Paper and Practice!
What’s up? Chris from the Beach back again for my sophomore article. With Nationals behind us and Worlds swiftly coming into sight, only the best are invited to the tournament and only the truly elite and hard working are able to skip the first day of competition entirely. Fortunately, I am one of those of those people to skip Day One! Barely making the cut at 16th place, I am certainly not the most qualified for this position, but I am so happy it all worked out for me in the end. Looking forward to Worlds, it is key to analyze the meta accordingly and even more important to run a consistent deck with the power to stand up against the best.
In my article today, I will be touching on those topics of metagaming, consistency, and power in your deck and how to utilize them the best you can to reap the benefit of your work. Although some decks seem like the play for the tournament on matchups alone, there is so much more to account for and it requires testing to actually see if the deck is really the best call. I like to call this method “Paper and Practice” hence the title. Rather than just spoon-feeding you lists, we need to know what deck to even work on in the first place. That’s my focus in this article. It works best when you are set on a certain archetype and don’t quite know which variant to play. This method has led to some of my best accomplishments and let me reflect on my mistakes as well, even in tournaments as recent as Nationals. I’m going to show some of the Paper and Practice method’s finest points with the intent to teach you what it’s all about.
I will also be talking about how to metagame for Worlds. I don’t want to spoil too much of it, but there is a lot more behind metagaming for Worlds than any other tournament. I talk more about it in the premium section of my article, so if you’re interested, maybe you should consider getting a premium membership for yourself? Not only do you get full access to all of these articles, but you also get access to the Subscriber’s Hideout. This is where you get advice from our writers at PokeBeach. We only hire some of the best Pokemon Trainers to write for our site, and these same people can also help you with your deck personally and see what is needed for you to step up your game.
Throughout the year, we’ve seen a ton of great players gravitate towards one archetype for the majority of the season (including myself). May this be [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”], [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”], or otherwise, these are cards that have plenty of variants orbiting them and let players have different supporting casts depending on the current metagame. Metagaming is mostly a mental process and is usually done without touching a card, but I can’t stress how important it is to actually go out in the field and see if there are holes in the methods behind your madness.
Why Jason?
“Chasing the golden goose” as Josh Wittenkeller (commentator for the tournament) put it, Jason Klaczynski finally got his final piece to his long incomplete puzzle. Finally winning a Nationals, he has now won each tournament in the current game at least once (League Challenge, City, State, Regional, National, World). For a long time, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”119″ c=”name”] was thought to be on the latter side of Toad variants with most decks being able to function under Ability lock. But with the ban of [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”name”], Seismitoad-EX was gonna have to see a change in coat.
An obvious partner to pair Toad with was [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] since this variant seemed less needing of Lysandre’s Trump Card. It was also a good option, as reliable sources of damage output were hard to come by since you couldn’t recycle [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”] as easily. Another huge appeal of Toad / Bats was that it gave you more outs to KO cards like [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”], [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”], and [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] which otherwise were a pain to KO.
[cardimg name=”Shadow Triad” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”102″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]You CAN recycle Lasers![/cardimg]
But there was a way to recycle these Lasers: [card name=”Shadow Triad” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”102″ c=”name”]! This let other variants of Seismitoad besides Crobat still have the aggressive force they need to pull out a game. Being able to recycle Hypnotoxic Laser as well as other resources with [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”name”] was a huge reason decks such as [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Exeggutor” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”5″ c=”name”] were able to see success. Now with Shadow Triad, we’re able to recycle one of the main resources we were able to before. Most of us either didn’t think of using Shadow Triad in our decks, thought it wasn’t worth the space, or just didn’t play Seismitoad for Nationals. But with [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”name”], this gave Jason outs to up to eight Lasers a game, a crucial part to his damage output.
Both Seismitoad-EX / Crobat and Seismitoad-EX / Garbodor had great showings at Nationals with Bats taking the most spots in Day Two, and Garb winning the whole thing. So, what let Garbodor put itself over the top? Was it lucky matchups or was it that exaggerated Fennekin coin? It wasn’t either of those, it was more about Jason’s experience with the deck and the deck itself having more outs to a win than Crobat.
