The top 25 decks in Modified

These decks are not rated by power alone, but by how good they are against the most powerful decks as well (at least somewhat). This is why many Grass decks are in the top 25, because Gatr is in the top 1.

25. Sabrina’s Alakazam

This deck is very strong against Koga’s Muk, Dark Weezing, Meganium, and Giovanni’s Machamp, but that’s about all that it has a strong advantage over. Oh ya, and Crobat. MP, NP, and Rockets Mewtwo all are great for variety, and Dk Hypno, Espeon, and Sabrina's Kadabras on the bench make it impossible to predict. It’s very challenging to play, but almost all good decks total it.

24: Brock’s Ninetails

This deck is versatile, and can do a lot of scary things. Goop Gas Attack, Igglybuff (both kinds), and the fact that many decks use status effects do weaken this deck, but it still can do many weird things. It can confuse you with Sabrina’s Venomoth, move your energy with Xatu, blast your head in with Blaine’s Arcanine… and more! It’s variety, all right! The deck’s real weakness is any status effect.

23: Dark Blastoise:

Not the best choice. Sometimes it will use other cards to pump it up, like Skarmory, Steelix, or Wooper (well, always Wooper). It beats Typhlosion, but can’t beat much else consistently. In fact, it just barely beats Typhlosion, and sometimes loses if the opening coin flip turns south.

22: Piloswine

Neo 3, that is. With metals and a combination of Gold Berries and Focus Bands, this deck can beat many things, but win very few by type match-up alone. It uses Rocket’s Hitmonchan, and sometimes will TecH a Murkrow and the Water Piloswine. The deck loses very badly to any grass deck, though.

21: Butterfree (Neo 2)

This deck, if it gets lucky, can beat Feraligatr. It destroys Donphan, blasts out Piloswine, and beats most other Grass decks. The flip side is that it has no chance against Typhlosion whatsoever, and if the coins turn south, Feraligatr really destroys it. Oh well… besides the Fire weakness and the coin flip reliance, the deck is a pretty rough-and-ready deck, and is one of the few decks not designed to beat Feraligatr that can beat it.

20: Forretress

Forretress loses so badly to Typhlosion it’s not even funny. Forretress also loses to a lot of other decks, but… think of it as a weak-to-fire Donphan that has a lot more disruption but all that is stopped with Metal.

19: Beedrill

Stronger than Butterfree? Perhaps. Beedrill itself is stronger, but Weedle goes down first turn to Cyndaquil. However, since neither deck stands a chance against Typhlosion… consider Beedrill as a weak little Crobat wannabe that beats Espeon and Sabrina’s Alakazam. Triple Poison can be nasty, but Crobat simply outclasses it in every form.

18: Erika’s Dragonair/anything

Okay… maybe not Dunsparce, but most anything that does quick damage. Hmm… ::wistfully thinks and realizes Sneasel is banned::… well… Donphan actually works really well with him. You Rapid Spin, they Riptide, you Take away, and proceed to go onto victory… or maybe not. This deck uses a LOT of card drawing, as Dragonair is anti-decking.

17: Tyranitar

Yup… it’s T-tar, alright! He’s very strong against… um… nothing in particular, except Rocket’s Zapdos. T-tar is the only reason Electrosteelix is not as strong as it should be. Tyranitar can usually beat Slowking down, as a good Trample or two destroys the crap out of everyone! Something most people don’t realize is that when Tyranitar has 2 DK, Trample does 70. Ouch…

16: Mega Meganium

Meganium is usually grouped with something like Giovanni’s Nidoking or Erika’s Victreebell (or Crobat), but a few brave people use Brock’s Golbat, since Resistance Gym (a must with Meganium) only limits the resistance, while Pewter eliminates it. Rocket’s Scyther is some 0wnage backup, and Caterpie can work against T-tar, but Meganium has the advantage there anyway.

15: High Voltage

This deck relies on Surge’s Jolteon and Rocket’s Zapdos, as well as (occasionally) Dark Raichu. It beats multiple decks, and can really stall. Plus, Jolteon’s second attack can really screw up an opponent. Sometimes Ampharos is used in place of Dark Raichu. It’s all one and the same…

14: Murkrow Lock

With Dark Vileplume! Double Gust for an Unown, Balloon Berry, evolving multiple DK Glooms, Mean Look, and you win. 3 or 4 DK Plumes on the bench, along with an Igglybuff to stop Unown D, and the opponent can kiss their dreams of going undefeated goodbye. Unless… they run 3 or 4 Igglybuff (which NO good deck should) or (much more likely) they use Erika’s Victreebell. Still, getting 3 DK Plumes out in one turn is tougher then you think!

13: Koga’s Muk + Koga’s Ditto

A very strong deck type? No, not really. However… It can cream Feraligatr occasionally, and is very powerful against… well… Piloswine!!! Koga’s Ditto comes under the Koga benefits, and protects from Espeon and Sabrina’s Alakazam. Koga’s Muk + Ninja Trick +Focus Band 0wnz! This deck is balanced and strong.

12: Espeon!

Espeon! Espeon! Espeon! EVERYONE looooooooooooooooves Espeon… except Crobat! Espeon is kinda good against Typhlosion, since if they flip tails for Flame Burst Espeon survives, and you use Psychic for 70! Then they kill you… but you put up a fight! It beats many decks, and is a strong fighter.

