pokemonscreenshots.tumblr.comHey everyone! I hope Cities have been treating you well. It has only been a couple of weeks since my last article and really, not much has happened in the Pokémon community. Cities are winding down which means that we can move away from Standard tournaments for a bit. The current Standard format is really starting to get stale now that we’ve figured it out.
For that reason, I’m really glad to refocus on the Expanded format now. Even though the format hasn’t changed a lot since Fall Regionals, there is a lot to learn and master. From the two Expanded Cities that I have played in, I’ve started to see that the format is actually pretty healthy right now. Decks are balanced, there is some comeback potential, and the amount of viable decks is incredibly high.
I know what you’re probably thinking: “Alex, there are still four weeks until Regionals. And I have another weekend of Cities left to go!” As I’ve mentioned before, my testing in the past year was typically not up to snuff. I don’t want to sleep on this tournament cycle and end up with a poor deck choice and even worse finish come February 20th in Collinsville. So, I’m putting together my testing regimen now. Here are my top eight decks to test and test against as you prepare for Winter Regionals.
Contents
Top Eight
8. Donphan
|
Pokémon – 14 |
Trainers – 36 4 Korrina 3 N 2 Lysandre 1 Colress
|
Energy – 10 4 F 4 Strong |
Good Matchups
- Yveltal (without Archeops)
- Vespiquen
- Night March
- Sableye/Garbodor
Bad Matchups
- Yveltal (with Archeops)
- Seismitoad/Giratina
- Seismitoad/Crobat
- Blastoise
One of the themes you’ll see with the lists in this article is consistency. You’ll need a dependable deck that can set up 18+ games in a row to do well at Regionals. For that reason, this Donphan list is light on tech cards and heavy on 4-ofs. I don’t want to burden the deck with situational cards — I would much rather focus on strengthening my good matchups than giving myself an outside shot at the iffy ones.
Jolteon AOR is the most notable tech card in this list and for good reason. Back when Donphan first came to fruition in the 2014-2015 season, Yveltal decks were among its worst matchups. In particular, Yveltal XY required you to invest a lot of resources into a single Donphan just to get a 2HKO. Now, with the help of Jolteon, only a single Strong Energy and a Muscle Band are required to get a 1-shot on the pesky foe. Jolteon also helps against Yveltal-EX and any M Rayquaza-EX that might make an appearance, both of which can be troublesome.
Focus Sash is the most important card in the list. It solidly turns the Vespiquen and Night March matchups into your favor and gives you a chance against Blastoise. You sacrifice some of your damage output to utilize it but this is a tradeoff well worth taking. You can afford to play the slow game. Your opponent, however, has a limited supply of Lysandre outs. This alone can win you seemingly unfavorable matchups.
Seismitoad-EX decks are very difficult for Donphan to deal with, and this list leaves little room to change that. If you want to make the matchup more favorable, extra F Energy and draw Supporters would be the most helpful additions. Xerosic and Team Flare Grunt could also be used as an attempt to buy a valuable turn of Items, allowing you to increase your damage output with your Tool cards and drop a few Robo Substitutes to help that damage to rack up.
One tech card that I have often considered is Wobbuffet PHF. This would require a major restructuring of the deck in order to fit in a couple of Wobbuffet as well as 2 Float Stone to allow for the necessary mobility. Bide Barricade is an incredibly useful Ability in this deck, allowing you to evolve your Phanpy even if your opponent manages to get an Archeops NVI into play. It also has the added benefit of slowing down a Blastoise deck, which may be all you need to turn the matchup in your favor.
Donphan is one of my sleeper picks for the upcoming Regionals. It has very strong matchups against some of the most high performing decks from Fall Regionals and City Championships. However, everyone’s favorite elephant is weak against most of the other top decks in the format. If the metagame develops favorably after Virginia Regionals, be sure to consider Donphan as a contender.
