Archies blastoise with team up updates

[Sadra]

A Consistent Archies list after Team Up Update

Archies has always been one of my favourite decklists in expanded because its fast, consistent, aggressive, and powerful. I’m quite short on time so I will just post the decklist here with a few short explanations of card choices. Feel free to share your opinions:

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

 

##Pokémon - 14

 

* 1 Eevee & Snorlax-GX TEU 191

* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 106

* 1 Onix LOT 109

* 2 Exeggcute PLB 102

* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 155

* 2 Magikarp & Wailord-GX TEU 183

* 1 Volcanion {*} FLI 31

* 2 Blastoise PLS 137

* 1 Kingdra-GX DRM 66

 

##Trainer Cards - 35

 

* 1 Computer Search BCR 137

* 1 Acerola BUS 142

* 1 Professor Juniper PLF 116

* 1 Professor's Letter XY 123

* 3 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103

* 4 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92

* 4 Ultra Ball SUM 161

* 4 VS Seeker ROS 110

* 1 Guzma BUS 143

* 2 Choice Band BUS 162

* 1 Field Blower GRI 163

* 1 N NVI 101

* 4 Order Pad UPR 131

* 1 Fisherman CES 130

* 2 Archie's Ace in the Hole PRC 157

* 4 Trainers' Mail AOR 100

 

##Energy - 11

 

* 11 Water Energy CL 90

 

Total Cards - 60

 

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******

Reasons for certain card choices:

1.Onix

Eliminates pikachu and eevee tag teams with one shot with a choice band and easily destroys any dark deck while only giving up 1 prize card, who wouldn’t include this.

2.Eevee and Snorlax

Deals with evolution pokemon that wailord has a difficult time OHKOing, especially Golisopod (sorry but that armor press won’t save you and you won’t be taking 3 prizes either). Nice GX attack to OHKO as well as fetch resources as well.

3.Acerola

       This is where acerola really shines, I personally think that its quite difficult to OHKO either of these two tag teams in this list. With compressors, order pads, and vs seekers its so easy to get access to this card and cheat the prize trade. I would say in many games, my opponents failed to take even one prize card.

4.Kingdra

Kingdras still good because you can destroy those wailords or whatever high Hp pokemon real easy. Gx attack also bench snipes low hp pokemon (lost and night march).

5.Professor letter

The main attackers of your deck require 4-5 energies to attack, increases the chance of drawing into them on turn 1.

6.-1 superior energy retrieval

I am sick of drawing into multiple copies on turn 1.

7.Prism star volcanion

The main reason I included this was because of its ability and attack that softening the bench, both of these have great synergy with wailords and kindras GX attack. It deals well with garbodor and low Hp decks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Felidae_]

Hey, thanks for sharing your decklist.

 

 

 

As an avid fan of Archie's Blastoise I was delighted to see how well the deck performed at the Dallas Regionals. Although based on the recent bans I'm a bit afraid that Archie is going to be hit with the hammer next time, if the streak continues.

 

 

 

Since I've played Wailord pretty much exclusively in the past months I can't compare your list to mine and instead going to use the one from Kyle Pallman (5^th place in Dallas).

 

 

 

First and foremost, the list:

 

 

 

Pokemon - 14

 

2 Blastoise BCR 31

 

2 Magikarp & Wailord-GX PR-SM 166

 

1 Kingdra-GX DRM 18

 

1 Volcanion Prism Star FLI 31

 

3 Shaymin-EX ROS 77

 

2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60

 

2 Exeggcute PLF 4

 

1 Giratina LOT 97

 

 

 

Trainer - 35

 

2 Archie's Ace in the Hole PRC 124

 

1 Professor Sycamore BKP 107

 

1 N FCO 105

 

1 Guzma BUS 115

 

1 Fisherman BKT 136

 

4 VS Seeker PHF 109

 

4 Ultra Ball SUM 135

 

4 Battle Compressor PHF 92

 

4 Trainers' Mail ROS 92

 

4 Order Pad UPR 131

 

4 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103

 

1 Field Blower GRI 125

 

1 Computer Search BCR 137

 

2 Choice Band GRI 121

 

1 Silent Lab PRC 140

 

 

 

Energy - 11

 

11 Water Energy 3

 

 

 

It should also be noted that I looked at every list in the top 32, as the archetype represented a solid 25% of the field with 8 entries.

