Hey 6P readers! For those who do not know me, my name is Jando (pronounced Hon-doe) Luna, and I’ve been playing the Pokémon TCG competitively since the HGSS-on format. It’s been quite some time since I’ve written an article, but I have had the opportunity to play a lot of Pokémon in the last few months, and wanted to share my recent experiences and thoughts on the current state of the game as a whole. My absence from writing (and the game in general) is largely attributable to the intense nature of my job, but I have made an effort to play more diligently this year in attempt to earn an invite to San Francisco. After a disappointing Regionals run, I knew that the long stretch of City Championships provided the best opportunity to rack up some points.
Pre-Cities Findings
Immediately following Fall Regionals 2015, I began playtesting the Standard format quite extensively. I quickly found Raichu/Crobat to be my deck of choice, as it provided a strong, non-EX attacker in the form of Raichu, coupled with a great supporting Pokémon line that allowed me to hit for big numbers, while providing an edge over the low-HP Night March and Vespiquen decks. Unfortunately, the deck struggled against M Manectric-EX decks — one of the most hyped archetypes coming into the Standard format season. The deck also suffered from its own consistency issues, due in part to the loss of Colress. Still, the deck was clearly a top contender coming into Cities.
One card that I believed to have significant potential despite receiving little hype was M Mewtwo-EX 64. My friend Ryan Soles was the first person to show me the true power of the card, as his M Mewtwo/Zoroark/Yveltal deck steamrolled almost any deck I threw at him when I first encountered it. While there were certain things about his initial list that felt off, it was very clear that M Mewtwo could overwhelm any deck that was not able to quickly combat it.
Inspired by an article written by Kyle Sucevich on the Pokémon website regarding building decks on a budget, I also began testing a Vespiquen/Night March deck. This deck could generate big damage on the first turn, but also provided a great late-game attacker with Vespiquen. The inclusion of Vespiquen improved a lot of the weaknesses exposed by traditional Night March decks, as it provided an attacker with beefier HP to combat cards such as Yveltal XY and Crobat PHF, and a great type advantage against cards like Seismitoad-EX, Primal Kyorgre-EX, and Primal Groudon-EX.
Week 1, Day 1 – Castleton, IN (11/27)
Going into the first weekend of Cities, I felt that the strongest decks were the three decks I mentioned above: Raichu/Crobat, M Mewtwo/Zoroark, and Vespiquen/Night March. My friend Matt Alvis picked me up at 5:30 AM the day after Thanksgiving, and we began the three-hour trek down to Indianapolis. On the car ride we discussed potential decks, with me favoring M Mewtwo going into the tournament. However, Matt was leaning toward playing the Vespiquen/Night March deck that I had shared with him, which proved to have a great matchup vs. any M Mewtwo-based deck. I also talked to my friend Caleb Gedemer, who was heading down with a group from Green Bay, and he shared that they were going to play Night March as well.
At this point, I could not consciously play M Mewtwo with knowledge that at least six strong players would be piloting Night March decks, and I decided to play my version of the deck as well. This is the final list that Matt and I played:
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Pokémon – 27 4 Joltik PHF |
Trainers – 26 3 Professor Sycamore
4 VS Seeker |
Energy – 7 4 Double Colorless |
Matt decided to play a 4th Trainers’ Mail over the 4th Shaymin-EX, but I felt 4 Shaymin helped maximize consistency.
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Jeff Garrison with Fighting/Bats — W
R2 vs. Bronzong/Lugia — W
R3 vs. Matt Alvis with Vespiquen/Night March — W
R4 vs. Kevin Baxter with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — L
R5 vs. Austin Zettel with Night March — W
R6 vs. Dustin Zimmerman with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — ID
T8 vs. Bronzong/Lugia/Aegislash — WW
T4 vs. Dustin Zimmerman with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — WW
T2 vs. Matt Alvis with Vespiquen/Night March — WLW
Tournament Reflections
This deck ended up being a great choice for the first tournament of the City Championship series, as many players still clung to their big EX decks — decks that Night March preys on. The Vespiquen line payed huge dividends for me and Matt in Top 4, where we both encountered Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade. Vespiquen proved difficult for YZG to consistently KO without using attackers such as Yveltal-EX. Night March was by far the most played deck at the tournament, so I expected decks such as Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade and Crobat-based decks to see a rise in play going into the next tournament.
Week 1, Day 2 – Greenwood, IN (11/28)
As mentioned previously, I felt that Night March decks had a large target on their backs going intoDay 2, and decided to switch to my Raichu/Crobat deck for the next tournament.
