Alt. Format Post-Rotation 2018-19: Kicking Scorchers(Zoroark-GX/Blaziken-GX/Turtonator-GX)

[cardgjammer]

This is an idea for a future deck plan involving a powerhouse:

##Pokémon - 18
* 2 Zorua SHL 52
* 2 Zoroark-GX SHL 53
* 3 Torchic CST 26
* 2 Combusken CST 27
* 3 Blaziken-GX CST 28
* 2 Turtonator-GX GRI 18
* 2 Oranguru SUM 113
* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60

##Trainer Cards - 30 = It+Su+St = 12 + 15 + 3
# Items- 13
* 3 Rare Candy
* 1 Field Blower
* 3 Choice Band
* 4 Ultra Ball
* 2 Energy Recycler
* 1 Rescue Stretcher

# Supporters- 15
* 4 Cynthia
* 2 Judge
* 3 Guzma
* 2 Fan Club
* 2 Kiawe
* 2 Copycat

# Stadiums - 3
* 3 Altar of the Sunne

##Energy - 10
* 10 Fire

Strategy: First turn, put Torchic and Zorua down, attach fire one. Turn two, use Zoroark GX's Trade to discard pokemon or energies, but not too much of those, then Rare Candy to Blaziken-GX, attach fire two. Turn 3, put Altar of the Sunne down, switch to Blaziken-GX, attach a choice band and a third energy, and use its second attack, while watching the GX get KO'd by the kick. Then, retreat ASAP to Turtonator-GX, attach a Fire, and fix the discard problem w/ Nitro Tank-GX.

Suggestions on possible changes to improve deck idea? Or is it just fine?

 

[friendfriend]

This is a cool idea! I have a few things for you to consider:

In terms of your strategy:

Turn 2 mallow may be hard to get off, because you'll require the following pieces:'

By end of first turn
-Zorua (you only play 2. so the odds of drawing one to start isn't high)
-Torchic
-Fire Energy

Without playing a supporter second turn
-Fire Energy
-Zoroark GX

This is entirely possible, but with only 6 fire energy in the deck, it won't be easy. It's just as likely that you'll end up with a grass or psychic energy in hand that you won't want to attach.

To solve this issue, consider replacing the psychic energy with fire energy, and replacing the mallow with Max Potion. It isn't a great solution, but it'll improve your consistency, and then this way you don't have to Tapu Cure GX (using your attack for the turn) or Acerola (using your supporter for the turn) to heal Blaziken GX.

Why are you playing Shrine of Punishments, exactly? All of your pokemon are either GXs or things that you'll want to evolve into a GX. Sure, you'll soften your opponent's pokemon up, but it sounds like your optimal strategy requires a Zoroark GX, Lurantis GX, and 1-2 Blaziken GX on the field (not to mention if you have to play a Tapu Lele GX to get to that point). At that rate, you'll have a combined 6-10 damage counters placed on your pokemon from the end of one of your turns to the start of your next. One of Blaziken GX's selling points is the high HP, but SoP just softens it up for your opponent. Blaze Kick + Choice Band will OHKO about anything you'll run into, so I'm not sure I see the point. Consider swapping these out for Altar of the Sunne if you really want to play a supporter, or a Field Blower (to counter your opponent's stadiums if you don't have any), a Cynthia (this is arguably the most consistent supporter available going into next format - it's worth playing 4 of), and a Copycat (this is a great card against Zoroark GX decks, which often have large hands).

Instead of Lurantis, have you considered a Turtonator GX? Nitro Tank GX will let you get 5 fire energy from the discard, instead of the 2 per attack that Flower Supply gets. Considering that you should only need to use 3-4 Blaze Kicks per game to win (assuming you're playing against a GX deck), this should get you the distance. This swap would allow you to play mono fire energies (getting rid of the 4 grass and adding four fire), improving your consistency to reach Blaze Kick. Additionally, this swap nets three spots that you can now use for something else (two if you're a conservative deck-builder and want two Turtonator GX). You could play a Rescue Stetcher (you only play 3 Torchic and 2 Zorua - if one Torchic goes down and another is knocked out you're in a tough spot; if one Zorua goes down and the other is prized you're out of luck currently), and then either some techs for your local metagame, another 1+1 Zorua and Zoroark GX, or something that can hit 'barrier' pokemon that resist damage from GX pokemon (Hoopa SHL and Ninetales BUS come to mind).

As a last thought, Zoroark GX typically shines in decks that play DCE, as it can attack as soon as it hits the field. I'm not sure that squeezing 4 DCE into this deck would be optimal, but it's worth noting. You could retool the deck to play the Blaziken from Champion Road that accelerates energy from the discard, as this would help with some of your energy concerns, and it's attack can utilize DCE. At this point, however, the list start to stray so far away from what you provided that I'll refrain from coming up with a list.

I haven't tested the deck you described at all, so I might be missing some element that makes it the best thing next format, or my suggestions for improvement might not help at all. At the end of the day, you should play what you want to play, but I hope my theorizing helps.

 

[cardgjammer]

This is a cool idea! I have a few things for you to consider:

In terms of your strategy:

Turn 2 mallow may be hard to get off, because you'll require the following pieces:'

By end of first turn
-Zorua (you only play 2. so the odds of drawing one to start isn't high)
-Torchic
-Fire Energy

Without playing a supporter second turn
-Fire Energy
-Zoroark GX

This is entirely possible, but with only 6 fire energy in the deck, it won't be easy. It's just as likely that you'll end up with a grass or psychic energy in hand that you won't want to attach.

To solve this issue, consider replacing the psychic energy with fire energy, and replacing the mallow with Max Potion. It isn't a great solution, but it'll improve your consistency, and then this way you don't have to Tapu Cure GX (using your attack for the turn) or Acerola (using your supporter for the turn) to heal Blaziken GX.

