The Comprehensive Guide to Fall Regionals 2012

Energy – 12

4 Prism

3 M

1 D

pokemon-paradijs.comSo many cards that weren’t really needed in this deck in the past are now needed, which makes it a bit more of a clunky deck than it was in the past. Super Rod is now needed as you really need to run it if you have any hopes of getting a consistent setup. Tool Scrapper is now needed, as otherwise the deck would just simply lose to Garbodor variants.

This list might seem a little awkward when compared to the nice, streamlined list that we saw John Roberts win the U.S. National Championship with, but that is just a result of Klinklang’s awkward spot in the current metagame.

The most important loss for the deck is Rainbow Energy. Without it, you no longer have an Energy to move around to give your Klinklang free retreat if your opponent catchers it up. My solution to this problem has been to include 2 Switch in the deck, as well as a single D Energy.

The idea behind the D Energy tech is that you have Switch in hand for some of the early Catchering of your Klinklang, but anytime after you have three Energy on your field (at which point another Energy is superfluous in many ways), you can take a turn of Energy attachment to attach the Darkness to Klinklang to give it free retreat for the rest of the game.

While the deck can surely give decks like Hydreigon and Eelektrik variants problems still, I believe a set of three decks will make this highly unplayable.

pokemon-paradijs.comThe first deck, is any Garbodor variant. Shutting off Shift Gear is very powerful, and from there the deck is just a bunch of big EXs that can be overpowered by a Mewtwo EX or some other attacker. The deck is completely dependent on manual attachments, so it could be slow in getting another attacker powered up after one is Knocked Out.

I do have a Tool Scrapper in my list, and while it can be enough to win you the Garbodor some of the time, I don’t think one Tool Scrapper is enough to get the job done enough of the time to make the Garbodor matchup anything but highly unfavorable. You could try to play more Tool Scrapper, but there isn’t really any room for anymore Tool Scrapper, and cutting anything else from the deck just hurts it in some other area.

The next deck that gives Klinklang trouble is Ho-Oh EX decks. These decks are able to 1HKO Klinklang with Ho-Oh EX, and also power very strong Mewtwo EXs to 1HKO your EX attackers.

The last deck that any Klinklang player would have to be concerned about is the Darkrai/Sableye/Hammers matchup. This deck has seen a sharp spike in play, and will definitely be among one of the most popular decks heading into Regionals. Klinklang simply doesn’t have a response for these decks, and it is as close to an auto-loss as you can get.

Klinklang would be a highly unwise choice for Regional Championships due to its vulnerability to Hammertime decks.

Summing Up Klinklang

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: F

19. Gothitelle/Accelgor

pokemon-paradijs.comFollowing the success of Accelgor at both U.S. Nationals and the World Championships, naturally players wanted to try to continue on using a card that gave them an automatic Paralysis lock, which is in fact a really strong effect, especially when it is also paired with 50 damage as well as inflicting your opponent’s Pokémon with Poison.

In the past format, the deck was so strong as it could essentially form a perfect lock, as a Chandelure NVI could be promoted into the Active Spot and Cursed Shadow could be used to set your opponent’s Pokémon into a perfect lock range.

However, with rotation we lost Vileplume UD, undoubtedly the strongest form of Trainer lock and were left with Gothitelle EPO as its replacement, which has to be in the Active Spot to keep up its Item lock. Players could try to also fit in Chandelure NVI, but there is no way to also fit in all of the Switch necessary to make good use of Chandelure while still keeping the deck consistent.

Additionally, some of these Switch are going to be discarded with Juniper often enough that you only get to use around two Switch per a game if you play four, as well as adding another Stage 2 line makes an already clunky deck even more clunky.

Bench space is a major issue with this deck as well, something that didn’t come up quite as much last format. This format, you have to use Mew-EX instead of Mew Prime, and the difference between these two Pokémon is huge. Mew Prime simply sent Accelgor to the Lost Zone, which meant that all your bench needed to have was a Vileplume, Darkrai EX, and Chandelure, giving you three empty bench slots that could be used for stray Oddish, Litwick, and of course at least one spot available for Mew Prime.

youtube.comThis format however, you need Accelgor on your bench to make use of Deck and Cover with Mew-EX, and with Raikou-EX being ever so popular these days, you would be well advised to keep at least two Accelgor on your bench. You also will no longer be keeping a perfect lock, so you will probably want to setup a second Gothitelle line as your first Gothitelle will be in great danger of being Knocked Out at some point, which will kill off your trainer lock. As you will also need Darkrai EX, that only gives you one additional bench slot, which has to be devoted to Mew-EX.

The greatest weakness of the deck is just how fragile its early game is. Gothita are easily Knocked Out by Mewtwo EX, which makes the potential for a donk very real, and with a lot of aggressive RayEels decks in the format playing large Energy accounts to make use of a strong turn one Celestial Roar, any Darkrai EX you are forced to bench before Item lock goes up will be in danger of being Knocked Out, putting you in the hole 2 Prizes to start the game. This is a very real threat, as I’ve had an EX Knocked Out on turn 2 in two of the three games I played against RayEels at Battle Roads.

And when you can’t keep up a perfect lock, giving up early prizes is a really big deal, as your opponent can just weather the storm, take knock outs when they get free of the lock, and then N you in the late game to try to force you into whiffing turns of Deck and Cover.

Pokémon – 22

4 Mew-EX

Trainers – 30

3 N

Energy – 8

4 D

pokemon-paradijs.comI believe that 4 Mew-EX is the absolute optimal play. You want to have a lot of these guys in your deck at the end of the game so that you can cycle through Mew-EX’s instead of sending out your Accelgor’s for Deck and Covers. Using Accelgor for Deck and Cover is a really bad play in my opinion, as it adds three cards into your deck instead of just two, and if you have to Deck and Cover with the last Accelgor on your bench, you could be left unable to use Deck and Cover on the next turn, and from there your deck kind of just falls apart.

Some notable features about my list for this deck… I aim very much toward getting the Item lock up and early as possible, playing a thick Gothitelle line as well as 4 Rare Candy.

I’ve tried lists with only 3 Mew-EX and 1 Super Rod for some recovery, and I was amazed at just how much of a difference only playing 3 Mew-EX in comparison to 4 has on whiffing turns of Deck and Cover.

16 consistency cards is a strong amount, and should be enough to get you setup and keep a Deck and Cover stream going for the entire game. Something important to remember is that you don’t always have to play a Supporter with this deck. For example, after your deck is thinned out, your hand could look something like 2 Supporters, 2 Mew-EX, and 2 DCE. There is no point in really playing a Supporter on these turns, and just make use of what’s in your hand before playing down another Supporter.

This is important as well, as if your opponent Ns you, getting a Supporter off of the 2 cards you get off of a 1-card N could be enough to fuel three more turns of Deck and Cover as you fill your hand back up with 6-7 new cards.

pokemon-paradijs.comSome players opt to play Musharna NXD in the deck for additional draw power. The additional draw is nice, but it is going to take up anywhere from 2-4 spots in your deck, as well as a valuable bench space which I think could be better used elsewhere.

I opted to play 4 Ultra Ball instead of of 4 Pokémon Communication. Both cards will help you setup just as well as the other, as Communication is really strong in a deck playing 22 Pokémon, but I feel as though Ultra Ball is better suited for this deck, as it can help you eliminate excess cards from your deck to reduce the chances of whiffing on a turn of Deck and Cover.

Without the Ability to form a perfect lock, this isn’t a deck that I would consider playing for Regionals. The problems that this deck has with early Mewtwo aggression are very valid, and if your deck is falling behind on prizes early and can’t keep up a perfect lock, than most of the time your deck will lose out, as most decks will be able to have some solution for getting the 1HKO on your Gothitelle to score a Knock Out when the lock is broken.

This was one of the most hyped decks heading into the Battle Roads format and yet it has had pretty much no tournament success during Battle Roads, which I think says a great deal about the viability of this deck.

