Hey guys, I’m back with my fourth Underground piece! This time around I’ll be talking about the new Expanded format, my top 5 cards not legal for Standard but will be in play for Expanded, and a load of brand new and refreshed decks for both Expanded and Standard.
To give a quick summary for those of you that aren’t up to speed on the Expanded format, it’s a separate format from Standard that encompasses cards all the way from Black & White up to the new Furious Fists set. Either format can be used for sanctioned events of all sizes and Expanded will be used exclusively for day 2-of larger events, so it’s important to have a grip on Expanded if you have hopes of having outstanding successes in top cuts.
Table of Contents
What Comes Back?
Here’s a list of the most notable cards that are available in each returning each set to the Expanded format:
Black & White
Emerging Powers
Noble Victories
Next Destinies
Dark Explorers
Dragons Exalted
- Ho-Oh-EX
- Terrakion-EX
- Registeel-EX
- Rayquaza-EX
- Giratina-EX
- Bouffalant DRX
- Tool Scrapper
- Blend Energy GRPD
- Blend Energy WLFM
Promos
Top 5 Returning Cards
So, what are the most impactful cards from the list above? Well, here are my top 5:
5. Dark Patch
This is a pretty obvious pick, but the reason Dark Patch is on the list is because it makes Yveltal-EX and Darkrai-EX extremely potent. The ability to charge up an Yveltal-EX on the first turn of the game and hit for high amounts of damage is scary and puts this card at #5. I feel like Eelektrik, which will be talked about later, hurts Yveltal quite a lot though and is the reason this card isn’t ranked higher.
4. Super Rod
I’m sure I’m not the only one who misses this card terribly in Standard. Super Rod has many functions, including recovering Pokémon, putting Energy back in the deck, allowing you to play fewer Energy and Pokémon, and preventing deckouts. Without this card you have to devote more space to Energy and play heavier counts of tech Pokémon, which makes your deck less flexible.
I personally hated this card while it was in Standard, but I think it’s more balanced now. There are a lot of playable decks in Expanded that do not need Tropical Beach, but it allows for setup decks to do their thing and net free cards. The price has dropped a considerable amount, which makes it much more reasonable to acquire (at one point Beach was around $200, but is now $80-90 for the more common versions).
I hate this card. There have been far too many times where I’ve had the game locked down, and just as I think I’m about to win… there goes my Energy! It’s such a frustrating card, but can really help define a format. Without it in Standard, the new Strong Energy and Double Colorless Energy run rampant without the fear of Enhanced Hammer.
The reason this card is #1 on the list is because it is easily the most defining card to come back into the format. With this card comes two more powerful deck to add into the mix, which will probably shake the meta up quite a bit. I’m not the biggest fan of Eelektrik, but it’s the face of Expanded.
Expanded Format Decks
As you can see, there’s a decent amount of playable cards that are returning to the scene, and I think their return will make the format very interesting. There are a lot of old decks that can be refreshed, as well as new concepts that have never been seen before. Now that we know what’s back, I’ll cover a few decks that I feel are going to be strong in the Expanded format.
Eelektrik Variants
I know many people have missed Eelektrik and are excited to play it once again. I personally was never a big fan of Eelektrik decks when they were around, but I’ve messed around with them quite a bit in the new Expanded format. I think they have a lot of potential, but they also struggle with the ever-so-popular Landorus/Garbodor decks.
Rayeels
The first of the two Eelektrik decks I’m going to cover is focused on using Rayquaza-EX to do unlimited damage with Dragon Burst. This deck was played quite a bit from 2012-2013 and saw notable success during that time:
|
Pokémon – 15 3 Rayquaza-EX |
Trainers – 34 4 N 3 Colress 2 Skyla 2 Lysandre
2 Switch
|
Energy – 11 8 L 3 R |
This list is fairly simple and has one goal: stream 1HKOs with Dragon Burst. The flaws with the deck are that it struggles greatly against Garbodor, hence the 2 Startling Megaphone and 1 Raikou-EX, and that it has problems with Bench space. Much of the time you’ll want to have out 3-4 Tynamo early in the game as well as 1-2 Rayquaza-EX, Mr. Mime depending on the matchup, and sometimes Keldeo-EX.
