Off the Bat

Starting Grounds for Standard Cities, BREAKthrough Favorites, and Adapting Regionals Winners for Expanded Cities
Viridian_City_animeBulbapedia
Just under a month until Cities!

Hey 6p, it’s great to be back writing for you once again. As we all know, the Fall portion of the Pokémon season is quickly approaching, and it is widely known to be the most important part of the season as far as Championship Points go. After all, winning 4 Cities nets you 200 CP! While not everyone is fortunate enough to complete this task, there are still a lot of points up for grabs at City Championships. This means you must be as prepared as possible.

This season, we have a new challenge to face: Cities will take place in both the Standard and Expanded formats. That means double the testing … yikes! Therefore, in this article, I will be covering decks that I see as potential plays for both formats — with BREAKthrough in mind. Additionally, I’ll share with you some of my favorite cards from the new expansion.

Starting Grounds for Standard Cities

zubat dx art leveled
Stock up on Repel — Zubat swarms are coming.

As far as the Standard format goes, we don’t know a whole lot about what will be popular, as there has not been a major tournament with the format yet. However, I see Yveltal/Crobat being a serious contender. This is because of the introduction of the new Supporter card, Brigette. The ability to search for 3 Zubats makes setting up Crobats very consistent and much more reasonable.

Yveltal/Crobat

Pokémon – 20

4 Yveltal XY

3 Yveltal-EX

4 Zubat PHF

4 Golbat PHF

3 Crobat PHF

2 Shaymin-EX ROS

Trainers – 28

4 Brigette

4 Professor Sycamore

4 Professor Birch’s Observations

2 Lysandre

1 Ace Trainer

1 AZ

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Ultra Ball

2 Muscle Band

2 Float Stone

Energy – 12

8 D

4 Double Colorless

Card Choices

4 Yveltal XY, 3 Yveltal-EX, 4-4-3 Crobat PHF

We max out Baby Yveltal because of the lack of Dark Patch in the Standard format. We want to be able to set up Yveltal-EX as efficiently as possible. Additionally, Yveltal XY sports a hefty 130 HP for a Basic, which is very solid. Yveltal-EX is the deck’s main attacker, so playing 3 copies shouldn’t come as a surprise. The thick 4-4-3 Crobat line is crucial for maximizing our damage output.

4 Brigette, 1 Ace Trainer, 1 AZ

bridgette ebayebay.com
Supporters that grab a trio of Basics have always been good.

Now that we are entering the Standard format for the first time, it’s time to start figuring out what the best Supporter lineup is. Personally, I have been liking 4 Sycamore and 4 Birch (I am a firm believer in Birch over Shauna). As far as the other Supporters go however, I am a huge fan of Brigette. I was always fond of Pokémon Collector when it was legal, and Brigette is a pretty close replica. While it can’t search out Yveltal-EX in addition to other Basics, it is important to note that there is still the option to grab either an Yveltal-EX or a Shaymin-EX with Brigette.

Ace Trainer is another card that I have taken a liking to in the Standard format. It is so strong to be able to shuffle your opponent down to 3 cards after the first KO is taken. While not as strong of a comeback card as N was, it certainly can offer some decent hand disruption. Finally, AZ is included as a way to pick up Crobats and Golbats and replay them to utilize their Abilities multiple times. It can also double up as a healing tool for your Yveltals.

2 Muscle Band, 2 Float Stone

I wouldn’t mind a third Muscle Band, but I couldn’t make the space for it. We play Float Stone now because of the lack of Darkrai-EX to provide free retreat. It’s important to note that Zubat PLS 53 is no longer legal, so we are forced to run the one with 1 Retreat Cost. This is also where Float Stone can come in handy.

I have been testing this deck for a while now, and its only poor matchup seems to be to Manectric, as everything in here is weak to Lightning. With the lack of Hypnotoxic Laser, it is very difficult to piece together a KO on the monstrous M Manectric-EX. However, I would definitely suggest giving this deck a try!

Camerupt-EX/Team Magma’s Camerupt

Pokémon – 14

4 Team Magma’s Numel

4 Team Magma’s Camerupt

3 Camerupt-EX

3 Shaymin-EX ROS

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Sycamore

4 Professor Birch’s Observations

4 Blacksmith

2 Lysandre

1 Ace Trainer

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Ultra Ball

4 Battle Compressor

3 Switch

2 Enhanced Hammer

2 Muscle Band

Energy – 12

8 R

4 Burning

This is a deck that we have seen briefly before, but the introduction of Burning Energy gives this deck quite a bit of power. Discarding Burning Energy with Camerupt’s Explosive Jet will allow you to bring them back into play, making for quite the resourceful attack. That along with Team Magma’s Camerupt’s Burning Draft and Blacksmith ensure your ability to get consecutive 1HKOs. Team Magma’s Camerupt is also a decent way to trade one for 1 Prizes with cards like Vespiquen and Night Marchers. The list is very straightforward, but let’s take a look at some card choices:

4 Blacksmith

This might seem like overkill, but you need all of the Energy acceleration as possible to achieve consistent 1HKOs. It also helps play around Seismitoad and Trevenant, as you can’t play VS Seeker under Item lock.

