Pokémon TCG Soaring Storm: An in-depth(ish) guide

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• Soaring Storm: An in-depth(ish) guide
• Is there a way I can just auto win against Malamar?
• Useless starter theme deck
• Trade bug?
• Best set up accelerators
• Lost March - Standard
• Pulled a Reshiram/Zekrom GX out of my first Cosmic Eclipse pack. What is the best way to get as many packs out of it as possible?
• Are "tins" fully playable decks online? and wtf with battle decks?

Soaring Storm: An in-depth(ish) guide Posted: 14 Nov 2019 07:27 AM PST From what I see both in game and on this sub, three of the theme decks seem to have an overwhelming preference over the others: Relentless Flame (Charizard deck), Laser Focus (Necrozma deck) and Towering Heights (Groudon deck). These are the ones I see the most recommended here, and those I face about 80% of the time. But there's another deck. One that people seem to sleep on, despite it having all the tools to beat any of those decks if you know what you are doing. A deck that sure starts slow, but snowballs over time to become a powerhouse, able to set-up threats out of thin air. And that deck is Soaring Storm, the Dragonite deck. Do games last longer? Probably. Are games close? You're throwing free prizes at your opponent while you set up, so yep. But are games satisfying and you get to win with a big dragon? Also yes. First a little disclaimer: it's my first time doing something like this, so the presentation might not be great. I will also cover some basics as theme decks players are more likely to be new and this would be helpful to them. Part 1: General Strategy Tips While a lot of crazy unexpected events can happen in constructed play, theme decks follow some rules that make the format different. Spread damage, healing, consistent tutors/draw engines, disruption (e.g. guzma), high damage/hp, bonus damage...those are not really a thing in theme decks. Some lists do have access to some of these effects, but you quickly know which one do and which one don't, so you can have a plan ready for each opponent. First is card draw. The more you draw, the earlier you will be able to set up your board. And Soaring Storm is one of the slowest decks out there, so setting up early matters a lot. Get your alolan Grimer and your Pidgeotto ready early, and Dragonite will be on its merry way soon after. Use your Pokemon Fan Club and Pokemon Communication to see your deck. You will see what is prized and what is available, so don't grab your Chinchous if you see no Lanturn. They'll be useful later, but you have other pokemons that are more useful now. Beware shuffle supporters such as Cynthia. If your hand is full of nothing, it is often better to shuffle it away and get a fresh new hand. But if you have something to play next turn, just wait or use a raw draw supporter like Bug Catcher. Let's say your hand is Dratini, Dragonair and Cynthia, and you don't have an immediate need for other pokemons to evolve of get energies. Just play Dratini and pass, then evolve it before you play Cynthia. That way, you are guaranteed to have your Dragonair ready for next turn. Second is knowing how to trade pokemons or stall. There are two spikes to be aware of: 120-130 and 160. 160 hp pokemons are usually stage 2, and only few select pokemons can KO them in one hit. 120-130 hp is roughly how tough most attackers are. So when you are going for prizes, there are a few questions to ask yourself: Do I need to send my biggest pokemon for this? Does my opponent have a way to KO me back? If yes, how do I deal with new threat? (repeat from 1) What you want to usually do is send your weakest pokemon (that can still get the KO) and force your opponent to send a slightly bigger one, then repeat until you take down their own stage 2. If your opponent has no one to OHKO your 160 hp beat stick, go for it because you're likely getting 2+ prizes for only one pokemon. You can also play half-safe and get one prize and retreating to send something else. Stalling with pokemons that can take a hit a survive is huge. Send your 120 hp thunderus to stop that Groudon for a turn, next turn retreat it and send what you spent two turns preparing. Free retreat and switches are also a good way to stall, as it doesn't slow down your progress. Part 2: Deck Overview As far as Theme deck go, this one has little to no useless cards. You have two copies of Dragonite, Lanturn and Thunderus, which are all your main attackers. You have alolan Grimers to draw more fuel early (or even for the final push), as well as a couple Pidgeottos to make your setup smoother. Tornadus can get surprise bench snipes but also acts like a very solid roadblock with decent poke damage and low retreat. Finally, Pidgeot isn't a card you usually play, as the attacks are very situational and this turns off Pidgeotto's card draw, but the 130 hp with fighting resistance and the free retreat still make it a solid option when you need to stall or be flexible. The deck is slow, and setting up Dragonite is key to your victory. Being able to charge a Lanturn or Thunderus from nothing every turn is huge. It also empties your hand so you can use Lillie to draw more fuel and avoid Copycat surprises. You want to ideally start with Dratini (free retreat), Tornadus (get chip damage and hold well) or Grimer (drawing cards is always good, especially early). If you have tutors like Pokemon Fan Club, check your deck to see which evolutions are prized, then the order of priority is roughly like this: Situationally relevant cards Basics you have the evolution for Grimer, if you have no draw supporter Basics with 2 non-prized evolutions you can draw Thunderus (generic strong attacker) Whatever is left (unless your bench is full and you want to Lillie next turn, then pick nothing) When it comes to fighting, Dragonite will overcome anything but you can't afford losing the energy acceleration. First send out Thunderus which can deal 120 damage. Put the recoil damage on anything except your Dragonite. Then, you send out Lanturn which will have recovered energies from the previous attackers and will deal 140 damage if you can fuel 2 energies a turn. And finally you send Dragonite. Of course, if you need more damage for the KO, just send whoever has the damage you need. However, if your opponent has pokemons strong enough to take down your only Dragonite and