When Eelektrik decks were big, Pokémon Catcher wasn’t a flip, so the Benched Eelektrik were often taken out fairly quickly. Now with the new errata to Pokémon Catcher and the only reliable way of getting Eelektrik into the Active Spot being Lysandre, they will most likely be safer.
Most of the list is self-explanatory and I feel like there aren’t too many things you could change. The deck has a problem with Seismitoad-EX decks, but there aren’t many ways to overcome the ‘Toad without making serious changes to the deck. Rayeels is very strong but has shortcomings.
Eelektrik/Mewtwo/Attackers
This deck dates all the way back to States 2012, where it was arguably one of the best and most consistent decks at the time. Not a ton has changed about the way the decks plays, but the format has changed drastically. Mewtwo wars are starting to make a comeback, if you haven’t noticed, and this deck is the king of Mewtwo wars:
|
Pokémon – 15 |
Trainers – 33 4 N 3 Colress 2 Skyla 2 Lysandre
3 Switch
|
Energy – 12 8 L |
This list is also pretty standard and while there are a few cards that I’d love to be able to fit in, I really like this 60. I feel like this deck isn’t as strong as the Rayquaza-EX version of Eels, but it’s still very powerful. If you’re expecting a lot of Garbodor and Lucario decks, I recommend this variant. With a heavier focus on keeping Energy on the board, it doesn’t struggle against Garbodor as much, but that doesn’t make it a very favorable matchup. I also feel like this version is better equipped for Seismitoad-EX decks, since you don’t require a secondary type of Energy to use X Ball unlike Dragon Burst.
Landorus/Mewtwo/Garbodor
I’m almost positive you’ve heard of this deck, so I don’t feel the need to go into too much detail about why it’s good. The Expanded version is fairly similar to a Standard list, but brings back some of the goodies that were available last season. I wrote about my Landorus/Mewtwo/Raichu/Garbodor deck in one of my articles quite a while back, but the deck has changed a bit. With the release of Strong Energy, I feel it’s able to stand up to Yveltal-EX a lot easier with just Mewtwo and no Raichu. It’s not as easy of course, but it’s more winnable than before:
|
Pokémon – 11 |
Trainers – 37 3 N 2 Colress 3 Korrina 2 Lysandre
3 Switch
|
Energy – 12 4 F 4 Strong |
The list is very simple, but does what it is intended to do. Landorus-EX is just as strong in Expanded as it is in Standard, if not more so due to Eelektrik being Weak to it. I feel like the Expanded version of the deck adds a bit more consistency with Level Ball and Heavy Ball and adds a bit more safety with Super Rod, but aside from those additions it’s actually very close to a Standard list. If there were to be a 61st card in the deck, I’d probably have it be either an Enhanced Hammer or a Seismitoad-EX. Both are very strong cards that can sway matchups into your favor.
Pyroar/Seismitoad
I’ve been testing this deck quite a bit over the past few weeks and have become a big fan of it. The deck is very powerful, and if not teched for, it will have a field day. The reason this deck is under the Expanded part of the article is because it is less likely to be teched for, leading to it become much more powerful. The deck has no problem getting rid of Garbodor and is able to deal with small threats:
|
Pokémon – 12 |
Trainers – 36 3 N 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
4 Switch |
Energy – 12 8 R |
This list is extremely similar to the list that Michael Pramawat used to place 2nd at US Nationals with the added touch of Seismitoad-EX. The reason it’s so close to his list is that I’ve found this version of the deck to be the most powerful, assuming you can flip enough heads. I know a lot of people aren’t big fans of flippy decks, and I’m not that big a fan of them either, but this deck works.
I know it may seem odd that nearly every single card in the deck is legal in Standard, but that’s just the way my testing has gone. I’ve tried copies of Level Ball, Tropical Beach, and others but these cards haven’t felt completely needed. Without Skyla, the deck doesn’t benefit from those low count cards as much as other decks would. The Super Rod does make a fairly large difference with your 1-of Charizard-EX and Mewtwo-EX, but it could be cut for a Pal Pad to make this deck legal in Standard.
