Hello all, I’m back with one final article before Collinsville Regionals , which is approaching quickly! I’ve continued having the fun that I wrote about in my last article with Expanded. While the new first turn rule can lead to some short-lived games, the change feels healthy overall and adds another element of skill.
Today, I’ll be covering my top pick for Collinsville Regionals, and a special Treasures & Traps segment in which I drop my personal lists for each “Treasure” deck. So, without further ado, let’s check it out.
Zacian V
ChaoticI know that fellow author Jonathan Croxton wrote about this very same deck yesterday, but I still think it’s important to cover my iteration of the list because it feels different enough and uses a few different strategies in certain matchups. While Jonathan went for a more aggressive approach, using cards like Sky Field and no Tapu Lele-GX, I’ve been finding success with a more methodical version of the deck. Here’s what I have sleeved up right now:
Decklist
Pokémon (14) 1 Ditto p 3 Zacian V | Trainer (35) 2 Guzma 1 N
| Energy (11) 11 M
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 14
* 1 Ditto p LOT 154
* 1 Copperajah SSH 137
* 1 Galarian Rapidash SSH 82
* 3 Zacian V SSH 138
* 2 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Dhelmise GRI 59
* 1 Keldeo-EX BCR 49
* 1 Lucario & Melmetal-GX UNB 120
* 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 1 Sudowoodo GRI 66
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
##Trainer Cards - 35
* 1 Dowsing Machine PLS 128
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 2 Ultra Ball
* 1 N DEX 96
* 3 Professor Juniper PLB 84
* 2 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 2 Guzma BUS 115
* 3 Max Elixir BKP 102
* 3 Float Stone PLF 99
* 2 Choice Band GRI 121
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 3 VS Seeker PHF 109
##Energy - 11
* 11 M Energy SMEnergy 8
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=79673 ******
Key Cards
Lucario & Melmetal-GX
1I’ve seen a ton of players on the Expanded PTCG Online ladder try to put an Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX into their deck, alongside Water or Double Dragon Energy. If there’s one thing you take away from this article, do not play ADP-GX with Zacian V in Expanded. The card does not fix your Prize trade, and your damage output is already enough to out-trade most TAG TEAM GX decks in the format.
Lucario & Melmetal-GX, however, is a different case. I like how the card can win games with a simple attachment and a Metal Saucer or Max Elixir against unsuspecting Counter Box decks. One concept I’ve seen floating around is a Counter Energy version of Zacian V, featuring attackers like Entei CEC and Sudowoodo BKP. Personally, I dislike playing any kind of Special Energy with Zacian V, and if any deck playing counter attackers chooses to omit Pokémon Ranger, they no longer win the Prize trade. The second effect of Full Metal Wall-GX can also win you games by slowing your opponent down in the early game or completely wiping their Energy off the board in the late game. On top of all that, it can force 8-Prize-card games and trade well reasonably well with 1-Prize attackers. Finally, it’s a great attacker against Control and Stall decks, because it Knocks Out Robo Substitute and Lillie’s Poké Doll and reattaches Energy to itself, and due to the smaller amounts of Hoopa SLG (which would otherwise block it).
Ditto p, 1 Copperajah SSH, 1 Galarian Rapidash SSH
1This is a part of the deck that I’m most shaky about. Copperajah absolutely runs through Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX decks, and can serve as a very solid 1-Prize attacker in the mirror match and against other 2- or 3-Prize decks. It’s also nice that Metal Saucer can be used to attach to Copperajah.
I really do like Galarian Rapidash in the deck for beating Shock Lock (which strikes me as a great play for this event, by the way, assuming people leave their techs at home) and for aiding the Turbo Dark matchup. While I’ve brought up Shock Lock, I know that Alolan Muk shuts off Ditto p. However, if you go first, you should be able to establish both parts of the Galarian Rapidash line on your second turn with enough digging. If they go first, you should still be able to establish Galarian Rapidash by turn two assuming that they don’t find a complete lock in Rare Candy, Stoutland, Alolan Muk, and Raichu on their second turn, but if they do that, then you’ve lost regardless of tech slots in the deck. It doesn’t make rational sense to me to play a separate 1-1 line of both Stage 1s—I feel as though these slots are already wasted in enough matchups that adding a 4th card to shore up the Shock Lock matchup isn’t worth it. We’ll talk about alternatives to this line in a bit.