Summing Up Gothitelle/Accelgor

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: D

18. Mill Decks

pokemon-paradijs.comPerhaps the most frustrating way to lose a game of Pokémon is by losing to deck out, one of the alternate win conditions of the game.

What these decks aim to do is use attacks and Abilities that mill cards off of the opponent’s deck in an attempt to force their opponent to deck out. The two most popular cards in this format for milling are a pair of Metal type Pokémon, Durant NVI and Aggron DRX.

Durant’s Devour attack mills cards off the top of your opponent’s deck equal to the number of Durant in play. Aggron’s Toppling Wind Ability discards three cards from the top of your opponent’s deck every time that you evolve into Aggron, which can happen over and over again throughout a game thanks to Devolution Spray.

While this deck was certainly not widely played during Battle Roads, I don’t think this set of decks will pack quite the surprise factors that players considering one of these decks may think. I feel as though most players put these decks through some playtesting games until they were comfortable with the matchup. These decks might take some unsuspecting players by surprise, but any player who has done some preparation in playing against these decks or has strong in game instincts should be able to easily dispatch these decks.

There are three main variations of the deck that one may run into at Regionals.

A. Durant/Garbodor

I apologize in advance for not having a decklist for this deck, but there is good reason to that, as this is a deck that I feel isn’t very good at all.

When Durant first came out, players already tried this type of added disruption with a Bench-sitter (remember all those players forcing Hypno HS into their lists in the early days of Durant…remember all of those Hypno variants that won tournaments….?) These things take away from the consistency of Durant. Starting a Trubbish could easily mean no turn one Devour, which will put your opponent on the deck out clock later than you intended, as you could struggle to consistently get a turn one Devour.

You have to devote more resources into getting setup, as you have to setup not only Durant, as well as Garbodor, who doesn’t aide in your deck out strategy.

A lot of the time Garbodor is going to be nothing but a liability for you. It takes up a lot of space in the deck as it is a Stage 1 Pokémon that needs a heavy dose of tools to be effective, which takes away from your other disruption options with the deck. Garbodor can also serve as Catcher bait, allowing your opponent to stall out your mill as you get setup.

Additionally, most players play the Durant matchup differently than they would other matchups. For example, a Zekrom/Eelektrik player may just choose to pile energy onto a Zekrom and Bolt Strike instead of going for the full setup with Eelektriks on their bench, which nullifies Garbodor into just being wasted space in your deck.

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 4
Grade: F

B. Durant/Aggron

This deck aims to use both mill options to deck out your opponent faster than just using one or the other. The ideal allotment of bench space is to have 4 Durant in play and 2 Aggron lines going. Anytime you are able to keep a steady Durant stream going and can get off a double Toppling Wind in a turn, that is 10 cards milled in one turn, which can quickly end a game.

Here is my list for the deck:

Pokémon – 13

Trainers – 37

4 N

2 Professor Juniper

2 Random Receiver

4 Devolution Spray

4 Revive

Energy – 10

10 M

For a deeper look at the deck, check out the Durant section from my August Underground article: Lost In Translation – The Best Decks of Japanese Spring Battle Carnivals

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: D+

Sableye/Aggron

The last mill deck that we have in the format is a version that just focuses on cycling Aggron’s Toppling Wind Ability turn after turn by spamming Devolution Sprays. The deck is able to do this by using Sableye’s Junk Hunt attack to retrieve Devolution Sprays from the discard pile.

Pokémon – 15

Trainers – 38

4 N

1 Random Receiver

4 Level Ball

3 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 7

7 D

I am not too crazy about this deck, as it is very slow to setup, and even when it does setup, it doesn’t exactly deal well with Darkrai decks which are able to get around Hammer abuse by reusing Dark Patch with their own Sableye’s Junk Hunt to re-power Darkrai EXs. I think Darkrai will be one of the most popular decks at Regionals, so a poor Darkrai matchup isn’t something that you want to have.

Something else to consider is that unlike Battle Roads, we will be playing Top Cut at Regionals. If you go to sudden death with this deck, you are pretty much always going to lose, as you have no way to quickly power up an attacker to take that coveted first prize. With a deck as slow as this one, it’s hard to not see yourself hitting time at some point in the tournament, and you also have to account that when playing a deck like this some players will slow play against you, which could easily cause you to lose.

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: D

Tier – Risky Plays, but Could Be Dangerous

17. Gothitelle/Gardevoir

pokemon-paradijs.comNow we are entering the territory of meta decks that have an outside shot at winning one of these tournaments. These next set of decks aren’t likely to win a Regional Championship for various reasons, but these decks all have strengths that could make them contenders if all of the pieces fall into place.

This is a deck that I actually enjoy playing quite a bit, and I believe it to be quite strong, perhaps the strongest deck in the format when it gets a proper setup.

I wrote a bit about this deck in my August Underground article, but to recap, what this deck aims to do is lock your opponent of Items using Gothitelle’s Magic Room Ability and accelerate energy using Gardevoir’s Psychic Mirage Ability, which makes each Psychic type Energy attached to one of your Psychic type Pokémon count as two P Energy.

The deck keeps P Energy on the field by using Exp. Share, which ultimately ends up making each new Gothitelle stronger than the Gothitelle that preceded it.

Gothitelle’s Madkinises attack does 30 damage plus 20 more damage for each P Energy attached to Gothitelle. When paired with Gardevoir’s Ability, Gothitelle does 110 damage for 2 Energy (enough to 2HKO any EX in the format), 150 damage for 3 Energy, 190 damage for 4 Energy, and 230 damage for 5 Energy.

That is quite a powerful punch, especially when you take into account that Gothitelle is doing these great damage numbers while locking your opponent of their Item cards.

So why is this super powerful decklisted so low in the rankings? Well, first of all it has major Mewtwo donk problems. Almost all of your Basics are under threat of being donked by Mewtwo EX as they are all low HP Psychic weak Pokémon, with the exception of Emolga. Secondly, this deck needs to fit in a lot of stuff which forces you to sacrifice something from your Supporter consistency to fit in everything you need, which makes the deck less consistent than other decks in the format.

To top all that off, you need to setup multiple Stage 2 Pokémon lines with this deck, which has never been something that is done overly consistently.

With all that said, here is my latest list for the standard version of the deck.

Pokémon – 18

Trainers – 31

4 N

Energy – 11

11 P

Of course, as I said earlier, this is one of my favorite decks to play, and thus I have explored some other ways to play and setup the deck. The following list uses a very unique setup engine, something that we might see used in future formats if other decks setting up multiple Stage 2s ever get a footing in the format.

Pokémon – 21

3 Plusle DRX

2 Minun DRX

Trainers – 29

4 N

3 Professor Juniper

4 Level Ball

Energy – 10

10 P

pokemon-paradijs.comThis has easily become my favored way of playing the deck. The list may seem a little bit crazy, only playing seven Supporters and all, but you really don’t need that many Supporters when you have such a strong early game draw with Plusle + Minun, and I have found this list to allow me to consistently get off the Tag Draw for 8 cards in most games.

Tag Draw helps a lot in getting out a turn 2 Gothitelle and an early Gardevoir as well. Whenever you use Tag Draw (and your opponent doesn’t N you), you start your turn with 9 cards. If you then play a Supporter on the same turn in the early game, you will be seeing 15-16 cards from your deck, which is over 1/4 of your entire deck. When you’re seeing that much of your deck in one turn, it’s not all that difficult to get setup.

The only real disadvantage to using this engine opposed to the other engine is that this engine takes up an additional bench space, which just leaves you with four combined spots in the early game for Gothitelle and Gardevoir lines. If you’re lucky enough, your opponent will Knock Out your Plusle as you’re getting setup, freeing up a bench spot for you.

Otherwise, a little later in the game after your opponent has discarded some Catchers, you can try to force your opponent to Knock Out Minun to free up a bench space. Overall, I’ve found giving up a bench spot is more than worth it in exchange for the added consistency in setting up.