2 Enhanced Hammer

I’m not quite sure how necessary these are yet, but slowing your opponent down just a little bit could be enough to swing the game into your favor. To list a few examples, Enhanced Hammers would be useful against decks such as Yveltal, Vespiquen and opposing Camerupt decks, as Burning Energy doesn’t return to play if it wasn’t discarded by an attack.

Trevenant/Gengar

Pokémon – 14

4 Phantump XY

4 Trevenant XY

3 Gengar-EX

3 Shaymin-EX ROS

Trainers – 36

4 Professor Sycamore

4 Judge

4 Wally

2 Lysandre

1 Ace Trainer

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Ultra Ball

4 Trainers’ Mail

4 Float Stone

3 Muscle Band

 

2 Silent Lab

Energy – 10

4 Double Colorless

4 Mystery

2 P

Another familiar deck. However, one important card this deck gains from BREAKthrough is Judge. Shuffling your opponent down to 4 cards while they are Item locked can be crippling. The maxed out count of Wally gives you a great chance of locking your opponent out of the game starting from the first turn. Unfortunately Gengar loses Virbank City Gym, so our damage output will be a little weaker, but the deck is still just so strong. Let’s look at some of the more interesting choices in the list:

4 Judge

As I mentioned above, shuffling your opponent to 4 is already quite disruptive. Pair that with Item lock and you can potentially shut your opponent down completely. Decks play so many Item cards these days, so it’s not unreasonable to think you can stick them with a hand full of Items.

4 Wally

This is so strong because you can lock the opponent out of Items from the first turn. This is one of the most crippling plays in the game. Not only do you shut off their Items, you strip them of their ability to make the most of Shaymin, as you often have to play out all of your Items to maximize your draw off of Set Up.

This deck would be great in a metagame with a lot of Vespiquen, as your keep them from playing their Battle Compressors, but this deck would perform poorly against Yveltal due to Weakness. Overall though, I like what the inclusion of Judge does for this deck and I expect to see it played at Cities in a month.

BREAKthrough Favorites

m mewtwo-ex psychic infinity 3-2 3 saturatedebay.com
X Ball? Hah! Wait till you see this …”

Brigette // Spoiler

This is by far my favorite card in the set. I’ve always liked cards that guarantee me what I want. Brigette searches out 3 Basics, which almost always ensures you set up ideally. This is excellent for any deck that aims to set up an Evolution line (cough cough … Crobat). The option to get an EX gives it a bit of versatility as well.

M Mewtwo-EX (Psychic Infinity) // Spoiler

This 210-HP monster of a Pokémon comes with quite a powerful attack in Psychic Infinity, which does 10 plus 30 for each Energy attached to both Active Pokémon. I could see this card pairing well with Aromatisse and Xerneas XY. Xerneas can search out Y Energies quickly, and Aromatisse paired with Fairy Garden would allow you to bounce between damaged Mewtwos. AZ could also be used as a way to heal damaged Mewtwos. The only drawback to Mega Mewtwo’s Psychic Infinity is that it is not affected by Weakness. This makes it much more difficult to 1HKO opposing Mewtwos (perhaps Pokémon learned its lesson with the previous Mewtwo wars).

Gallade // Spoiler

This card is a match made in heaven for Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick. This card is a tank. It sports 150 Hit Points and has a fantastic Ability along with a killer attack. Premonition allows you to rearrange the top 5 cards of your deck, and Sensitive Blade deals 130 damage for 2 C Energy if you played a Supporter card during your turn. This card is great for any deck that has issues with M Manectric-EX, as it is easy to splash in as long as you have access to Energy acceleration or Double Colorless Energy. I expect to see Gallade teched into decks quite a bit come Cities.

Mismagius // Spoiler

Mismagious’ Twisted Incantation Ability makes it an interesting card. With N out of the format, being able to give the opponent a new hand without playing your own Supporter seems very solid. I’m not entirely sure how good this card is yet, but it interests me for sure.

Magnezone // Spoiler

This might be a stretch, as it’s a Stage 2 Pokémon, but I like his Ability a lot. Magnetic Circuit is basically Deluge for Lightning, allowing you to attach as many L Energy as you like each turn. I could see it pairing well with Raichu BREAK potentially. Along with Superior Energy Retrieval, Raichu is consistently able to dish out 170 damage per turn. This is definitely a card that I’ll be testing in the near future.

