Hello SixPrizes readers! Autumn Regionals are coming up a little too quickly for everyone’s liking with the first events scheduled for the first week of October. For a big tournament such as Regionals, deck choice is a crucial part to deciding whether a day finishes off with a positive record or not. Consistency is also key for events with such a large player base present. If your deck can’t consistently set up in every round, there’s a good chance that the new Expanded format of day 2 will not be in your future.
Speaking of the new format for day 2, it seems like every person planning on attending Regionals is focused on making a good deck to play using Expanded cards. Although it will come in handy for playing in the top 32 and/or top 8, making it to the second stage of the tournament will be the hardest part. With only 8-32 players moving on from day 1, a player needs to consider every possible deck choice and prepare to play against multiple different decks throughout the first day.
To put what I’m saying into the simplest of terms, it won’t matter how prepared you are for day 2 if you can’t make it through the preliminary rounds. It would be smart to completely focus on the Standard format and assure a solid performance to secure some Championship Points.
This is why I have decided to dedicate my article completely into preparation for the current Standard format of BCR–FFI. Although some decks have been covered by other writers already, I’ve decided that I want to give my input on a large amount of decks so that everyone will have a basic idea of what they could see at their Regional Championships. There are many different decks that have potential for Regionals, especially with very little tournament results coming since the release of Furious Fists. Deck choices will mostly be arbitrary since no one really has a clue what will dominate the tournament scene.
This time of the year is also the most fun in relation to deck building. With few results to reflect upon, the opportunity for great deck builders to prosper comes about. Anyone with a good grasp on the game and the complex strategy that comes with building a solid deck will be able to perform very well, while others may not be as prepared in relation. Look for some of the better known rogue players to come up with something very interesting for these Regional Championships, as they may play a deck that has good matchups across the boards which others may not have thought of.
Throughout this article, I am going to discuss every deck that I see viable for the new format, along with provide a decklist that has shown positive results in my testing. Each of these choices have their advantages and disadvantages, but that seems to be the trend with every option in Pokémon. But before we get into the deck choices and decklists, I will first go over the different observations that can be made about the Standard format to elaborate some of my thought processes in deck and card choices.
Table of Contents
- Standard Format Observations
- Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
- Pass the Grass
- Hear Me Roar
- Conclusion
Standard Format Observations
There are plenty of observations that can be made about the Standard format, many of which have to do with the new set Furious Fists. With the emergence of Seismitoad-EX, many of the Evolution decks that people were excited to try out have gone down the drain. Stage 2 decks no longer have the ability to play their Rare Candy cards, which severely hinders many setup decks. Along with the inability to skip their middle Pokémon stages, these decks also rely very heavily on their Ball engines, which have diminished with the rotational loss of Level Ball and Heavy Ball. This only leaves Ultra Ball as an option for searching out Pokémon, aside from the Supporter cards that can be applied to searching out Basics.
As Erik Nance stated in his article, Stage 2 decks are definitely becoming severely disadvantaged. Along with the inability to cope with an early Seismitoad-EX preventing Items, each of these decks also lost a very important drawing mechanism. Tropical Beach has rotated out of the Standard format and setup decks need to compensate for this lack of early-game drawing. Unfortunately for these decks, there is simply no replacement for this very expensive Stadium card.
With an influx of Pyroar deck possible arriving, an observation that needs to be noted would be the addition of a Pyroar counter to nearly every deck. The fire lion is such a strong card with a great Ability, which makes the need for a counter almost mandatory, unless the deck being played has good matchups against everything else and is willing to take the loss. If I were going to play in a Regional Championship tomorrow morning, you can bet that I would have a very recognizable Pyroar counter in each of my deck choices to deal with the pesky Pokémon.
