Hello again readers, I’m back with you after what has to be the biggest announcement for the TCG that has ever been made by TPCi: The season is over. Rebel Clash is now slated to be the least relevant set in history despite it having many playable cards. We now have zero reason to purchase the physical cards unless they are at extremely low prices, which is something that seems somewhat likely. There are of course unofficial events being run online that will eventually incorporate Rebel Clash, so the format isn’t completely and utterly useless. By the time the set roles out, I’m sure that there will be plenty of content on it, because plenty of people have nothing better to do than break the format.
As most of you probably know by now, Limitless is running a series of events in the coming months, and plenty of people are going to be playing them. I personally will not be playing them because of the format that they are being held in, which is Bo1 25-minute games in presumably 14 rounds with no ties. As many people know by now, I’ve pretty much exclusively played Salazzle Mill since the end of OCIC , and I don’t feel like playing a format that doesn’t allow my deck of choice to function. However, plenty of people aren’t addicted to Mill, so it works out for them quite well. Today I’m going to be talking about what deck I think is poised to do very well in the Limitless events.
Magcargo-GX (UPR–SSH)
Decklist
Pokémon (15) 1 Ditto p | Trainer (34) 4 Welder
2 Switch
| Energy (11) 11 R
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 15
* 4 Slugma CEC 26
* 3 Magcargo-GX LOT 44
* 2 Magcargo CES 24
* 1 Ditto p LOT 154
* 2 Oranguru SSH 148
* 1 Blacephalon-GX LOT 219
* 1 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Victini p DRM 7
##Trainer Cards - 34
* 4 Great Ball SLG 60
* 3 Pokémon Communication TEU 152
* 1 Fiery Flint DRM 60
* 1 Ordinary Rod SSH 171
* 2 Giant Hearth UNM 197
* 3 Pokémon Catcher
* 4 Welder UNB 189
* 1 Reset Stamp UNM 206
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 4 Fire Crystal UNB 173
* 1 Lysandre Labs FLI 111
* 2 Switch SSH 183
* 2 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 1 Island Challenge Amulet CEC 194
##Energy - 11
* 11 R Energy Energy 2
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=80237 ******
This has pretty much been my go-to deck when Mill is for some reason unplayable, and is definitely what I would be playing in the first Limitless event if I could convince myself the time investment was worth it. I’ve spent a decent amount of time with this list, and I think it has a pretty solid ADP matchup. ADP is the gatekeeper of the format, and will likely remain that way for a very long time, which is why I’m so bent on having a good matchup against it.
Card Choices
Slugma CEC
4-3/2 Magcargo w/A lot of people play Magma Ring Slugma CES in their lists rather than its higher HP CEC counterpart. I’ve chosen to play this one because Magma Ring is almost never going to achieve anything in a format where 3–4 Switch is ridiculously common. The extra 10 HP might seem like nothing, but against Malamar, it can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing. On top of that, having an attack that Burns is very helpful at times because it makes so much math better. Mewtwo & Mew-GX only takes 4 Energy to 1HKO after a turn one Burn, and if your opponent flips tails in ADP, it also lowers the discarded Energy count to 4 from 5.
I’m only running 3 copies of Magcargo-GX in this list because you should never need a 4th copy, and an Ordinary Rod is usually strictly superior.
Oranguru SSH
2I have yet to see a list that didn’t run 3 copies of Oranguru, but after playing many games, I have yet to find a situation where I ever need more than 2 in the deck, and can usually scrape by with only a single Oranguru in play. If you play well, you should only need to swap the topdeck once, unless you’re going to need to use Crushing Charge more than once to dig for a 1HKO. At this point, it’s somewhat difficult to even have a Bench like that while still attacking, but it does happen occasionally.
Blacephalon-GX
1I was initially skeptical of the card, but after a lot of games I have decided that it is definitely worth the slot that it takes. Burst-GX is amazing for finishing out games and there are times when Mind Blown ends up being your last attack as well. Playing the Blacephalon is part of why I’m so okay with playing only 3 Magcargo-GX.
Victini p
1Despite the fact that I love playing Mill, I dislike losing to it just as much as anyone else. Victini by itself is hardly enough to make it favorable, but having the ability to force your opponent to do even more milling than they initially have to is pretty good. I’ve considered changing this to an Oranguru UPR, as it should function similarly. However, Victini is also pretty good against Malamar as another attacker that doesn’t give up 2 Prize cards.
Fiery Flint
1I really don’t like this card in the deck because of how unnecessary it feels in around half of my games, but there are times where it is utterly broken. Other lists run more copies, but I’ve cut down to just a single copy of it. I’ve found that with Chaotic Swell being less and less common, Giant Hearth has been a good enough way to search out R Energies when I need them. The deck also just doesn’t have that many dead cards that can be discarded with Fiery Flint.
Ordinary Rod
1I mentioned this earlier, and I cannot fathom the reasoning behind not playing this in a deck that has so many discarding effects. On top of that, it is capable of putting R Energies back into the deck, which in the late game allows you to Smooth Over an Energy on top and use Crushing Charge without the need of Oranguru. This allows you to successfully Crushing Charge twice in a turn with no Oranguru in play. Ordinary Rod is also a pretty solid way of buying an extra turn against Mill, and allows me to get greedier with my Magcargo-GX and Oranguru counts.
