Discussion Sceptile + What = Success?

FierySplash

FierySplash

Aspiring Trainer
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Was thinking of running two M Sceptiles and two Sceptile Ex's in my new Standard 2017 Rotation deck, any ideas on what Pokemon will go well along with Sceptile?
 
More Sceptile, but with Ariados or Garbodor? But Garbodor really depends on how many Standard tournaments you'll have and if there will be any tool-removing cards in the next set (and if the deck does well to begin with). If California is anything like last year, there will be very few Standard tournaments for us to play in until after the next set comes out. So it'll be hard for us to take advantage of any loss of rotated cards, assuming Evolutions makes up for any of it...

Then again, might as well just run more Silent Lab...
 
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I began theorizing and testing Sceptile/MSceptile with Garbodor a few weeks ago, and it seems to be working pretty well. I'd give it a try.
 
I think the best bet is to run a variant that uses high counts of basic energy, including some Psychic energy so that it can fit in Giratina. Giratina is poised to be an important threat next season against Rayquaza; a Stadium drop + Chaos Wheel from a Fury Belted Giratina should require Rayquaza to commit massive amounts of resources to respond back with an Emerald Break for knock out. Rayquaza can't Hex and Pokemon Ranger in the same turn, so you kind of force them into a lose-lose situation and ensure that Giratina gets at least one more attack off.
 
Not a remotely proven idea, but perhaps M Sceptile-EX could also be run akin to M Manectric-EX post rotation? We would have been losing Battle Compressor for Mega Man decks anyway. It requires a lot of adjustment I am sure; Energy Retrieval and Fisherman aren't going away though so snagging Energy from the discard pile to reattach with Jagged Saber may work... as well as getting a few off Type Basic Energy so that you don't have to rely on Special Energy to meet non-Grass/Colorless Energy requirements.
 
chacks13 said:
How do you work garbodor in the deck while using hoopa and shaymin?
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My friend flew all the way across the country to get Top 128 at Nationals for his invite using a M Sceptile/Ariados deck without Hoopa or Shaymin ;) It can be done.
 
Asrialys said:
My friend flew all the way across the country to get Top 128 at Nationals for his invite using a M Sceptile/Ariados deck without Hoopa or Shaymin ;) It can be done.
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It is entirely possible to make a functioning deck without Shaymin-EX and/or Hoopa-EX, like you said. It would just be a little more inconsistent in setting up. I don't actually run and Hoopa-EX in mine and it works just as well. (Congrats to your friend by the way!)
 
Mega Sceptile needs Ariados. That poison damage is what's gonna let him 2HKO Mega Rayquaza. Giratina is gonna really put it to you though, and there's not much you can do against it. You could use Shrine of Memories to gain access to Sceptile-EX's attack since it will KO a poisoned unbelted Giratina going into your turn. Otherwise you'll have to reuse Hex and Lysandre around the thing.
 
I've been testing M Sceptile lists without Ariados, and have found that running 2 Giovanni's Scheme achieves similar results without needing to worry about Garbodor neutralizing Ariados, and it deals with the mirror match up much better which may be pretty relevant since Sceptile decks are on the rise. If you draw the Scheme early you can just Ultra Ball/Sycamore it away and have it be just a VS Seeker away from nabbing some nice 2 hit KOs. Or you can actually use it to draw cards lol. I've found it to be more reliable and eases the stress on my bench space. Of course the trade off is that it means dedicating your supporter to it, so it can't be combo'd with Lysandre but there are other ways to achieve the similar things (escape rope/Hawlucha SS). As well as the fact that its not an every turn boost to damage but the end results are nearly the same. Hit for 100 the first turn, your opponent thinks he safe and doesn't switch out since you have no Ariados or would be immune to its ability anyways, next turn hit for 100+20(Gio's Scheme) and boom there goes most targets.
 
A build I have been toying with is 2-2 Zoroark, 3-3 Mega Sceptile, 2 Shaymin, and 1 Hoopa, so far it has been really consistent, but an utter pain to play due to how hard it is to get knockouts.
 
I have been testing with Vileplume. What I would like to have is Hoopa and 4 spirit links so I can put down my spirit links turn 1 before item lock. I so far have always gotten the turn 1 item lock. The only problem for me is getting the energy.
 
How about running a 2 Mega Sceptiles 3 Sceptile EX's and 2 or 3 Zoroak Breaks? (Mind Jack is a colorless move, plus foul play is a priceless move, not literally).
 
Gelato said:
I think the best bet is to run a variant that uses high counts of basic energy, including some Psychic energy so that it can fit in Giratina. Giratina is poised to be an important threat next season against Rayquaza; a Stadium drop + Chaos Wheel from a Fury Belted Giratina should require Rayquaza to commit massive amounts of resources to respond back with an Emerald Break for knock out. Rayquaza can't Hex and Pokemon Ranger in the same turn, so you kind of force them into a lose-lose situation and ensure that Giratina gets at least one more attack off.
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That's when Mega Sceptile comes in! It's Mega Evolution trait allows it to ignore abilities so Mega Sceptile can charge its Jagged Saber in half the time and get a K/O, while simultaneously charging benched pokemon.
 
PMJ said:
Mega Sceptile needs Ariados. That poison damage is what's gonna let him 2HKO Mega Rayquaza. Giratina is gonna really put it to you though, and there's not much you can do against it. You could use Shrine of Memories to gain access to Sceptile-EX's attack since it will KO a poisoned unbelted Giratina going into your turn. Otherwise you'll have to reuse Hex and Lysandre around the thing.
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Quoting Myself:
FierySplash said:
That's when Mega Sceptile comes in! It's Mega Evolution trait allows it to ignore abilities so Mega Sceptile can charge its Jagged Saber in half the time and get a K/O, while simultaneously charging benched pokemon.
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Jagged Saber (M Sceptile EX - Ancient Origins)

Q. If I use Mega Sceptile EX's "Jagged Saber" attack against Giratina EX with the "Renegade Pulse" Ancient Trait, does Mega Sceptile EX's "Theta Stop" Ancient Trait prevent "Renegade Pulse" from blocking the damage? If not, then does "Renegade Pulse" prevent "Jagged Saber" from attaching any Grass Energy?
A. Renegade Pulse prevents all effects of attacks done to Giratina EX, but it does not "do anything" to Mega Sceptile EX for its Theta Stop to kick in. So the damage part is blocked by Renegade Pulse, but the effect of attaching energy is not being done to Giratina EX so that part of the attack does not get blocked. (Sep 3, 2015 TPCi Rules Team)

Sorry, but you are still boned, hope you have Lysandre.
 
Does Mega Sceptile even run alternate attackers? I don't have much experience with the deck.
 
Actually against Giratina you could probably just not evolve... but that makes it that much easier for Darkrai to kill you. But oh, you'd get access to FFB then, giving you 10 less HP but a boosted Unseen Claw which would OHKO an unbelted Giratina. That's not insignficant.
 
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