Budget Blast: Maniac Flames ($23)
by LiteralGrill // Oct 07, 2019
Welcome to Budget Blast where we show you decks that pack a punch without breaking your budget! This is the first deck we'll be showing off for Fire Week, a week based on showing off different ways to play the powerful fire based tools in the format. Welder, Heat Factory Prism Star, Giant Hearth, Fiery Flint, there's just so many fantastic cards out there for Fire types right now. Of course not everyone can afford Reshiram & Charizard-GX. If you'd like a fire deck that can still deal some serious damage but tackles things with different Pokemon you're going to love Maniac Flames!
Burn It Down!
You don't have to be Seth Rollins to appreciate the synergy between your two main attackers here. Each attacker, and Numel UNM 23 as well, each have a retreat cost of four. This makes them perfect to search out with Poke Maniac. The two Pokemon work together in other wonderful ways as well. Arcanine's Grand Flame can be helpful to charge up Camerupt after a Strong Flare (as long as you use a Switch of course). In general it's great for powering up your Pokemon, but you can also always go for Heat Tackle to deal a whopping 190 damage. You'll likely be taking two hit knock outs against the Tag Team Pokemon in the format, but if you're doing things right you can do that and keep the prize advantage. Any single prize attackers? You can crush them without mercy.
Stoking The Flames
It should come as no surprise we're using Welder and Giant Hearth in the deck to get Energy attached, but what other tools do we have to help you have success? Green's Exploration is wonderful in this deck. Without any abilities being used, it can help you search out a lot of items you could need at specific moments. Things like Lure Ball, Reset Stamp, Pal Pad, Energy Spinner, Fire Crystal, and even just Switch can be in your hand at a moments notice. Not to mention the Welder and Giant Hearth we've already mentioned.
Of course we also include Buff Padding. While your attackers have a huge retreat, they're just in range for a few choice knockouts with 150 damage. These can help them break past that threshold so you can use them to attack more than once. Use them wisely and do your best to not get called out by Custom Catcher!
Weaknesses
As is the case with every deck during Fire Week, they simply don't like coming up against Water decks. While Keldeo-GX won't stop this deck like some other fire decks, it's still not going to be a fun time. Another issue the deck can face comes purely in the speed department. You have to evolve your Pokemon up while the opponent might be using Tag Team Pokemon that are ready as soon as they hit the field. You're still only going for a Stage 1 so it's not as bad, but it's something to keep in mind. Finally, any deck using Green's Exploration doesn't like disruption. Losing those cards you just searched for from Judge or Reset Stamp can be a major pain, especially if you pulled up a Welder you need badly for the next turn.
We hope you enjoyed the first deck in our week-long fiery celebration! We'd love to hear what you think, especially if you tried out the deck. Tell us all your thoughts in the comments below or let the deck builder herself know over on Twitter @LiteralGrill. Until next time, stay lit trainers!
- Linnea 'LiteralGrill' Capps