“Independence Day” — How I Chose My Cities-Winning Deck and a Look at Assault Vest
Hey Beach goers! Hope you had a enjoyable and successful first few weekends of Cities. This is an important time of year, where a good portion of your Worlds invitation is earned. I know most of the Cities in the United States will be in the Standard format, but I just got off of a weekend with the Expanded format. There is a huge difference between the two formats and it required separate testing for both. My first weekend was a single Cities in Standard format, then after that, this past weekend, I had two Expanded Cities. I was required to test both formats and I had to test Expanded in just about a week. I’m going to go over my deck choice, my list of choices prior to this weekend, and how I prepared so quickly. This preparation rewarded me with a Cities win in Independence, Missouri!
I’m also gonna talk about Assault Vest, a card that was overlooked when BREAKthrough came out that is just now having a chance to shine. I have a heavily tested list for Expanded that I’m sure you will all enjoy playing. But there are many examples of this card’s use in Standard as well that I will get into later on.
It’s not even the halfway point for the Cities season, and at every Cities I go to where people are asking me for advice, I always stress how much of a value the PokeBeach Premium Subscription is. There isn’t a site out there that offers the amount of top-notch articles we produce, the excellent list advice in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout, and the quality of players that you can engage in the comment section. It’s the best way any player can step up their game!
What to do with Expanded
After a disappointing finish to my Greeley, CO City Championship (1-2 drop), I was looking forward to the next Cities immediately and couldn’t wait to prove myself. I don’t tend to get too upset or down with a poor finish. What I normally tell me buddies that do poorly is there are a lot of people who are trying to win at the particular tournament you went to. Some are just more lucky than others in hitting the right matchups and avoiding dead drawing.
Matchups and dead drawing brings me right to my next subject: Getting matchups correct and making sure you have an incredibly consistent list. Sure, we can hope to build an incredibly gimmicky list full of techs and hope we draw well at the event, but this isn’t an approach the majority of good players take.
Following my own advice from my last article, I narrowed myself down to five different decks. However, with the short time period I was working with I only tested and considered bringing in three different decks. I didn’t know what the metagame was going to be like — this was the first Expanded Cities I have gone to all season — so I needed to make a deck that had good matchups against the most popular decks around the world. The decks I had in consideration when I made a deck choice are:
- [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX
- Vespiquen / [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]
- [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”107″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Gallade / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]
- [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]
- [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”45″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]
These were arguably the most popular and common decks in Expanded. When describing my top three, I will explain my matchups against these five decks.
Here are the top three decks I was considering:
- [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]
- [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] / Assault Vest
- Vespiquen / [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]
I picked these decks knowing I will be entering a meta that is unknown to me. I tried to select decks that I could see myself winning a Cities with and that I was comfortable playing. I’ll break down my deck choices right here and each of their matchups against the big five.
Donphan
With a lot of suggestions from friends, I was told [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] is a sick play in a meta full of cheap attackers that don’t have a lot of HP. The biggest deck that comes to mind is Night March, with Vespiquen being a close second. In Vespiquen’s case, I didn’t like the idea of two-hitting something supposed to be a cheap attacker, especially since that deck typically plays a copy of [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. I did however speak to Chris Collins, one of my fellow writers here that achieved a Top 8 finish at San Jose Regionals this past Fall, where he defeated multiple Vespiquen throughout the day. First he told me to read his article, then he went more into detail on how Donphan murders Vespiquen.
Vespiquen 80-20
The strategy is to heavily utilize [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. Using a Focus Sash on a [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] means the Vespiquen player has to use two [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to Knock Out your Donphan. Eventually the Vespiquen player will run out of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and will have to start attacking [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. This plays them straight into your strategy of them hitting your expendable [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and Robo Substitute. This can be applied to great effect against Night March as well.
Knowing how to beat Vespiquen, and having a naturally good matchup against Night March due to playing Robo Substitute and Focus Sash, I had to start thinking of the other matchups I talked about.
Seismitoad / Giratina 30-70
This is the nightmare matchup that I never want to see with [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] hits Donphan for Weakness, in addition to removing [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”95″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]’s ability to search for and play any Item from the deck. You cannot play [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], getting rid of several options Donphan may have to get ahead in the matchup. [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is your only hope. It deals sufficient damage to Seismitoad and may survive a Quaking Punch, but you have to consistently draw Energy to continue pummeling Seismitoad and hope they don’t hit heads on [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Furious Fists” no=”100″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] often. Overall, Seismitoad-EX limits your deck to the point where it can barely function. Without any of its Items Donphan falls apart.