Yveltal/Garbodor
It’s back! I personally played this deck at the World Championships last month (where my great 3-0 start turned into a depressing 4-5 finish), and although I didn’t do too well, I do still like the deck and think it is powerful. The deck is still usable in Standard, but without Dark Patch it is nowhere near as fast and powerful:
|
Pokémon – 11 |
Trainers – 37 4 N 1 Colress 2 Lysandre 2 Bicycle 1 Pal Pad
2 Switch
|
Energy – 12 8 D |
The list is quite simple, and like most lists I share with you, it is focused on consistency. The 61st card for this deck is definitely a Super Rod, which comes in very handy against Raikou-EX which will snipe your Garbodor the second they hit the field. It’ll be interesting to see how this deck plays into the metagame with Eelektrik back, which I feel is a very even matchup for this deck if they manage to take out the Garbodor quickly and efficiently. This deck also deals with Landorus-EX-based decks decently well with the nice Resistance and huge damage output.
Seismitoad/Garbodor
This deck is scary. I think that’s really the easiest way to describe a deck that shuts off Items and Abilities. But seriously, this deck is very good in Expanded and should definitely be looked out for. There are many ways you could run the deck, but I feel like it needs a solid answer to Virizion/Genesect, so I’ve added Victini-EX and Victory Piece to give the deck a chance against one of its arguably worst matchups:
|
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 36 4 Professor Juniper
3 Bicycle
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
The list is very fast, but with Victory Piece over Computer Search it is a bit harder to hit the turn one Quaking Punch, though definitely still doable. I maxed out the number of Seismitoad-EX to heighten the chance of starting with it, as it’s definitely the focal point of the deck. If you’re not a big fan of the Victini-EX, you could mess around with the Charizard-EX build (listed below) and make it an Expanded deck similar to this one. You could even drop the Fire-type attackers completely if you feel like there will be little to no Virizion/Genesect decks in the Expanded format, which I think is unlikely.
This will definitely be a powerhouse of the new format so be on the lookout, or consider trying it yourself. Like I said, it’s a very scary deck and you should keep it in mind at all times.
Some Standard Stuff
As the Standard format for next season, I feel like this topic will be talked over the most among future articles, so I don’t feel the need to go completely in depth on these decks, but instead just give you an idea of my personal favorite decks for this particular format. I haven’t seen these decks receive much discussion lately, so hopefully I can show you some ideas you haven’t seen yet.
Landorus/Dusknoir
|
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 36 3 N 2 Colress 4 Korrina 1 Lysandre
3 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 F 4 Strong |
The point of the deck is to spread insane amounts of damage using Landorus-EX and then use Dusknoir BCR to set up quick knockouts, while using Max Potion and Dusknoir FLF to keep your Landorus-EX nice and clean. The deck is very consistent and hits extremely hard. It’s crazy to imagine that you can use Hammerhead on turn 1 and do a total of 120 damage to your opponent’s board. I think this could be a very strong contender next season, but there are other Fighting variants that are just as strong.
Landorus/Lucario/Machamp
|
Pokémon – 15 |
Trainers – 34 3 N 1 Colress 4 Korrina 2 Lysandre 2 Bicycle
3 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 F 4 Strong |
This is one of the obvious combos coming out of the new set, which received hype but has been forgotten by many. After some of my own testing, I’ve realized how incredibly strong Machamp can make Landorus-EX. This deck, as well as most heavy Landorus-EX-based decks, has a hard time against Seismitoad-EX decks. With such a heavy focus on Items, as well as a Weakness to the ‘Toad, it’s a very difficult matchup. I feel like this deck is slightly underrated, but does have a few problems.
Seismitoad/Charizard/Garbodor
|
Pokémon – 12 |
Trainers – 37 4 N 2 Skyla 2 Lysandre 2 Bicycle
3 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
This is one of the more interesting decks I’ve worked on since I began testing the format. I feel like Seismitoad and Garbodor are an extremely powerful combo, but the deck has struggled against Virizion/Genesect. Thus, I’ve changed the deck around and added Charizard-EX. The main focus of this list is to hit the turn one Quaking Punch, and then to power up a Charizard or Mewtwo in the following turns. I was surprised at how well the deck was running when I first began testing it, but I feel like it’s a powerful deck that could stand a decent chance in the format.
Conclusion
This article was a blast to write and I really hope you all enjoyed it, and if you did please leave a “Like” so I can continue to write more articles for you! I’m looking forward to the 2014-2015 season and all of the new changes it brings, and I am prepared to spend endless hours testing both formats. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message and I’ll do my best to respond.
Cheers,
Brandon
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