Getting to Know Expanded and a Look at Yveltal and Blastoise!
Hey PokeBeach! My name is Nath Bramald and this will be my first article for PokeBeach. I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted my first topic to be because there’s just so many interesting things going on in Pokemon at the moment that all deserve attention. Seeing as the first half of Regionals are right around the corner, I eventually came to the conclusion that the best thing to talk about would be the Expanded format.
The Expanded format has played a fairly small role in organized play over the past year (outside of Europe) because it only really affected players who made Day Two at Regionals in America. It wasn’t even used in either U.S. Nationals or Worlds! This year Expanded is going to have a big impact and I want all of you guys out there to be fully prepared for what you will be faced with.
As for any European players reading this, you guys should take note too. With several Arena Cups planned within the next few months, this information will help you choose the best decks and practice against the right things as well. Without any further dialogue, let’s jump straight in!
The Meta
As you can imagine, the main decks in Expanded are vastly different from the ones in Standard due to the additional 12 sets that are all legal. Let’s go into what can you expect to see.
[cardimg name=”Huntail” set=”Primal Clash” no=”50″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Huntail / Ho-Oh-EX
This one has been around since the very inception of Expanded. It isn’t as strong as it used to be, but it still has some potential. With this deck you aim to get [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] in the discard, along with a few different basic Energy cards, then use its Rebirth Ability. You will use [card name=”Huntail” set=”Primal Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]’s Powerful Storm to hit extremely hard from there. This attack can hit for up to 240 damage which is insane for one Energy, especially on a non-EX Pokemon.
The reason why this deck hasn’t been winning is because of two things: Firstly, the deck loses to [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] if your opponent can get it out before you get the chance to evolve your Huntail. Secondly, Ho-Oh isn’t a very reliable way of getting Energy onto the field because its Ability only works on a coin flip. Sure, you get to flip once every turn per Ho-Oh, but you can never predict when you will hit tails.
Night March / Archeops
Night March saw a lot of play at the end of last format and most people are familiar with its play-style. The goal is to get around eight or nine Pokemon in the discard pile and then use [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] to attack for a lot of damage, often scoring a OHKO. A new tool that the deck gains in Expanded is [card name=”Archeops” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]. You can use [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] to get Archeops onto the Bench turn one, which slows down any Evolution-based deck. In fact, Archeops can automatically win you the game against decks like Vespiquen and [card name=”Huntail” set=”Primal Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] because they won’t ever be able to use their main attacker.
Having played Night March at Worlds, I know that the deck (without Archeops) struggles a lot against [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”custom”]Bats[/card] (I went 3-5 at Worlds this year, losing to [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”custom”]Bats[/card] four times), but there’s an even bigger threat to the deck now that Ancient Origins has been released. Giratina-EX completely wrecks this deck by preventing it from attaching [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] or playing down [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. This means that it will always take you two turns to power up an attacker, and every time you attach a basic Energy, your opponent will just play [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] and KO the Pokemon you attached it to.
[cardimg name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Trevenant / Accelgor
This deck saw a decent amount of play in Standard just a few years ago, taking the win for Trent Orndoff in the Senior division at Worlds 2014. Its strategy is very simple: use [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card]’s Deck and Cover to Paralyze your opponent’s Active Pokemon and promote [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] to lock your opponent. Your opponent will not be able to retreat their Active Pokemon, attack, or play cards like [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card].
The deck has a harder time these days, largely due to Supporters like [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], which get past Trevenant and can break the lock. Furthermore, the deck itself takes a fair amount of setting up in the early game because both of your main Pokemon are Evolutions. Not to mention throughout the game you have to constantly and consistently get Accelgor out of your deck to make sure that you maintain the lock. Sometimes all your opponent needs is just one turn where they can attack and they can tear your board apart.
