“Wrecking Curses” – Top 8 San Jose Regionals Report and Some Decks in Standard
What’s up guys? Chris from the Beach FINALLY back with another article! School and playtesting have occupied my whole life lately, limiting my time to write articles. Since my last article, I attended both the World Championships and Fall Regionals, and let’s just say my Worlds run didn’t go quite as planned (1-4-2).
But I’m not here to talk about my Worlds run! I’m here to talk to you about my performance at San Jose Regionals, which I got Top 8 at with [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ll discuss why I chose the deck I did, some of its matchups, and go over each of my rounds and opponents. It was quite the tournament — 15 matches in total — and it was a complete blast to play in! It was great to see all my friends from SoCal, NorCal, Idaho, etc. that weekend and I can’t wait to see you guys again. I am also going to look over a few decks in Standard for you guys to test around with. With Cities starting just later this week, I’ve been hard at work trying out different decks to play for these tournaments and I think all of you will enjoy reading about some of my top choices.
Why Donphan?
To a lot of people, [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] seemed like a poor play for the current meta and it was a total surprise to see two of them Top 8 at San Jose Regionals. With all the [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name” c=”custom”]Archie’s[/card] [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX running around, it seemed like there was no room for Donphan to shine. But, if you look at the results from Lancaster Regioanls (the only Regionals the week prior to San Jose), you’ll see [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and Vespiquen were the big hitters of the event, leading to its rise in popularity. Both of these matchups are a walk in the park for Donphan when played correctly, which I will talk about in my report below. Also, going into the tournament, I knew my deck had to beat Yveltal for two reasons. 1) California players love playing Yveltal, and 2) it was arguably the BDIF (best deck in format) at the time, with its capability to deal with any deck. Have a look at the list I played:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”14″]
4x [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Phanpy” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”71″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Eevee” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW94″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”36″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”116″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”111″ c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Silver Bangle” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”88″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Next Destinies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Dragon Vault” no=”20″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”10″]
5x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Power Keepers” no=”108″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Vs. Yveltal
Historically, [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] hasn’t had a positive matchup against Yveltal decks — especially the good pilots — and the addition of [card name=”Archeops” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] only seems to make it worse. But, we’re gonna make a 180 on this matchup. It’s important to note that most Donphan decks in the past didn’t run [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], and when they did, Yveltal was not a relevant deck. But, with Yveltal and Donphan with Focus Sash finally clashing, you’ll see that Donphan’s matchup against the big bird does in fact increase a little. Being able to equip your [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] is game changing. Even though most Yveltal decks run [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] to counter this strategy, there are some things you have to consider. There will likely be a point where the Yveltal player misses a beat on Lasers, especially if they are only running three Lasers like we’ve seen with recent lists, and there are still six Pokemon the Yveltal player has to Knock Out. Being able to swarm your opponent with powerful, cheap, hard-to-kill attackers is Donphan’s strategy. So, eventually, the Donphan player is usually able to run the Yveltal player dry of his / her resources.
Also, there is of course the obvious counter to Yveltal in this deck. Jolteon letting Donphan hit for Weakness can sway games easily. Having an easy answer to Baby [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] makes this matchup undoubtedly in your favor. You can just proceed with your usual strategy without much disruption to deal with.
Vs. Vespiquen
Like Yvaltal, [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] did not like [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] much at all in the past. But once again, this is back in a format where most Donphan players did not play [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Now you can approach the matchup in a totally different light. As the Donphan player, your goal should be to set up your Donphan, put Focus Sashes on them, and two-shot their attackers. Switching into [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] at correct times should either force them to attack into the Robos, or use their [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] outs on a Donphan with a Focus Sash and eventually run them dry of Lysandre outs, forcing them to attack into Robos anyway.
As the good Donphan player, your game plan should be to drain your opponent’s resources while they battle to take any Prizes at all, let alone six. And if they do take the early lead with some good draws, they must face the music eventually and attack into those Robo Substitutes. The main reason I decided to play Donphan for San Jose is because I saw that it had good matchups against the field, even though history said otherwise. I saw perfectly how I should be playing each matchup, which is the best leg you can ever have on your opponent. It’s also important to note that Focus Sash is a brilliant card currently, especially with most players cutting [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card].