Why are you playing Shrine of Punishments, exactly? All of your pokemon are either GXs or things that you'll want to evolve into a GX. Sure, you'll soften your opponent's pokemon up, but it sounds like your optimal strategy requires a Zoroark GX, Lurantis GX, and 1-2 Blaziken GX on the field (not to mention if you have to play a Tapu Lele GX to get to that point). At that rate, you'll have a combined 6-10 damage counters placed on your pokemon from the end of one of your turns to the start of your next. One of Blaziken GX's selling points is the high HP, but SoP just softens it up for your opponent. Blaze Kick + Choice Band will OHKO about anything you'll run into, so I'm not sure I see the point. Consider swapping these out for Altar of the Sunne if you really want to play a supporter, or a Field Blower (to counter your opponent's stadiums if you don't have any), a Cynthia (this is arguably the most consistent supporter available going into next format - it's worth playing 4 of), and a Copycat (this is a great card against Zoroark GX decks, which often have large hands).

Instead of Lurantis, have you considered a Turtonator GX? Nitro Tank GX will let you get 5 fire energy from the discard, instead of the 2 per attack that Flower Supply gets. Considering that you should only need to use 3-4 Blaze Kicks per game to win (assuming you're playing against a GX deck), this should get you the distance. This swap would allow you to play mono fire energies (getting rid of the 4 grass and adding four fire), improving your consistency to reach Blaze Kick. Additionally, this swap nets three spots that you can now use for something else (two if you're a conservative deck-builder and want two Turtonator GX). You could play a Rescue Stetcher (you only play 3 Torchic and 2 Zorua - if one Torchic goes down and another is knocked out you're in a tough spot; if one Zorua goes down and the other is prized you're out of luck currently), and then either some techs for your local metagame, another 1+1 Zorua and Zoroark GX, or something that can hit 'barrier' pokemon that resist damage from GX pokemon (Hoopa SHL and Ninetales BUS come to mind).

As a last thought, Zoroark GX typically shines in decks that play DCE, as it can attack as soon as it hits the field. I'm not sure that squeezing 4 DCE into this deck would be optimal, but it's worth noting. You could retool the deck to play the Blaziken from Champion Road that accelerates energy from the discard, as this would help with some of your energy concerns, and it's attack can utilize DCE. At this point, however, the list start to stray so far away from what you provided that I'll refrain from coming up with a list.

I haven't tested the deck you described at all, so I might be missing some element that makes it the best thing next format, or my suggestions for improvement might not help at all. At the end of the day, you should play what you want to play, but I hope my theorizing helps.

Noted. Changes made. Please look at my edited list, and if you have any more ideas for improvements, tell me. If you think the deck is good...

Also note that Blaziken from Champion Road is still unknown in English, so until it is known to come...

 

[friendfriend]

@cardjgamer A few thoughts:

Two Oranguru SUM is a bit extreme in a deck w/ 2-2 Zoroark GX. Even having 1 isn't that uncommon, and getting 'Judged to 4' is both something that is easily manageable with two Zoroark GX, not to mention that Oranguru's Instruct doesn't help immensely with a Judge to 4 cards. Maybe consider 1 to 2 Escape Board - It'll help you get Blaziken GXs without enough energy to attack out of the active, and makes Zoroark GX's retreat hurt less. Alternatively, you could consider a 1-1 Smooth Over Marcargo line - you might not be able to set it up every game, but it'll really smooth out this Stage 2 deck when you do.

Assuming that you want to use Turtonator's GX attack, the odds of you playing two Energy Recyclers in one game are incredibly small. I'd remove one, and replace it with a 4th Rare Candy. Sure, you won't play 4 Rare Candy in a game, but it helps speed the deck up. In the case of having 3, if you discard one early (Ultra Ball or Trade) and one is prized, being left with one sounds rough - it would be really hard to draw into.

Upon further consideration, I wouldn't play 3 Altar of the Sunne. Water types are really rare right now, and I don't see them getting any more popular soon (maybe Swampert or Ludicolo/Marcargo will be popular budget decks, but I don't think they'll see wide play). It might be worthwhile to add another Field Blower so you have something to bump stadiums, and then add 1 Torchic and 1 Blaziken GX for consistency.

A few thoughts that are more 'your opinion':

How important do you feel that Kiawe is? Kiawe-ing a Torchic turn 1 sounds risky (Buzzwole + Beast Energy takes it out the next turn), and I'm not exactly sure it seems like a huge benefit even if the Torchic survives. You could have 6 energy attached to Blaziken GX by before your attack Turn 2 to be ready for two Blaze Kicks, but playing Kiawe T1 instead of another supporter probably reduces your odds of getting a Torchic out (especially since you only play 3), plus you then need Rare Candy + Blaziken GX in hand T2. Even then, this 'math' ignores the fact that you probably want to have a Zoroark set up by end of T2, as well as another Torchic on the board.

At this point, I don't really see how Zoroark GX fits into this deck. Sure, it's a good card, but I don't see much of a synergy beyond 'having more cards is good for any deck'. It'll be played with Shiftry GX because Shiftry wants to have the same hand size as the opponent/plays DCE and Banette GX because it wants to see supporter cards hit the discard pile, but I don't see the connection to Blaziken. Additionally, the 2 energy retreat cost is a bit of a liability without any retreating options.

I would absolutely print out proxies/use the cards you have to playtest soon, even if you're just seeing how many turns it takes you to get set up (Arguably 1 Blaziken GX fully powered up+ 1 Combusken + Oranguru/Zoroark GX). It's starting to look good on paper - now is the time to figure out what works and what doesn't before you get your heart set on something and convince yourself to play a sub-optimal list.