Another key observation that can be noticed from playing online and seeing tournament results would be that Garbodor is stronger than ever. Abilities have lost their flare due to the flood of trash heaps that have been seen in nearly every tournament. Choosing a deck for upcoming tournaments now comes with the added risk of not being able to use as many Abilities as previously expected. The more simple decks with less Abilities may prove to be the best choices for this upcoming season of Regionals. This will give a strong consideration to the Fighting decks, the Seismitoad decks, and the Virizion/Genesect decks because all of these decks don’t necessarily rely purely on their Abilities to be good and can function without them based off of damage output.
Through my testing, I have also noticed a key observation about playing against decks with Seismitoad-EX. I have found that the best tech card for opposing Seismitoad is playing your own toad. The inability to play Item cards is not only devastating for opposing decks, but also proves to slow down Seismitoad-EX variants. The lackluster 30 damage a turn isn’t very effective and it then becomes a race to KO each other without Items. Giving yourself multiple turns to set up attackers on the Bench prove to be very helpful against the much hyped toad decks and have given me the edge in most matchups.
Now let’s move on to nine of the deck choices that I feel are strong contenders for Autumn Regionals.
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
Yveltal-EX/Seismitoad-EX/Garbodor LTR
Pokémon – 12 |
Trainers – 37 4 N 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
|
Energy – 11 7 D |
While everyone may think that this deck isn’t around anymore, Yveltal-EX certainly will disagree with just leaving the format altogether. This deck definitely isn’t as strong without Dark Patch, but can still come together very quickly and pack a punch in the early turns of the game. With Plasma on the decline, this deck also has the upside of not having to deal with Lightning Pokémon as often. Having the added safety of playing Seismitoad-EX and Garbodor, which is a deadly combination that most deck will try to abuse this season, is just another upside to the Yveltal-EX deck. Even with the rotation of its greatest support card in Dark Patch, Yveltal-EX finds a way to stick around with the extremely powerful attacks that it has.
A major weakness of this deck is that most of the moves can be easily predicted and prepared for by an opponent. Without the surprise factor of Dark Patch, the deck is very bland and straight to the point sometimes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but allows an opponent to create a game plan around whatever you are working toward. This deck also has an inherent weakness to Lightning Pokémon, which would create pretty unfavorable matchups against Plasma decks with Thundurus-EX and anything that plays Raichu XY.
Thundurus-EX/Deoxys-EX/Kyurem PLF
Pokémon – 11 1 Genesect-EX |
Trainers – 35 4 N 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
3 Switch
|
Energy – 14 4 Rainbow 4 W 4 Plasma 2 L |
The final deck in this list will be one of my favorite decks, a Team Plasma variant. This version plays heavy Kyurem to deal with Landorus-EX effectively, while also having a strong attacker that only gives up 1 Prize card when Knocked Out. This deck has lost some of its strength from this new set coming out, but could still potentially perform well at the large-scale tournaments from how aggressive the deck can be.
Personally, I feel like the deck can’t deal with this format as a whole. There are too many Pyroar decks that could pop up out of nowhere, along with Item lock decks that are very annoying to deal with. It always seems like everything is going against Team Plasma decks, but they seem to find a way to stick around. Maybe someone will figure out a Plasma variant that can survive in this current format, but for right now, that will not be the case.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Donphan PLS with Techs
Pokémon – 15 |
Trainers – 34 4 N 4 Korrina 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
1 Switch
|
Energy – 11 5 F 4 Strong |
Donphan has proven to be a little bit underwhelming during testing, but can win games against decks that aren’t prepared for it. The high amount of Suicune allow the deck to deal with all threats that aren’t EX, leaving an opponent with no option of attacking into Suicune. This deck has strong matchups against Fighting decks without Garbodor and can also deal with Seismitoad variants without the trash Pokémon. That doesn’t mean that this deck doesn’t have a shot against those decks with Garbodor, it’s just a much more difficult matchup to deal with.