The Tournament
To be perfectly honest, I had only played one game with [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] before the tournament and most of my thoughts about the deck were theorymon-based. I was going to play [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and had sold myself on the deck for the longest time. But last minute, I decided to play Donphan due to my experience with it in the past, and it covered the same matchups M Manectric-EX / Garbodor did. Plus, it had a rocking Vespiquen matchup.
Round 1 vs. Gabriel Quiroz w/ Yveltal / Archeops
Going up against last year’s SoCal Regional champ round one wasn’t a pleasant sight, but I had confidence in my abilities. We played at that Regionals he won, where we were both 4-0 at the time. I was his first game loss, but we ended up tying the series. I picked up on some of his habits during our game and had a burning feeling he was playing Yveltal today.
[cardimg name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Game one goes horribly for me. He gets turn one [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] on me and I didn’t have splendid draws throughout the game, so he ends up taking game one. It was at this point I was wondering if I had once again made a horrible deck choice based solely on theorymon. But, I knew the situation I was in. I simply had some bad variance and I needed to get my act together and prepare to take this series.
As game two rolls along, he once again gets a turn one Archeops. This was of course a big roadblock to my strategy, but I knew that [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] could very well hold its own with the Pokemon he had to lay down to get that turn one Archeops ([card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card]). As it turned out, I was able to get him into very tricky situations and was able to take the series solely under the wings of Hawlucha taking out an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], and a Jirachi. There was a point in the game where he could take two Prizes off of two Hawlucha, hence the Darkrai Prizes.
Game three was definitely the easiest game for me to complete, but I knew the clock was running relatively short, so I knew I had to play a little faster. He finally misses the turn one Archeops and, in fact, misses it for quite a while, so I was finally able to execute my strategy without disturbance. I had taken early Prizes with Hawlucha and had [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] clean shop with a Spinning Turn for 180 on an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card]. But, once time was called, I was at two Prizes and Gabriel was turn zero. At this point in time my board was awkwardly spread to where he was able to take a double KO with a Darkrai and leave me with not much of anything. But little did he know that my hand had a Hawlucha and a Fighting Energy. So, I laid down the Hawlucha, the Energy, and had to hit my one [card name=”Silver Bangle” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] and one [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck to win this turn. I used [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] to fortunately draw into both. This game I felt was a true testament to my ability to go far in this tournament.
1-0
Round 2 vs. ??? w/ Seismitoad-EX / Giratina-EX
This game was an easy 2-0 for me, but this is not at all an accurate representation to how the matchup usually goes. This player made very odd plays and seemed to not quite know how to play the matchup. He had only powered up one Giratina-EX and when he eventually used [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on it after it taking a few hits, he had no other Giratina to follow up with, leaving me a turn to explode and put all of my damage applicators on the board.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Vinnie Haffner w/ M Manectric-EX / Garbodor
I had actually done some testing with Vinnie the night before the tournament and he decided that he wanted to play the same 60 as I was going to play. He knew that I had changed up decks and was rightfully not confident with his ability to win the series. The series went exactly as expected and I was even able to use Vinnie’s [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] on my own [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], thanks to Jolteon.
3-0
Round 4 vs. Chris ??? w/ Yveltal (maybe Archeops)
The reason I say he maybe played [card name=”Archeops” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] is because he didn’t get it out, and if he did, it wasn’t a game-changing card by the time he got it out. The first game was rather long since he decided to take the Baby [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] route for some time, but I was eventually able to set up Jolteon and take the game. Knowing that game took at least 35 minutes, I knew that I should probably take my time with each action I take (not to the point of stalling, of course). Elaborate each move and make sure it’s correct. I also knew that if I put my opponent in an awkward situation, that would also waste time. Lo and behold, right before my eyes, I saw my opponent taking some 30-90 seconds on some of his actions and he had started to crumble on himself. As soon as time was called, he had not taken enough Prizes for him to close off the game in the +3, and I took the series.
