Scizor/Cherrim (TCG)

Scizor/Cherrim
Scizor and Cherrim Types used Major cards Scizor and Cherrim Era 2008-2010

Scizor/Cherrim was a deck archetype in the Pokémon Trading Card Game that centered around Scizor and Cherrim, both from the Stormfront expansion. The deck was regarded as one of the best decks of the era for newer Pokémon Trading Card Game players because of its simple strategy and inexpensiveness. Although it won only a handful of tournaments, Scizor/Cherrim variants were a part of organized play all the way from Stormfront's release until its eventual rotation in 2010. Most builds ran a small Pokémon line to allow more room for Trainer and Supporter cards. Because of this, it was easily countered by decks such as DialgaChomp and VileGar which could impose a Trainer lock.

Strategy

Roseanne's Research

As mentioned above, Scizor/Cherrim employed an extremely basic strategy. The deck attempted to get many Scizor and Cherrim as quickly as possible, with and potentially Expert Belt attached to the former. One of Scizor/Cherrim's downsides was that, unlike many decks of the day, it could not rely on Poké-Powers such as Uxie's Set Up. As such, its speed was dependent completely on Trainer and Supporter cards. Unown R was an exception, since its Retire Poké-Power forced the player to discard Unown R after use, meaning it did not affect Scizor's damage output.

Scizor/Cherrim compensated for this handicap by utilizing a strong Trainer and Supporter engine. Cards such as Quick Ball, Luxury Ball, Poké Drawer +, and Pokémon Collector helped the deck set up quickly. As the deck could not do as much damage as many other archetypes of the day, and did not have the disruption of a deck such as LuxChomp, speed was its most essential aspect. The deck aimed to have a Scizor ready to attack by turn two, at which point it attempted to take six prizes as quickly as possible so as not to prolong the game. Rather than keeping its main attacker alive, as Regigigas and certain other decks did, an aggressive Scizor/Cherrim build sacrificed sturdiness for speed and power. Night Maintenance and Palmer's Contribution provided a means of recovery.

Key Cards

Broken Time-Space

• Scizor - Scizor was the deck's main attacker. For , Scizor's Pound Down attack did 70 damage if the player had no Pokémon with Poké-Powers in play. Factoring in the effects of Cherrim's Sunny Day Poké-Body and Expert Belt, Pound Down could hit for significant damage. Scizor's Accelerate attack, which cost , did a mediocre 30 damage. However, it was useful in that, if it knocked out the Defending Pokémon, it prevented all damage done to Scizor during the opponent's next turn. Scizor also had a Poké-Body called Honeycomb Defender, which decreased damage done to it by 40 when Scizor already had six or more damage counters on it. Combined with Scizor's already decent 100 HP and Expert Belt, which increased Scizor's HP to 120, Honeycomb Defender made it difficult to knock Scizor out.
• Cherrim - Cherrim was the deck's primary support Pokémon. Its Sunny Day Poké-Body increased the damage dealt by the player's Grass-type Pokémon by 10. Sunny Day Bodies could be stacked, meaning a Pound Down with four Cherrim in play did 110 damage without Expert Belt. Cherrim also made a decent attacker in a pinch, with Salty-Sweet Pollen doing at least 20 damage for no energy cost. The attack also removed two damage counters from one of the Scizor/Cherrim player's Pokémon.
• Bebe's Search - Bebe's Search allowed Scizor/Cherrim to set up faster by searching out a Pokémon from the deck.
• Roseanne's Research - Scizor/Cherrim relied on Grass-type energies to attack. As such, Roseanne's Research was a versatile card that could be used to either grab the necessary energies to attack or search out Basic Pokémon from the deck.
• Broken Time-Space - Scizor/Cherrim relied completely on Stage 1 evolution cards, and Broken Time-Space provided a means to get them out quickly. Instead of waiting a turn to evolve, this Stadium card permitted players to evolve their Pokémon immediately.

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×	Scizor
4×	Scyther
4×	Cherrim
4×	Cherubi
2×	Unown R
1×	Chatot
1×	Unown Q
4×	Bebe's Search	Su
3×	Roseanne's Research	Su
2×	Pokémon Collector	Su
2×	Cynthia's Feelings	Su
1×	Professor Oak's New Theory	Su
4×	Poké Drawer +	T
2×	Pokémon Communication	T
2×	Quick Ball	T
2×	Night Maintenance	T
2×	Expert Belt	T
1×	Luxury Ball	T
3×	Broken Time-Space	St
12×	Grass Energy	E	—

Possible Tech Cards

Unown G

• Unown G - Unown G prevents Scizor/Cherrim's Pokémon from being affected by the attacks of certain main archetypes of the day, such as Gengar's Shadow Room attack and Machamp's Take Out attack, from the Mother Gengar and Machamp archetypes, respectively.
• Pokédex HANDY910is - This card was a plausible alternative to Poké Drawer +. Although Poké Drawer + provided a stronger effect when two were played together, Pokédex could be played immediately and without reservation. Players who played Pokédex over Poké Drawer + essentially sacrificed power for consistency.
• Victory Medal - Although Victory Medal was relatively difficult to obtain (it was available only to winners of Battle Road tournaments), it was another alternative to Poké Drawer +.

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.