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Pokémon – 23 4 Pikachu XY |
Trainers – 30 3 Professor Sycamore
4 VS Seeker
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Energy – 7 4 Double Colorless |
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Jeff Garrison with Vileplume/Regice/Miltank — W
R2 vs. Austin Zettel with Vespiquen/Night March — W
R3 vs. Dustin Zimmerman with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — L
R4 vs. Fighting/Bats — W
R5 vs. Night March — W
R6 vs. Ryan Grant with Raichu/Crobat — ID
T8 vs. Trey Reese with Raichu/Lucario/Hawlucha — WW
T4 vs. Ryan Grant with Raichu/Crobat — LWL
Tournament Reflections
I felt that I made another great deck choice for the tournament, but the inconsistencies of the deck shined brightly in my Top 4 match. Ryan and I were playing a 59-card mirror (he ran a Judge instead of the 2nd Birch), and all three games were blowouts in either direction. Despite its obvious consistency issues, the deck seemed to be one of the most well-rounded decks overall.
Week 1, Day 3 – Indianapolis, IN (11/29)
Unsure of what to expect in Day 3, I decided to play the same Raichu/Bats I played the day before, swapping the 2nd Birch for a Judge.
Tournament Result
R1 vs. David Haussecker with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — W
R2 vs. Kyle Lesniewicz with Raichu/Crobat/Yvletal — W
R3 vs. M Sceptile — L
R4 vs. Aaron Tarbell with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — L
Tournament Reflections
At a record of 2-2, I dropped from the tournament in order to drive back early to Chicago with Matt. I ran into some bad luck in this tournament, as a repair in Round 3 took me from playing Tyler Keller with Night March (a great match for my deck), to getting downpaired to M Sceptile-EX (a horrendous matchup). The Theta Stop Ancient Trait coupled with the constant healing of M Sceptile-EX makes it almost impossible for my deck to overcome this green menace. In Round 4 I played an extremely close game against Aaron Tarbell, but he was narrowly able to pull it out by snagging a Lysandre after my Judge.
Week 2, Day 1 – Hobart, IN (12/5)
This was a smaller tournament with a lot of Michigan players in attendance (including fellow 6P writers Alex Hill and Christopher Schemanske), so I had no idea what to expect. The night before the tournament, my good friend Isaac Soto was repeatedly beating me with my M Mewtwo/Zoroark deck, and he recommended that I play the deck in Hobart. Despite fearing Night March, I decided to take a chance and play the deck anyway.
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Pokémon – 14 4 Mewtwo-EX NXD 61 |
Trainers – 37 4 Professor Sycamore
4 VS Seeker
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Energy – 9 5 D |
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Diane Schemanske with M Manectric/Raikou — L
R2 vs. Bye — W
R3 vs. Machamp/Ariados — W
R4 vs. Vespiquen/Banette/Entei — W
R5 vs. Alex Hill with Vespiquen/Banette/Entei — ID
T8 vs. Ross Cawthon with Raichu/Bats — WW
T4 vs. Diane Schemanske with M Manectric/Raikou — WW
T2 vs. Patrick Brodesser with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — WW
Tournament Reflections
Night March ended up being virtually absent from the tournament, which paved the way for M Mewtwo to shine. I was unsure how the Vespiquen match would play out, but the repeated use of early Hex Maniacs coupled with a T2 Psychic Infinity proved too much for their deck to overcome. The deck clearly showed its brute power during the day, but a fleet of Pumpkaboos would have quickly sent me home to Chicago.
Week 3, Day 2 – South Bend, IN (12/13)
I ended up skipping the tournament on 12/6 in Valparaiso, IN in favor of sleep, and also opted to skip the previous day’s City in Kalamazoo. For this tournament, I decided to stick with the same M Mewtwo deck I played in Hobart.
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Austin Zettel with Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — L
R2 vs. Adam Vernola with Raichu/Crobat — L
Tournament Reflections
It became very apparent that the metagame had shifted dramatically from the early City Championships. The 4 Focus Sash in Austin’s deck completely caught me off guard, and ultimately was too much for my Mewtwo deck to handle. Had I chosen to run a single copy of Xerosic, I believe I could have overcame this hurdle. Unfortunately, I was not even aware of this deck’s existence, and my list was ill-equipped to handle its strategy. In my second round, Adam managed to pull of the mythical T2 KO on my M Mewtwo-EX, which set me far too behind in the game to keep up with his barrage of non-EX attackers. At a frustrating record of 0-2, I dropped from the tournament.
