6,7,8!? Corners

pokemon-paradijs.comHello SixPrizes Underground! My name is Esa Juntunen and I live in Finland. You probably know me better as the founder and author of the blog The Deck Out. You may have bumped into my blog when it comes to decks such as “6 Corners” and Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode, which were both introduced in my Eye on Japan-article series. Eye on Japan: Part 1 is something you’ve read for sure.

As I have my own blog, you might wonder why I am even writing for the UG? That’s a very good question. Adam was kind enough to offer me job as a writer for SixPrizes UG since my blog has gotten very much attention worldwide and he felt like I have something to offer for the UG as well. I was very honored for this possibility since I’m not a native English speaker, and I guess not that many non-native English speakers have written for the UG. I also love different countries and cultures and therefore I see my writings as a way to increase the appreciation of international players.

Finland has won World Championships twice, but people seem to forget that very often. There are also many other good Pokémon countries that people tend to forget. If you don’t come from the States you’re usually automatically considered “not that good” a player and people don’t take you seriously on forums. I hope I can change this attitude through my writings, and I may have already made some progress regarding this issue.

However, I still bump into comments like “isn’t that the guy from Sweden or w/e” when it comes to my blog.
If I’m going to write a strategy article for the UG, I must have achievements and results as a player. Here is my ”Pokémon CV” that will hopefully convince you of my skills in the game.

My Pokémon CV

19× City Champion
12× Regional Champion
5× National Champion
3× World Championships Top 32
1× World Championships Top 8
2× Builder and co-builder of World Championship winning decks
2× Judge at Finnish National Championships

pokemon-paradijs.com

As you can see from my CV, I’m a very competitive player who enjoys deck building more than anything else in this game. I’m pretty sure that I have the most National Championships in the World (Sami Sekkoum has four I guess). However, the thing I consider the greatest achievement in my Pokémon career are the decks I’ve built. I’ve been closely involved in building both of the Finnish World Championship winning decks and the unique rogue that I built (Glaceon LV.X/Absol SW) took me to Top 8 in Worlds in 2008.

As you can guess from my National Championship wins, I have also attended many World Championships (six in total) and my first Worlds were in 2004. From Worlds I’ve gained a lot of important playing experience and many good memories. My best playing experiences are probably from Worlds 2008 where I beat Jay Hornung and Gino Lombardi who were both playing Gardevoir SW/Gallade SW at the time. I also beat Alex Brosseau in Top 32 when he was in a 15-0 situation with his Empoleon deck (8-0 in the Grinder and 7-0 in the Swiss rounds).

However, probably the most significant moment in my Pokémon TCG career came a year after that in the 2009 Worlds, where I beat Yuta Komatsuda in a Palkia G mirror match. It was probably one of the games I’ll never forget since I played the match flawlessly. Yuta is a great player and it was an honor to meet him in such a tough matchup. 
But
 that’s enough about me. I hope I’ve convinced you of my skills now and I can get to the main topic of this article – 6 Corners.

The deck 6 Corners was revealed in my first Eye on Japan article, and soon after that I made an article about the deck. However, a lot of time has passed since then, and the deck has evolved and done very well in tournaments worldwide. Still, a huge cloud of mystery floats above it. How does it really work? How can it be countered? How should it be built?

I still get e-mails daily asking these things. I’ve done some serious testing with it and now I’m here to analyze every single aspect of the deck that there is. After you’ve read this article, I hope you feel like you know everything that there is to know about 6 Corners.

Anyway let’s get down to business and look at the basic list to see where everything began.

Pokémon – 12

4 Virizion NVI
2 Kyurem NVI
2 Reshiram BLW
1 Zekrom BLW
1 Terrakion NVI
1 Bouffalant BLW 91
1 Shaymin UL

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
1 Cheren
4 Pokémon Collector
3 Pokégear 3.0
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch
4 Junk Arm
3 Eviolite
2 Super Scoop Up
1 Super Rod

Energy – 14

6 G
4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

This is the list that placed 3rd in a Japanese tournament. I released this list in my blog a few months ago and every player who has ever built 6 Corners probably saw this list first. However, there are two minor changes I made to the original list. The 4th Pokégear was switched to Cheren and Bouffalant was added in place of a 2nd Super Rod.

Strategy

The heart of Six Corners is to attack your opponent’s weaknesses. When speaking of weaknesses, I’m talking not only type weaknesses, but also any weaknesses the opposing player’s deck might have. The name, which I invented for this deck, came straight from the types of the Pokémon the original list played.

Your favorite opener is Virizion. No matter what your opponent is playing, Virizion is the Pokémon you want to open with since you usually have a Switch in your hand anyway. Virizion is a Basic Pokémon, which draws cards for one C Energy. Even a horrible hand may soon turn out to be a good hand because of Virizion’s Double Draw. After you have used Double Draw, you have two options:

1. Start attacking with Virizion T2

pokemon-paradijs.comVirizion has proved to be a very strong option when you’re against decks like Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode or Trainer lock decks. If a Trainer lock deck has a poor start, there is a big chance that you will be able to run through them and get a huge prize lead with only one Virizion.

