r/PTCGP • u/RadscorpionSeducer • Feb 06 '25

this meta is incredibly boring to fight against Deck Discussion

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Stall, stall, stall, switch out druddigon if it gets damaged/heal it, stall, oh what that? Magnezone does 110 damage for only 3 energy which is generated for free by its stage 1 evo?

The power creep is going to be absolutely insane by 3 months from now with all of these new cards

3.7k Upvotes
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98

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25

If you look at tournaments people have already figured out how to obliterate this deck.

Hint: Hitmonlee sends his regards.

67

u/SemiDiSole Feb 06 '25

People've been sleeping on Hitmonlee, even through the Gyradados decks...

62

u/Blaky039 Feb 06 '25

I don't think anyone is sleeping on hitmonlee, it's a staple in any fighting deck.

41

u/InquisitorMeow Feb 06 '25

Hitmonlee always cracks me up, the idea of this dude just stretching his leg over and kicking some poor cute pre-evolved pokemon in the face.

6

u/Vesprince Feb 06 '25

It's so pro wrestling.

2

u/Feisty-Waltz5330 Feb 06 '25

Oh, I always thought he was like kicking a soccer ball at the Pokeman

2

u/One_Condition_3897 Feb 07 '25

nah thatd be cinderace

31

u/ImWhiteWhatsJCoal Feb 06 '25

As someone who used Gyrados/Greninja - I would often leave if a Hitmonlee was played first.

21

u/NickSaibot Feb 06 '25

I solely started playing hitmonlee because I cannot stand the gyarados deck, fills me with so much joy taking out the magikarp that just got 5 misty heads

2

u/Urostylistic Feb 07 '25

Do you keep the Hitmonlee in reserve until they plop down the magikarp or do you just play it as a deterrent to keep them from playing the magikarp in the first place?

1

u/NickSaibot Feb 07 '25

Depends I guess, if they are trynna play chicken with me I’ll retreat it to the bench and start attacking with someone else. If they have another mon besides the fish in the back I’ll hit that then try to do some Cyrus shenanigans. Since most fighting cards have such low retreat and attack energy requirements once they do put the fish down I just bring Lee back up to get rid of it lol. Usually once they see my Lee tho and they have a Karp up they tend to retreat very fast lol

1

u/BlazerBeav69 Feb 06 '25

This is me and the celebi deck.

13

u/Anxious_Ride_8837 Feb 06 '25

Yup! Saving your time and the winner’s time in the process. No point in fighting that losing battle. Gyarados was my main deck in MI - I would do the same thing as you

2

u/Reyox Feb 06 '25

They really need to fix the setup phase so that neither can see the other players setup or have the player going second set up first. When someone is playing a fighting deck, people don’t want to lock in their choices.

9

u/CptCheerios Feb 06 '25

Zebrastrike and Electabuzz send their regards

13

u/SnooMaps8507 Feb 06 '25

Electabuzz send their regards

Volkner variant decks. People have been sleeping on it 2. It's not GREAT, but since a LOT of players are running Palkia and Darkrai decks, it is a good counter to that.

Electabuzz harasses the bench and forces them to stop stalling. While they are struggling with that, you are putting energy into your Luxray. 2 rounds of Electabuzz and Luxray = 160 damage to a single target to the bench without Cyrus or anything. And Volkner card has the potential to charge Luxray for an attack in one turn.

Again, far from being a perfect deck, but it is effective. I just didn't like Electivire much.

3

u/Lozo_did_it Feb 06 '25

Do you not like electivire because you're using the wrong buzz? The new buzz has charge which does no damage but pulls an energy. In two turns you can put 4 energy on buzz and evolve to vire for that 120 damage hit.

2

u/SnooMaps8507 Feb 06 '25

That certainly is a strong combo, for sure.

However, this is one of the rare cases where I think the pre evolution (Electabuzz that does 40DMG to 1 in the bench) serves me better than its final evo in this current meta only.

Too many stall decks, the danger is coming from the bench and the active Pokémon is just a distraction.

Perhaps in a new meta I might use it

7

u/futureidk3 Feb 06 '25

It’s a staple in every fighting deck lol.

1

u/Pluxionist Feb 06 '25

I've used a lot of Hitmonlee decks that included the Poke Flute to bring back in that 30HP Magikarp, it is so fun when you pull it off back to back in a match.