Overall, I feel this deck is a very risky play for Regionals. However, if a player can run hot and avoid being beaten to death by early Mewtwo aggression, a player has the potential to make a solid run with this deck as Item lock paired with a strong attack packs a strong punch.

Summing Up Gothitelle/Gardevoir

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 5
Grade: C

16. Garchomp

Heading into Battle Roads, we only had one Garchomp deck, which was Garchomp/Altaria. Leaving Battle Roads, we are left with two Garchomp decks, the other being Garchomp/Terrakion.

Garchomp/Altaria

Oh, how the hyped decks have fallen. Heading into the season, Garchomp/Altaria was widely considered to be one of the top decks of the format. After a little bit of testing, most players began to find out the deck wasn’t all that it was hyped up to be, and this ended up being true in the end, as Garchomp/Altaria completely flopped at Battle Roads, taking home only three wins as recorded on the PokéGym, which is horrible for a deck that was as widely played as Garchomp/Altaria was the first two weeks of Battle Roads.

The problem with this deck is that it literally has a bad matchup against all of the most played decks in the format. In addition to that, it doesn’t even handle its matchups well against some less played decks like Empoleon and Zoroark variants.

A major hurdle standing in front of this deck is the proliferation of Rayquaza DRX into our meta. If you don’t know yet, Rayquaza donks Swablu and Gible for just one L Energy, and those are the two Pokémon that comprise the majority of the Basics in a Garchomp/Altaria. As the game gets into a developed state, a player playing Rayquaza is able to easily 1HKO Garchomp, creating an exchange of a Basic for a Stage 2 Pokémon, which is an exchange that goes in the favor of the player who only has to stream Basic attackers and not Stage 2 attackers.

In case you need any last minute testing against this deck, here is the B-League Winning tournament list from Japan.

Pokémon – 21

Trainers – 28

4 N

Energy – 11

7 F

pokemon-paradijs.comWith the release of Dragon Vault, making Rayquaza widely available (it’s a promo in one of the blisters), playing this deck would be a very bad move for Regional Championship, as you will be at high risk of being donked by what is sure to be one of the most popular deck at the tournaments.

Summing Up Garchomp/Altaria

Facing Probability: 2
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: F

Garchomp/Terrakion

A much better use of Garchomp is pairing it with Terrakion NVI to create what is essentially an anti-meta deck. The most popular decks coming out of Battle Roads are Hydreigon/Darkrai, Darkrai variants, Rayquaza/Eelektrik, and Eelektrik variants.

Simply put, Garchomp counters Hydreigon and Rayquaza EX, while Terrakion NVI counters Darkrai EX and Lightning Pokémon, allowing the deck to hit all of the major weaknesses of the main decks of the metagame. Additionally, this deck is able to counter decks reliant on Special Energy, such as Ho-Oh EX decks by discarding Special Energy with Garchomp’s Mach Cut attack.

Here is my list for the deck:

Pokémon – 15

Trainers – 34

4 N

3 Level Ball

3 Pokémon Communication

Energy – 11

7 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is very threatening because of its ability to counter all of the top metagame decks in some way. However, I feel as though the proliferation of Rayquaza DRX with the release of Dragon Vault will prevent this deck from doing too well at Regionals. This deck still has major problems dealing with early aggression from a Rayquaza, and the donk factor is going to still be very real with half of your Basics being donkable in regard to Rayquaza.

Summing Up Garchomp/Terrakion:

Facing Probability: 2
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: C

15. Darkrai/Accelgor

This is a deck idea that was most popularized by a player in my area, Zach Zamora. The basic idea of the deck is to pair Accelgor with big Pokémon-EX which can serve as walls as well as alternate attackers to Accelgor. You can see his list and tournament report for the deck here.

The version of the deck that I had tested is a more simplified version of this that cuts out stuff like Registeel-EX, and focuses in on just going with Darkrai EX and Accelgor.

Pokémon – 12

4 Shelmet NVI

3 Accelgor DEX

3 Darkrai-EX DEX

2 Mew-EX

Trainers – 36

4 N

Energy – 12

8 D

pokemon-paradijs.comMy main theory when working on the deck was to setup 1HKOs for Darkrai EX with Deck and Cover. The damage numbers added up perfectly, as Deck and Cover would leave a Pokémon at 70 damage, and then a Night Spear with Dark Claw attached could finish that Pokémon off, dealing the final 110 damage.

The main problem I had was that it could be difficult sometimes setting up additional Darkrai EXs when you would be devoting turns of Energy attachment to Accelgor, and because of all the other stuff that was needed in this deck, you had to play a more standard 14 Supporter count, which is a little low for looping Deck and Covers if that’s the strategy that you felt was best suited for a given matchup.

In testing, the deck seemed to be quite good, but it would often come up just short of getting the victory, losing something like 6-5 on prizes.

Summing Up Darkrai/Accelgor

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 5
Grade: C

14. Zoroark/Darkrai/Sableye

This is a deck that I was really excited for coming into this format, but as testing has shown over the course of the past two months, it might just not be the best suited deck for a format like this.

What the deck aims to do is 2HKO any EX with Zoroark, starting a stream of Zoroark on turn 2. Alternatively, the deck can take prizes very quickly on non-EXs very easily (dealing 140 damage with Dark Claw attached and a full bench).

The problem I’ve encountered is that a fast deck like this might not be all that well suited for the current format. If you take two quick prizes with Zoroark, you can easily get N’d to a low hand size, and then at that point you can start to whiff Energy drops, which is a very big deal with this deck just because of how easily Zoroark is Knocked Out, so keeping a steady stream of them (or Darkrai) coming with DCE and Dark Patch attachments is crucial.

Pokémon – 15

Trainers – 32

4 N

4 Bianca

Energy – 13

9 D

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck should not be underestimated though, as you can’t always count on forcing them into a bad hand off of N and them missing their energy drops. Any deck that can setup a turn 2 attack for 140 damage is definitely a threat to be taken seriously.

The deck is one of the few decks that is able to deal with a Hydreigon by copying its attack with Foul Play, and hitting it for 160 damage with a Dark Claw attached. Additionally, Zoroark BLW can be used against Eel decks to snipe Eelektriks with Volt Bolt as well as put them under attack from Zoroark DEX and Darkrai EX in conjunction with Pokémon Catcher.

The one major deck that gives me pause with playing this deck is Rayquaza/Eelektrik. If they can get their Eelektriks setup, then it becomes a very tough matchup. They can simply scroll through Rayquaza EXs to 1HKO Zoroark for only two energy discarded, as well as take out a Darkrai EX to accelerate the Prize trade in their favor for 3 Energy discarded.

Alternatively, they can do the same thing with Raikou-EX. The reason this deck is such a problem is that most lists also play Max Potion, so they can prevent you from getting the 2HKO every time and deny you prizes until they win.

The other deck this could have trouble with is Garbodor variants, especially those with Fighting Pokémon, as you don’t have room to play any Switch, so you’re entirely dependent on Darkrai’s Ability to retreat your Pokémon.

Summing Up Zoroark/Darkrai/Sableye

Facing Probability: 2
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: C+

13. Registeel-EX + Fighting Pokémon + Garbodor

This is a deck idea popularized by Michael Weldon, and affectionately called “The Trashman.” The idea behind the deck is to spread early with Registeel-EX to take out any pre-evolutions like Tynamo/Deino very quickly, and also to setup knockouts for your Fighting type Pokémon, such as Groudon EX in the original version of this deck.

I like the version that opts not to play Groudon EX and think the version with Terrakion only is better, as it forces your opponent into needing to take out non-Pokémon-EX in addition to an Pokémon-EX.

Pokémon – 12

Trainers – 35

4 N

Energy – 13

9 F

pokemon-paradijs.comWhile this deck would seemingly counter the metagame well, it doesn’t do as an effective job as you would originally think.

