
Hello SixPrizes readers! I’m back for another article, this time bringing more lists with the new Rebel Clash set. Today I’m going to talk a little bit about ADPZ, the best deck in the previous format, UPR–SSH, which promises to remain one of the best decks with some new cards. I’m also going to talk about Toxtricity VMAX, the new VMAX that seems to have a lot of potential.
I will also take the opportunity to talk about my Top 64 run in Qualifier #2 of the Limitless Online Series, an online tournament organized by the Limitless TCG team that attracted almost 1,000 players from all over the world, including many Japanese players.
During the quarantine period I started training daily every night, as I planned, until at some point a friend of mine gave me the idea to start livestreaming on Twitch (twitch.tv/gasemedo), that way I could continue training and other people could also participate and learn from my testing. And, to be honest, I am enjoying streaming and have received many positive messages.
It is much more challenging to play Pokémon TCG while streaming, and in the beginning I started making many silly mistakes due to a lack of concentration, but little by little I am getting better and better and the mistakes are getting smaller. During Qualifier #2 I decided to add one more challenge for myself, which was playing the entire tournament while streaming, which forced me to improve my ability to concentrate. I believe this has helped me a lot, because concentration has always been one of my weaknesses.
My Run w/ ADPZ @ Limitless Online Series Q2
Top 64 at Limitless Online Series Q2!
Photo of the list with real cards to make you miss the big tournaments
Thanks everyone from @LimitlessTCG.
You guys are amazing
pic.twitter.com/d1btnecmRk
— Gabriel Pino Semedo (@gabrielsemedo) May 3, 2020
After playing with Lapras VMAX in the previous tournament, I decided that this time I would like to play with a Tier 1 deck. My choice was ADPZ, as it is the most consistent deck in the format and I think it is a very easy deck to play.
As I said before, my idea this time was to play all of the tournament while streaming, that way I could show other players my performance in the competition in addition to challenging myself to be a more focused player.
In the end, this new experience was very positive for me and I believe I learned a lot. I reached a total of 13 wins, counting Day 1 and Day 2, which guaranteed me Top 64 in the tournament.
Decklist
Pokémon (13) 4 Zacian V | Trainer (37) 4 Marnie
4 Switch
| Energy (10) 8 M 2 W
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 13
* 4 Zacian V SSH 138
* 3 Jirachi TEU 99
* 2 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156
* 2 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Oranguru SSH 148
* 1 Oranguru UPR 114
##Trainer Cards - 37
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 2 Cherish Ball UNM 191
* 4 Switch SSH 183
* 2 Escape Board UPR 122
* 3 Energy Spinner UNB 170
* 2 Energy Switch SSH 162
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 4 Custom Catcher LOT 171
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 1 Metal Frying Pan FLI 122
* 2 Shrine of Punishment CES 143
##Energy - 10
* 8 M Energy Energy 7
* 2 W Energy Energy 2
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=80899 ******
The ADPZ list I used is pretty much the same as the one Tord Reklev used in Q1, but with two cards different: I decided to remove Absol TEU and the 2nd Great Catcher to include 2 copies of Energy Switch.
Absol TEU
-1With the popularity of Jirachi TEU in the format, Absol should be good in the metagame. But during my testing I was unable to use it very well. Either (A) my opponent was prepared to deal with Dark Ambition, (B) I already had a full Bench, (C) I didn’t have time to search for it, or (D) the matchup wasn’t one where Absol would be good. In general, I didn’t miss Absol.
Great Catcher
-1The 2nd Great Catcher I missed a lot. At different times I had to change my way of playing because I needed to preserve my Custom Catchers and Great Catcher to win the match. In general, it was possible to play with 4 Custom Catcher and 1 Great Catcher, but I would love to have more cards with a gust effect.
