Hello everyone, PikaPoster here, and welcome back to my most recent futile attempt to upload consistently. Today, instead of starting a review of the newest set with the grass type, I will be showcasing a really cool budget deck from Sword and Shield: Battle Styles—Sallazle / Weepinbell.
In the current Standard TCG format, power creep is rather through the roof. The meta is dominated by effectively Basic and Stage 1 Pokémon with 300+ HP in Tag Teams and VMAXs. This leaves little room for lowly single-prize Pokémon, which is why they haven’t seen much success recently. However, since many people aren’t able to afford to play such expensive cards, I decided to make this deck with budget in mind; the highest rarity cards in the set are simple holos, so no super-rare cards are included. If you have cards like Crobat-V or Dedenne-GX on hand, you could definitely substitute them into the list, but this deck is for purely budget purposes.
The Cards
As the title suggests, our deck revolves around the combo between Salazzle and Weepinbell, as well as cards like Koga’s Trap and Yell Horn. With a mix of these cards, you should be able to deal 300 damage per turn, cycling Salazzles with Double and Triple Energies.
Salazzle
This is our main attacker and the first cornerstone of the deck. Salazzle has the attack “Derisive Roasting”, which does 90 damage for each Special Condition on the Defending Pokémon. With 3 Special Conditions—the usual maximum, with Burn, Poison, and 1 of Sleep, Paralyze, or Confuse—it does 270 damage, plus 30 passive damage from Poison and Burn. In addition, these conditions linger, allowing mons with more than 300 HP to go down in one turn cycle.
Weepinbell
Much like the Salazzle for Guardians Rising, Weepinbell has an ability that inflicts Burn and Poison on evolution. If you are able to get several Bellsprout on your Bench, you can loop Weepinbell with Scoop Up Net, ensuring that you can deal at least 180 + 30 passive damage per hit.
Yell Horn
Yell Horn could be considered the third cornerstone to the Salazzle and Weepinbell combo. As an Item card, it provides easy access to a third Special Condition, maxing out Salazzle’s damage output. Unfortunately, it Confuses both Active Pokémon, so the strategy should be to send in an Active Salandit, play the horn, and then evolve it to remove the Confusion. Then you can Energy up, play a Weepinbell, and hit for astronomical damage.
Leon
Although there is only one of these in the list, plus Mewtwo’s recovery, I decided to explain it anyways. Leon adds 30 damage to your attacks for a turn, while taking up your Supporter slot. That doesn’t sound like much when you’re doing 300 damage per hit, but it will guarantee an OHKO on anything that isn’t named Eternatus or Snorlax-VMAX. Even those 340 HP Pokémon will be certain to drop to the Poison damage afterwards, so there is no reliance on Burn luck. Use this card when you really need that one-shot.
The List
As I said above, this is a very simple list. You could easily spice it up with expensive staples, or maybe choose some more interesting Supporters.
Pokémon – 20
4 Salandit SSH
4 Salazzle BST
4 Bellsprout BST
4 Weepinbell BST
2 Snorlax VIV
1 Mew UNB
1 Mewtwo UNB
Trainers – 32
3 Professor’s Research
3 Bruno
2 Marnie
3 Professor’s Research
1 Koga’s Trap
1 Leon
4 Yell Horn
4 Level Ball
4 Quick Ball
4 Scoop Up Net
1 Ordinary Rod
2 U-Turn Board
Energy – 8
4 Twin Energy
4 Triple Acceleration Energy
If you liked the deck, why not check out one of my other posts? I’ve showcased a variety of decks from meta decks to the most Farfetch’d. That said, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.