Seismitoad-EX / Giritina-EX
Out of all of the decks that I’ve already mentioned, this one is the only deck that’s fairly new. I’m going to assume that most people know what [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] does by now due to it taking the format by storm throughout all of last year, so I’ll get right onto Giratina-EX. Giratina is very useful; it provides a decent lock, keeps [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] in play, and against decks that rely heavily or even entirely on Special Energy, it can be used to almost single-handedly win the game. Not to mention, its immunity to the popular Mega Evolutions such as [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] makes it an excellent wall that can also dish out a lot of damage.
Honestly I’m not sure what to say in terms of weaknesses for the deck because doesn’t seem to lose to anything in particular. That’s not to say that it’s completely unbeatable. Of course every deck loses sometimes, but for the most part I think that it’s an incredibly well rounded deck. I do think that it struggles against [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] variants, but the matchup is 50-50 at worst.
Vespiquen / Flareon
Another new deck that we get from Ancient Origins is Vespiquen / [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck runs a lot of Pokemon compared to most other decks, and for good reason. It’s because both Flareon’s Vengeance and Vespiquen’s Bee Revenge attacks need a large amount of Pokemon in the discard in order for them to hit for large amounts of damage. Unown from Ancient Origins is especially useful because not only does it discard itself, but it also allows you to draw through your deck really quickly and set up in the first two turns.
This is another solid and well rounded deck, despite the fact that it will flat-out lose to a turn one [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] start from the opponent. This means it has a very poor matchup against both [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and Night March / Archeops. Not to mention that if you don’t out-speed your opponent by getting the first KO, you will usually fall far behind in the game.
Donphan / Eeveelutions
This deck saw a lot of play at the start of last season, but kind of faded out as time went on. In Expanded, it has quite a lot of things going for it that makes it strong. Firstly, it can be run with Jolteon which allows it to hit for a lot of damage on Pokemon like [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. Secondly, with the use of a heavy count of [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], the deck can be incredibly annoying to deal with. This forces you to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] the [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] from the Bench and attack it twice just to get one Prize card. The best thing about this strategy is that they can’t use a card like [card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] and Lysandre on the same turn, although you are prone to cards like [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card], which becomes legal again in Expanded. Eco Arm can also be included in this deck to shuffle your Focus Sashes back into your deck to allow for even more disruption. To top it all off, you also have the power of [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] to take quick, efficient Knock Outs on Pokemon-EX and [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] which can slow your opponent’s set up.
Again, this deck doesn’t do too well against [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but the difference here is that it does have the option to go all-out with [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] against Yveltal-EX / Archeops decks. Sadly, this tactic doesn’t work against Night March / Archeops because the Night March player will be smart enough to not bench any Pokemon-EX and will basically just checkmate you. Donphan also has a hard time against [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] because it cannot deal with [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] at all.
Those are most of the popular decks in the Expanded format, but I’m saving the two decks I feel are best for last: [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. And I’m not just going to go over them briefly, I’m going to give them the full deck analysis treatment! I will show you my deck lists for each deck, discuss the cards I included, matchups, and the strengths and weaknesses of each deck. Both of these decks seem like very good plays for Regionals, so make sure to read the rest of the article if you’re having trouble choosing on a deck!
[premium]
Yveltal-EX / Archeops
[cardimg name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Oh yes! The big kid on the block is back, and he’s brought some friends with him. I’ve already talked about [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and its versatility, but I’ll go over it once more. This card isn’t legal in Standard anymore, but in Expanded there’s a plethora of decks that revolve around evolved Pokemon.
This deck functions a lot like the straight [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks that were around during the first half of last season. It’s powerful, it has plenty of options, and it’s consistent. Archeops is a great way to improve your matchups against Evolution-based decks. If you can get Archeops out on either turn one or turn two you basically seal the game against decks that are centered around Evolutions. It shuts down their entire strategy and it’s very hard for most decks to deal with, especially when they can’t evolve into their attackers.
So what’s the catch? Well, Archeops isn’t exactly easy to get out. Unlike the [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] deck that saw a lot of success at the end of last season, Yveltal / Archeops decks aren’t generally built around getting out Archeops every single game without fail. This is because the deck still needs to be consistent, and it needs to work against decks that don’t use Evolutions as part of their main strategy.
