As Marathons Draw Closer…

The big thing on everyone’s mind right now is City Championships, and rightfully so – marathons are coming up and the amount of Championship Points (CPs) available for the taking at Cities can make or break a season. I’ll go in depth into the intricacies of the format in a minute, but first I’d like to start this column off with some good old-fashioned controversy:

This format stinks.

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The foul fluid from its rear is so revolting that it can make people feel queasy up to a mile and a quarter away.

Yup. You heard me.

This is easily one of the worst formats I’ve ever played in, and many top-level players would agree with me. The current format leaves too much to luck and closes the gap between good and average players way too much. Many people have complained about this, but I don’t think people can really explain WHY they don’t like this format.

I’ll go right ahead and dive into the details that are dragging down this format, as well as detail exactly what this format is missing.

1. Lack of universal consistency options

This is reason #1 why this format is stale and even most archetypes just don’t feel right. Past formats had Pokémon that could improve consistency and make decks that would normally be way too inconsistent and unreliable run smoothly and become playable.

In the last couple formats, Claydol GE and Uxie LA were easily searchable draw that could fit into any deck, evening out draws and erasing bad starts, letting skill and deck building shine rather than the “who sets up wins” luck some games come down to right now.

Before those, we had Nidoqueen d, which made crazy toolbox decks like M&Ms* (Meganium ex, Steelix ex, Mew d) viable. Before Nidoqueen, Pidgeot RG made the ultimate “power” deck playable, LBS**, which would absolutely not be a consistent archetype without the help of its Quick Search bird.

Cards like these are good for the game because they enable creativity and create a very diverse metagame. They make it so people who spend the time and effort to come up with unique ideas at creating synergy get rewarded because their crazy ideas can come to fruition in the form of something other than an inconsistent mess.

In today’s format, deck building is pretty much finding Pokémon that can function with the limited consistency options available to it, which is why it seems like everyone is coming up with the same decks (mostly running the powerful basics) and seriously random, uninspired decks like Typhlosion/Magnezone (Just take the best energy acceleration option and pair it with the OTHER legit draw Pokémon available! Yay!) are popping up, despite STILL being clunky options that require some degree of luck to succeed with.

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An upcoming Venusaur has this same Power.

If one of these types of Pokémon existed today, many very interesting Tier 2 archetypes would be viable in Tier 1 play, and we’d be seeing stuff like Hydreigon NVI, Feraligatr Prime, Chandelure NVI, or even crazier stuff like Seismitoad NVI become consistent enough to do well at some events.

An encouraging sign on this front is the leaking of Venusaur from Dark Rush, whose power is a functional reprint of Nidoqueen d. Hopefully Pokémon Card Laboratories (PCL) has realized this and is looking into creating more deck smoothing Poké-powers to give more decks more consistency overall and give more evolutions a chance to shine.

2. Lack of call Basics/Call Energy compounded with the new Rare Candy rules

This one is another reason Stage 2s are being hindered so greatly. In the past we had Dunsparce SS, Pachirisu GE, and Call Energy, which gave us options to fill our benches and evolve the turn after, and this is when you could still Rare Candy the same turn you benched a Pokémon. Dunsparce enabled a deck like Rock Lock*** that played TWO clunky Stage 2s to ascend into Tier 1 status.

Now in a post rule-changed Candy world, the fact that none of these options exist hinders the consistency of Stage 2 decks and even Stage 1s in general, and this is even worse when one of TWO good draw Pokémon happens to be a Stage 2, making it unnecessarily difficult to even get the first one out with the resources we have available.

Now consider trying to play a Stage 2 Pokémon that isn’t Magnezone Prime and can’t use Ninetales HS, and we can clearly see why the only viable Stage 2 Pokémon in today’s format – other than the Ross components – are Magnezone and Typhlosion. Pichu doesn’t count because it ends up helping your opponent a lot more than it helps you after turn 1, as they get the ability to evolve right away while you have to wait a turn.

[Editor’s Note: To clarify, if you use Pichu’s Playground turn 1 going first, your opponent can’t evolve right away. However, if you use Playground any other time, your opponent can evolve during their turn.]

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Olly olly oxen free!

In my opinion, the best solution to this would be to reprint Call Energy. Call Energy was one of the best designed cards in the history of the game, allowing people to fit consistency into their decks without taking up extra deck space, and making it a difficult decision to balance between Energy consistency and Pokémon search during the deck building process.

Call Energy helped salvage bad opening hands, gave decks recovery ability mid-game, and also just provided an Energy when its ability wasn’t needed, and anything that helps to reduce the luck factor is a good thing in my opinion. Pokémon should definitely revisit one of the things they did RIGHT in recent years.

I also wouldn’t mind Energy cards similar to Call Energy except with draw or search abilities instead, for example “Draw 3 cards” or even Jirachi HL’s ability “Search your deck for a Pokémon that evolves from one of your Benched Pokémon and put it onto that Pokémon,” with the same drawback of ending your turn. Any of these additions to the format would be greatly welcome.

3. The first turn rules are absurd

There is absolutely zero advantage to going second the way things are right now, and also, turn one donks are occurring at a rate that is too high for anyone’s liking. I’m OK with being able to use Trainer cards and Supporters on the first turn, but there definitely has to be something done to give going 2nd some kind of a boost and also prevent turn 1 donks from either player.

