Anyone bored from lack of creativity?

[DoubleHelicase]

I have battled over 600 matches on expert and have come across the same general decks 90% of the time.

 

Electri eel Deck

Darkari/Hydregion deck

Terrakion/Grudon

Fat pinguin/terrakion

Mewtwo ex/grandoveir

Durant

All EX Deck (Mew, Mewtwo, Registeel...)

 

 

I myself use the terrakion/grudon an eeletric deck because they are the only ones who can stack up to the other competitive decks.

 

My point being, doesn't it seem boring to see the exact same deck over and over again. At this point I can figure out what kinda of deck and strategy the opponent is playing just by looking at his active pokemon on the fist turn.

[SlowpokeXXL]

Welcome to netdecking - where people resort to copying deck strategies that have been tested to perfection to get the best out of the current format. God forbid people would actually figure these kinds of things out themselves.

 

Oh and you're right - my Terrakion deck fetched the best results out of the 13 decks I've built and tried out in total (127 wins out of 139). Nothing else even comes close to it because of the huge difference in power that Darkrai decks have compared to the rest.

 

Actually, it's so bad that people have resorted to relying on coinflips in hopes of getting lucky lmao. I could never get myself to build/play with a deck that solely relies on luck to win (aka get crushing hammer/super scoop up/Ho-Oh flips at the right time for example). If this was poker then it'd be like getting River'd over and over again. Imagine what it's like when you get River'd the entire night of playing Pokemon TCG. Yeah, not fun lol.

[ESCgoat]

^^ Raises hand ^^

 

Totally tired of it.

 

Friend me if you see me online. I'll gladly play a game with you that doesn't involve the flavours of the week.

 

That's probably the only way to avoid facing the same type of deck over and over again online. Develop a group of friends that play according to similar prefernces.

[ESCgoat]

Actually, it's so bad that people have resorted to relying on coinflips in hopes of getting lucky lmao. I could never get myself to build/play with a deck that solely relies on luck to win (aka get crushing hammer/super scoop up/Ho-Oh flips at the right time for example). If this was poker then it'd be like getting River'd over and over again. Imagine what it's like when you get River'd the entire night of playing Pokemon TCG. Yeah, not fun lol.

 

I hear you on the coin flip. If it can't be assisted with a Victini flip, then I tend to stay away from those cards.

[DoubleHelicase]

I have a ton of cards just sitting in my collection and I think it would be fun to use them against similar levels decks.

[Shecky88]

agreed thats why hopefully the new set is released tonight?!

[RayLux91]

I have battled over 600 matches on expert and have come across the same general decks 90% of the time.

 

Electri eel Deck

Darkari/Hydregion deck

Terrakion/Grudon

Fat pinguin/terrakion

Mewtwo ex/grandoveir

Durant

All EX Deck (Mew, Mewtwo, Registeel...)

 

 

I myself use the terrakion/grudon an eeletric deck because they are the only ones who can stack up to the other competitive decks.

 

My point being, doesn't it seem boring to see the exact same deck over and over again. At this point I can figure out what kinda of deck and strategy the opponent is playing just by looking at his active pokemon on the fist turn.

 

It's boring, but there's nothing to do. There're a bunch of overpowered cards you must play to be competitive. The only way to face overpowered cards is to play overpowered cards. That's sad, but don't forget: it's a trading card game. For marketing reasons, Nintendo prints overpowered cards to force people to buy them at high prices. Sellers buy a lot of booster boxes in order to get those overpowered cards.

[SlowpokeXXL]

It's boring, but there's nothing to do. There're a bunch of overpowered cards you must play to be competitive. The only way to face overpowered cards is to play overpowered cards. That's sad, but don't forget: it's a trading card game. For marketing reasons, Nintendo prints overpowered cards to force people to buy them at high prices. Sellers buy a lot of booster boxes in order to get those overpowered cards.

