[Base-Fossil] Experiments with Gloom & Vileplume ("Serious Grass")

Part of the fun of the TCG is innovating on new decks. Since many of the best strategies and players have already been identified, in practice this looks like finding ways to make lower-power Pokemon playable. (Yes, the most 'playable' approach is a small inclusion in a Lickitung-psychic deck, but I mean more active participation.) Recently my interest has been in using Gloom as a primary attacker. My previous efforts with Dark Vileplume have impressed upon me how powerful confusion really is. Guaranteed confusion, even with self-debilitation, has the same allure as Chaos Gym - use it when you have an out and seize the advantage (in theory).

Who can resist the promise of guaranteed confusion and sweet sweet Keiji Kinebuchi 90s CGI?

Some Vileplume-line containing decks are already known to the B-F community. One approach aims to use Dragonite with Dodrio to achieve guaranteed confusion-clear each turn, so that Vileplume can easily recover from its self-confusion and deliver petal dance attacks turn after turn. Another approach, which has not been thoroughly explored, uses Promo Venusaur and possibly BS Venusaur to clear status effects and use Pokemon Center to heal without energy costs. (Promo Venusaur has only recently become B-F legal due to some historical research regarding its precise release date.) Both these approaches use stage 2 Pokemon with 40 HP basics, so I was interested in trying something a little lower to the ground.

To use foul odor attacks repeatedly, four copies of Switch are basically insufficient. With a Dodrio on the bench, however, there's a 50% chance you can retreat out of your own confusion, and a 75% chance of getting your attack off (with risk of self-damage, of course). I tried several archetypes of Gloom/Dodrio decks testing on TCG One, none of which felt awesome. These core Pokemon were paired...

• ...with no partners.  The damage output was low and the fire matchup really stung.
• ...with Pinsir. Foul odor 20 + guillotine 50 to hit big basics is a beautiful dream that does not survive energy removal. The shared fire weakness also put me off of trying Scyther, which maybe was a mistake. This led me to try "budget Scyther," my next pairing.
• ...with Charmeleon. Charmeleon was supposed to provide a threat and an attacker into Magmar without compromising the energy base. Extra evolutions were hard to manage and without fire the threat was weaker and DCE dependent. Gloom already has trouble into Rain Dance with 60 HP, so water weakness doesn't help. This may be worth revisiting with alternate trainers and a partial energy split.
• ...with Vaporeon. This is the only option for a colorless water attack, so... Although the threat to Magmar is potentially big, more coins is maybe not the best. It also makes your board yet weaker to Electabuzz. Eevee bought me a few turns here and there with tail wag and psychic resistance, which inspired my next pairing.
• ...with Chansey and Kangaskhan. Chansey could have been supported more with some trainer options, and was nice for 1-2 KOs, but it was a bit of an energy sink. Kangaskhan was just gust and Hitmonchan bait. The extra fetched cards didn't seem to be worth the free prize.
• ...with Machop and split energies. Gloom can get walled by Chansey pretty hard, so go go gadget fighting! Machop was preferred for the 1-retreat factor. However, 50 HP and fighting type are rough into Scyther and Gastly.

After further tinkering I settled on this list for a while I'm calling "Serious Grass" pending a better name. It's not top-tier and needs further refinement (I can only test so much!), but it has won a few games, even against psystall. With confusion, Vileplume's power, and Gambler, it's definitely high variance. I'll walk through some of my choices, impressions, and experiences.

