Speedrill (TCG)

This is the draft I'm working on for Speedrill. With any luck, it should be done tomorrow. Note that I'm using the Abomazong article for a template and simply changing it to suit Speedrill as I go, and that's reflected in what you'll see in the draft. I'm going top-down.

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Speedrill
[[File:|180px]] Expansion {{{expansion}}} Release date {{{release}}} Types used Major cards Beedrill, Beedrill, Claydol Coin {{{coin}}}

Speedrill has been a popular deck archetype in the Pokémon TCG through the '07-'08 and '08-'09 Organized Play seasons, and will likely remain part of the metagame through the '09-'10 season. It has placed highly in many tournaments, with several Speedrill variants top cutting at the 2009 U.S. National Championships. The deck's strategy focuses on getting as many Beedrill out as possible early in the game and attacking with Beedrill's Band Attack, which has the potential to do huge damage for a low energy cost.

History

The origin of the deck is unknown. Shortly after the release of the Great Encounters expansion, a number of players began experimenting with Beedrill, seeing its potential to do good damage for not much energy. However, since the deck required a large setup and cards such as Uxie and the Rising Rivals Beedrill weren't available at that time, the deck had trouble being competitive.

When the Rising Rivals expansion was released, though, players once again looked at Speedrill as a threat, and it has placed well in a number of tournaments since then.

Strategy

Speedrill's strategy is really very simple. It all centers around setting up as fast as possible and recycling Beedrill as soon as they are knocked out. The deck will ideally have three or four Beedrill and a Claydol out on the field as early as turn two or three, hitting for 90 to 120 damage for only :grass: with Beedrill's Band Attack. With a mixture of Claydol's Cosmic Power Poké-POWER and Beedrill's Flutter Wings Poké-POWER, this setup is surprisingly easy to achieve.

In addition to considerable speed in the earlygame, Speedrill can function well even against heavy attackers such as Infernape 4 LV.X, since it can recycle KO'd Beedrill through Night Maintenance and quickly get them back onto the field through Flutter Wings, Cosmic Power, and a host of helpful Trainer and Supporter cards. This makes it a real threat in the lategame as well, since the ability to recycle Beedrill and hit for massive damage for a low energy cost makes running away with the game nearly impossible for the opposition.

Cards

Key Cards

• Beedrill - This Beedrill, from the Great Encounters set, is the main attacker for the deck. With its Band Attack attack, Beedrill can hit for up to 120 damage for only :grass:, depending on the number of Beedrill in play. It has a second attack, Twineedle, as well. For :colorless::colorless::colorless:, Twineedle is rather useless. It will hit for only 50 damage on average, which is usually less than Band Attack. Beedrill also has one other significant asset, that being its free retreat cost. With Band Attack's damage dependant on how many Beedrill are in play. KOs on Beedrill should be avoided at all costs, generally, and Beedrill's free retreat makes it possible to switch out a heavily damaged Beedrill for a fresh one.
• Beedrill - This Beedrill, although less crucial to the deck, is still very important to the deck's setup.
• Claydol -

Other Pokémon

• Snover - Chiefly used for evolving into Abomasnow. Can also stall with its Hide attack.
• Bronzor - Chiefly used for evolving into Bronzong.
• Baltoy - Only used for evolving into Claydol.
• Spiritomb - Used to increase damage already caused by Snow Play with its Cursed Breath Poké-Power.
• Azelf - Uses its Time Walk Poké-Power to root needed Pokémon out of the Abomazong player's prizes.

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.
• Team Galactic's Wager - Used to refresh the hand and possibly gain hand advantage.
• Dusk Ball - Good card to search Pokémon without using the Supporter card for the turn.
• Poké Radar - Same use as Dusk Ball.
• 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.
• Moonlight Stadium - Counters other Stadium cards such as Snowpoint Temple. Also provides Bronzong with free retreat.

Energy Cards

• Call Energy - Useful in the early game for setting up.
• Water Energy - Used to power Abomasnow's Below Zero attack.
• Psychic Energy - Used to power Bronzong's Coating 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
3x	Abomasnow
3x	Snover
3x	Bronzong
3x	Bronzor
2x	Claydol
2x	Baltoy
1x	Spiritomb		H
1x	Azelf
4x	Bebe's Search	T
4x	Roseanne's Research	T
3x	Professor Oak's Visit	T
2x	Team Galactic's Wager	T
4x	Dusk Ball	T
3x	Poké Radar	T
2x	Warp Point	T
1x	Luxury Ball	T
1x	Night Maintenance	T
1x	Moonlight Stadium	T
4x	Call Energy	E
6x	Water 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:

• Unown G - Some players may choose to use this card as a counter to decks that focus on placing damage counters, such as Dusknoir variants.

Restriction

All the cards in Abomazong are currently legal in Pokémon Organized Play.