Dedenne-GX, 1 Shaymin-EX ROS, 1 Tapu Lele-GX
2Jonathan chose to play 2 Shaymin-EX and 1 Dedenne-GX, due to his more aggressive approach to the deck. I’m personally not a huge fan of Shaymin-EX in Expanded right now. So many cards can swing the Prize trade in their favor with a cheap knockout on it, and certain cards like Guzzlord CEC downright abuse the Gratitude Pokémon. It’s also not as powerful on the first turn, where I’d rather Dedenne-GX and dig for more cards, or on the second turn, where it’s preferable to go for a Dedechange into a Professor Juniper. While it’s worth playing for digging just a touch harder from time to time, I vastly prefer the 2nd Dedenne-GX over a 2nd Shaymin-EX.
Chaotic Swell
2Chaotic Swell, in my eyes, is one of the big reasons that Hunter Butler won Dallas Regionals last month. The card abuses the format’s reliance on Sky Field and Dimension Valley, while taking advantage of the relatively low counts of Field Blower in most decks. The card also pairs extremely well with Sudowoodo GRI against Snorlax VMAX decks, which can struggle to find Field Blower, Sky Field, and Alolan Muk in the first few turns of the game. I also don’t like Sky Field in Zacian V decks because of its utility for the opponent, which can hurt when they find their Sudowoodo GRI before you can find yours. Silent Lab and the decks it’s played in can be a huge pain for this deck to work through, and playing Chaotic Swell is extremely effective against those strategies.
Crucial Considerations
Cufant SSH, 1 Galarian Ponyta SSH or 2 Stealthy Hood, 1 Wobbuffet PHF, 1 Cobalion-GX
1As I mentioned before, these are alternatives I’m considering compared to the cards I mentioned above. As I mentioned before, I don’t see myself playing both Cufant and Galarian Ponyta, but I could definitely see myself playing one of them and their respective evolution. Cufant does have the added benefit of being able to use Metal Saucer, which is worth noting.
The second package is an additional out to Shock Lock, Wobbuffet, and RowEgg decks. While I’m still unsure about Wobbuffet, Stealthy Hood is an awesome card in Expanded right now and allows you to push through a number of strategies which try to slow down your turbo strategy.
Kartana-GX
I like Kartana-GX. I had it in my last article, and I still think the card is still extremely good in tight matchups for securing the last Prize. Its Ability, Slice Off, serves as an Enhanced Hammer, and can pair well with N in the late game to provide some disruption. Despite this, I don’t think that it’s worth playing in conjunction with Lucario & Melmetal-GX. I could see myself playing both of these cards if further testing indicates a need for it, but it feels like a win-more card at the moment.
Dhelmise GRI or Professor Kukui
2ndJonathan played a 2nd Dhelmise and I empathize with his want for a more definite way to hit 270 or a way to reach 280 damage. Right now, I’m playing the odds a bit by playing 1 Dhelmise and assuming that I can keep it out of my Prizes in the matchups I need it in. As long as I play Tapu Lele-GX, I would probably opt for a 2nd Professor Kukui in most matchups—the 2nd Dhelmise seems like it’ll be a dead card too often, and Bench space is at a premium with this deck—but the 2nd Dhelmise has its perks as a comfort card.
AZ or Acerola
The last consideration I’ve vacillated back and forth on is some form of healing in this deck. Lucario & Melmetal-GX means that your opponent will start struggling to Knock you Out, provided they don’t play Pokémon Ranger, and Acerola certainly has its uses against 1-Prize decks that try to 2-shot a Zacian V. AZ and Acerola can also serve as switching outs, which is worth considering. Right now, I’m running on the assumption that I can trade well enough with any other deck to omit healing, but I’ll be packing these two “class-A” cards along with me for Collinsville.
