From Here to There

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Hello to all SixPrizes readers! In my last article I was commenting on possibilities on how to improve your skills as a player during this hard time that we are going through. After a month, the whole world has better adapted to the situation and realized the need to stay at home, favoring social isolation. With that, new ideas burgeoned and competitive Pokémon TCG has started to be practiced more and more over the internet. Some small online tournaments have formed and I noticed that more players have started to livestream (including me) as a way to keep the game alive and interesting.

The biggest highlight of all this change is certainly the Limitless Online Series, where we had an online tournament with almost 1,000 players! It is without a doubt the biggest Pokémon TCG online tournament ever held. Being able to play in a world-class tournament with the best players in the world without having to leave home is really fascinating, no matter how much it is an online tournament. In my view, this tournament could be the beginning of a beautiful Pokémon TCG story with the virtual environment.

The Limitless Online Series aroused the interest of many competitive players to compete again, and I personally was very excited. With that in mind, in my article today will talk about my experience in this tournament with Lapras VMAX, a deck that is not Tier 1 but is fun and can do well in the right metagame.

Why Lapras VMAX?

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As I said in my previous article, my goal since the pandemic started was basically to explore the Pokémon TCG more and get myself playing outside the metagame a little bit. In a nutshell, this could improve my skills as a player and deckbuilder, and it would still be quite fun, as I like to play with different ideas.

Lapras VMAX is not yet a Tier 1 deck, mainly for consistency reasons, but it is a very strong card, and when the deck works it has the potential to beat anything. Besides, I was expecting a doable metagame for it in Limitless Qualifier #1, where I predicted few PikaRom, the biggest nemesis of Lapras.

The Limitless Online Series is divided into four qualifying tournaments, which means that we have four chances to qualify for the final tournament, the Limitless Invitational. In that first qualifying tournament I decided to try something different.

I will explain more about Lapras VMAX now, talking a little about the list I used in Qualifier #1, then I will analyze what went wrong and how I’ve updated the deck, which may be my choice (or not) for Qualifier #2. Finally, I’ll show you the list I’ve been testing with the new set, Rebel Clash. It is worth remembering that Qualifiers #3 and #4 of the Limitless Online Series will allow Rebel Clash, so my new version of Lapras VMAX is available for the last two qualifying tournaments.

Lapras/Frosmoth @ Limitless Q1

Key Cards

4-3 Lapras VMAX, 4-3 Frosmoth SSH

My goal is to always have 2 Lapras V on the board and at least 1 Lapras VMAX during the game, but I want to be able to make 2 Lapras VMAX, because in some games it is necessary to build two. As for Frosmoth, I feel good with just 1 Frosmoth on the board, so I just need one on the Bench. After you energize a Lapras VMAX, Frosmoth is no longer a target for the opponent. If they decide to Knock Out Frosmoth, then Lapras VMAX will remain there with Energy. Lapras V is a good Pokémon to start the game with due to its 210 HP and Body Surf attack, which allows you to attach additional Energy and switch to the Bench.

The main reason I play 4 Lapras V and 4 Snom is because of the new rule of not being able to play Supporter when going first to start the game. This is an Evolution deck, and that is why it is important to have a strong first turn, so we can attack with Lapras VMAX on turn two. For this to be possible, we need an opening setup with at least 1 Snom and 1 Lapras V on the board. To accomplish this consistently without playing a Supporter and with few good Items available in the format, I found it necessary to include 4 Lapras V and 4 Snom.

1 Volcanion p

The main reason I keep the Volcanion p in the deck is because it is a great 1-Prize attacker against Baby Blowns, plus it forces the opponent’s Blacephalon UNB to discard 4 Energies to Knock it Out.

Its Ability Jet Geyser can also be an interesting option, in theory, mainly to get rid of Lillie’s Poké Doll, but in practice I end up using it very little.

1 Oranguru UPR, 1 Oranguru SSH

This duo is great against any Mill or Control deck. Thanks to the Gurus, I can have 50/50 matches against these decks, which don’t aim to win games by getting Prizes but rather to beat the opponent by deck-out. While the Mill decks have a strategy to discard many cards and force the deck-out fast, the Control decks first take away all their resources and then more slowly begin to discard the cards from your deck.