11: Mulligan Misty’s Goldeen

Most people don’t realize how powerful this deck is. It 0wnz! It’s a combination of Steelix and Tyranitar. It works pretty well, and cleans up any mediocre deck. It loses to the so-called "Terrible Two", Typhlosion and Feraligatr. Gatr bites…

10: Donphan

This deck isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be, what with Crobat and all. However, it still is pretty good, and it goes like this… Donphan vs. Feraligatr… Rapid Spin, sends up Iggly with Focus band! Riptide fails. Retreat, Rapid Spin! Repeat. The deck loses badly to a well placed Double Gust/Balloon Berry combo, and an attacker that does 70 damage or more, which is not uncommon. It also loses BADLY to Steelix. Ooh… Rapid Spin does 10!

9: Electrosteelix

This deck is resilient to almost anything besides the "terrible two", meaning Gatr and Tyhplo or any variants, and T-tar. The deck uses Steelix and Rocket’s Zapdos, and sometimes Surge’s Buzz. The purpose of Zappy is to stall early game and clean up late game. Also, a Zappy with 2 Metal is immune to Donphan! Wowzer! Besides Misty’s Goldeen, this is the only good Steelix variant, and the best of ‘em all. Just DON’T get near a Typhlosion deck, or else…

8: True Typhlosion

Naturally, Blaine’s Arcanine/Typhlosion is much higher on the list, but True Typhlosion is a good deck anyway. It has 3 Fire Rechargers, and a Flame Wheeler. It is very strong, as Flame Wheeler attacks, and does 80 (and twenty to each benched), and since you’re attacking about 80% of the time, it can do really good. Two Flame Wheels KO an Iggly, Cleffa, or Pichu… or any other little baby! It can do many wonderfully powerful things… but don’t expect it to overpower it’s brother, that Typhlosion/Blaine’s Arcanine thingamajig.

7: Erika’s Victrebell/Parasect/Murkrow/DK Plume

Wow… the title tells it all. Parasect stops the discarding, Murkrow 2 hit KO’s the Iggly, and even when Iggly’s alive, they need to choose to stop Parasect or DK Plume. By the time Parasect’s power becomes useful, Murkrow’s killed the Igglybuffs. Victrebell serves as a GOW, making a benched Unown N a win. The deck is VERY slow, and uses many Pokémon. Parasect is just a second line of defense against Gatr and helps against Typhlosion.

6: Giovanni’s Machamp

Funny how Giovanni’s Pokémon are so often called "horrible", yet both Giovanni’s Nidoking (with Meganium) and this deck are forces to be reckoned with! Focus Band plus Fortitude plus Giovanni’s Last Resort equals 0wnage! The attack is awesome, and if you feel lucky, you can use Recall to use his Machop’s powerful Rage-like attack. Giovanni equals a turn one Giovanni’s Machoke, ouch!

5: Crobat

It destroys Donphan, nails Gatr, stands some pathetic attempt at a chance at Typhlosion, and beats Slowking, Tyranitar, etc., all but Steelix, who destroys Crobat. Crobat needs to get 4 heads (or 3 with Resistance Gym) to even damage Steelix, Confusion does nothing to it when he attacks himself, and… well… leave it at that. Crobat is good, and has made Steelix a lot better merely by existing! Rocket’s Scyther is good ol’ broken backup.

4: Erika’s Victreebell/Murkrow

This deck is the slimmed down (and more powerful) version of the deck above, and it’s the better for losing some weight (get it? Slimming down, losing weight? It’s… funny…). It crushes Slowking, 0wnz Donphan, and can beat Gatr. It’s not reliable, just… good. Very good. Typhlosion beats this deck VERY badly, but… wait… doesn’t it beat EVERYTHING badly?

3: Slowking

"The king, has returned."---- The Little Annoying Baboon in the Lion King. Slowking is very good against Gatr, and Crobat, and… the list goes on forever. Typhlosion beats it very badly, as well as Giovanni’s Machamp, and Erika’s Victrebell. Balloon Berry and Warp Point are much-needed help against Brock's Mankey, and Murkrow/Umbreon are very nice.

2: Typhlosion/Blaine’s Arcanine

This deck is powerful. It beats everything consistently, except for DK Blastoise and… grr… Gatr. Gatr + Parasect really destroy this deck, much more then plain Gatr. Grr… Parasect stops Fire Recharge… grr… What else is there to say? Typhlosion is a very strong deck!

1: Feraligatrsect

Feraligatr 0wnz! Parasect is the deck’s biggest liability, but… it helps hugely. Gatr has an advantage over Typhlosion to begin with, and Parasect super-sizes that advantage. Stopping Fire Recharge is great, especially since most Typhlosion decks don’t use Igglybuff! Gatr is great against anything besides good Grass decks, and it is the sole reason that Typhlosion isn't as powerful as it should be.

This has been Matthew, giving you a bit of controversial help right before the STS (if this is posted AFTER the STS, sue my agent that I don’t have.)

This was mailed Tuesday the 27^th, so don’t get mad if it’s not posted by then.

Have a nice day!