Standard Gliscor / Lucario-EX

[Otaku]

I haven't posted a deck on here... possibly ever. I read the example and I noticed it referenced "Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums" so I am sensing a Copy/Paste that forgot as of the BW-era, we are back to Trainers including those last two (alongside Items). As such I was uncertain if I should sort those out separately or have them all together. Erring on the side of more work but more information, I figured I'd separate the three major categories out... and then figured I might as well do the same breakdown for Pokémon (Basics Vs Evolutions) and Energy (Basic Vs Special). My apologies if I have erred!

Pokémon x 13

10 Basics
1 Absol (ROS)
3 Gligor (ROS)
2 Hawlucha (FFI)
2 Lucario-EX (FFI)
2 Shaymin-EX (ROS)
3 Stage 1
3 Gliscor (ROS)​

Trainers x 38

20 Items
1 Eco Arm
1 Energy Recycler
1 Enhanced Hammer
2 Focus Sash
2 Muscle Band
1 Paint Roller
1 Professor's Letter
1 Sacred Ash
1 Startling Mega Phone
3 Super Scoop Up
3 Ultra Ball
3 Vs Seeker
14 Supporters
1 Ace Trainer
1 AZ
1 Hex Maniac
3 Korrina
1 Lysandre
1 Pokémon March
1 Professor Birch
4 Professor Sycamore
1 Shauna
4 Stadiums
2 Faded Town
2 Fighting Stadium
​

Energy Cards x 9

5 Basic Energy
5 Fighting Energy
4 Special Energy
4 Strong Energy
​

Strategy: According to the situation, go for fast damage with either Gliscor, Hawlucha or Lucario-EX. Factors that determine this of course your hand/field versus their field, with specifics being which of your Weaknesses you need to avoid (if any) and whether there are Pokémon-EX present and lastly, how much Energy you have available. If need be an Active Gligar can attempt to stall. If available, either use a Focus Sash to prevent a OHKO or Muscle Band to push for one of your own. Absol is used to streamline KOs either diminishing overkill or faking a sniping Ability by moving damage counters already in play: originally I tried this deck with Crobat (PHF) but there didn't seem to be enough room. Shaymin-EX does its usual job of being supplementary draw power you can fetch with an Ultra Ball.

While it might seem excessive, the deck includes three different replenishment cards; one for Pokémon, one for Energy and one for Tools. This may be excessive; the PTCGO has an ample supply of stalling decks. I did however want to minimize the dangers of discards from Professor Sycamore, Ultra Ball and my opponent's own specific efforts. Eco Arm is probably the one that is least justified, but it effectively doubles the availability of my two Focus Sash and Muscle Band. Sacred Ash is pretty essential from general experience. Energy Recycler falls somewhere in between; it is also partial justification (in addition to actual need) for running five basic Fighting Energy. If I were to drop it, it would be replaced with Energy Retrieval unless I missed a similar option that snags Special Energy.

Korrina is a good card for decks with even a few Fighting-Types, so here where there are only three Pokémon in this deck that it can't snag directly is is great! Still as I run three VS Seeker I wonder if I should cut back to two. Korrina affected many Trainer choices because of the Item it grabs. It is why I am tempted to use Energy Retrieval instead of Energy Recycler; the latter rarely ever gets the full five, with three probably being the mean, median and mode result, so just one less but going directly to the hand is great unless it is right before a Shaymin-EX or Professor Sycamore (and just to complicate things more, that seems to be the case).

Enhanced Hammer, Paint Roller, Professor's Letter and Starling Megaphone are in the deck specifically because of perceived general usefulness enhanced by Korrina snagging them for that one key play. Focus Sash, Muscle band, Super Scoop Up, Ultra Ball and VS Seeker are also enhanced by it (pardon me if that should have gone without saying). Super Scoop Up may seem odd but this deck evolved from Landobats; Gliscor being a stand in for Landorus-EX while Absol fakes being the Crobat line. This also allows the two Shaymin-EX to do wonders and both Hawlucha and Lucario-EX to shed all damage and effects before getting back into play and reattaching at least one Energy.