Energy Switch
+2Since ADPZ remains the best deck in the format—not in least part because it won Qualifier #1—I noticed that players started to use more and more cards like Crushing Hammer and Wait and See Hammer, precisely to exploit one of the few weaknesses of ADPZ, which is the early game. In the early game, ADPZ depends on Altered Creation-GX, which costs 2 Energies and is energized by the single Energy attachment each turn. That is, it takes two turns to perform Altered Creation-GX. If the Energy is removed from ADP-GX on the first turn, that will delay the deck’s entire strategy by one turn, which is a huge loss in the game.
With that in mind, I decided to include Energy Switch to try to prevent this type of play. If my opponent removes my Energy, I can do the Metal Saucer + Energy Switch combo and thus recover the lost turn.
But the truth is that Energy Switch was much better than just that. The Energy Switches brought a number of interesting possibilities to the deck. It even becomes possible to Altered Creation-GX on turn one, although it is relatively rare to do so. Throughout the match, Energy Switch was also interesting to prepare or replace attackers. In general, it brought even more consistency to the deck. I really liked it.
Changes I Would Like to Make
I know it doesn’t make much sense to talk about updating a list in the old format, but I think it’s important to work things out before diving into Rebel Clash.
I mentioned that I missed the 2nd Great Catcher during the event, but I’ve realized that it’s not a 2nd Great Catcher that I needed. On Day 2 I faced 2016 World Champion and 2019 Worlds Finalist Shintaro Ito, who was using the Magcargo Mill deck:
This matchup is balanced if you have Oranguru UPR or a lot of Pokémon Catcher (in addition to Custom Catcher).
In the Limitless Online Series, however, matches are Best-of-1 with 27 minutes duration. If you choose to use Oranguru UPR, then know that you are going to be engaging in a slow game, and you may not be able to complete the game. And that is exactly what happened here. The match ended without a winner because for me to be able to win I would need more than 27 minutes.
With that in mind, I realized that Oranguru UPR is not the best tech against Control and Mill decks for this tournament. The best way to win (under these circumstances) is to be aggressive, so I would change some cards in the list to add as many Pokémon Catcher as possible.
I also didn’t like the Shrine of Punishment, as I couldn’t use it in several games due to Chaotic Swell, which is more popular now. I even faced some ADPZ mirrors that used Chaotic Swell. The way I found to win these matches was to not hit the Active ADP and focus instead on Knocking Out Pokémon on my opponent’s Bench.
Theoretically, Pokémon Catcher could be an alternative way to solve my problems against Mirror, Mill, and Control decks, besides other benefits for using more gust cards.
- -1 Oranguru UPR
-1 Great Catcher
-2 Shrine of Punishment - +1 Vitality Band
+3 Pokémon Catcher
I don’t remember having any serious problems with my opponents’ Stadium cards, because many of my opponents were using Chaotic Swell, which is a Stadium that does nothing, it only serves to defend from other Stadiums.
Without Shrine of Punishment I lose the possibility of Knocking Out an opponent’s TAG TEAM in one hit, but during the tournament I realized that my opponents were using Big Charm (in addition to Chaotic Swell) to ensure that I wouldn’t be able to Knock them Out, even with Vitality Band or Galarian Zigzagoon SSH. Even so, I still prefer to use a Vitality Band to be able to Knock Out a TAG TEAM with 270 HP.
ADPZ w/ Rebel Clash, aka ADPZZ
Now let’s get to what really matters. I will talk a little about my updated ADPZ list, which in fact does not change much except for the entry of Zamazenta V, who has been waiting for three months to start playing the Pokémon TCG competitively.
