No Bats, No Rats

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Hello to all SixPrizes readers, we’re back for another Pokémon TCG article. The qualifying stage of the Players Cup II has finally started and players can now participate to earn Tournament Rep points and secure a top ranking on the leaderboards.

The second edition of the Players Cup seems improved so far as TPCi was able to learn from mistakes of the original Players Cup. I feel that things are more organized now, the game has fewer bugs, and I hope that further attention will also be devoted to the forthcoming phases of the competition.

I (like many of you) have started playing in the tournaments on PTCGO to build my ranking. I’ve managed to win some tournaments and earn points in others, but I believe that nobody will be safe from losing some tournaments in the first round. In these small, three-round, best-of-one tournaments, anything can happen.

The current format (TEU–DAA) also contributes to the results being more variable than normal. In a few-turn format, if any of your turns are not good enough, you may be left behind for the entire game. Also, with few turns, the good player will have less time or actions to show their skill, while the bad player will have less turns to misplay.

I’ve played a total of six tournaments at the time of writing this article and have managed to:

• win two tournaments with Water Mew3 Box,
• win one tournament with Decidueye/Obstagoon,
• make finals with Green’s/PikaRom, and
• lose two tournaments in the first round with ADPZ

… for a total of 18 points.

The worst decks (theoretically) were what gave me victories, while ADPZ (the BDIF) was unable to net me any points. It all depends on your consistency (and luck) in the opening turns.

For the qualifier period of Players Cup II, my tip is to use a deck that has a chance against just about everything. I realized that at this stage we are facing a wide variety of players, with different levels of skill and many different decks. For example, I see Decidueye/Obstagoon as having a huge advantage against ADPZ, as ADPZ usually does not play cards to deal with this type of strategy. So maybe ADPZ isn’t the best pick.

My article today will deviate from the main theme of the format (i.e., speed) and instead I will share decks that are slower but have strategies capable of combating Tier 1 decks. I’m going to talk about Green’s/PikaRom (aka PikaGreen), an old idea from last season that has returned and appears to be doing well. I’ll also talk about Decidueye DAA/Galarian Obstagoon SSH (aka DeciGoon), a deck that will punish players who choose to ignore it.

Green’s/PikaRom

This deck offers a slower and more elaborate strategy for winning games. As the name indicates, the deck is based on Green’s Exploration, which allows you to search for 2 Trainer cards from your deck and put them into your hand—if you have no Pokémon with Abilities in play. When using Green’s Exploration, you practically start playing with your deck in your hand, as you will have access to almost everything, but only 2 cards at a time.

The great advantage of this type of strategy is not having to use Dedenne-GX or Crobat V, which, despite offering a lot of consistency and speed, end up offering a juicy win condition for the opponent (namely, for the best deck in the format, ADPZ).

Although its matchup against Eternatus VMAX is not good, Green’s/PikaRom offers a solid game plan, and, because of that, you can play against any deck. Even when at a disadvantage, you will still have attacks and strategies available to you, and you can win a bad matchup if you make good plays.

However, you will not always have time to develop your game plan. The first few turns are important, and it may be that your opponent is too fast. As for Green’s/PikaRom, I made this list thinking about high but slow consistency. The idea is that every turn you can at least play a Supporter to develop your game plan.

More than completing many actions or performing a complex combo, Green’s Exploration decks lend more value to quality plays. For this type of deck, the quality of the player is more decisive for the success of the deck. It is also worth remembering that PikaGreen has many attacks with varied effects, and with that, we can prepare the best attack for a given situation. Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX can paralyze, Vikavolt V can Item lock, and Boltund V can Knock Out everything if you have enough Energy on board.

Decklist

Cards Explanations

4 Boltund V

Boltund V is the Pokémon we want to start the game with to use Electrify to attach 2 L Energies onto the Bench. It is also responsible for providing huge damage that can Knock Out even a Pokémon VMAX with its Bolt Storm attack. Basically, the Electric Dog is responsible for starting and ending the game.

2 Pikachu & Zekrom-GX

Even though PikaRom-GX has a weak attack and low HP these days, it still has features that are valuable. Full Blitz is still the best attack to put Energy on board while you do a reasonable 150 damage to your opponent. We must also not forget about Tag Bolt-GX, which can potentially take multiple Prizes and dismantle an opponent’s board.

1 Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX

Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX could previously Knock Out anything with Lightning Ride-GX. Now, its main attack is Tandem Shock to do 160 damage and paralyze the opponent. Tandem Shock has always been a dangerous attack as it forces the opponent to have a switching card in hand. Along with Reset Stamp, this attack can turn a game around.

Other than that, 260 HP of ChuChu-GX together with Big Charm can resist the most powerful attacks in the game.

1 Vikavolt V

Vikavolt V could not be left out of the deck. The Item lock caused by Paralyzing Bolt is interesting and can cause headaches for the opponent. It is important to identify the right moment to use Paralyzing Bolt, which can often be at the beginning of the game, when the opponent is trying to set up.

4 Green’s Exploration

Our main Supporter is Green’s Exploration and we want to use it whenever possible. But since this is not possible (to use it every turn), we build the deck with other Supporters.

2 Professor’s Research

Professor’s Research is the best Supporter after Green’s Exploration. It is great to renew your hand after a Reset Stamp or Marnie. It can also happen that your hand is low since the deck does not play many card-drawing resources, and Supporters like Mallow & Lana and Guzma & Hala discard even more cards from your hand.