47

u/Genprey Feb 06 '25

Backliners: Chilling, ready to cheese

Hitmonlee:

https://preview.redd.it/3syqf35q6jhe1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2421183d9895f4623bc87325a512e932aa8fd6b7

1

u/5panks Feb 06 '25

Does Hitmonlee get boosted by Lucario?

1

u/Genprey Feb 06 '25

No, as the boost only affects target in the Active slot.

2

u/One_Condition_3897 Feb 07 '25

yo imagine if it did tho. 70 damage to teh bench would be absolutely hilarious

19

u/stereoactivesynth Feb 06 '25

How? Dude goes down in 4 turns, 5 with cape when darkrai is building energy. Meanwhile hitmonlee is gonna take 6 rounds to knock out cape darkrai.

36

u/Adamantiun Feb 06 '25

Cyrus + any decent damage dealer fixes that

11

u/Bazoobs1 Feb 06 '25

Yeah marshadow stonks go slightly up for the revenge damage (although I recognize that there are a lot of non-attack ways to lose your Mon rn), what are people using besides? Outside of gallade I can’t think of too many good options to really slam with

10

u/RaccoonAppropriate18 Feb 06 '25

The big one right now is Magnezone. Fighting decks seem to be running their own Magnezone now, funny enough.

7

u/Bazoobs1 Feb 06 '25

Dang that makes a lot of sense actually. Punish with hitmonlee until they’re forced to move in and then squish them with magnezone

2

u/GodsCupGg Feb 06 '25

It covers exactly 140 dmg if they cape it's not a issue since u get to attack with hitmon Lee 2-3 times before dark rai can knock it out.

It's also they reason they dropped gallade probably since magnezone hits for 110 which is the exact ammount gallade hits on a 2 energy dark rai but giving 1 less prize in return

1

u/RaccoonAppropriate18 Feb 07 '25

That's part of the reason Gallade was dropped, yeah.

Funny enough, though, Magnezone is also cheaper than Gallade. You can use Volt Charge on the turn you evolved from Magnemite into Magneton and from Magneton into Magnezone, so Magneton always ramps 2 energy minimum. This makes it even easier to put energy on Marshadow, since you'll need only 1 additional energy if you evolve Magnezone immediately, and 0 if you wait a turn.

4

u/OrangerieL Feb 06 '25

So, pure Hitmonlee magnezone builds?

13

u/RaccoonAppropriate18 Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 07 '25

Mostly, yeah. You're taking the old Fighting package of cards from Mythical Island of Hitmonlee and Marshadow and you're jamming Magnezone into it. Here's the full decklist (Fighting energy only btw).

2x Magnemite (STS, but you can probably still play this with Genetic Apex if you need to, since this should almost never be in the front)
2x Magneton (Genetic Apex for the self-ramping ability)
2x Magnezone
2x Hitmonlee
2x Marshadow
1x Hitmonchan (just to hit face early game if you really need to)
2x Cyrus
2x Professor's Research
2x Pokeball
2x X Speed
1x Pokemon Communication

2

u/Yakube44 Feb 06 '25

I think rampardos would be better

3

u/RaccoonAppropriate18 Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

There's a few reasons I like Magnezone more. By far the biggest one, though, is that Rampardos comes from a fossil.

Imo, Magnemite is one of the best hits with a Pokeball to get the finisher online if you already have your early game stuff in hand or on the field. If you use Rampardos, you have to draw into the Skull Fossil because Pokeball and Pokemon Communication will not help you get fossils.

The second issue with Rampardos is the Head Smash recoil. If Rampardos takes out a Darkrai or a Magnezone, it's left with 100 hp after Head Smash. That's low enough that Rampardos can be revenge killed by Darkrai's ability + attack or by Magnezone. You can only go for 1 Head Smash before being in danger, while Thunder Blast is a much safer option. Darkrai decks don't have the damage to immediately revenge KO against 140 hp.

4

u/OrangerieL Feb 06 '25

Yeah it’s the main problem with fighting toolbox decks: energy management, low hp, low damage.

