One Old, One New, One Red, One Blue

Hello SixPrizes readers, I hope that you’re having a great week! I’m proud to be bringing you all my second article on this fantastic website. I’ve been fairly busy with schoolwork, writing college essays, and holiday planning, but I recently booked my flights to Dallas Regionals and am looking forward to taking a second shot at the Expanded format. Like many of my fellow authors, I’ll recap my San Diego Regionals experience with Steven’s Resolve/PikaRom, then delve into Treasures & Traps: Post-Bans Edition, before wrapping up with two initial lists for Dallas .

A Sunny Surprise: San Diego Regionals with Steven’s PikaRom

I was feeling fairly confused heading into San Diego Regionals, following Daytona the week before. My top pick had been an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX list not too dissimilar from the one Diego would take to a Top 4 finish later on, followed by a Malamar list which featured Ultra Necrozma-GX and Gengar & Mimikyu-GX, inspired by that of Daniel Altivilla. However, I wasn’t really feeling satisfied with either pick; I knew both were good, but ever since I had been working with Lost March, I wanted to find something else that felt like it had surprise factor. Speaking of Lost March, Daytona’s resulted in a very negative format for Lost March. Malamar is an extremely rough matchup, and there’s no effective answer that Lost March can play for Doll Stall.

These feelings of uncertainty were compounded when my good friend Nam Kim, with whom I would be staying that weekend, sent me a list on Friday morning featuring Steven’s Resolve in Pikachu & Zekrom-GX with no Dedenne-GX. I responded instantly with disbelief and uncertainty, but decided to play some games with the list that evening with my local testing partner Caleb Patton. The deck actually managed to take down ADP and Mew Box, and I was all in for the weekend.

I got into San Diego around 1 P.M. on Friday, met up with Nam and the rest of my room to get some delicious barbecue, and started testing. We played a few games, made a few refinements, and submitted the list below.

The List

This list was a combination of tech ideas to try and answer what we expected to see in San Diego. Mimikyu CEC 97 was a great answer to Keldeo-GX and Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Spell Tag and Mew UNB was another answer to Keldeo-GX, where you would place damage counters with Psypower and Spell Tag so that Mallow & Lana could not be used to get rid of all the damage counters. Eelektross UNM was the main 1-Prize attacker and a final answer for Keldeo-GX, which worked well with Mimikyu because not all of the damage could be healed off with Mallow & Lana. Finally, Blitzle and Zebstrika were an additional out to Pidgey Control.

Match Recaps

Here were my matchups over the day:

R1: TinaChomp (João Pedro Medeiros) … WW … 1-0
R2: GardEon … WW … 2-0
R3: Malamar … LL … 2-1
R4: Green’s BuzzMosa … LWW … 3-1
R5: ADP … LL … 3-2
R6: ADP (Will Jenkins) … WW … 4-2
R7: GardEon … WW … 5-2
R8: Doll Stall … ID … 5-2-1
R9: Doll Stall … L … 5-3-1

Final Record: 5-3-1, 116th place

As you can see, my day was a little bumpy. My first ADP opponent more or less destroyed me, but Will had a bit of a slower start, and I was able to take a close win. We didn’t respect Malamar or Doll Stall enough for the deck to have been able to win the tournament, but sometimes the meta shapes up that way. In all honesty, I’m fairly confident that I would have made Day 2 had I not ended my day with 2 Doll Stall decks. I chose to tech for Pidgey Control over Doll Stall, and that was the right choice looking at the Day 2 decks, but not for the first day. Such is life, I suppose.

Going Forward

A brief precursor to this section: This deck is pretty hard to play correctly. ADP and Malamar are both close matchups and require correct searches, sequencing, and attacker ordering to gain a win. For some, that may be a big detractor, but I had an absolute blast playing this deck for a weekend and I’d recommend it for future Cups and Regionals, with some practice. Here’s how I’d build it for the rest of UPR–CEC:

The changes include:

• -1 Mew UNB
  -1 Spell Tag
  +1 Absol TEU
  +1 Hoopa UNM
• -1 Energy Switch
  -1 Reset Stamp
  +1 Choice Helmet
  +1 Marshadow UNB
• -1 Mysterious Treasure
  +1 Pokémon Communication
• -1 Blitzle LOT
  -1 Zebstrika LOT
  +1 Electropower
  +1 Cyrus p

These changes mainly respect ADP’s and Malamar’s positions in the metagame, while taking a more difficult Control matchup on all sides. Choice Helmet is required if an ADP deck tries to use two consecutive Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX against you following an Altered Creation-GX attack, while also having utility against Garchomp & Giratina-GX in Malamar and paired with Green’s Exploration. Absol TEU, Hoopa UNM, and Cyrus p are all answers to smaller, 1-Prize decks like Blacephalon and Malamar, which also have utility against Pidgey Control and Doll Stall.

