Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Aerodactyl can be a pain in the ass for any evolution deck. With a little luck you can set it up on the first turn using Fossil Egg. From there, you can keep it alive with Balloon Berry (to prevent it from being stranded in the Active) or Gold Berry (to heal any damage). Elekid is also helpful here since it not only minimizes the chance of successful attacks from Pichu but can strike back for a single coin flip (since Baby Powers don't work against Pokémon Powers).
While Aerodactyl is chilling in the Bench, Rocket's Zapdos' single Energy Plasma attack can quickly start to pressure your opponent. With a plethora of supporting Trainers - Gold Berry, Focus Band, Scoop Up - it should be relatively simple keeping it alive.
Pokémon
12
3
3
3
3
Trainers
38
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
4
3
2
2
Energy
10
10
Blastoise's Rain dance singlehandedly makes this deck viable despite the Energy Removal-heavy environment. Its main attack can do 60 damage, enough to knock out the Sneasel, the strongest attacker in the format, in a single hit. The deck is obviously weak to Lightning, against which Articuno should give you a better chance. Finally, Igglybuff is there to help thwart any control strategies.
Based on a combination of Jason Klaczynski's Base-Fossil and Base-Neo builds.
Pokémon
15
3
1
4
2
2
3
Trainers
31
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
4
2
2
Energy
14
14
One of the strongest and most consistent decks in the format. Kingdra's high HP, no Weakness, and low Energy cost allow you to slowly and steadily whittle down your opponent's board. Lass and Energy Removals help you slow down your opponent while you set up. From there, Focus Bands and Pokémon Centers assist you in keeping Kingdra alive. Lastly, Pichu and Magby help you negate any annoying Pokémon Powers.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
18
4
4
4
2
1
3
Trainers
31
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
4
2
1
Energy
11
7
4
This rather unique deck of the Base-Neo format aims for one of the the less common win conditions: running the opponent out of cards in the deck. To that end, it uses Computer Search to help get Metal Energy into the discard pile while helping you set Mewtwo which then pics them up onto itself using its Energy Absorption attack. This makes it able to tank a lot of damage, especially in combination with Gold Berries and Focus Bands.
The deck uses the maximum number of Energy Removal and Pokémon Tower cards to slow your opponent down and prevent him from using big attacks. Muk slows your opponent down even further as it stops and Pokémon Powers from working. If your opponent still somehow manages to set up a powerful attacker, Chansey is there to help you get rid of it. Finally, using Aipom's Pilfer attack, you can ensure you will never be the first to run out of cards in your deck while simultaneously retrieving key cards from your discard pile.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
14
3
1
2
2
3
3
Trainers
32
4
4
4
3
3
2
1
1
4
2
4
Energy
14
4
4
6
Taking full advantage on the Metal Energy's effects, Rocket's Zapdos can swing for 60 damage while taking only 10 with three Lightning and one Metal attached. The resulting damage can then easily be healed with Gold Berries.
But this deck isn't just about aggression. Zapdos self-sustaining Plasma attack allows you not to worry about your Energy costs while allowing you to deplete your opponent's supply with a full 4/4 line of Super Energy Removals and Energy Removals and keep the drought going with Pokémon Towers.
While all that's going on, Muk can sit pretty on your bench and help slow down any Pokémon Power-dependant decks while taking advantage of Balloon Berries to retreat easily if stranded in the Active.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
13
4
2
2
2
3
Trainers
33
4
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
4
2
4
Energy
14
10
4
Sabrina's Alakazam's Psylink Pokémon Power allows for some very powerful attack combos. You can quickly power up Alakazam with Promo 3 Mewtwo's Energy Absorption, snipe your opponent's bench with Promo 12 Mewtwo's Telekinesis, effectively heal yourself with Rocket's Mewtwo's Juxtapose, and inflict massive damage with Sabrina's Kadabra's Life Drain. While most of these attacks are nerfed by a coin flip, Sabrina's ESP gives you a higher chance they will result in success.
Loosely based on Adrian Cameron's Rocket-On build.
Pokémon
19
3
3
4
2
2
1
1
3
Trainers
29
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
3
3
Energy
12
12
Due to an unfortunate mistranslation from Japanese that allowed Slowking's Pokémon Power to work from the bench (instead of only when the Pokémon was Active), it became one of the most broken Pokémon cards ever printed. Making matters even worse, the Power stacks. That means that with four Slowkings set up, your opponent is forced to flip four consecutive heads every single time they wish to play a Trainer.
