Fun Nationals Playtesting Group

TheUltimateAbsol

TheUltimateAbsol

Truth or Ideals? It's all Black and White to me
Member
Nationals is 20 days away, folks, and some of us just aren't ready yet!
Some of us just don't have enough time/mobility/friends to make IRL testing groups. Thus, I find this could be a kind of neat replacement

Basically, the core of a testing group is to have good opponents to play against so you can keep your chin up when you get into the real tournament. Often matchups will be centered around viable decks that could see success at the tournament, like Night March or Greninja BREAK. It's also nice to have a few people you know are going to be at the event so you could perhaps meet up or even borrow/loan cards.

If you want to participate, just post your PTCGO screen name. If you want to battle just give a time frame! This doesn't need to be a formal thread.

For example,
My PTCGO screen name is TheUltimateAbso (no l at the end).
I'd like to play sometime these weekdays after 8 PM EST. I really like my Dragonite-EX/Bats decklist, but I'm open to playing Night March and MMan Ho-Oh as well!
PM me if you want to battle! I'd love to get some practice against a Night March matchup
Click to expand...

For quick reference, here are the decks that you are likely going to see at the tournament. You should probably be asking for battles against the high tier decks.

Uber-Popular
These matchups you want to be confident in. You need to face them numerous times and know how they work inside and out.
  • Night March
  • Trevenant BREAK
  • Greninja BREAK
  • Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade (Although Yveltal-EX is being dropped from a lot of the lists)
Likely to see a presence
These matchups are going to appear somewhere. Some of them are really good, but they haven't taken off due to budget/skill difficulties. Know any tricks they might pull
  • Vileplume/Vespiquen
  • Water Box (Manaphy-EX/Seismitoad-EX/Regice/Glaceon-EX/Articuno/WhateverWaterPokemonFloatsYourBoat)
  • M Rayquaza-EX/Jolteon-EX
  • M Sceptile-EX Variants
  • Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX
  • Genesect-EX/Bronzong/Aegislash-EX
Just going to "Be There"
These decks will inevitably be played by some people at the tournament, sometimes out of favoritism, being new to the game, or wanting to test out new cards. Despite some of them being decent, others have really bad matchups in the current meta. Though, there is a lot to be explored about these decks which could make them viable. You don't really need extensive playtesting against them, just don't let them catch you off guard.
  • M Alakazam-EX/Bats (or Absol)
  • Zygarde-EX/Carbink/Fighting Spam
  • M Manectric-EX/Jolteon-EX/Ho-oh-EX
  • Wailord-EX Stall
  • Seismitoad-EX/Hammers
  • Quad-Zoroark/Yveltal
  • Garchomp.dec
  • Mew-Box (Mew + a bunch of 1 prize techs (it exists))
  • Rainbow Road (Xerneas/Golurk/Octillery/Yveltal-EX/Jirachi/otherStuff)
  • Entei/Charizard-EX or Emboar-EX
  • Speed Flareon-EX
  • Darkrai-Hypno
  • Raichu/Zoroark/Zebstrika
  • M-Mewtwo
  • Dragonite-EX/Bats ;) yeah I really should stop with this
 
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Don't forget M Sceptile Variants. I think you will see some decks that use this idea to surprise people because except for Night March, it has a decent matchup against most all of the other tier 1 and tier 2 plays. Greninja and Alakazam immediately lose for the most part and even Water Box can have its issues just due to weakness. I dunno, but I think we are likely to see at least 2-5% on this deck, which won't be a surprise.
 
ulheel said:
Don't forget M Sceptile Variants. I think you will see some decks that use this idea to surprise people because except for Night March, it has a decent matchup against most all of the other tier 1 and tier 2 plays. Greninja and Alakazam immediately lose for the most part and even Water Box can have its issues just due to weakness. I dunno, but I think we are likely to see at least 2-5% on this deck, which won't be a surprise.
Click to expand...
I actually just remembered this a bit of time ago and knew it was only a matter of time before I'd be reminded to put it on the list. ;)

I still am surprised to see M Sceptile-EX not become rampantly used... Given that I haven't played it, I'm not sure what it loses to.
 
Username is kcallais

Have the following decks:
  1. Night March w/ Vespiquen
  2. M Manetric EX
  3. Raichu w/ Milotic or Bronzong
  4. Darkrai/hypno
  5. Seismitoad EX
  6. Delphox BREAK
I have a speed Lugia deck and a Metal Ray deck I threw together but haven't tested yet.

