The Eelektrik Engine
[btable][tr][td]Note: For this article to look like it's supposed to, your browser must be zoomed properly. If text looks out of place, try zooming in/out until it looks right.Since Eelektrik was released in Noble Victories, it's been part of a Tier 1 deck. It's been paired with Magnezone, Mewtwo-EX, Zekrom, Raikou-EX, and countless other cards, but it's always been successful in every format it's been in. I've personally taken the card to Top 32 at Nationals and various top cuts at Battle Roads and Cities.[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]The deck has to adapt to a new format now, however. Eelektrik is such a good card that there's no doubt it will still be part of a top-tier deck. We've never had powerful Energy acceleration from the discard pile on a Stage 1 card before. We've seen cards like Typhlosion Prime and Typhlosion MT have similar or even worse effects than Eelektrik, but as Stage 2's. However, even with that considered, they were still very popular cards. The mechanic of accelerating Energy from the discard pile has been popular ever since the Ruby & Sapphire set!
Because it is so good, the deck's basic strategy will without a doubt remain the same: use Eelektrik's Dynamotor to charge up powerful attacks in one turn rather than the 2-3 it would take with manual attachments and always have Energy available thanks to Dynamotor. However, the attackers used, the Trainer line, and the Energy line are all thrown into question with the new format. Which list structure is best? Well, that's what I'm here to tell you!
Any card that uses Lightning or Colorless Energy to attack can be paired with Eelektrik. Furthermore, any card which only requires one type-specific Energy to attack (like Terrakion) works fairly well with Eelektrik as well. Because of this, we have a lot of attacking options - more than any other deck does. Let's take a look at them before looking at lists.[/td][td]
Eelektrik
[/td][/tr][/btable]Attackers
Non-EX Attackers
[btable][tr][td]Zekrom: Perhaps the deck's most infamous attacker is Zekrom. Alongside Reshiram, it really revolutionized the game and set new standards for what makes a good Pokémon. It's been so popular with Eelektrik that a lot of people have started calling Eelektrik decks ZekEel! This is because, with an Eviolite attached, Zekrom can Bolt Strike to do 120 damage and still be left with virtually 130HP!
That used to be pretty impressive, but the HP of cards has started to catch up. Most good attackers are sitting on anywhere from 140 to 180HP nowadays, so Zekrom falls a little short of OHKOing them. However, it's not at all unlikely for Zekrom to be OHKO'd back with most decks capable of doing at least 140 damage in one hit. This means Zekrom doesn't Prize trade well against most attackers.[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]
Thundurus: Thundurus doesn't do as much damage as Zekrom, but if it attacks on the first turn with Charge, it can get some damage on the field a turn earlier. It is also worthy of note that if Zekrom doesn't have Eviolite, Thundurus will be left with more HP than it will after it attacks. It's a good card, but not in a format where it has to compete with Zekrom.[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]Bouffalant: Bouffalant is a very low-Energy attacker. He really shines when you're playing with 0-1 Eelektrik and need to do some decent damage. He also counters Sigilyph.[/td][/tr][/btable]
EX Attackers
[btable][tr][td]Mewtwo-EX: Mewtwo is arguably the best attacker the game has ever had. Combined with DCE, it can do pretty big damage on the first turn, and with enough Energy, it's capable of OHKOing every card in the game. It's fast, bulky, powerful, and it can use any type of Energy, including Lightning. What more could you want?![/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]Zekrom-EX: This card is fairly high-maintenance and slow, but it does 150 damage, which is big. This lets it OHKO virtually every non-EX card and it can really swing some exchanges in your favor. It wasn't used in most lists in HS-on, but because cards like Garchomp, Empoleon, and Hydregion are getting more popular, it will probably start to see more play. It's great against cards in the 130-150HP range.
Raikou-EX: Raikou's second attack is amazing. Most support Pokémon have less than 100HP, so Raikou can just pick them off. It decreases your reliance on having Pokémon Catcher and it makes for a great aggressive attacker despite being high-maintenance and not doing a lot of damage. It's one of the deck's best attackers and actually works very well alongside Pokémon Catcher.
Rayquaza-EX: Magnezone/Eelektrik was a big deck a few months ago, and Rayquaza-EX's attack actually does more damage than Magnezone's did. And it works better with Eelektrik because the Energy go to the discard pile rather than the Lost Zone. And Rayquaza-EX is a basic!
