Malamar/Mega Absol Deck

[DarkonKirimoto]

Ok, so, I wanna go to a GameStop tournament with this deck, but, I need some advice first:

Pokemon:                                           

Malamar EX x4                                    

Absol EX x4                                   

M Absol EX x4

Zoroark (Stand In) x 1

Zorua x1

Vullaby x2

Absol (Cursed Eyes) x3

Mandibuzz (Bone Rush) x1

Trainer:

Pokemon Catcher x4

Pokemon Communication x2

Energy Retrieval x2

Max Potion x1

Trick Shovel x4

Energy Switch x4

Exp Share x1

Lost Remover x1

Skyla x2

Shauna x1

Crushing Hammer x2

Professor's Letter x3

Energy:

Dark Energy x8

Darkness Energy x1

Dangerous Energy x4

Basically... Using Malamar Ex's Hyper Hypnosis is the focus of this deck, I'll be using energy switch and professor's letter to constantly be attaching/moving energy to and from him. Also, trick shovel will be used to look at the top card of my opponents deck or discard it if it's not a trainer card to ensure that sweet 160 from M Absol's Disaster Wing. I might add a Dragon's Exalted Hydreigon family to move the enrgies around... What do you think?

[Poke J]

A good place to get help on deck building is PokeBeach since that site focuses on the Pokemon Trading Card Game.  Secondly, check the format of the tournament because you have Lost Remover in your deck list which is from a gen 4 set and most tournaments are usually either expanded (gen 5 onward) or standard (Break Through and newer).  From your post I'm going to assume you want competitive advice for the expanded format.  I'm going to be blunt here and just say the deck won't run as well as you think it will.  There is way too much clutter that will affect the consistency of the deck overall.  As I don't know what cards you have on hand so I'll give you advice based on that you're wanting to take a Malamar EX and Absol EX deck.

 

First lets look at your Pokemon line up.  M Absol EX is not a great card by any means and with Trick Shovel hitting that 160 will be hard since you only have 4 Trick Shovels and no way of getting then out of the discard pile.  Also since Absol doesn't have a Spirit Link it will use up your turn by Mega Evolving.  So with that said how can you make M Absol EX work?  First, having Malamar EX is a good start since it can stall a bit and give you that turn you'll need to evolve.  Second, you can try using Hoopa from Shining Legends because when Hoopa its ability prevents damage and the effects of attacks from Pokemon EX and GX.  Malamar EX is a decent card all around, but I would suggest running 2 of them instead of 4.  Malamar's ability is good, but rely on it too much since waking up from sleep is only a coin flip at the start of your opponents turn and after their turn.  So if you're planning to use Energy Switch to move energies is a good plan, but again just remember you can only do that 4 times and there is still the large chance that you'll just be unable to get that card into your hand.  Two Pokemon you should really consider for you deck is Hoopa EX from Ancient Origins because your deck lacks search options for Pokemon and Darkrai EX from Dark Explorers because having free retreat is really good.  Next stand in Zoroark is a very strong card when your opponent has a full bench allowing it to hit for 160 and with the correct item card hit for 190 knocking out a lot of the basic Pokemon in the current meta game.  With that said I'd suggest increasing your Zorua card count to possibly support another stand in Zoroark and if you can get your hands on one or two Zoroark GX which would help with your lack of a draw engine.  All other Pokemon don't seem to beneficial and will just use up your valuable bench space so I suggest removing them from your deck.

 

With all of that said where will this new Pokemon line up struggle?  For starters Espeon EX will be a nightmare for your deck since it will devolve all of your Pokemon in play and send the highest evolution card back to your hand.  This is especially troublesome since M Absol EX is such a prominent part of your deck you'll have to constantly waste a turn by evolving again.  Next are Pokemon that take advantage of your Pokemon having a lot of energy on them such as Tapu Lele GX and Espeon GX.  This will only be a problem for your Malamar.  The major Pokemon your deck will struggle with are fighting type cards like Lyconrock GX and Buzzwole GX which both decks are very popular in the current meta game.  Keep this in mind while making adjustments and during matches.