Hydreigon and Eel decks that play a higher Tool Scrapper count, such as 2 or more are usually able to take control of the matchup just using the few turns of Ability that they have available to them. Additionally, the deck has little benefit to running Garbodor in matchups against decks that are also not reliant on Abilities.

The deck can easily be countered by loading up Mewtwo EXs and just using X Ball. This is the reason why I’ve included a single copy of Mewtwo EX in the deck, as you simply need it to prevent yourself from getting run over by your opponent’s Mewtwo EX. Only playing one Mewtwo EX, you have to be careful about when you use it, as you will be unable to properly engage in a Mewtwo war, and instead it’s sole purpose is to eliminate any Mewtwo EXs on your opponent’s field that grow out of control.

Lastly, there has been a proliferation of Ho-Oh EX decks into the metagame, which will typically not be a good matchup for you, as they run a Fire type in Ho-OH EX that can easily 1HKO Registeel, and who also resists Fighting. These decks also tend to play heavy Mewtwo EX counts, which is a Pokémon that is generally strong against the deck, as well as Super Scoop Up to reset the damage clock.

Summing Up Registeel/Fighting/Garbodor

Facing Probability: 3
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: C+

12. Chandelure

A recent contender to pop up in the metagame at later Battle Roads has been Chandelure decks. The decks aim to accelerate damage on their opponent’s field using Chandelure’s Cursed Shadow Ability, while also pairing Chandelure with strong attackers such as Darkrai EX and Terrakion NVI.

Darkrai/Chandelure

The first variant of this deck is a very simplified, streamlined version of the deck that uses just Darkrai EX and Chandelure, as well as Sableye as a setup engine for the deck.

The deck aims to accelerate damage on the opponent’s field using Cursed Shadow in conjunction with the snipe from Night Spear to setup knockouts for a Darkrai EX with Dark Claw attached to it. 30 Cursed Shadow Damage + 30 Snipe Damage leaves an Pokémon-EX with 170 damage with only 110 HP, putting it in Knock Out range for Darkrai EX. For Pokémon-EX with 180 HP as well as those with Eviolite attached, a second Cursed Shadow may be necessary to setup the Knock Out on that Pokémon.

This version de-emphasizes the importance of using Chandelure’s Cursed Shadow Ability every turn, and instead just aims to use it during turns when you have the Switches in hand to use it, as well as promoting Chandelure as your active after a Knock Out has been taken.

Pokémon – 13

Trainers – 36

4 N

Energy – 11

11 D

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is very threatening to a large portion of the metagame, as Darkrai EX is already good against Eelektrik decks by itself, but pairing it with Chandelure to drop damage counters on Tynamos and Eelektriks to setup knock outs makes this deck able to quickly clear the opponent’s field of Eelektrik, shutting off their Energy acceleration for the game, which can be crippling for Eel variants dependent on attackers that discard Energy when they attack, such as Rayquaza EX and Raikou-EX.

Additionally, most attackers in Eelektrik variants that are of the EX variety have 170 HP, giving you perfect numbers to setup KOs against.

The deck surprisingly has a good Darkrai matchup, as you are simply able to accelerate damage on your opponent’s field faster than they could put damage on yours. Chandelure can also be used to create an even/odd prize exchange which can work in your favor.

This deck, however, is very vulnerable to Fighting decks, as your Darkrai EX is vulnerable for the 1HKO. If you can get Darkrai setup fast and knock their Energied attackers off the field quickly, you can win these matchups, otherwise there is a good chance you will lose. Your other out against these decks is to catcher up a high retreat Pokémon, while setting up multiple Chandelure and spreading Cursed Shadow damage across their field.

The Hydreigon matchup is also not the greatest. If they setup, you will have difficulty taking knockouts, although Chandelure does give you the potential to setup a Knock Out on Hydreigon to get it off your opponent’s field, and you can strategically place Cursed Shadow and Snipe damage on your opponent’s field to make it that they cannot prevent all knock outs with Max Potion.

For more on the deck, you can check out my 3rd place St. Louis Battle Roads report from when I played the deck.

Summing Up Darkrai/Chandelure

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 5
Grade: B-

Chandelure/Darkrai/Terrakion

The other version of this deck plays more like a traditional Chandelure deck, with more emphasis on continuously spreading damage around with Cursed Shadow. The deck has Darkrai EX and Terrakion NVI laying in rest as backup attackers for when the spread falls apart.

A very innovative version for this deck was posted onto the front page by Collin Coyle Brinkmeyer, you can check out his report here. He ussed Vanilluxe NXD’s Slippery Soles Ability to transfer his Chandelure in and out of the Active Spot to maximize the number of times he was able to Cursed Shadow in a turn.

Collin Coyle Brinkmeyer’s Chandelure/Darkrai/Terrakion/Vanilluxe Decklist

Pokémon – 21

Trainers – 28

4 N

1 Bianca

2 Pokémon Communication

2 Super Rod

2 Tropical Beach

Energy – 9

6 D

3 F

A more traditional list for this deck would look something like this:

Pokémon – 17

Trainers – 34

4 N

Energy – 9

6 D

3 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is more versatile than the Darkrai EX only version of the deck in dealing with the main metagame threats, as this version has Terrakion NVI to 1HKO an opposing Darkrai EX or various Lightning attackers with Terrakion’s Retaliate, which it sets up out of nowhere thanks to Energy Switch.

However, what this version gains in that versatility, it loses in the speed that the other version of the deck brought with it in setting up a very quick Darkrai EX to start attacking your opponent’s field.

This deck is better able to handle the Hydreigon matchup as it has Terrakion to 1HKO your opponent’s Darkrai EXs. Unfortunately, against a player wise to this decks tricks, the Hydreigon player should be at the advantage as they can 1HKO your Terrakions with Hydreigon (so setting up two Hydreigon would be a priority in this matchup, which might not always be possible as Deino are easy knock outs for a multiple Chandelure setup), transitioning to Darkrai EX to take out the Chandelure’s, and then cleaning up anything else with Shaymin EX.

Summing Up Chandelure/Darkrai/Terrakion

Facing Probability: 1
Surprise Factor: 5
Grade: B-

Tier – Outside Contenders

11. Tornadus EX/Terrakion

This deck hasn’t seen much play at all, which is somewhat surprising given that it gained another backup attacker in Stunfisk DRX, and the metagame moved back more toward evolution decks a little bit, as well as a 70 HP starting Pokémon being dominant, which makes the threat of a Tornadus EX donk a very strong reality in this metagame.

Stunfisk DRX gives the deck an alternate donk attacker and Terrakion serves as the backbone of the deck giving it something to fall back on when it doesn’t get the donk.

Pokémon – 11

Trainers – 36

4 N

Energy – 13

9 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThe way I have this deck built is to really emphasize the donk. The main Pokémon in the metagame that are going to be there for the donking are Tynamo (40 HP, Fighting Weakness), Dark Deino (60 HP, Fighting Weakness), Dragon Deino (60 HP, Dragon Weakness), and Sableye (70 HP, no Weakness). Tornadus EX can get the donk on these Pokémon with Blow Through when Skyarrow Bridge is in play (as well as a donk on a Tynamo with a PlusPower and Blow Through).

Mewtwo EX can donk Tynamo for a DCE attachment and X Ball.

But there will be times when you get a start against some of these Pokémon where you won’t always have the pieces to get the donk with Tornadus EX or Mewtwo EX, but your opponent still will have a very vulnerable Deino or Tynamo as their starter. This is where Stunfisk really shines, as you only need to hit one of your F Energy to setup its attack on turn one. Muddy Water does enough damage to 1HKO a Tynamo, and can Knock Out a Dark Deino (the most commonly played version) with a PlusPower.

The greatest weakness of this deck is that it is dependent on Exp. Share to keep energy on the field, most notably for setting up Terrakion’s Retaliate and then later Land Crush attacks. This makes your deck vulnerable to your opponent playing either Tool Scrapper or just attacking into your Pokémon with Exp. Share attached.

