What up ‘Beach goers? It hasn’t been long but I’m back again for one more article to get us pumped up for the State Championship competitions.
Hanging out before Michigan States
I have just returned from the Michigan State Championships where I was able to finish 5th place after a commanding 6-1 first-place run through Swiss rounds. I’m proud to say that I played the same [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / Night March deck I crafted and published over a month ago here with only two card alterations. I’m also happy to see that countless other people were able to top cut with Vespiquen / Night March across the country! In a couple of weeks I will also be attending the Ohio State Championships where I will be looking to one-up my second-place finish from last year.
For many of us, there is a lot on the line in the weeks to come. For some, States results will make or break the chance for a World Championship invitation. For others, it will make the difference between a fat U.S. National Championship travel stipend and nothing at all. And for a few, like myself, States will decide whether or not we have a chance to compete for a Top-16 ranking in the United States. Sitting at just over 350 Championship Points, if I don’t strike big at States, I will have to hit a home run at the U.S. National Championships in order to compete for a coveted automatic day-two spot.
Regardless of your situation, now is the time to gear up for the Standard format. These are the final large-scale Standard tournaments before National Championships kick off this summer. Here we set the tone for the rest of our season. Most of you have already laid the groundwork for success at City and Regional Championships. With 100 Championship Points on the line every weekend for four weekends, States have the power to make the difference between a decent season and a great one.
Curse of the first honestly
This is life people!
You got air comin’ through your nose.
Your heart’s beatin’.
That means it’s time to do something!
It’s like that dude Journey said, “Don’t stop believing.”
In this article I will be showcasing lists for my top State Championship selections while providing valuable insight into specific matchups. I’m very excited about this article as I was able to score an interview with Travis Nunlist, an accomplished deck builder from Indiana. Travis will be sharing his expertise with [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] in the Standard format, and provide us with his current Trevenant BREAK list. I love the opportunity to feature players that I admire in these articles so that you can experience a wide breadth of perspective and experience in one place.
My goal with this article is to leave you feeling confident and prepared for anything and everything you may face during State Championships with a few top-tier lists in hand. We have a lot to discuss, so without further delay, let’s get to it!
Night March Madness
If there’s one thing we learned from week one of State Championships, it’s that Night March is the resounding best deck in format. Some played [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], others [card name=”Milotic” set=”Primal Clash” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. No matter if you love them or hate them, [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lampent” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] are the defining factor at State Championships this year. If you don’t plan on enlisting the Powerhouse Commons yourself, I at least suggest you have an answer to them.
Night March solidified itself as one of the two indisputable best decks in format during City Championships. With the introduction of BREAKpoint, some, like myself, questioned whether or not Night March would be able to retain its crown with a host of new threats on the horizon. Well, testing has spoken, States results are in, and Night March is more powerful than ever. The deck boasted an astounding 50% win rate during our first weekend of State Championships according to our very own PokeBeach Subscriber and PokeBeach tournament extraordinaire, Andrew Wamboldt. According to Wamboldt, the deck competed in 12 out of 14 State Championship finals last weekend and accounted for over 1/3 of the total Top-8 meta share all together.
When [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] was banned last year, Night March entered a unique realm of brokenness that it was never intended to occupy. There are enough powerful combinations in Expanded to keep this beast under wraps, but Standard is a different story — many of Night March’s primary counters have been nerfed or eliminated all together! [card name=”Articuno” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t have [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] to accelerate Water Energy to it, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t have [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] to boost damage, and [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] is rotated! As insult to injury, most decks have relatively horrible Supporter draw options available to them in Standard while Night March boasts one of the most consistent and busted draw engines in Pokemon history! On top of that, Night March continues to receive new buffs with the release of each successive set: [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] in BREAKthrough, Puzzle of Time in BREAKpoint and the recently revealed Mew from Japan’s XY10. Night March is here to stay. It is, in my opinion, the format-defining deck, which is why we are discussing it first. Everything you consider playing in the upcoming weeks should be weighed against Night March before you commit to it.