It is highly effective against things like Vanilluxe NVI because if Virizion has Eviolite attached to it, Vanilluxe can only damage Virizion with double heads. Sometimes even things like Chandelure NVI may have problems with a consistent T2 40 and T3-on 80 damage per turn. However, the best effect you can get against Durant decks as long as you run decent amounts of G Energy in your deck and Durant isn’t flipping 100% heads with Crushing Hammers. A single Virizion in the beginning of the game using Leaf Wallop during the whole game can win the game for you – this happened in 2-of my last Cities and I was very surprised to see that.

If you decide to go with Virizion, you should nevertheless start loading a secondary attacker on your bench. There are many possibilities in this deck, and even though this is just a basic list, you must be careful when thinking which of your Pokémon is the most effective against your opponent’s strategy.

People usually say that a good player can outplay 6 Corners, but they usually forget that a good 6 Corners player can also outplay any deck. The success of 6 Corners in the hands of good players is no coincidence.

Against many matchups Kyurem is a very good choice as the early secondary attacker. Kyurem is great because its only metagame weakness is Cobalion and it has 130 HP. Unlike other Legendary Digimon, Kyurem’s greatness doesn’t come from Outrage but from Glaciate. Glaciate does 30 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokémon. Glaciate is great in this deck because this deck has almost no normal 1HKOing power.

However, thanks to even 1 or 2 Glaciates, suddenly every one of your opponent’s Pokémon is within a 1HKO range of any of your attacker while your opponent still can’t 1HKO you because your every Pokémon is a huge tank.

In late Game 6 Corners should concentrate on keeping the big tanks alive and energy in the field with Shaymin, Switches and Super Scoop Ups. If your opponent is behind you in prizes, you can just concentrate on getting revenge KOs with Legendary Dragons Eviolites attached to them, Terrakion and Bouffalant.

This deck usually has resources for only 6 Prizes and that’s why you must be extra careful with every Energy card you attach to your Pokémon especially in the late game.

2. Start attacking with an optional attacker

pokemon-paradijs.comThere are two typical cases in which you want to do this. First, if you don’t open with a Virizion or Switch and Collector in your hand. The second – and most common – reason you want to do this is that Virizion isn’t the core of your strategy anymore. This has happened to many players I have talked to, and they usually drop the number of Virizions from 4 to 2. Virizion is a good starter whenever you open with it, but with an optional attacker you can get some great early aggression going on even from T1 onwards.

You can get the best early aggression with Pokémon that can hit your opponent’s weaknesses. For example, if you are able to open the game with a DCE and Kyurem against a ReshiPlosion deck, they might have serious problems in their set-up. You may be able to get rid of all their Cyndaquils and Quilavas even before they have any Typhlosions in the field, and can end the game even before it has started.

The same goes with Terrakion against Eelektrik NVI/Zekrom BLW decks: you are able to do massive damage with Terrakion (which has Eviolite attached to it) by targeting their Eelektriks and Tynamos. You can use this strategy against any matchup: find the Pokémon that are the weakest in the early game and most important in the late game and destroy them before they have a chance of evolving.

The mid and late game goes with the early aggression game plan just like with Virizion. Use Dragons with Eviolite and Terrakion and Bouffalant for Revenge KOs, since you should have the prize lead thanks to early aggression.

As you can see, 6 Corners has different game plans against different decks but there are some things that you can do against every matchup. Now that we have looked at the basic strategy of this deck, it’s time to dig deeper in the deck and look at all the versatile things this deck has to offer.

Things to consider when building your own 6 Corners

The number one reason I fell in love with this deck is its versatility. This deck can be called a “netdecker’s nightmare.” You can go ahead and netdeck the basic list of this deck, play with it in your metagame and state “this deck is bad” because it doesn’t win you any games. The reason why it doesn’t win is that it doesn’t fit the metagame. There are things you can and must consider when building your own 6 Corners deck.

1. Know your playstyle

This is something players often forget when thinking about their deck choice in general. Thanks to 6 Corners’ versatility, any kind of player can play the deck. You must carefully think what kind of decks you like the best. Is your style about aggressive decks like ZPST that can end the game really fast, or decks like Ross.dec that leaves no room for game play errors and needs a lot of time to set-up.

Maybe you prefer decks that have support Pokémon and a main attacker like Eelektrik/Zekrom or Reshiram/Typhlosion. Whichever it is, think how you can adjust your playing style to the 6 Corners list.

2. Know your metagame

This is more important with 6 Corners than with any other deck. 6 Corners is all about finding your opponent’s weaknesses, but it does have limited space after all. That is why you must examine your metagame properly and find out what kind of decks are popular and what are the most difficult matchups for your 6 Corners.

You need to be sure what you have to tech against if you want to have decent results with your deck. Predicting the metagame correctly makes all the difference in your tournament success with this deck.

However, building a 6 Corners deck that differs only a bit from the basic list can be able to deal with almost any metagame deck in the format. That’s why 6 Corners is a deck that can also be played in a metagame you’re not familiar with.

3. Don’t overtech

Mark A. HicksIt may sound like a good idea to put 1 copy of each tech in the deck because you can, but in reality it’s a very bad idea. Just like with every deck, overteching destroys the consistency of the deck, but in 6 Corners it also ruins the main idea of the deck – getting Revenge KOs and getting your opponent to run out of resources.