My proposed rule change would be to disallow any attacks for the player going first, while the player going second may attack, but all forced effects on the opponent’s field are negated. This means that all damage is reduced to 0, all status doesn’t work and you can’t use Durant to mill (as it affects the other side of the board) on turn 1.

What the player going second may do however, is use abilities that affect their own side of the field, such as Cleffa’s Eeeeeeek, Pichu’s Playground (effect for opponent is optional, not forced, so they may use it) and draw effects such as Virizion’s Double Draw. This would give the player going 2nd a bit of an equalizer while preventing turn 1 donks altogether.

Of course I’d like to hear all your opinions on what they should do to fix the opening turn rules, so please shoot your suggestions in the comments, and hopefully we can get a nice little discussion going.

4. Lack of consistent Trainer “Engines” or “Swiss Army Knife” Supporters

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Now where did I put Wilson…

This is also a big issue now, as this is the first time in a while where either a consistent Trainer engine or a versatile search Trainer hasn’t existed. By engine, I mean a series of cards that work together to provide consistency and smoothness to any deck that uses the engine.

And by “Swiss Army Knife,” I mean versatile Trainers and Supporters such as Castaway and Cyrus’s Conspiracy – cards that effectively provide you outs toward many of the resources in your deck that work to make decks more versatile and consistent. Let’s take a walk through time:

Last format had the SP engine, and while that wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good format due to other reasons, an engine similar to the SP engine would be very welcome in today’s format, being able to pick out utility Trainers as well as an additional Supporter wouldn’t be broken in the format as is, and would definitely help make some decks run considerably better.

Before that, we had the Castaway engine, which combined with tools such as Cessation Crystal to make decks utilizing them viable. This was used in disruptive Stage 1 decks that had the deck space to abuse tools such as Strength Charm, Cessation Crystal, and Buffer Piece while also ensuring said decks don’t run out of gas.

If a Supporter in today’s format could search up a Supporter, a PlusPower/Defender/Lost Remover/Crushing Hammer and an Energy, it would definitely spark interesting builds to incorporate it.

And before that we had the Holon Engine, which was definitely something me and many other players would surely welcome back, in one form or another. The Holon Engine gave decks 7-8 outs to their collectors (Holon Mentor), 5-6 outs to their token draw (Holon Adventurer), 5 outs to their Super Rods (Holon Farmer), and it gave d decks another 6-7 outs to a Trainer that could search out a Pokémon OR an Energy (Holon Researcher).

[Editor’s Note: Holon Scientist also served as an emergency draw card and Rocket’s Admin. (aka N) defense.]

[Writer’s Note: Whoops, I knew I left one out. Yeah, Scientist was at least a one of in any deck that ran the engine for the very reason that Adam mentioned above – having an additional 5 outs to a card with the ability to draw up to your opponents hand size would be amazing now against decks that can effectively abuse N]

This made decks during that era ran smooth like a knife cutting butter. If an engine similar to that existed now it would definitely open up the possibility of more creative decks and open up the metagame considerably.

5. A rule that could solve every problem in the Pokémon TCG

And here’s my last proposal, one I call the “Tetris rule.”

In the Facebook Tetris game, you are allowed to hold one piece in the top left by pressing a button, letting you make that piece drop when it is needed as the board plays out later on. This creates an extra strategic element into the game, as players need to maximize the use of this ability by swapping pieces at will to match up with what is needed in board position.

In Pokémon, my suggestion is that before every game, each player may take one card from their deck and place it aside. Any card from their deck. Then, once per turn, if they choose, they may swap one card from their hand for the card that was set aside and may play that card as if it was in their hand. The next turn, they may swap a card from their hand for the card they put in the turn before, and so on.

This would add an incredible amount of strategy to the game while also reducing the luck factor SIGNIFICANTLY. Just imagine the possibilities:

Against opponents who you believe you can outplay and you only need to set up to win, you just place a Collector, Cleffa, or a draw Supporter to ensure you don’t get stuck with a terrible, unplayable hand. Against a matchup where you teched a key singleton (1-of card), you start the game with that card set aside to ensure it isn’t Prized.

Decks could be built around Legends finally, allowing you to keep one piece safe until you find the other piece instead of dropping them to Junipers. You could hide a card before you Juniper, and get it back the next turn. Many games would come down to a smart choice of the held card, and losses due to Draw/Pass would be almost non-existent.

Of course, please post what you think of this rule and don’t hesitate to suggest rules of your own, as controversy is supposed to ignite discussion.

[Editor’s Note: Interesting idea, though it likely greatly increase the time players take during each of their turns. Also it would kill any type of lock deck. Maybe just being able to pick 1 card for your opening hand, then draw 6 would be enough (or pick your opening Pokémon, like they did for the 2011 Professor Cup).]

Now, let’s get onto the specifics, namely, the Cities format and what you should expect for the upcoming marathons.

Reshiphlosion – No Longer a Top Dog

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Sorry, 120 damage doesn’t cut it anymore.