 

Exactly, but I'm sure that people would've bought booster boxes all the same if they had made Darkrai's attack 80 base damage instead of 90. With 90 damage it gets way too many 1hko's against setups of other decks like eel and leaves space in the deck because of not needing pluspower, and that space can be used to make the deck even more consistent (as if it wasn't OP enough already lol). NV Terrakion is pretty much the only card that has half a chance against it if you somehow manage to catch a Switch + a pluspower in hand + have a way to get 2 energies on Terrakion in 1 turn. Here's what happens if you can't do this:

 

-Darkrai/Hydreigon: always has an eviolite equipped because they can get every card that they need out very fast, no pluspower = 160 damage, next turn: Hydreigon moves Darkrai's energies, max potion is activated.

 

-Darkrai hammertime: Terrakion always needs more than 1 energy to attack and is vulnerable to leave on the field due to the high retreat cost it has. These netdeckers always manage to get lucky with the flips against you, so rest assured that they will strip Terrakion of all its energy that it has equipped. Once that is done, synergized Sableye will use its totally not OP attack to get back 2 crushing hammers from the discard pile every turn while terrakion struggles to build up the energy to even attack SOMETHING lmao. Not to mention that it also grants the hammertime player to build up a possible 2nd Darkrai while in this situation.

 

Could go on like that but you get the point probably. There's OP, and there's making something so OP that it pretty much ruins the game. A Darkrai deck doesn't have an edge that would people already give an incentive to buy packs - it has 5+ edges compared to other decks. Funny thing is, there is 1 new deck that has a decent chance against it, probably got posted on sixprizes or some other newb fansite because new decks that work always come in numbers (hi netdeckers). It's a multicolour energy deck that relies on super scoop and ho-oh flips lmao, here's how it goes:

 

2x Ho-oh and 4x ultra ball/junip to get it into the discard pile + able to search out a pokemon in your deck that does well against the opponent + speeds the deck up.

 

Tornadus Ex, a bunch of different colour energies and DCE's. Look at Tornadus Ex's 2nd attack (100 dmg). Now look at Ho-oH's attack (20 + 20 for each diff colour energy). Now look at the HP of all Ex's (180 max).

 

Energy switch, super scoop ups and switch. Okay now here's the funny bit - this deck basically consists out of all Ex's apart from NV Terrakion, which means that Darkrai will never be able to 1hko anything.

 

Basically it'll soak up the 90 damage from Darkrai the first turn and then actives energy switch the next turn to move an energy from their active pokemon to a benched one (usually Tornadus of no weakness is involved). Flip dat super scoop up and pray for heads, if not: Terrakion on the bench if Darkrai manages to get a KO, next turn it'll be dead and gives Terrakion the chance to sweep next turn and onwards. Either that or it'll just KO darkrai if the opponent doesn't have something benched that could do 90+ damage the next turn.

 

Note that hammertime struggles against this deck because it gives it a taste of its own medicine, namely flipping coins2win; Ho-oH will be returning on the field with a 80+ damage attack pretty much cancels out the strategy of neutralizing attacks by stripping away your opponents energies with crushing hammer, seeing as the deck has plenty of out's if the active pokemon has a high retreat cost + no energies attached to it (4x switch/super scoop up). The only negative bit here is that it has a higher chance to get 'dead draws' compared to a Darkrai deck.

 

So yep, as I said in my first post its either play a Darkrai deck or flip dem coins and pray they pop off as heads at the right time. It's funny cause whenever I attempt to do such a thing they always flip tails and makes me look like a newb lol, hence I don't like playing these flippy non Victiny cards. The OP didn't mention this new multicolour deck in his post so I figured I'd point it out. It's new and requires a bunch of valuable cards so don't expect to see too many people play it yet, but remember - it's getting netdeck'd as we speak so that will change soon probably

[TheOddishGuy]

Eelektrik/DCE/attackers

Eelektrik/Rayquaza EX

Darkrai/Sableye/hammers

Darkrai/Hydreigon

Darkrai/Terrakion

Garbodor/Attackers

 

All Fighting

Empoleon/Terrakion

Empoleon/Accelgor

Accelgor/Gothitelle

Durant decks

Ho-Oh decks

Ninetales/Amoonguss

 

This is honestly the most diverse I have ever seen the metagame. When I started it was all reshiram/typhlosion and Yanmega/Magnezone. Than it switched to Magnezone/eelektrik, Electrode/attackers and Durant decks. Then Celebi/Mewtwo/Tornadus, Zekrom/Eelektrik/Mewtwo, and some durant. And lastly Speed Darkrai, Darkrai Mewtwo, Darkrai/Terrakion, and Darkrai/Terrakion/Mewtwo (why not right?) and Eelektrik/Terrakion and Eelektrik/zekrom/Mewtwo.

