Custom Garchomp Deck. First post.

[idk_cards19]

Hello everyone. I want to make a decent deck, and ended up modding Mach Strike and focusing it around Garchomp even more. Can somebody tell me how to improve this deck?
Cards:
2 Garchomp from Mach Strike
2 Garchomp from Towering Heights
2 Gabite from Mach Strike
2 Gabite from Towering Heights
3 Gible from Mach Strike
1 Gible from Towering Heights
2 Passimian from Towering Heights
1 Lucario, from Mach Strike
2 Riolu, from Mach Strike
2 Spiritomb, from Mach Strike
2 Gumshoos, from Mach Strike
2 Yungoos, from Mach Strike
1 Mew, from Towering Heights
20 Fighting type energies
4 Cynthia
2 Professor Kukui
2 Nest Balls
2 Green's Exploration
2 Switch
1 Rescue Stretcher
1 Martial Arts Dojo
1 Pal Pad
1 Escape Board

 

[donavannj]

So, are you trying to take this to a league? Just looking to know how heavy I should go in on suggestions. I don't wanna go budget-breaking hard if you're just playing among friends.

 

[idk_cards19]

So, are you trying to take this to a league? Just looking to know how heavy I should go in on suggestions. I don't wanna go budget-breaking hard if you're just playing among friends.

I want to do competitive, because I don't have anybody to casually play with. So 20-70$ before my parents get mad.

 

[donavannj]

I want to do competitive, because I don't have anybody to casually play with. So 20-70$ before my parents get mad.

Oh, that might be a bit of a problem, as a general staple in Dedenne GX runs about $30 for a single copy.

We can figure something out without that, though. I'll pop back in with recommendations for changes if I have the energy to do so after work tonight. But I can say for certain that Yungoos is not going to be in the final list so you can ditch it and Gumshoos right now.

 

[idk_cards19]

Oh, that might be a bit of a problem, as a general staple in Dedenne GX runs about $30 for a single copy.

We can figure something out without that, though. I'll pop back in with recommendations for changes if I have the energy to do so after work tonight. But I can say for certain that Yungoos is not going to be in the final list so you can ditch it and Gumshoos right now.

Ok! I recently got my hands on another ascension gible, so I replaced the Towering Heights gible. Overall, how is it though? I can ask for cards for birthdays, or buy it myself. I also am wondering whether I have too many energies or not.
List of Changes so far:
Remove Yungoos x2+Gumshoos x2
Recommendation for 1+ Dedenne Gx

 

[donavannj]

Alright, full tweaks. I'll be using the actual sets their from rather than the theme decks for my additions:

2 Garchomp from Mach Strike
2 Garchomp from Towering Heights
2 Gabite from Mach Strike
2 Gabite from Towering Heights
3 Gible from Mach Strike
1 Gible from Towering Heights
2 Passimian from Towering Heights
1 Lucario, from Mach Strike
2 Riolu, from Mach Strike
2 Spiritomb, from Mach Strike
2 Gumshoos, from Mach Strike
2 Yungoos, from Mach Strike
1 Mew, from Towering Heights
20 Fighting type energies
4 Cynthia
2 Professor Kukui
2 Nest Balls
2 Green's Exploration
2 Switch
1 Rescue Stretcher
1 Martial Arts Dojo
1 Pal Pad
1 Escape Board

-33
-2 Professor Kukui
-2 of Gabite in any combination, whether that be removing one of each or both of one
-2 Gumshoos
-2 Yungoos
-2 Spiritomb
-2 Passimian
-2 Riolu
-2 Nest Ball (good, but not Standard legal at the moment; only legal in Expanded and most places only run Standard tournaments)
-2 Switch
-1 Rescue Stretcher (again, good, but not Standard legal anymore)
-11 Fighting Energy (you want to be drawing into trainers and Pokemon more than you do energy for the most part because there are ways to get the energy out anyway)
-2 Green's Exploration
-2 of the Ultra Prism Garchomp (Mach Strike one)