Speaking of Doll Stall, if you want to have a very good matchup against it, all you need to include is 3–4 Custom Catcher and an Oranguru UPR. I’d probably cut 1 Electropower, 1 Great Catcher, 1 Steven’s Resolve, Cyrus p, and Faba for those 5 cards.

I want to focus more on the Expanded format for this article, so I won’t be going in-depth on all the matchups, but you’re more than welcome to leave a comment or message me on Twitter/Facebook (Em Taylor) if you have any questions.

Treasures & Traps: Post-Bans Edition

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I’d be remiss if I didn’t start this section with a shout-out to Drew Cate; in my last Treasures & Traps section, I said that Green’s Exploration decks are very unlikely to win a Regional tournament, and the man picked up GardEon and proved me wrong. So, with that being said, when I say something is a “trap,” I want to make it very clear that I personally dislike the deck’s matchups or overall position, but not that the deck should be strictly disrespected going into a given tournament. If you have a bad matchup to a “trap” deck, make sure that you account for it if it’s expected to show up in high numbers. With that being said, let’s hop into it!

Treasure: Ultra Necrozma Variants

Reference List: Luke Morsa / Celio’s Network

For those of you who don’t know, Ultra Necrozma CEC has been receiving a lot of hype in Expanded with the addition of Cosmic Eclipse to the already-gargantuan card pool. This is due to Guzma & Hala being able to search out Double Dragon Energy, Silent Lab (to shut off Ultra Necrozma’s Ultra Burst Ability), and a Tool to attach to Garbodor BKP or pivot Ultra Necrozma into the Active.

There’s many lists circulating around on YouTube and Facebook groups right now, but my personal go-to for a starting place would be Luke Morsa’s on his channel, Celio’s Network. Luke chose to omit any 2-Prize attackers, but the deck could also very easily fit an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX or a plethora of other hard-hitting Dragon attackers. The deck can also abuse Unit Energy LPM to use Garbodor GRI, creating a very fast, hard-hitting, lock deck.

This deck’s speed and ability to simply Garbotoxin + N to 1 or 2 cards means that it’s one of the top contenders heading into Dallas Regionals.

Trap: Night March

Reference List: Le Bui, 13th @ Portland

Some of you may be surprised to know that I actually chose to play Night March with a Swampert CES for my only Expanded tournament of the year, Richmond Regionals. The deck felt very alright to me over the course of the tournament, but it was just that: alright. I missed Points then, and despite a solid Day 2 showing in Portland, I’m not convinced that Night March has what it takes to succeed in Expanded . The deck has always struggled with the aforementioned Garbotoxin + N to 1 or 2, as well as Item lock and Vileplume BUS.

While this deck really only loses Marshadow SLG from the new ban list, it consequently loses a lot of early-game disruption and upset potential against its bad matchups. Besides, Halloween is behind us; it’s time to let the pumpkins, lamps, and spiders go.

Treasure: Shock Lock

Reference List: Zak Turchansky, 10th @ Portland

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’m a fan of any deck with Pikachu in it. Zak Turchansky has already written a lot on this deck, and he was able to place 10th at Portland Regionals with his patented deck. The main reason why I like Shock Lock now is because of the ban of Reset Stamp, Marshadow SLG, and Red Card. Red Card and Marshadow hurt this setup-heavy deck’s early game, while Reset Stamp disrupted or decked out Shock Lock in the mid to late game. All of those cards are gone now, and that means that Shock Lock literally cannot be disrupted once there is a Stoutland in the Active. I’ve always liked Shock Lock’s ability to play off its own board state, like solitaire, which rewards careful testing and practice.

The only downsides of Shock Lock is that it lost Lusamine and that Garbodor decks are receiving hype, but it can compensate for that by playing additional Pal Pad and Cynthia & Caitlin. Of course, we have our resident Shock Lock expert Jonathan Croxton on staff here at SixPrizes, and I’m sure he’ll have more to add as we get closer to Dallas.