Week 5, Chicago Marathon Day 2 – Rockford, IL (12/27)
Going into the marathon, I set the goal of obtaining one more Top 4 or better finish to round off my City Championship series. As I intended to play multiple days of the marathon, I decided I would play some decks that were outside of my normal comfort zone. Furthermore, the metagame during the Chicago marathon has shown to be difficult to predict in past years, as there are a myriad of strong players in attendance that come from all different parts of the country. I decided to play Greninja/Miltank, as it had several strong matchups against popular decks (Night March, Entei, Raichu/Bats), and it was a ton of fun to play.
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Pokémon – 18 4 Froakie XY |
Trainers – 34 4 Brigette
4 VS Seeker
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Energy – 8 8 W |
Tournament Result
R1 vs. M Manectric/Raikou — W
R2 vs. Mike Lesky with Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — L
R3 vs. Yveltal/Zororak/Gallade — W
R4 vs. Steve Vlosak with Night March — W
R5 vs. Matt Marusik with Entei/Pyroar — W
R6 vs. Joe Baka with Manectric/Crobat — L
R7 vs. Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — L
Tournament Reflections
This day was a perfect example of mistakes that can arise from the unfamiliarity of a deck. I had built the deck at 1 AM the day of the tournament, and was completely unware that a 60-HP Froakie existed. I learned of this Sunday morning shortly before registration closed, but there was not enough time for me to locate copies of this Kalos Starter Set Froakie and/or change my deck, so I was stuck playing 50-HP Froakies. This ended up costing me big in my win-and-in game vs. my buddy Joe Baka, as he was able to use Crobat’s Sneaky Bite in conjunction with Manectric-EX’s Overrun attack to KO my Benched Froakie, putting me in a tough spot. I also made a mistake against Matt Marusik’s Entei deck, as I was unware that Greninja’s attack did not apply Weakness. Lastly, the list felt underwhelming; however the deck as a whole felt like it had potential, despite its lackluster performance.
Week 5, Chicago Marathon Day 3 – Romeoville, IL (12/28)
I entered this tournament with yet another deck that had not undergone a single game of testing. I was initially planning on playing Greninja again, but decided to go with a deck that I deemed more consistent.
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Pokémon – 16 3 Yveltal XY |
Trainers – 33 4 Professor Sycamore
4 VS Seeker |
Energy – 11 7 D |
Shout-out to Nick Foltz for giving me the idea to play an old-school variant of the deck.
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Night March — W
R2 vs. Cody Leigh with Seismitoad/Crobat — W
R3 vs. Ross Cawthon with Raichu/Crobat — W
R4 vs. Ray Lane with M Mewtwo-EX 63 — L
R5 vs. Cody Kressman with Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — T
R6 vs. Chris Clemens with Yveltal/Seismitoad/Zoroark — L
Tournament Reflections
This was a disappointing day, as I proceeded to whiff Top 8 after starting 3-0. M Mewtwo-EX 63 is almost impossible for my deck to beat, so that loss was well deserved. However, in my final round, I proceeded to play 1 Sycamore the entire game and lost in a very lopsided manner due to poor draws.
Week 5, Chicago Marathon Day 4 – Bolingbrook, IL (12/29)
I decided to give Greninja another crack this day, with a revised list that I mustered up with the help of Andrew Wamboldt (and 60-HP Froakies!).
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Pokémon – 19 4 Froakie KSS |
Trainers – 32 4 Professor Sycamore
4 VS Seeker
2 Sky Field |
Energy – 9 9 W |
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Jeremy Petit with Vespiquen/Night March — W
R2 vs. Jordan Moore with Entei/Charizard — W
R3 vs. Ben Moscow with Yveltal/Zoroark/Gallade — L
R4 vs. Spencer Trippi with Seismitoad/Empoleon/Regirock — W
R5 vs. Abe Morales with Fighting/Bats — L
R6 vs. Brandon Flowers with Vespiquen/Vileplume — L
Tournament Reflections
After another X-3 finish, it was clear that it was time for me to put my baby Greninja to rest. The fact of the matter was simple: the deck could not beat any deck that played Fighting attackers coupled with Super Scoop Up. Although this accounted for only one of my losses during the day, I had previously lost to it twice in Rockford, solidifying my belief that the matchup was unwinnable. The deck was also not particularly strong against Mega EX decks. As such, I knew that it was time for me to move on to something else.