The deck obviously has some weak spots starting with the inability to have a high damage output. The only option for attacking with a large amount of damage is Donphan’s second attack, but it also comes with the consequence of having to leave one of your attackers up in the Active Spot and risk it getting Knocked Out. The strength of the deck is its ability to hide the Energy source behind a Pokémon that can’t easily be dealt with. This strategy doesn’t work as well if your main source of Energy attachments is in the Active Spot during their turn. Overall, I would say that this deck would not be a great play this October, but don’t be shocked if you see one of these decks at a Regionals near you.
Landorus-EX/Garbodor LTR
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 34 4 N 4 Korrina 2 Lysandre 2 Bicycle
2 Switch
|
Energy – 13 6 F 4 Strong |
This is probably the most aggressive deck that can be played in this format. Garbodor helps to effectively get in the way of an opponent’s strategy while Landorus-EX helps to lay a beatdown. By the time that they can get around Garbodor, it may already be too late for them to comeback from the damage that has accumulated on their board. Hawlucha is another great attacker for this deck and helps to provide a free retreating option during the mid game. Landorus-EX helps to set up KOs for everything else in the deck through using Hammerhead with the strong Fighting support cards.
One of the disadvantages to this deck would be that it can be bland at times. It uses the same strategy in every match, so if an opponent is prepared for this matchup, then the game will be very tough. As this deck seems to be one of the strongest decks in the format, only time will tell whether this deck will be countered enough to not perform effectively, or whether the countering decks don’t appear and Landorus-EX gets to roam free.
Pass the Grass
Virizion-EX/Genesect-EX/Beartic FFI
Pokémon – 11 3 Genesect-EX |
Trainers – 26 4 N 1 Colress 4 Skyla
3 Switch |
Energy – 13 8 G 3 Plasma |
This deck seems to be the version of Virizion/Genesect that has the more well-rounded matchups. The vanilla version of this deck can’t handle Pyroar, but with the added attacker of Beartic, it actually has a fighting chance. Not only does Beartic counter Pyroar, but it also can help deal with any Landorus-EX in your way. The ability to 1HKO Landorus-EX is also coupled with a high HP, which allows for the bear to effectively take out 2 Landorus-EX in a row without being taken off the board.
Added tech cards allow this variant to have better matchups across the board from more options, but it also comes with its disadvantages. The deck is a little slower and it struggles more to get a turn 2 Emerald Slash, which is key for Virizion/Genesect. It also comes with the added disadvantage of playing slightly less Supporter cards to fit in the Beartic line. The deck isn’t inconsistent by any means, but it certainly can’t guarantee a turn 2 Emerald Slash 10/10 games, which isn’t the best feeling.
Virizion-EX/Dragonite-EX
Pokémon – 14 3 Dragonite-EX |
Trainers – 35 4 N 3 Colress 3 Skyla 1 Lysandre
1 Switch 1 Scoop Up Cycone
|
Energy – 11 8 G 3 L |
Now this deck is fun to play. It’s extremely annoying to play against and constantly avoids knockouts by switching into new attackers with Dragonite’s Ability. The deck has pretty good matchups across the board and potentially a counter for everything. Dedenne allows for a response to opposing Yveltal-EX and Lugia-EX through the help of Lasers, while Spiritomb helps to counter the 1HKOs from a Genesect’s G Booster. There are multiple routes of switching and healing through the scoop up cards as well, which proves to be very effective against Fighting decks.
The only problem that this deck seems to run into would be the inability to land 1HKOs very effectively. The deck can sometimes struggle to take all 6 Prize cards without leaving damage on an opponent’s Bench. The addition of an attacker that can hit damaged Pokémon on the Bench could turn out to be very helpful in this deck, but could also disrupt the flow that makes this Dragonite-EX deck an option for Autumn Regionals.
Hear Me Roar
Pyroar FLF/Seismitoad-EX/Charizard-EX
Pokémon – 14 |
Trainers – 35 4 N 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
4 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
I actually like this deck a lot right now. It has proven to be very consistent, surprisingly doesn’t show an auto-loss to Seismitoad-EX decks, and can keep up with almost everything that is in the predicted metagame for Regionals. Although it may struggle with Fighting variants that play attackers aside from heavy Landorus-EX, this deck shows at least decent matchups across the board.