 

 

 

The biggest deviations between the list were the number of energy (10-11), the choice of the supporter toolbox, as well as the choice of Lugia GX as a secondary / tertiary attacker.

 

 

 

It should be noted that the tournament was played before the release of Team Up, so it is difficult to compare the list to yours, simply because certain threats weren't around in Dallas.

 

 

 

Starting with trainers, I personally really like Tate & Liza, especially if you run situational attackers like Onix / Eeve&Snor. Sure, getting the normal retreat with them isn't that difficult, but wasting 4 energy to get their fat ***** out of the active feels so unnecessary. With the lose of good old Keldeo I'd argue that two supporters that allow you to switch (Guzma + Tate) are a necessity.

 

Since the trainer are pretty much fixed (there is certainly an argument if you need 4 SER + Fischerman, or if you can stick to 3-1, but other than that everything is fixed – I too hate hitting multiple of them on turn one, even though they are amongst the safest ways to ensure a turn one empty hand), I'd argue to ***** in favour of Tate. While I love the disruptive power of N I honestly can't remember an situation with Archie's where a well timed N was the key to victory.

 

 

 

I like the idea behind Acerola, however I'm not a fan of running 5 additional supporter.

 

At the same time I can't find a way in my head to drop Juniper from the list as well. Guess I'll have to test a bit with both setups to see which feels more comfortable.

 

 

 

Now, onto your Pokemon:

 

I really, really dislike Eeve&Snor. I can understand your argument, but based on my experience with the deck it feels more like a gimmick, rather than a must have. Naturally it all depends on the meta and under the right circumstances it could be a nice tech, but at the moment I simply don't see it.

 

Onix has the same issue. Granted, I haven't played much with the new expansion, so I don't know how common Pikachu / Eevee Tag Teams are, but I fail to see how this is necessary. You said it yourself: it's difficult to OHKO our main attacker and thanks to the tempo advantage of Blastoise we are in the driving seat for most of the game anyway. I simply fail to see why we need a Pokemon that is a great tech against certain decks and a waste of space against other.

 

 

 

Based on this I'd personally end up with this list:

 

****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

 

 

 

##Pokémon - 14

 

 

 

* 3 Shaymin-EX ROS 106

 

* 2 Exeggcute PLF 4

 

* 2 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60

 

* 1 Articuno ROS 17

 

* 2 Magikarp & Wailord-GX TEU 161

 

* 1 Volcanion {*} FLI 31

 

* 2 Blastoise PLS 137

 

* 1 Kingdra-GX DRM 18

 

 

 

##Trainer Cards - 36

 

 

 

* 2 Archie's Ace in the Hole PRC 157

 

* 1 Professor Sycamore STS 114

 

* 1 Guzma BUS 115

 

* 1 Fisherman BKT 136

 

* 4 VS Seeker ROS 110

 

* 1 Tate & Liza CES 148

 

* 1 Red Card XY 124

 

* 4 Ultra Ball PLB 90

 

* 4 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92

 

* 4 Trainers' Mail AOR 100

 

* 4 Order Pad UPR 131

 

* 3 Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103

 

* 1 Field Blower GRI 125

 

* 1 Computer Search BCR 137

 

* 2 Choice Band BUS 162

 

* 1 Acerola BUS 112

 

* 1 Professor's Letter BKT 146

 

 

 

##Energy - 10

 

 

 

* 10 Water Energy HS 117

 

 

 

Total Cards - 60

 

 

 

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******

 

 

 

Red Card is a personal favourite of mine in this deck and replaces the Silent Lab (which I also really like).

 

I have to test 10 energy + 3 SER + 1 Letter vs. 11 +3 +1 vs.11 +4 +1 vs. 11 +4 +0.

 

10 energy has served me well in the past, but with the new attacker this might change.

 

Lastly, I opted to run Articuno over Onix, Lugia GX, Eeve&SNnor etc.

 

The ability to take 2 prizes of a baby Pokemon validates an inclusion in my opinion over the other alternatives.

 

 

 

I'll keep you updated once I get to test the list a bit.

[Sadra]

Hey Felidae, thanks for sharing your opinions and giving your comments on my decklist.