An alternate way that one could play the deck is to take out all of the Exp. Share, and replace them with Energy Switch. The idea behind this version of the deck is that your attackers have high enough HP that they are rarely going to be Knocked Out in one hit, so you can attach enough Energy on your field to setup other attackers, and then Energy Switch the Energy needed to finish setting up the attack.

This deck exchanges late game competitiveness for early game pressure. While Terrakion and Exp. Share give a backbone to the deck for when it doesn’t get the donk, that won’t always be enough to take control of the matchup against strong decks such as Hydreigon and Mewtwo/Eelektrik. Still, one cannot underestimate the power of a deck that can easily turn your match into a one minute game.

Summing Up Tornadus EX/Terrakion

Facing Probability: 3
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: B

10. Terrakion-EX

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is a deck that would theoretically be well positioned to do well in the current metagame, but hasn’t quite performed as well as one would think for how Lightning and Dark-centric the metagame has become during Battle Roads, although I do know a good number of players have had great success in playing this deck.

What these decks aim to do is setup various attackers using Terrakion-EX’s Pump Up Smash attack, which allows you to attach two Basic Energy cards from your hand to your benched Pokémon. While this may seem very strong at first, it can be clunky to get three Energy onto Terrakion-EX before it gets Knocked Out, especially with Rayquaza EX ever present in the metagame, as well as Energy acceleration from the hand being inconsistent.

If you don’t happen to have Energy cards in your hand as you attack, that means no Energy acceleration for that turn when using Pump Up Smash. Whiff on accelerating Energy on your first Pump Up Smash, and that could be all that it takes for your deck to fall apart.

Right now, I have two different versions of the deck built, and each are quite different from the other.

The first version I built is the version of the deck that got a lot of hype coming in from Japan, which is just a very streamlined Terrakion-EX/Bouffalant/Mewtwo deck.

Pokémon – 9

Trainers – 35

4 N

1 Bianca

Energy – 16

12 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is aimed at maximizing your Pump Up Smash attacks by playing a lot of Energy and Energy Retrieval to try to ensure that you have the Energy in hand to get the most out of your Pump Up Smashes.

This version of the deck is much more vulnerable to Mewtwo EX running it over than my other version of the deck. You don’t run PlusPower, so in order to 1HKO a Mewtwo EX with no damage on it, you would need to put 3 Energy on your Mewtwo EX if the opposing Mewtwo only had 2 Energy on it. This is a big deal, as Mewtwo EX is really strong against your deck as it 2HKOs a loaded Terrakion-EX for just a DCE.

For this version of the deck, the best way to combat Mewtwo EX is to build up a bunch of Bouffalant with Eviolites attached, and hit into Mewtwo EX for 120 with Gold Breaker. Only engage their Mewtwo EX with your own if their Mewtwo EX is getting overloaded with Energy.

My second version of the deck runs a more varied set of attackers, and is better able to engage in the Mewtwo war.

Pokémon – 10

Trainers – 35

4 N

Energy – 15

11 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis version is much better able to engage into Mewtwo wars as you play PlusPower, which can get you the knockout on a Mewtwo EX with DCE with your own Mewtwo EX on DCE.

You play five Item cards in PlusPower and Tool Scrapper that will allow you to take the 1HKO on an Eviolited Darkrai EX.

I’ve included Enhanced Hammer into this list, as it’s really strong in both the Hydreigon and Ho-Oh EX matchups. In the Hydreigon matchup, removing Blends is particularly strong as it can prevent Hydreigon from using Dragon Blast to 1HKO your Terrakion, and it can possibly shutdown the possibility that your opponent goes for a Shaymin EX to run down your field.

Terrakion NVI gives you a stronger option for attacking into any Dark and Lightning deck. Setting up multiple Terrakion-EX with 3 Energy to keep a continuous stream of 90 damage attacks can be difficult sometimes, so adding the two Energy Retaliate attack into the mix can help you keep a steady stream of attacks going.

I think this deck is very strong against all Eelektrik variants, as Terrakion-EX gives you an easy way to Knock Out Eelektrik’s with your Rock Tumble attack. While this deck is seemingly built to counter Hydreigon decks, I don’t think it is all that effective in doing so because of the multitude of tech attackers that can be included into that deck that can give you trouble.

Overall, I haven’t been too impressed with this deck during Battle Roads. In the Battle Roads I played against this in which I played DMT and Ho-Oh, I was able to beat the deck simply by X Balling them over and over, as they failed to come up with any legitimate response for my Mewtwo EX.

If I were to take one of these decks to Regionals, I would lean to the second, more versatile option over the more consistent version of the deck.

Summing Up Terrakion-EX

Facing Probability: 4
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: B

9. Steel Eels

As we have learned from the inclusion of things like Tornadus EX and Mewtwo EX in large numbers in different variants, if there is a strong Colorless attacker, it will find its way into Eelektrik variants.

This deck aims to destroy evolution decks by going for an early Registeel-EX to spread 30 damage across your opponent’s field, hopefully denying them of ever getting their Eelektrik, Hydreigon, Empoleon, or whatever out in a game.

The deck also has great synergy in attacking bulky HP Pokémon if decks like these do get setup. For example, using Triple Laser and then Bolt Strike is enough to Knock Out a Hydreigon. Two Triple Laser followed by Bolt Strike is enough to take out any EX in the game.

Here is my list for the deck.

Pokémon – 14

Trainers – 34

4 N

Energy – 12

8 L

pokemon-paradijs.comAs is typical with any Eelektrik variant, you play Max Potion to heal off your damaged EXs, as you can simply Dynamotor the energy back onto your attackers and keep on going.

I would be nervous about playing such a deck for Regionals though because of the way the metagame has developed. Early Crushing Hammer and Enhanced Hammer can negate Registeel-EX as an attacker. Registeel-EX is a liability against Ho-Oh EX decks, as Ho-Oh is able to 1HKO Registeel with ease. Bouffalant DRX is also very strong against Registeel, as you only hit into it for 10 (or nothing if they have Eviolite attached), while they hit into you for 120 damage with Gold Breaker.

Because of this, I think the version of the deck that is very similar in construction, but opts to not play Registeel-EX in favor of Raikou-EX will be a stronger play for Regionals.

Summing Up Steel Eels:

Facing Probability: 3
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: B

8. Ho-Oh EX

Perhaps the deck that was the biggest surprise of the Battle Roads format are Ho-Oh EX decks, which are essentially big Basic decks that accelerate Energy onto these Pokémon using Ho-Oh EX’s Rebirth Ability in conjunction with Energy Switch. The deck is one of the quickest, if not the quickest decks in the format, and is very similar to the CMT deck from last format.

I have seen a variety of attackers and techs used in the deck, with the list including: Mewtwo EX, Terrakion NVI, Rayquaza DRX, Sigilyph DRX, Virizion NVI, Sableye DEX, Darkrai EX, Tornadus EX, Bouffalant BLW, and Bouffalant DRX.

My version of the deck is a very simplified, streamlined version of the deck aimed at targeting down the main metagame threats.

Pokémon – 9

3 Mewtwo-EX NXD

3 Terrakion NVI

3 Ho-Oh-EX

Trainers – 35

4 N

Energy – 16

6 F

1 G

1 R

1 W

1 L

1 P

1 D

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is about as Terrakion focused of a list for this deck as you will see, and I think that will be the correct play for Regionals. The more and more I played this deck, the more I found that I wanted one of two attacks on turn one, depending on the matchup. In some matchups, going off to an aggressive Mewtwo start is the right play (such as against other Ho-Oh decks, Terrakion-EX, Empoleon, etc.), but against Dark and Lightning decks, my preferred start was to get off and attacking with Terrakion.