7. Seismitoad/Giratina
|
Pokémon – 10 |
Trainers – 42 2 N 1 Colress 1 Ghetsis 1 Lysandre 1 Xerosic
2 Head Ringer
|
Energy – 8 |
Good Matchups
- Night March
- Donphan
- Seismitoad/Crobat
Bad Matchups
- Yveltal
- Vespiquen
- Sableye/Garbodor
- Blastoise
Seismitoad/Giratina was one of the most popular decks at the end of Fall Regionals and it has continued to have a sizeable share of the metagame through Cities. However, I’m skeptical of its viability. It has poor matchups against the two most popular decks and the introduction of Jirachi XY67 into the format makes a deck that completely relies on Special Energy cards seemingly useless. Even so, the deck will see play so it is imperative to be prepared to face it.
As the metagame has developed, Seismitoad/Giratina has evolved. Latios-EX is a surprisingly effective way to steal wins against Vespiquen and Sableye decks. These matchups are heavily stacked against you but with your numerous search and draw options, the potential to get the T1 Fast Raid off is very high. I typically dislike the inclusion of Latios-EX in a deck as it usually just makes a good matchup better. In this deck, however, it is used to give yourself a real way to win unwinnable matchups. The option to quickly end a game against a lone Zubat, Joltik or Pumpkaboo is always nice as well.
Rock Guard is the most interesting tech to develop in the last few months. It is an unexpectedly strong counter to the new Jirachi promo. This puts your opponent in a tough spot. If they choose to knock off your Special Energy, they will not only lose their Jirachi, but also the immunity it provided for a valuable turn and a Prize card. Combine this with the fact that it will be hard for them to produce another Jirachi for the game and your lock will likely stay in tact. I have definitely missed Computer Search as my ACE SPEC choice as I’ve tested this deck but the benefit far outweighs the slight dip in consistency.
Other than these two techs, not much can be done to improve Seismitoad/Giratina’s matchups. A Jirachi-EX and another Ghetsis could help to stop Blastoise from setting up. Alternatively, more Silent Lab and another Lysandre may give you the necessary ammo to slow Blastoise down once it does set up. The rest of the bad matchups are lost causes, they are fundamentally difficult for Seismitoad/Giratina to deal with. I wouldn’t worry about trying to improve them.
I can’t recommend anyone play Seismitoad/Giratina in the metagame as it stands now. Vespiquen/Flareon and Yveltal are too difficult to overcome and they will likely combine to be 50% of the decks you’ll face at Regionals. If for some reason, you think those decks will die down before your Regional Championship, it may be safe to sleeve up Seismitoad/Giratina. Unfortunately for fans of the deck, I don’t see that happening.
6. Night March
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Pokémon – 17 2 Mew-EX |
Trainers – 36 1 N 1 Colress 1 Lysandre 1 Xerosic
1 Town Map 1 Life Dew
|
Energy – 7 3 P |
Good Matchups
- Yveltal
- Vespiquen
Bad Matchups
- Donphan
- Seismitoad/Giratina
- Seismitoad/Crobat
- Blastoise
- Sableye/Garbodor
Night March is in a pretty strange place in the Expanded format. It has a long list of bad matchups, which has lead me to question why it does so well. The answer lies in the favorable ones. Yveltal and Vespiquen are undoubtedly the two most popular decks in the format — having a strong matchup against them makes Night March a strong contender. Once you combine that with the unmatched speed, power, and consistency that the Battle Compressor engine provides to the deck, you are looking at a very formidable foe.
This deck also hasn’t changed much since the end of Fall Regionals or even the last time that I wrote about it. There is enough space in the list to accommodate for plenty of tech cards. I have dedicated most of those spots to improving the Vespiquen and mirror matchups, otherwise the Prize trade can quickly turn against you. In particular, Life Dew, Xerosic, and Enhanced Hammer are all invaluable tools for slowing them down. Teammates and Town Map provide you with the Double Colorless Energy you need turn after turn, as well as fetching the numerous situational cards exactly when you need them.
Once again, the Blastoise matchup can be improved with relative ease. An early Ghetsis can decimate their setup, and it is simple to find with the combination of Battle Compressor and VS Seeker. Jirachi-EX is another addition that can make this search easier, with the added benefit of helping to draw into a timely Hex Maniac to stop their Deluge of Energy. The Seismitoad-EX matchups may be improvable with the addition of another Xerosic or a Team Flare Grunt, likely in place of the Enhanced Hammer. This, combined with your speed, may be all you need to turn the matchup in your favor.