Pokémon Catcher
3I hate flipping coins for a gust effect. I really do. However, Pokémon Catcher is superior to Custom Catcher in this deck because:
- you only need 1 copy at a time,
- it doesn’t take up 4 deck spaces, and
- it is slightly better against Mill because you usually get at least 2 chances to gust rather than just 1.
Also, I’m not playing Ninetales TEU over Pokémon Catchers because of the amount of Energy required to attack and still use Nine Temptations.
Reset Stamp
1Stamp is something that belongs in the deck that literally lets you grab it anytime in the game. People complain about not having their 1 Reset Stamp when they need it, in Magcargo you always have access to it unless you were forced to discard it in the early game.
Lysandre Labs
1There are actually so many uses for this in the current format that it’s mind-blowing to me that it sees such a small amount of play. As always, I have the concept of beating ADP in the forefront of my mind. Metal Frying Pan has started to see a lot more play than it used to, and that makes it remarkably harder to win the matchup, although the addition of Blacephalon-GX does make it much more feasible to do. Lysandre Labs has more than one purpose though. It breaks through Spell Tags and ignores Big Charm and Island Challenge Amulet.
Island Challenge Amulet
1This card is incredibly broken, but not to the point that more than 1 ever feels correct. The only real usage this card has is against ADP and the mirror match, and only one of those matters very much. The goal here is to limit your Bench to no extra Pokémon-GX after your opponent KOs your first Magcargo, and then attach Amulet to force another turn. Of course, you could also play the Amulet on your first Magcargo-GX.
Potential Inclusions
Oranguru UPR
I mentioned this earlier as a replacement for Victini p, and I think it’s somewhat viable. In theory, it should buy you enough Pokémon Catchers to win the game against Mill. However, against other matchups it is unlikely that you would be able to find time to actually use Resource Management and still be in the game long enough to reap the benefits of the recycled cards.
Marnie/Cynthia
2I really dislike the amount of discard and draw effects in the deck, but there’s no denying the benefits of burning through your deck at a fast pace. However, there are times where you have to discard vital cards in the process, so it is entirely possible that a shuffle-draw engine is better than Professor’s Research.
Bellelba & Brycen-Man
Ever wanted to mill 8 cards at once when you’re not even a Mill deck? Now you can! If you play Bellelba in your list, the Mill matchup becomes pretty solid assuming your opponent is unaware of the Bellelba. There is also a niche use against ADP where you use it to remove all extra Pokémon-GX from your side of the board.
Pal Pad
1Sometimes you need one last Welder to close out the game, and Pal Pad is the best way to do it. There’s really not much else to say about it.
Matchup Spread
ADP: Favored
This matchup is by far the most important one right now, and as long as you draw decently well, you should have no problem winning it. The game plan is essentially to take a 1HKO on their ADP before they are able to use Ultimate Ray. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t even get to use their GX attack, but that’s a bit unrealistic. You’ll want to execute the plan I talked about with Island Challenge Amulet, and once you’ve KO’d a Zacian, it’s a simple conclusion with Burst-GX or a regular KO.
Mewtwo/Welder: Favored
This matchup pretty much comes down to how fast you are able to take your first TAG TEAM KO. You need to race your opponent to 6 Prize cards, and you need to do it pretty fast. Blacephalon-GX comes in handy here if your opponent tries to buy a few turns to set up with multiple Jirachi or a Dedenne-GX. There will be games that you lose because you draw badly and are ultimately unable to keep up with your opponent, but overall you should be winning this matchup more often than not.
Spell Tags: Slightly Unfavored
Malamar/This matchup is probably the only reason Magcargo wasn’t sweeping what events we had. Your goal is going to be to survive long enough to steal 6 Prizes before your opponent wins. It’s not easy, but it’s certainly doable. Oranguru and Victini p are functional single-Prize attackers here, and ironically, an early Welder to Oranguru is pretty good for taking your first Prize card or two. The game basically comes down to how fast your opponent sets up and whether or not you were able to get an early Prize card, flip heads on Pokémon Catcher to avoid Spell Tags, and if your were able to trap them with Blacephalon-GX in the last turns of the game. The “trap” is just playing down the Blacephalon-GX with 2 Prizes left and using Burst-GX. If they over-benched, you should win the game the next turn because they should be unable to KO anything.
Final Thoughts
Everyone is going through a lot right now, and Pokémon is going to be taking a back seat in a lot of people’s priorities for a while. The news that the season has been officially canceled may be soul-crushing now, but ultimately it was the decision that needed to be made. There are a lot of unanswered questions in relation to next season, but I personally don’t see the need to rush a solution out to answer these questions. We have at least 4–5 months before we can even play in sanctioned events again, and I would much rather have a well-thought-out solution to the issues that are going to occur because of the “continuation” of the season into the 2021 season.
It’s times like this that we can use to do other things with ourselves and do things that we wouldn’t have done before. I know that a lot of people have turned to old formats in Pokémon to help deal with everything (see: “Unlimited’s Wrath”), and this is something that I myself will probably be doing much more of in the coming months. Ultimately, everyone needs to figure out for themselves what’s best for them when it comes to staying mentally sound in the coming months.
I look forward to the end of this crisis and hope that everyone is able to take care of themselves throughout these times.
As always, feel free to message me with any questions that you might have about anything related to Pokémon. I also offer coaching! (We have a lot time on our hands, might as well get better at Pokémon). Either email me (alex.schemanske@gmail.com) or PM me if interested.
Stay safe everyone, and until the next one.
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