The reason for this is that a turn one (or two) Retaliate does enough damage to 1HKO a Tynamo or Deino, and if you can get a Land Crush going by turn 2 (which isn’t all that uncommon), you can really put the hurt on Darkrai and Eelektrik decks as you 1HKO their attackers. Previously, while testing a version with just two Terrakion and a lower Fighting count, I found that a Hydreigon player could rip me apart by using Dragon Blast to 1HKO my Terrakions, and from there, seal the game with Darkrai EX against my other attackers.

In the end, the best way to look at this deck is as a Terrakion NVI/Mewtwo EX deck, with a little added Energy acceleration from Ho-Oh EX.

My only fear in playing this deck is how reliant the deck is on the hand to work, as well as other factors that are largely based on luck. If you don’t have the Energy Switch in hand, there won’t be Energy acceleration for that turn. But before you can even think of that, you need to get Ho-Oh EX and Energy into the discard pile, as well as hit a heads on the Rebirth flip, all things that don’t reliably happen all the time.

I think this is another one of those decks that might be too fast for its own good. In my experience playing the deck, I could race off to some amazing prize leads, only to be N’d to a small junk hand, and then a few missed Rebirth flips and dead-draws later I would be losing the game.

Summing Up Ho-Oh EX

Facing Probability: 4
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: B+

7. Empoleon

If you want a deck that consistently sets up, and is able to abuse N, then this is the deck for you. Empoleon is one of the most consistent decks in the format as it is able to abuse Roserade’s Le Parfum Ability to almost guarantee a turn 2 Empoleon and then use Empoleon’s Diving Draw Ability for insane amounts of draw to further its setup.

One of the great things about Empoleon is that it has a low attack cost for Attack Command, which makes it much easier than other decks to tech in alternate attacking options to counter decks that can prey upon Empoleon’s weakness as well as to counter the metagame as a whole.

Pokémon – 18

1 Mew-EX

Trainers – 32

4 N

2 Professor Juniper

1 Random Receiver

4 Rare Candy

Energy – 10

5 W

1 F

pokemon-paradijs.comIt cannot be overstated just how important Roserade is to this deck. Roserade is really the glue that holds this together to being such a powerful and consistent deck. Roserade makes it so you can get the turn 2 Empoleon out with ease, as the missing piece to your evolution (whether it is Empoleon or the Rare Candy) can be searched out with Le Parfum.

Additionally, Roserade allows you to search out the tech cards you need to setup a surprise Retaliate with Terrakion, giving you easy access to that Energy or Energy Switch that you need to get Terrakion out and attacking.

A version of this deck that has been doing extremely well, most notably when played by JW Kriewall is a version playing Recycle. If you want a Recycle list, just determine what the least essential Item cards are from the above list, and replace them with Recycle. Recycle is very powerful in this deck, as you can effectively play the card as a Junk Arm replacement with Diving Draw.

Overall, while I think this deck is quite strong, I’m not sure if it will be able to hold up in the Zekrom/Eelektrik matchup, even with Stunfisk and Terrakion there to counter that deck. Additionally, I’ve had a great deal of success against this deck with Darkrai variants by limiting my bench space to reduce the damage done by Attack Command and setting up knockout’s with the Snipe damage from Night Spear.

Summing Up Empoleon

Facing Probability: 3
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: B+

Tier – The Main Contenders

6. Anti-Meta

Now we are into the territory of the main decks that we expect to most seriously compete for the first place spots at the Regional tournaments.

First up, is anti-meta decks. These are decks designed with the metagame that developed during Battle Roads in mind that will aim to counter all of the top decks in the format. These decks will be looking for methods to deal with Hydreigon and Eelektrik, or at the very least their pre-evolutions, hit Dark and Lightning decks for weakness, and ways to deal with the other Pokémon-EX that aren’t those two types that are popular in the metagame.

Here is what I have built for an anti-meta deck.

Pokémon – 11

4 Stunfisk DRX
3 Terrakion NVI

2 Bouffalant DRX

2 Mewtwo-EX NXD

Trainers – 36

4 N

Energy – 13

9 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck is very similar to the Tornadus EX/Terrakion deck, but it cuts off the inconsistency of Tornadus EX, and just goes straight into Stunfisk DRX as its early game attacker. In removing Tornadus EX, you give up the possibility of donking a Sableye at the benefit of making your deck more consistent.

Stunfisk really is amazing in this metagame, especially when you start partnering it with PlusPower. Taking PlusPower into account, Stunfisk is able to 1HKO Tynamo and Deino, the two main pre-evolutions in what are sure to be two of the most played decks at Fall Regionals.

Terrakion NVI is in there to counter Darkrai EX and the Lightning attackers of Eel variants. Bouffalant is your answer to random Pokémon-EX such as Ho-Oh EX, Registeel-EX, and Shaymin EX, and it works quite effectively. Mewtwo EX is just there in case your opponent tries to run you off the field with overpowered Mewtwo EX. This deck can especially engage in the Mewtwo wars well as it plays 4 PlusPower.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of this version of the deck over the Tornadus EX version of the deck is that it relies more on non-EX attackers than that variant does, which can help you to create an even/odd prize exchange in your favor if you time your Mewtwo EX drops properly.

While I think this deck is a strong contender, and it really does beat Eel variants and Hydreigon decks most of the time, I have found even though this deck is specifically geared toward beating those two decks, it still doesn’t beat them all of the time, or even at anything above maybe being a 70/30 matchup against Eels and a 60/40 matchup against Hydreigon. While those are some solid matchup numbers against two of the top decks, is that enough to play a deck that could be vulnerable against other decks like Empoleon or Accelgor decks?

Summing Up Anti-Meta

Facing Probability: 2
Surprise Factor: 4
Grade: A-

5. Rayquaza/Eelektrik

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is currently my bet for being the most played deck at Fall Regionals. The reasoning for this? A lot of players didn’t get the opportunity to play a good RayEels list during Battle Roads, as the price of Shiny Rayquaza kept them from playing an optimal version of the deck, as they refused to pay that much money for that.

However, the Dragon Vault collection was just released this past week, and the same Rayquaza is available in this set and not too difficult to pull….not to mention that Rayquaza is also one of the blister topping promo cards. I think the denial of player’s ability to play this deck during Battle Roads compounded by how cheap the deck is (with both Rayquaza and Rayquaza EX now being available as promos) will lead to this being the most played deck of the tournament.

The deck has a lot going for it. It is able to donk opposing Tynamo with Rayquaza’s Dragon Pulse attack. Rayquaza isn’t quite as strong as an early game attacker as it was theorized to be heading into the format, as the Garchomp/Altaria deck has fizzled out of the format. Rayquaza gives you a non-EX option to 1HKO Hydreigon with its Shred attack, and can 2HKO any Pokémon-EX with Shred as the attack goes through Eviolite. Rayquaza EX is another option for getting the 1HKO on Hydreigon, and Rayquaza EX gives you the ability to 1HKO any Pokémon-EX in the format for just three Energy discarded.

The deck also typically plays Raikou-EX, which is a strong card in Eelektrik mirror match for taking out your opponent’s Eelektrik and which can universally be used to take cheap prizes to end the game, as well as hit into Empoleon decks for weakness (although tread carefully, as the best Empoleon decks are tending to play Terrakion again).

Pokémon – 13

1 Tynamo DEX 4s5

Trainers – 34

4 N

Energy – 13

8 L

5 R

BulbapediaThis list is a very straightforward list for the most part. The evolution over my initial list is playing Max Potion to completely heal off damage instead of Eviolite for slowing down the knock outs. I think 2 Tool Scrapper is the right number, as you need it both for shutting off Garbodor as well as for scrapping Eviolites to put EX’s back into 1HKO range for a three Energy discard Dragon Burst.

Finally, I play 2 Super Rod, as I feel that this deck should play a lot of recovery. Playing the second Super Rod is helpful in getting a third Rayquaza EX to attack with if you need it, as well as for helping to ensure that you don’t run out of R Energy to attack with. Another possibility is to play an Energy Retrieval in place of the second Super Rod.