Trap: PikaRom

Reference List: Derrick Hong, 7th @ Portland

PikaRom is coming off a big Top 8 finish at Portland Regionals, but I’m afraid that I’m not convinced of its potency in the Expanded format. The deck feels very outclassed by just about everything right now, and has the unfortunate downside of sharing a Weakness with the ever-popular Zoroark-GX/Garbodor and Turbo Dark decks. The 1-Prize variants like Ultra Necrozma and Night March trade too efficiently with it, while the other TAG TEAM decks hit harder or heal faster. I believe that PikaRom did well because of its ability to deal with Control decks and Alolan Exeggutor decks, but the post-ban format has better options for fast, tanky attackers. This deck is also a victim of the Marshadow ban, which was a massive loss for this deck’s disruption options throughout the game.

Treasure: Turbo Dark

Reference List: Kian Amini, 9th @ Portland

Contrary to PikaRom, I believe that the proven Greninja & Zoroark-GX, or “Turbo Dark,” decks are still a great pick going into Dallas Regionals. I love how the deck has options for moving Energy, playing literally any Dark-type Evolution attacker, and adjustable techs to deal with whatever the format throws at it. One cute concept I’ve been working with is Tyranitar-GX, which offers potent spread potential and equal HP to Greninja & Zoroark-GX. One could also include Incineroar-GX, Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX, or Umbreon & Darkrai-GX moving forward.

The deck hits like a truck, utilizes 1-Prize attackers efficiently, and gains from the new TAG TEAM cards that Cosmic Eclipse has to offer. In addition, new aggressive options like Great Catcher make hampering your opponent’s early game board even easier. This deck, like many others, loses Marshadow, but the deck is so consistent throughout the game and can deal with its bad matchups efficiently enough to be okay without it.

One Old, One New, One Red, One Blue: Two Concepts for Dallas Regionals

For the first time in what feels like a long time, I’m pretty excited to be playing Expanded. The bans really open up a lot of new venues to take with a variety of decks. In Dallas, I expect a few things:

1. First, I expect the format to revolve around powerful 1-Prize decks and how TAG TEAM and GX decks can slow them down in the mid to late game.
2. Second, I expect to see a continued reliance on Special Energy cards thanks to Guzma & Hala.
3. Finally, I expect to see less Control variants, due to the losses of Lusamine, Reset Stamp, and Chip-Chip Ice Axe.

While I don’t plan on giving detailed matchup spreads this early before a tournament, as with earlier lists, you’re welcome to ask questions on social media or as a comment down below. With that being said, here’s two concepts for Dallas!

Magikarp & Wailord-GX Stall

Now, I know there’s a lot to unpack in list list, but it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give credit to William Woodard, who placed 58th at last season’s Dallas Regionals with a similar deck, even beating me in the first round.

Essentially, this deck aims to make your TAG TEAM attackers as bulky as possible and to avoid knockouts until you can discard all your opponent’s Energy. Its consistency engine is one that focuses on using Steven’s Resolve to establish your board in the early game, and Tropical Beach to sustain the mid-to-late game. Oranguru, Cynthia & Caitlin, and Pal Pad all serve to recycle Team Rocket’s Handiwork (which I’ve chosen to include over Bellelba & Brycen-Man due to its lack of drawback) and deck your opponent out.

One oddity that you may have noticed is that the deck features a neat 1-1/1 Honchkrow-GX/Dusk Stone line. The main strategy in mind here is to Steven’s Resolve against Special Energy-heavy decks for a few turns, until you have some combination of Murkrow, Dusk Stone, Counter Catcher, Acerola, and maybe Field Blower or Enhanced Hammer so that you lock something Active, and they can’t play Guzma, Float Stone, or any Energy to get around it. If your opponent chooses not to bench anything, wait for them to build up a hand and use Captivating Poké Puff to bench something vulnerable. From there, you should be able to use some combination of Hugh and Team Rocket’s Handiwork to deck them out. In these situations, Team Skull Grunt is a great option to make sure that you get rid of all their options to attack, and then you can transition into an Oranguru loop to seal up the game. Be sure to be wary of cards like Special Charge, Super Rod, and Brock’s Grit though. If your opponent has a big hand, feel free to go for an Unfair-GX to try and discard these cards. This strategy can be used against a variety of decks, as long as they bench something that can’t attack (or attack efficiently, for that matter).

If your opponent has too many Energy on one Pokémon, Lucario & Melmetal-GX’s Full Metal Wall-GX+ can serve as a quick discarding option, or as a nice wall option in the mid-to-late game, if you want to start applying pressure by attacking. Be wary of Pokémon Ranger, as it can negate your GX attack. It’s a slow path, but if your opponent can’t attack anyway, what’s the harm?

