Hi. In this gaming post, I am featuring a new top-tier Pokemon TCG deck. It is based on Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex, Froslass and Munkidori.
I have been writing this before the release of Destined Rivals. A lot of testing of this has been before the Mewtwo ex deck, Cynthia's Garchomp ex deck and Ethan's Typhlosion deck.
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Note that this is a long post. Read what you want (or look at the cards).
Froslass Card Profile
When Froslass came out there was potential for it to be good. It was not good right away as people were figuring out which cards and strategies work with this.
Froslass has a Hail like ability where in between turns (Pokemon Checkup) Pokemon with abilities take 1 damage counter (10 damage). You can stack multiple Froslass to deal 20 or more damage in between turns on Pokemon with ability. In theory you can take multiple knockouts.
In the event of one of your Pokemon being knocked out from Froslass's ability, you cannot use the Flip The Script ability from Fezandipiti ex. This is because the knockout occurred in between turns and not during your opponent's turn. Newer players are not aware of this. Sometimes experienced players forget this (me included).
Munkidori
Some say that Munkidori is broken. I can kind of see it. Once during your turn if your Munkidori has Dark Energy attached on it then you can use the Adrena-Brain ability. Transfer up to 30 damage from 1 of your Pokemon and put it to 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. You technically heal 30 damage and deal 30 damage. Pretty crazy.
Multiple Munkidoris work well with multiple Froslass. Froslass deals damage everywhere for ability Pokemon and Munkidori can transfer the damage away. It is very possible to take multiple knockouts (like 2, 3 or 4 Prizes out of 6) on your turn. A super rare case would be a comeback win where you get all 6 Prizes from multiple knockouts.
Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex
Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is a good Dark attacker that is self-sufficient with its Punk Up ability. You don't really need to attach Dark Energy from hand to it when you have the ability. Just evolve into Grimmsnarl ex from your hand, energy accelerate and start attacking.
Because Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is a Dark type it hits for double damage because of weakness. This is advantageous against Gardevoir ex, Mew ex and Latias ex.
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Spikemuth Gym
Spikemuth Gym is a very powerful stadium for Marnie decks. With Budew in the format having a non-item card that can search for Pokemon is pretty powerful. This Stadium card allows you search for any Marnie Pokemon from your deck and put it into your hand.
Sample Decklist
Here is one sample decklist for me to share. I've used this decklist to climb up the ladder to the Arceus League on the desktop Pokemon Trading Card Game Live (PTCGL).
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Decklist
Pokémon: 8
1 Maractus JTG 8
3 Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex DRI 136
3 Munkidori TWM 95
4 Marnie's Impidimp DRI 134
2 Froslass TWM 53
1 Budew PRE 4
2 Snorunt PAR 37
2 Marnie's Morgrem DRI 135
Trainer: 21
2 Counter Catcher PAR 160
2 Spikemuth Gym DRI 169
1 Secret Box TWM 163
2 Artazon PAF 76
1 Energy Switch SVI 173
2 Ultra Ball PAF 91
2 Night Stretcher SFA 61
1 Nest Ball SVI 181
3 Arven OBF 186
2 Boss's Orders PAL 172
4 Iono PAL 185
1 Lucky Helmet TWM 158
1 Technical Machine: Devolution PAR 177
1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178
1 Super Rod PAL 188
2 Professor's Research JTG 155
1 Rare Candy PAF 89
2 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101
1 Earthen Vessel PRE 106
1 Explorer's Guidance TEF 147
1 Rescue Board PRE 126
Energy: 1
8 Basic {D} Energy SVE 15
Total Cards: 60
I might have changed a few cards from time to time but the core cards are there. You could change the one's Explorer's Guidance for a Switch, a fourth Arven or something like Lacey.
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Some lists do 3 copies of Snorunt and 3 Froslass. I find this 2-2 line to be okay.
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Secret Box as the ACE SPEC seems pretty good. Discard 3 to get 1 Item card, 1 Supporter card, 1 Tool and 1 Stadium. I was thinking Unfair Stamp but I have not tested it.
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Overall Plan + Gameplay Strategies
The Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex deck is a setup style of deck. If you get lucky you could get a turn 2 Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex with Rare Candy + Spikemuth Gym and start attacking.
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This deck may take time to setup the Munkidoris, Froslass and Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex. Your opponent may get some quick knockouts against you if there are using a faster and more aggressive deck. Comeback style cards like Iono is good for hand disruption and Counter Catcher is good for revenge style knockouts.
When possible you want to setup multi-knockouts on a single turn. Instead of 1 knockout on a turn, you can set up 2 or 3 knockouts on a later turn for more impact. Set up Munkidoris, Froslass accordingly to spread damage to set up a winning board state for next turn. This is easier said than done. A fair bit of math and calculations required.
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One line of play is to spread damage across evolution Pokemon. If the opponent has 70 damage on a Charizard with Charmander underneath, 50 damage on a Pidgeot ex with a 50 HP Pidgey underneath then using Technical Machine: Devolution can be a good play here. Devolution brings the highest evolution card to the opponent's hand. Then there is enough damage to knockout the Basic Pokemon.
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Some Gameplay Screenshots
In this section I present some gameplay screenshots and scenarios.