[cardimg name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Two rings to rule them all[/cardimg]
This is your new bread and butter Night March deck. As you can see, I have completely jumped ships from [card name=”Milotic” set=”Primal Clash” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] to [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. I wrote an article over a month ago about the potential of Puzzle in this archetype, and further testing has confirmed the card’s prowess.
Since this article is metagame intensive, I won’t be going into detail to explain various card choices like I typically do. By now you all know that four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] is the only play and [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] is bad. Instead, I will discuss the list in the context of its various matchups.
Vs. Mega Manectric / Jolteon
I have always considered [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] to be a layup of a matchup for Night March. Many times when I play against this deck my opponent is completely denied the opportunity to Turbo Bolt. Night March has traditionally been too fast and too powerful for Manectric to keep up.
But now, Manectric has a few new tricks up its sleeve. The new [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] gives Manectric a beefy Pokemon-EX option that can snipe [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] with its Elemental Feather attack while Jolteon-EX gives the deck an opportunity to deny Night March attacks from Basic Pokemon all together! Fortunately, these threats are nothing that Night March can’t deal with.
If Ho-Oh hits the field, make sure to do the bulk of your attacking with [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]. Every time you attack with Joltik, you leave yourself vulnerable to a three-Prize power play if your opponent [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card]s a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and cleans up the Joltik with an Elemental Feather. Attacking with Pumpkaboo should mitigate this threat, granting you time to take out your opponent’s Ho-Oh before they can snipe for additional Prizes.
Jolteon-EX, on the other hand, is a little more tricky. People are so scared of Jolteon that they have resorted to teching a 1 / 1 [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] into their Night March lists to deal with it. I already consider Jolteon to be a marginal threat at best and I don’t think the concept is powerful enough to be its own deck. There is no way I am about to waste two valuable spots worrying about one marginal card. We already have a couple outs that exists naturally within our list: [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card]. Catcher’s a bit of a gamble, but should you be unfortunate enough to get smacked with a Flash Ray, you can KO the thing by using Catcher and Lysandre in the same turn; bench it, reset the attack’s effect and bring it back up for the KO. Half the time, it works every time! If you whiff the Catcher flip, we do have Puzzles that will allow you to try again. If this strategy doesn’t work, we can achieve the same effect by using a guaranteed Escape Rope and Lysandre in the same turn to take out the Jolteon.
If these methods seem too precarious for you, remember this: your opponent usually won’t be able to Flash Ray until turn three after they have Turbo Bolted to Jolteon. You will see this thing coming from a mile away. If you are playing against Mega Manectric and none of the above strategies work to stop Jolteon, your opponent lucked out. Scoop and go to game two.
Vs. Trevenant
Go first.
But really, if you go second you more than likely don’t stand a chance, assuming they get the turn-one [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]. Four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] goes a long way towards stringing your hands together in this matchup. Even if you do manage to go first and get a decent setup, it’ll be tough to stream attackers once your opponent gets up and going. With [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and instant Item lock, this is just a tough matchup. Your best shot is to hope to go first and try to mow down Trevenant before they have the chance to become [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. You can always use [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and stream Sky Returns, but that will only buy time for so long.
Vs. Greninja
[card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] is a close matchup. In his last article, Treynor Wolfe wrote an excellent analysis of Greninja. In the piece he marked the Night March / Greninja matchup as 60-40 Greninja’s favor. As you can see from my writing, I don’t like to put percentages on matchups. It can be nice for generalizations, but in my opinion, matchups vary immensely based on the in-game skill of each player.
This matchup in particular can go either way. As Treynor said, you should go up on your opponent by two Prizes before they are able to attain a full setup. After that, you should attempt to use [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] every turn until you win. There are a couple things about this list that will help you in your stride to victory.
First of all, our single copy of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] will allow you to remove a [card name=”Splash Energy” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] so that your opponent cannot instantly recover a [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] when it is KO’d. Second, our lone [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] will grant a single Marcher or [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] more sustainability in a tough spot.
It’s true that your opponent can totally wipe you off the table if they are able to get a single turn or two of Abilities, but the deck’s slow speed and weak consistency engine make it a manageable matchup.