If you have too many teches, they are always prized at the wrong time. In order not to overtech you must take into account every point I bring up in this part of the article.


4. Accept bad matchups

It’s always difficult to accept bad matchups but that’s reality that has to be faced when it comes to 6 Corners – you can’t have a good matchup against everything, right? Otherwise everyone would be playing 6 Corners. Accepting bad matchups is very closely connected to the previous points I mentioned. You can easily accept bad matchups if your metagame doesn’t have those decks.

There is no point teching against bad matchups if it’s unlikely to face them in the tournament. Accepting bad matchups is also closely connected to overteching. If you aren’t able to accept bad matchups you’re destined to overtech and ruin the whole deck. Once you see the tech list I’ve prepared for 6 Corners you’ll understand that there is no way you can use all the teches in one list.

Techs



6 Corners is the most techable deck ever. The deck can run pretty much any playable Basic Pokémon in this format. Thanks to its techability it can do well in this diverse format. Choosing the right teches is the most imporant thing, if you want to do well with this deck. Teching is something you have to be careful about because sometimes even the most skilled players make the mistake of overteching, which destroys their deck’s consistency.

Teching is like a double-edged sword and there is one very important thing that has to be remembered – predicting the metagame. If you happen to predict the metagame and the teches you want to play incorrectly, it will probably show in your tournament result and you are not going to make it through the Swiss rounds. However, if you predict the metagame correctly, the teches may make you victorious.

Next, I’ll go through EVERY possible tech this format has to offer for 6 Corners. Some of the techs are just one extra ”corner” to the deck, some are only supporting the other Pokémon and some of them have some really interesting ways to win you the game.

First, I’ll go through the Pokémon techs and then the Trainer techs. By “tech” I mean any card that isn’t in the ”basic” list of the deck (i.e. the list in the beginning). That’s why it doesn’t have cards like Bouffalant or Terrakion even though they can be considered techs as well. Remember, if there is a tech card that you have in mind and it isn’t included in this list, feel free to ask my opinion on it on the forums.



Pokémon Techs


I’ll explain the purpose of each tech and list the matchups the tech is great against – and on the other hand – useless against after each tech I introduce.

V-Create

 Victini

pokemon-paradijs.comVictini is one of the best teches for this deck because it’s very good against many decks. However, it’s the best against things that have a Fire weakness, and that’s why Victini can be introduced as a Durant counter. Six Corners has serious problems with Durant if it doesn’t run Victini because Durant runs things like Crushing Hammer and Lost Remover and the deck has no real solution against Durant.

However, thanks to V-Create Victini, you are easily able to hit 200 damage to every Durant for only 2 Energies. Durant isn’t able to deck you out as long as you are able to 1HKO their Durants turn after turn.

So, if Durant is played in your area even a bit, I suggest you play Victini since it makes the Durant matchup from auto-loss to an ok matchup. You must still remember that they run a huge amounts of Lost Removers and Crushing Hammers, which cause problems to Victini. They might also run Ditto(TM) to make Victini useless.

Great against: Durant, Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode, Mirror 

Useless against: None 



Landorus

 NVI

Landorus is a great tech if your metagame is filled with Lightning type decks like ZPST, Magnezone/Eelektrik or Eelektrik/Zekrom. However, if you want to run Landorus the most efficient way, you must change your whole deck’s strategy, as I’ll explain later on in this article. Landorus works the best if you have F Energy in your deck because that way you can use its first attack and load Landorus fast. Landorus has a resistance to Lightning and it hits for 80 so it’s able to 1HKO any Lightning type Pokémon.

Landorus also deals damage to each players’ benched Pokémon, which works in your favor for two reasons: It fuels your Outrages and weakens your opponent’s Pokémon at the same time. While Landorus needs extreme modification to the original decklist to work perfectly, it’s really worth it in a certain type of metagame.

Great against: Magnezone/Eelektrik, ZPST, Eelektrik/Zekrom

Useless against: None if built correctly


Absol Prime



pokemon-paradijs.comAbsol Prime became a popular tech as soon as Chandelure started to win tournaments all over the world. Absol Prime is the only Basic Pokémon that is able to 1HKO Chandelure for only 2 Energies. Absol Prime is also a great starter against any deck because of its ability to do 20 damage to each Basic Pokémon your opponent plays on their benches while Absol is your active.

While Absol Prime is a good counter against Chandelure, it doesn’t single handedly solve the problems 6 Corners has with Chandelure. Absol Prime has only 80 HP so it’s still easily killed by a Chandelure deck and if they are playing the offensive version, Chandelure just KOs Absol back. Absol works the best as a surprise counter against Chandelure decks that rely mostly on Blissey Prime’s healing ability.

If you play Absol before you are able to attack with it against Chandelure, everything will go as they have planned and Absol is of no use to you. If you want to get a surprise KO with Absol, you must use Shaymin at the same time you play Absol on your bench and attack in the same turn.

