Help a newbie out?

[Dark Fire]

I'm thinking of making a deck which would consist of mainly water and colouless pokemon. Seeing as this is my first deck ever I have a few questions.

- First of all, seeing as almost all the pokemon in this deck will be water type, is the Dawn Stadium helpful? Or is it's added effect not all that beneficial? I was considering adding Glailie (Arceus) to the deck, so its attack would get boosted. Would this actually be a good strategy, or waste of space?
- Next, if I were to post my deck online for critique, how would I differentiate between two pokemon from the same set? For example, the Chimchar versions in Majestic Dawn?
- I want this deck to have Empoleon as the main attacker. Is there a clear cut best Empoleon card out there? I can't decide between the Platinum, Stormfront and Majestic Dawn version.

 

[Politoed666]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

I'm thinking of making a deck which would consist of mainly water and colouless pokemon. Seeing as this is my first deck ever I have a few questions.

- First of all, seeing as almost all the pokemon in this deck will be water type, is the Dawn Stadium helpful? Or is it's added effect not all that beneficial? I was considering adding Glailie (Arceus) to the deck, so its attack would get boosted. Would this actually be a good strategy, or waste of space?

Glalie and Dawn Stadium might be a worthwhile combo... but you'd have to center the deck around it.

- Next, if I were to post my deck online for critique, how would I differentiate between two pokemon from the same set? For example, the Chimchar versions in Majestic Dawn?

Put the set abbreviation after the name, i.e. Chimchar MD. See this thread.

- I want this deck to have Empoleon as the main attacker. Is there a clear cut best Empoleon card out there? I can't decide between the Platinum, Stormfront and Majestic Dawn version.

Try either the Majestic Dawn or Diamond & Pearl Empoleon.

 

[Dark Fire]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

So exactly how do Rare Candy and Level Max Work? The description is a little vague. Does Level Max basically assume you have the pokemon in its final stage and then you're allowed to use it, or can you put the Lv X card on a basic pokemon? Does a Rare Candy let you put the Stage 1 and Stage 2 card on at the same time?

 

[PlatinumDude]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

So exactly how do Rare Candy and Level Max Work? The description is a little vague. Does Level Max basically assume you have the pokemon in its final stage and then you're allowed to use it, or can you put the Lv X card on a basic pokemon? Does a Rare Candy let you put the Stage 1 and Stage 2 card on at the same time?

Rare Candy allows you to put the Stage 2 card on its Basic Pokemon stage. You're right about Level Max, I think (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[Politoed666]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

So exactly how do Rare Candy and Level Max Work? The description is a little vague. Does Level Max basically assume you have the pokemon in its final stage and then you're allowed to use it, or can you put the Lv X card on a basic pokemon? Does a Rare Candy let you put the Stage 1 and Stage 2 card on at the same time?

Rare Candy lets you go from a Basic Pokémon to the Stage 1 or Stage 2 evolution of that Pokémon, i.e. Piplup to Prinplup or Piplup to Empoleon, respectively. Nothing more, nothing less. You cannot use Rare Candy to go from, say, a basic Piplup to an Empoleon Lv.X, though. Additionally, and this is kind of an interesting ruling, you cannot use Rare Candy to go from a Stage 1 to a Stage 2. You cannot go Prinplup to Empoleon.

Level Max is a bit more convoluted. Level Max assumes you have a Pokémon in play that could be levelled up under normal conditions (not including "can't Lv. up and evolve in the same turn."). Meaning, if you have an Empoleon in play, you can play Level Max and, assuming you flip heads, search your deck for Empoleon Lv.X and put it onto Empoleon. You can't search for Empoleon Lv.X and play it on a Piplup. Of course, if you have a basic that does level up, such as Regigigas, you can use Level Max on it.

Did I clear that up a little bit?

 

[Dark Fire]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

Did I clear that up a little bit?

That did, thanks.

So instead of making a whole new thread I might as well post my deck in here for criticism; it's for the contest. I wanted to have Empoleon as the main attacker, but that sort of changed into Glaceon Lv. X; I think the pokebody is very beneficial. Anyway so here it is, my first deck ever.

Winter Wonderland Deck:

Pokemon: 21
x4 Glaceon Lv. X
x4 Glaceon (MD) ... Snow Cloak
x2 Eevee (RR)
x2 Eevee (MD) ... Call for Family
x2 Abomasnow (MT)
x2 Snorunt (MT)
x2 Uxie (LA)
x2 Stantler (SW)
x1 Delibird (GE)

Trainer: 27
x2 Dawn Stadium

x4 Bebe's Search
x2 Professor Oak's Visit
x2 Underground Expedition

x4 Level Max
x4 Pokedex
x2 Warp Point
x2 Switch
x2 Energy Recycle System
x1 Dusk Ball
x1 Luxury Ball
x1 Premier Ball

Energy: 12
x12 Water Energy


So it being a christmas themed deck and all, I chose pokemon that follow the theme (except Uxie; it's needed to speed up the deck).
Abomasnow; not only does it evolve from a christmas tree, but it's pokebody can slow down your opponent if you can't get Glaceon up right away; they have a large retreat cost though, that's what the switch/warp points are for
Stantler; mainly for the theme of the deck (reindeer) but they have a pretty handy attack too
Delibird; for the theme (Santa bird lol), they too have a semi-beneficial attack
Glaceon Lv. X; neat poke-body, and builds on Glaceon's attacks
Glaceon; the better of the Glaceon's in my opinion, it has some killer attacks
Eevee; I couldn't decide which of the two Eevee cards are better so I mixed and matched; drawing the Eevee (MD) right off the bat would be the best obviously

I'm not entirely sure I have the best cast of trainer cards though, and whether I have energies. So ... what do you guys think?