However, all-in-all, it's not as good of an attack as Lost Burn was. It requires multiple types of Energy so it's harder to charge. And the Energy have to be attached to Rayquaza-EX, not just a card on your field. Because of [/td][td]
Zekrom-EX
[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]the latter especially, Rayquaza-EX most likely won't see a lot of play. The ability to OHKO anything for a total of five or less Energy is a big deal, but it's very hard to get those five Energy on Rayquaza consistently enough for it to be awesome. Even so, it's a pretty good card.Registeel-EX: This card is another great EX - it's arguably up there with Mewtwo-EX and Darkrai-EX. For only Colorless Energy, it can spread a lot of damage around, either setting up KOs for your other attackers or taking snipe KOs after a few turns. It puts your opponent on a timer and if they can't keep up with the pace you're setting, they're in big trouble. Definitely an interesting inclusion.[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]
Registeel-EX
[/td][td]Regigigas-EX: This card has a lot more potential in the next format. There are a lot of Catcher targets for its first attack, and because the opponent will undoubtedly be afraid of its second attack, they'll either have to burn Catchers to play around it or walk right into a revenge KO. Eventually, they'll run out of Catchers so Regigigas-EX can put your opponent in some tough situations. It strength is very dependent on your opponent's plays so it's generally not as good as other attackers, but it's an option.Counter Attackers
Tornadus: Most of the attackers in an Eelektrik deck are weak to Fighting. Tornadus resists this type, so it can help you out a little against that type of deck. However, Mewtwo-EX can generally handle that matchup very well even without Tornadus.
Tornadus-EX: Tornadus-EX serves the same purpose as Tornadus - it counters Fighting types. However, in Eelektrik lists with Double Colorless Energy, Tornadus-EX can start attacking as early as the first turn of the game. It also does a little more damage than Tornadus and can take more hits, so it is all-in-all a better counter than Tornadus. However, Mewtwo is more versatile than this card and can fill the same role most of the time.[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]Rayquaza: With Dragon types running rampant, Rayquaza is a decent inclusion. It can OHKO Hydregion, Garchomp, and even Rayquaza-EX. However, all of these cards can OHKO it as well. Because it requires a "non-native" Energy to attack, it doesn't fit very well in this deck either. If RayEels and Garchomp get big, I could see this card getting popular as well. But I don't think those decks will get very popular.
Terrakion: Like Rayquaza, Terrakion hits a lot of popular cards for Weakness and it can really swing some matchups. However, it's not very good if it's not hitting for Weakness. Because of this, including it is really a meta call. With the meta diversifying a lot, it's usually not worth it.
Bouffalant: Bouffalant Prize trades very well against most EX cards; much better than Zekrom without Eviolite. However, Zekrom is better against most other cards, so deciding between these is tough. Effectiveness in specific situations vs overall utility.[/td][/tr][/btable]
Deck Lists
[btable][tr][td]The above cards can be combined in countless ways, but there are some specific combinations that tend to work the best. Let's take a look at those now.[/td][/tr][/btable]
Raikou-EX Based
| Pokémon (13): 3 Eelektrik 2 Tynamo (Thunder Wave) 2 Tynamo (Spark) 3 Raikou-EX 2 Mewtwo-EX 1 Zekrom-EX | Trainers (36): 4 N 4 Professor Juniper 4 Cheren 3 Bianca 4 Max Potion 4 Ultra Ball 3 Level Ball 2 Super Rod 4 Pokemon Catcher 2 Switch 2 Skyarrow Bridge | Energy (11): 7 Lightning Energy 4 Double Colorless Energy |
Anyway, this list attempts to be very aggressive early-game, very disruptive mid-game, and very powerful late-game. It tries to get a T1-2 attack off with Mewtwo-EX or Raikou-EX and take fast Prizes until the opponent mounts an offense. That's when Raikou-EX comes in and picks off weaker support Pokémon. Zekrom-EX or a fully loaded Mewtwo-EX can then come in and finish the game. The entire time you want to be Max Potioning since they probably can't OHKO you.
Its main weakness is the fact that all its attackers are EX cards. This can be remedied by adding a Bouffalant (either set) or Zekrom. This will make it ever so slightly less vulnerable to Terrakion and significantly less vulnerable to Bouffalant and Sigilyph. These cards' uses are limited with the Max Potion-based builds but Bouffalant and Sigilyph are going to be popular enough that it might be worth it.
It wouldn't mind an extra Level Ball and extra Lightning Energy either, but it runs fine as it is.
