ftlcollective.comNormally when I hear the word “marathon,” I think of a long-distance foot race, and normally when I hear the word “pie,” I think of dessert. Well, in New Jersey there were five City Championships in a row; this was called a marathon. Over the course of the week, I found myself having pizza for lunch on more than one occasion. In New Jersey, multiple “pizzas” are referred to as “pies.”
The New Jersey Marathon this year was an extremely competitive series of events. I competed in all five City Championships from December 27-31. My record for each of the five days looked like this: 7-1, 5-2, 4-3, 3-3, 4-2. There were enough Masters Division players to hold at least six Swiss rounds with a top 8 cut every day and some days seven rounds. I played Reshiram/Typhlosion for all five events. The list that I used is posted below for reference.
|
Pokémon – 16 |
Trainers – 32 4 Proffesor Oak’s New Theory
4 Junk Arm 2 Pokégear 3.0 |
Energy – 12 10 R 2 Rescue |
The list may have fluctuated by two cards or so over the course of the week, but this list was undoubtedly the most solid. I played twenty-four tournament matches during the marathon, so I’m not going to go into detail over every single match. I am, however, going to highlight some of the things that I learned about Reshiram/Typhlosion, the format, and the marathon in general.
Tier 1 Decks
pokemon-paradijs.comThe way that I see it, these are the top decks in the format right now, or tier one:
* Reshiram/Typhlosion
* Magnezone/Eelektrik
* Chandelure/Vileplume
* Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode
Tier 2 Decks
I would consider the following decks viable, but not necessarily the best. These decks are tier two:
* ”The Truth”
* Durant
* Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin/Tornadus
* Kyurem/Cobalion/Verizion/Zekrom/Terrakion/Victini
* Donphan/Kyurem/Zekrom/Reshiram
* Gothitelle/Reuiniclus
Marathon Recap
pokemon-paradijs.comOf the twenty-four tournament matches that I played in New Jersey, all but one of the games was against an opponent using one of the decks listed above. I played against some big name players such as Frank Diaz (3rd Place Worlds), Michael Diaz (1st Place Nationals), Curran Hill (1st Place Worlds), Dylan Lefavour (1st Place Worlds), Mikey Fouchet, Dylan Bryan, and Jimmy O’Brien.
All of these players played exceptionally well, and the games against them were close. I also played against some parents that seemed as competitive as anyone else, which really came as a surprise. There were no rounds where one might gain an easy win.
The majority of my losses over the course of the week were to one card: Kyurem. Some decks were centered around Kyurem, and others may have only played two copies. Either way, the spread damage from “Glaciate” really adds up, and the fact that every Pokémon in my deck other than Cleffa is weak to Water-Type Pokémon was not helping at all.
I made top cut the first day at 6-0 after Swiss. I ended up getting 3rd place that day to Frank Diaz (Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode). I didn’t make top cut again all week; my resistance was subpar each day that I went X-2.
What Won
A different deck won in the Masters division every day:
pokemon-paradijs.com12/27 – Durant
12/28 – Kyurem/Landorus/Electrode
12/29 – Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode
12/30 – Typhlosion/Reshiram/Kingdra
12/31 – Chandelure/Vileplume
Magnezone/Eelectrik decks and Typhlosion/Reshiram decks each had incredibly strong showings. Magnezone/Typhlosion made top cut quite a few days. Durant was played, but there were not that many at the top tables.
In my opinion, Typhlosion/Reshiram is a very safe play. I believe that one should be able to play it and coast into top cut, but I do not think that it is a deck that can win events. The deck is very consistent, and it does not have any ridiculously bad matchups. Chandelure and Kyurem are both unfavorable matchups, but Zekrom, Durant, and Magnezone are all winnable matchups.
Magnezone/Eelektrik is also a very safe play. It is quite similar to Reshiram/Typhlosion in many aspects, but Magnezone does not have a damage cap and Eelectrik is a Stage 1 whereas Typhlosion is a Stage 2.