4-0
Round 5 vs. Dallan Fell w/ Groudon
As I was sitting down, I noticed that my eventual opponent was talking with Stephan Tobacco, who made Top 16 at U.S. Nationals with [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Stephan went with Groudon once again for this tournament, so it was very possible I was playing against Groudon. Knowing that my team, OtterChops, and I geared our [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] deck to beat Groudon for Worlds (even though I played [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] like an idiot), I felt favored in this matchup, but I knew it wouldn’t be an easy one. Groudon is the kind of deck to have little tricks up its sleeve to sway some games, so I knew I had to tread lightly. This game, as presumed, takes forever to finish and eats up at least 35 minutes. As a Groudon player, it’s key for you to know your opponent’s counts on resources inside and out, and Dallan spent a lot of time checking my discard. He also had a [card name=”Regirock” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY49″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in his deck, which would cause me some heartache since I must attack it with Donphan. I ended up winning the game, and eventually the match, all off of using [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to find my last [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Overall, it was interesting to see Groudon’s potential with a good pilot and the support of [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW28″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card].
5-0
Round 6 vs. Colin Coyle w/ Vespiquen / Flareon
All of my friends were saying I was favored in this matchup, but I just didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of two-shotting a Vespiquen or [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] while I can only take two hits with [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] via [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card].
I should’ve heard myself back then.
As explained before, this idea of attaching Focus Sash to Donphan and only sending up [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is not to win some exchange, it’s to run your opponent dry of resources. The games almost play themselves if you know how to play the matchup, and that’s exactly what happened. I did unfortunately dead draw one game and took the series 2-1, but it’s still a win. Knowing Colin’s caliber of play by facing him in the past, I felt very confident with myself exiting the table.
6-0
Round 7 vs. David Rodriguez w/ Yveltal / Archeops
Once again I’m paired against Yveltal and I feel confident in my ability to play this matchup. This series went almost identical to the way my round four game went, except on turn one of time I was left with one [card name=”Phanpy” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”71″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on the Bench and had to hit a Basic Pokemon of some sorts (a [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] could save me in this situation too) off a four-card [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to win the series. Luckily I hit not one, but two Basics and I took the series.
7-0
Round 8 vs. Justin Poist w/ Donphan
Justin was running Jon Eng’s Lancaster list 59 / 60 cards (-1 Bangle, +1 Band). Knowing this, I thought I might’ve had the slightest advantage in this match, but when the matchup consists of us just using Spinning Turn repeatedly, and the only crucial resources I have that he doesn’t are an extra [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and Fighting Energy — which are very minor resources at that — it really just came down to whoever went first in the grand scheme of things. The only foreseeable advantage I had against Justin is knowing Hawlucha is a great wall in this matchup. Being a non-EX resistant to Fighting is never something for a [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] player to scoff at. In most of those situations, I would set up my Jolteon, hit for Weakness, and be fine, but the problem was that Donphan itself is resistant to Lightning, so setting up Jolteon was the last thing on my mind.
Unfortunately, Justin won the coin flip and eventually took the series 1-0 from me. The only way I felt I could’ve played the match better was if I scooped game one early and went for the tie. But, knowing Justin had great success in the Senior division the prior year, I felt like we were on even footing and it would just come down to a coin flip. Literally.
7-1
Round 9 vs. Bohdi Tracy w/ M Rayquaza-EX
Bohdi felt perfectly fine taking an ID with me as he was ready to go back to the hotel, he felt the matchup was even, we had already made Day Two of competition, and we were friends. After a lot of thought, I eventually took the tie, and here’s why.
I knew that in order to make Top 8 tomorrow, I would need 30 match points. As it stood, I would have 22 match points by the end of Day One. This meant I needed to get eight match points tomorrow. A 2-1-2 record tomorrow would get me there exactly. This meant I had to only win two games. Being a Donphan player, I knew I could take two games to ties easily if I wanted to, or agree to some intentional draws. If I played out round nine and won, I would need to go 2-3 or 1-1-3 to make cut. Feeling it would be unreasonable for three of my five games tomorrow to end up as ties, I would still have to win two games regardless of whether I tied or won this game, but me losing the game would mean I would have to go 3-2 tomorrow, and I hated the sound of that. Being the statistically right decision, I gladly took the ID.