• Against Mill, Oranguru UPR recovers key cards such as Switch, Marnie, and Custom Catcher in addition to the Ordinary Rod, which allows me to constantly return 4 cards to my deck and avoid the defeat by deck-out.
• Against Control decks, I need the two Oranguru. Oranguru SSH is a way out when my opponent starts using Chip-Chip Ice Axe to control the top of my deck, while Oranguru UPR will return cards like Switch and Energies to able to attack again.

Other than that, I use Oranguru SSH a lot in all my matches. Thanks to it, I am able to preserve my main resources during the game so they are able to be used at the right time.

3 Dedenne-GX

I believe that my Lapras VMAX deck only works because of the Dedenne-GXs. Being able to use a Professor’s Research and a Dedenne-GX in the same turn allows me to draw 13 cards, and with that I have the possibility to make a Lapras VMAX with 7 Energies on turn two. To use at least 2 Dedenne-GX per game, I realized that I have to leave my Bench as free as possible. Because of that, I don’t like to spend slots on the Bench with Zacian V, Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX, or Jirachi TEU. Even the Volcanion p I avoid benching as much as possible, so that it doesn’t take up a slot on the Bench.

Q1 Match Results

R1: ADPZ … L
R2: Malamar/Spell Tag … W
R3: Malamar/Spell Tag … W
R4: Malamar/Spell Tag … T
R5: Fire Box … W
R6: Malamar/Mewtwo … W
R7: Malamar/Mewtwo … W
R8: ADPZ … L
R9: ADPZ … L
R10: ADPZ … L

Final: 5-4-1

What went wrong?

As you can see, I didn’t manage to beat ADPZ in the tournament, although I obviously tested the matchup and I feel comfortable with it. The great truth is that I had consistency problems the whole tournament. I was invited to play on the Limitless stream in Round 1, and in that game I managed to put 8 Energies onto Lapras V, but even after a Professor’s Research and a Dedenne-GX, I couldn’t find Lapras VMAX to practically guarantee the victory.

This kind of problem was repeated a few times in the tournament, even in the matches where I won. I lacked just enough consistency to be able to complete my strategy. If I manage to complete the strategy, I will probably win the game, but if any pieces are missing, I can’t do anything, causing my defeat.

Thinking about it, I decided that I would need to change the list to add more consistency. Although the list is tight and all the cards in it are important, I realized that I would have to make some metagame matchups worse to make the deck really competitive against ADPZ.

Against ADPZ, I need to do my setup faster than against any other matchup. If I can’t achieve the strategy I need in two turns, then I pretty much lose the game. Against any other metagame deck, even if I don’t have a good start to the game, I still have the chance to come back and win.

Updated for Q2

Changes

-1 Volcanion p

Volcanion will be missed against Baby Blowns, but the matchup is still winnable without it. Lapras V has 210 HP, which means Baby Blowns needs 5 Energies to take 2 Prizes. As for Lapras VMAX, the opponent needs 7 Energies, which I often see my opponents having difficulty achieving it.

Marnie alone is a good card against Baby Blowns, as it forces them to have to find their resources again to reach the knockout. With that in mind, my main strategy is to use Marnie and then promote Lapras VMAX to Knock Out Blacephalon UNB. If my opponent succeeds in Knocking Out the Lapras VMAX then they will probably win, but if they don’t I will have a good chance of winning.

In addition, Limitless Q1 showed that the players are prepared to beat Baby Blowns. That’s why we saw so much Malamar/Spell Tag.

-1 Reset Stamp

Reset Stamp is a card that needs no comment. It is also very good against Baby Blowns. I will miss having a Reset Stamp in the deck, but I confess that in practice there were few times that the Reset Stamp really saved me. My deck doesn’t have many ways to find the Reset Stamp. I can preserve the Reset Stamp with Oranguru SSH, but I often need to prioritize preserving other more important cards, such as Custom Catcher.