Night March is a very strong play for the metagame that I expect for the first weekend of Regional Championships. There have been countless times throughout the City Championship season that I have wished that I would have played it. Even though these events were mostly in the Standard format, the sentiment remains the same. When a deck like Night March underperforms, the metagame shifts to favor decks that are weak to it. If you can catch the metagame precisely at this moment, Night March has a great chance to catapult to the top and Week 1 may be the perfect time to march.
5. Seismitoad/Crobat
|
Pokémon – 17 |
Trainers – 36 2 N 1 Colress 1 Ghetsis 1 Lysandre 1 AZ 1 Xerosic
|
Energy – 7 3 W |
Good Matchups
- Yveltal
- Night March
- Donphan
Bad Matchups
- Seismitoad/Giratina
- Blastoise
- Vespiquen
- Sableye/Garbodor
It’s no secret that Seismitoad/Crobat is one of my favorite decks in Expanded. I’ve seen a lot of success with the deck at League Challenges and am already seriously considering it for Winter Regionals. Unfortunately, I have moved on from the Hex Maniac/Red Card combo that I was playing with a few months ago. It was undoubtedly strong when I got it off but it was too difficult to find the pieces at the same time. Instead, I have moved the list back to a consistent one that will be more suited for the Regional Championship format.
One new card that I’ve been trying out in the deck is Silent Lab. Locking down crucial Abilities like Set Up and Stellar Guidance can combine with Quaking Punch to give you a good way to completely lock your opponent out of the game. Even unfavorable matchups like Vespiquen and Blastoise can be won by use of this tactic. These decks play few, if any, counter Stadiums so it is easy to stick a Silent Lab in play.
Seismitoad/Giratina is typically a slightly unfavorable matchup. They have consistency on their side and more ways to nullify your first Energy drop, especially if you go first. An extra copy of Xerosic or a few Head Ringer would be easy techs to improve that matchup. However, make sure that the cuts to include these cards don’t jeopardize your other matchups.
The other major lock deck in the format, Sableye/Garbodor, is unfortunately almost completely unwinnable. You run a very low number of Energy cards and they have ample means to deplete your stock, even with a Super Rod. Your best shot is to use your Crobat to attack. When you combine your Skill Dives with Hypnotoxic Laser and Muscle Band, you may just find a way to win. Tool Scrapper is one tech I’ve considered to allow you one crucial turn of Abilities and potentially tip the scales in your favor.
Seismitoad/Crobat has seen a resurgence in the end of the Cities and for good reason. Few decks can deal with both a consistent Item lock and the compounding damage output that Golbat and Crobat provide. I intend to test this deck rigorously in the next month and you should too. If the Vespiquen matchup proves to be as favorable as I think it could be, there’s a strong chance that Seismitoad/Crobat will be my play in Collinsville.
4. Sableye/Garbodor
|
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 41 2 Xerosic 2 Lysandre 2 N 2 Ghetsis
2 Head Ringer 1 Life Dew
|
Energy – 6 6 D |
Good Matchups
- Night March
- Blastoise
- Seismitoad/Crobat
- Seismitoad/Giratina
Bad Matchups
- Donphan
- Yveltal
- Vespiquen
Sableye/Garbodor is a wild card, the new kid on the block. Expanded is a fairly stagnant format. Essentially, it is the same format we played for Worlds 2015 with Dark Patch added in. For this reason, I have a good amount of experience with almost all of the viable decks. Sableye bucks this trend and throws a wrench into everything I know about the format.
This list attempts to fix some of the problems that I saw in Nick Robinson’s 3rd place list from Fort Wayne Regionals. My first addition was the 2nd Trick Shovel. As you can see in the Top 4 match between Nick and Frank Diaz, many of the matches with this deck go to time (even in 75-minute top cut — yikes). Having another copy of Trick Shovel allows you to rapidly accelerate the game and decrease the number of turns needed to deck your opponent out. If Nick had 2 Trick Shovel, he would have been able to win Game 2 much quicker and might have had enough time in Game 3 to deck Frank out.