Treasures & Traps: Collinsville Edition
Welcome back to another edition of Treasures & Traps! As mentioned above, I have the current list I’ve been working with over the last few weeks when I haven’t been working with Zacian V lists. As I’ve noted in the past, the decks listed as Traps are not bad decks; in fact, I’ll be respecting both decks that I’ve listed as Traps below going into the event. However, I think most people will respect these decks, or at least have counters to them, which makes me dislike them as options for Collinsville. Let’s get right into it.
Treasure: RoxieChomp
Pokémon (18) | Trainer (35) 2 Roxie 1 Acerola 1 Faba 1 Guzma 1 N
| Energy (7) 3 L
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 18
* 1 Koffing CEC 76
* 2 Weezing CEC 77
* 1 Noibat UNM 158
* 1 Noivern-GX BUS 99
* 2 Exeggcute PLF 4
* 2 Garchomp & Giratina-GX UNM 146
* 1 Comfey GRI 93
* 1 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Galarian Zigzagoon SSH 117
* 1 Giratina LOT 97
* 1 Mimikyu CEC 97
* 1 Naganadel & Guzzlord-GX CEC 158
* 1 Shaymin-EX ROS 106
* 1 Tapu Koko p TEU 51
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
##Trainer Cards - 35
* 3 Mysterious Treasure FLI 113
* 1 Computer Search BCR 137
* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 3 Trainers’ Mail ROS 92
* 1 N FCO 105
* 1 Acerola BUS 112
* 1 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 2 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
* 1 Guzma BUS 115
* 2 Roxie CEC 205
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 3 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 2 Fighting Fury Belt BKP 99
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 2 Float Stone BKT 137
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 1 Faba LOT 173
##Energy - 7
* 3 L Energy Energy 4
* 4 Double Dragon Energy ROS 97
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=79673 ******
This is currently my second pick for Collinsville. As you can see, there’s not a ton of differences in my list from what we saw Hunter Butler win with in Dallas. One major boon from Sword & Shield for the deck is Galarian Zigzagoon, which takes pressure off of hitting the Roxie/Weezing combo every turn, and allows for even more explosive first turns. I’ve considered a 2nd copy of this card because of its utility in the more fast-paced matchups. Another change I’ve made is a 2nd Fighting Fury Belt for its importance in the Zacian V matchup, a choice that can be a hindrance in the Mewtwo & Mew-GX and mirror matchups. Luckily, I think that Mewtwo & Mew-GX is almost completely dead in Expanded—or, at least, as we know it.
Generally speaking, RoxieChomp is a deck that just makes sense to me. It trades well with 2- and 3-Prize attackers, while still being able to lock out 1-Prize decks. Roxie is an insanely good card with Exeggcute, and Quick Ball just speeds up the aggressive nature of the deck. The only real coinflip that this deck faces is Zacian V, but the matchup is certainly winnable if RoxieChomp can consistently answer Zacian V’s pressure. The deck had no answers outside of Hoopa SLG in Dallas, but with Control decks getting a nerf in the form of Pokémon V, RoxieChomp only gains a better matchup spread. I don’t have a lot to add beyond that: the deck just feels good and trades well with what I expect to see in Collinsville.
Trap: Turbo Dark
I can’t think of another single deck that was as hyped as Turbo Dark was for Dallas Regionals this season. The deck was so hyped that people started to play decks that lost to most decks in the field, like Lucario-GX, simply due to the deck’s ability to beat Turbo Dark. It makes sense, too; the deck has always been good because of its relatively high skill level, diversity of attackers, and basic Energy engine. Despite all of these massive boons, the deck has felt very mediocre to me in testing leading up to this point. Can it beat any deck in the format? Sure! But for that to happen, it all too often feels like the Turbo Dark player needs to hit a perfect combination of cards (or the opponent needs to whiff an attack) for the Turbo Dark player to win. This happens for a variety of reasons; sometimes, there’s awkward discards from Dedenne-GX and Professor Juniper. Sometimes, you whiff on all of your crucial Max Elixir or get shut down by cards like Sudowoodo GRI. It doesn’t help that the deck gets countered by many of the things that also counter Zacian V. However, the deck can struggle even harder with 1-Prize variants as well as many of the new variants coming out of Sword & Shield, including Snorlax VMAX.
