[Standard] Fighting Bats Deck Profile

[DonbranFL]

Since the change in the format with BKT's release, this has quickly become one of my favorite decks (even over Turbo Rayquaza). I'll just jump right into the list before going into any specifics.

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Pokemon: 17
3 Hawlucha FFI
2 Lucario EX

2 Shaymin EX

4 Zubat PHF
3 Golbat PHF
2 Crobat PHF

1 Jirachi Promo

Trainers: 34

4 Korrina
4 Professor Sycamore

2 Lysandre
1 AZ
1 Judge

4 VS Seeker

3 Muscle Band

3 Super Scoop Up

3 Ultra Ball
2 Focus Sash

2 Level Ball
1 Professor's Letter
1 Super Rod

3 Fighting Stadium

 

Energies: 9
5 Basic Fighting Energy
4 Strong Energy

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I've made my choices around setting up consistently each game, making for a more static ladder/tournament performance ratio. I don't think many cards here deserve any sort of reasoning for being part of the deck, but there are a few notable mentions that have been parts of my list lately, and may be a part of any sort of final build come City Championship time.

Additional 1 Golbat & 1 Crobat - 4-3-2 allows for more general consistency cards and sometimes additional techs. 4-4-3, however, gives more damage output over the course of a game and a better Night March matchup. I feel like this is probably the biggest preference choice in the deck.

 

Professor Birch's Observations/Shauna - Shuffle draw is good. But in the current format I feel like the utility of Korrina surpasses the need of shuffle draw.

 

4th Ultra Ball - Search is good. Especially when that card can grab the limited supply of Crobats and Shaymins. 3 copies has been working fine, though.

 

Hex Maniac - Maniac can be really strong against Night March and Vespiquen, two really tough matchups for this deck since Hawlucha doesn't get to do anything besides the occasional Lysandre Shaymin play.

 

Xerosic/Startling Megaphone - Mienshao's annoying. You can't always just Bat through Focus Sash.

 

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So there's the list I'm most comfortable with, and a list of the cards that may make it into the final iteration of the deck. Feel free to offer up your opinions if you like, or try my list out for a spin on your own.

[Cwarfare718]

Our lists are very similar, much of what I would suggest adding is already in your notable mentions

May I suggest:

 

-2 Landorus

-2 Enhanced Hammer

-1 fighting stadium

 

+1 Lucario ex

+1 Jirachi

+1 VS Seeker

+1 Lysandre

+1 Silent Lab/Scorched Earth

+1 Fighting energy (hard to find a replacement for this. but 9 energy doesn't seem like enough)

 

The biggest difference in our lists is Landorus. I don't find it useful in many situations, it deals very little damage, and with only 5 possible targets and no Battle Compressor even when it's useful I don't think it makes up for the times it isn't. For the record nobody is a bigger fan than me when it comes to Enhanced Hammer...but Jirachi fills the role much better.

 

Hope you try some of this out!

[DonbranFL]

Mostly Lando's just there to keep the game against Night March/Bronzong a viable one.

[Cwarfare718]

Mostly Lando's just there to keep the game against Night March/Bronzong a viable one.

I don't see the relationship with Bronzong, maybe I'm missing something :/ And Lucario/Focus Sash and Bats can deal with Night March in my experience. But whatever works best!

[DonbranFL]

Updated. o/

[DonbranFL]

I feel like this iteration of the list is consistent enough to take to a City Championship or League Challenge with confidence (if Fighting Bats were deemed an appropriate meta call for said tournament). This is the last update I'll provide for this list, at least until the next set drops.

 

Please feel free to comment, or check back regularly in the Deck Construction forum for more deck profiles.

[fr33land]

I'd say where I was it would play pretty great against the numerous M Man decks, it might suffer against any organised Giratina EX deck without those Enhanced Hammers though, obviously people are going through pains to fulfill the energy requirement for Chaos Wheel with basic energy, but the speed offered by Dragon Energy and DCE are too good to pass up in any deck that is Giratina EX, without Dragon Energy at the least it would be very difficult to Chaos Wheel on turn 2: This could really suck for this deck.  No Focus Sash, no Strong Energy, no Fighting Stadium, no Muscle Band. . .  At least you could fish one Hammer out with Korrina to buy you a turn. 