This is by far one of my favorite builds of the deck because it really has everything. Fast attacks, efficient [/td][td]
Max Potion
[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]attacks, snipe, big damage, healing, weakness coverage, and consistency. Sure, the list could afford to be tweaked a little more, but it's still good as it is.Matchups
vs Hydregion/Darkrai-EX - Even: You both play the Max Potion strategy, but they have Sableye to recycle it. On the other hand, though, you can OHKO Hydregion with Zekrom-EX and occasionally OHKO Darkrai-EX with Mewtwo-EX. You're also going to be faster and more aggressive than them most of the time. Thunder Fang is an attack you want to keep in mind in this matchup because they don't run Switch. It can give you a turn to charge Mewtwo without fear of Sigilyph OHKOing it.
vs Garchomp/Altaria - Very Favorable: If there's any deck that you want to play against, it's this one. Early Mewtwo can take a lot of fast Prize cards while they try to set up, Raikou-EX can pick their setup apart and take fast Prizes at the same time, and Zekrom-EX can clean up if necessary. Just make sure they don't take out your Eelektriks.
vs Eelektrik without Terrakion - Even: This is basically mirror, so it's naturally even. Whoever plays better and draws better will win.
vs Empoleon/Terrakion - Unfavorable: Terrakion really hates on this deck's attackers. With a regular Zekrom or two, this is only a slightly bad matchup because it can take out Empoleon without being a two-Prize liability. With the list above, though, it's not pretty when you're up against Terrakion.
vs Terrakion/Mewtwo-EX - Even: Even though this deck runs Terrakion, you can just force a Mewtwo war and try to come out on top with a late-game N. It's risky, but when it works you're in good shape.
vs Gothitelle/Accelgor - Slightly Favorable: As long as you can keep their Gothitelle out of play with Mewtwo-EX, this is a pretty easy matchup. Even if you can't, using Raikou to KO their Accelgor when they don't have a Shelmet benched buys you an extra turn of attacking... at least. This gives you another opportunity to KO the Gothitelle.[/td][/tr][/btable]
Rayquaza-EX Based
| Pokémon (14): 4 Eelektrik 3 Tynamo (Thunder Wave) 1 Tynamo (Spark) 3 Rayquaza-EX 3 Rayquaza | Trainers (31): 4 N 4 Professor Juniper 3 Cheren 3 Bianca 4 Ultra Ball 3 Level Ball 2 Super Rod 3 Pokemon Catcher 3 Switch 2 Skyarrow Bridge | Energy (15): 9 Lightning Energy 6 Fire Energy |
Rayquaza-EX
[/td][td]This list attempts to do big damage with Rayquaza-EX instead of with Mewtwo-EX and Zekrom-EX. Rayquaza-EX is quite a bit more high-maintenance than the other two, but it can also do more damage for less overall Energy. Rayquaza provides a nice backup attacker and actually covers Rayquaza-EX's Weakness fairly well despite sharing it. The list is very Energy-heavy and Eelektrik-heavy simply because you need to attach so many Energy each turn to get good use out of Rayquaza-EX.It could use an extra Supporter or Level Ball because it needs to set so much up, but it's hard to find room. It could also get good use out of Max Potion, but it's good at winning Prize exchanges even without it, excluding against specific cards.
This list really struggles when it can't hold a lot of Eelektrik in play. Regular Rayquaza isn't a great attacker in most matchups but Rayquaza-EX needs so many Energy that it's not always possible to use it.
I'm not going to do matchups for this particular list because its matchups really aren't that great. Between Hydregion, Garchomp, Rayquaza, Raikou-EX, and Accelgor, it seems like something is almost always able to either OHKO Rayquaza-EX or take out Eelektriks. Sure, if they can't do either, this deck is great. But they usually can.
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Counter Deck
| Pokémon (15): 3 Eelektrik 3 Tynamo (Thunder Wave) 1 Tynamo (Spark) 3 Rayquaza 2 Terrakion 2 Zekrom 1 Emolga | Trainers (33): 4 N 4 Professor Juniper 3 Cheren 3 Bianca 4 Ultra Ball 3 Level Ball 4 Pokemon Catcher 3 Switch 2 Eviolite 3 Tool Scrapper | Energy (12): 7 Lightning Energy 4 Prism Energy 1 Fire Energy |
This list is clearly very tight. It could make great use out of some Mewtwo-EX to KO other Mewtwo-EX and Gothitelle, both of which could be potentially popular. Ho-Oh-EX also struggles more against Mewtwo-EX than it does against this deck's other attackers. Possibly even more important is a Shaymin-EX to deal with Terrakion and Terrakion-EX. However, it's hard to find space. Eviolite is necessary to prevent your low-HP attackers from being OHKO'd and Emolga is needed as a free retreater since you have no Skyarrow Bridge. And you'll notice the list is already missing Super Rod, which would be another really nice inclusion.
Aside from that, the list is also hard to like because it relies so heavily on Prism Energy. Zekrom is the only attacker that doesn't need it or Blend, and this can make it hard to use the attacker you want to every turn you want to. However, if you play against a deck you're countering and you are able to use the attacks you want to when you want to, this list works very well.