All of this is to say that for any time a deck is as hyped as Turbo Dark was for Dallas Regionals, it should be able to do well enough to beat the decks that arise to counter it. Instead, the decks that rose to counter it—like GardEon, RowEgg, and RoxieChomp—all beat the deck handily in Dallas, and there’s not a lot of techs that can be easily fit in to shore up those matchups.
The deck failed to even reach the Top 8, with Grant Manley’s 12th place finish being the highest. So, with the deck previously not living up to expectations, my current testing, and the new, not-so-great matchups from Sword & Shield, I don’t like Turbo Dark as a play for Collinsville Regionals.
Treasure: Ultra Necrozma
Pokémon (13) | Trainer (40) 1 Cynthia 1 Guzma 1 N
| Energy (7) 3 Counter
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 13
* 3 Remoraid BKT 31
* 2 Octillery BKT 33
* 1 Alolan Grimer SUM 57
* 1 Alolan Muk SUM 58
* 4 Ultra Necrozma CEC 164
* 1 Mimikyu TEU 112
* 1 Sudowoodo BKP 67
##Trainer Cards - 40
* 3 Mysterious Treasure FLI 113
* 1 N PR-BLW 100
* 2 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 1 Pokémon Ranger STS 104
* 4 Professor Sycamore BKP 107
* 2 Level Ball
* 3 Nest Ball SUM 123
* 1 Cynthia UPR 119
* 2 Teammates PRC 141
* 1 Special Charge STS 105
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 1 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 Silent Lab PRC 140
* 1 Hypnotoxic Laser PLS 123
* 1 Choice Band GRI 121
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 3 Float Stone BKT 137
* 1 Dowsing Machine PLS 128
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 2 Ultra Ball
##Energy - 7
* 3 Counter Energy CIN 100
* 4 Double Dragon Energy ROS 97
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=79673 ******
Okay, okay; I know what you’re thinking. I spent a solid amount of time tearing into this deck in my post-Dallas article for being too fair, amongst other complaints. However, many of the things that hurt this deck going into Dallas are now less of a problem. The primary example of this is the decline of Mewtwo & Mew-GX, which caused problems for the deck before, with its spread potential and both of Noivern-GX’s attacks. In addition to this, Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX decks are now borderline unplayable because of Zacian V, which was another tough matchup for the deck.
Now, however, a Counter Energy engine, combined with additional Ball search cards, helps this deck feel a little more unfair sometimes. The main issue for this deck, as it was in Dallas, is that it cannot truly beat Control or Stall variants, because of its reliance on Special Energy. This version of the deck also folds to Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX and Honchkrow-GX (should Honchkrow-GX show up, which I doubt it will) variants. But, counting aside those matchups, Ultra Necrozma can trade extremely well with a vast majority of the attacking field. One reason I like Ultra Necrozma for this event in particular is that a ton of the lock-type strategies feel worse because of the sheer number of aggressive strategies in Expanded, like RoxieChomp and Zacian V. Just like its Energy, Ultra Necrozma counters the most aggressive, tier one decks, while struggling with the second and third tier strategies.
Trap: RowEgg/Vileplume Variants
This is a deck that my testing group initially hopped on as one of the top dogs for Collinsville because of the rule change, but as further testing has gone on, the deck has fallen out of our favor. Similar to Turbo Dark, in theory, the deck should be so good! No Basic attacks, no Items, and access to healing, Special Energy denial, and a powerful turn two lock. In practice, though, the deck couldn’t easily fit Rillabloom SSH and ultimately struggles to establish enough attackers in the more aggressive matchups. All of this is compounded by the fact that the deck now needs to play Items, and you have a deck that looks great on paper but doesn’t work in reality.
What I will say for Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX, though, is that the deck feels like a bit of a gatekeeper going into Collinsville. There are a ton of tier two decks—Ultra Necrozma being one of the ones I’ve mentioned— that simply concede to the Vileplume BUS or quick Item lock. Despite this, more often than not, I’ll find myself locking Items with Vileplume AOR, then staring down the barrel of a TAG TEAM GX or Zacian V and getting blown up before I can muster a boardstate to compete. JW Kriewall took advantage of a slower format in Richmond when he, and a number of other players, caught the tournament by storm. Despite this notch on the deck’s belt, when everyone knows it exists, Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX ends up getting burned. I don’t like decks that feel rigid and linear in the Expanded format—unless what they do is completely unfair—and Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX feels far too fair for my liking.