 

Now lets look at your Trainer list.  As you probably know these cards should take up over 50% of your deck.  You have some really good ideas here on how to buy turns, but there are some staple deck cards that you may want to consider to add a lot of consistence to the deck.  Most decks run 3 to 4 Professor Sycamore or Juniper, 2 N, 3 to 4 Ultra Balls, 4 Vs. Seeker, and 2 of in any combination Lysander and or Guzma.  That combination of cards adds draw power and consistency to the deck.  In terms of getting energy back into play or just accelerate energy I suggest Dark Patch, however; now a days that card is quite expensive so running Energy Retrieval could service.  Other options for getting energy back is Energy Recycler (shuffle 5 energies back into your deck) and Super Rod (shuffle any combination of Pokemon or energies back into your deck).  I'll leave your Trick Shovels alone since it will assist with Disaster Wing.  Next, consider adding Choice Bands into your deck which will increase your damage output by 30 to EX and GX Pokemon giving you once again the nice 190 damage output knocking out a lot of the basic Pokemon in the meta game.  If you're not wanting to run Darkrai EX run 2 Float Stones to assist with Zoroark's Stand In which allows for free retreat.  As well, look at some stadium cards that can increase dark types damage output, this can help you to reach the 200 damage output which will knockout some of the common stage 1 Pokemon.  Crushing Hammer is an alright card, but it is better suited for deck that are bulky or that are mill decks that thrive on having the opponent struggling until they deck out.  Skyla is a good niche card which I'll suggest play test with it to get a feeling on how and when to use it.  Professor Letter is good, but consider running it as a 1 of or a 2 of.  Pokemon Catcher is an unreliable card which Lysander and Guzma do much better.  But, cards that should just be removed from your list include; Max Potion, EXP Share, Lost Remover (it probably isn't legal), and Shauna because N is just a stronger card.

 

That just leaves your energy left.  I think what you are calling a Darkness Energy is not a legal energy anymore so that will need to be removed.  Your Dangerous Energy I'll also say remove since GX Pokemon are way more common in the current meta game and do not take damage from it.  So I suggest running 8 or 9 Dark Energy and 4 Double Colorless Energy (DCE).  DCE assist with Malamar EX's attack and stand in Zoroark's attack.

 

In general this deck is a hard deck to run and there are a lot of stuff that can straight up beat this deck, but my suggestions should help with the beck running a bit better.

[DarkonKirimoto]

Thanks, so... I've removed the dangerous energy and darkness energy and added more 1 skyla, 3 energy retrievals, and a recycle... What else should I tweak?

[DarkonKirimoto]

And I will take out the max potion, lost remover, and shauna and replace them with N

[DarkonKirimoto]

What about take out 2 Malamar EX, then, replace it with two Darkrai GX? And take out the crushing hammers and put in some energy recyclers?

[Poke J]

On 12/30/2017 at 6:29 PM, DarkonKirimoto said:

Thanks, so... I've removed the dangerous energy and darkness energy and added more 1 skyla, 3 energy retrievals, and a recycle... What else should I tweak?

3 Skyla might be a little too much, but ultimately it comes down to how vital you feel that card is for your deck.  Also that many cards to get energy back from the discard pile might be a little much since as far as I can tell from the list you posted earlier there isn't too many cards in your deck that require you to discard cards in the first place.  For example in my current deck I run 7 energies and only 2 Super Rods where I usually only use to get back 2 to 3 energies per game.

 

On 12/30/2017 at 6:33 PM, DarkonKirimoto said:

What about take out 2 Malamar EX, then, replace it with two Darkrai GX? And take out the crushing hammers and put in some energy recyclers?

Darkrai GX is a very good card and you could make it work with Malamar EX.  Just remember it's better to discard Darkrai GX early on and then use its ability to get it into play.  Again it sounds like you have too many cards to get energy from your discard consider running search cards like Ultra Ball or some other search method to get the exact Pokemon you want into play.

As I stated earlier it ultimately comes down to how vital you feel that card is for your deck and the risk factor you're willing to take with how many you want to run.  But, remember to have fun and learn from play testing and the tournament to know what should or shouldn't be in the deck.  As well, the more decks you face will help you get a better idea of the speed and flow of the deck and how to best run it.

Edited January 1, 2018 by Poke J

[DarkonKirimoto]

K, I ordered the following cards:

Darkrai EX (DEX) x3

Hoopa (Shining Legends) x4

Prof Juniper x3

Energy Recycler x4

I won't put all of those hoops and recyclers in there, but I think two hoops and two recyclers?

I also have shadow circle to cover for the weakness against Lycan/Buzzwole decks.

[Poke J]

You can definatly make use of the Shadow Circle and 2 Hoopa and Recyclers will probably be good enough.  Also, I forgot that you run Pokemon Communication with is a decent Pokemon search card so just ignore my Ultra Ball suggestion.

[DarkonKirimoto]

Yeah, I figured that would be good

I mean, although there is no Absol SL, it's really a decent card. I wish people could give it a little more credit

I can acquire a second Lysander from my friend, so that will work

[Merged Replies]

Edited January 2, 2018 by jasenyoface