Hypnotoxic Laser is another new card but one that is gaining traction among Sableye players in this format. It gives you a much better way to win the mirror match since decking them out is almost unthinkable due to Super Rod and Bunnelby’s Rototiller. Funny enough, a counter to the counter in the form of Full Heal has emerged in some lists. I have yet to try that out but I can see the use for it. Audino BCR may be another, more searchable option to consider for mitigating the threat of Special Conditions.
Speaking of searchable options, another idea I’ve had for this list is a Battle Compressor or two. This would help to put valuable Item cards in the discard pile so that you can Junk Hunt for them exactly when you need them. With so many 1-of and 2-of cards and the need to play Energy denial Supporters often, this could be a great addition. Unfortunately, the list is very tight and I’m not yet sure which cards are essential and which are cuttable. But this is why we’re starting to test now!
Pokémon Catcher is the last strange addition I’ve made to this list and it has worked out well for me so far. Now that the list utilizes Team Aqua’s Secret Base, gusting up a Shaymin-EX or even a Keldeo-EX is even more powerful. Even though you can use Lysandre as a way to manipulate your opponent’s Active Pokémon, I like the flexibility that Catcher provides. You can use your Supporter for the turn to discard Energy and make it even more unlikely that your opponent will be able to respond on the next turn.
Sableye/Garbodor has some very linear matchups. Anything with a limited supply of Energy is easy to dispatch. Even Blastoise can be beaten when you shut off their Abilities, effectively starving them of Energy. Anything with acceleration from attacks or Supporters like Yveltal and Vespiquen is much harder to defeat. However, both of these decks can be overcome. Nick Robinson almost beat Frank Diaz in Top 4, even with time ticking against him. Vespiquen is much harder to defeat, due to the combination of Flareon PLF and Blacksmith and the nearly unlimited Energy it provides when played correctly. Silver Mirror is a surprise tech that could turn the matchup in your favor, but only testing will prove how strong it is.
I was fortunate enough to not have to play against any Sableye/Garbodor decks at Fall Regionals. My unfamiliarity with the deck would have certainly been hard to overcome. Now that the deck is picking up steam, I won’t make the same mistake for the upcoming Regionals. I implore you all to test the deck, learn how it works, and learn how to beat it. Even if you choose not to play it, the experience will provide an invaluable boost to your performance at Winter Regionals. And if the release of Time Puzzle in BREAKpoint doesn’t cause Sableye to receive a swift ban, I have a feeling you’ll be thanking me for turning you on to the deck.
3. Blastoise
|
Pokémon – 18 |
Trainers – 32 1 N 1 Lysandre
|
Energy – 10 10 W |
Note: This list is mostly included as one to test against, seeing as it is more conventional than the Articuno-focused version that I talked about before (speaking of which, I want another Articuno somewhere in that list). If I were to play Blastoise myself, I would start with the list in my last article.
Good Matchups
- Vespiquen
- Night March
- Donphan
- Seismitoad/Crobat
- Seismitoad/Giratina
Bad Matchups
- Sableye/Garbodor
- Yveltal
Blastoise is another one of my favorites. I actually quite enjoy playing Archie/Maxie decks. Every game with this deck is a unique puzzle. Some are easy and the path to the T1 Archie’s Ace in the Hole is well laid out in your opening hand. Others are more difficult and become a game of probability. You have to weigh every choice you make, attempting to increase the chance that you’ll find yourself in the situation where you’re left with just the desired card in your hand. Playing a Blastoise deck at Regionals means you’ll be subjecting yourself to a very long day — it’s certainly far from an autopilot deck.
Looking at the matchups, one would think that Blastoise could and should be the best deck in the format. And when it sets up, I would argue that it may well be. However, the threat of Ghetsis means that any deck in the field can completely shut you down before you even play a single card. Ouch. Even if you do get a Blastoise down, a timely Hex Maniac can turn the whole game around and if your opponent plays it again with VS Seeker (especially in consecutive turns), any hopes you have of winning can completely evaporate.