• Overall concept
• Wigglytuff/Magmar, with or without Dodrio, is a decently successful deck, where Magmar slows down the pace of play long enough with disables to build up a bench and a Wigglytuff who then carries out multiple homicides, ideally.
• Gloom needs more deck space as an evolution, but its disable is stronger. So the goal is to get some good fighting in with Gloom and Dodrio until you lay down pain with Wigglytuff.
• 4-3-2 Vileplume line
• Gloom is the main gameplan of the deck, so I have four Oddish to make sure one gets put out quickly (plus to support Wigglytuff). Vileplume is a secondary consideration.
• Oddish is not a bad basic. It has a one-energy paralyzing poke attack, and occasionally (facing a low-power opponent) you can use sprout to thin the deck and build the bench. 
• Oddish gets smoked by Magmar's smog flipping heads, but otherwise 50 HP is sturdy enough. If fire is in play, I wouldn't leave an unevolved Oddish on the bench. Occasionally the 50% paralysis is more useful than guaranteed poison from Gloom.
• A healthy Gloom survives smog (unless your opponent is ready to gamble their PlusPower on a coin flip!), so try to avoid letting them get chipped unless necessary. Charmeleon eats them alive.
• Glooms should sit on the bench with 1 energy so you can threaten confusion. Poison is not bad, especially vs. Lickitung, so you can still fight worse case. You will get removal'd, but that's good - draw fire away from DCE!
• Great targets for confusion are 1+ retreaters, especially in Dodrio-free decks. Targets like Chansey, Moltres, Hitmonchan, Mewtwo are great to tie up active, the latter two for resistance matchups. If you can get foul odor + poison on Chansey, the double-edge advantage is lessened somewhat. With Moltres, you can threaten Dodrio/Wigglytuff KOs if they don't Scoop Up (and pitch energy). 
• Confusing a free retreater sucks, but sometimes the coin goes your way, so it can be a decent surprise. It also usually mitigates Scyther's swords dance.
• Confusion is awesome vs. Mr. Mime and gives you a fighting chance vs. Rain Dance or Venucenter as it prevents energy manipulation.
• When your Gloom is stuck active, life is hard. Here are my routes.
• ...wait it out. Good if your opponent isn't threatening a KO next turn. Even if you have an out, it can be good to save / give the impression of being stuck.
• ...try to attack. Basically if one more hit puts them in range of Wigglytuff/Dodrio KO, I'm at least tempted to risk it. Foul odor vs. unconfused or light targets, poison vs. walls. Not worth it if you see a Magmar or other scary threats.
• ...evolve. This extra out is basically why I put Vileplume in the deck. If they haven't SER'd Gloom (they might be more scared of your Dodrio bench) you can punch with petal dance for surprising damage. With 3 coins x 40, foul odor + PlusPower + petal dance has 87.5% success vs. big basics, petal dance alone has 50% vs big basics, Wigglytuff, and Charmeleon (throw in PlusPower for Lickitung), and 12.5% to murder anything. If you have been SER'd, evolving still gives you a fresh chance to pivot or survive a hit. 
• ...use Switch or Item Finder for Switch. I try to hold off on this as much as possible, but sometimes you are staring death in the face and need an out.
• Even if unpowered, Vileplume is a nice bench sitter. Heal can sometimes take Wigglytuff/Dodrio out of jab/slash range and 80 HP is decently hefty. In long games you can even rehabilitate damaged Gloom. Be cautious about investing energy late, but again drawing SER away from Wigglytuff is kind of a win.
• I haven't tested it, but I might not hate a Devolution Spray to get back the cheaper Gloom after several turns of healing, or escape petal dance confusion.
• 3-3 Dodrio line
• I have also tried 4-3, 4-2, 3-2, etc. Not sure what's best yet. Lots of basics helps Wigglytuff, and you'd ideally want two Dodrio for full board mobility. Painful to Oak away a Dodrio when you only have two.
• Doduo is a great pivot, an answer to fighting, and can act like "budget pluspower" by adding 10-20 damage at a time to the board to fix math for do the wave or petal dance. 
• Dodrio fights in this deck. If you can get licked to 20-30 damage, you have a real output as a foul odor follow up without being in the common 30-damage range. Keep 1 grass attached as a threat, attaching another in the turn prior to DCE-ing Wigglytuff or using petal dance to draw out SER.
• It goes without saying, but Electabuzz being around seriously hampers Dodrio antics. Target them early with Gloom, then pivot so your Dodrios can soak their Hitmonchans and Magmars. 