Vs. Dark
[cardimg name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ align=”left” c=”custom”]Always jacking things up[/cardimg]
This is a matchup that many competitive players argue about. Dark players will swear up and down that it is in their favor and Night March players promise that it leans to their side. The results are admittedly close and a lot depends on the build of either list, but my experiences show that with [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], Night March is favored over Dark decks. It boils down to this: both Dark and Night March tend to use at least one [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to Set Up efficiently. Night March is better at exploiting that Shaymin than Dark is. Night March is capable of reusing [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] to gun down any Pokemon-EX. Any Pokemon-EX in play, even in the discard, is a huge liability for a Dark player. With Puzzle of Time, Night March can easily stream six [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]. If both decks played an ideal game, sure, it might come down to who went second and got the first KO, but I have never seen a Night March versus Yveltal game grind down to that. Someone is bound to fumble along the way, and more often than not, Yveltal is the first to drop the ball. With [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], Puzzle of Time and [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], Night March is simply the more consistent deck.
As a Night March player, you do have to watch out if your opponent plays Fright Night [card name=”Yveltal” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. With multiple Fright Night, Dark players can exploit any Shaymin you Bench while plowing through Night Marchers in the Active. This strategy can steal games for the Yveltal player.
Another thing worth mentioning is that using your Fury Belt wisely can put you ahead. If you attack with a Joltik wearing Fury Belt when your opponent is poised to attack with [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”from”][/card] on the following turn, it could be an opportunity for you to pull ahead if they fail to attain the KO.
Vs. Toad / Stuff
Toad can be a tough matchup for any Night March deck. It used to be that you could out-speed a Toad deck by throwing nine Night Marchers away and one-shoting everything. But with [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], this isn’t always how things go. It used to be that you could [card name=”Pokemon Catcher” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] up a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] on the first turn of the game and KO it before it could Chaos Wheel. But now that these big Basics are 40 HP bigger, we need to rethink our route.
We play one [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] to give ourselves an out against Chaos Wheel. With [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], it is possible to use the same Enhanced Hammer twice in one turn to fully disable a loaded Giratina-EX. Against [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], we may need to resort to 2HKOs or softening with Sky Return before swinging in with Night March. This is obviously not ideal. Seismitoad / Fury Belt is a huge pain to deal with as a Night Marcher. The matchup can still navigated though — Fury Belt just makes things a lot more difficult.
Vs. The Mirror
Since I am anticipating that the mirror will be popular, this list is crafted with the mirror in mind. As always, make sure to attack with [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] so your [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] don’t get Sky Returned. If you start Joltik going first, put a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] on that thing and retreat it into a Pumpkaboo. Make your opponent [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] that Joltik if they want to Sky Return it! If your opponent starts Joltik going first, Sky Return theirs to save your Energy.
If your opponent benches a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], go in for the [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] play. Play the whole game with the intention of eventually pulling off a [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] on an opponent’s Shaymin-EX. I can’t stress how imperative it is that you play cautiously with your own Shaymin-EX. I have seen opponents in the mirror lay down Shaymin like they got nothing to lose! Don’t be careless, especially on the first turn of the game. Only dig with Shaymin when there is something that you need to hit in order to stay in the game. Playing four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] makes your list naturally more consistent and less reliant on Shaymin, so you are entering the game with a big advantage there.
If your opponent plays a [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] down to limit their Bench and bump Shaymin, you got yourself an opportunity to Sky Return the Joltik they were forced to attack with and clear a Shaymin off of your own. Every once in a while your opponent will attack with a Joltik wearing a [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] that you won’t be able to remove, but that shouldn’t matter. You’re not trying to trade evenly with your opponent using this list; you are trying to make dirty plays with Target Whistle to force the Prize trade in your favor.
Above all, don’t be afraid to go all in on a [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] / Target Whistle / Catcher play. This play wins games. Even if you whiff the Catcher, you should be able to keep your momentum going with the help of [card name=”Town Map” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] to get what you need off the Prize.
