Cool BW-on eel-EX deck

Hey there, PC.

Since I'm not going to go to world's this year and I'm probably not going to finish my Hydreigon-Darkrai deck anytime soon, I'm going to play around with my EX Pokémon a little bit. As usual, the list is first.

15 Pokémon

3 Raikou-EX
2 Tornadus-EX
1 Mewtwo-EX
2 Zekrom
4-3 Eelektrik

31 T/S/S

3 Eviolite
3 Level Ball
2 Max Potion
2 PlusPower
2 Pokémon Catcher
2 Random Receiver
1 Super Rod
2 Switch
3 Ultra Ball
3 Bianca
4 N
2 Prof. Juniper
2 Skyarrow Bridge

14 Energy

4 DCE
10 Lightning


Strategy

Lead with Tornadus, hopefully with Skyarrow Bridge along with it. Go for a donk with DCE, using PlusPower if needed. Arm up Raikou and Zekrom with Dynamotor, and retreat to one of them. Raikou is used to snipe, Zekrom is used to Bolt Strike + PlusPower against Terrakion and other 130HP Dragons. Mewtwo is a self-counter. All Pokémon on your side of the field should have 3 Lightning energy attached, (Tornadus with a DCE and 1 Lightning) and Mewtwo with at least 2 energy. Max Potion the eels if Darkrai tries to snipe. As far as damage on the attackers goes, you can Max Potion the Raikou after a Volt Bolt. You should rotate attackers each turn, to even out the damage being circulated.

Questions

Does this deck need more Drawpower, Max Potion, or Pluspower? If so, what do I remove?

it ALWAYS needs more draw power Just skimming the list, you may want to change around the energy a bit so you have more Lightning Energy to work with. Just my personal preference, since you can more easily recover the Lightning Energy. I also am noticing a lack of Cilan, which I personally think should be a staple in most decks, as I like energy consistency, just so you can get them out of your deck if you need to.

I personally don't like Cilan that much. The reason is because it's a supporter, and you can't use any other things like Juniper, N, or Bianca. And when I did use Cilan in the past, I would run into many situations where I didn't get Ultra Ball when I got Cilan, therefore not being able to set up in the same turn. And Zekeels and the EX pokemon are all about SPEED.

Just a couple of thoughts...

To me, having that many trainers with so few copies is going to make it hard to constantly use the game plan you want to pull off. What im trying to say is it looks like a deck where you will get games where you will draw all the cards you want in the right order and crush the other deck then there will be games where you dont get close to pulling off your game plan and get made piss.

I would suggest cutting down on trainers you dont really need like PlussPower which is a nice card to have but imo not as useful as having three or four of cards you have two or three of. If your really hung up on having a pokemon enhancer in those two spots then i would rather "Rocky helmet" any day. But before that - I would get a forth evolite card in there because you have so many basic pokemon.

Two questions. Why so many Raikou EX? and no Zekrom EX?

PlusPower IS needed, to OHKO the other Zekroms, Terrakion, Landorus, and those other 'would be 10hp' pokemon. Rocky Helmet isn't good. Especially in a EX deck where you want to add in a lot of Eviolite, which I will do when I get a fourth. (Yes, I know. I don't have 4 eviolite)

The reason for so little numbers for trainers is because I need them all. And to get them, I have a thing called "using draw supporters" those will almost always get me the trainers I need.

I have so many Raikou's and no Zekrom-EX because Zekrom-EX is a very slow hitter and having 3 retreat isn't good when you have high energy costs. Raikou, however, is a fast attacker that can OHKO eels, zeebs, and can 2HKO almost any EX which is easy to do when you have 2 Raikou on the field (((or tornadus and Zekrom with catcher))).

No way. You have a thing called "using draw supporters". Thats amazing. Never heard of that before. Sarcasm is awesome :D... No point being sarcastic if you want feedback. I knew what draw supporters do when i made that comment about the number of trainers you have.

Anyway... Zekrom EX is a great card to rotate using superscoop up or switch (or both). Retreat cost dosent matter so much when you have two eels on the bench.

Plus Power is probably something you should be keeping in, maybe even adding more. I agree with Drakow that 4 Catcher is an absolute must in the coming format shift, but I'm not sure whether you should drop some N out of your deck for more Catcher. I do think you should drop your N count to 2 in favor of either 2 Cheren or maxing out your Juniper - my personal preference would be the 2 Cheren, but since this is ZekEels you could probably afford to discard your hand with Juniper, especially if it's only energy, since they're more likely to be useful for you over the entire game.

Okay... here's what I'll do.

-2 N
+2 Catcher
-1 Raikou
+1 Juniper
-1 Zekrom
+1 Zekrom-EX???

How's this?

(((i need mor switch and scoop up)))

It's important to note new cards that will presumably be in the set accompanying the format shift. Emolga and Tool Scapper will be the most relevant to how your deck should be built. Without Dual Ball or Pokemon Collector in the legal format, having access to an emergency bench-filler with a Call for Family attack is important in case your deck is running into few Pokemon draws. I recommend playing two in your deck. Tool Scrapper also severely reduces the effectiveness of Eviolite in your deck. I would replace any necessary Eviolite in your deck with Potions or Max Potions (Max Potion is a more multi-fasceted than a card for removing damage on Pokemon without energy), as they become a safer and more effective play with the advent of Tool Scrapper.