The first painfully obvious observation of the new format is that the former top deck is now no longer a safe tournament option. Reshiphlosion has gone from a force that won a significant chunk of the pre-NVI format’s tournaments to a deck that is clinging for dear life to its Tier 1 status.

The amazing thing is this sudden change in status – for what was probably the best deck of the previous few months in terms of consistency and results – is caused almost solely by two cards: Eviolite and Kyurem NVI.

In terms of direct effect, Eviolite greatly reduces the effectiveness of consistent 120 damage strikes, putting Pokémon such as Zekrom and Kyurem out of reach of 1HKOs by Reshiram. The deck’s favorable ZPS matchup prior to NVI was its ability to outlast the deck in terms of trading answers, an advantage that is greatly neutralized by Eviolite, making it very hard for the Reshi player to 1HKO a Zekrom early-mid game if the ZPS player is careful with their best attacker.

Well played Kyurem spread decks also prove to be nearly impossible for Reshiphlosion to deal with, being able to rack up two turns of spread before losing a single Kyurem. It is nearly impossible for Reshi to keep up with up to 210 damage (including the +30 weakness and a full benched) being put on their field every turn.

There is an additional indirect effect that has made the deck less effective that many people overlook. The release of NVI has significantly weakened many of Reshiphlosion’s best matchups, making it a very poor choice in the post-NVI metagame because your best matchups simply aren’t around anymore!

Stage 1s are significantly weaker now that Eviolite lowers its already low damage output, Yanmega Prime is barely played anymore for the same reason, and nobody plays Mew Prime anymore as the metagame has shifted away from that card.

Despite all this, many people are still running Reshiphlosion at Cities, so it’s still a deck you should expect to see. It is still one of the most consistent decks in the format if built correctly, and is one deck that can take good advantage of N due to Ninetales offering card recovery from the Supporter, so it’s not a terrible choice, but personally I think it is slipping into tier 1.5 territory. Here’s my post-NVI list:

Decklist

Pokémon – 18

4 Cyndaquil HS
2 Quilava HS
4 Typhlosion Prime
3 Reshiram BLW

2 Vulpix UL
2 Ninetales HS
1 Cleffa HS

Trainers – 28

4 Pokémon Collector
3 Professor Juniper
3 N

 

4 Pokémon Communication
4 Junk Arm
4 Rare Candy
3 Pokémon Catcher
2 PlusPower
1 Super Rod

Energy – 12

12 R

Open Slots – 2

Vitals

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Chance of lone starts:

Cyndaquil: 29.91% – w/ basic tech: 26.32%
Reshiram: 23.62% – w/ basic tech: 20.78%
Cleffa: 8.74% – w/ basic tech: 7.68%
Vulpix: 16.58% – w/ basic tech: 14.59%
Singleton basic tech: 7.68%

Important numbers:

Useful T1 Supporter drop or Pokémon Communication: 86.14%

Overview

Reshiphlosion is still a remarkably consistent deck, able to utilize one of the two reliable card drawing engines in the game. It also doesn’t really possess many possibilities for bad starters, as even running a basic tech like Bellsprout TM, you still have a 92.32% chance of starting something that isn’t Bellsprout as well as a greater than 4/5 chance of having a productive turn 1 play (either Supporter or Communication for Cleffa).

Just because it isn’t a good metagame choice right now doesn’t mean the deck can’t beat you if you aren’t prepared for it, and it will remain a popular deck despite all I said because its parts are cheap to obtain and it’s a straightforward, easy to play deck that can take advantage of misplays. This is a still a deck that you still need to think about when preparing for the metagame, so be ready for it.

Possible Techs

Bellsprout TM If playing Bellsprout, use the other slot for a Rescue Energy and replace a Fire for a second Rescue. It is still a good, disruptive tech against Item lock decks but doesn’t provide any utility against the new NVI threats.

Kingdra Prime Drop a PlusPower for the entire 1-1-1 line. The sacrifice in consistency wasn’t worth it before, but it is a possibility now as the deck needs more power. Works against lock and also can help set up 1HKOs that may have been out of reach without it.

RDL Replace 2 Fire with 2 Lightning – A slow deliberate tech that completely wins the lock matchup and also provides a unique threat against ZPS and other Eviolite abusing decks. N is what makes RDL a possible tech because it’d be a sitting duck if you need 2 turns to charge it up without it.

It’s a game of odds, as a very nice surprise late game play would be dropping RDL followed by an N to 2 or 1 to avoid PlusPowers and Catchers, and simply taking 2 turns to charge it up.

It can turn a prize race by itself and take kills that are out of reach of your main attackers, which can give the deck the push it needs against its bad matchups.

Final thoughts

It’s a shame that the most consistent deck in the format now lacks the power to be a true player, but there’s just too many bad matchups to confidently run this deck anymore. Reshiphlosion had its day in the sun, but all good decks come to an end.

ZPST

pokemon-paradijs.comThe other big holdover from last format is the aforementioned ZPS, which actually gained a big boost with the release of Eviolite. Eviolite’s ability to not only protect from incoming damage, but reduce Zekrom’s recoil on a permanent basis allows Zekrom to be a more potent, sturdy attacker. The downfall of Donphan as a legitimate Tier 1 card also means that the deck can possibly go light on the Tornadus if it wants, while focusing on its more powerful attacker as well as make room for possible techs, more tricks or additional utility cards.