Yveltal / Darkrai 60-40
Jolteon is the key in this matchup. [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]’s Resistance normally makes this a bad matchup for Donphan, but giving Donphan that Lightning typing greatly reduces Yveltal’s longevity. [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] also kills it in this matchup with [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] on it, allowing you get off two massive attacks with the Hawucha before falling. If they play [card name=”Archeops” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], which I expect them to, you can play [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] to allow you to evolve. I wouldn’t leave home without my Wobbuffet in a meta that I expected to be full of Yveltal. [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] could stall you and buy them time to set up, but the deck’s reliance on Lightning- and Fighting-weak EXs to deal heavy damage ends up putting Donphan on top here.
Keldeo / Blastoise 30-70
[card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is brutal for [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]. Not because of the Keldeo itself, it’s because they typically play copies of [card name=”Kyurem” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”31″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. These Pokemon need to be two-shot while they OHKO your Donphan, taking two Prizes off of them in Articuno’s case. These tanky non-EXs make the matchup especially hard for you. Hex Maniac could be played to temporarily shut off [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], but since Donphan decks don’t typically run [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] you will have a hard time getting it early. This is a matchup you should avoid.
I won’t go into detail about the Donphan mirror, but it’s essentially going to be a tie as you won’t be able to draw Prizes quick enough in a 30 minute + 3 match.
So with a poor matchup against two of the four other popular decks, why did I think of playing Donphan? A large part of it was because I expected Night March and Vespiquen to be popular since the Jirachi Promo considerably helps their matchups against [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX, normally a rough spot for the two decks. Also, they are very popular and inexpensive decks with binary game plans. Vespiquen has favorable Keldeo / Blastoise and Seismitoad matchups — Seismitoad largely in part due to the Jirachi — while Night March has game against the two decks as well. I expected these two to be the most popular decks on the day, and Donphan beats both of them fairly easily.
Yveltal / Assault Vest
At first I was testing an Yveltal list using [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”158″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and the new Gallade, in addition to [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]. I based it on Israel Sosa’s list that he used to win the Arizona Fall Regionals. I canned this since it was largely inconsistent. I wasn’t drawing well with it, and managing the Bench space was difficult since I often had to reach for Maxie’s usage by playing [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] on my Bench. My friend, Kiernan Wagner, a Senior, gave me a solid deck list for [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / Assault Vest. While it lacked a few common traits of a normal Yveltal deck, I found it to be the strongest Yveltal variant out there for this metagame, improving upon many of the deck’s difficult matchups while maintaining exceptional consistency. If you plan on testing an Yveltal deck in Standard, I can’t recommend this one enough. Here is my take on the list:
[premium]
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”12″]
3x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW61″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”37″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”115″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”158″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”11″]
7x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”94″ c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
4 Trainers’ Mail
[card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] is an essential card when you’re trying to pull off a [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] combo. The card makes any deck incredibly consistent by letting you dig further to find crucial Trainers, and, although this deck is Expanded, Trainers’ Mail is a must-play in most Standard decks. It is the big divider for me between the [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] version of this deck because you essentially trade your Lasers for Trainers’ Mail, thus boosting your consistency.
1 Jirachi-EX
[card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] is a smart play in any deck playing [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card]. Jirachi gives [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] the option to essentially search for a Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick while lowering your hand size. This could be another Shaymin-EX, but Jirachi-EX increases your odds of using Maxie too much for me to consider cutting it.
Archeops and Gallade
[card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]’ incredible Ability can win you games alone by not allowing Evolution decks to utilize their main Pokemon, especially in a best-of-one tournament. The deck hurt by this card the most being Vespiquen, normally a tricky matchup. Gallade is an excellent counter to [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] decks. In Expanded, these decks typically play other types of Pokemon and cannot fit Flash Energy because of it, allowing you to hit those Manectric for Weakness for only a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card].
2 Parallel City
The two Parallel City may have some of you guys scratching your heads. You point the Bench-limiting side towards yourself to knock [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] off your Bench, leaving no easy Knock Outs for your opponent. In addition to that, Grass-, Fire-, and Water-type Pokemon are left with minus 20 to their damage against your Pokemon. Combine this with your high-HP, Assault Vest-equipped attackers and you have some tanky Pokemon at your disposal.
