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Deck Challenge #2
Results OK, so I got three entries for this contest. THREE! And of those three, only two were legal decks…
…
…Honestly, I would have expected a bit more. Alakazam screams “COMBO ME” and there are quite a few options out there.
That said, I’m still publishing my list at the end of this to show you how I run my ‘Kazam Stall. Bit first onto the winner and runner-up list. -----------------------------
The runner up for this contest is actually the winner of the last Deck Challenge, . Here’s his list and a little explation about how the deck should work. -------------
----------------------------
Now, this list is in the runner-up position for a good reason: It works, but its not great. The Retaliate Path has been taken before in the form of Gyarados (Base)/Memory Berry decks. Alakazam adds a more powerful option to the deck, manipulating the damage around to make sure a KO against your opponent won’t spell death for you the next turn. And with Kingdra’s power, the problem of weakness takes a step out the door.
The main disadvantage of this deck is the flippiness of Retaliate. Sure, it’s a great attack. But on tails, you’ve very much set yourself up for a KO and a huge damage loss. Also, attacking with Alakazam in the Muk/VileplEX matchup is one of the worst choices EVAR. Confusion has been highly weakened with the rules change between Skyridge and RS, making Alakazam attacking ever very laughable. Also, the lack of Fluffly Berry, Warp Point, or Switch makes this deck weak to the ever popular GOW. Also, maxing out Rare Candy/Pokemon Breeder is a must in a deck like this.
Bottom Line: It’s a nice outline/beginning point, but the deck needs a LOT of polishing and tweaking. ------------------------------------
The winner of this deck contest sent me two decks after checking with about entries. He said he’d created an Alakazam deck that didn’t stall to win. I found this hard to believe and asked him to send in the original deck along with another list tweaked to focus on the stalling aspect of ‘Kazam. The traditional list ran a straight ahead ‘Kazam/Chancey stall with Shiftry HL in it. o_0. Yeah, it was a lone Shiftry HL, which was even more confusing…
But the second deck really caught my eye. It contained an even less notable pokémon than Alakazam in it along with a fairly solid trainer line and strategy.
My critique of unlimited decks looks more at what is sacrificed in the trainer line over what is sacrificed in the Pokémon. No deck, unless run under the rule of the InSaNiTy Theory (which ‘Kazam really can’t run under well), will be able to pack all the trainers it wants to. Some sacrifices must be made for deck space purposes and I think the creator of this deck, Brad H., has done a better job at making a great power stall. ------------------------
Ooohh! Can you say KO! V.1
Pokemon: 23 4 Abra Base 3 Kadabra Base 4 Alakazam Base 4 Chansey Base 3 Geodude LM 2 Graveler LM 3 Golem LM
NRG: 16 4 DRE 4 DCE 4 Fighting 4 Psychic
Trainers: 21 3 Rare Candy 3 Professor Oak (is there any unlimited deck that doesn’t have them?) 3 Bill 3 Computer Search 1 Pokemon Center 1 Warp Point 2 Swoop! Teleporter 3 Gust of Wind 1 ATM (Rock) 1 Holon Farmer
Again, the first 6 turns are going to be hypothetical, because I don’t own all the cards. Start with Chansey and attach DCE. Play Abra and Geodude on bench. Scrunch and end turn. Turn 2: Attach either another DCE or a basic NRG to Chansey. Evolve Abra and Geodude up one stage, or if applicable, Candy to stage 2’s. Use Scrunch or Double edge. Turn 3: Play an additional Abra, Geodude, or Chansey, so 2 of each are in play (concurrent with next 2-3 turns). Attach a final basic NRG on Chansey, or play DRE on Golem. Use Alakazam to move damage off of active Chansey and onto either benched Chansey or Alakazam. Use Double Edge again. Turn 4. Evolve benched basics. Attach a basic energy to another Geodude or Graveler(DRE if possible). Use Alakazam to move damage off of Chansey and onto Golem(10 more than needed to KO a vital Pokemon). Retreat Chansey, and send out Golem. Gust of Wind a non-charged Pokemon on the bench. Use Enraged Linear Attack and OHKO a vital Pokemon on the opponent’s bench (possibly the one you gusted to the bench). Turn 5: If Golem is alive: Transfer unneeded damage off Golem onto another Pokemon. Continue charging a second Golem. Build a second Alakazam to hold damage. Use another Enraged Linear Attack on the bench. If Golem has been KO’ed: Send out second Golem. Attach another NRG for a total of 2 on him. Place a third Geodude on the bench. Transfer more damage to Golem. Gust of Wind the Pokemon that KO’ed the first Golem(make sure to bring in a Pokemon that can’t make it to the bench fast). Evolve 2nd Alakazam. KO a vital Pokemon on opponents bench(or just damage). Turn 6. Continue the punishment by charging a Chansey with a DCE in preparation for a later game Double Edge (another good move would be to attach a DCE or DRE to Golem, move all damage off, and use Rock Tumble). If there is too much damage on your side of the field, transfer most of it onto Pokemon without NRG and use the Pokemon Center. Use Enraged Linear Attack and KO another Pokemon on the opponent’s bench.
