Let Them Mew as They Please

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Hello to all SixPrizes readers. How are you? I’m fine. I’m back for another article, bringing more decks and information about the competitive side of Pokémon TCG.

The metagame has started to change a lot in the last few weeks. An evolution was already to be expected since we are at the beginning of the new season and the new post-rotation format, but I think the metagame and the creation of new ideas are emerging more quickly than I expected.

I believe that this change has to do with the online tournaments, which are increasingly popular and accessible during this period. I see players in general adapting and even enjoying themselves more than usual while competing through PTCGO. With a competitive environment back again, players feel motivated to compete, create, and evolve, which has led to a flourishing metagame.

About me, I was a little bit away the last two weeks because I was moving, but I am now completely settled and ready to return with full focus to grind and play in several online tournaments.

Recently, there has been a big discussion on Twitter about whether Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX should be banned from the Standard format because Altered Creation-GX is too strong. In this article I will give my opinion on this subject, and I will also take the opportunity to talk about the deck I am currently playing the most, Wet Mewtwo & Mew-GX (aka Moist2 or Wet/Water Mew3 Box).

Q. Should ADP Be Banned?

I started playing competitive Pokémon TCG in 2012, and since then I have been able to play in some formats where we had extremely strong attacks that ended up impacting the game a lot. These decks weren’t always the best, but they somehow made the game quite different than it would have been otherwise.

The examples that stick out most in my mind are (1) the Item lock decks made possible by Seismitoad-EX’s Quaking Punch in 2014–2016 and (2) the Night March deck in 2016–2017.

At the time of Seismitoad-EX, the format was very limited because there were few cards and decks that could handle the Quaking Punch + Hypnotoxic Laser combo, which basically inflicted Item lock, high damage, and a 25% chance of the opponent not attacking. Other cards in the deck, like Crushing Hammer, aimed to further deplete the opponent’s resources.

At that time, banning Seismitoad-EX would have formed a totally different format, but not banning it allowed for other interesting strategies that were good because Seismitoad-EX was present.

In the case of Night March, we are talking about a deck centered around single-Prize attackers that could Knock Out any Pokémon in the game beginning on turn two. At the height of Night March, it was rare to see a deck with a Pokémon-EX as a main attacker. Players avoided using Pokémon-EX because using a Pokémon-EX to attack while Night March was legal was practically suicide. But regardless, there was a major adaptation by players that generated a unique format with decks that were good because Night March was much above average.

I believe that ADPZ can be considered one of those extremely impactful decks, but I still see the deck as less impactful than Seismitoad-EX and Night March. In my view, this type of situation is sure to recur, and I find it interesting when something so impactful happens and it is up to us players to adapt and find a solution. The current format is a game of four turns, and I see no problem with that—I am in favor of new experiences.

I do believe that the competitive side of the Pokémon TCG can be approached more thoughtfully by the card designers, to avoid this type of situation where a deck is capable of handling a multitude situations simply by virtue of having one extremely strong attack, but I don’t think that by banning the card the game will be objectively better. Banning every card that seems too good can be detrimental to the game and set a bad precedent.

When a deck is way above average, I believe that the idea of creating a new deck capable of defeating this theoretically “invincible” deck becomes much more challenging and much more rewarding, because if you are able to do that, then you will have a good chance of winning the event. An example I like to remember is the M Audino-EX deck used by Shintaro Ito to win Worlds 2016. A totally new idea was able to beat the ridiculous Night March deck, in addition to the other metagame decks of the time.

Another thing to keep in mind is that every three months we receive a new set. ADP may be very strong now, but you can’t tell if it will still be relevant one or two sets out.

With all that in mind, I am against the ADP ban.

Wet Mewtwo & Mew-GX

It has been a few months since I talked about another version of Water Mewtwo & Mew-GX, which is very different from this version that has quickly become popular in the current metagame. This version here doesn’t have that many attack options (mainly due to rotation), but in exchange for that you have an extremely strong and consistent attack. The new Wet Mew3 is totally geared to the current format, through a simple and effective setup on turn one and incredibly high damage on turn two.

Decklist

Key Cards

2 Blastoise-GX

This deck exists only because of Blastoise-GX and its Rocket Splash attack, which deals 60 damage for each W Energy you choose from your field and then shuffle into your deck. With the help of Frosmoth SSH, Blastoise-GX allows Mewtwo & Mew-GX to Knock Out almost any Pokémon in the game, every single turn.

Giant Geyser-GX is also incredible and can be used on turn one. In some cases, Giant Geyser will bring you all the Energy you need for the entire game, without needing Frosmoth on the field. Although Frosmoth is fundamental to the deck, Giant Geyser removes some of your dependence on it. Remember: If you use Giant Geyser, you cannot use the GX attacks of Keldeo-GX or Blastoise & Piplup-GX, so be careful and try to predict whether those other GX attacks will be necessary to defeat your opponent’s deck.

1 Keldeo-GX

Keldeo-GX is back in the competitive format, but this time it is not because of its Pure Heart Ability. We now use Keldeo-GX because of Resolute Blade-GX, which does 50 damage for each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. Resolute Blade is an incredible attack against Eternatus VMAX as the damage reaches up to 400 if your opponent has 8 Pokémon on their Bench. It is also a great attack to Knock Out Centiskorch VMAX.