Versus Raging Bolt
This matchup against Raging Bolt is unfavoured but not impossible. Since Raging Bolt does one hit knockout your Pokemon, you don't really have damage counters to transfer over from Munkidori. You do need Froslass to do so.
In this screenshot, I managed to get Raging Bolt ex in range for a Marnie's Grimmnsarl ex knockout for the win.
Against Hop's Zacian + Munkidori
In this matchup I almost lost this one. Hop's Zacian is generally a fast and aggressive deck. Marnie's Grimmsnarl deck can take some time to setup while the Hop's Zacian ex easily knocks out weak Basic Pokemon.
If you survive the early game aggression, there are ways you can complete a comeback win. They have multiple Munkidoris as well so you have to make sure you do one hit knockouts if possible. If you don't one hit knockouts then the Munkidoris on the opponent's side can transfer damage however they like.
Versus Great Tusk Mill Deck
It is rare to play against a Great Tusk Mill deck. This type of deck can pull off upsets and can catch people off guard. In general, this type of deck does not really attack you but they attack your deck. They try to discard cards from your deck and try to deck you out.
A Great Tusk with Ancient Booster Capsule makes Great Tusk have 200 HP. This is outside of the Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex 180 damage attack. Have one Froslass and Munkidori in play so you can transfer 20 damage over to supplement the 180 damage from Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex.
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Do watch out for their many Counter Catchers. They use them to trap Pokemon while they try to deck you out. Make sure to have energy in hand or in deck just in case.
Versus Gardevoir ex
Facing against Gardevoir ex is favourable as the Grimmsnarl ex player. You do have to work for the win still. I don't enjoy playing against Gardevoir ex online as the games take too long and they have long turns at times. This is part of the reason I don't aim to travel to large tournaments and play ultra competitively.
You still have to be careful in this matchup. They tend to play from behind as their setup is slow. Watch out for Counter Catchers, multiple Munkidoris and manage resources properly.
Facing Teal Mask Ogerpon ex
Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is weak to Grass. Teal Mask Ogerpon ex do have one hit knockout power against you. Froslass + Munkidori helps with spreading damage so you can one hit knockout a Teal Mask Ogerpon ex when it has 180 HP or less. It is possible to get turns where you get 3 Prize cards from multiple knockouts.
Vs Tera Ogerpon ex Box
My opponent tried to stall out the game with an active Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex. I had Boss's Orders in hand to bring out Latias ex and knock it out for the win.
The early game against this deck is kind of rough. They have early aggressive starts. You are likely to fall behind in the early game. This is okay as you are setting up and taking multiple knockouts.
Advantages
As Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is a Dark type it hits for double damage against popular Psychic Pokemon like Gardevoir ex, Mew ex and Latias ex.
Multiple Munkidoris and Froslass can potentially allow for knockouts before you attack. It is not rare to get multiple knockouts on a single turn.
Since you are able to get multiple knockouts, this deck can play from behind while losing. Counter Catcher abuse makes this deck super dangerous for taking knockouts or for using Maractus to trap & stall plus deal damage with Froslass.
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With Budew presence, Spikemuth Gym stadium is a good non-item Pokemon search card.
From play testing I have found this deck to be good against a lot of Big Basic decks like Joltik with Miraidon ex, Tera Box with Ogerpon. Not so much against Raging Bolt ex.
Disadvantages
The Marnie Grimmsnarl ex deck does not really have a draw engine like Dudunsparce or even Fezandipiti ex. You could put a Tatsugiri or a Lucky Helmet.
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Tatsugiri with a Rescue Board helps with searching for possibly a Supporter card at the start of your turn. With the Rescue Board you can retreat to your attacker if you are ready to attack.
This deck cannot function fully without Froslass + Munkidori. The Froslass puts damage counters on your side which allows for Munkidori to use its ability to transfer damage counter to your opponent. Opponents will try to target down Munkidori or Froslass to break this combo. Getting multiple Munkidoris to be online is not that easy as you manually attach one Dark Energy per turn.
As Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is weak to Grass you have to be super careful against Raging Bolt ex decks as their Teal Mask Ogerpon ex can one hit you for weakness.
Decks that have one hit knockout power like Gholdengo ex, Raging Bolt ex or even Grass Pokemon counter Grimmsnarl ex. One hit knockouts do not place any damage counters for you to transfer with Munkidori.
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This deck is okay for beginners. If you want more out of the deck, some math and planning is needed to pilot this deck to high levels.
Closing Notes
When I first saw the Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex deck I thought it was kind of bad. With now knowing about the Froslass + Munkidori combination add-on, this deck is a new top tier deck.
Looking at the Japan metagame, Dragapult ex is no longer number one. Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex has a favourable matchup against Dragapult ex and Gardevoir ex (exploit Dark weakness). Gardevoir ex is good against Dragapult ex because of Lillie's Clefairy ex. Raging Bolt ex is okay against Dragapult ex and good against Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex with its one hit KO power.
<dragpault, marnie's, gardevoir, raging bolt>
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If Psychic Pokemon like Gardevoir ex and Rocket's Mewtwo eare really popular then Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex will appear as a counter. Marnie's Grimmsnarl ex is here to stay for a couple of months in the competitive parts of this card game.