7-1-1
These were the standings after Day One:
[premium]
Seeing that the 6-2-1s started at 10th seed was a comforting sight. With records that low we could very well have a 29-pointer make it into Top 8.
Round 10 vs. Bohdi Tracy w/ M Rayquaza-EX
Since this is the second day of competition, we had a chance of facing the same opponents as the day before. Lo and behold I face Bohdi back to back. With us having the same record, the chances of this happening were pretty high though. So we finally play out the matchup. We had theorymon’d the match beforehand and it came down to how I drew. If I got set up well, I would most likely take the series, but if not, he would win.
The matchup was exactly the way we theorized it. Game one I set up perfectly and easily took the series. Game two I dead drew and he won with ease. As game three came around I had a less-than-optimal setup, so Bodhi took the series. Looking back, I may have wanted more setup cards ([card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Next Destinies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card], Pokemon Communication, etc.), but with [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”95″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in the mix my line was sufficient for the most of the tournament.
7-2-1
Round 11 vs. Kristy Britton w/ Night March
This is definitely one of my easier matchups as I’m able to [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] my [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and attach two [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to Knock Out a [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] while still being protected from a OHKO on my Donphan. Kristy really struggled to land hits on that one Donphan since I made sure she had to hit a ton of different cards each turn to get the KO. This was an easy 2-0. In the words of Kristy, “I just can’t beat three Focus Sash.”
8-2-1
Round 12 vs. Dallan Fell w/ Groudon
Another repair from yesterday. With Dallan knowing most of the counts in my deck I knew this game wasn’t going to be as easy. Game one was the only game we played in the whole series. My board said that I would win that game if time wasn’t a factor, but Groudon being the slow deck it is — and its opponent usually not having a say in that — Dallan was able to send up bulky [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] one after another. With his [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] handy he was able to take it to a tie.
8-2-2
Round 13 vs. Kian Amini w/ Vespiquen / Flareon
As explained earlier, this is one of my best matchups. Everything played according to plan game one. Game two, Kian’s opening hand was something along the lines of three Vespiquen, three [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”XY” no=”130″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and an Unown. So I take an easy 2-0 series.
9-2-2
Round 14 vs. Mark “Gark Marcia” Garcia w/ Seismitoad-EX / Crobat / Manectric-EX
We had talked about ID’ing after round 13. I knew he could easily grinch me out of Top Cut since this was an easy matchup for Mark. But I made sure to point out one important thing while we were talking:
He wanted me in top cut.
If he had a good matchup like myself in top cut, this increased his chances of doing well. With that, he said he would agree to the ID as long as 30 points was guaranteed in cut. As we sat down, we did the math and saw that a 29-pointer was guaranteed to be the ninth seed, so we ID’d.
9-2-3
Now, as you can see, this article is titled “Wrecking Curses.” The reason I decided on this title is because I’ve always made a big deal out of never making Top 8 at Regionals, so much so that I called it a curse. Even as a Senior I wasn’t able to make Top 8! Also, it was kinda cute that Donphan’s second attack was called Wreck, so we went with the title “Wrecking Curses.” I know it’s a little much to say that never making Top 8 at Regionals is a curse with it being a very hard event, but I have been one win away on the last round of Swiss so many times before I made it my goal this year to break the curse once and for all. Fortunately, I was able to break it before City Championships even started. Anyways, here are the standings after Day Two Swiss:
I knew I was facing Archie’s [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”16″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] going into Top 8. Justin Poist, another person in the Top 8 as well as my round seven opponent, had played against Marshall (my Top 8 opponent) and lost against him twice. Knowing that Justin and I were playing the same deck and knowing he lost both games, even with the [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in his deck, I was not feeling too great about my chances to make it to Top 4. But I knew I had to suck it up and try my best.