Matchups
vs Hydregion/Darkrai-EX - Slightly Favorable: You're able to OHKO every card they have and some of those are EX cards. However, if they're able to take out Eelektrik, you're in trouble because you don't have Super Rod.[/td][td]
Extremely Artistic Image
[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]vs Garchomp/Altaria - Unfavorable: You each OHKO each other, but it's too hard for you to stream Prism/Fire Energy. Eventually, you can't keep up. If they get off to a slow start and you're able to take Prize cards with Rayquaza's first attack, though, this can get better. Shaymin-EX makes for a decent finisher here if you can keep their Altaria off the field. However, should you fail to do this, you're in trouble unless they struggle to recover Garchomps and Rayquazas late-game.vs Eelektrik without Terrakion - Favorable: If they're not running Terrakion, they're probably running Rayquaza-EX or Raikou-EX. This means you can create some very good exchanges, just with Terrakion and Rayquaza. As long as you're able to keep the Terrakion/Rayquaza coming, you should be in good shape.
vs Empoleon/Terrakion - Even: Zekrom can take care of two Empoleon if it's Eviolited, and if you manage your Bench well and run Shaymin-EX, you can use it to take out two Terrakion and maybe even an Empoleon without fear of retaliation. Because of this, if you run Shaymin-EX, this can be a slightly favorable matchup. Without it, the Terrakion can be somewhat problematic. Also, if they take out your Eelektriks, you're in a little trouble if you don't already have attackers built.
vs Terrakion/Mewtwo-EX - Unfavorable: This deck doesn't have a direct answer to Terrakion, so this is a hard matchup. This deck doesn't like exchanging 2HKOs at all. Plus you don't want to be in a Mewtwo-EX war without Mewtwo of your own. If you run Shaymin-EX and Mewtwo-EX, this is an even-ish matchup. But without them, it's not pretty.
vs Gothitelle/Accelgor - Unfavorable: If you have Mewtwo-EX, this is actually a better matchup. You really have to keep their Gothitelle out of play to do much, and that's almost impossible without Mewtwo-EX. A Raikou-EX can help this matchup as well and could be used over one of the Zekrom.
Note that all of these matchups assume you run well, which you often won't with this list.[/td][/tr][/btable]
Other Options
[btable][tr][td]Outside of the attackers, most Eelektrik decks look fairly similar. However, there a couple cards that are not attackers and were not included in any of the lists that can be decent in Eelektrik decks.
Victini: Although it's a fairly unorthodox inclusion, attacks like Thunder Fang, Thunder Wave, and Glinting Claw can get a boost from Victini. Especially the former two. A lot of decks are cutting Switch out of their lists if they can deal with Catcher effectively without it. This is a great opening for Thunder Fang stalling, which can set up OHKOs and give you an extra turn to advance your setup.
Giant Cape: This card can be a substitute for Eviolite. It won't work as well as Eviolite does with your Basic attackers (especially Zekrom), but if you think you can get by with Giant Cape instead, do it! It allows Eelektrik to avoid Raikou-EX snipes, Darkrai-EX snipes, Darkrai-EX Catcher + KOs, and even the occasional Mewtwo-EX, Garchomp, and Empoleon OHKO. It turns your support Pokémon into mini-tanks, at least compared to what they were before, and it can be incredibly useful.
Random Receiver: If you don't like using Bianca and/or Cheren, which a lot of people don't, you can use Random Receiver instead. It makes you more likely to draw dead, but it also makes it more likely that when you have a Supporter, it's the one you want.
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Victini
[/td][/tr][/btable][btable][tr][td]PlusPower: It allows you to do a little more damage, occasionally allowing for things like a Zekrom OHKO on an opposing Zekrom without damage. Tool Scrapper is better in most situations though.Shaymin-EX: Although it was touched upon a little above, Shaymin-EX is a pretty good tech in this deck if you're running Prism Energy, Blend Energy GRPD, or Grass Energy for some reason. It's a great late-game finisher, especially since a lot of decks aren't able to hit 110 damage after their setup has been disrupted and/or they've been N'd to 1-2. I didn't want to categorize it with the other attackers, though, because it's so different from them.[/td][/tr][/btable]
Conclusion
[btable][tr][td]Because Eelektrik decks have so many options and Eelektrik itself is so effective at what it does, we can expect the card to be good for months to come. The only way it would stop being played, aside from getting rotated, is if there was another major power creep and no new Eelektrik-compatible attackers were released.
However, we can certainly expect the deck to be good for Battle Roads and Fall Regionals. Which variant? Well, it could be one of the ones above, or it could be something totally different. Maybe you'll be the one to discover the perfect combination for Eelektrik!
If you have any questions or comments, or just loved the article and want to let me know, feel free to comment![/td][/tr][/btable]
. I'm testing raikou/zekrom/zekrom EX/eels against predicted tier 1 decks. Garchomp, hydrai, and bouffalant are actually good match-ups for this deck since i run thundurus and/or tornadus EX. You can get a turn 1 charge if your lucky, and since CMT is gone i do not think you will have to worry about T1 80 damage on thundurus since charge is an attack.