Mother Gengar (TCG)

Mother Gengar
Gengar and Nidoqueen Types used Major cards Gengar, Nidoqueen, Uxie, and Claydol Era 2009-2010

Mother Gengar was a popular competitive deck archetype in Pokémon Trading Card Game Organized Play in the late 2008-2009 season as well as through much of the 2009-2010 season. The deck placed well at many large tournaments and was thought to be one of the only competitive evolution-based decks in a format filled with Pokémon SP. The deck's name is derived from Nidoqueen's Poké-Body, Maternal Comfort, and Gengar.

Strategy

Claydol

The synergy of Gengar and Nidoqueen stems from Gengar's Fainting Spell Poké-Power, which provides a 50% chance to knock out the opponent's Pokémon if Gengar is knocked out by an attack. After straight Gengar began to see play, more players began to use strategies such as Uxie's Psychic Restore attack and Crobat G's Flash Bite Poké-Power to circumvent Fainting Spell. Most of these tactics had a low damage output, and required Gengar to have relatively low remaining HP. Nidoqueen's Maternal Comfort removes damage from Gengar between turns, making it more difficult for players to knock out Gengar with a low damage output, and as a result increasing the chance of Fainting Spell coming into effect.

Cyrus's Conspiracy

Key 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	Type	Rarity
4×	Gengar
2×	Haunter
4×	Gastly
2×	Nidoqueen
1×	Nidorina
2×	Nidoran ♀
2×	Claydol
2×	Baltoy
2×	Uxie
1×	Unown Q
1×	Crobat G
1×	Unown G
1×	Unown Q
4×	Cyrus's Conspiracy	Su
2×	Pokémon Collector	Su
2×	Cyrus's Initiative	Su
1×	Bebe's Search	Su
1×	Judge	Su
1×	Palmer's Contribution	Su
4×	Poké Turn	T
3×	Power Spray	T
2×	Energy Gain	T
2×	SP Radar	T
1×	Luxury Ball	T
1×	Expert Belt	T
1×	VS Seeker	T
4×	Double Colorless Energy	E
4×	Special Darkness Energy	E
4×	Basic Darkness Energy	E

Possible Tech Cards

Mewtwo LV.X

The following cards are often used in Sablelock in place of certain cards included in the above list.

• Mewtwo LV.X - Mewtwo LV.X provides a way to easily beat other decks based on Pokémon SP. Its Poké-Body, Psybarrier prevents it from being damaged by Basic Pokémon.
• Azelf - Azelf's Time Walk Poké-Power can be used in the event that an important Pokémon card(s) is prized. The above build does not use Azelf because it runs two of most critical Pokémon, such as Garchomp C LV.X and Honchkrow.
• Cyclone Energy - Cyclone Energy fits in with the concept of disruption, since it forces the opponent to change their Active Pokémon and, as a result, their attacking pattern.
• Aaron's Collection - Aaron's Collection can be used in place of Palmer's Contribution. Although it does not allow the Sablelock player to retrieve as many Pokémon and Energies from his or her discard pile, they are placed into the player's hand rather than shuffled into their deck.