VileGar (TCG)

VileGar
Gengar and Vileplume Types used Major cards Gengar, Vileplume, Uxie, and Spiritomb Era 2009-2010

VileGar was a popular deck archetype in competitive Pokémon Trading Card Game play. The deck centered around the synergy between Stormfront Gengar and Undaunted Vileplume. Spiritomb from Arceus was used to set up, Gengar was used to attack, and Vileplume was used to keep a continuous Trainer lock on the opponent. The deck placed well in numerous Battle Road tournaments at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season.

Strategy

Spiritomb

Spiritomb was the deck's ideal opening Pokémon. It prevented both players from playing Trainer cards with its Keystone Seal Poké-Body, while at the same time evolving the VileGar player's Benched Pokémon with Darkness Grace. If the deck opened with Spiritomb and got Vileplume out quickly, it typically prevented the opponent from playing Trainer cards through the entirety of the game. Gastly provided a slightly inferior, though still good, start, since it could also prevent the opponent from playing Trainer cards through its Pitch Dark attack. Essentially, VileGar's modus operandi early in the game was to slow down the opponent while setting up through a strong Supporter engine.

The deck utilized a combination of drawing effects, such as Uxie and Professor Oak's New Theory, in combination with searching effects, such as Bebe's Search and Pokémon Collector, to get out at least one Vileplume and Gengar in play as soon as possible. Vileplume kept the Trainer lock on with its Allergy Flower Poké-Body, while Gengar was the deck's main attacker. Its synergy with Vileplume stemmed from its Poltergeist attack, which, for , did 30 damage to the Defending Pokémon for each Trainer, Supporter, and Stadium card in the opponent's hand. Since Allergy Flower prevented the opponent from playing Trainers, they were often forced to hold them in hand, allowing Poltergeist to do a large amount of damage.

Key Cards

Broken Time-Space

• Gengar - Gengar was the deck's main attacker. Since Spiritomb and Vileplume caused the opponent to accumulate Trainer cards in his or her hand, Gengar's Poltergeist attack could do a tremendous amount of damage. Additionally, Gengar was often able to take easy prizes off the opponent's bench with Shadow Room which, for , placed six damage counters on an opponent's Pokémon that had any Poké-Powers. Gengar also possessed the Fainting Spell Poké-Power, which allows a 50% chance that an opponent's Pokémon knocking out Gengar will be knocked out as well.
• Vileplume - Vileplume slowed the opponent by preventing him or her from playing Trainer cards. It also allowed for Gengar to do more damage with Poltergeist by forcing the opponent to build up Trainer cards in his or her hand.
• Spiritomb - Spiritomb was the deck's ideal start, and, by preventing the opponent from playing Trainer cards with its Keystone Seal Poké-Body, provided the VileGar player with ample time to set up. For no energy cost, Spiritomb could also use Darkness Grace to evolve Benched Pokémon. In a deck running two large evolution lines, this was a highly beneficial effect.
• Pokémon Collector - Pokémon Collector was critical early in the game, since it allowed the VileGar player to search out several Basic Pokémon with which to either assist with set up or begin evolving immediately. Often, a bad start could be rectified through Pokémon Collector by searching out Spiritomb, Unown Q, and either Gastly or Oddish. If the VileGar player started with Spiritomb, Pokémon Collector was generally used to search for Gastly, Oddish, and Uxie.
• Broken Time-Space - VileGar invariably ran a low count of Rare Candy, as Spiritomb and Vileplume blocked its use, so Broken Time-Space was the deck's most reliable method of quick evolution. As a result, most VileGar builds ran 2-2-2 and 4-3-3 lines as opposed to the 2-1-2 and 4-2-3 lines run in many Stage 2-centric decks.
• Call Energy - Call Energy was critical in allowing the VileGar player to set up as quickly as possible. Although it prevented the player from attacking with Darkness Grace or Pitch Dark early in the game, Call Energy provided a way to get Benched Pokémon. It served much the same purpose as Pokémon Collector.

Typical decklist

The deck list appearing below is not official; it is meant to represent an average build of the archetype, not specifically constructed for any regional metagame. Being that this is merely an archetype, a player may wish to change any part of this deck when building his or her own version.

Quantity	Card	Type	Rarity
3×	Gengar
3×	Haunter
4×	Gastly
2×	Vileplume
2×	Gloom
2×	Oddish
4×	Spiritomb
2×	Uxie
1×	Unown Q
3×	Unown R
4×	Bebe's Search	Su
4×	Pokémon Collector	Su
4×	Professor Oak's New Theory	Su
2×	Looker's Investigation	Su
1×	Palmer's Contribution	Su
2×	Rare Candy	T
1×	Luxury Ball	T
2×	Pokémon Communication	T
3×	Broken Time-Space	St
4×	Call Energy	E
6×	Psychic Energy	E	—

Possible Tech Cards

Mewtwo LV.X

The following cards were often used in LuxChomp in place of certain cards included in the above list.

• Mewtwo LV.X - Mewtwo LV.X was occasionally used as a tech in VileGar to provide a more certain way to win against LuxChomp and other Pokémon SP-based decks. However, a Mewtwo LV.X tech was uncommon, as VileGar generally had a favorable matchup against SP decks regardless.
• Azelf - Although Azelf, like Mewtwo LV.X, was an uncommon tech, it was occasionally used in conservative builds to deal with the unlikely occurrence that all of a needed card were prized.
• Crobat G - Since VileGar's premise was based on a Trainer lock, Poké Turn was virtually never used in the deck. Hence, Crobat G was generally limited to one Flash Bite. However, it was still sometimes used in the deck to put 70HP Pokémon, such as the common Uxie, within range of Gengar's Shadow Room attack.