AZ also is here because of that past experience with "bounce"; I'd use it in more decks if I had room but this one in particular benefits just a bit more from it. Ace Trainer is here because I noticed myself falling behind unless I went aggressive with Lucario-EX right away or lucked into a quick KO otherwise. If I can make do without another support, I might simply replace it with a Red Card. Hex Maniac is a bit specialized and yet is general usage; I find shutting down Abilities on a whim too useful to pass up. Of course Lysandre is that but more so; if I had room I'd run another copy or two of it. Pokémon March can be a bit iffy, but it is another way to snag Shaymin-EX or Absol, usually with a Basic Fighting-Type as a "bonus". Professor Birch and Shauna are duking it out to be my "secondary" draw supporter, or maybe I'll just keep them split because sometimes I just need a guaranteed five while others I can chance getting only four while hoping for seven. If I cut a Korrina one of these two is the likely replacement. Professor Sycamore is a staple and it seems easier to adjust the deck to the massive discard cost and go for four than to settle for three.

Faded Town and Fighting Stadium are obviously here to boost damage, and at four copies because Stadium dominance is becoming pretty clutch (Mountain Ring or Rough Seas are brutal if they stay in play against this deck). Fighting Stadium can be turned against me hence the split, though Faded Town is actually more niche. I might shift to 3/1 instead of 2/2. Helping them out is another reason for Paint Roller, especially if I have to discard a copy early. That leaves just the Energy and again it is pretty obvious; I can't rely on Strong Energy alone so basic Fighting Energy picks up the slack.

 

[Yo-yos]

There's alot of issues I see with this list such as consistency, if you teched in a single bunnelby I could see the reason behind playing so many tech cards in your deck at 1 of but other wise I don't.

Something to consider, 4 VS seeker, 4 korrina, 1 battle compressor, 2 sycamore. Since you run so many 1 of item cards to give the deck essential technical options running more korrina seems like a better option to not only setup your bench faster but also initially get what you need out of your deck much more concisely. Battle compressor and max VS seeker gives direct access to any of your supporters in your deck through out the game either early or late game, due to the decks technicality it makes better sense to increase VS seeker and add the battle compressor for increased consistency. 2 sycamore, since you run such a concise amount of item cards droping even 1 card can make or break your deck in certain matchups where having more korrina versus having more sycamore can be far more beneficial. I'm not 100% on what you'd feel comfortable taking out for X amount of cards, I'll leave that up to you.

 

[Otaku]

Thank you for your advice Yo-yos; I've certainly lost enough with the deck that I'm considering all of it. There is a lot I don't quite understand though.

For starters, a lot of the singles are because I am required to have a deck list and I am still trying to figure out what actually works. A lot of them are gone when I figure out which single works well enough to become a double (or even a triple). Also let me make sure you're using a term how I understand it, especially as there is a good chance you aren't: tech. I use it more or less how it was originally defined: the technical advantage gained from running a single copy of a card because it assists with a problematic match-up or situation not encountered often enough to justify additional copies of said counter card but is still enough of a presence that the singleton helps you win more often than lose (the loss being because it makes your list less reliable).

If that is how you use the term... great. Just wanted to make sure. It means I'm not worried about re-using most of such cards or the deck already has a method of re-using them. Korrina provides a method of searching most of them out... but most turns I don't need Korrina but raw draw power. I tried maxing her out and I almost always found myself with a bunch of wasted copies and struggling because I didn't have the Supporter I actually needed. Which brings us to what you probably have spot on:

Adding Battle Compressor is probably something I've got to get back to doing; the combination of heavy Item lock and the LTC-ban had me shying away from it, and until recently I have had a hard time making enough room for VS Seeker (or rather for enough copies to make the tactic appealing. Thanks for pointing it out! As for Professor Sycamore... the game is what it is. I've tried less in a variety of decks and it doesn't seem to work... it didn't even work too well when we had other, better draw options. I am considering Teammates as when I'm not in a situation to sweep with Lucario-EX, getting the precise two cards I need is most appealing. Also I want to be clear: I am not saying you're wrong about Professor Sycamore, I am saying "What do I replace it with?" You suggested Korrina and been there, done that, it doesn't work. I've been trying more Professor Birch but then I'm at the mercy of the coin flip and I've been trying Shauna again but while she provides a reliable "shuffle and draw five" it has a nasty habit of not being enough.

If this sounds like too tall of an order... again, thanks for the suggestions you already made. At least one of them I'm doing no matter what.

Addendum (09/16/15): Further testing confirms this is going into the "fun" deck category (personal one, not sure if that is an official board label here). I didn't get around to trying all the suggested changes, but even when it sets up reliably and I "stream" Gliscor, I can't seem to get enough damage on board except against what can best be described as "favorable" match-ups. The deck can be still be enjoyable to play, but not when you're dealing with a competent deck played by a competent opponent. Or else I just messed up, in which case someone doing well with this or a similar variant is free to jump in and explain how they are doing it correctly. XD