Now, the deck that I believe has the most potential to win tournaments is Chandelure/Vileplume. The deck is not the easiest to set up or to play, but once it sets up it is very good and can make some ridiculous comebacks. Tropical Beach is difficult to acquire, as is Litwick BLW Promo, but once assembled, the deck has serious potential.
There is my brief recap of the New Jersey Marathon. I had a great time, and enjoyed the competitive environment. I met some great people, and played some good games. Thank you for reading and good luck to you all during the last weekend of City Championships!
Not bad. A nice summary. Could use a bit more depth on why you feel tyRan is still tier one. I agree with you but many people will not. I will admit i am nit a fan of your list for today’s meta. In my opinion it is missing one huge card and one card that swings the Kyurem game. First, Rocky Hemlet is an absolute beast in this deck. Second, a single (or two) Max Potion absolutely dismantles Kyurem decks. If you expect a lot of Kyurem I feel this card is a must.
Why the **** (put that as anything u want kiddies) would you play Rocky Helmet and Max Potion, I know you like it but come on its just not good enough. I do not mind you explaining to me why
Why the **** (put that as anything u want kiddies) would you play Rocky Helmet and Max Potion, I know you like it but come on its just not good enough. I do not mind you explaining to me why
Rocky Helmet is often pivotal in Reshiram, player. Get your facts straight
Max Potion discards energy for Afterburner, Rocky Helmet is good. That’s the way I see it, at least.
Because eviolites are making a strong showing. Three may be a tad too much, but having two really swings a lot of games in your favor. It allows reshiram to OHKO magnezone and eviolited zekrom/kyurem, plus it’s a free pluspower that actually stays in play until activated.
Woahhh I played 2 Rocky Helmet in my list I went 5-1 in Swiss with the other day. It’s my new favourite card :) Reshiram/Typhlosion is still tier 1 imo, just needs to be built correctly to take the new decks on..
Never said it wasn’t also cheers for that :)
Look here child. There is no reason to respond with what was obviously intended to be censored cursing.
Now, onto my post. If you don’t think that Rocky Helmet is not just good, but VERY good in tyRam, you need to sleeve up and rock out some playtesting. In today’s meta there are a lot of things with either 140-150 HP or effective HP. Reshiram and four PlusPowers will drastically struggle to take 6 KOs against most of those decks. With intelligent Rocky Helmet play you force those 140-150 HP Pokes down into the 120-130 range which tyRam can easily deal with.
The exact number of Rocky Helmet is open for debate, but in standard Reshiram/Typhlosion builds (with or without Ninetales) if should be a near staple. I go with 3 because if gives me a solid chance that at least 2 will not be prized. This allows me to play double Helmets down and limits my opponent’s options of where to attack. You can essentially “cover” your important pieces and dare your opponent to attack. You are basically saying, “I know what pieces are important. You know what you need to take out. Yet, if you take that out I will OHKO you right back.” This is huge.
Also, three gives the deck a pretty solid chance of hitting one in the first couple turns and possibly two. This gives the deck an out against Lock decks that you need to hit for 130+ against. This card (if it gets into play fast enough) single handily swings the Truth, VVV, and Chandy games into tyRam’s favor.
Onto Max Potion. Max Potion is one of the most underrated cards in the format, and tyRam is one of the best decks to exploit it. tyRam very rarely gets OHKO (save by Magnezone and Zekrom). tyRam is also the most flexible energy acceleration deck in the format. So, discarding energy to preserve health is no big deal at all.
Specifically, tyRam struggles with well built Kyurem decks. For example in my last tourny I lost in the Top Cut with tyRam playing against Kyurem. In both games I took my first four prizes to his one prize. Then he took 6 prizes in two turns with Glaciate to win the game, and I lost both games by 1 prize. Now, going into the tourny there had not been a single Kyurem deck make the Top Cut in my area. So, I made a meta game call and went without Max Potion (I put in Super Rod instead that I only used once all day) because my area had not experience the Kyurem craze this season.