This oppressive control strategy is of course perfectly paired with special Energy-dependent Sneasel. Even better than that, however, is the pairing with Murkrow. The Trainer lock makes its Mean Look attack especially devastating as it enables continuous subsequent use of Feint Attack, decimating your opponent's bench. To add the final insult to injury, the deck also plays two Tyrogues in case your opponent attempts to escape the lock with Pichu or Magby.
Based on a combination of Jason Klaczynski's build and Eskil Vestre's build.
Pokémon
18
2
2
2
4
4
1
3
Trainers
30
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
4
Energy
12
4
4
4
As the strongest attacker in the format, Sneasel can hit for as much as 140 damage. This of course comes at a cost: only special Energy cards - Darkness and Rainbow - can be used to power up its Beat Up attack. Ecogym, Chaos Gym, and Lass help protect them from Energy Removals whereas Aipom and Energy Charge allow you to get them back in rotation.
Sneasel is not the only trick this deck employs, however. Using only free retreating Pokémon, you are not only able to effortlessly switch between attackers but also promote Cleffa at crucial moments when a fresh set of cards is required. Additionally, it allows you to play a full line of Double Gusts which effectively function ad Gusts of Wind and Switches in one.
To round out the deck, you also have Pichu to deal with any pesky Pokémon powers, Tyrogue to counter your opponent's Baby Pokémon, and Murkrow if you want to pivot to a control strategy.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
13
4
2
1
2
1
3
Trainers
35
4
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
3
2
3
2
Energy
12
4
4
4
The idea behind this deck is to set up an Aerodactyl as early as possible. Thanks to Fossil Egg, you're able to set up more than one. If you were unlucky and the setup took longer than expected, you can always use Mew's Devolution Beam to clean up any evolved Pokémon that managed to slip through.
Once the control portion is set up, you can simply go on the offensive and use Mewtwo and Ditto to clean up your opponent's low-HP unevolved Pokémon. Alternatively, you can use Mr. Mime in combination with Scoop Up and Gust of Wind to stall until you gain a better position or your opponent runs out of cards.
A variation of this deck was my first real Base-Neo build. It was improved a lot over time and was respectably successful, especially against evolution decks with limited ways to deal with Aerodactyl/Mr. Mime combo. Unfortunately, due to its inherent slowness, its losing streak was too consistent against some top tier decks to justify keeping it around.
Original creation.
Pokémon
13
3
2
2
2
1
3
Trainers
34
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
1
1
1
Energy
13
4
9
Typhlosion's stackable Fire Recharge Pokémon Power not only unlocks a variety of strategies previously made impossible by Energy shortage, it makes the Pokémon itself a force to be reckoned with since it's able to extremely quickly fuel its own powerful Flame Burst attack.
The most straightforward way to play this versatile deck is of course to simply go on the offensive with Typhlosion. Alternatively, however, you always have the option to shift into a control strategy by depriving your opponent of Energy using Blaine's Charmander's Kindle attack. And if you want to push this deck even further, Moltres Wildfre attack allows you to mill your opponent's deck and leave them without any cards to draw.
From the very start, I was not entirely convinced this deck would work. The high number of Pokémon and disruption cards leave very little room for consistency. Fortunately, I had a backup plan: a (heavily augmented) version of this build is fortunately much more viable as a Rocket-On deck where the deck lives on.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
20
4
4
4
2
1
2
3
Trainers
27
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
4
Energy
13
13
Venusaur's Energy Trans Pokémon Power allows you to arrange Grass Energy cards on your Pokémon however you like, mitigating Super Energy Removal and allowing you to preserve the Energy of Pokémon on the verge of being knocked out. Even better, it allows you to use Pokémon Center without the high cost of discarding Energy. Venusaur is also a powerful attacker in its own right and is difficult to deal with due to its high HP.
Venusaur's Energy requirements proved to be completely unsustainable against higher-end decks in BN format. The deck's loss rate remained very high even after extensive tweaks.
Based on Jason Klaczynski's build.
Pokémon
16
3
2
4
2
2
3
Trainers
32
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
4
2
2
Energy
12
12
Original creation.