I also made a version of ADPZZ with the Scoop Up Net engine, which has interesting synergy with Jirachi TEU, Mewtwo UNB, Oranguru SSH, and Galarian Zigzagoon SSH.
v1: ADPZZ
Pokémon (14) 4 Zacian V | Trainer (36) 4 Marnie
4 Switch
| Energy (10) 8 M 2 W
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 14
* 4 Zacian V SSH 138
* 3 Jirachi TEU 99
* 2 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156
* 2 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Eldegoss V RCL 19
* 1 Oranguru SSH 148
* 1 Zamazenta V SSH 139
##Trainer Cards - 36
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 2 Boss’s Orders RCL 154
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 2 Cherish Ball UNM 191
* 4 Switch SSH 183
* 2 Escape Board UPR 122
* 3 Energy Spinner UNB 170
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 4 Custom Catcher LOT 171
* 1 Vitality Band SSH 185
* 1 Metal Frying Pan FLI 122
* 1 Chaotic Swell CEC 187
##Energy - 10
* 8 M Energy Energy 7
* 2 W Energy Energy 2
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=80899 ******
Zamazenta V
1With the arrival of a few more Pokémon VMAX, namely Dragapult VMAX, Zamazenta V starts to become important due to its Dauntless Shield Ability that prevents damage done to it by Pokémon VMAX.
Shrine of Punishment
0I am also beginning to see less importance in Shrine of Punishment, as the metagame will have more and more Pokémon VMAX and Pokémon-GX mixed in.
Custom Catcher
4Another highlight of my list is that I kept the Custom Catchers, even with Boss’s Orders in the format. The reason for this is that in my testing I started to miss having a gust effect through the use of Item cards. This is because in the same turn I often need to find Metal Saucer, Energy for the turn, and a switching card to retreat my Active Pokémon. If I don’t have all these pieces in hand, there’s no use for Boss’s Orders. For me to make this kind of move, I will generally need to use Professor’s Research as my Supporter instead.
Relying exclusively on the Boss’s Orders to pull an opponent’s Pokémon can lead to defeat in some situations. If you need to make a complex move and your opponent has used Marnie or Reset Stamp to disrupt your hand, you can hardly ever achieve anything complex with 4 or less cards, even if you have Dedenne-GX at your disposal.
It is also worth remembering that Custom Catcher draws cards. Custom Catcher can even help find Boss’s Orders to close out a match. It is important to keep both options in the deck if possible. In some moments Boss’s Orders will save you, and in others Custom Catcher will be preferable. Eldegoss V fits in the deck to increase the chances of getting Boss’s Orders at the right time, as Eldegoss is searchable with Quick Ball.
The important thing is to have the consistency of the deck shored up before you gust an opponent’s Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
Scoop Up Net
v2: ADPZZ /Pokémon (15) 4 Zacian V | Trainer (35) 4 Marnie
4 Switch
| Energy (10) 8 M 2 W
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 15
* 4 Zacian V SSH 138
* 3 Jirachi TEU 99
* 2 Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX CEC 156
* 2 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Galarian Zigzagoon SSH 117
* 1 Mewtwo UNB 75
* 1 Oranguru SSH 148
* 1 Zamazenta V SSH 139
##Trainer Cards - 35
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 3 Boss’s Orders RCL 154
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 2 Cherish Ball UNM 191
* 4 Switch SSH 183
* 1 Escape Board UPR 122
* 3 Energy Spinner UNB 170
* 4 Metal Saucer SSH 170
* 4 Scoop Up Net RCL 165
* 1 Great Catcher CEC 192
* 1 Metal Frying Pan FLI 122
##Energy - 10
* 8 M Energy Energy 7
* 2 W Energy Energy 2
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=80899 ******
Based on the Dragapult VMAX deck piloted by Takuya Yoneda, I took the idea of Scoop Up Net and adapted it for ADPZ. I believe that many players were already thinking about trying Scoop Up Net in ADPZ, because in theory it seems to work very well.
The difference with this build is being able to use:
- Galarian Zigzagoon instead of Shrine of Punishment to 1HKO TAG TEAMs with Zacian V and
- Mewtwo UNB instead of Eldegoss V to recover Supporters from the discard.
In addition, it is possible to use the Abilities of all my non-GX and Pokémon V repeatedly. Scoop Up Net also helps with retreating these Pokémon, and consequently the deck becomes less dependent on Switch. Finally, Scoop Up Net can remove Pokémon from the board, preventing your opponent from getting easy Prizes. Against Dragapult VMAX it is very good to be able to return Jirachi to your hand, as they are easily Knocked Out by Max Phantom.
