Everything You Need To Know About Rogue!
Intro
One of the best feelings in the game is succeeding with an off-the-wall deck to the amazement of everyone around you. Normally, I like to talk about specific rogue decks that seem promising. In this article, however, I’m going to go in-depth on rogue in general. Rogue decks are absolutely my favorite part of the game, and almost all of the tournament success I’ve found over the past years has been through playing these types of decks. I am constantly trying to create effective rogue decks because I dislike playing meta decks, the decks that everyone is playing. Playing standard decks is much less fun and satisfying to me. I know many people feel the same way, and some people favor rogues due to budget restraints as well. Of course, I don’t play rogue decks just to play rogue decks. I will use what I think is the optimal play for a given tournament, it just so happens that it turns out to be a rogue deck more often than not. Through this article, my goal is to provide everything you need to know in order to understand and create rogue decks.
And of course, don’t forget to subscribe to our article program! All of the writers and I have been working very hard to bring you these detailed articles every week and I’m very happy they’ve been so positively received. We spend hours and hours writing them and we’re always seeking feedback from each other as well as the staff to insure they’re full of the most detailed, lengthy, and valuable content. Along with these articles each week, you’ll also get access to the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout forum where you can discuss the metagame with us or directly ask us for help and advice. I really enjoy helping members in there, and they’ve all loved it. So don’t miss out any longer, reader!
What Is Rogue?
For the purposes of this article I’m going to define a rogue deck as “an unusual deck that is viable in competitive play.” This does not include low-tier decks that are rarely seen nowadays such as [card name=”Thundurus-EX” set=”PLF” no=”110″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Deoxys-EX” set=”PLF” no=”111″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Kyurem” set=”PLF” no=”31″ c=”name”] or [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”]. This also excludes gimmicky and non-viable decks such as [card name=”Butterfree” set=”Flashfire” no=”3″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Miltank” set=”Flashfire” no=”83″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Politoed” set=”Furious Fists” no=”18″ c=”name”].
[cardimg name=”Reuniclus” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”126″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
Rogue decks come in two main forms, both of which can work. The first is the anti-meta deck. These are decks that are built specifically to have favorable matchups against a handful of popular decks, while accepting bad matchups against almost everything else. These decks are very high-risk / high-reward, and should only be used when the time is perfect to exploit the metagame. One example of these types of decks is the [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Flashfire” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Manectric” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”43″ c=”deck2″] deck I used at Nationals last year. This deck was made to beat three of the popular decks at the time; namely [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”11″ c=”name”], [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”], and Plasma (TDK and [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”108″ c=”name”]). However, the deck stood almost no chance against anything else, and I ended up losing handily to one of the few [card name=”Charizard-EX” set=”Flashfire” no=”12″ c=”name”] / Pyroar decks. A less drastic example of an anti-meta rogue would be Brandon Salazar and Luke Kirkham’s Landorus-EX / [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”] deck. It accepted an auto-loss to TDK in exchange for great Yveltal-EX and Pyroar matchups. It was more inherently strong than my deck, and as such could stand up to other decks even without having an auto-win.
The second kind of rogue deck is the kind that employs an exceptionally strong core strategy to overpower opponents. This is also what meta decks usually do, so if one of these kinds of rogues is consistent enough it will usually become a meta deck after someone places high with it at a tournament. These are built with one strategy in mind, and sometimes include an alternate “win condition” such as developing an invincible board position or denying opponents of a particular resource. One of the most famous examples of these kinds of decks would be Ross Cawthon’s “The Truth.” This deck used [card name=”Reuniclus” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”126″ c=”from”], [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Undaunted” no=”24″ c=”from”], Blissey Prime, and high HP attackers to maintain a desirable board state in which nothing could be KO’d before decimating the opponent’s side. A couple more examples would be the recently seen [card name=”Flygon” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”99″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”63″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”] decks.
Next I will cover the process I use to come up with all my crazy rogue decks that have defined many of my best placings in tournaments, the different varieties of rogue decks, and how to deal with other player’s bizarre decks. Then I’ll briefly go over how to apply these unusual ideas to some cards in the brand new [set name=”Roaring Skies”] / post-Lysandre’s Trump Card format. Playing a rogue deck can really give you an edge over unsuspecting players, and I believe knowing how to concoct them yourself really puts you ahead of everyone else, which this article will teach you how to do. So are you ready to improve your game right here and right now?