 

In terms of N, I included in the decklist not because of a late game N, but the use it when you cannot get out the blastoise on turn 1. To be honest, I even rarely use juniper as I prefer to acerola or archies again for a kingdra or blastoise if they knock it out. Yes, I think tate and liza is better and more flexible. Will include.

 

As for superior energy removal, I did initially include 4 but later I found it was a bit overkill as I never struggled to get energies with 3 since I included 11 energies in the deck. However, I believe that both 4 superior 10 energy, or 3 superior 11 energy are both viable. I think it depends on the playstyle.

 

Articuno is definitely a powerful card since it is really good in dealing with low HP pokemon or giving the final blow to a heavily damaged EX or GX while taking an additional prize card. However, you need to get lucky on coin flips.  This makes me feel insecure for some reason. In addition, in both irl and online battles post team up I never found articuno useful in any matchups as the conditions were always more reliable if I used an alternative attacker and I really did not need to get greedy to get ahead of the prize trade too much. Acerola is also a commonly used card in expanded and as a result the times that I had a chance to give that final blow were very few. 

 

I initially did not include snorlax in my deck but I ran into grass decks nearly half of the matchups (alolan exeggcutors, sceptile vileplume, and zoroark golisopod). This deck performs very bad against sceptile and golisopod as they all OHKO wailord or kingdra. It of course sucks if you start with it against a fighting deck but I just can't think of a better option.

 

Onix is used mostly for pikarom as I encounter many of them and that OHKO gives me an easy win.Even if they play around it it delays their GX attack and this favours me greatly since a guzma knockout on blastoise and shaymin/lele is quite bad.  Its also great for dealing with zoroarks and darkrais. Pikarom actually was much stronger in expanded than I expected and the combo of max potions and eels is really really good, heck you don't even need to use the gx attack in many games. I will post this decklist later.

 

I really do not favour lugia GX but I think it works really good against mirror matches and buzzwoles but other than that I really don't expect much from it. Moreover, there are many ways around mirrors and buzzwoles and I would rather rely on those. Giratina seems problematic and worst of all, it takes up 1 bench slot, this really sucks and would suck more if there is a sudowoodo in play. I heard of a shining volcanion/ giratina combo before but it just seems way too greedy to me and I would rather use towering splash on turn 1 (if possible ) to destroy their bench. 

 

I really love your red card in this deck. This is brilliant. I think I will try and fit in my deck.

[husky16]

Hey guys a little late to the party on this one but Archies isnt a very popular deck and its rare to see ppl that also like to use it. I have been on hiatus from this game for quite some time (stopped playing when GX first came out) so needless to say I’ve had some catching up to do. Archies blastoise has always been a super fun deck the only problemi have is lets be honest, even when u get out blastoise 90% of the time on turn one, that one in 10 that u dont rly puts you behind especially with the turn one power some decks provide now. Maxies dark was my all time favorite i wasnt even all that sad when archeops was banned but they literally just banned maxies when i came back all bc of one card when rly now that card wont even be played as much ******* im gettin off topic and being biased based on my love of that deck. I did see the Dallas regionals placing and Archies list and i love it! I built my own variance of it and online testing it has 63 out of 71 wins which seems to ne very very consistent but i feel like maybe there is one card im missing that could put it over the top. I am not sold completely on order pad as ive never liked leaving thhings on chance when there is only room for 60 cards in a deck. I still use them tho as when u do hit heads its basically an extra computer search and that cannot be bad. Im sorry i dont know how to extract the list but you guys will understand the cards. I did manage to clear a 6 prize bench with a towering splash there was a shay with 20 on it from suana blast all other basics and yes it was epic! I took a screenshot but dont think i can post it lol.