The bad thing about this build is that Scoop Up Net takes up a lot of slots and the accompanying cards get in the way at the beginning of the game.
ADPZ depends greatly on achieving a T2 Altered Creation-GX. After that, all you need to do is take knockouts and win the game. In most cases you can get 6 Prizes in two or three turns after performing Altered Creation-GX, either by Knocking Out 2 Pokémon-GX/V or a TAG TEAM and a 1-Prizer. Because of that, I believe that a simpler and more straightforward list focused on accomplishing this is the best approach for ADPZ.
Toxtricity VMAX / Garbodor
I will now talk about another Pokémon VMAX that arrived with a lot of hype. Toxtricity VMAX is an amazing Pokémon; the problem is to make it play consistently. After much testing, I’ve realized that the list needs to be much more consistent than I thought to be able to achieve the Toxtricity VMAX + Garbodor RCL combo, and the final result of my testing you can see below.
Pokémon (19) | Trainer (31) 4 Marnie
2 Switch
| Energy (10) 6 L 4 Speed L
|
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******
##Pokémon - 19
* 3 Toxtricity V RCL 70
* 1 Toxtricity V PR-SW 017
* 3 Toxtricity VMAX RCL 71
* 4 Trubbish RCL 117
* 3 Garbodor RCL 118
* 2 Dedenne-GX UNB 57
* 1 Boltund V RCL 67
* 1 Tapu Koko p TEU 51
* 1 Zeraora-GX LOT 86
##Trainer Cards - 31
* 4 Professor’s Research SSH 178
* 4 Marnie SSH 169
* 3 Boss’s Orders RCL 154
* 4 Quick Ball SSH 179
* 4 Pokémon Communication TEU 152
* 2 Switch SSH 183
* 1 Air Balloon SSH 156
* 4 Electropower LOT 172
* 1 Stadium Nav UNM 208
* 3 Viridian Forest TEU 156
* 1 Thunder Mountain p LOT 191
##Energy - 10
* 6 L Energy Energy 4
* 4 Speed L Energy RCL 173
Total Cards - 60
****** via SixPrizes: https://sixprizes.com/?p=80899 ******
Key Cards
Toxtricity V RCL, 1 Toxtricity V SWSH017
3I believe that each Toxtricity V has its advantages, so there is no way to say that one is strictly better than the other. Toxtricity V RCL can deal damage with 1 Energy with its Poison Jab attack and this can be very good, especially with Electropowers to increase the damage. In addition, its second attack, Electric Riot, does 180 damage for 3 Energies if your opponent is Poisoned, which is very good damage, but you need Garbodor on the field to accomplish this. With the help of Electropower, Electric Riot can even Knock Out a Zamazenta V, which would otherwise be a big headache for this deck.
Toxtricity V SWSH017, on the other hand, has the Energize attack, which allows you to attach a L Energy from the discard to it. This is a good attack depending on the matchup, as it can guarantee the Energy to use its second attack or even attack with Toxtricity VMAX the following turn. Its second attack, Venom Slap, is better than Electric Riot if you don’t have Garbodor on the field.
In short, each Toxtricity V can be better than the other depending on the game situation as they have very different attacks.
Trubbish RCL, 3 Garbodor RCL
4Although you only need one Garbodor in theory, in practice it’s ideal to always to have the possibility of two Garbodor on board. This is important because your opponent will probably realize that without Garbodor Toxtricity VMAX will not be able to hit huge damage, since Toxtricity VMAX depends on the opponent’s Active Pokémon being Poisoned.
In addition, by using a 4-3 Garbodor line, the deck gains consistency to get at least one Toxtricity V and one Trubbish on the field on turn one, in addition to having more Pokémon in the deck for Pokémon Communication.