Later in the game, a charged Alakazam can buy you time with his attack(it can confuse) while you scramble to bring up another Golem(only use Alakazam as a last resort, because he really isn’t good). ATM (rock) will give you a late game KO or 2 on evolved Pokemon. In the beginning, Swoop will get you the Chansey start you want. That is basically it. Thanks!!! ------------------------------
Honestly, this deck holds MANY similarities to the list above in the fact that:
1) I uses damage and Damage Swap to boost his main attack.
2) Focuses on a Stage 2 with great effects.
However, this list surpasses the other because it requires less flipiness and can target whatever pokémon he wants for (F*). Want to get rid of that low HP supporting pokémon on your opponent’s bench. This deck can swoop in (no pun intended) and take it out. With the usual Chansey/’Kazam lock running as well to stall and set up, this deck is really solid.
As for cards lacking, there is one glaring error IMO: lack of Item Finder. In a deck that runs about three or four one-offs, three Item Finder can extend the life of these TecH trainers should need be (and need often be in the diverse world of Unlimited). Also, as a stall deck, this deck should run too many cards that accelerate PAST their opponent quickly, such as Oak and CPU search to an extent. Hence, I’d drop an oak and look for safer drawing options, like an extra CPU search or Prof. Elm. And maybe an extra PKMN Center would be nice. But overall, this deck took me aback. I’d never considered the combo between Golem HL and ‘Kazam Base. I’ve been a sucker for under used pokémon (like Golem and ‘Kazam) and Brad’s executed this very well too. Both decks use a similar style, but this decks laser targeted style work better for the overall strategy. ---------------------------------
Congrats to Brad on his deck. It epitomized what I would call a Power Stall. A power stall not only focuses on deck your opponent (1) but also kicks out as much damage in the meantime to hopefully take all 6 prizes for the win (2). This deck focuses much more on the power aspect of that, ditching the almost called for Briney’s and Centers for power cards ATM (Rock) and an extra GOW.
My ‘Kazam stall deck lasted for quite a while as a “fun” deck and it still is today. Yet back in the day it ran 3-2-1 Kazam, 3-2-1 Venusaur, and 3-2-1 Dark Dragonite (from the ORIGINAL Team Rocket set). Needless to say, it didn’t win too many games. I later took out the Venu and beefed up the ‘Kazam line, added some BBPs (Chansey and Snorlax to be exact) and it won even more games. Then, the deck sat dormant…
…Until I discovered two wonderful cards around the time of Gym Challenge. One was an older card: Tentacool from Fossil. At this time, the errata hadn’t been passed that Tentacool had to have been in play for one turn before you could use his power, making the equation Tentacool=Pokémon Center true. That, and I had about fifty Tentacools floating around with nothing to do. The second card is a little less known but still a great card: Sabrina’s Golduck. Able of essentially healing your whole side of 60 damage per turn while turning that damage around on your opponent was something very difficult to deal with. The deck still didn’t win many matches, but most of the matches that went long enough had my opponent writhing in their seats the whole time. And that was enough of a victory for me.
I recently got the deck out and did a little tweaking. Here’s what I came up with (after dropping the ubsequiously large and bulky D.Draggy line): -------------------------------
2 Gust of Wind 3 Bill 3 Pokémon Breeder 2 Professor Oak 2 Imposter Professor Oak 3 Chaos Gym 3 Item Finder 2 Pokémon Center 2 Computer Search 2 Switch
14 Psychic Energy 3 Double Colorless Energy
3 Chansey 2 Tentacool 3 Sabrina's Golduck 3 Sabrina's Psyduck 3 Alakazam 2 Kadabra SK 4 Abra -----------------------------------
Yeah, its still not perfect yet and nor will it ever be. It’s a deck I can get out whenever and just have fun with, playing and teaching others how to play with it. Only two Tentacool are really needed early in the game to start stalling. Later, you’ll be mainly attacking with Sabrina’s Golduck and shifting damage away that way.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on Alakazam stall deck. In case you haven’t noticed, stall decks have been carving out a small niche in the Modified world in the form of Shedinja stall decks. You never know when your next big tourney match is one where your opponent keeps kicking out damage but you’re not taking any damage. Until next time!
Cardz out.
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