Now, in both games (and most games) tyRam comes up one or two turns short of beating Kyurem’s spread. Kyurem is single-handily the worst match up for the deck. However, Max Potion takes that match up and flips it up side down. With 1 or 2 Max Potion and 3 or 4 Junk Arm you can clear Glaciate damage from 1 to 6 Pokemon. That can (and most likely will if you play it correctly) buy you at least two more turns. This wins the game and move the Kyurem match up to no worse than 50-50.
So, next time, before you make yourself look like a child with silly language and a lack of knowledge, do yourself a favor and learn a bit about the strategy being talked about.
“his gives the deck an out against Lock decks that you need to hit for 130+ against. This card (if it gets into play fast enough) single handily swings the Truth, VVV, and Chandy games into tyRam’s favor”
Absolutely. Watched it happen twice in top cut yesterday.
Lol yeah. I can’t tell you the amount of VVV decks that I have curb stomped with tyRam because I get two or three Rocky Helmets in play before Vileplume hits the first. Just don’t give them Twins access until you are ready to roll.
Firstly may I just say that I did not make that post as a rude gesture, I simply wanted to know why people were playing Rocky Helmet in TyRam. Secondly if I wanted an explanation that would bore me to death I would go to any class in school… Thirdly I do not even need an explanation after five different people told me why its good.
So finally may I just say that you have all rights to be angry at me for my opinion but keep further hate to yourself unless you really want to be annoyed at me.
Also the censored word was “heck” but I just wanted to do that for the lol’s bye bye :)
No hate, just telling it like it is.
Short and sweet, thanks.
surprised to see no switch in the list.
It is definitely one of the cards that I was trying to find room for, but I didn’t deem it absolutely necessary.
This is too short to be an article IMO. Explain more.
I could write a follow-up article solely on Reshiram/Typhlosion if there is interest. This article was mostly about the New Jersey Marathon. As I stated, the list was just posted for reference. Would all of you SixPrizes viewers like for me to comprise a Reshiram/Typhlosion article?
Do what you want man, I mean if people are hating then that’s them but I wouldn’t mind as I think Tyram has become quite a forgotten deck tbh
yeah it would be cool ;)
I’ll save you the trouble:
Blue Flare&Blue Flare&Blue Flare&Blue Flare&Blue Flare&Blue Flare.
Haha. Nice.
The only decks that take an ounce of thought right now are 6C, The Truth, and Chandy (with Durant to a lessor extent). Everything else is just as if not more linear that tyRam. So, this point should be applied to a lot more than just tyRam.
no Sage’s???
I had three Sage at one point. I found that “Shuffle & Draw” Supporters were more suitable for my play style.
Durant, ZPST, and Six Corners being Tier 2? Am I missing something?
LOL at your tiers!!!
I like Rocky Helmet in Reshiphlosion too.
But I’ve had enough of controversial articles on 6P. I’m going to head over to the Jellicent review for some peace and quiet.
I just realized there’s not a single NV cards used in your deck.
There was no particular reason. I played two “N” at one point, but I just ended up having a list without any NV cards. I have nothing against the set.
tyram is considered tier 2 now. eel decks and chandy tier 1.
Too short for my taste, I really didn’t get much out of it.
This is what I consider the decks in tiers to be:
Tier 1 Tier 2
Tyram D&D
Chandy Goth
Eelzone Truth
Durant
Six Corners
ZPST
CoKE
I am just happy that Electrode Prime finally found a home.
It’s nice to see a recap of tournaments in my area. I had the pleasure of playing against Jimmy and Frank this past weekend. Still being rather new to the tournament scene, it’s just nice to see how others play their games.
Thanks for the tier list. It’s probably more of a centralized listing, but that’s good for me. :)
Tyram is tier 2 FYI Look at the what won cities thread and you will see whats tier one.