Great against: Chandelure 

Useless against: None if opened with 



Cobalion

 NVI

Cobalion is only a natural addition to 6 Corners since it already has all the other musketeer Pokémon as the main Pokémon. Metal weakness is getting more and more common thanks to another Japanese deck – Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode. Cobalion is able to 1HKO a fully loaded Kyurem with, once again, only 2 Energies attached to it. The same goes with 1HKOing Beartic. That being said, it also works as a great tech in the mirror match because many 6 Corners players favor Kyurem in their mirror strategy because of Glaciate. Kyurem is so good that it needs its own counter.

However, Cobalion is one of those cards that are useless against many decks. There is no reason to use 3 energies to hit 80 damage since most of this deck’s attackers can do massive damage with 3 energies attached to them.

Great against: Kyurem/Cobalion/Electrode, Beartic variants, Mirror

Useless against: ReshiPlosion, 



Tornadus

 EPO

pokemon-paradijs.comWhen I first talked about 6 Corners, I talked about this card a lot. Many theorymoned that Virizion could be simply replaced by Tornadus to make the deck even better. The more people tested with Tornadus, the more wrong they understood they were. Tornadus is no match for Virizion as a starter for this deck because Tornadus always needs a DCE in order to do anything in the early game.

Tornadus is just an extra type for this deck but if you want to cover the colorless type, I would suggest playing Bouffalant because it fits this deck’s general game strategy better and is cheaper to use. Tornadus is not a bad card since it can be used against any deck but I just don’t find it worth the space.

Great against: Rayquaza & Deoxys LEGEND tech

Useless against: None



Spinarak

 HS

This was one of the techs that was invented by my fellow Finnish players once I took my Chandelure out in the open. I love the idea of Spinarak against any Trainer lock decks. The strategy is to Spider Web the Baby Pokémons Trainer lock decks use for set-upping and just wait until the time runs out and take the first and only prize of the game for the victory. When you’re able to surprise your opponent with Spinarak, it auto-wins every Trainer lock deck that there is.

However, Spider Web requires G Energy so it only works in variants that are true to the original list and are built around the idea of using Virizion in the early game. If you have problems with Chandelure or other trainer lock decks, you should probably try teching a Spinarak. Give it a try and be surprised by the power of this small spider.

Great against: Trainer Lock decks

Useless against: Decks with Switch



Bellsprout TM / Drowzee HS

 / Carnivine TM

pokemon-paradijs.comDragging heavy-retreat-cost Pokémon in the front has always been an effective strategy but why would a deck running 4 Catchers need something like that? The reason is once again trainer lock. This is useless against Chandelure because of Dodrio UD, but it’s effective against Ross.dec and Vanilluxe.

Just use Bellsprout’s / Drowzee’s / Carnivines attack to make Vileplume their active Pokémon, and the you can kill it with your Zekrom/Reshiram and break the Trainer lock. This may also work as a strategy to buy some time in emergency situations against things like Magnezone or Cobalion.

It’s difficult to choose, which of these 3 ones is the best for the dragging mission because they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Bellsprout has the smallest HP, Drowzee needs Psychic for the attack and Carnivine’s Retreat Cost is 2. You should use the one that works in your 6 Corners build the best.

Great against: Trainer lock decks, Magnezone/Eelektrik, ReshiPlosion, 

Useless against: None



Unown CURE



This is probably a familiar tech for many players who have considered playing 6 Corners. Vanilluxe is one of the most horrible matchups for 6 Corners, but with Unown CURE it’s playable. However, you may also need to add 1 or 2 Seekers to get the most out of Unown CURE. Unown CURE may also be a good idea if your metagame is full of offensive versions of Chandelure.

Unown CURE enables Absol to get rid of the Confusion that Chandelure inflicts and lets it 1HKO 2 Chandelures instead of 1. This is only a tech against Chandelure and Vanilluxe and shouldn’t be considered at all if your metagame doesn’t have these two decks.

Great against: Chandelure, Vanilluxe

Useless against: Any deck that doesn’t use Special Conditions



Tyrogue

 HS/CL

pokemon-paradijs.comThere is nothing I hate more than donking, but it’s a sad fact that Tyrogue works very well in this deck. Many decks use Babies for set-upping and 6 Corners wants to get ahead in prizes, because then it can just concentrate on counter KOs. Tyrogue gives you an easy prize lead by Knocking Out your opponent’s Babies, and it can be very devastating for Trainer lock decks as well.

Even though this format has Catcher and Junk Arm, Tyrogue can be a good staller in emergency situations since it’s a Baby Pokémon. However, it doesn’t fit 6 Corners’ strategy that perfectly because when it’s not asleep, it’s a free prize for your opponent and a 6 Corners player doesn’t want to give away free prizes.

Great against: Slow decks

Useless against: None


Elekid

 TM

Elekid is a tech that sometimes wins you every game of the tournament and sometimes it’s just in the way. Sniping 20 damage is very good in this format because many trainer locking decks rely heavily on 130 HP and retreat their Pokémon once they are 10 damage away from being Knocked Out.

However, if you are able to KO them with Elekid, it might take some time for your opponent to rethink their game plan. Elekid may also work as a great attacker when you have run out of Catchers and Junk Arms against non-Trainer locking decks. Like Tyrogue, it’s a free prize for your opponent so you must be careful when playing it.