On Sticking w/ 4 Custom Catcher

Custom Catcher is a staple in my deck and it is not because of the effect of bringing an opponent’s Pokémon into the Active Spot, but because of the effect of drawing cards. This deck often empties my hand after Frosmoth hits the board, which means that the Custom Catcher will allow me to draw cards and improve my consistency. I see the effect of drawing cards with Custom Catcher even better than that of Acro Bike in this deck. Except that in addition to drawing cards, I have the best available resource in the game to gust Pokémon from the Bench when needed.

-1 Weakness Guard Energy

Weakness Guard Energy at the right time is enough to turn the horrible matchup against PikaRom into a playable one. The opponent has no way to Knock Out Lapras VMAX in one attack, and Lapras VMAX will be able to Knock Out any Pokémon. However, in practice, this mission is still very complicated.

To make matters worse, some PikaRom lists are using Crushing Hammer, which turns it from a bad game into an even worse game.

While training with my Lapras VMAX deck, I faced some PikaRom in Pokémon TCG Online and managed to win some games even without having found Weakness Guard Energy, just by energizing 2 Lapras VMAX. The opponent needs to make the mistake of benching 2 TAG TEAM Pokémon; that way they give you an opportunity to win if you manage to make 2 Lapras VMAX and take two knockouts.

I also didn’t see a huge popularity of PikaRom in Limitless Q1, as the deck has some matches in the metagame that are very difficult to win. Baby Blowns, Mill decks, Control decks, Henry Brand’s Mew Box, and Malamar/Spell Tag are considered bad matches for PikaRom.

+3 Acro Bike

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I knew I would need to add three more consistency cards, so I decided to research about the possibilities that are available in the format:

• During the tournament, I often didn’t find a Supporter. Even using Dedenne-GX and filtering my deck, I still couldn’t find Supporter, so Pokégear 3.0 is a possibility.
• Another card that goes very well with Lapras VMAX is PokéNav. Since my list has more than half the deck with Pokémon and Energy, PokéNav will probably help to energize my Lapras VMAX or help with my setup. In addition, PokéNav looks the top 3 cards of your deck and Oranguru SSH can take any of these cards. For example, I can see a Professor’s Research with PokéNav and have access to it thanks to Oranguru SSH.
• Finally, we have good old Acro Bike, which can do all that I just said, but by paying the price of discarding cards and having the chance to find none of that.

After testing these options I realized that Acro Bike is still the most consistent option, but I am still open to testing a little more. What I like about Acro Bike is the fact of discarding cards. Since I use a lot of copies of the same Pokémon, after I set up those copies that are left over, they no longer serve me for anything but hinder my consistency. Acro Bike helps to clean my deck a little more, unlike Pokégear 3.0 and PokéNav which have no discard effect.

-1 Energy Retrieval, +1 Energy Recycle System

I decided to switch from Energy Retrieval to Energy Recycle System for a number of factors. With 3 Acro Bike now in the deck I will naturally discard more Energy, but before the entry of the Acro Bike I was already seriously thinking about making the change.

To begin with, the observation that I had using Energy Retrieval is that many times I did not have 2 Energies in the discard to return; many times I only had 1. This is because I almost always manage Frosmoth on turn two, and all the Energy that I put into it goes to Lapras. As Lapras VMAX is very difficult to Knock Out, the Energies end up not being discarded as much. When Energies go to the discard, it is almost always from Professor’s Research, Dedenne-GX, or Quick Ball that I use in turn one.

Energy Recycle System allows only 1 Energy to be returned to the hand, but in many cases that’s all I have in the discard. If my Lapras VMAX is Knocked Out, then Energy Retrieval is better, but the option of returning 3 Energies to the deck with Energy Recycle System can be better depending on the situation. With Professor’s Research and Dedenne-GX I can draw a lot of cards and find those Energies, especially at the end of the game, when my deck is thin.

But what really attracts me about Energy Recycle System is that I have the option to play it out of my hand and return Energy to the deck. If I need to use a Custom Catcher to draw cards and I have Energy Retrieval in hand, but I don’t have Frosmoth yet or I don’t have a Water Pokémon to energize, I’m not able to lower the number of cards in my hand to use Custom Catcher.

Another similar situation is if I need to use Professor’s Research to try to find Frosmoth, but I have Energy in my discard and I have Energy Retrieval in hand. I will simply lose the Energy Retrieval, while the Energy Recycle System can at least return Energy to the deck.