3 Assault Vest
The main card of the deck. I’m going to talk more about this card later on in my article, so stay tuned! All I’ll say for now is this card gives the deck incredible Vespiquen, Night March, and Fighting matchups.
The Matchups
Seismitoad / Giratina 70-30
I believe that [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks naturally beat [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Yveltal’s Y-Cyclone, the free retreat granted by [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card], and the Rush In Ability with [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] helps you avoid [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] damage and prevents your Pokemon from staying Asleep. This deck has an extra edge against Seismitoad-EX decks in that it plays Assault Vest and Parallel City. If you manage to play enough Assault Vests before you get hit with the Item lock from Quaking Punch, you limit their damage to 10 if they have a [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] attached. That’s huge! Add in Parallel City and they do NO damage. This limits them to their Hypnotoxic Lasers which you can Rush In and retreat out of thanks to Keldeo. Attacking with Giratina-EX is a huge risk for them as well since it requires four Energy on it, leaving it open to a huge Evil Ball from Yveltal-EX.
Vespiquen / Flareon 60-40
This is the deck ours is attempting to counter. Now, why does this supposed counter deck only have a 60-40 matchup instead of something higher? Well, in testing, I still found that I lost to Vespiquen quite a bit in the hands of decent players. I won about 60% of the time though. The big reason is that [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] is an incredible card that allows [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] to get around Assault Vest. Also, late game, they tend to have so many Pokemon discarded that they’re hitting you for OHKOs every turn, even with Assault Vest attached. For a list designed to be tanky, it doesn’t want to get one-shot often.
[cardimg name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Where I was winning a lot of my games is when I got an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] out. Even when they play [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] they still have a hard time getting it out and sustaining a field of consistent attackers.
Yveltal / Darkrai / Gallade / Archeops 35-65
I’m writing this analysis assuming that you’re playing against the same deck as yours, except they play [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Virbank City Gym” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”126″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. This makes the matchup significantly different. They have a much higher damage output than you and, if they avoid attaching [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], they ignore your Assault Vest altogether. The [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and Hypnotoxic Laser damage adds up, and you will typically lose the exchanges against them.
Donphan 80-20
[card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] will really struggle to get Knock Outs against this deck since it hurts them big time for playing their [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. This, including the Resistance on [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], makes them do hardly any damage at all. You can consistently remove their [card name=”Robo Substitute” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and they will eventually run out of walls to hide behind. Wreck allows them to take Prizes quicker against an Yveltal-EX, but you should be able to [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] the Donphan up and Knock it Out before then. The Wreck will be predictable for you as well since they require four Energy to attack with it.
Keldeo / Blastoise 40-60
A normal [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] deck goes roughly 50-50 against this deck with a Hex Maniac in their deck. [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”115″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] can also decimate the [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] player’s hand if you get it really early. But since the [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] help other Yveltal decks big time when reaching for a KO against [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] — and you lack them in this build — it will affect your matchup slightly. This matchup is very winnable however, since Parallel City will reduce their damage by 20, and Evil Ball does well against decks that need to play a ton of Energy like Keldeo decks do.
Flareon / Vespiquen
I know a lot of you may have read my past article on limiting your choices. In that article I talked about why I hated the playstyle of [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Looking at the deck again, I may have judged Flareon too harshly. I don’t think I gave it a fair shake at things.
I always hated discarding Pokemon I planned on attacking with. It just irked me so much this past weekend whenever I needed to discard some Vespiquen or Flareon to get the math right to knock a Pokemon out. I also didn’t know what to discard with my first [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card].
Another thing I disliked about the deck was I wanted decks that attack with Double Colorless Energy to go for quick one-hit Knock Outs. Flareon needed to dump an unrealistic amount of Pokemon to hit 170-180 on turn two. I hated that. I wanted to Knock Out things early.
I played Night March at Colorado and Iowa States and I am incredibly familiar with it. Small attackers that do a bunch of damage for one Energy. My reasoning for Night March over Flareon is that I didn’t have to evolve and I could do more damage faster. So, case closed, right?