Just had surgery so I will be available pretty much anytime for the next 2 weeks. I will play whatever you guys want practice against.
 
TheUltimateAbsol said:
I still am surprised to see M Sceptile-EX not become rampantly used... Given that I haven't played it, I'm not sure what it loses to.
Click to expand...

Sceptile loses to Entie Hard which makes it kind of a deterrent(Which by the way is not on the List) it also has the same issue that Giratina has in that it lacks a strong attacker so against a mega deck like manectric and rayquazza its a very tough fight. That being said its a Perfect counter to greninja and does fairly well against trevenent. And things like water toolbox lose pretty fast to.
 
AuraJackle said:
Sceptile loses to Entie Hard which makes it kind of a deterrent(Which by the way is not on the List) it also has the same issue that Giratina has in that it lacks a strong attacker so against a mega deck like manectric and rayquazza its a very tough fight. That being said its a Perfect counter to greninja and does fairly well against trevenent. And things like water toolbox lose pretty fast to.
Click to expand...

Entei usage has gone dramatically down since the rise of greninja and trevenant, which is very understandable as they are 1) weak to water and 2) very item reliant.
If the second problem could be solved, the deck might make it somewhere huge.
 
syk0tikx for pokemon online ( the o is a zero ) i have every single deck made both tier 1 and 2, and im willing to test whenever !

i think mega mewtwo should be on this list, its testing really well
 
Syk0tikx said:
syk0tikx for pokemon online ( the o is a zero ) i have every single deck made both tier 1 and 2, and im willing to test whenever !

i think mega mewtwo should be on this list, its testing really well
Click to expand...
The thing is with mewtwo is that it loses really hard to Night march thanks to pumpkaboo.
You can't even rely on Yveltal to 1 shot every Night Marcher because of fighting fury belt.

And then there is trevenant.
 
My username is vegasaur.
The relevant decks I have are:

Trevenant Break,
Night March(Gallade/Milotic/Straight NM)
Seismitoad/Hammers
Bronzong/Genesect/Aegislash
Vespiplume

I'm available to test pretty much any evening after 6, just let me know!
 
TheUltimateAbsol said:
Entei usage has gone dramatically down since the rise of greninja and trevenant, which is very understandable as they are 1) weak to water and 2) very item reliant.
If the second problem could be solved, the deck might make it somewhere huge.
Click to expand...

Every Deck is item reliant which is why Item lock is so prevalent. as for greninja Entie has the capability to beat it the same way that Rayquazza has the capability to beat Raikou and that is if you start hitting hard enough early on your opponent cant recover. Entie can beat night march and vespiqueen fairly well so it has relevance. Also if easy counters were the reason to not play a deck nobody would play trevenent vespiquen or greninja all of them lose hard to instant counters Night march is the only deck that i can see right now as being something that can win any matchup
 
TheUltimateAbsol said:
Nationals is 20 days away, folks, and some of us just aren't ready yet!
Some of us just don't have enough time/mobility/friends to make IRL testing groups. Thus, I find this could be a kind of neat replacement

Basically, the core of a testing group is to have good opponents to play against so you can keep your chin up when you get into the real tournament. Often matchups will be centered around viable decks that could see success at the tournament, like Night March or Greninja BREAK. It's also nice to have a few people you know are going to be at the event so you could perhaps meet up or even borrow/loan cards.

If you want to participate, just post your PTCGO screen name. If you want to battle just give a time frame! This doesn't need to be a formal thread.

For example,


For quick reference, here are the decks that you are likely going to see at the tournament. You should probably be asking for battles against the high tier decks.