[premium]
Coming Up With A Rogue
Coming up with deck ideas is one of the easiest things in the game. You will never be short on people thinking up new combos and playing things that aren’t often seen in tournaments. The trick is finding something that will work on a competitive level. No matter how fun and amazing that Stage 2 combo deck is, the harsh reality is that you can’t just brush off the threat of [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] and be on your way.
Anti-Meta
[cardimg name=”Manectric” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”43″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
Anti-meta decks are much easier to come up with than overpowered new strategies. The thing about anti-meta decks is that everything has to be just right for them to work. As metagames differ greatly depending on the division and location of the tournament, it is easy to mess up anti-meta decks. You need to at least have an idea of what’s going to be played at the tournament you’re making the deck for. This means that anti-meta decks are nearly obsolete at tournaments with a brand new format, or at tournaments in a format with 10+ popular decks (like [set name=”Boundaries Crossed”] – [set name=”Primal Clash”]).
To make an anti-meta deck, you simply need to analyze the decks you expect to see at the upcoming tournament(s) and find counters to those decks. Sometimes this is easy. I’m going to use the [set name=”Next Destinies”] – [set name=”Flashfire”] format as an example. At Nationals last year, I expected three main archetypes to make a dominant showing in the Senior division: [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”11″ c=”name”], Plasma, and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”]. Because all of these decks used Basic Pokemon as the focus of the deck, the obvious answer was [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Flashfire” no=”20″ c=”name”]. I couldn’t just make Quad Pyroar and call it a day. Both Virizion-EX / Genesect-EX and Yveltal sometimes utilized [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”], an effective check to Pyroar. Additionally, some Yveltal decks used [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”], which completely negated Pyroar’s usefulness. I decided to use [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] and heavy counts of [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] to help against Raichu and included [card name=”Manectric” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”43″ c=”name”] to help against Yveltal-EX / Garbodor. This rounded out my anti-meta deck so that it could easily beat all variants of the expected three decks. Although this deck didn’t stand much of a chance against any other decks, it led me to a 17 game win streak within the tournament and I easily stomped good matchups until top 8.
Of course, there are lots of times when making anti-meta decks is more difficult. There were so many decent decks in the [set name=”Boundaries Crossed”] – [set name=”Primal Clash”] format that I couldn’t create an anti-meta deck that beat them all. [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”], Seismitoad-EX / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”], Virizion-EX / Genesect-EX, Yveltal-EX / Seismitoad-EX, Night March, [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”], [card name=”Exeggutor” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”5″ c=”name”], [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Aromatisse” set=”XY” no=”93″ c=”name”], [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / Crobat, [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”], [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”], [card name=”Primal Kyogre-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”55″ c=”name”], and more were all viable decks in that format. In such an environment it’s nearly impossible to predict which decks will be played and in what numbers, let alone trying to counter them all. It’s up to you to determine which metagames can be countered with just 60 cards.
[cardimg name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
It is important to keep an open mind when looking for weaknesses in meta decks. While some decks can be countered by type advantage, a lot of times you have to see weak points in decks themselves. For example, [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”] and more recent [card name=”Aromatisse” set=”XY” no=”93″ c=”name”] decks will fold if they can’t reliably use their Abilities and / or get the support Pokemon set up. [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”], Metal, and other such decks are slow. Night March and [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”] rely on Items and Pokemon in the discard. Seismitoad based decks rely on [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”113″ c=”name”] and can’t do very much damage without breaking the lock. It’s easy to see weaknesses like these in most decks and it really opens the door for anti-meta decks.
The last two things I have for anti-meta decks are the importance of playtesting and consequently deck refining. Many ideas I’ve had seemed great on paper but didn’t work out as smoothly when put to the test. It is important to pit your anti-meta deck against the decks it’s designed to counter, if only for a few games. A hastily added 2-2 line of [card name=”Leafeon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”11″ c=”name”] should theoretically help any given deck beat Seismitoad, but that’s not always the case. Most Seismitoad decks can easily handle a Leafeon or two. It can also help to have friends to bounce ideas off of. You might initially think that [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] is your best bet for beating Lightning-weak Pokemon, but a buddy might show you that [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”name”] is better suited for your deck. When in doubt, try them all out and see which ones work best.