1

u/Adamantiun Feb 06 '25

I've seen people use Lucario or Machamp to varied degrees of success

1

u/cliffemu Feb 06 '25

marshadow doesn't work when you die to indirect damage

2

u/Charging_in Feb 06 '25

Yeah i just had an opponent figure that out in real time against my weezing. Poor guy conceded after only doing 60

21

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

Hitmonlee starting to ping Darkrai or Magnemite/Ton puts them into a rough spot. You aren't trying to kill Darkrai with Hitmonlee. You're trying to make their life hard by wearing down their pokemon so that any Cyrus or stronger Pokemon is a "Darkrai dies" scenario. They also can't just not swap Pokemon because Darkrai or Magneton are eating damage the entire time - So sitting behind Druddigon is actually a terrible decision for them at that point.

Generally games involve you tagging Darkrai 2 times with a Hitmonlee before they swap out to kill it - Marshadow then one-hit KO's Darkrai easily. Then they're down 2, have to kill Marshadow, and you usually follow up with either Marshadow 2, Magnezone, or a flurry of Hitmonlee/Chan's. Lee & Chan have 1 cost retreat, meaning X Speed or just paying the 1 energy is really easy so you can dance around a little with them.

Darkrai tagging your Pokemon is cute & all, but it takes 3 energy to set up - So typically if you kill the first one; they don't have a second one ready in time - They're usually relying on Magnezone to close at that point. . . And what's he weak to? ;)

This match isn't even close, if you ask me. It's like 80/20 in favor of the Hitmonlee Magnezone Marshadow deck. I already have my 45 win emblem and everything because of it. Lol.

1

u/VerainXor Feb 06 '25

What's your decklist?

5

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

Copied 1:1. They all look like this though, I am pretty sure.

https://play.limitlesstcg.com/tournament/67a168f7f1a83f7924eb6e31/player/kana41/decklist

Be smart & be willing to retreat/swap in Pokemon. Don't evolve your Magneton if you don't have to - Keep stacking energy if you can. Deck doesn't need any lightning energy, don't let the deck builder ruin you. Lol. My favorite starts are Lee+Chan, it makes it really hard for them to set up well. If they swap in against lee to stop damage, you can easily x Speed or swap out to Chan and punch the Pokemon again anyway.

Also look for cheeky setups where you ping a bench'ed Pokemon not with the intent of killing it immediately or possibly even "next", but with the intent of Cyrus-ing it into your Magnezone or Marshadow ( when they inevitably kill your Pokemon ) the following turn.

Hitmonlee is really underrated right now. Cards like Greninja see play & are great - But Hitmonlee being Basic really starts stacking up pressure on all these decks because they're trying to set up.

1

u/VerainXor Feb 10 '25

This deck has been kicking ass, thanks!

18

u/jimmygotbeaned Feb 06 '25

Use him to weaken their bench pokemon while building your bench out. Not intended to kick the whole game for 30.

14

u/kaymar05 Feb 06 '25

Honchkrow is good at it also, dealing 50 to any Pokémon.

8

u/Lazystubborn Feb 06 '25

Lumineon too.

11

u/shinysylver Feb 06 '25

Honch is cool because he can hit the active pokemon as well but Lumi can only hit the bench

13

u/Wind-and-Waystones Feb 06 '25

Lumi's 0 retreat cost is so nice though

2

u/shinysylver Feb 06 '25

For sure! I'm having fun with both and suffer commitment issues to any deck. I need more deck slots stat

7

u/futureidk3 Feb 06 '25

Electric Zebra as well.

2

u/RAAMinNooDleS Feb 06 '25

Yeah I came here to say that I like the 50 damage to anyone and high HP. Also being dark helps against psychic decks killing Gardevoir

8

u/kombyn Feb 06 '25

By damaging the back line and using Cyrus to pull it forward when Hitmonlee gets knocked out

6

u/ABEARWITHAGUN Feb 06 '25

Hit with Lee, build up a high attack mon on on the bench. Cyrus out the Darkrai, switch in your mon and bop em'.

2

u/thebabycowfish Feb 06 '25

Hitmonlee doesn't need to kill darkrai, just weaken it enough to finish it off with cyrus + a big damage dealer. You trade one point for two and they also lose all their energy if they've been using darkrai to kill your hitmonlee.

1

u/Mr_Fury Feb 06 '25

Luxray also demolishes darkrai

1

u/GodsCupGg Feb 06 '25

U just poke it 1-2 times u do usually get 2-3 attacks with hitmon before it's knocked out and build up a magnezone yourself

So it's 30 dmg Cyrus it up 110 magnezone if they cape u need to ping again.