Well, not exactly. This may seem obvious to you guys, but the thing about Flareon is it doesn’t have to hit for a Knock Out on turn two. But isn’t that wasting a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] when your attacker gets Knocked Out after not securing a Knock Out itself? Yes, but the magical thing about Flareon is its compatibility with [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card]. This allows you a constant stream of Energy for your attackers thanks to Blacksmith’s easy access via [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. Sure, Night March can tout this awesome non-reliance on Double Colorless Energy by attaching a basic Energy to [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”RC24″ c=”name”][/card] with a [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] in play, but then you’re attacking with a 120 HP EX attacker.
The other thing that sold me about Flareon is that it plays Parallel City, which removes EXs off your Bench when you play the Bench-limiting side towards you. This removes [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] that would become easy targets later, and boosts your damage output with Vengeance and Bee Revenge. Most opponents won’t draw two Prizes off of you at one time. Ever.
My list also includes [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], a sick card in a deck that streams an unlimited amount of attackers. Night March could play it too, but I have found Flareon functions without [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] easier, whereas Night March needs that out to a Double Colorless Energy. My last point, it is difficult for other decks to hit 90-100 damage each turn when they’re getting their Pokemon Knocked Out over and over again. They need to hit these numbers to keep getting return Knock Outs against a Flareon deck. Not so much with Night March, where they only have to hit 30 damage or 60 damage most of the time.
Enough with this comparison. I was sold on Flareon. I even enjoy the ability to add a bunch of tech Pokemon. It made me more comfortable with some otherwise challenging matchups.
Here is the list I ran to win the Independence City Championships.
[decklist]
[pokemon amt=”29″]
4x [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Eevee” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”90″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Eevee” set=”Furious Fists” no=”80″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Shuppet” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”30″ c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Audino” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”126″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/pokemon]
[trainers amt=”24″]
4x [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”160″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ 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=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
1x [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/trainers]
[energy amt=”7″]
4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”EX Holon Phantoms” no=”106″ c=”name” c=”deck2″][/card]
[/energy]
[/decklist]
The best quality about [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], and the reason I chose it, is it has a solid game plan that doesn’t change based on the matchup. I love decks like that. It also has the most even matchups across the board, a great quality in my underdeveloped Expanded metagame.
Jolteon
I was expecting some [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] decks, and this card is the absolute answer to it. Remember how I mentioned those two-shots earlier? Jolteon turns all of those into one-shots against [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] and Yveltal-EX. It also helps you against [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card], even though that ended up not seeing much play. These normally bulky Pokemon become easy targets once Jolteon hits the field. If it’s not useful in a particular matchup, simply pitch it with [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card].
Jirachi Promo
The Jirachi Promo can be used in random situations where you need to stall for a bit and your opponent has a Special Energy attached, but it is mostly in the list to stop Giratina-EX and [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], cold. Even though Vespiquen handles Seismitoad-EX due to Weakness, Giratina-EX is bad news for your deck since you need to use [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] frequently and can’t always rely on [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card]. During my second game in the finals I started to lose badly once my opponent attacked with Giratina-EX. I couldn’t get Jirachi out and I lost that game of the match. In game three, I got Jirachi out early and stopped Giratina from attacking me for a turn. The turn after, he couldn’t promote his Giratina-EX without it losing another Energy attached. All in all, Jirachi makes Giratina-EX a playable matchup instead of an auto-loss.
[cardimg name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Banette
[card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] is a weird addition to this deck. I didn’t play any [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] and instead played this. This card was first suggested by one of our writers, JW Kriewall, to play in Standard; but another one of our writers, Chris Collins, suggested I try it in Expanded. Banette can come in handy in a wide variety of situations. It shuts off [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]’s [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]es and [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]s, letting me run through Donphan with ease. It helps against decks that play Mega-Evolved Pokemon, as it shuts off their Spirit Links. I even used it in the mirror match in top cut to shut off [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] after mine was already used. In a Vespiquen deck that needs to play several addition Pokemon, a 1-1 Banette is one of my favorite choices.
Wobbuffet
[card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] is strictly in the deck for [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]. It gives me a chance to evolve and possibly [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] up Archeops and Knock it Out with Vespiquen, made easier by its Grass Weakness. It has an added bonus against Vileplume by giving you a chance to play Items for longer than normal.
