Jonathan Croxton
Author Archive
Bio: I can’t remember a time in my life before Pokémon. I started play competitively in 2012, my last year of Juniors, and earned invites each of the 4 years I played, along with 5 regional finals, a Nationals finals, top 8 and 16, and a (then) record 1245 points.
In February, 2019, I decided on a whim to attend an Expanded regionals with Shock Lock. The rest is history!
The Quiet Days and Second Wind of My Pokémon Career, Including the Most Unbalanced Decks I’ve Played, from 2013–2014 to Now “Ah, where were we? After 2013 Worlds, BLW, EPO, NVI, and DRV were rotated. Since the early Black & White sets started off slow, and because power creep really ramped up started at NXD, very few important cards were lost to this rotation. In addition, several of the powerful cards had already been reprinted: Terrakion got a secret rare in BCR; EPO Item powerhouses Pokemon Catcher and Max Potion got theirs in DEX and PLF; and the staple supporters Professor Juniper and N were spared too. The main exceptions were Eelektrik NVI and Crushing Hammer EPO. Virizion-EX/Genesect-EX PLB was the…
The Rise and Glory Days of My Pokémon Career, Including Every Deck I Played During HS-on/2012 and BLW-on/2013 Modified Formats “Emerging Powers was the set released after Worlds 2011, a year famous for its mid-season rotation, Pokemon Reversal flips, and Ross Cawthon’s The Truth deck. Jay Hornung wonderfully documented the pre-EPO HS-on format extensively in his recent article. Let me remind you of some rules at this point in the game: Player who wins the coin flip must go first. Player who goes first has no restrictions. Pokemon Catcher did not require a coin flip. Burn is permanent like Poison, and you flip to see if you take damage. Emerging Powers was a notably bad set in terms of Pokemon—you…
A Handful of Underappreciated Cards from Rebel Clash (w/ Nuzzle ft. Boltund V, Scoop Up Mewtwo, and Lapras/Frosmoth) “This is a card that I’ve already said is crazy good, and most people acknowledge its power in Expanded for picking up Shaymin-EX ROS and Jirachi-EX. I’m certainly excited that it can pick up Raichu BUS. (The recent Expanded rules update didn’t ban this card, but it seems like they are kicking the can down the road since there aren’t any tournaments.) On the other hand, not many people have thought about Scoop Up Net’s uses in Standard come Rebel Clash. My first thought of using it was with Mewtwo UNB, specifically, to recycle Welders in decks that so badly…
Nine Unlimited Decks That Win on Turn 1 in All Ways Possible (Including Bench Out, Deck Out, the Unown Trio, Lost World, and, Yes, Walk-Off Homer) “With the millions of possibilities, I decided to put down some guidelines for myself. I can use any card ever printed in English that was legal for tournament play at some point, plus Rebel Clash. I am permitted to assume my opponent doesn’t put any restrictions on me (i.e., no Spiritomb AR, Wobbuffet PHF, or Sudowoodo GRI/Ditto TM). I must play with current Sword & Shield rules (i.e., no Supporter turn 1). I can’t rely on coin flip cards for consistency (e.g., Bill’s Teleporter), and consistency cards that shuffle the deck should be limited (see: Trainers’ Mail). I must maximize…
Dethroning ADP/Z, Turbo ADP/Z, Sleep Mill (Best Mill), and, Yep!, Shock Lock “Traditionally, decks are prevented from becoming too dominant via the Weakness mechanic. As Gabriel pointed out, this doesn’t apply to ADP/Zacian, as there simply aren’t any good Fairy Pokemon to counter ADP, and Zacian V can have its Fire Weakness removed by Metal Frying Pan. (In case you have forgotten, Fairy Pokemon are being phased out of the TCG, so there will never be any more Fairies printed to stand up to ADP-GX.) So, if we want to counter ADP/Zacian, we are stuck dissecting it for exploitable weaknesses. I’ve compiled a short list here of quirks that you can look…
Its amusing movements make it very popular. It releases its psychic power from the pattern on its belly. (Mr. Rime)
The State of Expanded, Shock Lock in Collinsville, and What Almost Was (ADP/Alolan Raticate) “Needless to say, Expanded is not in a good place right now. I’ll try not to spend too much time complaining (my opinions won’t change what Pokemon will do about it), but there are some things I’d like to bring up. First, I don’t know why Trevenant & Dusknoir-GX was ever printed. This card is inherently degenerate—you will never put TrevNoir in your deck as an attacker intending to play a fair, back-and-forth game. (This applies to Standard, as well, though it isn’t oppressive in that format.) If Pokemon bans Milotic FLF, TrevNoir will inevitably rear its ugly head again…