• 3-2 Wigglytuff line
• Should it be thicker? Perhaps. Wigglytuff is pretty much a late-game plan here, as it benefits from a full bench (which this deck cannot turbo-assemble) and having the opponent's removals somewhat spent down. 
• Jigglypuff is a nice basic to have around for buying a turn, dealing non-confusion damage, sponging one attack, etc. Always happy to have one on the bench!
• That said, try to avoid playing them early. Opponents play differently when they know Wigglytuff is an option!
• Wigglytuff usually pops in, takes a KO, then rotates back to the bench with zero to one energy on it. With luck, your opponent may focus elsewhere, it, and if you can get a few Vileplume heals you can bring it back into fighting shape somewhat. 
• 4 Bill, 3 Oak, 2 Trader
• I would rather run Bill than Kangaskhan, though I admit it weakens the deck to stall somewhat, which is the environment Gloom/Vileplume probably prefer. If you can't get a Dodrio and a Gloom established, though, you might be dead in the water, and Bill helps reach minimum viable board state.
• I had four Oaks, but ended up trading one in for a copy of Gambler (vide infra). Although you need Oak, tossing away things like evolutions and DCEs was a real feels-bad move.
• Trader helps smooth out your draws and find the right component for the matchup. I could maybe see myself even hanging with 3 just to put more evolutions back in the deck? Maybe 2 Trader 1 Maintenance? I definitely need to practice some restraint in using my Traders, as I've definitely had some pain points that could have been solved by just waiting a turn. 
• 2 Gust, 2 Pluspower
• Typical damage outputs for this deck are 20 (foul odor, pound), 40 (1 heads on petal dance, Dodrio with a "safe" 30 damage), and 60 (do the wave). Important HP numbers are 70 for big basics and 90 for Lickitung. PlusPower helps to bridge that gap.
• Gust is great for attacking Chansey or Moltres in assembly or snagging last-minute KOs.
• This deck is really punished by Muk, so Gust of Wind + foul odor can be a life-saver.
• 2-1 Removal
• Every deck needs some slowdown. Wish I had more, but space is tight.
• I previously used 2 SER but this deck has an energy hungry board and often you need to preventatively remove just 1 energy, which 'wastes' SER.
• 1 Switch
• Also tried with two copies, which I liked more but is probably not as competitive. The get out of jail free card if you can't risk a confusion flip or your Gloom has been hit with smog-heads and failed to retreat. You might think you don't need it with Dodrio, but when you need it, you need it.
• It also helps keep energy on the board for Wigglytuff / Vileplume in the event you lose a Dodrio early or haven't set one up.
• 1 Gambler
• We're here for variance baby!!
• Versus stall, if they think you've run out of energy, they may just try to rotate their board and soak damage. Take a few turns to draw your key pieces and heal a little with Vileplume, perhaps give the impression of being "energy dry," then attach DCE, shuffle your hand in and pray.
• Watch out for Moltres and "the Duck."
• Occasionally you can even Item Finder for another shot, though you'll have to flip tails.
• In other matches, sometimes you just have an early hand of evolutions and recovery cards where Oaking would kill your late game. Rather than totally brick, why not gamble a little?
• I also tried Lass for anti-Stall / removal protection, but the "extra cards" in your hand are usually Pokemon or energy, and you'd like to hang onto Item Finder/Switch/Gust even if you do get removal'd in the event you get stuck active.
• 2 Item Finder
• I could maybe fit more, but you often need all the cards in your hand. These are sort of a "for emergencies" case rather than utility. Oaking one away stings.
• 12 Grass, 4 DCE, 4 Retrieval
• Gloom's everyday disable is two colored energies, none of the Vileplume line can use DCE, and your best attacks are 3 energy. Gloom, at 60 HP, is going to get killed occasionally. On top of that, you want time to set up, so your opponent is going to find their removals. You need energy, especially grass energy!
• A better pilot may be able to thin these numbers somewhat. I definitely make mistakes in placement and sequencing.

I'll probably take a break from working on "Serious Grass" for a while, but I think the concept has legs. Now that I have a little more experience with the deck, I may try revisiting some of the other pairings, particularly Scyther, Promo Venusaur, and maybe Charmeleon, or other trainer palettes. Not sure what my next "project deck" will be, but stay tuned.