+30
+2 of the Forbidden Light Garchomp (it's fighting type instead of Dragon, so it can take advantage of an addition further down my list)
+4 Triple Acceleration Energy (for setting up the Royal Blades attack faster)
+3 Pal Pad
+4 Riolu UNM (only has 60 HP so you can actually grab it with Professor Elm's Lecture which is a huge help)
+3 Lucario UPR (since you run Garchomp, might as well go all in and run enough copies to take advantage of its ability more consistently)
+2 Great Catcher
+4 Professor Elm's Lecture (Good for fetching a lot of Pokemon fast, but only those under 60 HP)
+3 Pokemon Communication (Good for swapping some of the Pokemon you got with Elm's for Pokemon that you can't get with Elm's like your Garchomp and Lucario)
+1 Diancie Prism Star (its ability boost fighting type attack damage by 20)
+1 Power Plant (shutting down the abilities of GXs)
+1 Martial Arts Dojo (since you'll fall behind)
+2 Lillie (Draw Power)
+3 Rare Candy (bypass Gabite into a garchomp, you'll need this speed at leagues)
+1 Viridian City Gym (for getting basic fighting energy from the deck)

Dedenne GX is a very nice setup card to have if you can obtain it and you can get away with 1 in this deck, and I'd personally swap it out for one of: Triple Acceleration Energy, Viridian City Gym, or Power Plant.

Though I do totally expect this list to get bodied at a league due to the fact that neither Garchomp deals with the big Tag Teams that dominate Standard currently very well at all, but at least this list should give you a better fighting chance.

Maybe drop a Pal Pad for a Brock's Grit if you're finding yourself burning through Pokemon and Basic Energy very quickly.

 

[idk_cards19]

Alright, full tweaks. I'll be using the actual sets their from rather than the theme decks for my additions:

2 Garchomp from Mach Strike
2 Garchomp from Towering Heights
2 Gabite from Mach Strike
2 Gabite from Towering Heights
3 Gible from Mach Strike
1 Gible from Towering Heights
2 Passimian from Towering Heights
1 Lucario, from Mach Strike
2 Riolu, from Mach Strike
2 Spiritomb, from Mach Strike
2 Gumshoos, from Mach Strike
2 Yungoos, from Mach Strike
1 Mew, from Towering Heights
20 Fighting type energies
4 Cynthia
2 Professor Kukui
2 Nest Balls
2 Green's Exploration
2 Switch
1 Rescue Stretcher
1 Martial Arts Dojo
1 Pal Pad
1 Escape Board

-33
-2 Professor Kukui
-2 of Gabite in any combination, whether that be removing one of each or both of one
-2 Gumshoos
-2 Yungoos
-2 Spiritomb
-2 Passimian
-2 Riolu
-2 Nest Ball (good, but not Standard legal at the moment; only legal in Expanded and most places only run Standard tournaments)
-2 Switch
-1 Rescue Stretcher (again, good, but not Standard legal anymore)
-11 Fighting Energy (you want to be drawing into trainers and Pokemon more than you do energy for the most part because there are ways to get the energy out anyway)
-2 Green's Exploration
-2 of the Ultra Prism Garchomp (Mach Strike one)

+30
+2 of the Forbidden Light Garchomp (it's fighting type instead of Dragon, so it can take advantage of an addition further down my list)
+4 Triple Acceleration Energy (for setting up the Royal Blades attack faster)
+3 Pal Pad
+4 Riolu UNM (only has 60 HP so you can actually grab it with Professor Elm's Lecture which is a huge help)
+3 Lucario UPR (since you run Garchomp, might as well go all in and run enough copies to take advantage of its ability more consistently)
+2 Great Catcher
+4 Professor Elm's Lecture (Good for fetching a lot of Pokemon fast, but only those under 60 HP)
+3 Pokemon Communication (Good for swapping some of the Pokemon you got with Elm's for Pokemon that you can't get with Elm's like your Garchomp and Lucario)
+1 Diancie Prism Star (its ability boost fighting type attack damage by 20)
+1 Power Plant (shutting down the abilities of GXs)
+1 Martial Arts Dojo (since you'll fall behind)
+2 Lillie (Draw Power)
+3 Rare Candy (bypass Gabite into a garchomp, you'll need this speed at leagues)
+1 Viridian City Gym (for getting basic fighting energy from the deck)

