLF, used in tandem with the brand new powerhouse Stage 2 from Fates Collide (which I have labeled FSC for now), Serperior.
Keep in mind: This list is for Post Fates Collide. That said...
Pokémon: 16
Now, in case you do not know what any of the Serperior Line does... I will highlight the main points of why we will be using them (and Serperior's attacks). If you want to see the full card, there are plenty of scans now available.
To paraphrase:
Servine has a nice ability that allows you to potentially Paralyze your opponent's Active Pokemon on Evolution. You must flip a coin for this ability, but considering Forest of Giant Plants allows you to immediately evolve in to Serperior afterwards, this is a great benefit.
Serperior is actually quite the powerhouse if he is able to set up on a non-threatening Pokemon. He has two attacks, both which cost only 1 Energy (First is a Colorless and the other is a Grass), meaning he is extremely energy efficient (much like Miltank). His first attack, Coil, does 40 Damage, but during your next turn, Any of Serperior's attacks will do 60 more damage! This is a HUGE benefit, much like that of Haxorus BKT. Serperior's second attack, Slashing Strike, is your bread winner in a lot of ways, doing a whopping 80 damage for one energy. However, there is a catch. Slashing Strike cannot be used on your next turn, meaning you can only use it once every two attacking turns. Now, normally this would be a major issue. However, considering Serperior is extremely energy efficient and has the ability to boost Slashing Strike on "off turns", he has the ability to continuously spread damage and hit "damage spikes" that easily change the game.
That out of the way, I will now point out some other positives to this deck.
First, I would like to talk about the interactions between Miltank and Serperior. Miltank is infamous for its attack, Powerful Friends, which allows the Milky Matron to strike for 80 damage if a Stage 2 is on your bench. This can be increased via Giovanni's Scheme and Muscle Band, allowing Miltank to hit very favorable numbers. However, Miltank has only seen inconsistent success, primarily due to the fact that EX Pokemon have a lot of HP. 80 (or with Muscle Band, 100) damage is great, but it does not lethally threaten a Yveltal EX, who can then come in and OHKO the poor Cow. However, Serperior provides a few things that allow a single Powerful Friends to be much more threatening than ever before.
First, Serperior (and the line up itself) is all Grass Pokemon. This means that is has a couple cards that it can abuse to consistently evolve during the early turns of a game. I call this core the "Forest Frenzy" and it includes the following three cards:
- Forest of Giant Plants
- Battle Compressor
- Revitalizer
Forest of Giant Plants allows you to evolve your Grass Pokemon as if the Evolution rule does not exist. This means that if you have all three of the line in your hand and this card out, you can immediately evolve in to Serperior! However, obtaining this task is often more difficult than it sounds (especially consistently)... until now. The release of Revitalizer has changed Grass decks for the better. What does it do? I will paraphrase once more:
Return two Serperior Line-up Pokemon from your Discard Pile to your Hand. You may also pick up a Virizion AOR if you desire, but as a last resort.
What it really does is return two Grass Pokemon, but speaking that this deck is meant to work with Serperior...
What does this mean? Well, with the ever so powerful card known as Battle Compressor, you can pitch two of the Serperior Line to your discard pile (along with a Supporter you may want later) and immediately add them to hand with Revitalizer. This is excellent because if you have ANY OTHER PIECE in your hand alongside Forest of Giant Plants, you immediately obtain a Serperior. It's as crazy and simple as that.
Now, what makes this deck work? Both Miltank and Serperior can, in a form, spread a good amount of damage among a lot of Pokemon. Also, both have a very strong ability to "Revenge Kill", meaning that if your Active Pokemon is knocked out, you can easily put up either and knock your opponent out immediately. That said, let us not count out Virizion AOR, either! Virizion has a very powerful attack in Prize Count, which is perfect for Revenge Killing, scoring a natural 120 damage when you are behind in prizes!
Now, are there decks out there that will give this deck a hard time? Yes. Decks that are able to increase their defenses in forms (Hard Charm and more specifically, Fighting Fury Belt can cause major problems) will always be an issue to decks like this because this deck does not produce major damage like YZG or Vespiquen. That said, you DO produce a very efficient stream of damage that has a very strong showing against some of the faster decks because most of their heavy hitters fall down to your Pokemon. It is also why I have added 4 Muscle Band and 2 Giovanni's Scheme, cards normally not played in those numbers. They provide the maximum potential of maximum damage this deck can produce without sacrificing consistency.
As a last note, the cards in the list that have other suggestions with slashes next to them represent a potential switch-in. These cards are specifically techs that I feel work very will in this kind of deck. That said, you are always free to change the deck in any way, shape, or form, to fit your style best. I honestly post my content to allow others to play with ideas and therefore, do not normally change the original lists. These pieces of work are for all of you, not for my personal gain. That said, feel free to make suggestions! Other individuals who may read this article may flourish from your ideas and one should NEVER be afraid to share their opinions when they are positively constructive!
Hopefully I covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to message on here or PM me. I will do my best to answer.
Enjoy and remember to always grab those Prize Cards (unless you play mill~)!
-Asmer
Keep in mind: This list is for Post Fates Collide. That said...