One important part of this deck is always forcing your opponent to take as many Prizes as possible. For example, if you start a 1-Prize attacker, you’re going to want to force your opponent through two full TAG TEAM Pokémon to force a 7-Prize game, and if you start a TAG TEAM or a Wailord-EX, you’re going to want to force your opponent to go through 8 Prizes.

There are some possible considerations for cards in this deck:

• One that William played was Rough Seas, in an effort to continue healing against decks if they miss a turn of attacking.
• Another would be AZ, which would allow for a different type of pivoting besides Mallow & Lana.
• Karen could be good if Vespiquen or Night March see lots of play.
• Choice Helmet or Weakness Policy are both Tools that could be used to limit damage output from other decks.
• Finally, more Cynthia & Caitlin or Pal Pad could be warranted to increase the ease of using Team Rocket’s Handiwork.

This is a fairly rough list, because San Diego Regionals was just a few weeks ago. However, I feel that Stall has a place to shine, now that Zoroark-GX and Pidgey Control decks have received significant nerfs to their strategies. Honchkrow-GX can prey on a lot of the Special Energy-based decks, like Ultra Necrozma, and occasionally just automatically win you games, if your opponent has no outs to its Ability. Magikarp & Wailord-GX is an absolutely massive Pokémon which can be difficult for slower decks or those with lower damage outputs.

Baby Blacephalon

As much fun as it is to draw–pass repeatedly against a frustrated opponent, I know many readers want to engage with the game and to deal massive amounts of damage. As I was looking through old lists and consistency engines, I stumbled upon Random Receiver, and was reminded of an old idea I had when the card was still Standard-legal: if there was one Supporter powerful enough to support an entire deck, Random Receiver would serve as a guaranteed out every time you drew it! With that in mind, I picked Welder as my Supporter of choice and built the list below.

Now, the entire point of this deck is to thin very quickly and deal a ton of damage with Welder and Blacephalon UNB. The deck then abuses Fire Crystal and Energy Retrieval to supplement damage output, and attempts to finish the game with Flareon-GX and Victini p. Counter Catcher is your big comeback option against TAG TEAM and GX decks, while Beast Bringer helps the Prize trade against ADP decks without having to play Pokémon Ranger.

Late-game N and Garbotoxin or Silent Lab can be a bit of an issue for this deck, but I’ve done my best to smooth out those problems. Roller Skates and Acro Bike let you see more cards, and if a Wishful Baton sticks, your opponent is suddenly in very bad shape. If you can establish a Flareon-GX and/or Victini p before your opponent starts locking you down, you effectively checkmate your opponent into using N or Guzma, thanks to the ban of Lt. Surge’s Strategy. Other mitigation strategies include potentially playing an Oranguru SUM or Lucky Helmet.

Some other cards I’ve considered:

• Blacephalon-GX for its Burst-GX attack.
• Shrine of Punishment to increase damage output, due to the high number of cards with 210 or 260 HP. (Shrine of Punishment could also be a Muscle Band or Choice Band, as both are searchable with Adventure Bag.)
• Counter Catcher and Great Catcher have both been in and out of my list for some gust effects, but as of right now, I’m settled on the “I’ll take 6 Prizes no matter what you throw at me” approach.
• Finally, I’ve considered playing Superior Energy Retrieval or a Super Rod to offer some additional recovery. I tried Rescue Stretcher, but it was too inconsistent for my liking.

If any of these options sound appealing, the Adventure Bag and 2nd Pal Pad are both flexible spots.

Between this and Stall, I’m a bigger fan of Blacephalon right now. The deck feels super strong in a Best-of-3 format, and can respond pretty well to a lot of the threats that other decks throw at it. The list is still being optimized, but this should provide a solid start for your testing.

Conclusion

Well, that’s going to wrap up my second article on SixPrizes! I started off with a dissection of the latest Pikachu & Zekrom-GX list, some post-bans Treasures & Traps, and two lists to get your testing going for Dallas Regionals. If you’d like to see a little more of my life, feel free to follow me on Twitter @Roarchomp or on Instagram @EmeryHTaylor.

As mentioned multiple times, feel free to reach out on any form of social media or leave a comment with any constructive criticism or questions you might have. I have an absolutely fantastic time putting these articles together for you, the reader, so thank you for working through over 3,000 words with me today (and, of course, thank you to Adam for reading through all of it). With the strain of the holidays, I know that I’ll need Dallas Regionals to give me a break from life, so come say hi there! I hope that your holiday season is joyful and warm; see you next time!

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