 

[Politoed666]

Re: Help a nebiew out?

That did, thanks.

So instead of making a whole new thread I might as well post my deck in here for criticism; it's for the contest. I wanted to have Empoleon as the main attacker, but that sort of changed into Glaceon Lv. X; I think the pokebody is very beneficial. Anyway so here it is, my first deck ever.

Winter Wonderland Deck:

Pokemon: 21
x4 Glaceon Lv. X
x4 Glaceon (MD) ... Snow Cloak
x2 Eevee (RR)
x2 Eevee (MD) ... Call for Family
x2 Abomasnow (MT)
x2 Snorunt (MT)
x2 Uxie (LA)
x2 Stantler (SW)
x1 Delibird (GE)

Trainer: 27
x2 Dawn Stadium

x4 Bebe's Search
x2 Professor Oak's Visit
x2 Underground Expedition

x4 Level Max
x4 Pokedex
x2 Warp Point
x2 Switch
x2 Energy Recycle System
x1 Dusk Ball
x1 Luxury Ball
x1 Premier Ball

Energy: 12
x12 Water Energy


So it being a christmas themed deck and all, I chose pokemon that follow the theme (except Uxie; it's needed to speed up the deck).
Abomasnow; not only does it evolve from a christmas tree, but it's pokebody can slow down your opponent if you can't get Glaceon up right away; they have a large retreat cost though, that's what the switch/warp points are for
Stantler; mainly for the theme of the deck (reindeer) but they have a pretty handy attack too
Delibird; for the theme (Santa bird lol), they too have a semi-beneficial attack
Glaceon Lv. X; neat poke-body, and builds on Glaceon's attacks
Glaceon; the better of the Glaceon's in my opinion, it has some killer attacks
Eevee; I couldn't decide which of the two Eevee cards are better so I mixed and matched; drawing the Eevee (MD) right off the bat would be the best obviously

I'm not entirely sure I have the best cast of trainer cards though, and whether I have energies. So ... what do you guys think?

Alright... first off, Glaceon Lv.X is one of he most underrated cards in the game. It has a brutal Poké-BODY, since almost every good deck in the game uses powers. Next. You don't need Delibird. You'd get the points based on the ice-type theme, and Delibird doesn't fit into the deck well. Next. Biggest problem... your deck is illegal. You can't use four of a Pokémon and then four of its Lv.X. The Lv.X and the normal Pokémon of the same name can only add up to four total, such as 2x Glaceon and 2x Glaceon Lv.X. Next. Underground Expedition sucks... really, it's a pretty bad card. I'll leave it up to you, but Roseanne's Research is usually a good card to run in decks. Next. Stantler is a bad choice... its attack may seem useful at first, but it's a dead draw in the lategame. Next. Drop your Abomasnow line... Abomasnow has little to no synergy with Glaceon, and you'd be better off adding in a 2-2 Claydol GE line for draw. Almost every good deck runs Claydol, since it helps you with getting the cards you need. I'm glad to see you're running Uxie, though.

Now... your Trainer line is sort of whack, but we can fix it. First off, I would drop 2x Level Max for 2x Premier Ball. It's not as fast, but it's not as flippy. Maybe add in an additional 2x Dusk Ball instead of those Energy Recycle Systems. I probably have more to say, but try making those changes and then I'll have another look.

 

[Dark Fire]

Alright, so I reworked this puppy a little bit. I didn't realise simply having an Ice type in the deck counts as having a theme, but I'm not complaining. I knew the Delibird and Stantler were just about useless in this deck.

Winter Wonderland Deck v.2.0:

Pokemon: 20
x2 Glaceon Lv. X
x2 Glaceon (MD) ... Snow Cloak
x2 Vaporeon (MD)
x4 Eevee (RR)
x2 Glalie (AR)
x2 Snorunt (AR)
x2 Claydol (GE)
x2 Baltoy (GE)
x2 Uxie (LA)

Trainer: 28
x2 Dawn Stadium

x4 Bebe's Search
x2 Professor Oak's Visit
x2 Roseanne's Research
x2 Team Galactic's Mars

x2 Level Max
x4 Pokedex
x2 Warp Point
x2 Switch
x3 Dusk Ball
x1 Luxury Ball
x2 Premier Ball

Energy: 12
x12 Water Energy


Better? Worse? I still don't know about the Trainer Cards ... do they work better now?

 

[Sheshi]

Don't you think you should have a few more energy cards in that deck?

 

[JWittz]

Don't you think you should have a few more energy cards in that deck?

not at all!

12 is very close to the maximum amount of energy a competitive deck will use. I'd say run 4 call energy and 7 Water energy myself.

The format is too fast not to use countless trainers instead of energy. Just look at last years' worlds deck! (it only ran 6 energy : 0)