Week 5, Chicago Marathon Day 5 – Des Plaines, IL (12/30)
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Pokémon – 9 4 Entei AOR 15 |
Trainers – 40 3 Blacksmith
4 VS Seeker
|
Energy – 11 7 R |
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — L
R2 vs. Nick Foltz with Entei/Charizard — W
R3 vs. Lucario/Hawlucha/Hammers — L
R4 vs. M Rayquaza/Regice — W
R5 vs. M Mewtwo-EX 64/Zoroark/Yveltal — W
R6 vs. Night March — L
Tournament Reflections
For the third time during the marathon, I played a deck that was 100% untested. I chose to play Entei, as I had observed the strength of the deck during my Swiss game against Jordan Moore in the previous day’s tournaments. One flaw that I noticed with the deck was its inability to consistently target Benched Pokémon, as it often relied on using Blacksmith as the Supporter for the turn. The inclusion of Pokémon Catcher seemed like a great solution to this problem, but I think I got overzealous with the concept in choosing to run 4 copies of the card. This forced me to cut consistency cards which would have been useful throughout the day (4th Blacksmith, 4th Acro Bike, additional draw Supporters, etc.). The deck also proved to be problematic against the Fighting decks during my tournament play, as there is no way to 1HKO Lucario-EX. Subsequently, this makes Entei vulnerable to the healing effects of Super Scoop Up, AZ and Pokémon Center Lady.
Week 5, Chicago Marathon Day 7 – Huntley, IL (1/2)
By this point in the tournament series, I had become very annoyed with the pressure of choosing the “correct” deck for any given day, as well as the Standard format as a whole. I decided to go back to my roots and play the same Vespiquen/Night March deck that I had used to win the Castleton, IN City Championship. The only change I made to my original list was choosing to cut the Jirachi in favor of a Xerosic, as I wanted a way to deal with the Focus Sash-reliant decks.
Tournament Result
R1 vs. Nick Beaudry with Manectric/Crobat — W
R2 vs. Stephen Matz with Night March — W
R3 vs. Christopher Schemanske with Xerneas BKT/Bronzong/Rainbow Attackers — W
R4 vs. Cody Leigh with Night March — W
R5 vs. Adam Keibler with Primal Groudon – ID
R6 vs. Casey Smith with Manectric/Crobat — ID
T8 vs. Cody Kressman with M Gallade/Forretress — WW
T4 vs. Cody Leigh with Night March — WW
T2 vs. Franco Llamas III with M Mewtwo-EX 64/Zoroark/Yveltal — WLW
Tournament Reflections
After playing the deck again, I remembered why the deck was so good. The Battle Compressor engine coupled with 4 Shaymin-EX makes it very difficult to draw poorly. In a format defined by taking early Prize leads, this consistency boost has become more important than ever. The deck also was relatively unaffected whether it went first or second. I was also fortunate to avoid Crobat-based decks for the majority of the tournament, which has proven to be the deck’s biggest nemesis.
Overall Reflections on the Standard Format
All 10 City Championships in which I participated featured the Standard format, which has provided me ample time to assess the current format. While I appreciate the diversity the format provides, I believe the lack of N has made the game somewhat unhealthy. Games have become extremely mechanical, with the final 2 Prizes almost always being collected via the use of a Lysandre + KO on a Shaymin-EX. The lack of N creates game states where it is almost impossible to make an upset victory, as there is no way to effectively limit your opponent from finding their game-winning Lysandre. Judge attempts to mitigate this problem, but forcing your opponent to draw a new hand of 1 card vs. 4 cards is a world of difference. Judge still provides too many cards to prevent your opponent from finding whatever it is they need to close out the game.
Unfortunately, I am not sure there is a simple fix to the inherent problems with the current format. I have heard people propose several solutions: ban Battle Compressor, ban Shaymin-EX, ban VS Seeker, etc. However, I do not believe it will be that easy to restore balance to the current format. I think a format without Shaymin-EX altogether might be equally as problematic, as I do not feel that the current Supporter pool is strong enough to replace the added benefit of Shaymin’s Set Up Ability. One interesting concept that my friend Isaac proposed was to limit the use of Shaymin’s Ability to once per turn. While this certainly would help prevent players from “going off” on the first turn of the game, it still would not solve the problems associated with the lack of hand disruption.
Conclusion
Despite my dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the current format, I had an enjoyable time playing at City Championships this year. Pokémon continues to be a great way to spend time with friends, both old and new. I hope you enjoyed reading about my City Championship experiences. Please let me know your thoughts/questions in the comment section below. Good luck to everyone in the upcoming Regional Championships!
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