The one big hit the deck does take is that it is probably the deck that is hurt most by N, as the entire strategy is focused around getting quick Prizes and one of the easiest ways to lose with it is to run out of gas in the mid-late game.

N just kind of the pushes the deck toward that sputtering state, which can cause some frustrating losses when you least expect it, and it’s definitely something that you need to watch out for when playing the deck. Anyway, here’s my list:

Decklist

Pokémon – 12

4 Zekrom BLW
3 Tornadus EPO

2 Pachirisu CL
2 Shaymin UL
1 Cleffa HS

Trainers – 33

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
3 Pokégear 3.0
2 Pokémon Collector
4 Dual Ball
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokémon Catcher
3 PlusPower
3 Eviolite
1 Defender
1 Switch
1 Super Rod

Energy – 15

11 L
4 Double Colorless

Vitals

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Chance of lone starts:

Zekrom: 23.25%
Tornadus: 18.36%
Cleffa: 6.79%
Shaymin: 12.89%
Pachirisu: 12.89%

Important numbers:

Starting not Shaymin/Pachirisu: 80.76%
Starting not Shaymin/Pachirisu or basic tech: 78.07%
T1 useful Supporter or Pokégear: 83.72%

Overview

ZPS is a deck that has actually gotten better with the new set, as it gained a bit of staying power due to Eviolite. I prefer to play the Cleffa over Tyrogue now because Cleffa provides a bit of insurance against N – you can get out of some tough spots by having a benched Cleffa after getting N’d down to 1 or 2 cards if you really need to. Fitting Eviolites in means cutting a tiny bit of the consistency, but the deck still has almost a 4/5 chance of getting a first turn Supporter or Pokégear so it will get going fairly consistent regardless.

Dropping the 4th Tornadus only lowers your good start % down by 2.88%, a negligible amount in the big picture, and definitely worth it if it means putting in more utility cards. Further reducing the Tornadus line down to 2 would make it 77.28%, and I think dropping the good start rate by 7% total is a bit too much, so 3 Tornadus is good number.

Possible Techs

Cobalion NVI A possible answer to Kyurem lock although it is too narrow a tech to really be effective.

Terrakion NVI Good vs Magnezone and other Zekrom, but 4 retreat is very clunky and it doesn’t help some tough matchups.

Bellsprout TM Possible answer to lock decks similar to in Reshiphlosion. Energy base wouldn’t need changing and it wouldn’t be a bad starter like Cobalion or Terrakion.

Final Thoughts

While a deck like ZPS is a nice, consistent option in any fresh format, its lack of versatility and ability to tech effectively is going to hurt it immensely once the format is more established. As for my thoughts on the Eelektrik NVI variants of ZPS, I think that it neutralizes the whole purpose of the deck and unnecessarily slows down a deck that’s calling card is its speed.

It effectively turns the deck into a very inconsistent setup deck, and there are MUCH better ways to use the Eel, as I will cover later.

Magneboar – Unfulfilled potential

Now we get to the most frustrating thing about the format that relates directly to the points I made in my introduction. A deck that possess amazing raw power and great on-paper matchups, but simply cannot be trusted at events due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to make them run consistent enough to be top-tier decks.

A look at the skeletons of this decks shows that there is just no way to fit the cards you want with the cards available to us and still make it run consistent enough and this, therefore, relegates it to tier 1.5 status. As you may have guessed, this deck is Magneboar.

Decklist

Pokémon – 18

3 Magnemite TM

1 Magneton TM

3 Magnezone Prime
3 Tepig BW07
1 Pignite BLW 17
2 Emboar BLW 20
2 Reshiram BLW
1-1 Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND

1 Cleffa HS

Trainers – 28

4 Pokémon Collector
4 N
3 Twins
4 Rare Candy

4 Pokémon Communication

3 Junk Arm

2 Switch

1 Super Rod
1 Fisherman
1 Energy Retrieval
1 Pokémon Catcher

Energy – 14

10 R
4 L

Vitals

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Chance of lone starts:

Magnemite: 27.00%
Tepig: 27.00%
Cleffa: 9.97%
Reshiram: 18.96%

Important numbers:

Chance of starting a 1 retreat Pokémon + Communication/Collector + Energy: 48.31%
Chance of starting with a Switch and a Collector/Communication: 14.48%

One big problem here, as you can see, is how inconsistent the deck’s workable starts are. For a heavy setup deck like this, your ideal start would be to drop some Basics/Energy and refresh your hand with Cleffa. The problem is, it is very hard to be able to Cleffa on turn 1 consistently, as the odds I have calculated show.

After you take these numbers into account, you have a bit better than a coin flip chance of being able to get Cleffa out turn 1, and this is assuming you can do something useful before the Cleffa activation, as well as drawing a playable hand after the initial Eeek, which isn’t always the case.

From this, we can see how often you can get saddled with bad starts, which can easily make or break a tournament.

Overview

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Another problem here is there isn’t nearly enough room for sufficient draw or utility cards. The deck’s utility line consists of one Catcher, three Junk Arms and 2 Switches and the deck’s setup is just hinging on the fact that they take a quick prize so you can use one of your Twins to get out a Magnezone, otherwise, good luck getting set up with only 4 draw cards.