The Post-OCIC Meta, Two for Collinsville (Straight Zacian V, Zacian V/Bronzong), and Understanding Expanded as an RPS Format “The main story of OCIC was the utter dominance of ADP/Zacian V. Nearly half of Day 2 competitors played it, and it took up seven of the Top 16 slots. The rest of the decks were essentially tried-and-true favorites updated with Quick Ball and Professor’s Research: Mew3, Malamar, PikaRom, Ability ReshiZard, and Baby Blacephalon. One deck that surprised me by living up to its hype was Zacian V Mill. Including the player that got DQ’d for an incorrect decklist, three of the four that made Day 2 got Top 16, and two made Top 8. I think if the tournament…
The Winners and Losers of Sword & Shield (Standard Format), Morpeko V, RowEgg/Rillaboom, and Reflections on Choosing a Deck “With every set comes changes to the metagame, with some cards and decks getting more powerful, while others fall off or vanish. With SSH bringing many new cards, including new Pokemon V and a rule change, this is more true than ever. This one might be fairly obvious—PikaRom’s greatest limitation since the rotation of Nest Ball has been finding Tapu Koko Prism Star in a timely manner. So far, PikaRom players have had to use Pokemon Communication, which is not ideal, since they typically had fewer than 15 Pokemon to use with it. Quick Ball not only seamlessly searches Tapu…
Octo Doll and Classic Shock Lock (i.e., Decks That Require Tropical Beach) for Dallas “Credit where credit is due, this first list originates from a deck sent to me by Rudy Wade. I removed the Energy denial and stall cards in favor of a Durant-style sit-and-mill deck. This list heavily invests in the synergy between Rescue Scarf and your Lillie’s Poke Dolls/Robo Substitutes (henceforth just “Dolls”), giving you a near-endless supply of 0-Prize walls. Simply sit behind your Dolls and cast a milling Supporter every turn, occasionally using Junk Hunt to recover high-value cards like Pal Pad and Eco Arm that will continue the pressure and soft-lock. Normally, relying on reactive Pokemon Tools like…
Introducing “Budget” Shock Lock, an Approachable Shock Lock with No Tropical Beach “In my previous Expanded article, I predicted a particular new card to spell serious trouble for Shock Lock—Great Catcher. Since you were basically stuck with Tapu Lele-GX on the Bench until the very end of the game (where Pickup on Pal Pad for 2 AZs allowed you to go positive on resources), Great Catcher would permanently threaten to push Stoutland to the Bench. Then, Guzma can be played, which breaks the Paralysis lock for that turn and targets down your Pikachu, meaning they can attack yet again on the next turn. While it’s unclear at the moment how common Great…
Little can stand up to its psycho cut. Unleashed from this Pokémon’s horn, the move will punch a hole right through a thick metal sheet. (Galarian Rapidash)
The Enigmatic QuagVally (Quagsire/Silvally) and Actual Big Brain Blowns (Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel) for San Diego “Warning: This deck is excessively difficult to play. With most decks, you can pick it up and have a good feeling for the strategy within 10 games. This is not the case with QuagVally. With this deck, you need to commit yourself to playing many practice games, wherein you carefully analyze every action you take. The first I heard of a Quagsire/Silvally deck was my good friend Michael Catron pitching the idea to me at Richmond Regionals. You use Red & Blue to get Energy into play instead of Naganadel LOT, then Wash Out the Energies to your attackers. As…
A Shock Lock Disclaimer, ZoroGarb (Sky Field & Parallel City), ZoroToad, ToadGarb, and Misc. Other Expanded Thoughts on/for Richmond Regionals “Most people first associate my name with my beloved Stoutland deck, so I wanted to include a bit for the people who may have clicked just for that. Shock Lock is a very poor play in current Expanded. Part of what made the deck so consistent and powerful is that it could play no Pokémon Tool removal and simply concede to Garbodor decks. Now, any deck that plays Stealthy Hood makes themselves immune to Evoshock. Previously, Shock Lock took an auto-loss to Trevenant PHF (sans clunky Lysandre techs) because your only means of using Evoshock infinitely is with Lillipup BLW’s…
The Making of Quagsire/Naganadel for the DC Open, My Latest List, and What Has Changed About the Deck “Going into Worlds, I expected the meta to be mostly these five decks: PikaRom, now with Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX Green’s ReshiZard Malamar variants Blowns Mewtwo & Mew-GX decks When looking at this list, I noticed that three of the decks—PikaRom, Blowns, and Mewtwo—did not have a good answer to attacking Keldeo-GX. Benching a Keldeo does not immediately win the game against PikaRom, as they have a few 1-Prize attackers, but as long as you could power up several consecutive Keldeos, they would be in trouble. (Mind you, this is before 1-of Power Plant was mainstream in PikaRom). Using the…
Its mighty legs are capable of running at speeds exceeding 40 mph, but this Pokémon can’t breathe unless it’s underwater. (Dracovish)
13 articles written
6× Worlds qualifier
Playing since 2012
@croxtonveryepic
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