The List
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”12″]
2x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Absol” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”67″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Archeops” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”110″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”38″]
2x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”deck2″]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″]
3x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”deck2″]
3x [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=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”deck2″]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”10″]
6x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”XY” no=”138″ c=”deck2″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”XY” no=”130″ c=”deck2″]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
This is the list that I have been testing online and it is quite refined. It works very well as an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] deck and I’ve been able to get out [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] nearly every time I needed to (except for the few times that I Prized one of the halves of the combo). The only two losses I had online were to [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] decks, but I’ll get more into that later. First of all, I’ll give you a run down on the choices I made in the list.
Pokemon
This Pokemon line is very similar to what most [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks ran back in the day. I only run two [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck because a third copy isn’t really needed. You will usually trade equally with each Yveltal-EX, which means you only need to pick up two more Prizes with one of your other attackers. Yveltal-EX has the incredible ability to come out of nowhere and steal Prizes in a single turn with Evil Ball.
I run two regular [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]. Yveltal (or “baby Yveltal” as most people call it) is a very powerful non-EX attacker. It can be shifted into the Active spot with relative ease in the early turns in order to power up your other attackers while dishing out a fair bit of damage. It can be very annoying to deal with and is really good at throwing down damage that ends up being crucial later on in the game.
Two [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] is pretty standard. Quaking Punch is just such a powerful attack, it’s really hard to justify not running it. Just like baby Yveltal, Seismitoad can provide that essential early game damage that ends up being the difference between KO’s and near misses. The early game disruption can really shut down set up decks and in the mirror I’ve found that the player who opts to start attacking with Seismitoad early on can often seal a win.
It’s quite difficult to justify not running a [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck. It’s an excellent attacker in the late game for finishing things off, and in Expanded it’s really easy to power up with [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. In addition its use as a support Pokemon seals the deal. Just being able to drop it onto the Bench and get your weak Pokemon out of the line of fire really makes the difference.
[cardimg name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] is an easy choice in this deck. If you attach a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] to it (or a Darkness Energy if you have Darkrai-EX in play) then you can also retreat it immediately, essentially acting as a [card name=”Switch” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] that’s always available to play. This can be really useful for getting rid of effects on the Active Pokemon that you need to remove, such as Poison or Paralysis. The only downside to Keldeo is that it takes up a spot on your Bench, but in most cases this is a small price to pay for its usefulness.
I’ve already talked about [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] a lot this article and I think it’s quite clear why this card is so good. I only run one because, like I said before, the deck still needs to function as an Yveltal-EX deck. Honestly there isn’t much more to say about the card that I haven’t already said, so I’ll move along.
I also choose to run one copy of [card name=”Absol” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]. Absol can be easily played down and powered up with an attachment from the hand and a [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], which makes it quite effective as an “out of nowhere” play. With a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] against a full Bench it hits for 140 damage, which at the end of the game you can steal a win by taking out a damaged Pokemon-EX or something like a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card].
Finally, I run one copy of [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] and Shaymin-EX (nice transition, right?) as support Pokemon. Jirachi is mainly in there to let me get away with running a low Supporter count, as well as being a way to search out [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] for the turn one combo. Shaymin-EX is there because I always feel that turning an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] into a draw out can be very clutch when you start with a dead hand.
Items / Supporters / Stadiums
You have probably noticed that I run a fairly low Supporter count, and this is because my deck runs a very heavy amount of draw, as well as a [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]. I run one [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] so that I have a shuffle Supporter that I can rely on in situations where I can’t afford to discard my hand. Usually I end up discarding most of my Supporters with [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] to be accessible with [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], but at the same time it is very important to make sure that you are using VS Seekers sparingly because your counts are so low.
I also have four [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and four [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] in the list because it’s important to get out [card name=”Archeops” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] when you’re against a matchup that you need it for. The original list I used (Faith Akdemir’s Arena Cup runner-up list) only ran three Acro Bike, but I increased the count to four after I cut the one [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] (I felt it was under performing) and wanted to increase the overall consistency of the deck. After I made this change I didn’t miss a single turn one Archeops in every game that I tried to get it.
