It's Rugby, mate! A Non-Ex Passimian + Rampardos Deck

It's Rugby, mate! is an aggressive deck that outpaces greedy/slow strategies and our opponents' bad draws, while dishing out massive (meta relevant) damage numbers.

Premise: Pairing regular Passimian with Rampardo's fossil ensures consistency of having both Passimian in play the moment we're ready to strike. This deck also has low retreat cost among its mons for pivot plays, and means to clear poison in the abundance of Nihileggo in this meta.

Regular Pessimian deals an extra 40 damage on top of its 40 when another Pessimian is in play. That's 80 damage! It can outright KO most basic mons, and 2-hit KO most of the meta. We pair it Rampardos for a massive 130 damage to sweep and win us the game!

While it's counter intuitive that we add another basic. The inclusion of Hitmonlee provides a few things to further enhance this deck:

1. It's another starter to lessen the chances bricking while building up our combo. As it is a bad idea to let our Passimian die/get damaged while we're still preparing them.
2. Its tech. Most of the time we'll use this to soften pokemons in our opponent's bench to ensure 2-hit KO with Passimian, or a KO from Rampardo's massive attack.
3. A pokemon to sack against this meta's big hitters. This is relevant because it preserves our Passimians/Rampardos since they're our main attackers. It is also good to note that big hitters most of the time has conditions/effects along with their attacks.

• Buzzwole switches out,
• Giratina's recoil (150 > 130hp; sweet spot for our dear Rampardos),
• And for mons with massive HP bulk. Scenario: We sack Hitmonlee > Attack and sweep with Passimian/Rampardos

4. As feed for Pokemon communication. In calls of desperation, this is a good way to fish stubborn Rampardos' in our deck.

Do take note that we do not have any EX Pokemon in our deck so we have an advantage when it comes to trading off mons in battle.

It is necessary to have:

• 1 copy of X-Speed for our pivot needs.
• 1 copy of Guzma as removal of those pesky capes to ensure a KO from our hitters. (As well as helmets and barbs, to keep your mons healthy)

While the following may be substituted for another, if you deemed it necessary:

• 1 copy of Pokemon Center Lady for healing and curing poisons
• 1 copy of Pokemon Communication as means to fish Rampardos/Passimian
• 1 copy of Iono mainly for fishing card pieces from our deck

Matchups:

Darkrai EX + Giratina EX:

• So far, I have a positive win rating against Giratina EX + Darkrai EX since this deck outpaces it most of the time. Either, the active pokemon is a 2-hit KO for Passimian, or a Hitmonlee tech of hitting Darkrai EX in the bench then sacking it off to Giratina EX for recoil damage, then a Rampardos sweep. We have Guzma support against helmets, capes and in an off chance that they run Nihileggo + Poison barb in this deck.

Buzzwole EX + Celesteela

• I say I have a fairly even win ratio against Buzzwole EX + Celesteela decks. Still, Grass decks are tricky in general with their outrageous bulk and healing. Top it off with means to pivot with Celesteela. But, these decks tend to run 6 basics (Buzzwole EX, Celesteela, Katakana/Pheromosa) so we capitalize in the off chance their Buzzwole is nowhere to be found. It is basically a slugfest for us when this happens, since our Rampardos sweeps here. Do take note of a potential Lusamine play after you get your first point.

Electric Decks

• We have the type advantage most of the time here so no biggie. But be mindful, still. The potential of Zeraora ramp and Electric cord/dawn may caught you off guard.

Charizard EX (Stoke)

• They're manageable, at best. Deal with Charizard EX by hitting them with Passimian once, then sacking it off for a Rampardos KO.

Solgaleo EX

• I have yet to encounter Solgaleo EX in this patch so I can't gauge the match up. In comparison of both deck's timings; I think this Rugby team is faster by a turn give or take. But I personally think that this is still a bad match up for us. Their ideal scenario would be: Skarmony front, and build Cosmog at bench. Rising road is OP and can instantly KO our Passimian. Not to mention its natural bulk of 180 and a combo of Lillie + cape--definitely annoying to match against.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think. Good luck, and enjoy!

-Chavoman