Dedenne GX is a very nice setup card to have if you can obtain it and you can get away with 1 in this deck, and I'd personally swap it out for one of: Triple Acceleration Energy, Viridian City Gym, or Power Plant.

Though I do totally expect this list to get bodied at a league due to the fact that neither Garchomp deals with the big Tag Teams that dominate Standard currently very well at all, but at least this list should give you a better fighting chance.

Maybe drop a Pal Pad for a Brock's Grit if you're finding yourself burning through Pokemon and Basic Energy very quickly.

Jesus Christ that is a lot of cards. I'll try to get my hands on this stuff. I don't plan on going very far, and I would spend more, but then my parents would kill me. They're already mad at me for only getting Pokemon cards for Christmas.
Cards I possess out of the recommended:
1 Triple Acceleration Energy
3 Pokemon Communication
1 Power Plant
1 Lillie

Yeah I have a long way to go. I'll probably get a couple of these in the 3 theme decks I bought. Maybe a Lillie or 2 pal pads will be what I pull at most. I can buy a bunch of this over the next year though.

Offers I've found for these cards:
Triple Acceleration Energy: 47 cents per card. Condition new
Forbidden Light Garchomp: All below 2 dollars. Condition new
Pal Pad: All below 2 dollars. Condition new
Riolu UNM: All below a dollar. Condition new
Lucario UPR: All below 2 dollars, Condition new
Great Catcher: All below 3 dollars, Condition new
Professor Elm's Lecture All below a dollar, Condition new
Diance Prism Star: All below 5 dollars, Condition new
Lillie: All below a dollar, Condition new
Rare Candy: I think I have 1 or 2 of these, I'll check back about these ones. All below 3 dollars, Condition new
Viridian City Gym: I can't find any of the new cards, only the old one. Where would I get one?
Dedenne GX: 30 Dollars roughly
Martial Arts Dojo: Why can't I find any single card deals? I found sets of 4 for below 2 dollars

Total Estimated Cost: 75.41 dollars, if the deals are at the middle part of costs. Not including Viridian Gym, because it doesn't exist to the online shopping world.

 

[donavannj]

Jesus Christ that is a lot of cards. I'll try to get my hands on this stuff. I don't plan on going very far, and I would spend more, but then my parents would kill me. They're already mad at me for only getting Pokemon cards for Christmas.
Cards I possess out of the recommended:
1 Triple Acceleration Energy
3 Pokemon Communication
1 Power Plant
1 Lillie

Yeah I have a long way to go. I'll probably get a couple of these in the 3 theme decks I bought. Maybe a Lillie or 2 pal pads will be what I pull at most. I can buy a bunch of this over the next year though.

Offers I've found for these cards:
Triple Acceleration Energy: 47 cents per card. Condition new
Forbidden Light Garchomp: All below 2 dollars. Condition new
Pal Pad: All below 2 dollars. Condition new
Riolu UNM: All below a dollar. Condition new
Lucario UPR: All below 2 dollars, Condition new
Great Catcher: All below 3 dollars, Condition new
Professor Elm's Lecture All below a dollar, Condition new
Diance Prism Star: All below 5 dollars, Condition new
Lillie: All below a dollar, Condition new
Rare Candy: I think I have 1 or 2 of these, I'll check back about these ones. All below 3 dollars, Condition new
Viridian City Gym: I can't find any of the new cards, only the old one. Where would I get one?
Dedenne GX: 30 Dollars roughly
Martial Arts Dojo: Why can't I find any single card deals? I found sets of 4 for below 2 dollars

Total Estimated Cost: 75.41 dollars, if the deals are at the middle part of costs. Not including Viridian Gym, because it doesn't exist to the online shopping world.

