33 results for: Blacephalon
The Metagame Review for LAIC 2019, Part 2 “No one seems to be caring much about Blacephalon GX. I think most players will not use Tapu Fini UNM because of Cosmic Eclipse, which brought so many new cards that caught everyone’s attention, and it will deviate away from being the strong deck that has been since its release. We have to keep in mind that Blacephalon GX made Top 8 in the last LAIC and the finals in Worlds 2019. However, I do think Blacephalon GX might have issues dealing with some archetypes that are shaping up the current metagame, namely ADP, Malamar/Giratina, and GardEon (with Fairy Charm…
Another Take on Mew Box/Jirachi and a Bold Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel for Knoxville “As you may know, I competed in the Atlantic City Regional Championships and stuck to the deck that has brought me so much success at local Cups and Challenges, Mew Box. Here’s how my tournament went. Day 1 R1: Dark Box … LWW … 1-0-0 R2: NagQuag … WW … 2-0-0 R3: Blacephalon-GX … WW … 3-0-0 R4: Ability ReshiZard … LWL … 3-1-0 R5: Mirror … WW … 4-1-0 R6: PikaRom … WLW … 5-1-0 R7: Mirror w/ Jirachi … LWL … 5-2-0 R8: Green’s ReshiZard … WW … 6-2-0 R9: Blacephalon-GX … ID … 6-2-1 Day 2 R10:…
Comparing Winning Mew Boxes, Which One To Play, and Other Options for Knoxville “First off, we saw two very different takes of Mew Box win Atlantic City and Cologne. It wasn’t a surprise for anyone to see Mew Box win, as the deck is indeed extremely powerful. However, the lists are so different and contrasting in their approaches that it is actually quite fascinating to see them both win. It is no secret that the original Mew Box deck that won the Worlds Championships this past August had a few clear and exploitable weaknesses, for example, things such as 2 Fairy Charm {P} in GardEon decks, 2 Keldeo-GX on the field with nothing…
Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel and Jirachi/Mew Box for Atlantic City “This card allows you to take Prize cards without removing your Fire Energy from play, which makes Charging Up more efficient. Its Ability is nice in conjunction with both Beast Ring and Charging Up to take a 1HKO with Hot Burn-GX. Something to note is that Hot Burn-GX can take down a Jirachi TEU for a single Energy. This way, instead of using Burst-GX for a discarded Prize card, you can keep the Prize card rather than have to discard it. This is fine even if Heatran-GX gets taken down because then you will be on a Beast Ring turn.…
Lists, Pros, and Cons for 10 Top Decks this Weekend (São Paulo, AC, and Cologne) “Ability ReshiZard Mew Box Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel LOT PikaRom GardEon Pidgeotto Control Malamar/Spell Tag QuagNag Green’s ReshiZard Dark Box As crazy as it may sound, TAG TEAMs actually don’t have high enough HP to survive the monster attacks of the current metagame. Before Worlds 2019, it was common to see Super Scoop Up, Mixed Herbs, and Great Potion in decks to heal damage, but nowadays these cards have lost a lot of their relevance. Another insane aspect of the deck is that we have non-GX Pokémon that can easily Knock Out TAG TEAMs on the same turn they are benched. Each one…
Searching for an opponent to test its skills against, it emerges onto land. Once the battle is over, it returns to the sea. (Grapploct)
ReshiBlowns 2.0 and PikaRom in My Pocket (for That Tournament This Weekend) “As you can see, this is not a normal Blacephalon-GX deck. The main focus of the deck, and why I believe it to be powerful, is Giant Hearth. This card is on such a high power level that it singlehandedly improves all Fire decks until it rotates. In addition to Blacephalon-GX, I included a ReshiZard which is where the name ReshiBlowns comes from. The inclusion of ReshiZard was pretty obvious to me as it is an incredibly powerful attacker. It doesn’t affect the Prize trade unless playing against another Blacephalon-GX deck, in which case you just don’t use ReshiZard. The…
GG Malamar w/ Dragon Talon and Blacephalon-GX/Naganadel for Worlds/DC Open “This card is the deck’s main attacker against other TAG TEAMs, which is why the deck plays 3 copies. Linear Attack can do 40 damage to any 1 of your opponent’s Pokemon. Leading with this, you can then transition into Calamitous Slash for a big KO. Its GG End-GX attack is nice as well because if for some reason you can’t 1-hit KO something that is threatening, you can discard it instead—think of a ReshiZard with Choice Helmet or a PikaRom with 5+ Energy. Overall, Garchomp & Giratina-GX is one of the strongest cards to come out of Unified Minds.…
My Favorite Decklists for Worlds, Including ReshiZard, PikaRom (w/ + w/o Jirachi), Dark Box, Blacephalon, Malamar, and Lost March “Since my previous article, I ended up changing a few cards in the list, which was way more experimental than now, since I still had some pre-rotation concepts in mind, such as using Turtonator DRM to OHKO any Pokémon and Oranguru UPR to get Custom Catchers back, as well as having a chance of beating Shedinja. However, I soon realized the deck needed more consistency and that maybe its true strength lay in Power Plant and healing cards. I felt like the deck wouldn’t run well for two or three turns if I didn’t start the game with Green’s Exploration.…
