Mother Flygon (TCG)
This is obviously a work in progress. I had it almost finished, but lost all my progress due to a 503. D:
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Mother Flygon has been a popular deck archetype in the Pokémon TCG through the second half of the '08-'09 and into the '09-'10 Organized Play seasons, and will likely remain a large part of the metagame until the Rising Rivals set rotates, or until the deck simply stops winning. Mother Flygon has placed highly in many tournaments, including the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships. The deck's strategy centers around getting an active Flygon out with three energies attached, along with at least one Claydol and one Nidoqueen on the bench. The other bench spaces should be filled with as many evolved Pokémon as possible, so Flygon is able to do heavy damage with its Power Swing attack.
History
As is the case with most deck archetypes, the exact origin of the deck is unknown. Soon after the Rising Rivals expansion was released, many players immediately recognized Flygon's potential as an attacker and began attempting to combine it with a variety of supporting Pokémon, including Hippowdon LV.X and Secret Wonders Weavile. However, the combination most often successful was with Nidoqueen. Nidoqueen's Poké-BODY, Maternal Comfort, was extremely useful for a Pokémon as bulky as Flygon, and Nidoqueen could also be a strong attacker in a pinch.
The deck has placed highly in a number of tournaments, including the 2009 United States National Championships, the 2009 Last Chance Qualifier, and the subsequent 2009 World Championships. It has continued to be a prominent deck through the 2009-2008 TCG season, although it has been overshadowed by the dominance of SP decks such as LuxChomp. Although Flygon variants are still popular, Mother Flygon has seen less usage, as more players have been teching in fast secondary attackers to give Flygon a donk option and a greater chance against SP decks.
Strategy
Mother Flygon is widely regarded as the best setup deck in the current format. Because of its abnormally large support engine in the form of a 3-3 Claydol line, as opposed to the typical 2-2, and its ability to utilize four Call Energy, Mother Flygon can set up considerably faster than most Stage-2-reliant decks in the format. Speed is necessary to compete with fast decks suxh as SP variants.
The ideal start in Mother Flygon is a Trapinch with a Call Energy, and some form of getting a Claydol out of the deck, such as a Bebe's Search. In reality, although Trapinch is ideal so as not to waste an energy attachment, any Pokémon in combination with a Call Energy is a good start. This way, Trapinch (or whatever Pokémon the player starts with) can use Call Energy to get a Baltoy and a Nidoran♀ out of the deck, which he or she can then evolve the next turn. Another option is to get two Baltoy out of the deck with Call Energy, to open up the possibility for two Claydol turn two.
Once the player has at least one Claydol out, he or she should focus on getting a Flygon active and charged as soon as possible, with a bench full of evolved Pokémon. This way, Flygon can attack for maximum damage with its Power Swing attack.
Cards
Key Cards
- Flygon is the decks' main attacker and, as such, arguably its most critical component. Flygon's main attack, Power Swing does 60 damage to the Defending Pokémon, plus an additional 10 damage for each evolved Pokémon on the Mother Flygon player's bench. With an Expert Belt attached, Power Swing can hit for a massive 130 damage for only
, enough to knock out most Pokémon in the metagame in one shot. While Power Swing is a great brute force attack, Flygon's second attack, Sand Wall, can be very effective in certain situations. Sand Wall does 40 damage for , which would be unremarkable if not for its effect. If the opponent has a Stadium card in play, Sand Wall prevents all effects of attacks done to Flygon during the opponent's next turn and discards that Stadium. This is a great stall tactic, and can also provide decent power with Expert Belt attached. It also takes only one Double Colorless Energy to use, which means it can often be used immediately. Flygon's last important feature is its Rainbow Float Poké-BODY, which gives every Pokémon the Mother Flygon player controls free retreat, as long as Flygon has an Energy attached to it of the same type as that Pokémon. Nidoqueen has a massive retreat of , and Claydol has a retreat cost of , so in the event that either of those Pokémon are active, either to stall or attack, Rainbow Float ensures that they can get out of the active spot easily with no wasted energy attachment. Power Swing, Sand Wall, and Rainbow Float combine to make Flygon a well-rounded attacker. - Nidoqueen - The main reason Nidoqueen is used is for its Maternal Comfort Poké-BODY. Maternal Comfort removes one damage counter from each of the Mother Flygon player's Pokémon between turns. Although it is a simple effect, it is extremely helpful in that it helps prevent Flygon and Claydol from being knocked out. Flygon is already able to tank fairly well, since it has a decent 120 HP, so a damage removal effect makes it even more difficult for the opponent to knock out. Since Flygon requires three energies to use its main attack, and often has Expert Belt attached, it is very beneficial to keep each Flygon in play for as long as possible. Additionally, with so many decks in the 2009-2010 metagame able to damage drawing support cards such as Claydol, Nidoqueen is a critical part in maintaining the ability to draw cards. Although it is primarily used for its Poké-BODY, Nidoqueen can also function as a solid attacker in a pinch. With Expert Belt attached, it can do 60 damage for only
, continue here - Claydol - Although some decks can function without this staple card, Flygon, being a tremendous setup deck, is not one. With Flygon's strategy being so reliant on speed, extra drawing support is extremely important, and Claydol provides that.