Great against: Chandelure, Vanilluxe 

Useless against: None



Durant

 NVI

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is one of the techs I love. I mean running only 1 Durant. Why to run one Durant you ask? I got this idea while I was watching some very close games in a tournament. In the very late game players always wait for their deck to run out and then use N in order not to deck out, so they can get as many turns as they can.

Imagine a tough game where your opponent has only 1 card in their deck in the end of the game and they have N in their hand, and then playing Durant on your bench and attacking with it – they would be decked out by surprise.

I have seen this scenario in tournament games too many times (without the Durant of course) so I wanted to make up a tech for this kind of scenario. It’s awesome, will take anyone by surprise and most importantly – it will win you games.

Great against: Everything

Useless against: None

2nd Shaymin

 UL

A 2nd Shaymin isn’t necessarily a tech but something to consider anyway. It gives the deck more mobility and more possibilities regarding Energy. It’s something that makes the deck better, but isn’t a necessity.

Druddigon NVI / Rocky Helmet

pokemon-paradijs.com

Druddigon is a Pokémon and Rocky Helmet is a Trainer card, but nevertheless they do the same thing. They are both very good in this deck because they make the worst matchups – Trainer locking decks – better matchups. Druddigon with Eviolite inflicts huge deals of damage on an attacking Vanilluxe and Druddigon’s attack keeps Chandelure from retreating while doing lots of damage to it.

The thing about Rocky Helmet is that it’s a Trainer card and thus it has to be in your hand before the Trainer lock is set-upped. In this sense, I prefer Druddigon to Rocky Helmet.

Great against: Chandelure, Vanilluxe, Ross.dec

Useless against: None



The missing Psychic type



Funnily enough, I don’t think that this format offers 6 Corners any decent Psychic type techs. I could play around with ideas like Mew Prime, Sigilyph EPO 42, or even V-Blast Victini, but they all have their own problems in dealing with damage. They all have very low HP compared to other techs and attackers of 6 Corners.

Mew Prime might work with Absol Prime if you really need to cover the Psychic weakness, but at the moment it shouldn’t be necessary. However, as I’ll discuss later, the missing Psychic type problem will be solved in the future.

Trainer Techs



Seeker / Super Scoop Up



pokemon-paradijs.comSeeker and SSU both serve the same purpose. You can either reuse some Powers (like Shaymin and Unown CURE) with it or you can save Pokémon that are about to get KO’d. The decision between SSU and Seeker is up to you. However, you should take into account your whole trainer-engine when making the decision.

If you have lots of discarding draw, Super Scoop Up is the only real option because you can reuse SSU with Junk arm. Seeker will end up in the discard pile all too often by discarding draws. You can time SSUs better than Seekers thanks to Junk Arms.

However, Seeker is better against Trainer locking decks, and with huge Pokégear armies in your deck, you can time Seekers fairly well. In the end, the decision is all about your personal preference.

Lost Remover



If you have problems in mirror matches, this is the tech for you. I’ll cover Lost Remover in more depth later on in this article, but for now it’s just to disrupt your opponent’s Energy attachment. It works against any deck that uses a lot of Special Energy cards.

Energy Exchanger / Energy Search



Since this deck is full of techs, you don’t always have the energy you need to attack with them. EE and ES will help you in getting the right energy at the right time. EE can also get the DCEs you need in the early game, which is huge in matchups where you need early aggression with Outrage (for example Kyurem against Reshiplosion). They are both Trainers so they can be used again in any point of the game with Junk Arm.

Defender



pokemon-paradijs.comThe first Finnish World Champion – Miska Saari – used this card in his Corners and I was immediately convinced by it. It’s so good in mirror matches and against Cobalion/Kyurem/Electrode. It gives Kyurem one more life and with Eviolite attached to it, one Kyurem is able to do great damage to your opponent’s Pokémon thanks to Glaciate. Keeping the attacking Pokémon alive is very important in this deck and since Defenders help with that, they are the perfect fit for this deck.

PlusPower / Black Belt



These are both very obvious choices for this deck. PlusPower is something every non-Trainer-lock-deck should run because it often wins games. Black Belt is a more complicated tech because, just like with Seeker, you don’t want to use it that often. In fact you can’t even use it that often as most of the time you’re ahead in prizes, but every time you are able to use it, you get a 1HKO with it.

Once again, thanks to Pokégears, it’s easier to get it in your hand and it might sometimes be the one card you need to get back on your feet.

N



N works as a tech in this deck just like in any other deck. Sometimes it works in your favor; sometimes it just disrupts your own game. N is a double-edged sword but it’s something to consider anyway. Played in the right moments, it will certainly win you some games.

Building 6 Corners to counter your metagame (and keeping it consistent at the same time)

6 Corners is one of the most difficult decks to build correctly. Finding the right techs against your metagame isn’t enough – you must also keep the deck consistent. Since it’s difficult to build consistent and well-teched lists, I’ll show you very good lists built against the most popular metagame decks. I’ll explain all the important choices you have to make in some of the matchups.

Some of these lists are a bit overteched against certain matchups but I tried to build the lists in such a way that they would also do well against every metagame deck. You can’t win the tournament by just teching against one matchup, and you have to find balance in your teching. You should tech only against the most difficult matchups and take off techs that are meant against some easier matchups. The
rest is up to how well you and your opponent play the matchup.