Unlike most Crobat variants, Garbodor has been known to have a more disruptive strategy running things such as [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”], [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”119″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”XY” no=”129″ c=”name”]. This gives the deck the ability to swing a game right back in their favor in ways that Crobat could not. This let Garbodor be very consistent in its strategy to disrupt its opponent greatly and slowly whittle it down, rather than just locking Items with some more sprinkles of damage. Seismitoad-EX / Garbodor was very versatile in its win conditions while doing so as consistently as possible.
Another key contributing factor behind the success of Seismitoad-EX / Garbodor was the pilot behind the winning list. Jason has had a ton of experience with Seismitoad-EX / Garbodor before this tournament, as early as the deck’s conception. Having such experience with the deck and being known as the GOAT, Jason was able to outsmart his opponents not only by his skill, but by his aura. It’s a theory, but I personally do believe that his previous wins have played a factor in his current wins. Playing a deck that has very even matchups across the board was a perfect choice for him, as he did have an unsung advantage over his opponents.
While Seismitoad-EX / Crobat was the best Toad variant on paper, appearing to have much better matchups against Raichu and [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”] (two of the biggest decks at the competition), the Garbodor variant was able to take alternate routes to victory while also having one of, if not the best, player in the world to pair with it.
Next, I’m going to go over some more examples of Paper and Practice working to great effect, and show you how to apply this method to your testing and deck choices. It has really helped me do well in recent memory, and with Worlds and a new season just around the corner, this seems like the best time for you to step up your game. Then, I’ll look over the metagame leading into Worlds, give some of my predictions, and teach you how to metagame for Worlds yourself. With only the game’s best players competing in this prestigious tournament, metagaming for it can be quite different than smaller tournaments. You wouldn’t want to be left unprepared for the hardest tournament of the year, would you? Don’t miss out on this chance!
[premium]
Aggro vs. Bulky
Bulky
[cardimg name=”Hard Charm” set=”XY” no=”119″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Its matchups were simply too good to pass up![/cardimg]
These two decks have netted me the most Championship Points this season (180 from Bulky, 190 from Aggro) and have been the deck I’ve used as a “parachute” all season. What I mean by the term “parachute” is that if I try something out and it doesn’t test well, worst case scenario I play Yveltal. Speaking of terms, if you aren’t familiar with the terms “Bulky” and “Aggro,” Bulky is [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Hard Charm” set=”XY” no=”119″ c=”name”] and Aggro is [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”]. I was confident that I had full knowledge of these decks inside and out, and those are what led me to most of my points. But at times, the meta favored one over the other, and I had to realize that.
To start, back at Fall Regionals, I had created Yveltal / Hard Charm. It was an idea that my friends and I had been testing. We knew that Yveltal was going to be an amazing play Day One of competition, but we wanted our matchups to be better with the deck. At first, we had just made cookie-cutter [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”88″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”], but we wanted ways to improve our matchups against [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”96″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”97″ c=”name”], Fighting decks, and the mirror (Aggro) as we knew these would be the three biggest decks at the tournament. We had tried out a more defensive version of Yveltal with cards like [card name=”Potion” set=”XY Trainer Kit” no=”27″ c=”name”], [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”121″ c=”name”], and even [card name=”Champions Festival” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW95″ c=”name”]. As we tested the list, we soon figured out how horrible all these cards were in the deck, as the cards were simply too underwhelming, but we saw the deck’s potential for our metagame, as it was still extremely annoying to play against. So we decided to go with cards such as [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Expedition” no=”151″ c=”name”], [card name=”Shadow Circle” set=”XY” no=”126″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”105″ c=”name”] instead. These cards were much more versatile and could make for some awesome combos. The deck was able to improve all of those matchups significantly and able to put on a reasonable amount of aggression to pull out its games. We also conveniently enough had a good matchup against [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”], who led close behind in most popular decks at the tournament. I did end up using the deck at Arizona Regioanals Day One and here was the list I used:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”10″]
4x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY06″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”107″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”87″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”38″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Skyla” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”149″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”105″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Expedition” no=”151″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Hard Charm” set=”XY” no=”119″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Aquapolis” no=”120″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Expedition” no=”157″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Shadow Circle” set=”XY” no=”126″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”12″]
8x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”94″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Expedition” no=”151″ c=”name”] was a huge component in our deck because not only did it serve essentially the same purpose as [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”121″ c=”name”], it also conserved our Energy and let us reuse Stellar Guidance to search out Supporters, as we didn’t have cards such as [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”] at the time, so good Supporters were somewhat scarce.
