Hi, my name is Adith, and I've been playing the Pokémon TCG for a few months now. I started collecting as a kid, took a break, and have since gotten back into both collecting and playing the card game. I play a lot of Pokémon TCG Live and reached an Elo of 1816 in the Pitch Black format.
I started this format playing Dragapult Dusknoir, then switched to Andrew Hedrick's Dragapult Hammer list. I got bored of playing the same list, and after getting destroyed by a few Alakazam decks, I decided to switch.
Alakazam Toucannon
The game plan
This deck has two main goals: draw cards, and make sure you keep them in your hand. Alakazam is the main attacker, Toucannon is the backup attacker, and Dudunsparce keeps the draws coming every turn.
Going first
I usually go first, since most of your setup comes from Items and Telepathic Energy. If you set up well on turn one, you can build up your hand and see a lot more cards on turn two. By then you'll usually have Alakazam and a Rare Candy, which lets you take important early knockouts.
The only real issue early on is a card like Budew locking you out of Items. That's fine, though: look for a Kadabra instead, evolve the normal way, and knock Budew out with Kadabra's 30-damage attack.
Building your board
The first goal, drawing cards, means you always need a way to draw. Never evolve everything right away. If you do, it only takes one disruption card from your opponent to stop you from ever drawing a big hand again.
You can easily get your Abra into play with Telepathic Energy, so use your Poffins to set up Dunsparce. Dudunsparce is your only draw engine that keeps working every turn, so even when you want to fill up your bench, having one Dunsparce out is always worth it. Because this deck sees so many cards, you usually don't even need Supporters like Dawn.
At any point in the game, I think your bench should have:
- Three attackers: any mix of Alakazam and Toucannon.
- Two support Pokémon: Fezandipiti ex, Genesect, Shaymin, or Dunsparce.
Be careful with Fezandipiti ex, and don't play it unless you really need it. It's an easy Boss's Orders knockout for two prize cards.
Why Toucannon?
I have yet to test this at locals, but on TCG Live I keep getting opponents whose Pokémon are completely immune to the effects of attacks. Alakazam can't get past that, so you need a normal attacker. Toucannon fits this deck really well:
- It has an ability that draws cards.
- It only takes one Colorless Energy to attack.
- It does a base of 160 damage, since your bench will almost always be full.
Key cards
- Genesect: If you know your opponent plays Unfair Stamp, Hero's Cape, or anything else that can stop you from taking a knockout, make sure Genesect is on your bench with a Tool attached so they can't play any ACE SPEC cards. It also has free retreat, so you can bring it up to the Active Spot to stall.
- Shaymin and Battle Cage: If you play against Slowking or Dragapult, your low-HP benched Pokémon are easy targets for cards like Trifrost Kyurem, Munkidori, Dusknoir, and of course Dragapult. You'll probably see Battle Cage naturally while drawing, but if you know bench damage is a threat, use a Poké Pad to get Shaymin down as soon as possible.
- Eri and Xerosic's Machinations: This covers the second goal, keeping your hand. I play two disruption cards because Eri can't discard Supporters like Judge from your opponent's hand. With Xerosic's Machinations, your opponent can still hold onto a Judge, but only if they give up almost everything else and keep just two cards to build their board.
Decklist
Pokémon: 24
4 Abra MEG 54
4 Kadabra MEG 55
3 Alakazam MEP 9
2 Pikipek PBL 66
1 Trumbeak PBL 67
2 Toucannon PBL 94
2 Dunsparce JTG 120
2 Dudunsparce PRE 80
1 Fezandipiti ex ASC 288
1 Shaymin DRI 10
2 Genesect SFA 40
Trainer: 30
1 Sacred Ash DRI 168
1 Night Stretcher SSP 251
4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin MEG 167
4 Poké Pad 30C 126
3 Rare Candy MEG 175
2 Enhanced Hammer GRI 124
1 Air Balloon ASC 181
1 Lucky Helmet AOR 77
1 Xerosic's Machinations SFA 89
1 Eri PRE 136
2 Boss's Orders LOR-TG 24
3 Dawn PFL 87
3 Hilda WHT 171
3 Battle Cage PFL 85
Energy: 6
1 Enriching Energy SSP 191
1 Basic {P} Energy SUM 162
4 Telepathic {P} Energy POR 88Matchups
- Good against: any ex box deck, Slowking, Dragapult, N's Zoroark
- Struggles against: Dragapult Dusknoir, Crustle, Hide n' Sneak, any deck with Mist Energy
After rotation
I think this deck will be a lot harder to make work after rotation. We lose Eri and Xerosic's Machinations, which leaves Judge and Special Red Card as our only disruption. We also lose Enriching Energy, which draws four cards and helps a lot in tricky situations.
On the other hand, I think we'll see far fewer one-prize decks and a lot more Megas. That could actually make things easier. If you can draw enough cards, you only need to knock out two Megas to take all your prize cards.
Written by a biological human.