One last note on forming lists for this deck, if you are still playing around with the idea of using the 30 HP Tynamo to retreat into Rayquaza on turn one easier, they should be dropped immediately. The metagame has moved away from the Garchomp decks that made Rayquaza such a strong turn one attacking option, so getting a turn one Rayquaza isn’t as important as it was at the start of the format. Additionally, against Darkrai variants, the 30 HP Tynamo can make it difficult to get Eelektrik into play, as well as recover with more Eelektrik after your opponent Knocks Out your initial batch.

Overall, this will be a strong play for Regionals. My only fear for the deck is that it is very susceptible to Hammertime variants, as it only has a finite number of R Energy to attack with. If a Sableye deck is able to Crushing Hammer away all of your R Energy, you will be left with an inability to attack with Rayquaza EX for damage, and be capped at doing 40 with Rayquaza, and then of course 100 with Raikou-EX.

I also fear that there will be a littering of decks that counter Eelektrik decks very hard, such as Stunfisk and Chandelure decks. This is the Eel variant most dependent on having Eelektrik in play to function, so this is the Eelektrik variant most likely to fail if there is a metagame shift toward decks whose goal is to get rid of Eelektrik and Tynamo early and often.

Lastly, some players have found success in playing a more teched out version of this deck, playing Prism Energy in addition to R Energy to open up other attacking options such as Terrakion NVI and Shaymin EX. I am not really sold on this version of the deck for Regionals, as it is even more susceptible to Crushing Hammer than the regular version is.

Summing Up Rayquaza/Eelektrik:

Facing Probability: 5
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: A-

4. Zekrom/Eelektrik

Ever since Mewtwo EX came into the format, this has been one of the top decks in the format. The reason for this is simple, this deck pairs together Mewtwo EX with the best Energy Acceleration in the game allowing it to use Mewtwo EX better than any other deck in the format. If that wasn’t enough, the deck also has availability to a toolbox of other strong attackers.

The strategy for this deck is fairly simple, get some Eelektrik in play, and then choose your attackers based on the matchup.

My list for the deck is in the vein of the version that Kevin Nance used at U.S. Nationals for his second place finish, as well as a list that was used to win one of the Japanese Spring Battle Carnivals. It simply is just a simple, consistent, yet still versatile list.

Pokémon – 15

Trainers – 33

4 N

Energy – 12

8 L

What I like about this version of the deck is that it is simple in that it can just go aggro Mewtwo EX, while healing damage off using Max Potion if that is what the matchup calls for, but it can also call upon other attackers for various situations and matchups.

This deck will be a major threat at Regionals simply because it is one of the most consistent decks in the format at executing its game plan, and it doesn’t really have a lot of horrible matchups.

My fear for this deck, as it was with RayEels is that there might be a metagame shift toward decks that are able to keep Eelektrik off the field. While that certainly hurts this deck, this deck is less reliant on Eelektrik and can setup attackers to go the long haul of the game without Eelektrik on the field rather than needing to constantly Dynamotor Energy back onto its attackers turn after turn.

What is also nice about this version in comparison to RayEels is that you have 8 outs to get your Eelektrik out of the Active Spot (4 Switch/4 DCE), so this deck is less likely to fall victim to stall tactics as the Rayquaza version is.

Summing Up Zekrom/Eelektrik

Facing Probability: 5
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: A

3. Darkrai EX/Mewtwo EX/Terrakion NVI

This deck is a holdover from last format, and it should be no surprise that the deck adjusted for the new format is also one of the format’s strongest contenders. As it was last format, this deck is still one of the best decks in the format just because of how versatile it is, being able to hit some type of weakpoint in almost every deck in the format. It’s a deck that holds three of the best Pokémon under one roof. (And four if you count Sableye too!)

The deck has Darkrai EX, which is is just a strong attacker in general, but especially good against Eelektrik variants as it is a fast attacker that hits the perfect damage amount to Knock Out an Eelektrik while spreading damage elsewhere. The deck includes Terrakion NVI to hit Dark and Lightning Pokémon for Weakness.

The third part to the Big Three is Mewtwo EX, which is probably the strongest general Fighting type counter in the game, which is important for this deck to have, as Fighting decks can easily put the hurt on Darkrai EX decks. Sableye is of course there to give the deck a consistent setup.

Here is my list for the deck, which has remained largely unchanged from my last Underground article. (There is some change though, just a small one-card, but somewhat significant change).

Pokémon – 9

Trainers – 36

4 N

Energy – 15

8 D

3 F

Here are the thoughts I had on the deck after playing the deck. You can find them in my Battle Roads report with the deck, but I will copy it here for easy reading:

DMT is going to be a strong deck heading into Regional Championships. It has all of the ingredients that is needed to be successful in this format. It has Sableye as a consistency crux, and Darkrai EX to give everything free retreat to free you from your opponent’s Catcher stalling. Terrakion gives it an answer to 1HKO Darkrai EX in the Hydreigon matchup to prevent them from endlessly tanking their Pokémon. Mewtwo EX gives the deck an option with unlimited damage potential, allowing you to take big knock outs out of nowhere.

The deck can also take some easy prizes with early Night Spears or X Balls. It has some donk potential with the two attacks, and although I never really setup a fast Darkrai in this tournament, I know through testing and the results of others, I know that this is highly possible.

The deck is no longer the juggernaut it was during the World’s format, as the loss of Shaymin UL, Junk Arm, and Smeargle greatly decrease the deck’s power, but it is still a deck that is very good and has 50/50 matchups against all the other top tier decks, so it will be a strong play heading into Regionals.

The one question I have remaining with this deck is what is the proper number of Mewtwo to play. I would really love to play three Mewtwo EX, as it is such a strong card, but I don’t really know where I can find room for it in the deck. Two Mewtwo EX and Super Rod works out alright, but having three Mewtwo EX would help alleviate some of the tough situations where you have a prized Mewtwo EX and you need to hit your Super Rod to get Mewtwo EX back into the deck. Hopefully with some more testing I can find some of the excess to strip away from the deck to fit in a third Mewtwo.

Moving forward with more testing, I haven’t found anything that I would like to cut in favor of the third Mewtwo EX, and have thus just stuck with two Mewtwo EX and the Super Rod.

Heading into Regionals, nothing much has changed about this deck. It’s a deck with a lot of 50/50 matchups across the board (as well as some favorable), which isn’t a bad thing for a deck to have heading into Regionals.

Summing Up DMT:

Facing Probability: 4
Surprise Factor: 2
Grade: A

2. Hydreigon/Darkrai EX

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is a deck that I admittedly have been resistant to play throughout the entirety of the format. I actually came close to playing it at one Battle Roads, but made a last minute change to Chandelure a couple days before the tournament. I have been resistant to playing this deck because it is so popular and I see very little room for me to outplay my opponent, especially with space being so tight in this deck which leads most lists to being very similar.

One thing that has shown through to me throughout the entirety of the format is that this deck really is one of the best decks in the format. I have been testing against this deck extensively throughout the format, as I knew others would view it as the BDIF which would lead to it being one of the most played, and in testing it has shown to be just that. No matter how much you gear a deck toward beating it, it can still find some way to win the matchup.

I do think there is some degree of skill in playing this deck which could lead to success in playing the mirror match. One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of players don’t know how to properly use Sableye to setup their field, as well as being unsure of when to use Junk Hunt, and often players will grab the wrong cards with Junk Hunt for a given situation.

This isn’t something that you can just simply write out and say you should be grabbing these cards with Junk Hunt, as what cards to get with Junk Hunt will be ever changing throughout a match depending on the game state. If you want to see examples of players Junk Hunting for the wrong cards, check out The Top Cut’s coverage of Battle Roads on their YouTube channel, as there is an abundance of examples of this in the matches they covered of Hydreigon. You will easily see them as commentator Kyle “Pooka” Sucevich does a good job of pointing them out as they happen as well as talking about what cards would have been stronger to grab with Junk Hunt for a given situation.