You also have no space for techs and luxuries as well. Just to be able to fit RDL, you have to sacrifice a 2nd Pignite and a 2nd Magneton and there is still no room for the other Emboar, which would make a good secondary attacker.

Yeah, the deck is spectacular when it gets going, but that getting going part is what scares me and many other good players away from playing it at a tournament. This is probably the deck that would benefit the most from a Trainer engine similar to the Holon Engine or an Energy card like Call Energy.

Final thoughts

While the deck has a good matchup theoretically against many of the top decks in the format, its lack of consistency and workability greatly hinder its potential in the eyes of good players, and it has rightfully taken a back seat to more consistent decks.

The New Kid – Kyurem

Of course, with the release of Noble Victories comes new archetypes that run rampant in the format, and the first couple cover one of the best cards in the set, one that has lived up to the immense hype so far: the new dragon Kyurem.

Kyurem is a versatile card and there are many ways to play it, either as the tank in a Ross style deck, or as the focal point of a spread offense. This following list is one that I’ve tinkered with since the release of NVI, with the focus being a consistent turn 2-3 spread and Jirachi UL being used as a more powerful finisher than it has been ever used previously.

Decklist

Pokémon – 15

4 Kyurem NVI
3 Voltorb TM
2 Electrode Prime
2 Jirachi UL
2 Shaymin UL
1 Cleffa HS
1 Tech Slot

Trainers – 30

4 Pokémon Collector

4 N

4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
2 Professor Juniper
4 Pokémon Communication
4 Junk Arm
3 Eviolite

2 Lost Remover
1 Pokémon Catcher
1 Super Rod
1 Switch

Energy – 15

8 W
3 P
4 Rainbow / Psychic / Water / Double Colorless*

*Based on whatever you want to tech

Vitals

Chance of lone start:

Kyurem: 20.60%
Voltorb: 16.27%
Cleffa: 6.02%
Shaymin: 11.42%
Jirachi: 11.42%
Tech: 6.02%

Important numbers:

Chance of a good start (Kyurem, Voltorb or Cleffa): 78.07%

Overview

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This list is designed to go off turn two as often as possible, achieving that at a 75-80% rate in testing. There’s actually a lot of room to work with here, as well as various options to tech allowing you to shore up some of your weaker matchups. First I need to explain some of my card choices.

I don’t run Twins because this is designed to be a speed spread deck. I found that Twins was a dead card way too many times, and you are often taking your first prize turn 2 or turn 3, which makes Twins a dead card for nearly the entire game after against a big part of the field. People seem to think Twins is an auto-include in a deck that runs Electrode, but I found the extra draw is a lot better against most decks.

Lost Remover is played as a soft counter to Kyurem’s biggest enemy, Cobalion, as removing Special Metals not only lets you do 10 more damage to them, it also slows them down considerably. It also provides extra disruption against decks like ZPS that run Double Colorless, or decks that run Rescue, making it have its uses more often than you think.

Other than that, the great thing about this deck is if start with one of the 3 ideal starters, you can go off turn 2 most of the time, and almost guaranteed turn 3 if you don’t go off turn 2 which is great against any decks that run evolutions. Electrode can be exploded from the Active Spot, making it easy to just attach to a benched Kyurem T1 and explode T2 and instantly get going without paying any Retreat Costs.

Jirachi works as an amazing finisher in this deck in combination with Shaymin. Late game when you have spread tons of damage onto the field, it is very easy to set up plays where you can take 3 Prizes a turn by Jirachi’s power and using Shaymin to move energies.

Shaymin also acts as a searchable Switch for times when the opponent tries to Catcher up an Energy-less Kyurem to stall, as well as getting Energy on your tech against certain matchups if needed.

Possible Techs

Terrakion NVI For the ZPS matchup, which is very tough to beat without help. If you’re running Terrakion, the goal is to take out at least 2 Zekroms with Terrakion/Super Rod, which should help immensely in the prize race.

V-Create Victini – Victini can work as an answer to Cobalion, and is especially effective against lock decks that use Cobalion as their main attacker. Victini combined with Lost Remover give this deck a chance against a focused Cobalion deck.

Cobalion NVI If you need an extra push against mirror, a single Cobalion is a lot of trouble for the mirror if they don’t run Lost Remover or Victini (which most won’t).

Final Thoughts

Kyurem spread is a deck that has tons of potential. The only problem is its three worst matchups are pretty popular, which makes playing it at a tournament a pretty big risk. The other thing that scares me is whiffing on Electrode (0 Energies in 7 cards) is a huge hit to your chances of winning a game, and while it doesn’t happen often, it happens enough to make you worry.

While the shaky ZPS and Cobalion matchups have been talked about, the third tough matchup is Durant. Durant isn’t that great of a deck, but going up against it is a huge problem with this deck because you don’t have many attackers that can consistently 1HKO Durants. Usually it comes down to hoping you start with a Voltorb, Cleffa or your tech card so you don’t have benched Kyurems they can Catcher into.