2 Cynthia & Caitlin

Cynthia & Caitlin is the Supporter I like second most after Green’s in the deck. I like the easy access to it through Tag Call, and I also like the fact that it returns a Supporter from the discard to your hand. This means I can guarantee a Green’s Exploration for the next turn or a Boss’s Orders for a knockout.

1 Guzma & Hala

At certain times Guzma & Hala can be as good or even better than Green’s Exploration, since it provides access to Energy (Speed L Energy), retreating and defensive Tools (Air Balloon and Big Charm), and Stadiums (Chaotic Swell and Power Plant).

1 Mallow & Lana

Mallow & Lana is including more so for its switching effect than its healing effect, although healing can be useful in some situations. What makes Mallow & Lana better than Bird Keeper here is that I can access it via Tag Call.

1 Chaotic Swell

Chaotic Swell provides defense against Black Market p and Wondrous Labyrinth p. In addition, Chaotic Swell greatly disrupts decks that depend on Giant Hearth, such as Blacephalon UNB and Centiskorch VMAX. Against these Fire decks, try to play Chaotic Swell as soon as possible to block your opponent from finding R Energy.

1 Power Plant

In the past, Power Plant was very strong. Today it is a weak Stadium, but it still has value. As long as most decks still use Dedenne-GX, Power Plant will still be interesting. In addition, we also have Mew3 Box variants out there seeing play, so the Power Plant + Reset Stamp combo can still be powerful and put an end to Mew3 Box.

DeciGoon

The strategy for this deck is quite simple: set up Decidueye or Obstagoon (depending on the matchup), and if your opponent doesn’t have a good answer, they won’t have much to do. In general, this deck can have extremely favorable or extremely bad matchups, depending on how the opponent’s deck is built.

The main decks of the format, like ADPZ and Eternatus VMAX, are (in theory) supposed to have a horrible matchup against DeciGoon. To have a chance to win, it is necessary that these decks use techs like Duraludon RCL and Hoopa DAA respectively. Other strategies can be used to fight DeciGoon, but the great truth is that these techs are used specifically to deal with Decidueye and Obstagoon.

But it is not all good matchups for DeciGoon. Another popular deck in the format is Centiskorch VMAX, and it can easily beat DeciGoon. Although DeciGoon has a small chance of victory, Volcanion UNB will deal with Decidueye while Centiskorch VMAX will deal with Obstagoon. It is one of the few decks that does not need to undergo unwanted changes to deal with this anti-meta deck.

As you can see from the list below, the deck is simple and focused on evolving Decidueye and Obstagoon. In the case of DeciGoon, Pokémon themselves are the best techs.

Decklist

Cards Explanations

4 Jirachi TEU

In a deck like this where you can’t use Dedenne-GX or Crobat V, we need Jirachi TEU for consistency. After your setup is completed, we use Scoop Up Net to remove the Jirachi from the field.

4-1-3 Decidueye DAA

Deep Forest Camo causes headaches for most decks in the format. Decidueye is our main attacker and its Splitting Arrow attack is OK. The idea is to Knock Out everything that is not a Pokémon-GX or V and then have a smooth path to victory.

3-0-2 Galarian Obstagoon SSH

Obstagoon deals with some of the Decidueye counters, such as Duraludon RCL, Hoopa DAA, and Volcanion UNB. It is important to have this type of response, otherwise the deck would be susceptible to simple techs.

Remember that the Abilities of Galarian Zigzagoon and Galarian Obstagoon can put damage counters on the opponent’s Pokémon, which helps to Knock Out Pokémon that cause problems for DeciGoon.

4 Professor’s Research, 4 Marnie, 4 Rosa

12 Supporters are played to improve the deck’s consistency. You probably won’t use 12 Supporters in a game—you will only use about 6 Supporters—but the goal here is that you have access to one of them every turn.

4 Scoop Up Net

In addition to allowing you to use Jirachi TEU’s Stellar Wish more often, Scoop Up Net is necessary to remove Pokémon from the board that you won’t need anymore, because that way you take away the opponent’s chance to Knock them Out.

5 G Energy, 4 Aurora Energy, 3 Capture Energy

The big difference in Energies here is Capture Energy. As I said before, this deck’s setup is slow compared to others in the format. We are talking about a Stage 2 deck in a highly aggressive and fast format. Because of that, Capture Energy is played as another way to find Rowlet and Zigzagoon as soon as possible.

Final Thoughts

The format still holds various strategies to deal with the established Tier 1 of the current metagame. I think it is important to explore different strategies whenever possible to evolve as a player, increase your repertoire, and avoid playing the same games over and over.

Just as playing old formats can help you improve in the current format, I also believe that playing with different decks can make you a more complete and better player. I’ve noticed that opponents find it difficult to face different strategies, so this is undoubtedly an important factor in a competition. In the same way that opponents feel uncomfortable playing against something out of the ordinary, I’m sure you feel the same way when facing something strange. It is important to build your repertoire of decks you know how to play because of that too. The strange deck you face in the first or second round of one tournament may be the same deck you see in the finals of another tournament afterward.

The price for not using Dedenne-GX and Crobat V is a great loss of speed. There are very few strategies that can be so slow and still be able to fight on equal terms with the best decks of the format. PikaGreen and DeciGoon are good examples, but we also have other decks that can do this, such as the renowned LucMetal/Zacian.

Usually in large tournaments we get to see a new and impressive deck appear. In the first Players Cup it was LucMetal/Zacian and I am sure that we will see a new idea also being highlighted in Players Cup II.

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

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