As you can see, I still know the ins and outs to this deck by the back of my hand to this day. I felt extremely comfortable playing it and was able to end up as 4th seed going into Day Two out of some 265ish players. My two losses were to [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”134″ c=”name”], as from experience, I know that nothing beats Lugia running hot. Unfortunately I did horrible Day Two, going 1-3-1, since I wasn’t near as prepared for Expanded as I was for Standard.
I was also to carry Bulky over to Cities to take three wins, since [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”], [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”96″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”97″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”] were the biggest decks in my area, but the meta shifted to favor things like [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] due to just me alone doing so well with Yveltal. So in response, I decided to switch it up because the meta was coming too out of favor for an Yveltal variant. The important thing to note about playing a deck you’re comfortable with is knowing when to change it up. Some metas just simply destroy certain decks. Even though it’s more important to be comfortable with your deck than to have better matchups, it’s important to know when the matchups are just too horrible for the deck to still contend, even with you behind it.
Aggro
[cardimg name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]The sleep throws it over the top[/cardimg]
With cards such as [card name=”Aromatisse” set=”XY” no=”93″ c=”name”] and [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] seeing a ton of hype going into my Winter Regionals, I yet again didn’t feel safe playing Bulky, but it was at this time I started to realize, Bulky was not as good and Aggro was seeing all the results now for [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] decks. Decks like [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”11″ c=”name”] were on a steep decline (the matchups Bulky was made for), especially with Orion Craig winning Florida Regionals with [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”]. But as States rolled around, it seemed that Bulky still had the better matchups in my eyes. [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] had been seeing a lot of hype after PokeBeach’s very own Andrew Mahone won St. Louis Regionals and along with Seismitoad-EX seeing a lot of hype into States, Bulky still seemed like the better option.
My friend Daniel (Phinnegan) Lynch and I had been playing the same 60 cards (or 59, to be more accurate) for tournament after tournament, so both of us had a very firm grasp on Yveltal and an even better grasp on Bulky. When we were discussing which was better for States, Phinn had thought Bulky was still superior due to its on-paper better matchups, I had no counter arguments to his claims except for “it’s just better.” When I had been playing the deck, Aggro had been getting more wins than Bulky. I couldn’t explain why, but I just knew that Aggro was a better choice. After testing it, Phinn did realize that Aggro was better, but he couldn’t explain why either. Was it a consistency burst? The format favoring OHKOs once again? Or was it just the luck of the draw? I decided to play the deck for Idaho and Utah States, as it was what I felt most comfortable with, and surely enough, I got 1st at Idaho and 2nd at Utah. Between the weekends, I decided to take out a [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name”] for a [card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”name”] at Utah States, as I knew Yveltal would see more play after its results week one of States. This is the list I ran for Idaho:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”12″]
3x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY06″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”107″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”142″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”36″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”115″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Furious Fists” no=”89″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”12″]
8x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”94″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
After a while, I finally came up with an answer on why it was the superior [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] variant. It was simply because the deck had access to [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”] and the sleep flips it provided gave Aggro a slight advantage, being able to score some cheap wins along the way. Cards like Laser and [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”] also let [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”] do substantial amounts of damage so they can let Yveltal-EX come in and make OHKOs easier.
