Pokémon
- Abra x2
- Kadabra x2
- Alakazam x2
- Koffing x2
- Weezing x2
Trainers
- Koga x2
- Sabrina x1
- Professor's Research x2
- Poke Ball x2
- Mythical Slab x2
- Leaf x1
Strategy
Strategy is to use Weezing to stall and poison until Alakazam is ready, then use Koga for a "free" retreat. Energy is Dark/Psychic, each Pokemon only needs a single coloured pip to function. Weezing is mostly there to act as a meatshield and poison, but I have found the fail rate of "you only get Dark energy" low enough to be worth the extra attacker.
Like every other deck, a game where you can reasonably curve out Alakazam will be a good game.
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Mythical Island Update
With the new set, I've been trying a few different variations. This variant is the smallest change:
-2 X-Speed
-1 Sabrina
+2 Mythical Slab
+1 Leaf
X-Speed is really only useful if you need to retreat your Alakazam without too much cost, and Leaf allows Alakazam to retreat at no cost. Tbh, this has only come up a few times since I've been playing, you could treat this as a flex slot. I dropped one Sabrina as I found I only ever use it when I'm going for the win. When your opponent's bench is weak and they're trying to stall, you Sabrina to snipe that last point. I used to play her more defensively, as a tool to stall, but she is so bad for that. She's much better as a finisher card. The Slabs let you dig pretty well. Sure, you sometimes bottom Professor's Research, but imho the risk is worth it. I like this version. It's just a "better" version of the core deck, and is what I am updating the decklist to.
Variant number two is a pure psychic deck:
-2 Koffing
-2 Weezing
-2 Koga
+2 Potion
+2 Mythical Slab
+2 Sigilyph
I love the card advantage this offers, and being mono-colour is nice. However, having to take a turn off of advancing the Alakazam game plan is rough. That's true for the base version as well, but Weezing can still attack and retreat (sorta) without energy. I also don't like Potion as a card. I would probably run this deck if there was something else I could put into that slot, but until then I plan to pass on this one.
The final variant I have been trying is a Druddigon version:
-2 Koffing
-2 Weezing
-2 Koga
+2 Druddigon
+2 Mythical Slab
+2 Leaf
I've got mixed feelings about this one as well. Druddigon feels worse than Weezing, but doesn't require any energy to do significant damage. The extra 10 HP Weezing provides comes in clutch, as does the full heal effect Koga provides. I do like that it is a basic, and requires no support at all. Leaf serves the same function as Koga here, in providing a free retreat. It is a good deck, it just feels awkward against a lot of what I see in the queue.