Parallel City // Spoiler

To me, this is one of the coolest mechanics Pokémon has brought out in a long time. Perhaps there will be more like it in the future, but for now, this one has two options. The red side reduces damage from Water, Grass, and Fire Pokémon by 20 damage for whoever the card is facing. The blue side limits that player’s Bench to 3.

Judge // Spoiler

I was really excited to see this reprinted. It was one of my favorite Supporters when it was legal, and I played it in a lot of my decks. I’m not sure if it’s as good now as it was before, but the format is very young. It wouldn’t shock me to see Judge being played as a staple Supporter in the near future. However, I think at least 1 could be a decent inclusion because of VS Seeker.

Adapting Regionals Winners for Expanded Cities

james-glasses-pokeball-lets-do-this-2pokemonscreenshots.tumblr.com
Expect much of the same with minor tweaks — at least to start.

Some Cities will be using the Expanded format, so it’s important we take time to review it as well. You can expect that players will stick to what they know to start off. That means we’ll probably see a lot of the same decks that saw success at Regionals. Let’s take a look at how the new set could possibly enhance these decks.

Yveltal

Noteworthy Performances: Frank Diaz (Ft. Wayne), Israel Sosa (Phoenix)

Frank and Israel played very different lists. I think both could definitely still be contenders for Cities, but for now I’ll just share my list for the deck. The deck doesn’t really gain anything from BREAKthrough unfortunately, so not much has changed. Let’s take a look at the list:

Pokémon – 13

3 Yveltal XY

3 Yveltal-EX

2 Darkrai-EX DEX

2 Shaymin-EX ROS

1 Jirachi-EX

1 Seismitoad-EX

1 Keldeo-EX

Trainers – 35

4 Professor Sycamore

4 N

2 Colress

2 Lysandre

1 Pokémon Center Lady

1 Hex Maniac

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

4 Ultra Ball

4 Dark Patch

3 Muscle Band

 

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 12

8 D

4 Double Colorless

This list keeps things simple. Nothing is too techy outside of possibly Pokémon Center Lady. I tend to make most of my lists to favor maximum consistency, but cards like Sableye DEX and Bouffalant DRX are possible inclusions that saw success at Regionals. I still like Yveltal moving forward, but it would need a metagame with low amounts of Manectric to see success.

Vespiquen/Flareon

Noteworthy Performances: Jimmy O’Brien (Lancaster)

One card that I see potential in for this deck from BREAKthrough is Brigette. Even as just a 1-of, Ultra Ball for Jirachi can turn into 3 Pokémon … more specifically, 3 Combee or Eevee. Outside of that I don’t see anything else that could fit in this deck. Here’s my current list for the deck, which is largely based off of Jimmy O’Brien’s winning list:

Pokémon – 26

4 Combee AOR

4 Vespiquen AOR 10

4 Eevee PLF 90

4 Flareon PLF

1 Jolteon AOR

4 Unown AOR

4 Shaymin-EX ROS

1 Jirachi-EX

Trainers – 27

4 Professor Sycamore

2 N

2 Lysandre

1 Blacksmith

1 Hex Maniac

1 Brigette

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Battle Compressor

4 Ultra Ball

2 Level Ball

1 Silver Bangle

1 Computer Search

Energy – 7

4 Double Colorless

3 R

A few things to note that are different in my list are that I opt to play all 60 HP Eevees, the inclusion of Brigette, and a second N. The Eevee count is because I worry about getting Quaking Punched for 50 with a Muscle Band, whereas the 60 HP Eevee can live that. Brigette as I said is an option that can help you set up on turn one, with Ultra Ball for Jirachi to find Brigette. The second N is a personal preference of mine. It’s just always bugged me that I could potentially prize my only N for the entire game. I see this deck being heavily played coming into Cities, as it won Week 2-of Regionals and had a decent showing at Week 3.

Seismitoad/Crobat

Noteworthy Performances: Mark Garcia (San Jose), Michael Pramawat (Houston)

This is another deck that I could see Brigette being great in, as it can search out 3 Zubats on the first turn. Once again we can use Jirachi to find Brigette more consistently. Let’s have a look at the list:

Pokémon – 17

3 Seismitoad-EX

4 Zubat PLS 53

3 Golbat PHF

2 Crobat PHF

2 Manectric-EX

2 Shaymin-EX ROS

1 Jirachi-EX

Trainers – 35

4 Professor Sycamore

3 N

2 Lysandre

1 AZ

1 Brigette

1 Hex Maniac

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Hypnotoxic Laser

4 Ultra Ball

3 Super Scoop Up

2 Head Ringer

2 Muscle Band

1 Computer Search

 

3 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 8

4 Double Colorless

4 L

I piloted this deck at Lancaster Regionals. While my performance wasn’t the greatest due to some bad matchups, I learned a bit about the deck and enjoyed playing it. Its potential to crank out damage is overwhelming, and the tricks it can pull off with Laser Sleep flips can leave your opponent hopeless. Games are a lot less stressful when your opponent can only sit there and pass as their Active Pokémon is sleeping and they can’t play Items. The only thing holding this deck back in my mind would be the popularity of Manectric.