For testing anti-meta decks, it is better to try not to play against random people online. In tournaments, you will play against at least some high-level players and players who can adapt to your anti-meta tactics in a best-of-three setting. I’d recommend testing against friends or yourself. This also doubles as a way to keep your secret deck safe in case you’re on to something.
New Strategies
New strategies are fun to come up with and play, but many of them can never compete at a high level of play. Most of the blame for this can go directly to [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”], but that’s a whole different topic. To find a new strategy that can work in competitive play, you just need to try out your ideas! Practicing against meta decks to see how consistently your deck can execute its strategy and win amidst the speed of [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”] and the disruption of Seismitoad-EX is almost always the best way to go. Online simulators (especially TCG One) are great for grinding many games to test the consistency of your deck. You will also likely play against meta decks a decent portion of the time. Although the quality of opponents varies, this is not as much of a problem as it would be if you were testing an anti-meta deck. This is because you’re testing more the consistency and effectiveness of your strategy rather than the nuances of specific matchups.
[cardimg name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
Sometimes I’ll see a deck being played that is really sub-optimal, but the concept is great. There’s no shame in using someone else’s idea and making it better. This has been done quite a bit with the [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”none”] decks of this season. On the other hand, many promising ideas never see the spotlight because they don’t end up making it past the first draft.
Even when these new strategies work, they will often have a couple bad matchups that can be fixed. This is where you can take some anti-meta tactics and add them to your deck. For example, I’ve found that [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”] can struggle against [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”] when they bide time to load a Groudon with seven or more Energies and potentially play [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”name”] late game. This is why I’ve included [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”] in my Crawdaunt list. It almost completely fixes the matchup by hitting into Groudon for 200 when Groudon has a seven Energies and Mewtwo has a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”]. Another example is with [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name” ] / [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”] decks in Expanded. Accelgor has been traditionally known for losing to [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”], but now [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Primal Clash” no=”21″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”] can be included to help against Virizion-EX.
Just like with anti-meta decks, it is important to refine your list for these types of decks. Because these are new and unexplored decks, it can be hard to tell what the optimal card counts are. Should you run a lot of Supporters or a reliance on [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”]? [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”], [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”], both, or neither? How many [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”]? Another form of Pokemon search like [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Flashfire” no=”94″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Repeat Ball” set=”Primal Clash” no=”136″ c=”name”]? Questions like these can only be answered by testing and tweaking. Sometimes you might need to change your Pokemon altogether to something with a similar but better purpose. [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”] decks started out by playing [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”name”], Trevenant, and [card name=”Evosoda” set=”XY” no=”116″ c=”name”]! It was a little while before people realized that including Outrage Dragons and [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”] was the way to go.
Opposing Rogue
While it doesn’t happen all too often, you can occasionally find yourself sitting across a deck you’ve never seen before. Because of the rare nature of this occurrence, it can be startling and catch you off guard. This has happened to me before and it really throws me off because I am usually the one inflicting this sensation on my opponent! Unfortunately, if you are playing a meta deck against a deck specifically designed to beat you, there’s not much you can do. However, there are many instances in playing against unusual decks where this is not the case, so it’s important to remember a few things.
[cardimg name=”Dusknoir” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”63″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
The main thing you need to do is to figure out what is different about your opponent’s deck and what purpose it serves. This is difficult to talk about generally because we could be facing nothing more than an odd [card name=”Scramble Switch” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”129″ c=”name”], or some unheard of deck like [card name=”Cradily” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”4″ c=”name”]. If you can figure out what your opponent’s tricks are, you can remove one of their strongest weapons: the surprise factor. I have won countless games with unconventional cards simply because my opponent was unaware of my game plan.
I think one of the best examples of this can be Dusknoir. If you see your opponent play down [card name=”Duskull” set=”Flashfire” no=”38″ c=”name”], you can bet they’re going to rely on either [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”63″ c=”from”], [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Flashfire” no=”40″ c=”from”], or both. You can preemptively counteract them by limiting the number of your Benched Pokemon and trying to attack aggressively early on. These tactics limit the effectiveness of both Dusknoir’s Abilities. You can also go out of your way to conserve [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”]s because Dusknoir is vulnerable to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”], or just try to clear the opponent’s side of Duskull altogether with sniping and early use of Lysandre.