you need 150+ damage, it is often better to send Tornadus + Lanturn to do 20+140, even if it costs an extra prize now it will be a prize saved later, and you keep your energy bonus. Also keep in mind that even with Dragonite, you can "only" play 3 energies a turn while Dragonite needs 4, so charge it up a little when you're free to do so. It'll give you the extra flexibility when you need it. Part 3: Specific Matchups vs Necrozma This deck is aggressive, with 90 damage on turn 2 and an early Necrozma can ravage boards. But the late game is yours. Necrozma is the only threat to Dragonite, and there are only two special energies. If you see a special energy being used elsewhere, it's one less way to OHKO your Dragonite. Dragonite and Lanturn can both take care of anything here. Thunderus lacks a bit of damage for Silvally and Necrozma, but Tornadus can do the bit of damage you need. Don't be afraid to give up 2 or 3 prizes to set up properly, They only have Necrozma (with special energy) and Silvally that can do 120+ damage, so unless they get to set up all of them, your opponent will lack the damage very fast.   vs Groudon With two stage 2 lines, 4 high damage basics and Palpitoad's ability to one shot most of our early team (Thunderus/Lanturn/Grimer have weakness, Dratini has 60 hp), you would think the challenge is high... but it isn't as bad as it seems. Seismitoad requires 4 energies to attack. While the ability helps them a lot, they won't have the time to charge it up without using Groudon, which means you get a free hit. Garchomp does 160 damage, but only when they are behind. So if you make sure to stay just one prize behind them (to be on par when you take one), they will have NO way to OHKO your Dragonite. Give free prizes early, and the Dragonites will get two hits guaranteed. When it's down to 2-3 prizes each, you can either leave them the lead and get the last two prizes with Dragonite, or you can push for prizes if you have the backup ready to take care of what's left. Groudon and Throh hit hard, but no more than 130 damage. What this means is that not only they can't take down Dragonite, but Tornadus will take a hit like a champ too. The thing about Throh is that your opponent needs to have damaged pokemons on the bench to deal good damage. That is usually done through Palpitoad, but it comes at a greater price than it seems. Groudon now has 120 hp, which Thunderus can take down. Garchomp is down to 140, just right for Lanturn. The card you need to be the most aware of is none other than Mew. It's ability to snipe your benched pokemons can make a big difference if you are careless with Thunderus. Usually, you'd put the 40 damage on your Pidgeotto which will never fight, but not here because it would live at 20hp, and Tornadus tanking a Groudon hit lives at 10hp, so Mew can get both at once. Instead, put them on your electric pokemons and up to one on Grimer. As long as you make sure everyone has at least 40hp left, you're safe. Last point: Pidgeot has fighting resistance and free retreat, in the final turns you can turn off Pidgeotto's draw to have a Tornadus on steroids.   vs Charizard This deck is also focused on winning the late game, and surprisingly the two most dangerous cards aren't even Nidoqueen or Charizard. Nidoqueen helps them build more threats, but is slow to charge. Dragonite will take care of that without problem. Charizard hits hard, and can even hit for 180 damage, but it's a one time use. Even if Lanturn or Thunderus can't do the full 130-150 damage (depending if they used the charge ability), leaving Charizard at 10 hp is basically the same. They can't charge it up (ability will KO), they have no heal, and the retreat is 2 energies. If they use a switch, Chimchou or Tornadus can snipe it off the board. What can be a pain, though, is Rapidash. 60 damage can two-shot anyone but Dragonite and Pidgeot, and lucky coin flips can make it tough. When I was playing the Kyogre deck my opponent hit heads 8 turns in a row. Hard to counter luck, but using Tornadus to get the bench can be a decent option. Another big effect to be aware of is... Copycat. While you usually want to draw as many cards as possible, you will have to use your shuffles more aggressively here. Letting your opponent draw 13 cards hurts a lot. Keep Kukui in mind as well. The 20 damage will rarely matter, but that lets Rapidash one shot a Grimer with Agility, so that's a thing.   vs Kyogre This one is a race to stage 2. If Empoleon can snipe your Dragonair, you will have trouble with energy. Thankfully, Lanturn and Thunderus both survive a hit and both deal double damage to Empoleon, getting a guaranteed one shot. Only other thing to be aware of is that the deck can not take down a Dragonite in one hit, as long as your opponent doesn't have empoleon ready you can safely send Dragonite to fight a round or two.   vs Empoleon Similar principle than the deck above except that Total Command can take down Dragonite. But the real threat is Golduck. Amnesia is extremely annoying, so save your switches if you can. Swim deals okay damage, but the bench snipe is the danger. A single water energy, and any Pidgeotto, Grimer, Drattini or Chimchou will go down. Very dangerous if you have something like Grimer in the active and no switch. Simply put, only use water energies when you need them to attack or retreat immediately. Easier said than done, but it'll save you.   vs Raikou Last deck covered, as you won't see much of the others. Nothing here can OHKO Dragonite. Raikou gets dealt with by anything. Don't use Tornadus to fight (weakness), and avoid spreading damage too much with Thunderus as Ampharos can do 50 damage to 2 pokemons. Speaking of Ampharos, hold tight onto your Switch and only use Tate&Liza if your are stuck at the beginning, because these will break you free from paralysis and that's huge.   Final Words I hope this post wasn't total Garbodor, I rarely do that so let me know if you see points of improvement. If people like it I might do a similar thing for other theme decks. Did this guide help you? Did it make you want to give Dragonite a shot? If yes, then I'm happy about it. And remember folks, at the end of the day it's just a game. Card games and theme decks in particular have a lot of variance, so don't be mad when you lose and simply enjoy the good times :) submitted by /u/Zerodaim [link] [comments]

