ZekEels with Raichu!

[donavannj]

I built this in preparation for a States tournament yesterday that I ended up oversleeping. Couldn't decide on anything better, so I decided to go with something that'd be fun if it got working in the Raichu. I was initially gonna go with 4 Eelektrik, but I couldn't find a 4th Tynamo in my collection in a timely fashion. The Trainer collection was part experimentation, part trying to cover the deck's weak spots.

Pokemon:
1 Zekrom EX
2 Tornadus
3 Eelektrik
2 Tynamo (NV 39/101)
1 Tynamo (NV 38/101)
4 Zekrom
2 Pikachu (Black Star Promo HGSS03)
2 Pikachu (HGSS)
2 Raichu Prime (Undaunted 83/90)
2 Raichu (HGSS)

Trainers:
3 Junk Arm
3 Catcher
1 Black Belt
3 Pokemon Collector
1 Energy Search
4 Pokemon Communication
1 Level Ball
1 Heavy Ball
1 N
2 Cheren
4 Professor Juniper

Energy:
10 Lightning Energy
1 Double Colorless Energy
4 Rescue Energy

Thoughts? Improvements? Suggestions?

 

[Haxorus3465]

I'm not too big of a fan of Thundurus, and apparently not many people at my State Championships did either. But if you want to use it, use only one and replace the other with another Zekrom EX or Mewtwo EX. You definitely don't need 4 regular Zekrom, but they're good to use as techs with its Bolt Strike, which is quicker than most EXs. Terrakion always is nice against other Lightning decks like Eelzone and other ZekEels. The only downside is that its a Fighting-type, which doesn't match your deck's energy. So to help that, Prism Energy can be useful because it can support all of your Basic Pokémon without getting a fighting energy that is useless to this deck without Terrakion. Energy Search is too slow. Cilan would work better because it can get three basic energy instead of the Energy Search getting only one. I didn't see any way or getting your energy into the Discard Pile other than Professor Juniper and Junk Arm. Engineer's Adjustments and Sage's Training are helpful with that. Aside from all of that, this deck looks pretty nice!

-Hax

 

[donavannj]

I'm not a fan of Thundurus, either. I have a pair of Tornadus for countering Donphan and Terrakion. I don't have anything for the mirror match, though, so I'll consider adding Terrakion in. I presently only have 1 Zekrom EX, but I'll consider dropping one of the regular Zekrom for another one. I was eyeing Sage's Training, but I couldn't find any of mine (I know I have at least 6) when building the deck. I considered Engineer's Adjustments, but I felt it too dependent on actually having Energy in hand and it could potentially be a dead draw early game, so I went with Cheren instead. Didn't get a chance to test it out, either. I'll see about making a league event in the next two weeks to get some testing done and go from there.

 

[Tanaki]

-Tornadus(He doesn't pull energies from your deck, requires a DCE for a turn 2 Attack, is a target in mirror matchups, can be circumvented with Catcher, and can also drop your energies onto unnecessary pokemon or create targets for Mewtwo)

-2 to 3Zekrom(1 or 2 Zekrom is enough, and they're only there to KO weaker pokes like Virizion, Shaymin and to line Mewtwo up for a hit by Thundurus/Tornadus for the KO)

-Pikachu, Raichu(These guys are too easy to KO, take too long to setup, and realistically their attack costs are nearly the same as cards like Zekrom and Tornadus/Thundurus, who can hold their own against big attackers)

-Energy Search(This would be better off as a Cilan, Pokegear, Xtransciever, or an Energy)

-Heavy Ball(This card only searches out Zekrom, Reshiram, Kyurem, Regigigas, and Terrakion. This task can also be accomplished by Communication and Collector, or Dual Ball for that matter)

-Rescue Energy(Saving Stage 1's with this forces you to set them up again, at which point they're targets. Basics are better off being brought back with a revive at a time when you REALLY need them)

+Thundurus(He searches your deck for energies, attacks turn 2, and is a pain for Mewtwo to knock out without wasting resources)

+Zekrom EX(Aside from Terrakion, he's very hard for your opponent to 1-shot)

+Tynamo(38), Eelektrik(Increased consistency with your Eel lines doesn't really hurt)

+Mewtwo EX(Not always an option, but if you can get one it's always recommended)

+Regigigas EX(Regigigas' first attack is relatively reliable, and with an Eviolite attached he can tank hits effectively)

+Pluspowers(I cannot tell you how many games I've played where 10HP can mean the difference between a win or a loss)

+Revive(Get your pokemon back when you need them, 'nuff said)

+Switch(Super important with the retreat cost of a lot of pokemon now)

+Super Scoop Up/Max Potion(Both Cards reset the HP of the selected pokemon, which on EX's can impact your opponent, especially if they wasted a ton of resources trying for a KO. Scoop is 50/50, but it allows you to play to the bench and power up. Max potion puts all the Lightning energies back into the discard and allows you to come around for the next attack)

+Eviolite(It doesn't always help, but the worst it can do is force your opponent to waste their resources trying to circumvent it)

+Skyarrow Bridge(Every deck should run at least 1 of this card)

+3 DCE(Bulk up your EX's or help get Eels out of the dreaded active spot)

+Prism(Fit some techs into the mix, most notably Terrakion for mirrors)

Those are my recommendations.

 

[donavannj]

The two EX cards not available in tins are probably out of the question because I don't have the cash to spare to splurge on them, as is dropping the Pikachu and Raichu for now (I have missed too many events already this season, so I might as well play something I am familiar with to get back into the swing of things).