The New Format
All of what I’ve gone over so far has more widespread relevance, but now I’m going to talk more about this format specifically. Of course, the stuff I’ve gone over is relevant for this format as well, but the new format has some crazy stuff that can lead to more potential for rogues.
The Potential For Turn One
One thing that stood out to me while testing the new format is how absolutely crazy the potential for turn one is. This is thanks to [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”] and all the Item draw we have in the format. In addition, some of the more interesting Supporters such as [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”107″ c=”name”], [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”] allow for some truly ridiculous possibilities for turn one. If you wanted to get really crazy you could even try something with [card name=”Ether” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”121″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Lunatone” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”73″ c=”name”] before they rotate. Ether hasn’t been viable before, but with all of the draw cards available it is totally possible to thin your deck to the point where it contains almost nothing but Energy cards.
I am just throwing out some ideas right now; in my limited testing for this brand new format I have only scratched the surface of all the possibilities, and I’ve gotten really excited. With the right deck construction, it isn’t even that difficult to draw your entire deck on the first turn, or to manipulate your hand and deck exactly how you want. Initially it seems a deck that is meant to go off on the first turn would include a lot of Item cards and be weak to [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”]. However, this might not be the case. You’d also have to be very careful and deliberate with your moves to avoid decking out. I just wanted to share some ideas, and I can’t really say anything for sure at this point. There could be some serious rogue potential here.
Absol
[cardimg name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]
A specific new card with rogue potential is [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”]. This card has already seen a bit of play with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”], but it has such a powerful Ability that I think it could see some widespread play. It’s not hard to see how effective [card name=”Dusknoir” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”63″ c=”name”]’s Sinister Hand can be once it comes out, but it hasn’t seen much play competitively because of how hard it is to set up. Absol is like a mini Dusknoir, and Cursed Eyes be reused with scoop up type cards. Again, I have only been tinkering with this card a little, so I can’t conclusively say if it could be splashed in decks you wouldn’t expect to see it in. If Jason Klaczynski’s win with Absol in Wisconsin is anything to go off, you can bet you’ll at least see some Absol sometime in the near future.
The Power of Shaymin
The final thing I want to talk about is just how dominant [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”] is. Shaymin is played in nearly every single deck right now, and this can give some strength to rogue because of how many ways you can pick on Shaymin. [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”], [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”], [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”], [card name=”M Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”59″ c=”name”], [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”], Lightning Pokemon, and more are all somewhat viable ways to take advantage of Shaymin-EX’s popularity. I predict that some players will try to capitalize on this with the aforementioned cards, so we’ll have to see if Shaymin is just good enough to overcome the hate, or if some innovative tricks can succeed amongst Shaymin based decks and non-Shaymin based decks alike. Even decks that don’t absolutely need Shaymin use it anyway, so I definitely see potential for a deck that is prepared to decimate decks with [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”].
Even with the banning of [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”] limiting Shaymin’s power a little bit, I still expect that Shaymin will see nearly just as much play as it did in Regionals. Just because players will have to adapt and be more conservative with Set Up doesn’t mean that Shaymin hate will be less potent.
Conclusion
Overall, this was a different sort of article: it didn’t come as easily as discussing facts about established decks and matchups and whatnot. Rogue decks are some of the weirder and more difficult aspects of the game, and I covered everything I could discuss about them so you would know how to approach them. Since the post-[set name=”Roaring Skies”], post-Lysandre’s Trump Card format is still brand new, it’ll be another few weeks before I or really anyone can cover rogue lists that have had enough testing put into them – the format is up in the air; we’ll really have to hit the books and figure it out before we know what rogue decks will best counter the format (after all, that’s what rogue is all about – knowing the metagame and taking advantage of it). Don’t worry though, my next article will have no shortage of rogue lists as I talk about what I’ve learned from testing the new format and what I expect the plays to be for Nationals. This is why I wanted to post this article now: you should take its ideas and begin testing now, then in a few weeks you can compare what you’ve tested to what I’ll report in my next article from my extensive testing. That’s the best way for anyone to learn, especially when it comes to playing rogue, and especially in this chaotic, exciting time when everyone is trying to figure out the format! As always, if you have any questions or ideas for improvements, let me know in a comment below (or in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout)! Thanks for reading!
-Grant Manley
[/premium]