Anti-Chandelure version



This version concentrates more on KOing Chandelures and winning them by just killing them, which at the same time makes this version weaker against other matchups. But if you run this version, you’re sure to win
Chandelure. Let’s look at the list.

Pokémon – 13

4 Virizion NVI
2 Kyurem NVI
1 Zekrom BLW
2 Absol Prime
1 Unown TM
2 Shaymin UL
1 Tyrogue HS

Trainers – 34

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
2 Copycat
4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokégear 3.0
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch

4 Eviolite
3 Junk Arm
1 Seeker

Energy – 13

4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

3 Special D
2 G

pokemon-paradijs.com2 Absols and 1 Unown CURE should be enough to take care of Chandelures. Tyrogue is on the list in order to take the early prize lead. There are two Shaymins to guarantee that Absol can attack every turn. Chandelure shouldn’t be able to keep up with continuous 1HKOs and this deck has proved to be deadly against Chandelure in my testings.

As you can see, the list completely focused on winning Chandelure but if you want to do well in tournaments you need to win other decks as well. That’s why the deck has Special Darknesses – you need to use Absol against other decks as well.

This version has a great matchup against Chandelure and Vanilluxe, which are usually the most difficult ones, but this deck may have problems with the normally not-so-difficult matchups. However, if your metagame is full of Chandelure, you should give this a try and surprise them with your 1HKO power.

Keeping it stable against Chandelure



Unless your metagame is full of Chandelures, the previous version is a bit risky if you want to win the tournament. That’s why I made another version against Chandelure. This is far more balanced than the previous version when it comes to other matchups and this can win any deck in the format. This version also looks a lot like the original version and that’s why this is one of my favorite 6 Corners variants.

Pokémon – 11

3 Virizion NVI
2 Kyurem NVI
1 Reshiram BLW
1 Zekrom BLW
1 Terrakion NVI
1 Shaymin UL
1 Tyrogue HS
1 Spinarak HS

Trainers – 36

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokégear 3.0
2 Copycat
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch
4 Junk Arm
4 Eviolite
1 Super Rod
1 Super Scoop Up

Energy – 13

5 G
4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

pokebeach.comAs you can see, the little spider is on the list. Spinarak should do the job against Chandelure as long as you keep it a surprise. Just lock their Baby in the early game and you have the game. As I said, this deck doesn’t really differ from the basic list that much. It has a decent matchup against anything, and even if your opponent knows that you’re running Spinarak, it gives trainer locks problems. Their set-up will be slower than usually because they can’t use Babies properly, and you have all the biggest enemies of trainer lock decks in your deck – from Tyrogue to Virizion.






Anti-Lightning metagame version



Magnezone, Eelektrik, Zekrom, do I need to say more? Lightning is by far the most played type at the moment and you’re sure to play against at least one Lightning deck in any tournament you go to. However, the top decks are usually full-Lightning type decks as well. That’s why you can get very far in tournaments by just teching against decks like ZPST, MetaNite (sorry, Magnezone/Eelektrik), and Zekrom/Eelektrik.

Pokémon – 11

2 Virizion NVI
1 Kyurem NVI
1 Reshiram BLW
1 Zekrom BLW
3 Terrakion NVI
1 Landorus NVI
1 Shaymin UL
1 Tyrogue HS

Trainers – 36

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
2 N
4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokégear 3.0
1 Copycat
3 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch
4 Junk Arm
4 Eviolite
1 Super Rod
1 Super Scoop Up

Energy – 13

5 F
4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

pokemon-paradijs.comThis was the version I talked about when I was discussing Landorus. The deck’s main focus is now Terrakion and Landorus and F Energy instead of Virizion and G Energy. The Fighting type Pokémon in this deck combined with Eviolites will take care of any Lightning-type deck in this format. Terrakion is also a decent attacker against many other decks since it is able to do both Revenge KOs and normal KOs.

As you can see from the list, the Trainer engine remained the same but you can also change the Trainer engine to be more suitable for Landorus. You can also add one Landorus more if you decide to try the card discarding way for drawing. If you go with Sage’s and Juniper, you could also add F Energy instead of Rainbows and concentrate fully on the Landorus strategy with legendary Dragons being back-up Pokémon.

Also, if you decide to concentrate on attacking with Landorus, this deck can work like Donphans & Dragons – damage the benched Dragons with Gaia Hammer and then use Outrage for easy KOs. I think this version really shows how versatile 6 Corners can really be.

Anti-ReshiPlosion version / Spread version



Even though ReshiPlosion hasn’t been as victorious in City Championships as it was in Battle Roads, it’s still very popular. And it’s no wonder that it’s popular – it’s a very good and consistent deck that can win any deck when it’s having a good day. You’ll also probably have to face ReshiPlosion in every tournament you go to.

Pokémon – 11

2 Virizion NVI
3 Kyurem NVI
1 Reshiram BLW
1 Zekrom BLW
1 Terrakion NVI
2 Shaymin UL
1 Tyrogue HS

Trainers – 35

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
2 N
4 Pokémon Collector
4 Pokégear 3.0
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch
4 Junk Arm
3 Eviolite
1 Energy Exchanger
1 Super Rod

Energy – 14

4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

4 W

1 L
1 F

pokebeach.comEarly aggression with Kyurem is the key against ReshiPlosion. You are sometimes able to cripple their Typhlosions even before they evolve and that’s why this list has 3 Kyurems, 4 Catchers, DCEs and even an Energy Exchanger to guarantee a T1 Outrage with Kyurem. Kyurem is so good against ReshiPlosion that it can win ReshiPhlosion by itself.