Ross Builds, Post-NVI

pokemon-paradijs.comAll Ross builds gained in NVI was more possible attackers, most popular being Cobalion, Vanilluxe and Kyurem. For all intents and purposes, the deck still runs the same as previous builds, with maybe a couple N worked in. These decks still require Tropical Beach to run efficiently. I won’t waste time on a list since it will be nearly identical to the old lists except with the new attackers swapped in, but I’ll post my thoughts here regardless.

Trainer Lock decks gained a big headache in Kyurem, as Kyurem spreads damage too fast for the decks to handle, as well as making it nearly impossible to bench a Solosis against a quick Kyurem spread deck. Cobalion versions naturally are best equipped to deal with Kyurem, making it a popular choice of attacker so far.

Another big threat for these decks is Magnezone, which has gotten more popular with the release of Eelektrik. Bellsprout will always be a threat as well, and I’ve seen decks run Dodrio UD as a counter for Bellsprout and other similar drag out cards, although it just makes it even harder to set up.

Cobalion also poses a problem as if they get attacking, you can be stuck without being able to attack, which means the deck attacking with the Cobalion can just stall you out of time if you don’t retreat around and take prizes, and if you do go around retreating, you will run out of energy.

This problem can also be avoided with Dodrio, but the deck already is low on space and would be even less consistent the more Pokémon you try to fit in. All in all, I don’t like the prospects of Trainer Lock in this new format – directly, it didn’t gain much, while indirectly, Magnezone’s rise as the focal point of a new Tier 1 deck and Kyurem’s popularity has made it a much tougher deck to win with.

Feraligatr/Kyurem

pokemon-paradijs.comMy thoughts on Feraligatr variants are that the deck is just inferior to the faster, more consistent Electrode versions due to the aforementioned lack of draw/setup Pokémon and Engines. Setup decks need to be able to come back exceptionally fast in this format to be worth playing, and sometimes taking 4-5 turns to get going because you need to set up a Gatr is not going to cut it, and that is why this deck will not be close to a Tier 1 deck unless a new Claydol or something is printed.

If you are running spread Kyurem, Electrode is definitely the way to go – the deck space saved by not having to run Rare Candies and a fat 3-2-3 line is enough to make the deck far more consistent and also leave room for teching.

Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode (aka CaKE/CoKE)

This is another deck that is inexplicably popular right now, and one that I believe to be heavily overrated. It is hard to make this thing run consistently off Electrodes, as you have 2 Pokémon that require 2 different colored Energies in their stronger attacks, making the Energy consistency a nightmare.

Kyurem is supposedly used to cover Cobalion’s Fire Weakness, yet I don’t see the reason why this would even be necessary as Kyurem is the superior card to Cobalion and a better focal point of a deck, making it a lot more consistent option to just run Kyurem and surround it with cards that support it if you are using the Electrode engine anyway.

Imagine the Green Bay Packers making running back Ryan Grant the focal point of their offense, using the best player in all of football, Aaron Rodgers as strictly a support for him. Doesn’t make sense right? That’s the feeling I get from this deck and I see Cobalion as more of a support/tech Pokémon than a focal point of any deck, while Kyurem is out of place and wasted playing support to anything.

For the Colony – Durant

Another card that has been making waves since the release of NVI is Durant. Durant is a deck that wins games easily against unprepared opponents, while also scaring the crap out of established players at tournaments, as games against it usually come down to one or two turns. I’ll start with a list.

Pokémon – 8

4 Durant NVI
1 Rotom UD
1 Cleffa HS
1 Pichu HS
1 Igglybuff HS

Trainers – 43

4 Pokémon Collector
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
4 Professor Juniper
4 Twins
3 N
4 Junk Arm
4 Dual Ball
4 Eviolite

3 Pokémon Catcher

3 Crushing Hammer
2 Revive
2 Lost Remover
1 Switch

1 Super Rod

Energy – 9

5 M

4 Special M

Vitals

Chance of lone start:

Durant: 39.43%
Rotom: 11.52%
Cleffa: 11.52%
Pichu: 11.52%
Igglybuff: 11.52%

Important numbers:

Chance of starting Durant: 61.12%
Chance of NOT starting Rotom: 91.93%

Overview

pokemon-paradijs.comThe first thing on your mind when you see that list is probably “Igglybuff?!?!?! What does that even do?” Well, let me explain my reasoning behind that card’s inclusion. First, an 8th basic lowers the chance of a mulligan by about 5%, and while it may seem that you want your opponent to keep drawing cards, remember that mulligans are optional, and usually they will only mulligan if they absolutely need to.

A 3rd baby gives you 7 good starters and gives you an extra ~2% chance of not starting Rotom, which is not much, but still helps when starting Rotom usually means a loss against prepared opponents. Finally, the entire strategy of a deck hinges on a clock – 46 cards (7 card hand + draw + 6 Prizes) to mill before they take 6 Prizes. The basic strategy is that you mill them in 3s and 4s with Durant, while they also draw 1 card a turn from their draw step, all the while, stalling with disruption from Trainers like Catcher and Crushing Hammer.

What Igglybuff does is buy you turns of milling 1 (from draw), without threat of them taking a prize if used properly. Following up a successful Crushing Hammer with Igglybuff’s graffiti attack usually means your opponent won’t be able to take a prize, setting them back a turn and back a card. This can be exceptionally useful under a few situations.

