Deck Archetype: MegaPunch

As I have told you before, readers, I play Pokemon TCG Online. (In fact, if you read my first post, I have secured Lucario-EX and M-Lucario-EX. I also got a super-rare print M-Gengar-EX... except that it's trade-locked and I don't have a Gengar-EX. That was crushing.)

Thus, I thought it would be kind of me to share a deck archetype with those of you who also play the TCG. This particular deck, MegaPunch, is my way of silently showing off that M-Lucario-EX. For me it yields a 67% win percentage. The deck, as of now, is tournament legal.

Qty	Card	Expansion
3x	Snivy	Boundaries Crossed
3x	Servine	Boundaries Crossed
2x	Serperior	Boundaries Crossed
1x	Landorus	Furious Fists
1x	Meloetta	Legendary Treasures
3x	Trapinch	Boundaries Crossed
2x	Vibrava	Furious Fists
3x	Flygon	Boundaries Crossed
1x	Lucario-EX	Furious Fists
1x	M-Lucario-EX	Furious Fists
2x	Energy Switch	---
2x	Rare Candy	---
3x	Ether	---
2x	Evosoda	---
2x	Professor's Letter	---
2x	Korrina	Furious Fists
2x	Professor Juniper	---
2x	Pokemon Fan Club	---
1x	Fighting Stadium	---
1x	Training Center	---
4x	Double Colorless Energy	---
1x	Rainbow Energy	---
10x	Fighting Energy	---
6x	Grass Energy	---

• The Snivy line is a great support for later operations. Due to Serperior's healing Mega Drain, it can stay in play for a while, buying you a lot of time to set up Flygon and Lucario.
• The Trapinch line is a hard hitter later in the evolution line. Flygon is a great Dragon-type to use against more powerful Dragon-type EXes, and the Sand Slammer effect is awesome when you can keep Flygon in play for a few turns, wreaking havoc on lower-stage Pokemon on your opponent's bench. (In my real online deck, I have a couple of Furious Fists Flygon also, which have a more powerful version of Serperior's Mega Drain healing effect, and also with a Fairy weakness.)
• Landorus is a powerful lead, especially when you have Professor Juniper in your hand. The high count of energy in this deck helps to set up Flygon and Lucario with energy quickly after you dispose the energy in your hand with a Professor or after one of your other Pokemon has fainted. However, it also hits hard without that effect with its Sky Lariat attack.
• Meloetta is a decent support card, capable of dealing anywhere from 40 to... well, infinity damage. I believe the highest I've ever gotten the damage to was around 150... and the opponent was weak to the Fighting type. It's an okay stall card, but not one I would really rely on.
• Lucario-EX and its Mega Evolution are the powerhouse of this deck. Lucario sets up well as a lead, with its 3 attacks and its ability to draw in cards to your hand. What's more, if you're lucky and have an Evosoda in your hand, you can play it and, on your second turn, mega-evolve Lucario, ending your turn with (hopefully) two Fighting energy attached to it, ready to attach another Energy next turn and to attack for 140. It also helps that Mega Lucario comes with an energy-detaching punch that can drain your opponent's EXes.
• This deck relies heavily on its Supporter cards. Korrina helps both get the powerful Fighting-types out, and also can pull out an Evosoda for Lucario-EX. Professor Juniper (Okay, you can use either professor, but since there is some sort of card error rivalry thing between Juniper and Sycamore, you could only use one or the other, and I chose Juniper because I had more) refills your hand and discards energy for Landorus' Shout of Power attack. Pokemon Fan Club gets cards like Landorus and Lucario-EX out quickly and easily.
• You may be looking very strangely at me after you read my list of item cards, but I have reasons. Energy Switch is advantageous if I have an energy I need to get to my Dragon-type Flygon or to Lucario-EX. Ether also lets me get energy to Lucario-EX. The Professor's Letter is for getting specific Energy to my hand (because you won't believe how energy-dry this deck runs sometimes).
• The Stadium cards also play into my hand (no pun intended). Fighting Stadium gives Mega Lucario an extra kick (no pun intended), and Training Center helps power up Serperior and Flygon (I don't know if it helps Mega Lucario, but I don't think so.).

So, there you have it: a Fighting/Grass-type deck that is (2/3) sure to leave the other blown away...

Top 10 Coolest Shiny Pokemon

Who would hate to go out in the wild and find a Shiny?

After all, they're like 1 in 8192, and who wants to go out in the wild and literally count out 8192 Pokemon in hopes of finding a Shiny? That would take forever... so I would consider myself lucky if I ever found one of these.