Top 8 vs. Marshall Cary w/ Archie’s Blastoise
There really isn’t much to say about this match. Game one I dead drew and saw he was running [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. After seeing that I now knew why Justin lost both of his series against Marshall. A card like Tool Scrapper spells trouble for a deck like mine as it can discard my Focus Sash. Going into game two I knew my out to winning was a good [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], so I tried my best to keep my [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] fresh, but with two copies of [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Victini” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”23″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and a Tool Scrapper, I wasn’t going to win the exchange in the first place.
9-3-3
Overall, my experience at Regionals was amazing. Seeing all of my friends was awesome and having a great placing like this made it well worth the money. It was cool to see a lot my friends also making Day Two. I faced great players throughout the event and made a fortunate meta call. Can’t wait to come back next year!
Now let’s get on to the portion of the article I’m sure a lot of you at home have been waiting for!
Some Decks for Standard (XY-BKT)
The decks I’ll be showing off are rather obscure, but they are ones that I see having a lot of promise in the Standard format. I’ll be trying to focus on different “playstyles” with each deck.
The Speed Demon: M Rayquaza-EX
For those of you not aware of how this deck works, the idea is to attack with [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”custom”]M Rayquaza-EX’s[/card] Emerald Break ASAP, as early as turn one. Then you want to disrupt your opponent with cards such as Hex Maniac and hope to steal a ton of games that way. In a format dry of good Supporters and heavily reliant on [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], the strategy is more sound than you may think. This deck specializes in simply out-speeding a lot of the decks in the meta. Even [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] has trouble keeping up with it, making it an actually favorable matchup.
After seeing success in Expanded with both Zander Bennett in Arizona and Bohdi Tracy in San Jose, M Rayquaza has become a well-known deck and keeps most of its working components in Standard, the main hit to the deck being the loss of [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. As far as matchups go, the only popular decks I can see it having trouble with are Night March and maybe Vespiquen. Giratina-EX can also present problems, but we do have an answer for Giratina in here. Here’s the list I’ve made:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”15″]
3x [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”75″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Shuppet” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”30″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”38″]
2x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Unleashed” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Mega Turbo” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”86″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Rayquaza Spirit Link” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”87″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”7″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”XY” no=”136″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
[cardimg name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
This is a deck list Zander Bennett gave me and I changed a few cards around. As you can see this list is more techy than the ones used at Regionals, but these techs provide answers to cards that need addressing in Standard. Here’s an explanation behind some of the choices made in this deck:
1-1 Banette
[card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] serves quite a few purposes in the deck. The most obvious reason is to have a good answer to [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] being a deck that wants to score OHKOs the whole game, something like Focus Sash could be detrimental to the deck’s strategy. Decks such as [card name=”Mienshao” set=”Furious Fists” no=”57″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”54″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dugtrio” set=”XY” no=”59″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and even Marowak all see a fair amount of play in Standard, making Banette a worthy inclusion to counter them. Another important thing to note is Banette shuts off all Spirit Links, meaning decks such as [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], M Sceptile-EX, and even other M Rayquaza-EX decks become a lot easier for you to manage. This also applies to any Tools your opponent plays. Tools are used in near every deck in the format, so it will have its role in almost every match.
1 Jirachi Promo XY67
I could go on and on about how good this card is, but when it comes down to it, it is really here for the ever-so prevalent Giratina-EX. In the Standard format, Giratina has seen play with all sorts of partners, including [card name=”Aromatisse” set=”XY” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Tyrantrum-EX, and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Giratina is overall a difficult card for this deck to deal with. Jirachi makes Giratina crumble hands-down, especially in Standard. Having the ability to discard Special Energy for just a Colorless Energy, while also preventing damage done to itself, is enough on its own to see why it sways the matchup. With a lot of the current decks in Standard using — or even relying on — Special Energy, this card can be used in a number of situations. I am positive it will see a lot of play and should be prepared for.