One is when you can’t find an Energy for Durant, instead of having to pass a turn, you can prevent a prize being drawn. Second is when you are at the edge of a Durant mill “cycle” aka you are one card away from lowering your turn clock by a turn, you can prevent a prize from being taken while effectively moving the clock forward a turn. An example of this is say they have 15 cards left in their deck and you are milling 4 a turn.

Your turn you mill 4, they have 11 cards and draw 1 to 10. Turn 2, they have 6 cards and draw 1 to 5. Turn 3 they have 1 card and draw that 1 card. That’s a 3 turn clock, and if they are taking prizes every turn, which they usually are if you are rotating Durants, then they are taking 3 Prizes in those 3 turns.

pokemon-paradijs.com

With Igglybuff, you can use Igglybuff after a Hammer or Lost Remover to put them to 14, preventing their attack on that first turn, effectively only giving them 2 Prizes over those last 15 cards. This can easily mean the difference in a game, and it’s always nice to have the option available to you.

Another question is the lack of Alph Lithograph FOUR, and this one is a lot simpler to explain. Even if you have Durant prized, what are the odds you will draw into your one copy of Alph Lithograph early enough to make use of it? It is much better just to Collector or Dual Ball for the Rotom and look for it one card by one card, then to waste deck space on a card like Lithograph, which does nothing to slow down your opponent.

I’d much rather have the extra utility card than run a frankly bad card, as I hate relying on unsearchable singletons.

Final Thoughts

Durant is an incredibly linear deck that thrives off people not knowing how to play the matchups. To play against Durant, the key is to get out one big attacker that can consistently do 100 damage, charge it up, and keep taking KOs. You need to hope that you don’t start with something that needs a Retreat Cost that can’t attack on its own, as leaving Durant with no Catcher target is the easiest way to beat it.

I don’t think Durant is Tier 1, as starting with a bad hand leaves you almost no way to win, but it’s still something you need to watch out for, as it is incredibly cheap to build and will see play at Cities.

Electric Zoo

Finally, we get to my favorite card of Noble Victories, and one that has already seen its fair share of play, Eelektrik. Eelektrik’s power is a functional reprint of Dragonite d, which allows you to take a L Energy from your discard and attach it to a benched Pokémon.

The reason why it is so good is that it is a Stage 1, and there has never been a Stage 1 with discard Energy manipulation before, making Eelektrik a very popular card and one that has been played in many decks already and used in a variety of ways.

The first deck here is a spiritual successor of one of my favorite decks of the ’07-’08 format, one of the most consistent decks ever, Metanite****.

Pokémon – 18

3 Magnemite TM
2 Magneton TM
3 Magnezone Prime
2 Tynamo NVI 38
2 Tynamo NVI 39
3 Eelektrik NVI

2 Zekrom BLW
1 Cleffa HS

Trainers – 28

4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokémon Communication
4 N
4 Sage’s Training
4 Junk Arm

3 Rare Candy
2 Pokémon Catcher
2 Switch
1 Super Rod

Energy – 14

12 L
2 Rescue

Vitals

Chance of lone start:

Magnemite: 23.62%
Tynamo (1 retreat): 16.58%
Tynamo (no retreat): 16.58%
Zekrom: 16.58%
Cleffa: 8.74%

Overview

pokemon-paradijs.comMagnezone is an amazing card because it not only is one of the most deadly attackers in the format, but it also has the best card drawing ability on a Pokémon available as well. This, coupled with the fact that your Energy acceleration is a STAGE 1 leaves you tons of room for consistency and techs, as well as sufficient energy to fuel Magnezone’s power hungry needs.

Splitting on the Tynamos gives you free retreat options for placeholders after KO while also providing protection (40 HP) against fast Kyurem builds. Your only really bad start is Zekrom most of the time. If you want to tech with this deck, the first cut would be cutting the 2nd Zekrom for whatever Basic Pokémon you tech in as a coverage answer.

Possible techs

Terrakion NVI Helps greatly in the mirror as well as against ZPS. You naturally run 2 Switch so the 4 retreat isn’t as harmful here as it would be in other decks. Running this would mean you have to run Rainbows or Fightings, probably dropping Rescues to accommodate.

Cobalion NVI Gives a quick 1HKO option against Kyurem and Vanilluxe, but doesn’t provide much coverage otherwise.

Tornadus EPO If Donphan is at all popular, Tornadus can be added as more than a one of to combat the elephant. Running Tornadus means running DCE, so the energy line would have to be tweaked to compensate.

