Standard First deck submission. Mega Rayquaza.

[MoFoTY86]

A big league challenge this upcoming weekend and would like some feedback. I was told to run this type since a friend got Top 8 at a League Challenge. This is my first time running Mega Ray in a League Challenge. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Pokemon (16)
4 Rayquaza-EX[Colorless] (ROS)
3 M Rayquaza-EX (ROS)
3 Hoopa-EX (AOR)
4 Shaymin-EX (ROS)
1 Volcanion-EX (STS)
1 Dragonite-EX (EVO)

Trainers (36)
2 Professor Sycamore (STS)
2 Hex Maniac (AOR)
1 N (FCO)
1 Lysandre (AOR)
1 Brock's Grit (EVO)
4 Trainer's Mail (ROS)
4 Ultra Ball (SM)
4 VS Seeker (ROS)
4 Puzzle of Time (BKP)
3 Mega Turbo (AOR)
3 Rayquaza Spirit Link (ROS)
2 Float Stone (BKT)
1 Escape Rope (PRC)
4 Sky Field (ROS)

Energy (8)
4 Double Colorless Energy (Special)
4 Fire Energy (Basic)

 

[swan]

1. why the heck is there a volcanion-EX?!?
2. you need more than just 2 sycas and 1 N as draw supporters, you have more dead vs seekers than draw supporters. Even cut a vs seeker for a sycamore if you have to. 3 is too low, even for a 4 shaymin deck.
3. puzzle of time is a trade-off. It makes your deck 4 cards more cloggy (it's first effect doesn't count as consistency... -_-). In return, if gives you a low chance to survive something like parallel city + garb combo, but my take on the card is that it's relatively useless as parallel city + garb + N is still a loss.
4. You have no way of dealing with giratina-EX at all. (this isn't actually that big of a problem at the moment though). 1 copy of Promo jirachi does this well.
5. Just realised what the volcanion-EX is trying to do: stop, stop this madness at once, it won't work... Even evolution jammer Banette would be better...
6. 4th ray spirit link or lose the long game.

Other than that, nice list!

 

[akealon]

I've played a little Mega-Ray with Jolteon EX and using lightning energy. One thing that I've found to be helpful to set up is running Skyla and Winona. Many times I have been missing either a Sky Field, Mega Turbo, or Spirit Link to get the final piece for a big early turn and Skyla helps get those right away. I also tend to run super rods instead of Brock's Grit. Dropping a super rod, putting back in Dragonite, Shaymin, and 1 mega, then Winona for them right away (then use the Dragonite to get back 2 rays or a ray and another shaymin/Hoopa) to get moving again has done wonders for keeping everything moving. Switch or Escape Rope has also been handy to get out of starting with a Dragonite or having it Lysandre'd up.

While they help explosive turns, 4 Shaymin can also end up being a liability in the game. With the ability to play your hand down quickly, Oranguru can work well too, and be less of a bench liability with only giving up one prize.

 

[swan]

I'd like to add that skyla, as mentioned above, is better than puzzle of time for recovering from parallel city while taking up fewer deck slots and is easier to find after an N than 2 puzzles. Also, I believe that Magearna is the best type partner as stardust jirachi is a more common problem than giratina-EX. (stardust jirachi can also be teched against giratina-EX). I haven't found Winoana all that relevant as you often have a leftover dead hoopa or shaymin which does the trick. Switch is probably better than escape rope as there isn't much that you need to force out of the active sans regice. (which you can beat with either jirachi or lysandre (why I like 2 lysandre, but hey, you can't have it all)). Between rod and brock's, I like to have both at my disposal.

 

[MechanicalMarine]

1. why the heck is there a volcanion-EX?!?
2. you need more than just 2 sycas and 1 N as draw supporters, you have more dead vs seekers than draw supporters. Even cut a vs seeker for a sycamore if you have to. 3 is too low, even for a 4 shaymin deck.
3. puzzle of time is a trade-off. It makes your deck 4 cards more cloggy (it's first effect doesn't count as consistency... -_-). In return, if gives you a low chance to survive something like parallel city + garb combo, but my take on the card is that it's relatively useless as parallel city + garb + N is still a loss.
4. You have no way of dealing with giratina-EX at all. (this isn't actually that big of a problem at the moment though). 1 copy of Promo jirachi does this well.
5. Just realised what the volcanion-EX is trying to do: stop, stop this madness at once, it won't work... Even evolution jammer Banette would be better...
6. 4th ray spirit link or lose the long game.