2 Sacred Ash
When BREAKthrough scans were revealed, most people thought this deck was dead just because of one card that was coming out: Parallel City. Neutering this deck’s Bench down to three is pretty bad, but after playing a [card name=”Sacred Ash” set=”Flashfire” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], you are able to lay down another [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and start anew. Some people will still make the argument that it will take you a while to get set up again, but it’s really not a plausible one. This deck rides on its capability for going “0 to 100, real quick” – Drake. It shouldn’t take more than a turn for the deck to regain a full Bench.
The Tank: M Sceptile-EX
For most, this is a black sheep compared to the other top contenders in the format, but in the right metagame this deck is an absolute monster. It shares a lot of key elements with [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”120″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], but with the healing put to full throttle. The main idea is to just Jagged Saber with M Sceptile-EX over and over again until victory. With cards like [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Majestic Dawn” no=”87″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], and even the attack Jagged Saber, our main objective is to tank and heal and try your best to never let your opponent take a Prize. Having an infinite cycle like this makes any deck that can’t OHKO M Sceptile essentially an auto-win.
This deck has recently heightened in my interest after winning Huddersfield Regionals over in the U.K. If you know me at all, I love decks with insane amounts of synergy. In my eyes, this fits that bill very well with M Sceptile-EX’s best partner in crime being itself. I find this deck to be almost strictly better than most M Manectric variants in Standard because of its matchup against M Manectirc itself and having a much easier time against Fighting-based decks. The only way I would advocate playing M Manectric is because it is not weak to Fire. Vespiquen decks could give this deck problems with the Flare Effect Flareon, but you do have Hex Maniac to sit behind in that situation. Here’s the list I’ve sort of based off of the winning list, with a few touches from BREAKthrough:
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”16″]
2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”34″]
4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Professor Birch’s Observations” set=”Primal Clash” no=”134″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x Sceptile Spirit Link (AOR #80)
1x [card name=”Professor’s Letter” set=”XY” no=”123″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x Forest of Giant Plants (AOR #74)
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”10″]
10x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”88″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
1 Virizion
If you take a look at the deck, the Pokemon you want to be attacking with for the majority of the game is a Pokemon-EX. This presents a problem because a card like Regice can really take this deck for a spin and we need an answer to it. Luckily, we have a non-EX Pokemon that does just enough damage to KO a Regice. If you are behind on Prizes, Virizion’s second attack does 120 damage for two Grass Energy, just enough to cover Regice. In addition to being an answer, it also just serves as a good seventh Prize attacker against decks Jirachi won’t be useful against.
1 Fisherman
In BREAKthrough we received a reprint of Fisherman. Even though it isn’t as dynamic of a card as it was when it was printed in the Heartgold & Soulsilver era, having access to [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] makes the card very efficient in a deck that attaches multiple Energy from the hand, such as this one. Being able to recycle tons of Energy each game is valuable to this deck when you put into effect its ability to chain Jagged Sabers by retreating the Sceptile and attaching Energy to it from another Sceptile’s Jagged Saber, which is what made this deck successful over in the U.K.
Conclusion
My thoughts of both the Standard and Expanded formats right now are overall very positive. Even though I see the faster decks in the format as the ones that have a significant advantage over the rest as far as consistency goes, they are both very open and a slower deck can easily work itself into the metagame when chosen at the right time. I feel like a wide variety of decks will show their potential this year in one way or another, but your ability to evaluate the meta and build decks will be tested to its extreme at Cities. Including cute techs is sometimes enough to win a Cities by itself due to the small size of these events, while also being very merciful with letting you lose a game and still making it into top cut. I wish the best of luck to all of you at City Championships. These points are crucial to any competitive player and should not be taken lightly. With the events being so frequent while also awarding a great deal of points in total, a good Cities run is near essential if you are trying to go for a Day Two invite.
Thanks for taking the time to run through this article! If you enjoyed, make sure to leave a like or a comment down below. Also, please check out the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout forum for advice from all of our writers. I’m sure a lot of you need help right before City Championships start, and we’re happy to help.
Happy deck building to all!
[/premium]