However, this deck also works against any other deck if you make spreading damage with Kyurem your main strategy. This can be called a ReshiPlosion counter version, but at the same time, it’s also a spread version because of its focus on attacking with Kyurem.

Anti-The Truth version



I’m not a huge fan of The Truth/Ross.dec but for some reason it has done very well in tournaments around the U.S. However, it’s only a good thing for 6 Corners because, with right techs, 6 Corners auto-wins The Truth. The reason for this is that 6 Corners can 1HKO any main attackers in The Truth and The Truth loses if their main attackers are 1HKO’d. This list covers all the weaknesses that The Truth attackers can possibly have.

Pokémon – 11

2 Virizion NVI
2 Kyurem NVI
1 Reshiram BLW
1 Zekrom BLW
1 Terrakion NVI
2 Cobalion NVI
1 Shaymin UL
1 Tyrogue HS

Trainers – 35

4 Professor Juniper
4 Professor Oak’s New Theory
3 Sage’s Training
4 Pokémon Collector
3 Pokégear 3.0
4 Pokémon Catcher
4 Switch
3 Junk Arm
4 Eviolite
1 Super Rod
1 Seeker

Energy – 14

4 Rainbow
4 Double Colorless

2 Special M
2 W
1 L
1 R

The thing about the list that may be a bit weird is 2 Cobalions. The deck doesn’t have 2 Cobalions in order to counter Metal weakness but to make The Truth’s attacker life difficult. If they are playing the old version with Donphan Prime in it, Cobalion will just keep on attacking Donphan and they can’t do anything. While you stall with Cobalion, you can simultaneously concentrate on set-upping your 1HKOers.

No matter what strategy they try to use against you, they’ll lose the game. 

There is one thing I must say about The Truth matchup. Don’t try to solve your problems with Spinarak. Ross.dec is able to kill their own Babies with the damage from Rainbow Energy thanks to Reuniclus.

Optional draw builds



As you can see, the decklists I made look pretty similar when it comes to the Trainer engine. There is one simple reason for it – I’ve found the most consistent Trainer engine for this deck. However, when it comes to consistency, there is no single correct way to do it. Some prefer shuffle & draw over straight draw and some like discarding draw cards. That’s why I’ll introduce these optional draw builds for 6 Corners. If you don’t like the previous builds or if you’re a fan of straight draw and don’t like Juniper, you’ll love these.

Sage’s

 Training

pokemon-paradijs.comSage’s works very well in this format because of Junk Arm. However, 6 Corners is very techable and that’s why I don’t love playing Sage’s in it. With Sage’s you occasionally get horrible draws and are forced to discard important cards that you don’t want to discard. Sage’s is a card that some love and others hate.

If you like Sage’s, feel free to replace some of the draw cards from my lists with Sage’s and try them out. 
Sage’s is also a very good option with the earlier mentioned Landorus version.

Cheren + Virizion



The point of this combo is to draw 5 cards per turn + the turn card. Cheren works the best in decks that run 4 Virizions because that way you can draw 5 cards straight, which is very rare in this format and considered good in any format. Cheren is very good when combined with Virizion, but it hasn’t been that popular amongst players because it has its downsides in late game.

In late game, if your opponent uses N, Cheren isn’t usually enough to get you back on your feet. A full refreshment of your hand is way better than merely drawing 3 cards from your deck. However, if you’re bored with shuffle&draw cards and want to try out how straight drawing feels like in this format, Cheren and 4 Virizions might just do the job for you.

No Stage 1 / 2 Pokémon

No matter what, don’t play Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon in your 6 Corners. Even though it might be tempting to run things like Zoroark BLW/Swanna EPO etc., don’t even try it. The reason why 6 Corners is so good is that every single Pokémon in it is a basic. The great thing about a deck running only basics is that you barely need anything at all to get the Pokémon you need to the field (e.g. 1 Collector).

You might think that adding a 1-1 Stage 1 line and 2 Pokémon Communications doesn’t really affect the deck’s consistency. However, the truth is that you’re playing with fire. There’s an exception for every rule, right? Well, not for this one.

How to counter 6 Corners



Are you having problems beating 6 Corners? There are a few things you can do to your deck in order to gain an upper hand against a 6 Corners version that has techs against your deck. These are simple things that will hurt 6 Corners very much.

Lost Remover

pokemon-paradijs.comThis is one of the cards that can be teched in any deck except for Trainer lock decks. Lost Remover causes 6 Corners huge problems because the deck has no way to attach energy in any other way than manually and over 50% of the deck’s Energy is Special Energy. Not to mention that the deck loses a lot of its techs once you get rid of all the Rainbow Energy.

If you have serious problems with 6 Corners and you can find room for 2 Lost Removers in your decklist, you have a near auto-win against 6 Corners.

In the future, Lost Remover might become even handier since 6 Corners will probably fully rely on Special Energy Cards once Prism Energy is released.