Where are you trying to buy?

Try TCGPlayer.com, and try trading for them/buying them at a local league as well. Dedenne is optional and not mandatory simply because of its cost.

Card count to change out is this high because I actually used to run this list when the set Mach Strike is a theme deck for came out and my recommendations are based on how I ran the list and the problems I ran into with that list.

 

[idk_cards19]

Where are you trying to buy?

Try TCGPlayer.com, and try trading for them/buying them at a local league as well. Dedenne is optional and not mandatory simply because of its cost.

Card count to change out is this high because I actually used to run this list when the set Mach Strike is a theme deck for came out and my recommendations are based on how I ran the list and the problems I ran into with that list.

I found all of this on Amazon. I also can't find the time to trade at a local league. These prices are lower than expected. I can pay for Dedenne GX, and it's only a bit over my limit, so another year should get me all of this, if my parents let me spend a bit more. If Dedenne GX can give me a chance, I'll take that chance. It's good for setup, because with the proper cards, the Discard Pile is an extra hand. I learned that when a guy at a small tournament discarded a Darkrai Ex, brought it back when he needed it, and kicked my ass. Granted I was 10 at that point, and my deck then was absolute trash, but that showed its usefulness then. Thanks for the recommendation about TCGplayer. I didn't know that website existed. I found a Grubbin that allows me to search for Electric type Pokemon. Would that be useful? I actually have 2 Lillie, and I was able to find the Power Plant card from the depths of my collection.

My Current Partially Modded Deck List (33/60 Cards)
2 Garchomp (UNM)
1 Lucario (UPR)
1 Mew (Unbroken Bonds)
2 Gabite (UPR)
3 Gible (UPR)
1 Gible (Forbidden Light)
1 Power Plant
3 Pkmn Comm. (2 are SM Team Up, one is from an old Team Plasma deck. Is this important?)
2 Lillie
1 Martial Arts Dojo
1 Pal Pad
1 Escape Board
4 Cynthia
9 Fighting Energy
1 Triple Accel. Energy

Cards Needed:
2 Forbidden Light Garchomp
3 Triple Accel. Energy
4 UNM Riolu
3 UPR Lucario
1 Diance Prism Star
1 Martial Arts Dojo
2 Great Catcher
4 Professor Elm's Lecture
3 Rare Candy
1 Viridian City Gym (Can you show me what this card looks like? I can only find the super old one)
1 Dedenne GX

 

[donavannj]

I found all of this on Amazon. I also can't find the time to trade at a local league. These prices are lower than expected. I can pay for Dedenne GX, and it's only a bit over my limit, so another year should get me all of this, if my parents let me spend a bit more. If Dedenne GX can give me a chance, I'll take that chance. It's good for setup, because with the proper cards, the Discard Pile is an extra hand. I learned that when a guy at a small tournament discarded a Darkrai Ex, brought it back when he needed it, and kicked my ass. Granted I was 10 at that point, and my deck then was absolute trash, but that showed its usefulness then. Thanks for the recommendation about TCGplayer. I didn't know that website existed. I found a Grubbin that allows me to search for Electric type Pokemon. Would that be useful? I actually have 2 Lillie, and I was able to find the Power Plant card from the depths of my collection.