But then again, some are just... better. So here are my top 10 choices for favorite shiny Pokemon.

Disclaimer: Please remember that I am also opinionated, so don't start hating on me if I didn't include your favorite. I had 719 Pokemon to choose from!


10. Audino
Audino is just overall a clean-looking shiny. I can say the names of some other shinies that don't have clean, good-looking sprites. Even though it is a bit plain-looking, its coloring is admirable, especially compared to some of the uglier shinies. The purple color reflects calmness, which is what I always think of when I think of Audino.

9. Ponyta
Ponyta is adorable the way it is, but they crafted its shiny sprite right. The blue flames just look awesome. However, one thing I have noticed about a lot of Fire Pokemon is that when in doubt, any orange flames turn blue. (We'll see one contradiction to that later.)

8. Sylveon (Featured)
Most of the Eeveelutions look great in their shiny forms. I even debated putting Umbreon in its place, but I thought that Sylveon really represented. It looks fantastic in blue, unlike some others I could mention. I especially love the little pink tips on its ribbons.

7. Greninja
I think this really makes Greninja look like the dark-type that it really is. It's so sneaky-looking and makes me think of an evil bandit. Shiny forms have a capability to make you think of a certain Pokemon as more "epic", and this is an example.

6. Zorua
Now this is another cool-looking dude. I love the choice of blue, which gives it a certain mystic value to it. I chose it over Zoroark because I think they modified Zoroark a little too much, and its mane doesn't look as great. But I like the little puppy Zorua as a shiny.


5. Breloom
One of my favorite shiny Pokemon, Breloom was just meant to be in red. It gives it more of an autumn feel, which is what I think of when I think of Breloom. It may just appeal to me more because the red goes perfect with the skin tones on it. Excellent design, and rugged good looks.

4. Zygarde
Zygarde is one of two Legendaries that will appear on this list, and for a good reason. Albino Zygarde just looks great. It provides a great contrast to a normal Zygarde, whose dark figure is said to be the guardian of the environment. However, Shiny Zygarde's white scales remind me of snowy ground, another part of the environment. Now, granted, it can't legitimately be obtained in the games, but if it were, I'd want one.


3. Chandelure
Chandelure is up on my list of favorite Pokemon, partially because of my online trading card set. I own a Team Plasma Chandelure that does massive damage. Shiny Chandelure, instead of having blue flames, now has orange ones. I think that, while this undermines its Ghost type, it shows off its other type and has a warmer feel to it.

2. Braixen
Braixen is up high on my list of best Shinies. I had a hard time choosing between Fennekin and Braixen for this spot, but chose Braixen, because while Fennekin's shiny form color is a good-looking silver, Braixen has a little more color. The purple is a good contrast to both the red accents and the white trim.


And, finally...
1. Genesect
Shiny Genesect wins the top spot on this list. However, that's not without reason. This was born to be red like this. It gives it more of an evil look, yes, but it looks fantastic! Now it looks like a Bug-type, and a tough one at that.

Shiny Pokemon are rare, and I think it unlikely that I would ever find one by myself. And, again, some are just better.

Tune in soon to see the bottom of the barrel: the Top 10 Worst Shiny Pokemon!

Pssst! Did I leave out one you really need to see here? Mention it in the comments below!

Welcome to The Pokemon Terrace!

Hey, thanks for stopping by the Pokemon Terrace! This is where I will discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of Pokemon.

I'm heytheregirl, but if you want, you can call me CC. I must admit, I'm kind of a fangirl for Pokemon. I enjoy playing the Trading Card Game, making sprites, and writing fanfictions.

Also, whenever I have spare time, I enjoy Nascar and other sports, reading, writing, and caring for my siblings.

Here's some more about me:

• My all-time favorite Pokemon is Kirlia, by a landslide. I love the little Emotion Pokemon!
• My all-time least favorite Pokemon is Sudowoodo. I hate the tree! It taunts me!
• My favorite legendary is Diancie, although Xerneas is close.
• My favorite Mega-evolution is... stuck between Gardevoir and Gallade. I've sprited both, and I'm not sure which to pick.
• My favorite Pokemon Trading Card is my Team Plasma Glaceon on my online game. It's very handy, and always powerful.
• The card I want most on my Pokemon Trading Card Game Online is Mega Lucario-EX. If you play the online game, I would trade with you, except that my own card base sucks, so I have nothing to trade. EDIT: I just got a Lucario-EX... now I just need Mega Lucario-EX...

So hopefully soon, we can begin exploring the world of Pokemon (probably in the form of top-10 and top-5 lists).

See you then!

heytheregirl