It was around this time I started using the term “Paper and Practice” for myself. I called Bulky the “paper” deck and Aggro the “practice” deck. On paper, Bulky’s matchups were better than Aggro’s, but when you apply the sleep flips and the support the damage applicators provide for the smaller attackers, games were a lot easier to win with having so many more outs to a win. You can see this same pattern in the previous section on U.S. Nationals I did where Jason was given an advantage because he was given more outs for a win than [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] was. So when it comes down to it, if you are given more outs to a win and play accordingly to the matchup, you can easily put yourself over the top (just keep it consistent).
Toad / Jynx vs. Toad / Puff
Toad / Jynx
[cardimg name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ align=”right” height=”200″ c=”custom”]It was too risky to play Yveltal[/cardimg]
After States going into Spring Regioanls, I had played Yveltal yet again for Seattle. But I didn’t do that well because [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”117″ c=”name”] came out of nowhere and blew me out of the water. Going into Utah, I knew I needed to change it up. I also knew that Toad was gonna see a lot of play, so I didn’t feel comfortable playing something such as [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] to directly counter Manectric / Empoleon, nor did I feel comfortable playing Manectric / Empoleon itself, as Toad would give it some trouble. So my intent was to play a deck that beats both Manectric / Empoleon and Toad variants, as I knew that the meta would form to have those two decks be most popular at the top tables. In my mind, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Jynx” set=”Furious Fists” no=”37″ c=”name”] was a great option, as I had tested the Manectric matchup enough to beat it consistently and, in my mind, you almost always won the exchange against Toad. I had a little more experience with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”], as a ton of my friends have played it and I’ve played even more against it. Here’s the list I ran for Utah Regionals (Toad / Jynx):
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”10″]
4x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Jynx” set=”Furious Fists” no=”37″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”142″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”46″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Expedition” no=”151″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Random Receiver” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”138″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Bicycle” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”117″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Town Map” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”136″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”4″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”XY” no=”129″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]Can’t believe I didn’t see this coming![/cardimg]
This deck was definitely one of my favorite decks to play due to its consistency and speed. But, I had gone into the event with the mindset that this beat Toad. But I hadn’t tested the matchup and I kind of assumed the matchup was pretty auto-pilot, but with cards like [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”119″ c=”name”], [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”XY” no=”129″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Cassius” set=”XY” no=”115″ c=”name”], the matchup was actually near unwinnable for me, as I only played four [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”] and no Water Energy. I faced two [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”] in Swiss and got absolutely decimated. My knowledge of my deck choice really crippled me throughout the tournament. I honestly believe that if I played Seismitoad-EX / Slurpuff, I would’ve been able to make top cut, but by doing so, I’d rob someone else of cut, so it wasn’t horrible. At the very least, I was happy with myself and how I was able to grow on my mistakes. I was totally blind of my matchups heading into the tournament and it ended up costing me some CP.
Toad / Puff
On the contrary, my buddy Phinnegan ended up making top cut with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”] and eventually won the whole tournament! He himself didn’t know a ton about the deck (which kind of goes against the whole nature of this article), but he was surrounded by people who did. As stated before, our usual run-of-the-mill [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] just wasn’t going to do the trick in the current meta, so we needed to change things up. At this point in time, we needed to run something tried and true (something I failed to pick up) to give us our best chances on making cut. So, we used Kristy Britton’s Toad / Puff list with a few modifications of our own to suit the tournament:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”11″]
4x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Swirlix” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”68″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”41″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Team Flare Grunt” set=”XY” no=”129″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”119″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Cassius” set=”XY” no=”115″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Switch” set=”Expedition” no=”157″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”8″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
This list was near perfect and the only card I would even consider adding in was the fourth [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ c=”name”], as having less than four is always a little iffy, but for the most part, three did the trick just fine. Another reason [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Slurpuff” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”69″ c=”name”] would’ve been the better choice for me is because yet again, Toad / Puff had more outs to a win than [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Jynx” set=”Furious Fists” no=”37″ c=”name”] did running disruptive cards. You see this as a recurring thread and it has proved to be a great strategy. Running disruptive cards with disruptive cards, who would’ve thought? But to put it into more detail, having cards with great synergy paired together is usually a superior strategy than having some other strategies that just tag along versatile cards for the ride.