What I Would Change
I regret not playing an [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name” c=”name”][/card] in this deck. Although I only lost a single game of Pokemon on the day, I wish I had an AZ to possibly switch out my Pokemon without having them Knocked Out or having to spend the Energy to retreat. There’s other things I wish I removed based on the meta, but there was no way I would know what was being played until after I submitted my list. Adding an AZ would have been a consistency boost for me, and not teched towards any particular matchup. To fit the AZ into the deck I would drop the Hex Maniac. Hex Maniac was mostly in the deck to beat [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], but I feel this is already a good matchup for [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card]. Let me describe this deck’s matchups against the big decks, then describe what I actually saw.
The Matchups
Seismitoad / Giratina 60-40
I only faced one [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX and that was in finals. My first game of the match was relatively uneventful. He started a lone [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] and passed for two turns, allowing me to Knock it Out with Vespiquen. However, I drew poorly early on and used Vespiquen’s excellent first attack, Intelligence Gathering, to seal that game for me. Game two was a lot more eventful. I drew okay, and my opponent got off to a great start with a turn two Chaos Wheel. I never got Jirachi out, and the game was quickly over as I had to discard my [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] repeatedly since I couldn’t play them. Game three was more back and forth. I got Jirachi out early and used it once, stopping Giratina from attacking for the rest of the game. Without Giratina, I was able to sweep the Seismitoad easily with Vespiquen.
Vespiquen Mirror 50-50
Of course this is a 50-50, but I beat two mirrors in top cut and felt pretty comfortable about my chances of winning against both of them. It mainly comes down to how much you can save your [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], if you can Parallel City first, and if you can get [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] down early. Neither of my opponents played Parallel City, and I was able to use my copy to prevent multiple EX Knock Outs for my opponents. There was one instance where I played [card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] to prevent my opponent’s Life Dew from saving him a Prize. [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] is an excellent card to get Life Dew and Parallel City out quickly.
[cardimg name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”][/cardimg]
Yveltal / Darkrai / Gallade / Archeops 50-50
This matchup comes down to if the Yveltal player can get an [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] out. If they cannot, the matchup isn’t too difficult for [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card]. If they do pull off the [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card], it gets really tricky. You will need to get your [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] out quickly. It helps to get it out on the first turn if you’re going first so you can promote it to the Active spot as soon as possible. Jolteon helps in this matchup to wreck [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]. Overall, just watch out for Archeops. The rest of the deck is easy enough to deal with.
Donphan 70-30
The [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] matchup is something I touched on earlier, but I will reiterate some things. Without [card name=”Banette” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], your matchup is more 30-70, but getting out Banette means Donphan’s [card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] no longer work. Donphan that don’t have a [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] attached have to three-shot your [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], and Donphan can be Knocked Out by playing a single [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card]. Banette is also resilient against Donphan since it resists Fighting, meaning the Donphan player can’t simply Lysandre the Banette to regain its Tool usage. Just keep playing Lysandre to one-shot their Donphan and this should be a piece of cake.
Keldeo / Blastoise 70-30
[card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card]’s Weakness really hurts it in this matchup. The Keldeo player attacks with EXs that one-shot your attackers, you attack with non-EXs that one-shot their attackers. [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card]’s Δ Plus and being a non-EX can be problematic, but avoid using your Water-weak [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] and you should be fine. [card name=”Kyogre-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] is another Pokemon that can cause some commotion. Its Dual Splash attack can rip apart your setup by Knocking Out two Combee on your Bench. To counteract this, simply avoid playing two Combee at a time. If they Knock Out a Combee with a Dual Splash, they cannot Knock Out your Active Vespiquen. You should be able to secure the Knock Out on the offending Kyogre-EX the next turn even with their Lightning Weakness, since your opponent should have taken a couple Knock Outs by that point and you can safely discard a few [card name=”Eevee” set=”Furious Fists” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] and Flareon.