To round it out, Sonic Edge is capable of Knocking Out Baby Blowns and causing damage to Decidueye DAA and Galarian Obstagoon SSH.

1 Blastoise & Piplup-GX

Blastoise & Piplup-GX is interesting in theory, but I use it little in practice. In theory it is good for being Water type, and therefore a good option against Fire decks, but in practice Keldeo-GX already helps a lot and Mewtwo & Mew-GX can Knock Out almost anything you want by copying Blastoise-GX. Splash Maker is nice in general for attaching extra Energy and healing damage, but I specifically liked this attack against Dragapult VMAX, which doesn’t exist much in the format anymore. It is still a good option against the old Mewtwo & Mew-GX counter: Power Plant and Mimikyu CEC 97.

For the set of small situational benefits and the fact that it takes just one slot in the deck, I’ve decided to keep it, but I’m open to taking it out the need arises to include something more important in the deck.

1 Starmie-GX

Starmie is another security Pokémon that will help you at specific times, but you don’t need it to execute your main strategy. Star Stream will recover Energy from the discard while dealing light damage, which can sometimes make a difference during the following turn to Knock Out a Pokémon VMAX with greater damage.

Hydro Pump-GX is used seldomly, but it should not be overlooked. In certain situations, Hydro Pump will be a great attack to cause high damage without having to shuffle Energies into your deck.

1 Indeedee V, 2 Big Charm

In this deck it is difficult to talk about Indeedee V without also talking about Big Charm. This mini combo is included to improve the matchup against Eternatus VMAX and also avoid traps like Mimikyu CEC 97 or even ADPZ.

Indeedee V is in the deck to clean up the ping damage caused by Galarian Zigzagoon, but this is insufficient if the opponent can hit 270 with some ease, which is the case with Eternatus VMAX or Zacian V boosted by Altered Creation-GX + Vitality Band. For that reason, we also use Big Charm, so Mewtwo & Mew-GX’s HP goes to 300 and we can avoid those knockouts.

I also like to put Big Charm on Dedenne-GX so I can avoid snipe knockouts from Cramorant V and Naganadel-GX UNM.

2 Energy Switch

As much as the deck has extra energization options, none of them 100% solve the problem that Mewtwo & Mew-GX needs 2 W Energies attached to use Blastoise-GX’s Rocket Splash attack. You may not need an Energy Switch depending on your start, but sometimes Energy Switch is the only way to power it up and attack the same turn.

Matchups

Eternatus VMAX: 50/50

The two decks have similar strategies, and naturally Eternatus VMAX should have an advantage, as it manages to easily Knock Out a Mewtwo & Mew-GX and its 340 HP forces the Mewtwo & Mew-GX to have to shuffle in 6 Energies for Rocket Splash to take a KO. But here we have Keldeo-GX, Big Charm, and Indeedee V to make the matchup more balanced.

The idea is to use Indeedee V to clean up Galarian Zigzagoon’s damage and use Big Charm to avoid taking a 1HKO from Eternatus VMAX. Keldeo-GX is our main weapon for Knocking Out an Eternatus VMAX with just 3 Energies. On the other hand, the opponent can use Dangerous Drill to remove Big Charm.

Baby Blowns: 30/70

Just like before, Mewtwo & Mew-GX has problems against Baby Blowns. 270 HP is easy for Baby Blowns to Knock Out and Beast Bringer can still net them an additional Prize.

ADPZ: 50/50

This matchup is even because Wet Mew3 is able to do what needs to be done, which is Knock Out ADP-GX on the next turn after it uses Altered Creation-GX. On turn two, it is possible to use Rocket Splash to deal 300 damage with a certain consistency.

After the ADP is Knocked Out, the opponent must build two more attackers and Knock Out 2 Pokémon V or GX from our Bench, since they won’t normally be able to Knock Out Mewtwo & Mew-GX.

Centiskorch VMAX: 70/30

Wet Mew3 has almost no actual Water attackers, but we do have Keldeo-GX which can be a big tech in the matchup. Our main attack, Rocket Splash, is great to Knock Out Centiskorch VMAX, not least because I feel that Centiskorch VMAX sometimes fails to be as fast as Eternatus VMAX and ADPZ.

Final Thoughts

Regarding ADP-GX or the ADPZ deck, we need to remember that there are other strong decks in the format as well. ADPZ is a great deck—probably the best!—but even if it’s the best, it’s not much better than other decks like Eternatus VMAX or Baby Blowns. ADP’s ban will not change the format as much as anticipated. If we decide to ban Eternatus VMAX, obviously that would also have an impact and cards like Dragapult VMAX would be incredible again. I am much more in favor of adaptation until we are widely aware that it’s no longer an interesting and challenging game.

Regarding Wet Mewtwo & Mew-GX, I am surprised and happy. The Mewtwo & Mew-GX decks have been the only surviving Pokémon-GX decks in the format, and every time I see a Mew Box list, in a way I see it as an homage to the Pokémon-GX era, as we can use several Pokémon-GX in the same deck. Before we used Pokémon-GX on the board, and now we use all the best Pokémon-GX attacks with one card from the discard pile.

We already knew that Mewtwo & Mew-GX is an adaptable card, since you can combine Mew3-GX with whatever type of Energy you want. But it is always interesting to see how Mewtwo & Mew-GX can also adapt to game formats and styles.

That’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed this article and I’ll see you next time!

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