Other Pokémon
- Kakuna - Only used for evolving into Beedrill; the best Kakuna to play for its Dangerous Evolution attack.
- Weedle - Exclusively used for evolving into Beedrill, can also help set up with its Call for Family attack.
- Baltoy - Used to evolve into Claydol.
- Uxie - Uxie is a staple card in most decks, that can help the Speedrill player get set up fast with its Set Up Poké-POWER, which allows the player to draw cards until they have seven cards in their hand. Before Claydol hits the field, Uxie is going to give the Speedrill a big drawing boost.
- Azelf - Azelf is useful for getting a prized Beedrill or Weedle, since if a Beedrill is prized, Band Attack will only be able to do 90 damage maximum.
- Unown G - Unown G is critical when playing against Mother Gengar, since it can protect benched Claydol from being targeted by Gengar's Shadow Room attack. It also prevents Basic Pokémon from being knocked out by Machamp's Take Out attack.
Other Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
- Bebe's Search - Simply used to search for whatever Pokémon the player may need at any given time.
- Roseanne's Research - Searches for Basic Pokémon and/or Energy Cards. Very useful.
- Professor Oak's Visit - Functions as a simple drawing card.
- Cynthia's Feelings - A fantastic hand-refresher after a Pokémon is knocked out; helps the deck rebound.
- Dusk Ball - Good card to search Pokémon without using the Supporter card for the turn.
- Warp Point - Extremely useful for field control and swapping out heavily damaged Pokémon.
- Luxury Ball - Like Bebe's Search except not a Supporter; can only be used once per game, though.
- Night Maintenance - Recycles Knocked Out Pokémon and Energies back into the deck. Useful for obvious reasons.
- Poké Drawer + - Helps with the speed of the deck; a simple drawing trainer.
- Broken Time-Space - This card is crucial to setting up fast, since it can allow players to get Claydol and multiple Beedrill out early in the game.
Energy Cards
- Call Energy - Useful in the early game for setting up.
- Grass Energy - Used to power Beedrill's Band Attack.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x | Flygon LV.X | |
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| 3x | Flygon | |
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| 2x | Vibrava | |
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| 3x | Trapinch |  |
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| 2x | Nidoqueen | |
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| 1x | Nidorina | |
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| 2x | Nidoran♀ | |
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| 3x | Claydol | |
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| 3x | Baltoy | |
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| 1x | Uxie | |
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| 1x | Unown G | |
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| 4x | Bebe's Search | Su |
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| 3x | Roseanne's Research | Su |
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| 1x | Palmer's Contribution | Su |
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| 4x | Rare Candy | T |
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| 1x | Luxury Ball | T |
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| 4x | Pokémon Communication | T |
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| 2x | Expert Belt | T |
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| 3x | Premier Ball | T |
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| 3x | Broken Time-Space | St |
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| 4x | Call Energy | E |
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| 4x | Double Colorless Energy | E |
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| 1x | Fighting Energy | E | - |
| 5x | Psychic Energy | E | - |
Variable Tech Cards
These are cards that may or may not be in the deck build depending on the player's style:
- Cherrim - Cherrim can add an extra 10 damage onto Band Attack, allowing it to reach 130 damage and potentially get tough KOs such as Kingdra and Machamp.
- PlusPower - PlusPower has the same function as Cherrim; it is easier to use but only works once.
- Super Scoop Up - Some Speedrill variants use Super Scoop Up to bring back heavily damaged Beedrill to the hand and play them down again with Broken Time-Space, effectively removing all damage from them.
Restriction
All the cards in Speedrill are currently legal in Pokémon Organized Play.