So essentially I'm saying that it has gotten a lot better than it once was, so I'd be happy. Next we'll get Keldeo/Blastoise and Landorus decks, so those are some decks to look forward to.

[SlowpokeXXL]

Uhm, what? You left a bunch of previous format deck types out like donphan/machamp, lost world, ZPST etc. Count those in and you'll even out the number, especially if you start mentioning Ninetales/Amoonguss and stuff lol. Also, lots of these decks you mentioned are unplayable because their vital pokemon to make the deck work get 1hko'd by Darkrai's attack which can be set up in 1 turn and are forced to add in cards to try and avoid that like Eelektrik + giant cape. It slows these decks down while Darkrai decks do not have this problem.

[Aikoart]

Well, since Boundaries Crossed came out, Blastoise/Keldeo EX will also become 1 of the most played deck.

Setting up a deck and asking for it to be original is hard. We all kinda have some stratergy before its release. That is to check its card before hand and plan a deck. Like my current Blastoise deck includes mewtwo ex just to counter mewtwo.

Btw, I am really liking Charizard deck(include charmeleon & Celebi EX) With its long HP, it can boast some serious Rage attack, but of course its easy to counter it.

[Bigislandblader]

Actually, it's so bad that people have resorted to relying on coinflips in hopes of getting lucky lmao. I could never get myself to build/play with a deck that solely relies on luck to win (aka get crushing hammer/super scoop up/Ho-Oh flips at the right time for example). If this was poker then it'd be like getting River'd over and over again. Imagine what it's like when you get River'd the entire night of playing Pokemon TCG. Yeah, not fun lol.

 

I hear you on the coin flip. If it can't be assisted with a Victini flip, then I tend to stay away from those cards.

 

Then both of you will hate my Dragonite/Roserade/Jumpluff deck, that thing lives and dies by the flip. There's also the Druddigon in my Mence/Druddigon deck too. Without a Victory Star Victini in either one, it makes for some trollsy, yet entertaining moments.

 

Getting back to the original topic though. I have a hundred thoughts and opinions about it, but its just the reality of the game. People want to win now, so they use a strategy that has been proven over and over and over again. And in turn, it forces other players to make their own OP deck if they want to compete with the rest. My aforementioned decks (which aren't that original either) are fun to play with, but stand little to no chance against a Darkrai, Eel, or Keldo decks. I still use them though, because I have fun with it.

[Firestorm-Neos]

^^ Raises hand ^^

 

Totally tired of it.

 

Friend me if you see me online. I'll gladly play a game with you that doesn't involve the flavours of the week.

 

That's probably the only way to avoid facing the same type of deck over and over again online. Develop a group of friends that play according to similar prefernces.

 

As soon as I build a deck, I will gladly play against you...

[dondeditto]

Hi. I'm disagree. This format gives us a lot of chance to counter most commun decks. We have pokemons like raticate, garbador, accelgor... that can easily put darkrai and friends in a bad situation. All we need to do is to create synergetic and strategics build, the creativity in this game is this...

Surely the top tier deck isn't out yet, look forward in search of it!!!

[RealArity]

Same as above. Furthermore, due to the online format being Unlimited, some card combinations can result in some crazy decks that can totally wreck the strategy of a typical metagame deck. I shall not name some of these ideas, due to their potential to wreck the online community. We are currently in a situation where metagame decks are extremely common, but the nature of the format allows for some creativity to turn the tide of battle against such decks.

[Buffalon]

Same as above. Furthermore, due to the online format being Unlimited, some card combinations can result in some crazy decks that can totally wreck the strategy of a typical metagame deck. I shall not name some of these ideas, due to their potential to wreck the online community. We are currently in a situation where metagame decks are extremely common, but the nature of the format allows for some creativity to turn the tide of battle against such decks.