I also see a few unnecessary cards in your deck. The third Raikou EX is too much, as the third one will rarely ever see play, and in the case of a Raikou being prized, Pokemon Catcher more than makes up for the loss of a bench hitter. I see a drop in Super Rod's usefulness, as well. Since most of your deck works off of attacks that are powered up by Double Colorless Energy (I will suggest adding a Zekrom EX later), salvaging your Eelektriks is not as necessary as it would be if you had to rely on Electric energy only for your attacks. Having even one Eelektrik in play is enough to power up your attackers, mainly the Tornadus EX. It is your choice whether you feel Super Rod is necessary and safe, or if it is taking up important space. An alternative would be removing a Tynamo, which allows you the versatility of Super Rod at the cost of a slower set up should you choose to not attack with Emolga early on. My preference for Energy is eight Lightning Energy with four Double Colorless Energy, and I recommend the same energy line in favor of more draw power which will get you the necessary Energy.

Dragons Exalted will bring around two strong stage two Pokemon: Garchomp and Hydreigon. By including a Zekrom EX, you add to your deck a Pokemon that can knock each of them out in one hit and take more than one hit from each of their attacks. More Mewtwo EX wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Changing the supporter line to 4 Juniper, 4 N, and 2 Bianca with 3 Random Receiver gives you the highest chance of getting the best supporter possible during the beginning of the game, when it matters most. The amount of Pokemon Catcher in your deck needs to be increased or maximized, as long you play more than two in an offensive deck. Since you want to attack with Tornadus EX as soon as possible, playing a third copy of Skyarrow Bridge is a good idea to help you get it early for the added damage on Tornadus's first attack. Finally, as previously mentioned, Emolga is a safe play to get your bench full in case of emergency.

A revised list would look like:

Pokemon: 16
2 Tornadus EX
2 Mewtwo EX
1 Raikou EX
1 Zekrom EX
2 Zekrom (At the moment, I like this number, but I'm not sure how effective of an attacker Zekrom will end up being, so you can remove it for a Raikou EX if you prefer it)
3 Eelektrik
3 Tynamo
2 Emolga

Trainers: 32
4 Professor Juniper
3 N
2 Bianca
3 Skyarrow Bridge
3 Random Receiver
3 Level Ball
3 Ultra Ball
4 Pokemon Catcher
2 Max Potion
2 PlusPower
2 Switch
1 Super Rod

Energy: 12
8 Lightning Energy
4 Double Colorless Energy

The only problem with Emolga is that it get's OHKO'd by nearly anything. And the fact that I need an energy for Call for Family as well would basically mean using an energy AND your attack to just get one basic pokemon. That's like playing two Dual Balls, getting only one, then sending your Eelektrik to your active spot and pass your turn. Like I said, Emolga is free bait for any basic attacker in the format. I'd rather just play more draw supporters.

And only 8 Lightning Energy is WAY too few for an eel deck. Most eel decks need at LEAST 10 Lightning to start.

Max Potion wouldn't be the best idea because I don't use Shaymin. And when I play Skyarrow Bridge for mostly free retreat cost, I'll be discarding necessary energy needed to attack. And as I stated earlier, each of my attackers should have AT LEAST two to three energy on them at all times.

And I'm not even going to comment on the THREE Skyarrow Bridge.

Emolga turns a Level Ball or Ultra Ball early in the game to get you two basic Pokemon. I recommend it in your deck because it's a great card to use to set up with early in the game.

I've played Eelektrik-based decks with as little as eight (normal Zekrom build with various support) and seven (Terrakion-based Turn Two Land Crush) energy, and neither of them had any problems with energy attachments or droughts. In most matchups, Tornadus EX is a great card to fall back on with the four Double Colorless Energy, and only one Eelektrik is needed to support it.

Max Potion is great to keep your EX attackers from being knocked out. Since the revised list used so many EX attackers, it's almost always going to turn a game in your favor by letting you switch attackers and let a damaged one retire to the bench and let itself recover both damage and energy to be used again later.

Three Skyarrow Bridge lets you focus on Tornadus's first attack in the first couple of turns of the game. It helps you start attacking on the first turn a lot more often and by the second turn, even more. It's your choice to play it, and I'd suggest the fourth Tynamo is a good alternative for it.

I've been running Eels forever now, and I've gotta say just skimming the beginning of this list, cut back on the EX's. One outstanding issue I had playtesting was I was running a ton of EX attackers and my opponent laid down a Sigilyph and all their attacks except Raikou were crap. And then I lost Raikou and it was game over.

Also, don't run Zekrom EX. I've almost never found a situation where it's useful that isn't as a game finisher. It's too difficult to set up and I've found that the regular Zekrom gets the job done much more effectively.

I would personally add one or even two Terrakion in this deck for the mirror match...