ZOROARK TECH DECK LIST
By HeyTrainer
For the rest of the week, we'll be talking about two very different – yet somewhat related – subjects: an experimental "zoroark tech" rogue for the HeartGold/SoulSilver-on format, and…N, from Pokemon Black and White. /blog is going to be all over the place for the rest of the week, and is actually going to dedicate more time to the video game as opposed to the TCG (come Thursday, anyways). However, I believe it should be a fun read given the nature of Heytrainer.org's audience (yes, it's still a PG blog, but strangeness will ensue).
So let's get on with the "technical" first part of this "technical" two-part article: Zoroark Tech.
1. Zoroark Tech
So there's this guy…His name is N.
He uses a lot of really good Pokemon in his final battle against you, the player, in Pokemon Black/White, and – surprise-surprise – Zoroark is one of them! Since Zoroark the trading card just happens to be as powerful as its in-game counterpart, I felt like doing a gimmicky write-up on a not-so gimmicky deck I've been messing with for the past few days…
Pokemon (22):
4 Zorua BW
4 Zoroark BW
4 Sneasel "Neo Genesis"
4 Weavile UD
2 Eevee UD
2 Umbreon UD
1 Cleffa HS
1 Tyrogue HS
Trainers/Stadiums/Supporters (25):
4 Pluspower
4 Pokemon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Professor Juniper
3 Judge
1 Revive
1 Energy Exchanger
Energy (13):
5 Darkness [basic]
4 Darkness [special]
4 Double Colorless
Shortly after writing up this list, I investigated the forums to double check for similar concepts, and sure enough, I found a deck very similar to this one: Jayson H's ("Jayson's") very intriguing Cincinno lock deck. Assuming you have access to the board, I'll let you look that up for yourselves, but this deck's purpose isn't solely disruption; rather, its purpose is fast beats from the get-go, with disruption as only a side article. Feel free to compare and contrast the two decks, as there's much left to be discovered about this format. Nevertheless, I really like this so far, and feel it might just have a shot at going far in this format.
Your main strategy here is to get aggressive REALLY early: if you start with Sneasel, then try to dump your Pluspowers/Darkness for a fast Fury Swipes, and then try to follow it up with a Beat Up the next turn. Alternatively, if you start Zorua, then your goal may be to aim for a quick donk via Lunge, and then set yourself up for some really good Foul Play action later on in the game. Heck, you may even aim for the early KO via Tyrogue, but no matter which path you take, be sure to apply pressure early – turn two is the latest you want to be KO'ing something!
Since the format is full of massive HP attackers, our Beat Ups and Foul Plays need to be hitting for more damage than as advertised on the text of the card. For this reason, I run an almost unprecedented count of damage-adders: 4 Darkness special, 4 Pluspower, and 4 Junk Arm. With this, you can pull some absolutely absurd early game shenanigans, included but not limited to donking a Reshiram or Zekrom. (Yes, it's actually possible with this list!)
My good friend Rokman has been messing around with possible techs for a "secret deck that shall not be named," and one of them was the MD-on star, Umbreon UD. Although Abilities taking over the roles of Poke-Powers and Poke-Bodies severely diminishes the usefulness of this card, I decided to include it in this list for a couple matchups. The biggest ones, of course, are Magnezone/Emboar and Donphan/Machamp, in which you'd effectively shut off the primary attackers of BOTH decks, thus requiring them to rely on very awkward tactics to win…Or, ideally, still lose.
Some of the more questionable elements in my list are the tech Energy Exchanger and tech Revive, but when you actually play the deck out, you'll quickly realize: 1) hwo desperately this deck needs to hit its special energy cards; and 2) how gimpy 12 basics can be in a deck that operates most effectively with a full bench. Right now I'm running one of each, but as testing progresses, I may actually add in multiples of one or both.
Lastly, a few playing hints to remember:
A) Sometimes you have to be very careful about when to evolve into Weavile, because every time you do, you're losing the deck's most reliable attacker!
B) Unlike most decks, you generally don't have to think too hard on whether or not to discard your hand for Professor Juniper. So unless you have something appalling such as three unplayable Zoroark, then fire away!
C) Generally, you'll want to save your DCE's exclusively for Zoroark, and your Special Darks exclusively for Sneasel. However, weird situations call for weird measures, so you may have to stockpile Special Darkness on a Zoroark, or drop a DCE first turn on Sneasel in order to Fury Swipes for the win.
Well that's it for now. Tune in next time for a VERY special /blog post that's all about N, the antagonist of Pokemon Black/White. It's sure to be an entertaining read, so enjoy!
P.S. We've removed ads! If you'd like to show your support to the site, then feel free to click on the "Donate" button below.