What I Actually Saw
I wouldn’t call myself the kind of player to metagame heavily, so I chose a deck that would do well in just about any metagame. What I saw at this Cities wasn’t what I expected. There were no [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] to be found. Most of the Yveltal players hit bad luck early and got eliminated quickly. There were only a couple of [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / Giratina-EX decks, and there were a few Night March decks around. The decks I played against and my record against them are as follows:
- Round 1: [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] – WIN
- Round 2: Regice / Vileplume – WIN
- Round 3: Night March / Vespiquen – WIN
- Round 4: Vespiquen – INTENTIONAL DRAW
- Round 5: [card name=”Trubbish” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”65″ c=”name” c=”custom”]Tool Drop[/card] – INTENTIONAL DRAW
- Top 8: Vespiquen – 2-0 WIN
- Top 4: Vespiqeun – 2-0 WIN
- Finals: Seismitoad-EX / Giratina-EX – 2-1 WIN
Overall, not a bad day for me, and I never hit any particularly bad matchups. I felt like I made an excellent deck choice. Of course, those mirror matches could have bounced against me, but I felt comfortable about the [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / Vespiquen mirror since I tested it extensively. This was a great example of playing the best deck you know and one you feel comfortable with in the majority of matchups that you can face. It helped me win that day, and my deck choice was a big part of it.
Assault Vest
This is one of the cards I glossed over when BREAKthrough came out. I didn’t know what to do with it, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. I’ll be honest, I’m not much of the innovator type.
But this card has amazing uses in Standard. If you consider all the decks in Standard now, you will notice just about every one of them plays Special Energy. Having the ability to tank that damage and reduce it by 40 is huge! Just imagine the difficulty a deck like Vespiquen, Night March, [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], would face when trying to Knock Out just one Pokemon with an Assault Vest attached. One of the best decks taking advantage of this card’s tanky ability is one using the θ Double Ancient Trait on the Entei from Ancient Origins. Imagine two of ’em on that 130 HP Basic Pokemon! I’m still testing this deck, however, so I don’t feel confident sharing what I’m working on; but this deck is exciting with a high [card name=”Blacksmith” set=”Flashfire” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] count and the Fire draw engine. You should try it to build a list for yourself, or ask for the writer’s help in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout!
Mega Pokemon decks can get some mileage out of the card too. Consider [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]. 210 HP, with [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], and resisting 40 damage per attack is a lot for an opponent to get through. Try playing a [card name=”Tool Retriever” set=”Furious Fists” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] and using it with your M Sceptile-EX deck as well. You can try making a bulky Yveltal deck similar to the Expanded deck I posted above. There’s several different applications for this card!
Stay Positive!
One last thing that I want to say to you all is to never get discouraged. We have all done poorly at least once. All of our writers have. Everyone has walked away with an awful record from even the “easiest” tournaments once. I’ve counseled a lot of my friends that have gotten upset and discouraged, and I have been counseled by them as well. We all prepare, travel a long way, and hone our skills over a long period of time, and we still see the new guy who picked up a deck that morning make top cut. It happens all the time in this game. It’s what makes it both a blessing and a curse.
My first tournament was the Nebraska State Championship in 2011. It was my first tournament and I played a pretty awful [card name=”Gengar” set=”Stormfront” no=”18″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Unleashed” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] Prime deck. I beat many seasoned players and was the 2nd seed going into top cut. I’m sure I upset a lot of players back then.
But the big thing you have to remember is that a lot of players show up to tournaments to win, and luck is a huge factor in winning tournaments. I think players would be lying to you if they said they never got lucky during the days when they do well. This includes never drawing poorly. That’s lucky no matter how consistent a deck is.
After getting my World’s invite I was pretty humbled by the game. I did poorly at plenty of tournaments last year, but I did well at enough of them to get an invite to the World Championships. I see a lot of my friends do poorly and think they’re awful players because of that, when the reality of it is you weren’t one of the ones that hit the right matchups and drew the right cards to win games. It’s not always strictly about skill. I get upset for a little while after bad finishes, then I’m thinking of what I’m gonna play at the next weekend of tournaments. That’s a winning attitude, and I see it in all of our writers.
Conclusion
Expanded is an exciting format with a lot of interesting decks to choose from. This format was hard to figure out and making the most neutral deck choice that I was comfortable with paid off for me, that’s for sure! This article was similar to my last one about making a proper deck choice and how that can give you good results. There’s many intricacies to Expanded, but I’m sure you have seen some strategies and got some insight into it.
Thanks for reading my article! I hope you all enjoyed and found it helpful the way I broke down my decision making, and how I broke down the day I had in Independence. Make sure you check out the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout. Post your Expanded lists and I know the writing staff will help. My Vespiquen deck was critiqued pretty hard before I took it in to battle!
Catch you later!
Treynor “Treynor’s Mail” Wolfe
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