Treasure: Snorlax
Pokémon (24) 1 Ditto p | Trainer (32) 2 Winona 1 AZ 1 Colress 1 Guzma 1 N
| Energy (4)
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 24
* 4 Minccino NXD 84
* 3 Cinccino SSH 147
* 3 Snorlax V SSH 141
* 2 Snorlax VMAX SSH 142
* 1 Alolan Grimer SUM 57
* 1 Alolan Muk SUM 58
* 1 Galarian Ponyta SSH 81
* 1 Galarian Rapidash SSH 82
* 2 Exeggcute PLF 4
* 2 Shaymin-EX ROS 77
* 1 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Ditto p LOT 154
* 1 Tapu Lele-GX GRI 60
* 1 Sudowoodo GRI 66
##Trainer Cards - 32
* 1 Computer Search BCR 137
* 2 Float Stone PLF 99
* 2 Winona ROS 96
* 4 Sky Field ROS 89
* 1 Colress PLS 118
* 1 N
* 3 Max Potion BKP 103
* 1 AZ PHF 91
* 1 Guzma BUS 115
* 4 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 1 Special Charge STS 105
* 1 Pokémon Ranger STS 104
* 4 Ultra Ball
* 1 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 1 Mysterious Treasure FLI 113
* 2 Field Blower GRI 125
* 1 Rescue Stretcher GRI 130
* 1 Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92
##Energy - 4
* 4 Triple Acceleration Energy UNB 190
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=79673 ******
Finally, we have a deck that’s been receiving a solid amount of hype for Collinsville Regionals, Snorlax VMAX. This deck primarily prides itself on its high HP, massive damage output, and tech space. I’ve found myself really enjoying Snorlax VMAX the more I play it, because there are certain games where you just slam down a 340-HP monster and blow through your opponent’s board. The Winona/Colress engine accompanied by Make Do makes for a fairly consistent engine overall, and I like the deck’s ability to play cards like Galarian Rapidash and Alolan Muk.
However, what holds this deck back is a similar problem to what I mentioned with Ultra Necrozma before: the deck can’t really beat Control or Stall variants. One concept I’ve considered is basic Energy with an Oranguru UPR, but that runs into the issue that your Triple Acceleration Energy can be eliminated from play by Girafarig LOT, which is a massive headache. With enough teching, the deck might be able to beat Control, but I’m not exactly optimistic about its chances. It also gets beaten down hard by Sudowoodo BKP, which can be a serious issue for the deck. One idea is playing Buff Padding, so that you can get through a Sudowoodo BKP’s return attack, but most counter-attacking decks also play Field Blower and Teammates, so the odds of that strategy working out seem relatively low. However, you “out-trade” (out-Make-Do didn’t quite sound right) vast majority of the format, and can take hit numbers not accessible by decks like Zacian V or Turbo Dark. Snorlax VMAX is another deck that feels really good, but can struggle against certain decks and techs that one might not necessarily expect to see.
Conclusion
Well, that’s going to wrap up my final words before Collinsville Regionals. Although I’m fairly confident that I’ll settle on Zacian V in some variety, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed testing a wide range of decks leading up to this event. It’s the first time in a long time, anyway, that I’ve really felt like the ideas flowed freely, and I’ve had a real rush of motivation to work hard for this event.
Of course, there are all of the usual parting words: if you have any questions, my direct messages are open on Twitter, or you can message me on Facebook at Em Taylor. If you see me in Collinsville, please come up and say hi and let me know how your day is going! I love creating these articles for all of you, and I’m honored anytime someone has the kindness to share kind words or constructive criticism with me. I hope your February is going great, and I’ll see everyone in Collinsville for the very end of it!
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Alex Wittler
You say 2nd Kukui at one point in your article; no Kukui are in your list. Is this a typo?
Emery Taylor
Yes, it is. Good catch! I meant 1 Professor Kukui. The article is updated!