The Beez Neez
Though not as popular as Night March, [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] has just as much, if not more, potential to succeed at the upcoming State Championships. Many people have discounted Vespiquen as a serious threat without [card name=”Flareon” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] at its side, but Vespiquen has proven itself to be as viable as ever in the Standard format. [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] earned a handful of first place finishes during last week’s State Championships while myself and my good friend Chris Derocher were able to Top-8 and Top-4, respectively, with similar Night March / Vespiquen lists in Michigan.
These two may seem similar in essence, but Night March / Vespiquen and straight Night March play out differently in the metagame. Below I will share the list I played at Michigan before highlighting some of the key matchup differences between a straight Night March deck and a Night March / Vespiquen list.
As you can see, the only difference between this list and my first draft are the additions of a [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. Though it irks me to cut [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] for the spots, I couldn’t justify any other cuts. Hex ended up making the list because of [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]’s suspected popularity and Parallel City to reduce the liability of [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card].
Though many people don’t understand why you would trade [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]’s utility for [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], I think you’ll see below that the Queen Bee greatly improves Night March’s matchups across the board.
Vs. Mega Manectric / Jolteon
With [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], this deck maxes out at an impressive 260 damage, easily enough to OHKO a Mega Pokemon-EX. The biggest advantage to playing Vespiquen here is that the pesky Basic-blocking Jolteon-EX becomes a non-factor. Additionally, [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] has a much more difficult time taking additional Prizes with Elemental Feather when your board is made up of a few Vespiquen.
This matchup is already something I’m not worried about, but Vespiquen pushes this into extremely favorable territory. I was able to defeat two of these decks during Swiss at Michigan.
Vs. Trevenant
[card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] struggles to deal with Trevenant in the same ways that Night March does; however, Vespiquen is slightly more resilient because of its solid 90 HP, making the matchup all around easier to stomach. As an added bonus, you get to play [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] here even though your list doesn’t run [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] since your opponent will eventually drop one for you.
Vs. Greninja
This matchup shifts from close, to favorable with the addition of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. Not only do you have type advantage against [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], you also have more HP and consequently more sustainability versus incoming Giant Water Shurikens. With [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] it is not terribly difficult to stream [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] and Bee Revenge. To make matters more difficult for your opponent, they will not be OHKO’ing your Vespiquen with either of Greninja’s attacks. Since your opponent is 2HKO’ing all of your Vespiquen while you OHKO them in return, this matchup quickly becomes lopsided in your favor.
Vs. Dark
[card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] is awesome versus Dark. It pressures your opponent to repeatedly produce an attacker that can hit 90 damage, which is difficult for them to do without [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] have never been a challenge for Dark decks to dispatch, but Vespiquen is much more formidable. More often than not, they will be forced to rely on [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] to trade with Vespiquen. In order to set up multiple Zoroark or Gallade, they will likely have to use [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to Set Up, opening the door for you to skip ahead in Prizes to victory.
[cardimg name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ align=”right” c=”custom”]No issue for the Queen![/cardimg]
Vs. Toad / Stuff
[card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is a huge pain for Night March to deal with. 220 HP Item lockers don’t go down easily. That is, without the type advantage of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]! Though this version of the deck struggles to deal with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] effectively, Seismitoad is no problem at all.
In order to take down Giratina, you will have to gun it down before it gets to using Chaos Wheel. You could cut a card in this list for a single [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], but there really isn’t a lot of space. After all, you still have an out to beating the thing if you can target it early enough. If you’d like the insurance of a Hammer, you could cut the [card name=”Pokemon Catcher” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]s for an additional [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] and an Enhanced Hammer.
It’s possible that many people will be switching to Seismitoad / Giratina in the upcoming weeks with the booming success of Night March. Not to mention, Seismitoad / Hammers was the third-most-winning deck at State Championships week one. These are some legitimate reasons to consider running Vespiquen with your Night March deck.
Vs. The Mirror
Although [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] improves all of your other matchups, the Night March mirror remains a little precarious. It worries me that many Night March lists will be running [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pokemon Catcher” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] themselves. While allotting space for the 4-4 Vespiquen line, Target Whistle was one of the unfortunate sacrifices I decided to make for Michigan States. I will say that it is nice to have the ability to play our own [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] in this matchup though, since the opponent will likely lay a [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] out for us.