Unfortunately for Blastoise, there are a few more threats to overcome past just the challenge of setting up. Sableye/Garbodor can shut down your Abilities, gust up a Blastoise, and slowly exhaust any Energy that you managed to play early in the game. Extra copies of Tool Scrapper and switching back to Acro Bike instead of Unown for draw are things I plan to try to defeat Sableye. Another idea is a copy or two of Float Stone to get a stranded Blastoise or Keldeo out of the Active Spot. A smart Sableye player may be able to instead gust up a Keldeo-EX, slap a Head Ringer on, and nullify this counter move. Tool Scrapper also helps in this situation (which is why we run it over Startling Megaphone).
Yveltal-EX is even harder to deal with. It is disgustingly simple to come up with a 1HKO on a Keldeo-EX out of thin air. Dark Patch, DCE, knockout. Boom. They can even pair it with a Hex Maniac to make it nearly impossible for you to respond on the next turn. If they follow that up with a Lysandre to take out a Shaymin or Jirachi and get down to 2 remaining Prizes, you might as well scoop there.
I have seen some success with Regice AOR as a Yveltal counter in the past. Once you drop a single Regice, the game immediately transforms into a war between it and Yveltal XY. A pair of Rough Seas to nullify the residual damage from Oblivion Wing and a Keldeo-EX with a Float Stone to deal with Hypnotoxic Laser are both very important weapons for you to use in this fight. To successfully win this matchup, you’ll also need at least 2 Regice. That’s at least 4 cards to add to this deck and I don’t know that the space is worth the the potentially small bump to this unfavorable matchup.
As I’ve said before, playing Blastoise is incredibly risky. You have a lot of favorable matchups but a pair of tech Supporter cards can completely derail your day. When players forget how powerful Blastoise is (like they did for Week 1-of Fall Regionals), that is when it has a chance to succeed. If you’re thinking about playing Blastoise, keep an eye out for the metagame to shift into a favorable position. If not, make sure you don’t underestimate its strength.
2. Vespiquen
|
Pokémon – 28 |
Trainers – 25 1 N 1 Colress 1 AZ 1 Lysandre
1 Town Map 1 Life Dew
|
Energy – 7 3 R |
Good Matchups
- Yveltal (without Archeops)
- Seismitoad/Giratina
- Seismitoad/Crobat
- Sableye/Garbodor
Bad Matchups
- Yveltal (with Archeops)
- Blastoise
- Night March
- Donphan
Why is Vespiquen so high on my list? It has a lot of unfavorable matchups and some of the favorable ones are definitely loseable. The answer is consistency. Vespiquen sets up almost every game without sacrificing any of the power that it needs to compete. It also has plenty of space for techs, especially in the Pokémon line, so you can mold the deck to deal with the matchups you expect to face. These two factors combine to give you a real powerhouse in the Expanded format.
This list is tailor-made to beat the most popular deck in the format, Yveltal. Jolteon AOR helps you recover from a slow start or a necessary Super Rod and has the added benefit of improving the M Rayquaza-EX matchup. Audino and AZ both provide ways to deal with the “Hypno” part of Hypnotoxic Laser. To deal with any Archeops, Eevee FFI and Hex Maniac give you the means to evolve into your attackers. However, this is often not enough to win the matchup. I’ll be testing out a Wobbuffet PHF or two to see what impact it has in facilitating more evolutions over the course of a game.
Bunnelby is the most surprising card in this list but I’ve included it for several reasons. I find myself relying on it in Standard for retrieving Double Colorless Energy but Blacksmith mitigates this necessity in Expanded. I still like having to get back key cards like VS Seeker, Audino, and Life Dew in different situations. Also, most players have stopped worrying about playing themselves down to a small deck. I have stolen several games in testing by dropping a surprise Bunnelby and milling the last couple cards in my opponent’s deck.
All of the unfavorable matchups for the deck can be beaten — you just have to dedicate 2-3 valuable slots to do so. Blastoise can be dispatched with a Ghetsis or two and maybe another Hex Maniac. Forest of Giant Plants can also help to evolve Combee that would be easy snipe targets from a Kyogre-EX. The Night March matchup can be improved with a copy of Entei AOR 14 and an Enhanced Hammer or two. Ryan Sablehaus talks more about these additions in his Fort Wayne Regionals report. Donphan is hard to overcome but a Banette ROS 31 line and an extra copy of Lysandre would give you the tools you need to win.