I would’ve been more comfortable playing Toad / Puff, but I was just too persuaded by the on-paper great matchups Toad / Jynx had to offer. This example shows yet another aspect of Paper and Practice. On paper, Toad / Jynx had better matchups across the board, but not knowing the deck well enough, I was outplayed and simply couldn’t catch up. When you’re running a deck you don’t know very well, you give yourself the opportunity to be outplayed, no matter how good you are. You also open yourself up to not having the resources needed to beat some opponents. The difference between my choices to play Bulky and Toad / Jynx was that Bulky was a well tested deck I felt more than comfortable playing while I was more just focused on making my Toad / Jynx consistent and not testing the matchups. So for on-paper choices, I actually knew what I was doing with Bulky. All in all, even if a deck has better matchups than another deck, if you know how to play the deck and know the matchups or someone who does, it will work out to give you better results. If you don’t know which to play, the tried and true is the better and safer option for the tournament.
Worlds in the Eyes of the Player
This competition brings the best of the best and has them all face against each other. Going into this competition, you should expect nothing less from them, the best. These guys know how to metagame and they will do their best to beat a deck that beats the meta. In result, The meta will most likely be mostly counters to the expected meta, but there will be meta decks, definitely. With this in mind, it’s your job as the player to counter the counter to the meta while also having decent matchups against the expected meta, but you also want to keep an eye out for the expected decks, as they will have a presence as well.
Day One
[cardimg name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
U.S. Nationals is the canvas for the expected meta at Worlds, so decks like [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”], [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Bronzong” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY21″ c=”name”] are to be expected by the players as a whole. More likely than not, M Manectric-EX and Seismitoad-EX will still see a lot of play, as they still have very good matchups against the expected meta. If you look at the top 8 decks in Masters, you’ll already have a good idea on what people will expect to see at Worlds. [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”105″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Bronzong” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY21″ c=”name”] will most likely see some play as well, as its damage cap is very nice and can win against most anything but Manectric.
In response to these results, a lot people will most likely be trying to counter the meta by running decks like [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”151″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Primal Kyogre-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”149″ c=”name”], as they do some work against most of the top 8 decks on paper. We can actually see both of these decks make appearances in the top 16 of Nationals, so they have proven themselves as decks to watch out for going into Worlds.
As for international players, you can expect a fair amount of [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”], Fighting variants ([card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”]), and [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] from them, as they all have had success at their respective Nationals in this format. But even international players love using U.S. Nationals as their canvas, as it is the most recent large-scale tournament and they know that the majority of players at the event will be from the U.S. themselves.
[cardimg name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”custom”]He’s not the hero Gotham needs, but he’s the hero Gotham deserves.[/cardimg]
Looking at all of these decks, it’s going to be near impossible to beat them all, but we’re going to try our best to beat the majority of the crowd. The main decks we’re gonna want to beat are Manectric variants, Toad variants, and Bronzong variants. Now, we could go about this with a rogue-esque approach by playing something like Landorus-EX / Raichu / Garbodor, or we could take a more simple approach and go with a decks such as [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”107″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”]. Either way, for Day One, [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”] seems like a card that would be very fit for the meta. We can see the meta shifting yet again towards Pokemon-EX-based decks, so having a cheap attacker like Hawlucha to two-shot most Pokemon-EX or one-shot common support Pokemon-EX like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”name”] may be too much for your opponent to deal with.
But, most decks that utilize Hawlucha to its full potential usually can be prone to Seismitoad, so we may want to have some tools to ensure we hit for suitable amounts of damage. Running something like a full playset of [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”name”] not only increases your damage output consistently, but it also gives you a great Stadium to counter Stadiums like [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name”], [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”], and most importantly, [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”].