An NAIC Recap, What Made 1st–3rd Unique, My Own Tournament Report, and Reflections on Losing Your Head “At the Origins Special Event I chose to try and refine an idea that seemed particularly good at the time, Zoroark-GX paired with Silvally-GX and Persian-GX. I had done minimal testing with the deck besides the Thursday night before the event and I tweaked a few card counts to my liking, such as 2 Judge in the list. The event concluded with my final record being 4-2-1 after losing two sets to unfortunate prizing, but I still netted a Top 32 finish. I decided that the Silvally-GX build of Zoroark-GX might not be the best one over the course of…
The Evolution of Wall Stall (from Hoopa/Gigas to Counter Attackers + Metal for NAIC), Blacephalon-GX, and Beyond—To the Lurking Tier 2 “Throughout the last month or so dating, back to the release of Unbroken Bonds, I’ve fallen in love with this archetype. I’ve taken it to a Regional, League Cups, and even League Challenges. I have been having a fun time playing the deck. Controlling your opponent’s resources and ultimately decking them out has always appealed to me, and I’m glad I picked up the deck when I did. All this testing has led me to an assortment of different variations of Wall Stall, and today I’ll be sharing them all with you, going over their pros and cons, talking a…
It’s skilled at both offense and defense, and it gets pumped up when cheered on. But if it starts showboating, it could put itself in a tough spot. (Cinderace)
The Post-Madison Tier List and Optimal Decklists for Almost Every Archetype “ReshiZard/Abilities PikaRom Blacephalon-GX Zoroark-GX/Persian-GX Green’s ReshiZard Blacephalon UNB Naganadel/Quagsire Weezing Malamar ZapBeasts Granbull You’ll notice that I separated the Ability ReshiZard and Green’s ReshiZard. They have different enough matchups to where I consider them different decks. We saw Ability-based ReshiZard dominate at Madison, while Green’s ReshiZard had significantly less high placements. I expect the trend of Ability ReshiZard seeing more finishes than Green’s ReshiZard to continue through the coming weekends. Going forward, I believe that Blacephalon-GX will see a resurgence in play because of how well it can handle the ReshiZard matchup and not immediately lose to the rest of…
Updated ZapBeasts, Baby Blowns, and Lost March for Origins and NAIC “Since shortly after the release of Team Up, ZapBeasts has been my number one deck of choice for the Standard format. I used a similar list to the one below to finish in the Top 32 at the EUIC and 2nd at the Panama City Special Event. I think the deck is still incredibly strong and has gained some fantastic new tools from Unbroken Bonds. Spiritomb may just be my favorite new inclusion to ZapBeasts. One of the biggest issue Zapdos decks have is trading knockouts against other non-GX decks that have 120 HP or more. This is because once…
The “Win-or-Lose” and “Get-Some-Points” Plays for Santa Clara Regionals “I haven’t been able to put as many games as I would have liked into the new format because of my little jaunt to Panama City, but from what I’ve been testing, this seems to be the best play for those of us who want to go all the way. Blacephalon-GX is in a very interesting place right now. It is one of the few decks that can stand up to Pikabox, Zapdos, and now Reshizard. Unbroken Bonds has brought us a whole bunch of different Fire support and Blacephalon-GX can utilize some of it. Even though Welder does allow…
ReshiZard & Friends, Turbo PikaRom, QuagNag, and Both Blacephalon on the Spotlight “The new set Unbroken Bonds has just arrived, and with that the metagame has already changed a lot. The main reason for so much change is the arrival of Welder, Fire Crystal, and the great sensation of the moment, Reshiram & Charizard-GX. With São Paulo Regionals coming in a few days, I decided not to waste time and I’ve already been testing—for a few weeks now—the new cards from Unbroken Bonds, in order to try to understand how the current metagame will be and what decks may appear in the tournament. The SUM–UNB format further embodies the end of the…
Fulop’s Fiery Unbroken Bonds Set Review, Exploring SUM–UNB w/ ReshiZard, GardEon, and Baby Blace, and Innovations at EUIC “via: Limitless TCG Fans of Tapu Koko rejoice! This deck is loaded with them! As a dedicated Spread deck, this list runs 4 copies of the Flying Flip promo (I now regret only buying 3 copies of the card under the assumption that was more than I’d ever need!), the Prism Star, and a copy of the GX. This is far from the first time we’ve seen a Tapu Koko-based Spread deck, and the core of this deck is certainly a gimmick we’ve seen before. Flying Flip and Shrine of Punishment spread damage early on, while Zapdos TEU and Larvitar…
This Pokémon generates electricity and channels it into its legs to keep them going strong. _______ can run nonstop for three full days. (Boltund)