Introduction
A similar deck previously sparked interest
during last years BKT-BUS format when Pikachu EX was first brought into the
rogue category partnered with Magnezone’s Magnetic Circuit, due to the
introduction of large HP Pokemon such as Metagross and Decidueye GX. It saw a
fair bit of play at League Challenges and Cups, getting numerous top placed
finishes in the process, it was important to note at that time ability-lock was
everywhere with Drampa/Garbodor and Buzzwole/Garbodor seeing an increase of
play. With the odds stacked against it, the deck saw very little play afterwards
in the format. With the most recent release of Unbroken Bonds we have been
given a chance to revisit the archetype, which in the current meta without a
hard ability lock like Garbodor for all Pokemon, the chance for Magnetic
Circuit to strive in the coming Tag Team GX meta.
Magnezone - Forbidden Light - FLI 36
Magnetic Circuit has already seen quite a
bit of play in the past few formats this season, mainly being popular with
Metal Pokemon and the corresponding Magnezone. But thanks to the alternate type
reprint in Forbidden Light we have an opportunity to partner this with Electric
type Pokemon in which we did not have many strong attackers for until recently
with the releases of Team Up and Unbroken Bonds. The biggest issue which has been
the same with many decks with similar archetypes is the set up of the Stage 2
Pokemon, as finding turn 2 Rare Candy and Magnezone can be incredibly hard.
This was an issue previously with the deck as there was no specific item
search, but with cards like Volkner and Steven’s Resolve it allows you to get
set up and ready for either a Turn 2 Magnezone without having to burn through
as many cards. This shows promise for Stage 2 archetypes going forward
especially with cards like Acro Bike, Dedenne GX and the added support of
Volkner allow it to be really easy to find the pieces from within your deck.
In the previous SUM-TEU format Pikachu
& Zekrom Tag Team (PikaRom) and Zapdos/Jolteon GX was the main issue with
decks that required a lot of set up with the deck being able to knockout the
active Pokemon and a benched Pokemon usually with ease, this was the reason why
decks like Granbull and Magnezone was not played prior. With the release of Mew
from Unbroken Bonds this allows you to have a stronger match up against PikaRom
and other spread decks, which can run through single prized decks with ease
after Electropowers and Flying Flips would cause an insane amount of damage
really early on.
With having added consistency and
protection now for Stage 2 Pokemon in the current format. I believe that these
types of decks can see an increase of play as long as they have relevant
attackers which can deal with these big Tag Team GX Pokemon, which thanks to
Unbroken Bonds we have the reincarnation of Pikachu EX that can leave these
decks scrambling. Instead of a powerful GX two prizer, what if it was a single
prized attacker that can hit extraordinary outputs of damage? Welcome, Zeraora.
Zeraora - Unbroken Bonds - UNB 60
Zeraora has 120hp which is a little
disappointing coming from a lot of legendaries and mythical Pokemon that have
130hp but I suppose if it had more HP then it would probably be a little more overpowered,
it already takes two Electropowers to knockout with a Zapdos, so it is quite
strong from that aspect but will easily be knocked out by a Zoroark or
Giratina. The first attack for a single lightning energy does 20 damage and
discards a special energy from your opponents active Pokemon, which will cause
issue for Zoroark decks in the early stages if they are not careful in their
early energy attachments. It can be quite disruptive against any deck that runs
special energies as they will be a lot harder to recycle than basic energy. The
second attack for Zeraora is Discharge, which is a very similar attack to Overspark
on Pikachu EX which does 50x damage the amount of lightning energy discarded
from this Pokemon. This is the money-shot, it is incredibly easy with Magnezone’s
ability to attach up to 5/6 energy a turn to knockout a Tag Team Pokemon in one
hit. We are able to do this continuously by running a high amount of energy in
the deck and using high counts of cards like Fisherman, Energy Retrieval and
Lady to bring back energy from the discard and help find hiding energy from
within the deck as well. With these cards it allows consistency in attacking
with your Zeraora’s constantly and keeps pressure on your opponent at all
times. With the single retreat cost there is no real need to run any switching
cards as it does not feel band attaching and retreating with the energy recycle
and constant energy flooding the board with Magnezone’s Magnetic Circuit.
Here is a provisional deck list that I have
put together from my testing and theory so far:
Pokemon (13):
4 Zeraora UNB
3 Magnemite FLI
3 Magnezone FLI
1 Mew UNB
1 Tapu Koko Prism TEU
1 Dedenne GX UNB
Trainers (37):
4 Cynthia ULP
4 Lillie ULP
2 Guzma BUS
2 Fisherman CES
1 Lady FLI
1 Volkner ULP
4 Ultra Ball SUM
4 Nest Ball SUM
4 Energy Retrieval SUM
4 Rare Candy CES
3 Acro Bike CES
2 Rescue Stretcher GRI
2 Shrine of Punishment CES
Energy (10) :
10 Electric Energy
In terms of Match ups I believe that the
deck can handle anything that offers more than one prize for a knockout but I
can see issues if single prized decks that can be more consistent see a lot of
play, especially those that run mainly basic Pokemon such as Zapdos/Jirarchi or
BuzzGarbShrine. But the majority of these decks will have a consistency issue,
especially with the new archetype of Baby Blacephalon (Baby Cakes), which this
Magnezone deck is very similar with the damage output but allows playing stronger
draw supporters than welders. It is far too early in the format to be
identifying how strong specific match ups are but it is an archetype which I
will be considering taking to events over the format.
Although I have spoken about this deck and
its feasibility going into the new format this weekend and beyond as a competitive
deck, it has to be one of the most fun decks I have tested prior to competitive
legality and is based on an older deck which was good in a previous format.
Thanks for reading this small write up on a
deck I am planning on putting some effort into for the next quarter as my pet
deck, I look forward to seeing you guys at events in the next coming quarter
and good luck for all those going for their Worlds Qualification!
Charlie