I play two [card name=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] because it’s a really solid card and can help a lot when trying to get your hand size down to zero. I tried the deck with one, but in the end found that a lot of the time this card would be the primary factor in my ability to pull off the turn one Archeops. Not only can you burn this card when it’s the only one in your hand besides [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] or a VS Seeker, but you can also use it to search for Energy to discard with [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. Picture this scenario; your hand is Computer Search, a Professor’s Letter, and a [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]. You can fail the Trainer’s Mail and then use Professor’s Letter to get two Dark Energy to discard with the Computer Search and then use it to get out Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick. Situations like that occur all the time, and when they do, you’re glad that the Professor’s Letter isn’t any other card.
The next thing I should talk about is the Faded Town. Now believe me, I was very skeptical about this card when I saw it in Faith’s list, but after some testing against decks that ran Mega Evolutions, I’m now convinced that this is a staple in the deck. [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] is the only good Mega Pokemon in the format at the moment and it is definitely a threat for [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks. At first I didn’t understand why you would run Faded Town, since you stop their Evolutions with Archeops, but then I realized that in this matchup you can actually decide to not get out Archeops. Why do this? So that they end up Mega Evolving their [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] and you can punish them with the Faded Town. If they miss a [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] response then all of a sudden you have a very large amount of damage on your opponent’s board.
Speaking of Rough Seas, even if you do decide to get out Archeops, you still need to counter their Stadium, because very often in that matchup you’re going to rely on the small bits of damage you were able to get out earlier on and you need it to stick. This can be difficult against an opponent running three or four copies of Rough Seas. Finally, Faded Town can be used as a counter Stadium against certain decks and is a better pick than running something like [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card], since the deck has a hard time finding room for [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] as well.
[cardimg name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
The last card to address is my Ace Spec of choice, Computer Search. It’s the best one to use when you’ve got a combo like Maxie’s / Archeops in the deck because none of the other choices will help you achieve this goal. If I was running a straight Yveltal-EX deck then I would probably rather use [card name=”Dowsing Machine” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], but Computer Search is far too good at helping you pull off the combo to consider anything else.
Strengths and Weaknesses
So you’ve heard what I have to say about the list itself, but how does the deck fare against the meta? Well this deck is, as you can expect, very strong against any decks that focus on Evolutions. 90% of the time if you get out an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] before they evolve their Pokemon, you will just win because they can’t do anything. In a best-of-three you can expect to pull of the combo at least two out of three times, so you really shouldn’t worry too much.
One card that can really ruin your strategy though is [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. Most [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] lists will play at least one and will be able to use it multiple times by playing [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. Unless they KO your Archeops, though, you should be able to pull through because Accelgor’s Deck and Cover will force it to shuffle itself into the deck, which means your opponent will be forced to evolve it again. The key in that matchup is making sure that you keep an Archeops in play as often as possible. Playing [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] is also beneficial because it allows you to escape your opponent’s lock, but use it sparingly because the Accelgor player will usually use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] and try to take it out.
[card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] also has an incredibly hard time against [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] decks. While Raichu won’t be very common, you can be sure that Manectric-EX decks will be fairly common, and you should prepare to face at least two if you take this deck to Regionals. One of the ways that I found to deal with this matchup is to use your non-EX attackers as well as your Pokemon that aren’t weak to Lightning. [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] is often my saving grace against this deck, but it’s always close. If you’re a good player I’m pretty sure that this matchup is close to 50-50, but if you are a newer player or someone who hasn’t played [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks before, you might find this matchup to be much more difficult due to a lot of the complex situations and Pokemon needed at different times.
Against any other decks that don’t play Evolutions, this is an extremely consistent Yveltal-EX deck. If you plan on playing this deck at Regionals or any other tournaments, my advice to you would be to get as much practice with the deck as possible. In my opinion, Yveltal has been the hardest deck to play perfectly in recent years and it has also been the most rewarding to players who have been able to do so. I honestly think that this deck will perform really well at Regionals if the right players bring it.