Other than that, nice list!

Volcanion is for its Steam Up ability to put the Basic Fire Energy in the discard for Mega Turbo use... I don't see why or how Evolution Jammer Banette would be more useful... Other than that I agree, you do need at least 1 more N or Sycamore for consistency, and 4 Spirit Link to soften the blow if you need to discard 1 or 2 early on. I personally would also put in a Super Rod over Brocks' Grit, but that can be swapped around. Skyla is useful for getting crucial cards, but I would definitely play Super Rod over Brock if you played a Skyla, but I feel Skyla has a lot of versatility in Mega Ray. You can get a Sky Field, Ultra Ball, Spirit Link, Mega Turbo, a whole arsenal of things at your disposal. These are just some things to think about!

 

[MoFoTY86]

So what I am gathering...
-4 Puzzles
-1 Brock's Grit

+1 Skyla
+1 Sycamore
+2 Super Rod
+1 Ray Spirit Link

Good adjust?

 

[swan]

Volcanion is for its Steam Up ability to put the Basic Fire Energy in the discard for Mega Turbo use... I don't see why or how Evolution Jammer Banette would be more useful... Other than that I agree, you do need at least 1 more N or Sycamore for consistency, and 4 Spirit Link to soften the blow if you need to discard 1 or 2 early on. I personally would also put in a Super Rod over Brocks' Grit, but that can be swapped around. Skyla is useful for getting crucial cards, but I would definitely play Super Rod over Brock if you played a Skyla, but I feel Skyla has a lot of versatility in Mega Ray. You can get a Sky Field, Ultra Ball, Spirit Link, Mega Turbo, a whole arsenal of things at your disposal. These are just some things to think about!

Mb, assumed it was a bad attempt at a decidueye counter lmao. The volcanion-EX is very cute! However, I think Magearna is more beneficial to the deck: If you want a discard outlet play another syacmore (or 2 if you're feeling eccentric!).
@MoFoTY86 Personally prefere 1 rod 1 brock over 2 rods and a metal engine (magearna-EX) with a jirachi tech; but that's just me.

 

[MoFoTY86]

Ok so 1 Super Rod <> 1 Brock Grit. Just so I can get on the same page, what is Magearna EX good against? Plus I will need to use Metal Energy, which I will have to drop Volcanion EX for.

 

[swan]

Ok so 1 Super Rod <> 1 Brock Grit. Just so I can get on the same page, what is Magearna EX good against? Plus I will need to use Metal Energy, which I will have to drop Volcanion EX for.

In short, stardust jirachi, but I think I need to explain the difficulties that Mrayquaza faces in a little more detail:

There are 7 pokemon that can stop Mrayquaza:
1) Carbink (mew EVO in case anyone was going to call me out on it)
2) Regice (blocks EX damage for [W][C][C])
3) Glaceon-EX (blocks evolution damage for [W][C][C]
4) Giratina-EX (blocks your DCE, blocks your stadium, and blocks mega pokemon damage; you should know that this card is the bane of your Mrayquaza existance. Luckily it isn't very common at the moment but may show up at league challenges.)
5) stardust Jirachi (discards Special energy while blocking all damage)
6) Garbodor (ability lock)
7) Vileplume (item lock)

We can beat Carbink or mew with Hex Maniac.
We can beat Regice by using stardust jirachi to discard it's dce (it's rare for it to have 3 [W] attached but I guess we could use jirachi's second attack? ). If regice is using rainbow energy and is protected by Magearna-EX (which prevents stardust working) then we can lysandre the magearna and ko with Mrayquaza.
We can beat Glaceon-EX by attacking with anything other than Mrayquaza. Glaceon-EX has the same weaknesses as regice ontop of this.
We can beat Giratina-EX with Rayquaza's [C] 60 damage attack and magearna's attack; stardust jirachi can also shut giratina-EX down if the opponent doesn't have a Magearna-EX in play (As usual, KO magearna-EX asap, but Hex maniac can get you through it's ability). Giratina does so much lockdown it is very hard to deal with, but there are ways to make it easier.
Stardust jirachi is a real problem if you don't play Magearna-EX. But if you do, there are no problems (just don't hex too much you'll block magearna's protection!)
Garbodor is a KO asap priority target. If this thing is in play when you're opponent drops a parallel city and an N, it's game over.
Vileplume is a problem... I have no idea what to do about it other than go first and setup well...