Conductivity (TCG)

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Revision as of 01:38, 6 April 2008 by Politoed666 (talk | contribs) (→‎If it were legal today: Deleting speculation section.)
Jump to navigationJump to search
Conductivity
Types used LightningPsychicColorlessFire
Major cards Dark Ampharos, Slowking

Conductivity is a Pokémon Trading Card Game deck archetype based around Dark Ampharos's Pokémon Power of the same name. It focuses on keeping the opponent's Pokémon low on energy and punishing them for playing Energy cards from their hand.

History

The idea for a deck based around the Energy Control/Energy Denial theme was one of the first original deck archetypes created. With the release of Energy Removal and Super Energy Removal in the Base Set, many players began to wonder if a deck based around denying the opponent energy attachment would be competitive. This strategy gained some ground with the release of Blaine's Charmander in the Gym Heroes set. Finally, the Pokémon company gave the archetype some recognition in the form of the Fire Extinguisher decklist and summary in the Gym Heroes Strategy Guide. At long last, with the release of the Neo Destiny set in 2002, there was a strong enough Pokémon to serve as the platform for the rest of the deck, while still fitting in with the theme: Dark Ampharos.

Strategy

The deck is based around Dark Ampharos's Conductivity Pokémon Power, which deals 10 damage to an opponent's Pokémon each time an energy is attached to it. Then, the rest of the deck acts quickly to discard the energy, thus damaging the opponent's Pokémon and denying them energy at the same time. The ideal starter is Cleffa, which can stall AND provide hand support at the same time, which is a lethal combination to get Dark Ampharos onto the field as quickly and painlessly as possible. From that point, Dark Ampharos can sit on the bench dealing minor damage while Blaine's Charmander's Kindle attack discards whatever energy the opponent dares to attach in the first place. Other cards like Energy Removal can also discard energy, and Item Finder ensures that those cards can be used more than once.

Cards

Key cards

  • Dark Ampharos, as described before, utilizes its Conductivity Pokémon Power to punish the opponent for attaching whatever energy they can to their Pokémon. It is the main source of damage-infliction for the deck, as it can deal decent damage as an attacker, further boosted by any Darkness Energies attached to it.
  • Slowking denies the opponent opportunities to negate Dark Ampharos's Pokémon Power or attach extra energies to their Pokémon through Trainer Cards.
  • Energy Removal discards energies from opposing Pokémon, greatly limiting whatever attacking opportunties they have and diminishing their chances of winning the game.

Other Pokémon

Other Trainers

  • Professor Oak is a slightly worse alternative to Cleffa that doesn't use up the player's attack for the turn.
  • Computer Search searches any card from the deck, which is useful for obvious reasons.
  • Item Finder returns any Trainer Card from the discard pile to the player's hand, at a cost. This allows cards like Energy Removal to be re-played.
  • Warp Point retreats the player's active Pokémon in a pinch, or swaps out the opponent's active Pokémon.
  • Super Energy Removal is a better alternative to Energy Removal, but the player must also discard an energy from one of their own Pokémon.
  • Gust of Wind allows even more control of the opponent's gameplan, shutting down their options beyond hand control.
  • Bill is a simple drawing card, used in most decks to move toward card advantage.
  • Pokémon Breeder lets a player skip an evolution, for instance evolving Mareep directly into Dark Ampharos, while normally Dark Flaaffy would be in the middle. This is good in that it speeds up the evolution process, reducing the turns required by one.
  • Pokémon Trader lets a player swap a Pokémon in their hand with one from their deck, which is helpful in getting Dark Ampharos onto the field as soon as possible.

Energy cards

Typical decklist

The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building his or her own version.

Quantity Card Name Type Rarity
3x Mareep Lightning File:Rare com.gif
2x Dark Flaaffy Lightning File:Rare uncom.gif
3x Dark Ampharos Lightning File:Rare rare.gifH
3x Slowpoke Psychic File:Rare com.gif
3x Slowking Psychic File:Rare rare.gifH
3x Cleffa Colorless File:Rare rare.gif
2x Blaine's Charmander Fire File:Rare com.gif
2x Professor Oak T File:Rare uncom.gif
3x Computer Search T File:Rare rare.gif
3x Item Finder T File:Rare rare.gif
2x Warp Point T File:Rare com.gif
4x Energy Removal T File:Rare rare.gif
2x Super Energy Removal T File:Rare rare.gif
1x Gust of Wind T File:Rare com.gif
3x Bill T File:Rare com.gif
2x Pokémon Breeder T File:Rare rare.gif
3x Pokémon Trader T File:Rare rare.gif
2x Darkness Energy E File:Rare rare.gif
10x Lightning Energy E --
4x Full Heal Energy E File:Rare uncom.gif

Restriction

Since all the sets represented in the deck have been Rotated out of Modified Format due to age, this exact deck has been rendered unplayable, although variations on the theme of Energy Denial remain incorporated into today's game.

Template:Project Decks notice