Archie’s Blastoise
[cardimg name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”137″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
This is a very well-known deck by now, and most people are already aware that it was the winning play for Jacob Van Wagner this year at worlds. It’s quite the unique deck because it’s a lot more about the list you make than how you play it. Once you have a consistent enough deck list the deck will more or less play itself. Every single game has to be about getting [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] out on turn one with [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] because being able to do so puts huge amounts of pressure on your opponent. Unlike the [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] deck I just talked about, Archie’s Blastoise has a much higher chance of pulling off the combo. This is because the deck cannot win without the Blastoise out on their field.
Once this deck gets going it has a chance to beat anything. The most common strategy is to load up a [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] with enough energy to OHKO your opponent’s Pokemon-EX. Against lower HP non-EX Pokemon you also have Articuno from Roaring Skies as a way of efficiently trading. You might also choose to run attackers such as [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] which can do a lot of damage, take a hit, then finish the job. You can also employ [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] which can be used in a similar way to Keldeo except sometimes it does more damage due to your opponent’s Pokemon having Energy attached to them, as well.
When this deck sets up, it more or less just snowballs the opponent. The main thing you have to keep on top of is the Prize trade because if your opponent gets ahead of you there aren’t a lot of ways for you to come back. Anyway, like I said before it’s all about the list, so let me show you how I built the deck.
The List
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”15″]
3x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”34″]
2x [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”FlashFire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Superior Energy Retrieval” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”103″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Rough Seas ” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”11″]
11x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”90″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
Pokemon
I run two copies of [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck. You have to run at least two just to avoid Prizing it, because if you’re in a position where there’s absolutely no way for you to get out your Blastoise, you will just lose unless you’ve already got loads of Energy on board. You don’t need to run three because the chances of Prizing two are very low.
Because [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] is your main attacker, it is best to run three of them. You will use Keldeo to OHKO most of the time and getting it out turn one with a bunch of Energy can be too much pressure for most other decks. I found while playtesting this deck that if your opponent doesn’t have an immediate response to it, they will just end up losing.
[cardimg name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”54″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
As for other attackers, I also run one [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card]. Mewtwo can actually do more damage than Keldeo if your opponent’s Pokemon has several Energy attached to it, and if you play a long game where you start to run out of Energy. Mewtwo can sometimes provide enough damage to get a KO where Keldeo would have come up just a little short. Furthermore, a way for your opponent to deal with your Keldeo is with their own Mewtwo, and in these cases, it’s more efficient to respond with a Mewtwo of your own rather than having to power up another Keldeo to KO it.
[card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] is in there mainly for aggro decks such as Night March and Vespiquen. Like I already said, Wailord is able to deal a decent amount of damage, take a hit, and attack again. This is particularly useful against non-EX Pokemon because it means you can use it to take two KO’s. The only issues with Wailord is that it is weak to Grass, which means that sometimes Vespiquen’s Bee Revenge can OHKO you. Obviously a big problem in that matchup.
I run two copies of [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] because it is incredibly powerful against non-EX decks. Articuno OHKO’s most popular non-EX Pokemon most of the time (unless you really suck at coin flips), which allows you to trade positively; you take two Prizes while they only take one. Sometimes it can even take out a Pokemon-EX and net you three Prizes. I had U.S. Senior National Champion Lance Bradshaw take out my [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] with an Articuno at Worlds for the game.
As for support, I run two [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]. Two Shaymin is basically the minimum and maximum for this deck. When you have a poor hand, you can use Shaymin to make you a new one and increase your odds of getting the combo. Most games you will find that Shaymin is the biggest factor in pulling off the combo. You run two Jirachi as a way of grabbing [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] in situations where you have an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and just two other cards in your hand.
Finally, I run two [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card]. Exeggcute is good for making the numbers right in the early game, allowing you to get a one card hand, as well as allowing you to use it for big swing turns with [card name=”Superior Energy Retrieval” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] where you would normally not be able to discard enough cards.
