Well, you don't see me much here, because I spend most of my time working and
writing strategy articles for Pokeschool... Just because I don't post here every
day means nothing, if I'd have the best deck. :-p Here's my deck that you should
take into consideration.
"Glare of Darkness"
July 14, 2003
Pokemon: 19
4 Larvitar (Neo Destiny)
1 Pupitar (Expedition)
3 Tyranitar (Neo Discovery)
3 Hoothoot (Neo Genesis)
3 Noctowl (Neo Genesis)
3 Cleffa
2 Unown D
Energy: 18
4 Darkness
4 Rainbow
4 Recycle
3 Boost
3 Warp
Trainers: 23
4 Energy Charge
4 Elm
3 Breeder
3 Copycat
3 Pokemon Breeder Fields
3 Gold Berry
3 Healing Field
Ok, here's the complete analysis of everything I included...
~Larvitar: I chose the Neo4 version in the fact that its Leer attack is
*somewhat* useful, given the situation. The only other viable Larvitar is Neo2,
which is not that great.
~Pupitar: I included a single Pupitar for safety. In the situation that you
would have Elmed, and you can't use a Breeder, having that chance at still
evolving is better than not. Also, you *could* attack given you would want to.
~Tyranitar: Trample is one of the best attacks for messing around with your
opponent. You will be dealing a minimum of 50 damage to the Defending Pokemon,
and on each heads, will do 30 damage to an opponent's Benched Pokemon. The huge
advantage here is that Babies have 30 HP. You can take out your opponent's
Cleffas, Magbys, and whatever else they've got, before they can make them
Active, and the annoying Baby rule will work in their favor. By combining this
with an Unown D, you won't damage your Bench at all! Even non-Baby Pokemon will
be really messed up by the time they would get to be fighting you. Tyranitar
also has Slam, costing only (*)(*)(*), so if you wouldn't happen to have
Darkness or Rainbows attached, you could still attack for some amount of damage.
Also, having no Weakness is a major advantage, because your opponent won't be
able to slip in with a Tyrogue and take you out in 2 hits. They will have to
plow through all 100 HP the hard way. One last thing- taking a few Prizes all in
the same attack is a great picture opportunity when you see your opponent's
face. ^_^
~Cleffa: Not that I'm a major Cleffa promoter, but as in many other decks,
Cleffa does double duty here. You can not only get a better hand quickly, but
also stall for some time, in the situation where Tyranitar isn't quite powered
up yet.
~Hoothoot: Evolve into Noctowl.
~Noctowl: By having a number of Noctowls in play, you'll have a nice chance of
sending at least 1 Trainer from your opponent's hand to their deck. The ideal
cards to send away would be their Copycats, Elms, Professor Oak's Research, or
anything else that would help get them better cards. Having free Retreat here
also would make it less damaging if your opponent would Double Gust it up.
~Unown D. By simply having just one of these Benched, you'll 100% prevent all of
your self-damage that would occur on tails. Now, you've got a one-sided attack
that works completely to your advantage!
~Darkness Energy: Simply put, they make Tyranitar more of the beast than it is.
While they don't add damage to the Bench-hitting part of Trample, they pay for
the attack cost and also add damage to the Defending Pokemon. Just having 2
Darknesses attached deals 70 to the Defending Pokemon, enough to take out most
Basics and Stage 1's.
~Rainbow: You can't have a Darkness deck without Rainbow. This just doubles your
number of Darkness-able Energy, making it easier to power up quickly.
~Recycle: These are the universal Energy in your deck. Everything from Cleffa to
Tyranitar itself can use Recycles, and they save you some effort in keeping
yourself ready to attach Energy, namely when a Pokemon gets KO'd.
~Boost: These could get you some quick attacks. If it would be the second turn
of the game, and you Breedered a Tyranitar into play, you could Slam! And, if
your opponent has no Bench, you could possibly win that early! Also, Noctowl
could use it for Wing Attack, if needed in an emergency.
~Warp: Since Tyranitar has a Retreat Cost that isn't the best, you could just
throw a Warp Energy into play and Tyranitar will be able to switch out to
something else! (Also, if your Unown D would happen to become Active, this can
bring it back.)
~Energy Charge: Considering all of the Energy in this deck is Special, you would
have no other way to return them to play, besides these. The top priority would
be to return true Darknesses to your deck, for usage later.
~Elm: Unlike Copycat, you will get a guaranteed 7 cards here, odds being you'll
get at least 1 or 2 Energy. You can't use Trainers that turn, but after an Elm,
you'll probably have what you need to at least finish that turn.
~Breeder: With your Boost Energy, this could allow for a turn 2 Slam. Also,
since this will be using WotC rules, you won't be able to attach a Darkness to
Pupitar, so going right to Darkness-type will allow the attaching.
~Copycat: You will be able to use other Trainers the same turn as Copycat, and
will get a nice hand usually.
~Breeder Fields. By having a Stage 2 and a Stage 1 line in the same deck,
searching for Evolutions will give you a better advantage. Find a Tyranitar and
use Breeder! Using these will save you from changing your hand if you have
something useful you don't want to shuffle away.
~Gold Berry: Tyranitar, having 100 HP, will definitely use Gold Berry quite
well. Just one more turn that a GB will give you will allow for at least one
more Trample, and that means more Prizes, possibly.
~Healing Field: Just another means of prolonging Tyranitar's life. Since you
deal 50 or more to the Defending Pokemon, Healing Field won't be
counter-productive, and will help you at the same time.
Summary of everything:
The problem with Noctowls and hand disruption in Modified is the fact your
opponent could have Cleffas to repair their hand. Tyranitar KO's Babies on one
heads! So, if you can mow down a number of Babies on your opponent's Bench, they
won't be able to Eeeeeeek, and also will be left without hand-changing! Just get
Tyranitar, Unown D, and Noctowl(s) into play, and you'll have a veritable deck!
Good luck to everybody.
~Baboon
Baboon@pokeschool.com