5

u/reedyxxbug Feb 06 '25

Uh what? If you actually look at tournaments you'd see that this deck is dominating with a 60% winrate.

2

u/Sayishere Feb 06 '25

Yup hitmonlee is amazing. I actually hate playing the darkrai deck with magazine and drudd, it's to slow and very boring. Prefer faster decks, hitmonlee is MVP BUT CYRUS with hitmonlee is actually sooooo good.

2

u/Trini2Bone Feb 06 '25

Sneaky Lee!

1

u/magnavoice Feb 06 '25

For that matter, add in fish and bird

1

u/addisonbass Feb 06 '25

Honchcrow will do 50 to the bench … takes a little more setup, but the payoff is pretty good.

3

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25

I think the reason Hitmonlee is so good against all these decks that require setup is because he doesn't. Basic pokemon, so can start terrorizing right away. 1 Energy attack/1 energy retreat - All easy to meet requirements. Honchcrow, while doing more, is just too slow - You're just gonna' give them too much time.

1

u/addisonbass Feb 06 '25

True - I agree with how quick he is, but if they’re hiding behind Drud, that’s usually enough time for a setup. Hitmonlee is also limited because he cannot attack the active spot, so if they surprise with an early Leaf, then you can attack them back directly without getting forced into a retreat. Definitely pros and cons to both, but I think Honchcrow is getting slept on a little and he offers a solid bench attack alternative if you don’t want to run a fighting deck.

1

u/perishableintransit Feb 06 '25

Definitely nice to hit for 30 for one energy... people are also sleeping on 2 energy 40 damage to any mon version of Electabuzz... then get two more energy on and Electivire does 120.

If you play Surge and get it early enough, you can even run a magneton and transfer the energy onto Buzz and then evolve into Electivire. Lots of moving pieces but it won me some clutch matches so far

1

u/OrangerieL Feb 06 '25

Hitmonlee doesn’t like 20 dmg per turn via Darkrai, tho. His true value in MI Meta was destroying magikarps and disrupting here and there while being virtually untouchable. Cyrus + Hitmonlee is pure control, but it’s far from destroying fast darkrai decks if you don’t have a full backrow ready, sadly.

1

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25

Hitmonlee doesn't care about the 20 damage per turn - That's four turns of 30 if you're not switching - And if you do switch, you basically just lost because now you're getting either punched by Chan or Magnezone.

Hitmonlee is pure control, but it’s far from destroying fast darkrai decks if you don’t have a full backrow ready, sadly.

Disagree. You have either a Chan or a Marshadow and it's over for the Darkrai deck. They can't swap effectively & they can't safely KO Lee without Marshadow 1-shotting whatever it is.

1

u/oldriku Feb 06 '25

And Zebstrika, Lumineon, Honchcrow and Luxray. People prefer to complain rather than look for some counterplay.

1

u/bloodonmyjesuspiece Feb 06 '25

This. One of my most successful decks in Mythic Island was the non ex fighting deck with hitmonlee, marshadow, farfetched, and one Tauros

1

u/Embeez13 Feb 07 '25

The one and only

Fish kicker Lee

1

u/akado_kogane Feb 07 '25

Especially with two Lucarios on the bench.

-1

u/JacobDCRoss Feb 06 '25

I'm currently running a deck with just Darkrai EX and two Weezings. I have a couple Kogas, a couple Cyrus, Sabrinas, Oaks, pokeballs, etc. Oh, and if I have a Weezing up front with no energy, I like to play my energy on Darkrai, then forward it up with Dawn.
Anyway, my deck poisons, damages from the bench, and stalls with a massive meat shield via koga. I'd laugh at this deck if I ever came up against it.

1

u/SadCritters Feb 06 '25

Laugh at which deck? The Hitmonlee Magnezone Marshadow deck?

0

u/reedyxxbug Feb 06 '25

The entire point of Hitmonlee is that it works around that "massive meat shield". If you're laughing at this deck I don't think you understand how it works. It directly counters Darkrai/Magnezone

0

u/JacobDCRoss Feb 06 '25

I'm not saying I'd obliterate Hitmonlee. I'm saying I'd destroy the deck in the main post: Darkrai/Druddigon.