Items / Supporters / Stadiums
[cardimg name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”157″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
I only run six Supporters in this deck because you don’t really want to be playing any Supporter card other than [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] on your first turn. [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] is in there just so you can have a way of sealing the game by dragging out weak Pokemon-EX like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. Running one [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] can help you come back if you ever get behind in the Prize trade. I have two [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] in there for drawing through your deck after you have managed to get the turn one combo. After you set up you still need to draw into your [card name=”Superior Energy Retrieval” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] and basic Energy cards. As you already know, I run two [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] to avoid Prizing my only method of getting [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] out.
Four [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], four [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], four [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], four [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], and four Superior Energy Retrieval is basically the standard for this deck. It allows for maximum consistency and gives you the highest chance of getting the turn one [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. Superior Energy Retrieval can sometimes be a pain if you get it in your opening hand, but you need the full four for the late game to maximize the amount of Energy that you have access to.
As for Tools, I currently run one [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and one [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. Tools are really useful because they can be played down easily to decrease your hand size. I’d like to run two [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] because they count as an extra Energy on [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card], plus they allow you to hit better numbers with [card name=”Wailord-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card], but the list is really tight and I can’t really fit another one in without hurting consistency. The reason why I play a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is that it allows you to Rush In and retreat out of bad starts and Special Conditions. It’s also really useful against [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] because it stops them being able to lock you down.
Finally, I play one [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]. The reason you play a Stadium in this deck is so that you have another card you can burn if you need less cards in your hand for Archie’s, and Rough Seas is just the best Stadium to run in this deck. You might want to consider [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] because it can be useful to bench all of your attackers once you have set up and then discard all of your [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] once the Stadium is replaced.
Strengths / Weaknesses
This deck wins most of its games if it is able to set up. Unless you face a deck that is a hard counter, you will usually be able to put on huge amounts of pressure with a high Energy [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card]. You do have to watch out for cards such as [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] because they will easily get a OHKO if you have a lot of Energy attached to your Pokemon. You also have to look out for them targeting your [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], but you can counter this strategy by making sure that your Energy is on the field and not on your hand.
One deck that I lost to a few times online is Vespiquen. Vespiquen will OHKO most of your Pokemon because of its Grass typing, and this can be a massive problem. It is also a non-EX, which means that you trade horribly with it unless you attack with [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] or Blastoise. I have managed to beat the deck a few times by just attacking with Articuno and then getting my last two Prizes by bringing up a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], but the matchup is very close.
And of course, this deck really struggles if it misses the turn one Blastoise because after that it gets harder and harder to pull off the combo, and eventually you just get too far behind to be able to come back. Missing the turn one against decks that run [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] is usually fatal. Once they lock you out of Items, your chances of getting Blastoise out become incredibly thin. In the same way, this deck will lose if your opponent is able to get out a Vileplume on their first turn, as Vileplume also locks you out of Items.
Conclusion
[cardimg name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
So now you have heard what I have to say about Expanded. Honestly, I really like the format. Quite a few people have expressed a lot of hate towards Expanded and I think a lot of it is unjustified. It’s a whole separate metagame with new decks and exciting combos. Not to mention the fact that Pokemon is keeping a close eye on the format, as can be seen by the recent ban of [card name=”Shiftry” set=”Next Destinies” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]. I think the only real issue with the Expanded format is that a lot of the cards that people need are out of print, and so far we’ve seen people demand insane prices for some cards that aren’t even rare. If Pokemon decides to continue with this format, I think they should find a way to get cards like [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] back into print because otherwise people are going to be paying upwards of $40 for cards that were fairly common pulls in their original sets.
As for decks though, I would highly recommend playing one of the two that I went into detail about. Both are really strong decks and I expect to see them do really well in upcoming Expanded events. Of course, we will have to wait for BREAKthrough to be released to see what impact it will have, but from the cards revealed so far I think [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] will still be the decks to beat.
Thanks for reading my article! If you have anything to say about the decks I think are best in the format, their lists, or just want to talk to me, leave me a comment, or post in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout forum. I’ll catch you all next time!
~Nath
[/premium]