Finally, the Energy Recycle System is far superior to the Energy Retrieval against Mill decks, as I can return 3 more cards to my deck. Mill decks were quite popular during Limitless Q1 and are likely to remain popular in Q2 as they are really good.

w/ Rebel Clash (for Q3, Q4)

Key Cards

1 Keldeo V

Keldeo V is a much better attacker now with Capacious Bucket, though Lapras VMAX is still better and needed. Keldeo V’s main function in the deck is to deal with Zamazenta V, which I expect to be present in any Zacian V deck after the release of Rebel Clash. Lapras V is unable to Knock Out Zamazenta V in just one attack; in the current format, failing to reach a 1HKO can cost you the game.

2 Crasher Wake

Crasher Wake is much more consistent with Capacious Bucket. Crasher Wake has never had a bad effect—looking for any 2 cards in your deck is a great effect (see: Twins)—the problem was having to discard 2 W Energies from your hand. Even with Capacious Bucket, you can’t use Crasher Wake all the time, so I’ve only included 2 copies. Discarding Energy means that you may be losing 60 damage from Lapras VMAX. However, a Crasher Wake can solve your entire setup without having to discard multiple cards.

I still don’t know if Crasher Wake is really good. If you are hit with a Reset Stamp to 1, Crasher Wake is unlikely to save you. Other times, you simply cannot use Crasher Wake as your may not have W Energies. On the other hand, a Supporter like Cynthia will always work and be an “OK” Supporter.

I believe that it is still time to test new options before we return to the same formula for success. If we always test the same things, we will always have the same results.

4 Capacious Bucket

Obviously Capacious Bucket improves Lapras VMAX or at least makes the mission to Knock Out a more viable Pokémon VMAX. Without the Capacious Bucket, the deck would not be able to reach such high damage in a few turns.

Capacious Bucket thins the deck a lot, and Professor’s Research and Dedenne-GX will now be able to bring us more important cards since we will draw less Energy cards. In summary, Capacious Bucket not only makes the deck stronger and faster, but also improves consistency.

1 Capture Energy

When you attach Capture Energy to a Pokémon, it allows you to search for a Basic Pokémon from the deck and put it onto your Bench. Despite being a C Energy and not increasing the damage of Lapras VMAX and Keldeo V, it makes no difference for the deck to play this Energy, as we can attach as many Energies as you want with Frosmoth; that is, Capture Energy is basically the rotated Nest Ball here.

Of course, if we included 4 Capture Energy we would have problems, because if we have 2 Capture Energy in hand, we can attach only 1 per turn. I believe that the ideal number of Capture Energy in the deck could be 2 copies, but the list is already tight enough from fitting 4 Capacious Bucket. In addition, I removed a Snom to include Capture Energy, because in practice it is a change that only improves the deck.

Final Thoughts

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Lapras VMAX is not a Tier 1 deck due to consistency, and I believe that even with the arrival of Capacious Bucket the deck will still suffer from these problems. Our current format and the new rules make it very difficult for any deck with a more complex setup. This is why the best decks of the format are Basic Pokémon decks. ADPZ, despite being the most popular deck, is still the strongest because besides being a Basic deck, it has space to use Jirachi TEU, and Zacian V itself has an Ability that brings consistency. It is a different case in relation to the other metagame decks.

However, I believe that in the next set we will have a really consistent and competitive VMAX deck.

Rebel Clash will mark the entry of Pokémon VMAX into the metagame, mainly due to the arrival of Dragapult VMAX. In addition to being a Pokémon with very good attacks, Dragapult VMAX’s difference is that it does not depend on any other Pokémon to work. In addition, it is searchable with Mysterious Treasure to fix the setup problem. These two factors make Dragapult VMAX a very consistent and competitive deck.

Lapras VMAX and even the new Toxtricity VMAX will continue to suffer with consistency, as they depend on Quick Ball, Evolution Incense, and Pokémon Communication to set up, and both need a Stage 1 Pokémon as support, such as Frosmoth SSH and Garbodor RCL. Although these decks have incredible strength—probably greater than Dragapult VMAX—the consistency factor is even more valuable.

For today, that’s all folks. I hope you enjoyed this article and see you next time!

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