Pokémon: 16
- 4 Miltank FLF
- 4 Snivy FSC
- 3 Servine FSC
- 3 Serperior FSC
- 2 Virizion AOR / Shaymin EX (if you own them)
- 4 Professor Sycamore
- 1 N
- 1 Giovanni's Scheme
- 1 Lysandre
- 1 Hex Maniac / Xerosic
- 1 Skyla
- 4 Ultra Ball
- 4 Muscle Band
- 4 VS Seeker
- 4 Trainers' Mail
- 2 Battle Compressor
- 2 Revitalizer
- 1 Escape Rope / Switch
- 1 Float Stone
- 1 Pokemon Catcher / Professor's Letter
- 1 Super Rod
- 1 Town Map
- 4 Forest of Giant Plants
- 6 Grass Energy
Now, in case you do not know what any of the Serperior Line does... I will highlight the main points of why we will be using them (and Serperior's attacks). If you want to see the full card, there are plenty of scans now available.
To paraphrase:
Servine has a nice ability that allows you to potentially Paralyze your opponent's Active Pokemon on Evolution. You must flip a coin for this ability, but considering Forest of Giant Plants allows you to immediately evolve in to Serperior afterwards, this is a great benefit.
Serperior is actually quite the powerhouse if he is able to set up on a non-threatening Pokemon. He has two attacks, both which cost only 1 Energy (First is a Colorless and the other is a Grass), meaning he is extremely energy efficient (much like Miltank). His first attack, Coil, does 40 Damage, but during your next turn, Any of Serperior's attacks will do 60 more damage! This is a HUGE benefit, much like that of Haxorus BKT. Serperior's second attack, Slashing Strike, is your bread winner in a lot of ways, doing a whopping 80 damage for one energy. However, there is a catch. Slashing Strike cannot be used on your next turn, meaning you can only use it once every two attacking turns. Now, normally this would be a major issue. However, considering Serperior is extremely energy efficient and has the ability to boost Slashing Strike on "off turns", he has the ability to continuously spread damage and hit "damage spikes" that easily change the game.
That out of the way, I will now point out some other positives to this deck.
First, I would like to talk about the interactions between Miltank and Serperior. Miltank is infamous for its attack, Powerful Friends, which allows the Milky Matron to strike for 80 damage if a Stage 2 is on your bench. This can be increased via Giovanni's Scheme and Muscle Band, allowing Miltank to hit very favorable numbers. However, Miltank has only seen inconsistent success, primarily due to the fact that EX Pokemon have a lot of HP. 80 (or with Muscle Band, 100) damage is great, but it does not lethally threaten a Yveltal EX, who can then come in and OHKO the poor Cow. However, Serperior provides a few things that allow a single Powerful Friends to be much more threatening than ever before.
First, Serperior (and the line up itself) is all Grass Pokemon. This means that is has a couple cards that it can abuse to consistently evolve during the early turns of a game. I call this core the "Forest Frenzy" and it includes the following three cards:
- Forest of Giant Plants
- Battle Compressor
- Revitalizer
Forest of Giant Plants allows you to evolve your Grass Pokemon as if the Evolution rule does not exist. This means that if you have all three of the line in your hand and this card out, you can immediately evolve in to Serperior! However, obtaining this task is often more difficult than it sounds (especially consistently)... until now. The release of Revitalizer has changed Grass decks for the better. What does it do? I will paraphrase once more:
Return two Serperior Line-up Pokemon from your Discard Pile to your Hand. You may also pick up a Virizion AOR if you desire, but as a last resort.
What it really does is return two Grass Pokemon, but speaking that this deck is meant to work with Serperior...
What does this mean? Well, with the ever so powerful card known as Battle Compressor, you can pitch two of the Serperior Line to your discard pile (along with a Supporter you may want later) and immediately add them to hand with Revitalizer. This is excellent because if you have ANY OTHER PIECE in your hand alongside Forest of Giant Plants, you immediately obtain a Serperior. It's as crazy and simple as that.
Now, what makes this deck work? Both Miltank and Serperior can, in a form, spread a good amount of damage among a lot of Pokemon. Also, both have a very strong ability to "Revenge Kill", meaning that if your Active Pokemon is knocked out, you can easily put up either and knock your opponent out immediately. That said, let us not count out Virizion AOR, either! Virizion has a very powerful attack in Prize Count, which is perfect for Revenge Killing, scoring a natural 120 damage when you are behind in prizes!
Now, are there decks out there that will give this deck a hard time? Yes. Decks that are able to increase their defenses in forms (Hard Charm and more specifically, Fighting Fury Belt can cause major problems) will always be an issue to decks like this because this deck does not produce major damage like YZG or Vespiquen. That said, you DO produce a very efficient stream of damage that has a very strong showing against some of the faster decks because most of their heavy hitters fall down to your Pokemon. It is also why I have added 4 Muscle Band and 2 Giovanni's Scheme, cards normally not played in those numbers. They provide the maximum potential of maximum damage this deck can produce without sacrificing consistency.
As a last note, the cards in the list that have other suggestions with slashes next to them represent a potential switch-in. These cards are specifically techs that I feel work very will in this kind of deck. That said, you are always free to change the deck in any way, shape, or form, to fit your style best. I honestly post my content to allow others to play with ideas and therefore, do not normally change the original lists. These pieces of work are for all of you, not for my personal gain. That said, feel free to make suggestions! Other individuals who may read this article may flourish from your ideas and one should NEVER be afraid to share their opinions when they are positively constructive!
Hopefully I covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to message on here or PM me. I will do my best to answer.
Enjoy and remember to always grab those Prize Cards (unless you play mill~)!
-Asmer
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