One of the weaknesses that I have noticed from testing would be the lack of Super Rod being in decks now. Energy becomes very crucial for the decks, and even with the added safety net of Blacksmith, Energy deprivation can still be a reason a loss. The first couple of turns in the game are absolutely crucial as well. If the setup isn’t quick enough, the games can last a little longer than this deck would like games to last. Pyroar can help to stall for time when needed, though.
Pyroar FLF/Seismitoad-EX/Dragalge FLF
Pokémon – 14 |
Trainers – 35 4 N 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
3 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
Although this deck may seem like the previous deck in its structure, they have very different play styles that allow each to win in different manners. This deck requires a little more math than some may like, due to the use of Poison damage manipulation while attacking. Thanks to the combination of Dragalge, Hypnotoxic Laser, and Seismitoad-EX, the opponent’s Pokémon will be stuck Active with an inability to retreat away and prevent Poison. With the added damage from Virbank City Gym, this Laser damage becomes very lethal very quickly to an Active Pokémon. With one of the only routes to stop the Poison damage being a Virizion-EX, this deck also shows great diversity with a direct counter in Pyroar.
This deck can struggle to set up in some cases, due to the multiple Stage 1 Pokémon. This added time can come from Pyroar blocking off the opponent’s Active Basics from attacking, which is like an added incentive for playing the deck. It certainly has internal synergy and can prove to be a very strong combination against just about everything in the format, aside from opposing Seismitoad-EX deck with Garbodor. It is for this one uneasy matchup that this deck may not be able to strive forward at Regionals.
Pyroar FLF/Charizard-EX
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 36 4 N 3 Colress 2 Lysandre 3 Bicycle
4 Switch
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
Here is another strong deck with Pyroar and Mewtwo-EX. This variant doesn’t rely on strategy as much as the other versions do, but can still be used as a Pyroar deck with different tech cards to deal with non-Basic attackers. Pyroar shows strong potential in this upcoming format, but also has the Weakness to Seismitoad-EX that makes it a dangerous play. Charizard-EX is used as the big hitter in this deck to reach the high HP Pokémon-EX, which can be made simple through the use of Hypnotoxic Laser and Virbank City Gym, while also adding Muscle Band to the damage output. This deck can do a lot of damage in a relatively quick amount of time, while also having the added protection of Pyroar blocking off all the Basic attackers.
While this has good damage output and can deal with many of the decks in the current format, the inherent weakness to Seismitoad-EX is a major problem. If Garbodor isn’t taken care of very quickly to allow Pyroar to sweep through the game, then this matchup will be nearly impossible to win. Other than this matchup, most of the other decks aren’t as hard to deal with and can’t last through the attackers and options that come with this variant. This deck will be a strong choice for Regionals, but may not have what it takes to advance with Seismitoad-EX on everyone’s mind.
Conclusion
This current format is certainly a fun thing to watch develop, especially with the added pressure of not having any tournament results before Autumn Regionals, aside from the occasional League Challenges. While people may not know what to play for this tournament, I hope that my article helped to give some ideas or possibly alert everyone to what they may expect to see during the Swiss rounds. With so many different decks with such similar Pokémon, this format is definitely one of the most difficult to fully grasp. Anything has the potential to be good if it can be paired with the right partner.
With the Regionals now having two different tournament formats, I feel inclined once again to just remind everyone to spend most of your time preparing for the first day. That is going to be the most important time of the tournament, which will decide if you even get to play in the new Expanded format. Even with the best Rayeels deck in the world, the chance to play it in a tournament just won’t arise without reaching day 2 with a solid performance from a Standard format deck.
I hope you all enjoyed my article and I wish everyone good luck at their Regional Championships. Feel free to reach me through messaging and ask me about any questions that you may have. Thanks for reading!
– Ryan Sabelhaus <3
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