Volkner, 8 Draw Supporters
NoI started my testing with a lot of Volkner in the list, keeping in mind that Volkner is an amazing card in PikaRom. But little by little I realized that Volkner is not a good enough Supporter for this deck, because you need a lot of cards to complete your setup.
I realized that the best way to make the deck work is to play only draw Supporters, such as Professor’s Research and Marnie, which have the possibility to find a greater amount of cards that I need.
Viridian Forest
3Garbodor needs a Stadium on the field to activate its Ability, so it is necessary to use a good amount of Stadiums. Although the new Galar Mine Stadium is very interesting in this deck since Zeraora-GX guarantees free retreat, unfortunately Galar Mine does not bring any benefit in terms of consistency.
Viridian Forest, on the other hand, despite offering the opponent the opportunity to get Energies as well, helps in several ways to improve our consistency. Before putting Viridian Forest in the deck I was playing with 12 Energies (8 L + 4 Speed L), but the deck doesn’t really need 12 Energies. I was just using a high number of Energies so that I had access to them practically every turn. With Viridian Forest I was able to remove 2 L Energies from the deck, and even so I still have better access to my Energies.
In addition, Viridian Forest helps me to discard cards from the hand that I no longer need, in addition to helping to discard other L Energies for Tapu Koko p or the Energize attack of Toxtricity V SWSH017.
As I said before, Toxtricity VMAX/Garbodor has enough power to beat any deck, as Toxtricity VMAX reaches very high damage and is even capable of Knocking Out a Pokémon VMAX in one hit with the help of Electropower. So in the end it doesn’t matter so much if you help your opponent with Viridian Forest; what really matters is to make your deck run consistently because in the end you will have greater power than your opponent.
Final Thoughts
The Pokémon TCG is gradually being less and less affected by the T1, no-Supporter-when-going-first rule. With the arrival of the Rebel Clash we have Speed L Energy, which allows you to draw two cards, and Capture Energy, which allows you to search for a Basic Pokémon, in addition to Dragapult VMAX, which needs just two Energies to attack and is accessible with Mysterious Treasure. As more new sets come out, I believe that we will see more cards and Abilities that bring consistency to the setup—without the use of Supporter—in addition to Pokémon adapted to this format and current ruleset.
The new rules have caused big changes in relation to deck-building, and we’ve had to learn to adapt. For now, we have to build decks with extra consistency in order to achieve a reasonable setup at the beginning of the game. The lists we discussed today are good examples of this.
Finally, I would like to talk about Boss’s Orders. Due to the complicated setups and the very fast and aggressive metagame, maybe Boss’s Orders isn’t as strong as we thought it would be when we compared it to Lysandre and Guzma. It is still important to have Boss’s Orders in your deck, but don’t expect to have the same performance as you did with Lysandre in previous formats.
To get a sense of this, ADPZ aims to win the game in four turns if everything goes according to plan. On turn one, you attach Energy; on turn two, you Altered Creation-GX; and in two more turns you get two knockouts totaling 6 Prizes. If you have four turns to beat the strongest deck in the format, this means that the entire format is adapted for four-turn games, except for decks that aim to slow down the opponent and buy time. In four turns, it means that you will use 3 Supporters if you start the game or 4 Supporters if you don’t start the game. If you use Boss’s Orders as any of these Supporters, you may end up using only 2 draw Supporters in the entire game. Maybe 2 draw Supporters will be enough in conjuction with Dedenne-GX and Jirachi TEU, but that will depend a lot on the deck you are playing and the cards you draw in the game.
Well folks, that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed and see you soon!
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My kid enjoyed the article but wonders if you were referring to someone else’s list besides Todd’s? He didn’t see Absol, a second Great Catcher, or the third and fourth Marnie in Tord’s list. In Tord’s list instead of those cards he has Acro Bikes.
Pls excuse the autocorrect from Tord to Todd. 😣
Hi Karen! I did a mistake, the list I took by reference was from Tord’s Q1:
https://limitlesstcg.com/decks/?list=3742
Thanks!
👍🏻