 

2 blastoise

2 eggs

2 shaymin ex

1 tapu lele gx

1 keldeo ex

1 wailord gx

1 volcanion prism star

1 kingdra gx

 

1 comp search

1 field blower

4 trainer mail

4 battle compressor

4 vs seeker

4 ultra ball

4 superior energy retrieval

3 order pad

1 brooklet hill

1 AZ

2 archies

1 N

1 juniper

1 guzma

1 fisherman

2 float stone

3 choice band

 

11 water energy

 

 

The brooklet hill is nice just in case you have maybe a float in hand u can use it for keldeo or idk i also like Felidae’s silent lab idea ive found a few times when that seemed like a good option but if it gets stuck when u need an egg or get N down low and need a supporter it could backfire. The keldeo i feel is a must still in this deck even tho he is no longer the attacker just having that free retreat option is still so valuable to have bc paying to retreat blastoise if he gets stuck or wailord if u need to move it i just like float stones in almost every deck but the keldeo helps tremendously. The volcanion prism star is a fun card huh! A free lysandre if they only have one benched also a nice cheap trick to help with archies with the ability as well and the attack isnt bad it can ser up some nice knockouts later or possibly a towering splash lol ( ive only accomplished it twice) and also Kingra gx can hit everything for 40 but forget that attack Kingdra is a beast! I get him out more often then not and barring grass typing gl dealing with that monster hydro pump plus deluge is busted lol. AZ is my own little tech if you will it seems silly with the keldo and float stones but its great for removing damage possibly game saving many times it has and when u start an egg or a shaymin u can just scoop it up once you are set up bc it is taking up bench space that u may need. Id argue a 3rd shay too there are times when u need just that one more energy and either both are down or one is prized but i feel like 3 is too many and also ive never used more than one Jirachi in an archies list so i dont see the reason for a second tapu but again i am asking for advice do you maybe also think 5 tools is too many maybe drop a choice band but then for what an order pad? Thats like trading a tool for a coin flip lol but again its still better than acro bike. Sorry this was insanely long what can i say its been awhile and im excited! Have a good one guys and lmk what you think

[Felidae_]

Hey Husky, no long time no see .

 

 

 

Yeah, Maxie's Dark ( or Caw Blade as I know it) was quite fun. The fact that is was the best deck in the format and arguably one of the most dominating for quite some time sure helped its popularity . Being able to reliable play your game plan even if you don't get Maxie out on the first turn definitely separates the two archetypes, but then again Maxie was designed as a solid midrange deck, whereas Archie was always combo centred.

 

There is some truth to the 9/10 ration of turn 1 hands, then again it goes to show why this deck performs so good in IRL events, as a bo3 will give you the opportunity to bounce back from a bad hand in the other two games. Ironically against certain archetypes I sometimes get the feeling that a missed combo one turn 1 can actually be helpful, though maybe in those cases I merely exploit the inexperience of my opponent, rather than gaining any actual advantage in the match-up (i.e. when I can get the OHKO on turn 2 out of the blue against an opposing Pokemon that takes more than one turn to develop, essentially trading an early price for a huge tempo boost).

 

 

 

Order Pad full fills the same role as TM and AB: they allow you to play a 52/48 card deck that runs 8-12 card that simply recycle themselves. When I play the deck on turn 1 I always play the Pad with the mindset of hitting tails (cause hitting heads will guarantee the combo pretty much 100%, unless the rest of your hand is like 6 Energy or something along those lines ***.

 

With that mindset I like the card more than AB in the previous iterations, as the bike didn't reduce your hand size and sometimes made SER worse by adding another energy in the discard pile.

 

 

 

I personally wouldn't go down to 1 Jirachi / Lele, as there is nothing as awful as playing UB for the combo and then realizing your Lele is prized . While the card is not essential for the combo, it's still one important piece in certain scenarios thus I wouldn't risk I as a 1 off.

 

The 3^rd Shaymin is definitely debatable. I'd argue that in the current meta you can't afford to simply pass after Blastoise without at least setting up one Pokemon / take prize (on the draw).

 

If your opponent is OtP it's too easy to snipe Blastoise turn 2. That's one of the reasons why I like to play Red Card, as it can be used to disrupt the opponent on your first turn, in order to prevent the critical second turn on their side (I'd say that once you start your 2^nd turn with an active Blastoise you are def. favoured to win, no matter the match up).

 

 

 

Not a huge fan of AZ to be honest. If you simply need a card to Switch I'd say go for Guzma or T&L. Otherwise Acerola is the better option in 9/10 scenarios, simply because it retains the energy cards. Re-using Shaymin / Lele or even scoop up an Egg for bench space is one of those corner cases where AZ is better than Acerola (due to the restriction on damage), but those are such fringe cases that I find it difficult to argue in favour of AZ.