Standard Raichu GX/Naganadel - What if Ash didn't screw up?

[K-Genesis]

Pokemon: 18

3-3 Raichu GX (attacker)
3-3 Naganadel (battery/secondary attacker)
1-2 Zebstrika (support)
1 Tapu Koko GX (secondary attacker)
1 Tapu Lele GX (support)
1 Ditto Prism Star (evolution)

Trainer: 30

4x Cynthia
3x Guzma
2x Lillie
2x Sightseer
1x Volkner

4x Ultra Ball
2x Nest Ball
2x Mysterious Treasure
2x Beast Ring
2x Energy Switch
2x Choice Band
2x Ultra Space
1x Rescue Stretcher
1x Thunder Mountain Prism Star

Energy: 12

12x Electric Energy

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Hello, everybody. Deck list first to get it out of the way. Just a fun twist on Blacephalon, featuring everybody's favorite fat rat. The key differences here are discussed below:

- Naganadel is a necessary attacker, aside from its usual battery role, since it covers Raichu's weakness. Choice Band is all it takes to knock Buzzwole GX out.

- Tapu Koko GX is a great early game option to take out big non-GX basics or simply if you don't pump enough energy out at first. Also, it's a great tech against anything that runs Naganadel and/or is called Rayquaza/Gardevoir.

- 1-2 Zebstrika because its draw power is a must, but you have Ditto, so you can afford the weird line-up.

- Volkner is the MVP, fetching game-winning stuff like Beast Ring or Energy Switch at clutch moments

Some stuff to take into consideration and very much open to discussion as of now:

- Acerola: recovering Koko or Lele from Punishment match-ups, while possibly recycling energy to hand is desirable

- 2nd Volkner/3rd Energy Switch: Once the engine is solid, Zeb does all the drawing. A 2nd Volkner searches out whatever is needed on point. A 3rd Energy Switch is one of those things every once in a while

- Acro Bike: acceleration almost never hurts and, once or twice, getting energy to the discard takes an extra effort


Any thoughts, suggestions or critiques? Fire away!

 

[TorchHG]

So from what I see, the deck list tries to do a number of tricky plays more consistently, but the overall consistency of the deck may be hampered by that. I would encourage you to find the items that are most helpful to your deck and focus on them.

As for my personal input (may be taken or disregarded based on what you find important in the deck):

-Given that you have Thunder Mountain Prism Star and Tapu Koko GX, as well as Raichu GX not needing Electric energy attached to itself to deal more damage, I'd probably cut 1 or both of the energy switches, especially since Volkner is a good card. Honestly, maybe just cut 1 energy switch for the second Volkner.

-Having only 2 beast ring in the deck means that most games you should be only expecting to play down 1 of them on average. Does adding 40 damage board that explosive? Or making room for 4 beast rings to add 80 damage, on average, or up to 160 damage seem more enticing? I'd definitely encourage finding some space for the full 4 beast rings as increasing the chances to reach for some incredible damage sounds really good to me.

-I know you value Zebestrika, but perhaps there's merits to only playing 1-1 or 0-1 with Ditto Prism Star? Just a thought to free up some space.

-Lastly, Electripower I think could be a good tech option if you find you need to get really aggressive some games and having an extra 30 damage searchable by Volkner would help with that. Just a thought given that it is somewhat of an Electric Attacker deck, but definitely would not cut choice bands for it.

I definitely would like to see Raichu GX work, and this looks like a good step in the right direction. Let me know what your thoughts are!

 

[K-Genesis]

First of all, thanks for the input. I appreciate the time you took to be thorough.


Now, to your pointers:


- Energy Switch, like Koko, is a means to create an immediate attacker while relieving Nagas from excess energy. I find it to be essential to the deck's mid-game flow. I find that a 2nd Volk is (more) important, though, but playing with a single ES is unfathomable.


- 1 Beast Ring suffices to stabilize numbers, usually feeding a 3rd Poipole that's just hitting the bench. Going all in on Beast Ring might burden Nagas too much without any real necessity, since they bulk up naturally over the course of the game. In fact, during testing, the possibility of running a single copy came up. Still working on it.


- Zebstrika gets two copies out of necessity, tbh. More than once, when it happens to be prized, the deck bricks hard. Can't risk it, since Zeb doubles as support for energizing Naga and drawing stuff.


- Electropower might be worth testing, but it's a bit of a win-more in my mind. Once the engine gets going, it's hard not to build up that damage to +200. Something to keep in mind, though

 

[Wolfe_XD]

Raichu attacks for DCE if im not mistaken so maybe 2 0r 3 could give you some cheeky little plays here and there.