Eg: Keldeo EX + Blastoise BC + Blastoise UL + Cleffa + Max Potion.

 

On a serious note, the current format is currently dominated by Mewtwo EX + something, Eelektrik + something, Darkrai EX + Sableye + something, and Keldeo EX/Blastoise. With the exception of a few cards apart, almost every Tier-1 deck looks alike (notwithstanding the same amount of Pokemon, T-S-S lines, and energies count).

[ESCgoat]

Sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for ya!

[imobvmafia]

On a serious note, the current format is currently dominated by Mewtwo EX + something, Eelektrik + something, Darkrai EX + Sableye + something, and Keldeo EX/Blastoise. With the exception of a few cards apart, almost every Tier-1 deck looks alike (notwithstanding the same amount of Pokemon, T-S-S lines, and energies count).

 

You get that in any game. Welcome to a Metagame.

 

Want to know how to escape it? Don't join it.

[RealArity]

Try Vileplume UD/Garbodor DRX with Attackers. This can cripple many metagame decks, and it's still usable in the Online's Unlimited format. FluffyChomp (Garchomp/Altaria), Darkrai variants, HydroPony (Blastoise/Keldeo EX) and Eels all beg for mercy from Ability lock and Item lock.

[Zylara]

I put raticate in every deck because it is the most reliable way for someone without any EX cards to beat EX cards, since Raticate removes special energy as well

[Buffalon]

Try Vileplume UD/Garbodor DRX with Attackers. This can cripple many metagame decks, and it's still usable in the Online's Unlimited format. FluffyChomp (Garchomp/Altaria), Darkrai variants, HydroPony (Blastoise/Keldeo EX) and Eels all beg for mercy from Ability lock and Item lock.

Tried playing the new VileGar out (and getting a lot of hate in return), and I found the most difficult part is getting a tool on Garbodor before evolving into Vileplume. If you get Vileplume out too soon, you will end up locking out your own Tools. However once setup, this deck shuts down practically everything (with the exception of Garchomp and Hammertime decks).

 

 

I put raticate in every deck because it is the most reliable way for someone without any EX cards to beat EX cards, since Raticate removes special energy as well

Your Rattata might get KO even before getting a chance to evolve.

[RealArity]

Thanks for your feedback Buffalon, I was actually theorymoning and didn't go into testing with that deck. I was thinking that Skyla + Computer Search could get a tool out, as well as Heavy Ball to get the early Garbodor. I'm pretty sure you know what goes into a Vileplume Lock deck, so I need not explain further.

 

Back to the main topic on the metagame, the best way to get around a metagame deck is to, of course, play it or counter it. If you play the metagame deck, you're naturally safe. But, if you play a rogue to counter it, you risk either losing your matches, or even worse if you win, turning your deck into a metagame deck. Just like how Landorus-EX's ability to counter the common Eel and Darkrai variants has sent its usage skyrocketing into the lottery. The metagame is constantly evolving, to counter metagame decks, counter counters, and create a cycle whereby only the best decks will survive the changes in the metagame. I believe that metagame counters will become the new metagame when the later half of this Play! Pokemon season comes. Just an opinion, albeit a lengthy one.

[asddsa2839]

Im gust going to say it i hate ex's there I said it. I would love if the game gave you beter opshon on who more like what you get to play I would love if there were opshons to not play some one with ex's in there decks you could not have any eather. Here is an idea what about a game with no traners I would love to see that.

[extorcion]

i like my DE zoroak-sableye-HGSS houndoom-HGSS sneasel deck with NO EX it is fun to see how many damage can do a zoroak with 2 energies and i have houndoom to counterattack rock tipes with only one energy

[jaguar316]

Gallade/ Gardevoir 2.0. Yeah, i know it's 2 stage 2s, but since it's the same line... i would run a 2-2 split and 4 candy. The strategy of the deck is to use gardevoir to double the amount of energy on your field, then hit for a ton of damage with gallade.