At the end of the day, this matchup will remain close and could go either way. I was able to beat a straight Night March deck during Swiss but ended up losing my Top-8 match to the eventual winner of Michigan States who was playing Night March with Target Whistle. Though both of our games were very close, he was able to close out both of them with clutch [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] / Whistle plays. His Puzzles of Time seemed to always work just right! He never had to Teammates for them.
If I were to play this list again, I would cut [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] or Pokemon Catcher for a Target Whistle. I won’t be caught playing Night March or Vespiquen without it ever again!
Trevenant BREAK ft. Travis Nunlist
Travis at the World Championships!
[card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] is a hot card due to its recent Expanded-format win at Florida Regionals. To help us discern the deck’s viability in Standard, I’ve invited Travis Nunlist to join us here for an interview!
Travis is a World-tier player whose deck building I have admired for some time. He played key roles in developing Aaron Tarbell’s Regional-winning Trevenant deck along with Jacob Van Wagner’s Regional-winning [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] list and his infamous 2015 World Champion [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] list! I spoke briefly with Aaron Tarbell about the viability of Trevenant in Standard and Aaron pointed me to Travis for the latest on this exciting archetype. Travis is no stranger to developing killer lists, so I’m excited to see what he has for us!
Hello Travis! Thanks for joining us here on PokeBeach. How’s it going?
It’s going pretty well! I’ve been really busy with job applications lately, but doing my best to stay on top of Pokemon as well.
Are you going to be attending any State Championships this year?
Due to an error on my end I’ll be missing week one, which would have been Michigan for me. However, I’ll be trying my best to make Tennessee for week two and Indiana for week three with week four being a hard maybe.
I just mentioned you in my last article about creative deck building, specifically your infamous “Spookysect” list from a couple years ago! What’s your favorite deck that you’ve ever made?
I think the Blastoise deck that Jacob Van Wagner took first at Worlds with was one of the most fun decks I’ve ever had a hand in sculpting. I love how explosive it was! It was one of those decks that made you think you broke the format but also made you feel like you were about to make the worst decision you’d made all season.
I’ve heard that you played a key role in developing the Trevenant BREAK deck that Aaron Tarbell was able to win Florida Regionals with. Why were you inspired to create a Trevenant list with the release of BREAKpoint?
[card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] was one of those decks that I always thought was just short of being very competitive. I played it at Wisconsin Regionals last year and it gave me a lot of experience with Trevenant’s strengths. ‘BREAKpoint’ released all of the cards it needed to finally be a competitive meta deck, and we thought the meta would be vulnerable to Trevenant because no one would be prepared for it. I was determined along with Kevin Kobayashi and Jay Dang to figure out the perfect list.
How does Trevenant fare with the transition to Standard format? Does it lose anything significant?
The deck loses [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card]. While these losses are sub-optimal and hurt your consistency, I believe Trevenant translates just fine into the Standard format as a strong competitor.
What are the strengths of Trevenant in Standard format? What decks does Trevenant fair well against and why?
Trevenant maintains a lot of strengths because I think it loses the least going from Expanded into Standard. It fairs well against anything vulnerable to Item lock that can’t effectively trade with a 160 HP non-EX. The [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]s make anything that’s not a Pokemon-EX die very quickly after a few turns of Silent Fear / Tree Slam.
What are the weaknesses of Trevenant in Standard format? What decks does Trevenant struggle against and why?
Dark has always been an issue and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] will continue to be a threat in Standard. The loss of [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Archeops” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] helps an already winnable matchup become even more manageable. [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]’s popularity in Standard doesn’t help at all; however, I don’t think Zoroark by itself is as worrisome as some might think. First, you can manage your Bench well to ensure it cannot OHKO a Trevenant BREAK. Second, it has to evolve. [card name=”Zorua” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] only has 60 HP so they must evolve it quickly or else the little guys will fold to Silent Fear. Third, Zoroark itself only has 100 HP, which Bursting Balloon can take a huge chunk out of.