My Current Partially Modded Deck List (33/60 Cards)
2 Garchomp (UNM)
1 Lucario (UPR)
1 Mew (Unbroken Bonds)
2 Gabite (UPR)
3 Gible (UPR)
1 Gible (Forbidden Light)
1 Power Plant
3 Pkmn Comm. (2 are SM Team Up, one is from an old Team Plasma deck. Is this important?)
2 Lillie
1 Martial Arts Dojo
1 Pal Pad
1 Escape Board
4 Cynthia
9 Fighting Energy
1 Triple Accel. Energy

Cards Needed:
2 Forbidden Light Garchomp
3 Triple Accel. Energy
4 UNM Riolu
3 UPR Lucario
1 Diance Prism Star
1 Martial Arts Dojo
2 Great Catcher
4 Professor Elm's Lecture
3 Rare Candy
1 Viridian City Gym (Can you show me what this card looks like? I can only find the super old one)
1 Dedenne GX

FYI, format rotations happen roughly every August, so by this time next year a good chunk of what makes up your deck won't be standard legal.

Also it turns out I meant Viridian Forest. Keep getting the name mixed up because I remember what it does and that it has Viridian in the name.

PokeComm is one of those cards where the version doesn't really matter as they do all have the same card effect.

 

[idk_cards19]

FYI, format rotations happen roughly every August, so by this time next year a good chunk of what makes up your deck won't be standard legal.

Also it turns out I meant Viridian Forest. Keep getting the name mixed up because I remember what it does and that it has Viridian in the name.

PokeComm is one of those cards where the version doesn't really matter as they do all have the same card effect.

I found a way to get most of these cards. Little kids. My younger brother has friends that collect the TCG cards. They don't know what's really good and what's really bad. I toss them something that does damage, like one of my GX cards that I can't use, or a Zekrom or Kyurem EX, and BOOM DEDENNE GX! If I can trade with them, I should be able to get a bunch of these cards. Viridian Forest goes for 25 cents. I should be able to get all of the cards by June or earlier. Trainer cards won't be a problem. Kids don't care about them. I'm not scamming them either, so it doesn't feel as bad.

How do format rotations work? I don't quite understand them.

Dedenne GX: 27$
VIridian Forest: .25$
Rare Candy x3: .45$
Professor Elm's Lecture: 1.4$
Triple Accel. Energy x3: .6$
Great Catcher x2: 2.76$
Martial Arts Dojo: .05$
Diance Prism Star: 1.89$
Lucario UPR x3: 1.2$
Riolu UNM x4: .24$
Forbidden Light Garchomp x2: .48$

New total for cards: 36.32$
What. How??? How did I not know about this??? I could have gotten all of this for Christmas. I already chose my gift. Frick.

 

[Bradaction]

Much too many energies, you should only have 9 or 10, also if playing expanded, play 6 fighting and 4 dce, play about 30-35 trainers, remember in pokemon consistency is the key

 

[idk_cards19]

Thank you so much for the advice! I've cut it down to 13 energies. 9 Fighting and 4 Triple Accel.

 

[Bradaction]

That sounds a lot more manageable, 13 energies is a very good amount for most competitive decks. Note that some of the current meta decks have 15-20 energies, these decks are accel decks like reshizard, don't be tempted to do this is a garchomp deck, garchomp is a deck that works fantastically with 13 energies.

 

[donavannj]

Garchomp has no energy recovery available to it in the current format, its absolute floor should be 10 if it's all fighting, or 12 if it's a combo of TAE and Fighting energy, but no higher than 15.

 

[idk_cards19]

Thank you!

 

[idk_cards19]

Thanks for the advice! It needs to measure up against heavier hitters, so should I add more acceleration cards?

 

[donavannj]

Thanks for the advice! It needs to measure up against heavier hitters, so should I add more acceleration cards?

Not really a lot you can practically add to this to speed it up further, IMO. The biggest saving grace in this format is that Guzma is no longer standard legal, making it harder for your opponent to drag your setup and support Pokemon up, since our only options are Great Catcher (GXs only) and Custom Catcher, which requires *2* cards, and Guzma's something that killed me a lot toward the end of my run with this deck.

 

[idk_cards19]

Thanks! I'm still trying to get my hands on those cards, but I'll have them by maybe April.

 

[donavannj]

I wish you luck in keeping up with your opponents with this. It's going to get harder with Pokemon V and Pokemon VMax on the way.