Along with Hawlucha, [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”107″ c=”name”] seems like an amazing and solid card to not only counter [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”] decks with [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”117″ c=”name”], but also to give you a solid answer to Seismitoad. Corkscrew Smash seems like a perfect attack to not only do substantial amounts of damage to Toad under Item-lock, but can also let you draw some much needed resources to power up your other attackers.
Overall, Fighting decks seem to have answers to most of the meta and you should definitely have one in mind if you will be playing Day One. Hawlucha seems like a card that should be almost maxed out in these decks and cards like [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”] may be worth taking a look at for these variants, as letting Hawlucha live to let it see its second Flying Press is downright devastating.
Day Two
Going into Day Two, the meta will be crafted on what does well Day One. So for the sake of this whole part of the article, let’s assume the three decks that did best Day One are [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”] variants, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”] variants, and some sprinkles of [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”144″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”]. These seem like pretty safe options to make Day Two with, so let’s assume these are the big decks to beat. Now more than ever, you should expect your opponent to be countering those three decks to the best of their ability.
But, in the player’s minds, we’ve reached the point we’ve entered into the near perfect RPS (Rock/Paper/Scissors) format where Toad variants beats the Fighting variants, Fighting variants beat the Manectric variants, and the Manectric variants beat the Toad variants. But, I wouldn’t count out some of these matchups immediately. The Fighting variants (especially Donphan) seem to have a decent or even favorable matchup against [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”] if they know how to play their resources. Also, Manectric doesn’t always beat Toad / Garb, as you can never completely count out Toad in a series with some lucky draws and flips. So in this “RPS format” Manectric seems to be getting the short end of the stick. This may put players into the mindset that maybe [card name=”Bronzong” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY21″ c=”name”] can be an okay play, as Toad / Garb seems like its only bad matchup in the field. But knowing how Europe is with its Toad, I certainly wouldn’t play a deck with a bad Toad / Anything matchup.
Some decks people may decide to play to counter the RPS are [card name=”Primal Kyogre-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”149″ c=”name”], [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”151″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”96″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”97″ c=”name”]. The problem with these decks is that Kyogre doesn’t have any overwhelmingly good matchups against any of the big three variants. In my testing with Kyogre, I’ve seen that Toad / Garb actually stands quite a chance against Kyogre, as smart Energy discards won’t let you be able to Tidal Storm enough, Fighting variants can sit behind their Hawluchas and rack up some massive numbers on Kyogres before I even attack, and even Manectric is an obscure matchup, since you both utilize [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”] greatly. Groudon certainly doesn’t like the Fighting decks in the room, or Virizion / Genesect for that matter.
So, it looks like the best decks you can run for Day Two are either some crazy rogue deck or just simply the deck you are most comfortable with. You will certainly need to know how to outplay your opponents if you go for any other route besides rogue. So now, the Paper and Practice method will likely yet again show its strength, maybe to the highest of its seen ability. So overall, my advice to those playing in Day Two is simple: play what you are most comfortable with, play that crazy rogue, and as always, be ready for Toad.
Conclusion
Overall, this article was made for the players who have a little more experience in the game. Mostly because the moral of this story is: even though a deck may have better matchups for the set meta, going with a deck you know you can outplay your opponent with will usually be a better choice in the grand scheme of things. Because when it comes down to it, you know the deck by heart and know its ins and outs. So many top players such as Jason Klaczynski, Kristy Britton, myself, and even PokeBeach’s very own Kyle Haverland have all stuck with the same archtypes the majority of the season and had the most success with those very decks. While we have strayed away from those decks at times, it was only because we honestly thought that the deck wasn’t even a decent choice for our metagame. We stuck to those decks because we knew we could outplay our opponents with them and we knew our decks so well, we could write a novel on them. It really isn’t a matter of what is the play, but more a matter of what is YOUR play.
[/premium]