Vespiquen will undoubtedly be one of the most played decks at Winter Regionals. It can thrive in any metagame and has the consistency to survive 9 to 14 rounds of Swiss with ease. Make sure you have a solid game plan to defeat it, even if you end up playing it yourself.
1. Yveltal
|
Pokémon – 13 |
Trainers – 37 1 N 1 Colress 1 Ghetsis 1 Lysandre
|
Energy – 10 6 D |
Good Matchups
- Donphan
- Blastoise
- Sableye/Garbodor
- Seismitoad/Giratina
- Vespiquen
Bad Matchups
- Night March
- Seismitoad/Crobat
And here we are at number 1! Yveltal-EX decks have withstood the test of time for countless reasons. Good matchups? Almost everything. Bad matchups? Decks that see less play than most of the decks you have good matchups against. Yveltal was a force to be reckoned with during most of the 2014-2015 but the reintroduction of Dark Patch into the format brings it back to top tier status.
There are many ways to run this deck in the Expanded format. Frank Diaz saw a lot of success in the Fall with a straight Yveltal variant. It was very consistent but typically struggled against Vespiquen. I have elected to instead focus my efforts on a version with Archeops NVI to improve that matchup. The deck has to change drastically to incorporate this change. Similar to how I play Blastoise, I like to have 2 copies of both Maxie’s and Archeops to minimize any prizing concerns. In addition to those 4 cards, you need to change the draw engine to focus more on Item-based draw and less on Supporter-based draw. However, this ups your consistency in games where you aren’t playing against Seismitoad-EX anyway.
Yveltal BKT is my new favorite tech in this deck. Sniping for 60 alone would be great when combined with the ability to nullify Tool cards. In some matchups, you can strand a Keldeo-EX in the Active Spot, hit it for 60-90 and put the other 60 on a Shaymin. If your opponent relies on Float Stone to move the Keldeo, you can easily come away with 4 Prizes in two turns. This is a play most players haven’t seen yet so take advantage of it while you can.
Some players have been playing a copy of Gallade BKT along side Archeops to improve their consistency and the M Manectric matchup. I don’t think it’s worth the space though as M Manectric decks haven’t been very popular in Expanded. Consistency isn’t a concern of mine with this deck but if you’re having trouble, it may be worth trying out Gallade. Jirachi XY67 is another tech to consider, especially without a lot of Supporter based draw in this list. Yveltal-EX usually trades favorably with Seismitoad-EX though so I don’t think it’s completely necessary.
Unfortunately, I don’t think much can be done to improve the Night March matchup in this format. If it were Standard, I’d elect to just play a full suite of Yveltal XY and pick off attackers one by one. However, Mew-EX changes that Prize trade considerably. Gallade actually may be able to impact things here by giving you an easy way to 1HKO Mew without giving up 2 Prizes. Seismitoad-EX/Crobat usually produces too much damage for you to deal with, especially when combined with Super Scoop Up. Archeops can turn this matchup around but you only get one turn to get it out, making it difficult to consistently pull off.
Yveltal decks are among the strongest decks in the format. Even if you typically dislike playing them, you should put those feelings aside. Part of being successful in this game is playing the best deck for any event regardless of your personal bias. A bulk of your testing for the upcoming Regionals should feature a Yveltal-EX deck on at least one end of the table. You absolutely need a way to beat it or you won’t be successful. Period. ?
Conclusion
pokemonscreenshots.tumblr.comThere are a lot of decks in Expanded and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. I hope I’ve encouraged you all to start your testing now. The next few weeks will go by incredibly quickly. Don’t find yourself unprepared come February.
As always, let me know if you have any questions. There’s a lot of material to take in and a lot of decks and techs to think about. If anything seems out of place or you disagree with any of my matchups, I’d love to discuss it with you. Just drop me a comment on the forums.
Take care everybody!
Alex
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