[00dragonite00]

I don't see the relationship with Bronzong, maybe I'm missing something :/ And Lucario/Focus Sash and Bats can deal with Night March in my experience. But whatever works best!

Landorus will keep up with Bronzong, in regards to energy gain per turn.

[rgp151]

I've never had any problem with any Lucario/Bats decks except when they run lots of energy disruption, which I don't see in this deck. I don't think you need both Shyamin and Lucario either. I've always run Lucario as a substitute for Shaymin. I think you are better off taking out Shaymin and putting in a Silent Lab. Seems like with so many Sycamore and so little Energy you'd want 2 Super Rods as well. 

 

I think the best Lucario/Bats deck I played against was running 1 Team Flare Grunt and at least 1 Enhanced Hammer and about 2 or 3 Crushing Hammers.

[DonbranFL]

it might suffer against any organised Giratina EX deck without those Enhanced Hammers though

 

If Giratina were popular enough in the meta, I would plan accordingly. Currently, the Jirachi takes care of the very few and far between Giratinas enough to soften them up with bats. I've been known to run 2 Enhanced and 1 Xerosic, but luckily everyone's too scared of Jirachi to play Toad/Tina. \o/

 

Landorus will keep up with Bronzong, in regards to energy gain per turn.

 

Landorus allows for a favorable prize trade without sacrificing a very important Focus Sash, important in Night March Bronzong as they attach 2 energy per turn usually. However, Milotic rules the Night March meta right now, which is why you'll find no more Landorus in my deck.

 

I've never had any problem with any Lucario/Bats decks except when they run lots of energy disruption, which I don't see in this deck. I don't think you need both Shyamin and Lucario either. I've always run Lucario as a substitute for Shaymin. I think you are better off taking out Shaymin and putting in a Silent Lab. Seems like with so many Sycamore and so little Energy you'd want 2 Super Rods as well. 

 

I think the best Lucario/Bats deck I played against was running 1 Team Flare Grunt and at least 1 Enhanced Hammer and about 2 or 3 Crushing Hammers.

 

You don't even say what you run, making your entire point unable to be taken into account. Please provide more helpful information in a post like that.

 

Energy disruption as a strategy is wildly ineffective in the current standard meta. Especially in a deck with no sort of lock to back the disruption up. Counter stadiums are also running rampant right now, which is why I cut the Silent Lab for a 2nd Shaymin and fit in another Fighting Stadium, arguably the more important Stadium in several current matchups. Also, with no way to search it out, I find that the 1 copy is just too hard to get out when it will have an effect on the game and more copies than 1 would take away from the deck.

[fr33land]

Right on.

I've been trying to find that stupid promo with zero success.  It really does mess games up desperately.  In the few matches I observed where it was in play the board state was  very strange,  no one has as of yet determined a strategy for dealing with it and it induces some kind of terror in the unprepared.

[rgp151]

Right on.

I've been trying to find that stupid promo with zero success.  It really does mess games up desperately.  In the few matches I observed where it was in play the board state was  very strange,  no one has as of yet determined a strategy for dealing with it and it induces some kind of terror in the unprepared.

 

Lysander...

[fr33land]

It can't be that hard to dispose of. . .

In a deck that has level balls and so on, it'd be pretty easy to get into play.  I was just pointing out that it had some recognisable impact on the matches I saw it appear in, and it was not common in the competition.

[DonbranFL]

It's really hard to dispose of. You have to either;

 

1. attack around it and risk yet another DDE getting tossed next turn,

2. attach to the bench instead and hope they don't Lysandre/Hammer/Xerosic, forfeiting your Chaos Wheel for the turn, or

3. refuse to attach and attack for a turn, also forfeiting your Chaos Wheel.

 

1 is the only solution, unless you have Escape Rope and Lysandre, a combo that's also commonly bugged in TCGO.

[rgp151]

Yes, but if you do bench Jirachi before you attack with it, then it can be Lysandered. That's the problem with it. To really use it effectively you have to leave an open bench space and be ready to play it on any given turn. If you bench it, it will get Lysandered, and if you fill the space you can't bring it out. But at lest the nice thing about running it in a fighting deck is you have easy access to Korrina for a Level Ball. 

[DonbranFL]

But if you bench it before needing to attack with it against a Giratina deck, you're bad.