Is there a way I can just auto win against Malamar? Posted: 13 Nov 2019 02:17 PM PST This new Malamar Trading Card Game Online game is getting kind of annoying. I tried to just play a 4 Hoopa line with 4 Lysander and a bunch of other stuff, but the match still takes too long. I'd like to just get through the Mally games so I can test my deck against other things. I'm facing them 9/10 times right now, with most recent streak of 15 Mally matches in a row. ​ **Edit** Lysandre Labs sorry submitted by /u/drewhjava [link] [comments]

Useless starter theme deck Posted: 14 Nov 2019 01:42 AM PST Just started playing, have this "Mental Might" deck. Several of the cards I find are mostly useless, and 5 out of 5 versus games so far have been so severely one sided against me I think I'm about to uninstall this thing. submitted by /u/PonyFlare [link] [comments]

Trade bug? Posted: 14 Nov 2019 06:29 AM PST Is trading bugged right now because it dosent öet me select how long i want to be up for submitted by /u/cookingcape8872 [link] [comments]

Best set up accelerators Posted: 13 Nov 2019 12:36 PM PST I asked before about energy accelerators. I could also use a general way to set up my game ASAP. I love rogue decks, but I spend a lot of time figuring out ways to set up as fast as possible, I'm usually behind my opponent, specially the more rogue or creative my deck is. Also I notice how I many successful decks, there are not many four versions or a trainer card, and actually very little energy cards. I'm quite the opposite, 4 of the same as much as I can and 14-16 energy cards. I'm doing something bad. Normally I prefer not to rely Dedenne GX, Tapu Lele GX, Shaymin EX, or other one-use GX or DX cards, also because if I wanna use Shrine of Punishment, well, I can't. Edit: for example, still hassling to make my fossil decks fast ones. submitted by /u/MonoCanalla [link] [comments]

Lost March - Standard Posted: 13 Nov 2019 04:04 PM PST So I've been thinking about this deck - and Night March (the expanded one?) and was wondering really how cheap are these decks, which one is cheaper to make from scratch, and if they're viable enough to warrant trading for them. I have most of the Lost March deck except the engine itself (Hop/Skip/Jump etc), I checked the trade market and the cards just aren't popular there. I want to note that this isn't a trade post (I don't want to get in trouble with the mods in case it looks like a trade post hah), I'd just like to know roughly what I should be offering for them so I can create my own trades and not make a bad offer for either side. submitted by /u/Rukkamuncha [link] [comments]

Pulled a Reshiram/Zekrom GX out of my first Cosmic Eclipse pack. What is the best way to get as many packs out of it as possible? Posted: 13 Nov 2019 03:02 PM PST Hey guys, I somewhat recently got into this game and haven't done much other than play theme versus and finish the trainer challenges. Today I played in my first theme tournament and got 2 packs out of it. The first one I opened I got Reshiram & Zekrom GX. I saw there were quite a few offers for about 10+ packs for the card on trade. I'm not planning on getting into competitive any time soon, mostly just looking to build up a large collection and play for fun casually here and there. Meaning, I'm looking to trade the card for as many packs as possible. Would it be better to put up an offer now, or will its value increase if I wait a few weeks? Not very familiar with how trading and values really work in this game. Thanks! submitted by /u/afurrypotato [link] [comments]

Are "tins" fully playable decks online? and wtf with battle decks? Posted: 13 Nov 2019 05:51 PM PST So I mostly play with a friend, and I got them some "battle decks" and the moment they get a GX card? its done. you cannot even try....(vs my Themed decks) yeah I have nothing that can hit for 230+ nor eat a 240 hit. its stupid...makes no sense and should not be allowed......so now we have to agree to use "battle decks" at the same time or none at all.... and what exactly are Tins? are they fully playable decks online? submitted by /u/lovemehate [link] [comments]

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