Do you think that Trevenant is still a powerful option for Standard format?
Absolutely. I would play it week one if I were going.
Are there any key features about your list that are essential to a good Trevenant list?
I think people have to keep in mind that consistency is a priority in a deck like this. Evolving anything is so hard, especially when it is the main attacker. Clogging the deck up with too many tricks will be problematic in a deck like this that already requires a large amount of effort to set up. This deck out-trades basically everything in the format. So as long as you can set up right, your chances of winning increase exponentially.
Are there any modifications you’re considering or cards you want to fit?
There are a few tech cards that I really want to try, but unfortunately haven’t had the time to test yet. [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] is one that works very well with the strategy of this deck, but unfortunately I don’t think there is enough that evolves in the format right now to really warrant its inclusion. I’ve also considered testing Olympia over the [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] because it gives the deck an insane amount of options and I believe it is a really useful card here. Basically this deck can utilize a ton of useful tech Supporters and it’s all about balancing which ones you can and cannot live without.
Thanks again for joining us Travis and good luck at States! Have a good one.
Good luck at States everyone!
First of all, I love this list. I love that Travis focuses on consistency here and doesn’t trick his deck out with too much craziness. The list is straightforward and built to achieve its primary objective: get a turn one Item lock and wear the opponent down with consistent Silent Fear from there.
The [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] is a great idea that works wonders in combination with AZ. Absol allows you to relocate 30 damage to a new target when you play it to the Bench from the hand. Using AZ to pick up and replay the Absol results in a 60-damage swing that can quickly remove threats from play. The addition of one [card name=”Trevenant” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”65″ c=”from”][/card] is a unique inclusion as well. The alternative Trevenant can stop Night Marchers, [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or Yveltal in their tracks, slowing games down to favor Trevenant’s incessant damage spread.
My greatest fear towards bringing [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] to States is the popularity of [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. Though Manectric did not emerge as one of the top decks during week one, it was a popular choice and turned out in high numbers. Yveltal, on the other hand, had the second-most appearances during Top 8 of State Championships, though I didn’t face a single one during my run at Michigan States. Trevenant still may end up being an excellent choice heading forward due to its positive matchup versus Night March.
The Wake-Up Call
It will be interesting to see where the metagame shifts from here. I was right on the money predicting that Night March / [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] decks would be an optimal play for early State Championships, but I am fully aware that there are counters that exist in Standard capable of pushing Night March to the back burner. For whatever reason, Night March tends to be a deck that people don’t consider legitimate. Many competitive players have stubbornly written it off as a gimmick or a “noob’s deck” and refuse to play it all together. Whether we like it or not, Night March is your reigning and indisputable BDIF. It outpaced its closest competitors by leaps and bounds during week one of State competitions. So what do we do about this?
If it wasn’t there already, Night March has certainly earned itself a fat target on its back. As people who don’t plan on playing Night March, you need to Night-March proof your deck for the upcoming weeks. As people planning to play Night March in the weeks to come, you need to Night March proof and counter-proof your list to give yourself the optimal odds of success! Let’s take a quick look at the way Night March’s success flips the landscape of our current metagame.
Mega Manectric is Not a Safe Play
Even though [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] was the fourth-most winning deck during week one of State Championships, this isn’t much of a success considering how popular the deck was. Manectric has an opportunity to be a great play if Night March is successfully hated out of the format, but until then, I would leave this deck at home. There are no techs that make this matchup easy to stomach. Manectric-EX, at its core, is a Pokemon-EX-centered deck that does nothing to disrupt Night March’s flow. Night March trades extremely well with Pokemon-EX and that’s pretty much the end of the story.
Darkness Never Dies
Ever since [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] were printed years ago, Dark has remained an ever-present type in the Pokemon TCG, only fading in popularity towards the end of last season. With the loss of Dark Patch, Dark reinvented itself with [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] to rise again as one of two best decks. Now that Night March has asserted its dominance in the States format, Dark needs to adapt its strategy again to keep up.