Overall, the mirror match for this deck boils down to who is able to Junk Hunt effectively, who manages their resources better, as well as who simply runs hot.

I do think there is some degree of skill in playing the deck that could get you wins in the mirror match during Swiss, but come Top Cut, I would expect the caliber of players playing the deck to be quite high, so I think come top cut, the mirror match could largely be decided on who runs hotter with the deck.

Pokémon – 16

3 Hydreigon DRX 97

Trainers – 33

4 N

Energy – 11

7 D

4 Blend GRPD

pokemon-paradijs.comSome notable features about my list, and some general insights into the deck in general. I play 3 Sableye DEX, as it is the best starter this deck can get. Abusing Junk Hunt in the early game is really what gets this deck setup consistently.

I’ve seen some lists cutting Zweilous, and I think this is a mistake. Zweilous gives you an option to evolve into Hydreigon when you whiff the Rare Candy, as well as making it easier to setup two Hydreigon in a single game, which can be essential in some matchups.

I think people are playing a little too much Energy in their lists in sacrifice of some other cards. This deck aims to keep all of its Energy on the field, so it can get by playing slightly fewer Energy than other decks do.

Overall, I think this is one of the best decks heading into Regional Championships, although it is not a deck that I would play. I just feel as though the mirror match come top cut will be largely decided on luck of who is running better, which is not something I am comfortable of having my games decided on.

My basic outlook on this deck is that yes, I know it will do good. But will I be the player running hotter than the others in mirror to be that player that comes up on top with the deck? I would rather not leave my tournament to answering yes to that question.

Summing Up Hydreigon/Darkrai

Facing Probability: 5
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: A+

1. Hammertime

pokemon-paradijs.comI have a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the deck. It’s a deck concept that I came up with well before Dark Explorers was released. The version I played was the ultra disruptive version that also played Weaville UD to discard crucial cards from your opponent’s hand.

I took the deck to a first place finish in the first HeyTrainer Pro League, taking down a bunch of Eel, Darkrai, and Fighting decks. Then I played the same exact list at my first Battle Roads of last Spring, only to go 1-2, largely as a result of flipping a dreadful 1/17 on my flips. Ever since then, I have been hesitant to play the deck again.

However, for this format, I think this is probably the strongest play heading into Regional Championships. The deck is good just because of how simple it is. It is able to get a consistent setup thanks to Sableye while being a very fast deck as a result of its simplicity and lack of techiness. It doesn’t really have any bad matchups, and a deck with a lot of 50/50 matchups can be viewed as a very good thing heading into Regionals.

There are actually a few different ways that the deck can be played in this format, and I will cover all of them in this section.

Darkrai EX/Sableye

The first version of the deck is the simplest, just featuring two different Pokémon. One way to look at this deck is that it abuses a lot of the same things that Hydreigon abuses (Energy movement and Max Potion), just without the clunkiness that comes with a Stage 2 Pokémon.

Pokémon – 8

4 Sableye DEX

4 Darkrai-EX DEX

Trainers – 41

4 N

Energy – 11

11 D

This version of the deck is Hammertime at its core. It is a simple, no thrills deck, just drilled down to its simplest concept. The deck is able to tank Darkrai EX’s using Energy Switch with Max Potion. It gives up the versatility of attackers that Hydreigon possesses, but trades that in for some additional disruption and consistency.

Because of its simplicity, this deck is able to get a turn one Night Spear more often than any other Darkrai variant.

Facing Probability: 5
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: A-

Darkrai EX/Terrakion Hammertime

The second version of this deck trades in some of the consistency of the basic version of the deck for some versatility in attacking, adding Terrakion to the mix to counter other Darkrai decks as well as Lightning decks.

Pokémon – 8

Trainers – 41

4 N

Energy – 11

8 D

3 F

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck still possesses all that is good about the regular Hammertime version, with a little less ability to abuse Max Potion and some inconsistency for the great attacking power of Terrakion. In a metagame full of Fighting weak Pokémon, the addition of Terrakion is a strong play.

Terrakion also gives the deck a response option for Sigilyph DRX, which could be a big deal depending on your matchups. The other version of the deck has to rely on running the Sigilyph out of Energy and sometimes relying on the opponent then decking out in order to win. This version doesn’t have to worry about that, which makes it a stronger play.

Summing Up Hammertime with Terrakion

Facing Probability: 5
Surprise Factor: 1
Grade: A+

Hammertime with Garbodor

The final version of this deck adds another element of disruption to the deck in the form of Garbodor, shutting off your opponent’s Abilities.

My friend Colin piloted the deck to a first place victory in the biggest Battle Roads in Missouri history. (I unfortunately did not get to play in this tournament as my parents were in town visiting). You can check out Colin’s list for the deck as well as his tournament report over at his blog.

My list for the deck is built on Colin’s list for the deck with a few changes aimed at speeding the deck up a bit by making it more able to use Dark Patch. I think Colin did a fantastic job with his list for the deck.

Pokémon – 11

Trainers – 38

4 N

Energy – 11

11 D

pokemon-paradijs.comThis deck seems very strong to me heading into Regionals. It has a strong attacker in Darkrai EX, which can deal well with any deck. It has Energy denial with the hammers and then Ability denial with Garbodor, a very potent combination.

While most Garbodor decks play a very high Tool count, I am comfortable playing a lower Tool count in this deck thanks to my ability to get them back with Junk Hunt. I have had quite a bit of fun testing this aspect of the deck, as you can bait your opponent into using their Tool Scrappers, only to setup your Ability lock when you really want it.

Something important to note, is that you don’t always have to setup Garbodor. There will be situations in which it makes sense to leave no tools on your Garbodor after the tools have been scrapped. Some decks are completely non-reliant on Abilities, at which point Garbodor is useless in those matchups. This tournament will be the first of the year with top cut, so you can use Game 1 to feel this out, and then head into Games 2 and 3 confidently knowing whether or not you need to setup a Garbodor for the matchup.

Unless someone sends me some killer secret deck or something, this will most likely be my play for Regionals.

Summing Up Hammertime with Garbodor

Facing Probability: 2
Surprise Factor: 3
Grade: A+

Some Last Minute Tips Heading Into Regionals

pokemon-paradijs.comThis section will unlikely have anything groundbreaking in it, but I just want to recap some general tips heading into large tournaments that have been given time and time again.

At this point, you have probably poured hours upon hours into the deck that you plan on playing at Regionals. Unless you were completely wrong about a deck’s viability or had a new killer deck sent your way, it’s probably best just to stick with what you have tested with. You will be most comfortable playing that deck and will know its matchups better than a deck that you just try to pick up on the fly.

Staying well rested and well fed is important in keeping your focus throughout a long day of playing. Try to do your best to get a good night’s sleep heading into each day of the tournament, as it will benefit you when you’re fresh the next day and don’t have problems like stomach aches that come with not getting enough sleep, as those factors can lead to you losing focus during the tournament. As my buddy Clifton says, a good night’s sleep equals 100 games of playtesting.

It is important to keep an even keel throughout the tournament. If you lose a game, you have to be able to just let it go and focus in on your next match. You are going to need to go 5-3 to make cut, and 6-2 to get a guaranteed spot during cut, so you really can’t let one loss lead into another, as you can’t lose too many games if you want to make cut.

Nerves are going to be an ever present factor during the tournament. After playing sports throughout my youth and playing in multiple big Pokémon tournaments – States, Regionals, and Nationals, I still am nervous as all heck heading into these things. You just need to do your best to control your nerves and remember that nervous energy can be used to your benefit.

One really good way to help calm your nerves is to listen to music between rounds. I find very laid back music to be the best music for this type of situation. I will likely make a playlist composed of Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Bob Marley, Kid Cudi, and Taylor Swift to listen to between rounds. Listening to calming music that you like will help to clear your mind in between rounds.