Xander Pero
Author Archive
Short Recap on Xander’s NAIC Run and Looking Ahead to New Options from Burning Shadows for Anaheim “Previous decks will love the new toys they get to play with, such as Kiawe in Volcanion or Acerola across all of them. Perhaps Tapu Koko-GX can see playability with Super Scoop Up, or Raichu XY in conjunction with the new Raichu BUS. There’s a lot to cover leading up to Worlds, and in this article I hope to share ideas to give you a better grasp on what’s worth testing. The first deck I’ll cover is an updated Volcanion list. Like I’ve said previously, there isn’t much to change from an already successful deck. Kiawe and Guzma are automatic…
Examining the Success of Drampa/Zoroark, Considering the Proper List, and NAIC Potential “Zoroark made its debut at Madison Regionals, picking up a Top 4 finish with Danny Altavilla. I’d argue it did so well because of the mass amounts of Garbodor GRI present in the room. It dominated Seattle by taking up 24/32 spots in Top 32. Other decks throughout the room were built to counter Garbodor, such as Alolan Ninetales or Metagross. Vikavolt SUM/Tapu Bulu-GX also made an appearance in Top 8 and downwards, giving Zoroark decks another good matchup. Zoroark is insane at countering Garbodor GRI since it relies on very few Items. Its damage comes from the opponent—the amount…
A Primer Guide on All Aspects of Tournament Preparation and a Dive into Greninja’s Resurgence “In an ideal world, it’s incredibly important to put in the effort to play games with your deck before the tournament. At high stakes tournaments like Internationals or Regionals, players are good at the top tables. Making mistakes at 4-0, 6-1, etc., is detrimental and can cost you your tournament run. I made some mistakes in Mexico City last weekend during Day 1, which may have potentially caused me to miss Day 2. Even though I did very well, I could have done better before cut, maybe putting me at 31-33 points instead of 30 going into Top 8. The…
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Xander’s Top 4 Mexico City Regionals Report and Review with Espeon-GX/Garbodor “The aspects I loved from Colin’s list were the Pokemon line, 8 Psychic Energy, and 2 Hex Maniac. Multiple top-notch American players chose to play Decidueye-GX/Vileplume, so I tossed in the 2nd Hex Maniac the morning of. Originally I had 4 Professor Sycamore, but dropped down to 3. The goal of the list was to make the deck as consistent as possible. Delinquent should be better than Team Rocket’s Handiwork, but it was lackluster. I used it effectively 4 times throughout the tournament. Once was against Volcanion, where I actually caught him with 3 cards in his hand. It won…
Xander’s Seattle Recap, Methods and Madness for Beating Garbodor, and a Patient Waterbox. “Going into Seattle, I knew that Garbodor would be a threat. Usually at the arrival of a new set, the meta retains itself with very little improvement. What everyone in the room found was a spew of Garbodor. I decided to go back to my roots and play M Gardevoir because its bad matchups would decline in popularity. M Rayquaza and Decidueye/Vileplume were the bad matchups before, but with Tapu Lele-GX, Decideye became an easy matchup. Had I known how amazing and prevalent Garbodor would be, I probably would have played a different deck, or a less Item-heavy list. Here’s how my…
Though it has a gentle disposition, it’s also very strong. It will quickly freeze the snowball on its head before going for a headbutt. (Galarian Darmanitan)
The Return of Raichu and M Gardevoir “I was intrigued by Raichu after learning the results of a Japanese tournament. One person played a Lycanroc-GX deck with a 2-2 Raichu, most likely for the M Rayquaza matchup. I remembered Raichu/Bats back in 2015-2016, and was curious to see if it still worked out. My first idea was to combine Raichu with Lycanroc-GX; basically flipping the Japanese player’s evolution lines. A Lycanroc deck is much harder to pull off while playing American Standard because Korrina and Focus Sash are in Expanded only (while Japan plays XY-on instead of PRC-on). Raichu has the benefit of being a one prize attacker, just…
Virginia Hopefuls, Looking Ahead to Guardians Rising “I’m incredibly ready for Guardians Rising to arrive, most notably to improve the Standard format. All of the major decks have been established, with Decidueye/Vileplume being the frontrunner. Its matchups are stellar in comparison with other decks. If you are attending Virginia Regionals, play a deck that can compete with Decidueye/Vileplume. The other decks you should worry about are Volcanion, Darkrai variants, and M Rayquaza. Tier 2 decks that continue to be played are Yveltal/Garbodor, Vespiquen, Lapras, and M Mewtwo. I label these as Tier 2 because these decks heavily underperformed in Salt Lake City and Brazil. Darkrai Variants (50-50 split between Turbo and…
Standard as a Whole and In-Depth Analyses of Mega Rayquaza, Mega Gardevoir, and Quad Lapras-GX! “The meta is incredibly unstable looking towards the vast amount of Standard events ahead (Salt Lake City, Brazil, Roanoke, etc.). Decidueye/Plume took over Australia, but lost to Volcanion in the finals. Volcanion had never won a major tournament before, so is a favorable meta all the deck needs to succeed? I think that Volcanion, Decidueye/Plume, Mega Mewtwo, Mega Rayquaza, Lapras, and Turbo Darkrai are the decks to watch for in Standard. Other decks that may appear are Vespiquen, Mega Gardevoir, and Yveltal/Garbodor. I think all of these have the potential to win the tournament with the correct meta. Success in a Standard…
Mega Gardevoir, Revisiting on Umbreon/Zoroark, Mega Mewtwo, An Interesting Lurantis Build, and Vespiquen! “Mega Gardevoir did not perform particularly well in Athens. Three total made Top 32 (including myself), but only one finished in Top 16 and none in Top 8. Mega Rayquaza appeared out of nowhere in absence of Yveltal/Garbodor, which is an autoloss for Mega Gardevoir. The other hard matchup that exists is Greninja, and Volcanion is close. I felt that Mega Gardevoir was a great play, but multiple, unfortunate ties ended my tournament. The list is relatively similar to my list before Sun & Moon. The only changes from my Athens list are: -2 Fairy Drop -1 Giovanni’s Scheme +1…
1st Place Dallas Regionals 2017 Tournament Report “Going into the tournament, I had every deck built. I was mainly debating playing Yveltal/Garbodor or Greninja; both decks are very strong and can win the tournament when played correctly. I had played Yveltal/Garb at a League Cup in Chicago, starting off 3-0, but I started to draw poorly and hit hard counters. I finished at 3-3, which was a very poor finish. I chose to play Yveltal/Garb because it’s so strong, especially after its performance in London. Greninja was a backup play for me; it’s a deck that could carry me to Day 2 if I drew well enough.…
Infinite amounts of energy pour from this Pokémon’s enlarged core, warping the surrounding space-time. (Eternamax Eternatus)
Evolutions, How It Will Impact Standard, and Fairies for Fort Wayne “Evolutions released earlier this month, and I have to say that the artwork on the cards looks amazing. The set doesn’t introduce many stand-alone cards, but it does add specific cards such as Dragonite-EX and Mewtwo EVO to help support current decks. These cards will fit into the current powerhouses of the Standard format, either to make them more consistent or to swing certain matchups. Aside from these top cards, there are some cards that are too gimmicky, inconsistent, or unreliable to be great. My favorite thing about the set is that it promotes COUNTERPLAY. Counterplay is defined as: “a positive…
It anchors itself in the ground with its single leg, then basks in the sun. After absorbing enough sunlight, its petals spread as it blooms brilliantly. (Gossifleur)
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