Uber-Popular
These matchups you want to be confident in. You need to face them numerous times and know how they work inside and out.
  • Night March
  • Trevenant BREAK
  • Greninja BREAK
Likely to see a presence
These matchups are going to appear somewhere. Some of them are really good, but they haven't taken off due to budget/skill difficulties. Know any tricks they might pull
  • Vileplume/Vespiquen
  • Water Box (Manaphy-EX/Seismitoad-EX/Regice/Glaceon-EX/Articuno/WhateverWaterPokemonFloatsYourBoat)
  • M Manectric-EX/Jolteon-EX/Ho-oh-EX
  • M Rayquaza-EX/Jolteon-EX
  • Zygarde-EX (Although it hasn't really been confirmed too successful. Fighting spam just can't be passed up)
  • M Sceptile-EX Variants
  • Darkrai-EX/Giratina-EX
  • Genesect-EX/Bronzong/Aegislash-EX
Just going to "Be There"
These decks will inevitably be played by some people at the tournament, sometimes out of favoritism, being new to the game, or wanting to test out new cards. Despite some of them being decent, others have really bad matchups in the current meta. Though, there is a lot to be explored about these decks which could make them viable.
  • M Alakazam-EX/Bats (or Absol)
  • Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade (Actually I'm not sure where this should go)
  • Seismitoad-EX/Hammers
  • Quad-Zoroark/Yveltal
  • Garchomp.dec
  • Mew-Box (Mew + a bunch of 1 prize techs (it exists))
  • Rainbow Road (Xerneas/Golurk/Octillery/Yveltal-EX/Jirachi/otherStuff)
  • Entei/Charizard-EX or Emboar-EX
  • Speed Flareon-EX
  • Darkrai-Hypno
  • Raichu/Zoroark/Zebstrika
  • M-Mewtwo
Some guy might play it
Probably won't see these... but they aren't "bad" - might make a really good deck to bring.
  • Dragonite-EX/Bats ;) yeah I really should stop with this.
Click to expand...


In my opinion, lessen the amount of decks to expect. I can't even list that many!!! Night march, zoroark, trevenant, and toad has taken up over 60% of the Standard meta, (As of States) so just work with that for now.

Source: http://thecharizardlounge.com/tournament-results/2016-state-championship-results/
 
Emskas said:
I agree with Kai, as the amount of people that actively build weird newer decks that are not of top tier is very slim. There is no deck that can actively counter all those you have mentioned. For those that are going to nationals, test against the most popular decks: expect a load of dark, and random questionable decks in juniors, Night March, Greninja, YZG, and Trevenant in seniors, and the four decks most recently mentioned along with Garchomp in masters. You shouldn't worry too much about other decks too much whilst testing either. I ended up testing against a ton of decks last year for nationals, and half my matchups ended up being fighting, while the others were 1 trevenant, a few Dark, and a kingdra deck (lolwut). Pokemon is sometimes just about luck, and although picking the right deck can combat this, you just will sometimes have to lose.
Click to expand...

Updated the list to be less frightening.
 
Chi-Town Master said:
Wow so fighting won't be there at all you think?
Click to expand...
I haven't seen many results with it so far... probably because it isn't very efficient at beating NM, Greninja, and Trevenant.
I orginally had Zygarde on here but I moved it to the last tier because I had don't think I had any solid reason to put it on the list rather than it is a good deck in theory. If it makes some big appearance in the next few weeks, I'll bump it up.

Anyways, I thought this was a Playtesting thread, not a Tier discussion thread ;)
 
Love this.

Username: ajbroski

Relevant decks.
Trees (most willing to test this/my nats consideration)
Vespiqueen&friends
Night March

Rouge:
MegaMan/Ho-oh (considering it for Nats as I saw success with it @ states)

Will test against anything but mainly looking for Dark, or Ninjas.
 
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Chi-Town Master said:
Wow so fighting won't be there at all you think?
Click to expand...

I think it will boil down to whether or not everyone can figure out Medicham. With Korrina, Fighting decks have an easier time that most decks when it comes to managing multiple evolution branches. Zygarde-EX and Medicham also have countermeasures to protect their Focus Sashes from small-scale chip damage, which lets them be relatively good at both offense and defense (a lone Zygarde-EX can potentially beat Trevenant decks just by playing a game of attrition with Cell Storm). Add Carbink and its BREAK into the equation, and facing down the deck suddenly becomes a puzzle of sorts unless you run something like the evolution deck (Trevenant, Ninjas, or VespiPlume).
 
Sabaku said:
tcg one is broken and everyone knows it. I tried using a deck there a few days ago, and it kept misreading the energy types I had.
Click to expand...
Oh wow i guess im the lucky one then i get no prolems with tcg one! Also anyone willing to trade on ptcgo for breakthrough packs? My user is iceboard4.
 
Screen Name: Sharpedo. Still Unsure if I am going to nats, but just in case, I'd like to get some testing in, and even if I don't go, I can still help others. I can build pretty much anything that isn't Trees or Frogs and I would like to test against all the top tier decks, and some of the mid-tier decks.
 
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