Final thoughts

This was my choice for my first and only Cities so far, in which I finished Top 4 losing to a mirror in a 1 Prize sudden death. This deck runs remarkably consistent compared to other decks in the format and is very versatile and disruptive with Catcher/Magnezone able to eliminate any threat you want. Of course, there are other ways to play Eelektrik as well…

Lanturn/Eel/Zekrom

Pokémon – 19

2 Tynamo NVI 39
1 Tynamo NVI 38

3 Eelektrik NVI

3 Chinchou UL
3 Lanturn Prime

4 Thundurus EPO

2 Tornadus EPO
1 Cleffa HS

Trainers – 28

4 Pokémon Collector
4 Professor Juniper

4 Sage’s Training
2 Engineer’s Adjustments

 

4 Pokémon Communication
4 Junk Arm
3 Pokémon Catcher

2 PlusPower

1 Super Rod

Energy – 13

9 L
4 Double Colorless

Vitals

Chance of lone starts:

Tynamo (free retreat): 11.42%
Tynamo: 6.02%
Chinchou: 16.34%
Cleffa: 6.02%
Thundurus: 20.60%
Tornadus: 11.42%

Important numbers:

Chance of Thundurus start: 47.72%

Overview

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is actually quite good because without the need to run Rare Candies, you have room to put in tons of draw Supporters for consistency. Almost half your games you will be starting Thundurus turn 1 and killing something turn 2, as pressure from Catcher and Thundurus helps you cycle Energy while picking up KOs. Eventually, the deck pushes out a constant supply of Lanturns that can deal massive damage.

DCE counts for 20 toward Lanturn’s damage and it’s not hard constantly having 9-11+ Energy in play at once with multiple Eelektriks in play as well as the 20 bonus from DCEs, which puts Lanturn at 130-150 damage – the magic number to KO most threats in the format. The deck is a great hinderance to Typhlosion decks, with Lanturn being able to 1HKO Typhlosion with just the 3 energy on itself.

Reastically, you are adding 40 damage a turn if your threats go unchecked (DCE + 2 Dynamotors), making that damage add up terribly fast.

Possible Techs

Victini NVI 15 This would be the most efficient answer if Cobalion is proving a problem, as a Cobalion with Metals and Eviolite might be tough for Lanturn to KO.

Cobalion NVI If Kyurem is a big problem, a possible answer would be Cobalion.

This deck can’t tech Terrakion unless you want to add switches, as the 4 Retreat Cost is way too difficult to deal with and makes prime catcher bait.

Final thoughts

Previously, I tried to work Lanturn in with the Mag/Eel list, but it was impossible to fit it in without compromising consistency. Lanturn/Thundurus is about as quick as an Eelektrik based deck can get, and far better than trying to fit it into ZPS like some people have been doing.

Other Decks

Vanilluxe/Victini/Mew

pokemon-paradijs.comTo me, this deck is more of a gimmick deck than anything. Revolving your strategy over something that does 40 damage a turn isn’t great when most decks aim for one shot kills, and I don’t view this deck as a true threat.

Six Corners

Another clunky deck with consistency problems, this deck would have potential if most of its attackers didn’t need 3 energy to function. It doesn’t work when you have no energy acceleration available to you.

Hydreigon

This card suffers from most of the stuff mentioned in the intro of this article. It is nearly impossible to build a consistent deck featuring a stage 2 Pokémon that takes 4 energy to get going.

Conclusion

That ends this overview of some decks to expect for marathons. Of course, we may end up seeing decks that nobody has seen before at marathons, but as past history suggests, most likely you’ll be seeing the familiar rather than the unknown. Good luck and happy CP hunting!

Footnotes

* M&M’s was a deck from a few years back that relied on Meganium ex and Meganium d, which had Energy acceleration and search abilities that complimented each other very well. The deck played off the fact that these two Pokémon evolved from the same tree, giving you tons of deck room to work with to incorporate versatile threats like Steelix ex and Mew d, as well as a few others.

Steelix ex was a very popular attacker back in the day with Holon’s Castform, Magneton, and Electrode (Pokémon that could be used as an Energy providing 2 Rainbows but requiring returning an Energy to hand to attach) helping to smooth out Energy requirements, and 100 damage to anything being a very desirable ability in the pre-Catcher days. ↑ BACK ↑

** LBS is a deck that is probably most well known for its price tag, requiring upwards of $250-$300 in order to build a competitive version. The deck was a mismash of some of the most powerful attackers available at the time, all smoothed out in a deck that could run consistently because of a combination of Pidgeot RG (search for any card in your deck once per turn) to set up and the aforementioned Holon Energy Pokémon to smooth out the Energy requirements for its main attackers – Steelix ex and Lugia ex, which could do 200 damage to the active for 3 different types of Energy. ↑ BACK ↑

*** Rock Lock is a deck that combined ATM Rock with residual damage to cripple an opponent’s field. The deck ran consistently because of Dunsparce SS (gets 3 Basics onto the bench) and Pidgeot RG. Nowadays, a deck running 3 Stage 2s like this could never work with the new rules and lack of tools, but back this was one of the most powerful decks in the format. ↑ BACK ↑

**** Metanite was very similar to Mag/Eel. Metagross d had a very good Poké-Power that let you look at the top 4 cards of your deck and pick out one every turn. Multiple Metagrosses allowed multiple activations of this power, making this deck a setup machine. Its attack was similar to Magnezone’s Lost Burn, as it got more powerful with the more Energy discarded, and Dragonite played the role of Eelektrik, allowing you to power up big attacks every turn. ↑ BACK ↑

The Holon Engine worked as the backbone of the deck’s trainer line, creating a deck that would execute its strategy at a ridiculously efficient rate – the type of deck that this format is sorely lacking.


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