However, after that Lost Remover can only disrupt, not destroy the game plan completely. Nevertheless, Lost Remover is the number one enemy of 6 Corners now and in the future.

Vileplume

 UD

6 Corners relies heavily on trainers. Vileplume causes instant immobility to the deck because they can’t use Switches, Pokégears, Junk Arms, SSUs etc. All they have left is Supporters and manually loaded Energy. That’s the reason why 6 Corners has a bad matchup against most decks that run Vileplume (excluding The Truth). There are some decks that Vileplume can be teched in, but I wouldn’t recommend teching Vileplume unless the matchup is otherwise impossible.

Outplaying

Against certain 6 Corners lists, outplaying is a possibility that should be taken into account. 

6 Corners’ core strategy is usually to hit your deck’s weaknesses. However, every deck has a counter, even 6 Corners. As I said, the deck slows down considerably when Vileplume comes to play. Trainer locking 6 Corners is one of the best strategies against the deck.

The outplaying most people talked about in the early days of 6 Corners was to hit small numbers to the legendary Dragons and then 1HKO them so they couldn’t use Outrage for a KO. That’s a strategy that should be remembered when playing against 6 Corners but because the deck and players have developed different strategies with 6 corners, that strategy doesn’t guarantee you the win every game.

The future of 6 corners

I always look forward to the upcoming cards and sets because I think that one can gain advantage that way. For example, I have had Mewtwo EX variants built one month before I even released the Eye on Japan article. I think that every competitive and not-so-high-budget player should try to predict the game because that way you can make real bargains for cards that are already released but will only become good after next set.

Celebi Prime is a great example of a card like that. 

I also think that you can develop yourself as a player if you think about the future. Making predictions and analysing the cards before they are released develop your skills in understanding the game in more depth.Let’s look at the future of 6 Corners – does it still stand a chance under the might of Pokémon-EXs?

Mewtwo EX

I know people are bored with Mewtwo EX already, but it’s a fact that it has to be taken into account when talking about the future metagame. It won’t probably be its own deck but almost every deck will use it because it’s such a great card. Mewtwo EX is the missing Psychic type Pokémon I talked about earlier. As you know, 6 Corners doesn’t have a proper Psychic type counter and when Mewtwo EX is released, the deck must have a Psychic counter.

Thankfully the best counter against Mewtwo EX, is Mewtwo EX and since 6 Corners already runs 4 DCEs, teching Mewtwo EX is a the only right thing to do. I have already tested 6 Corners in the Mewtwo EX era metagame a lot and, in my experience, the release of Mewtwo EX only makes 6 Corners a better deck. Mewtwo EX isn’t that good against 6 Corners because Mewtwo EX can’t 1HKO things like Kyurem with Eviolite, and 6 Corners can still easily 2HKO Mewtwo EX.

Also, teching Mewtwo EX in 6 Corners means your opponent’s Mewtwo EX is a free 2 Prizes and you have a Psychic tech against any other Psychic weak Pokémon. All in all, Mewtwo EX is good news for 6 Corners.

Trainers, Supporter and Stadiums



When it comes to the future of 6 Corners, Prism Energy is as important as Mewtwo EX. Prism Energy is Rainbow Energy for Basic Pokémon but it doesn’t inflict self-damage. That allows 6 Corners to have a total of 8 “Rainbow Energy,” and it makes the deck even more versatile. It’s a must card for 6 Corners but as I said earlier in the Lost Remover section, it also makes the deck more vulnerable to Lost Remover.

You must also remember that if your deck consists of only Special Energy Cards, Super Rod is no good in getting energy back. 

The other card that might have a little impact on 6 Corners is Skyarrow Bridge. The card reduces the Retreat Cost of Basic Pokémon by one, so things like Virizion have free retreat. It could make Virizion-based builds more popular and it also increases the mobility of the deck in whole. It will probably also affect 6 Corners builds in a way I can’t even imagine at the moment.

Conclusion




jakecaptiveEven though the lists work very well and they might have just the right answer against your metagame, you should be careful when building your own 6 Corners. Metagame changes all the time. When a new set is released, the metagame usually changes radically even if no new decks will be born. If you’re planning to build a 6 Corners I suggest not to netdeck the list directly, but to combine the things I wrote and the lists I introduced in this article – that way you’ll have the best possible deck and results.

All in all, that’s it for my first UG article ever. I hope you enjoyed it and learnt a thing or over 8000 words about 6 Corners. Since this is my first article I’m hoping to get feedback about the content and writing. Remember to check out my blog as well, I release new decklists, articles, interviews, etc weekly. I’m also ready to answer any questions in the UG forums so feel free to ask if you have any questions about 6 Corners or this article.

Thanks for reading!

– Esa J.

Home: www.thedeckout.com
E-mail: thedeckout@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Deck-Out/224210994308067
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thedeckout


…and that will conclude this Unlocked Underground article.

After 45 days, we unlock each Underground (UG/★) article for public viewing. New articles are reserved for Underground members.

Underground Members: Thank you for making this article possible!

Other Readers: Check out the FAQ if you are interested in joining Underground and gaining full access to our latest content.


Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

You are logged out. Register. Log in.