Tyrantrum

Noteworthy Performances: Jonathan Paranada (Vancouver)

Nothing has really changed with this deck. I could possibly see this deck playing a Brigette, but I didn’t opt to include it for now.

Pokémon – 17

4 Bronzor NXD

3 Bronzong PHF

2 Giratina-EX AOR

2 Tyrantrum-EX

2 Shaymin-EX ROS

1 Aegislash-EX

1 Cobalion-EX

1 Hoopa-EX

1 Keldeo-EX

Trainers – 31

3 Professor Sycamore

3 Colress

2 Lysandre

1 AZ

1 Hex Maniac

1 N

1 Xerosic

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Ultra Ball

3 Float Stone

2 Muscle Band

1 Battle Compressor

1 Super Rod

1 Computer Search

 

2 Sky Field

1 Faded Town

Energy – 12

7 M

4 Double Dragon

1 F

This is actually just Jonathan’s list. I’ll be honest: This is a deck I don’t have much experience with and have not played very much with. However, I think it is a strong deck having played against it Ft. Wayne, and I could see people carrying it into Cities. It’s important to note that this is a deck that can contend M Manectric decks decently well. This is because Tyrantrum with a Muscle Band — or with Faded Town in play — deals 210 damage, just enough to deal with M Manectric.

Night March

Noteworthy Performances: Ross Cawthon (Ft. Wayne)

One more deck that I like in the Expanded is Night March. Perhaps I’m biased because of my Worlds performance, but I think it is still a very strong deck. Multiple Night March lists made it to Day 2 at Ft. Wayne Regionals, with Ross Cawthon landing a 4th place finish. The only thing that I can think of that Night March can abuse from the new expansion is Giovanni’s Scheme. I could see this card being good as a way to push even further to a 1HKO, even beyond Muscle Band. Not only that, it doubles up as a draw card if needed. Let’s take a look at the list:

Pokémon – 19

4 Pumpkaboo PHF

4 Lampent PHF

4 Joltik PHF

3 Shaymin-EX ROS

2 Mew-EX

1 Jirachi-EX

1 Archeops NVI

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Sycamore

2 Lysandre

1 N

1 Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick

1 Giovanni’s Scheme

 

4 VS Seeker

4 Ultra Ball

4 Trainers’ Mail

4 Battle Compressor

2 Muscle Band

1 Float Stone

1 Revive

1 Computer Search

 

4 Dimension Valley

Energy – 7

4 Double Colorless

3 P

This is the list I played in Ft. Wayne, with the exception of two changes. The first of course being replacing a Muscle Band with Giovanni’s Scheme. The other is exchanging L Energies for P Energies. This is still purely a metagame call. I expected a decent amount of Manectric in Ft. Wayne, so Lightning made sense to me. However, while at the event, fellow SixPrizes writer Alex Hill enlightened me on how Psychic can be better. In the mirror match, you can use Pumpkaboo’s Ram with a Muscle Band to KO a Joltik, and they will be unable to Gnaw or Sky Return to KO you back. This may seem miniscule, but things like this can make a big difference in games. I still like Night March and could definitely see myself bringing it to a Cities or two. Its popularity and success definitely warrant testing with and against it in my opinion.


That’s what I expect to see in the Expanded format come Cities. Like I said before, I don’t see much changing. Players love decks that have had previous success, and for good reason. We’ll see what ends up happening. I most definitely can see the metagame shifting and evolving as Cities go on, but for now I don’t expect too many surprises.

Conclusion

people running marathon croppokemonscreenshots.tumblr.com
“On your marks, get set, …”

That’s all I have for you all today. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope I’ve helped you get started on your testing for Cities (if you haven’t already). Be sure to leave a +1 on the article if you enjoyed. I unfortunately don’t think I’ll be traveling to 20 Cities like I did last year, as I’ve just started a new job and getting time off is difficult. But I expect to still attend around 8-10 local Cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, as well as potentially the New Jersey Marathon.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. You can do so by either commenting here on SixPrizes or by messaging me on Facebook. It’s always my pleasure to help out.

Thanks for reading,

Dylan


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