Kevin Baxter included an interesting one-of [card name=”Druddigon” set=”Flashfire” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] tech in his Top-8 Yveltal list from Michigan to counter low-HP attackers, like Night Marchers and [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. Using its efficient Revenge attack, it only takes a DCE to KO an opposing Marcher without the need to set up a Zoroark or a Gallade. If you plan on playing Yveltal / Zoroark / Gallade at an upcoming State Championships, I might consider playing Druddigon in order to assist your trading with Night March. With [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] equipped, Druddigon is even capable of quickly Revenging a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]!
Another tech that is picking up traction in Dark decks is a one-of [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card]. In a format dominated by Shaymin-EX, Target Whistle is an amazing option for abusing it. Target Whistle also bolsters Zoroark’s attack by 30 damage by placing another Pokemon onto your opponent’s Bench.
Bats Git Gud
With the rising popularity of Night March, decks like [card name=”Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] begin to look enticing. With [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], Manectric / Bats gets a nice boost and no longer needs to play an [card name=”Assault Vest” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] split.
The worst part about Manectric / Bats is its horrible [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. With any luck, M Manectric-EX will decrease in popularity with all the Night March roaming around, opening the door for Manectric / Bats to re-enter the metagame. Manectric / Bats boasts generally positive Night March and [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] matchups, toppling the two best decks while also competing with [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card].
A good place to start on Manectric / Bats is this Cities list I published a while ago with the Muscle Bands swapped for Fury Belts.
Brace Yourselves, Item Lock is Coming
[cardimg name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Coming to a States near you![/cardimg]
You can bet that people will be attempting to halt Night March’s dominance with Item lock, be it with [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], Trevenant or [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Either way, we must consider these three decks when crafting our play for State Championships. [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] continues to be a safe play, navigating Item lock effectively while trading favorably with most Item-locking threats. [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] also fares decently versus these decks, though I would no longer consider it a well-rounded play for State Championships due to its weakness to Night March.
For the rest of us, it’s important to remember to play high Supporter counts in our lists to have a chance versus Item lock. Item lock is only as bad as you, the deck builder, make it. If you opt to only play two copies of [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] in a [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] deck when you could very well play four, that is your decision and your loss. You allowed your list to be exploited. With this threat looming on the horizon, it is imperative that you grant yourself the ability to draw through your deck while wading through Item lock. There are admittedly very few valid draw Supporters in Standard right now, but padding the counts even a little bit will make all the difference in these matchups.
Night Marching On
Even though Night March tops the State Championship threat list, the deck is inherently strong and consistent enough to continue to earn top placements in spite of the fact. To best prepare for threats that are sure to lay ahead, it’s important that Night March play [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], a full suite of [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], and possibly an [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. Since Jolteon-EX flopped, I would not waste any deck space accounting for that card.
Hex Maniac will allow you to deal with Greninja and Bats. Megaphone will give you an opportunity to KO threats equipped with [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. A full suit of Sycamore increases consistency in the mirror without using [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] to draw, and during Item Lock matcups. And Enhanced Hammer gives you an out to disarming [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card].
Another valid idea would be for Night March to employ [card name=”Jirachi” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY67 ” c=”name”][/card] to remove Special Energy from the likes of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] and Giratina. If we could fit two Jirachi and two basic Energy into the deck, we would have a list that stands up to 2/3 of the popular Item lockers. Jirachi is a neat idea, but I think the concept becomes even more powerful next set with the release of Mew who can copy its Stardust for free with Dimension Valley in play!
It has become regular for Night March to employ [card name=”Pokemon Catcher” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], which already help the mirror match, but what happens now that most lists use the same strategy? We may need to think a little outside the box.
[card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is an amazing card that has the potential to force Night March into terrible positions. In many matchups Night March can play around Bursting Balloon, but the mirror is so close that this is not the case. If you were to include two to three copies of Bursting Balloon in your own Night March list, I doubt that you would ever lose a mirror match. Even if your opponent swings into a Bursting Balloon with a Fury Belt equipped Night Marcher, you can return their play by using [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] for Megaphone and [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], KO’ing the Active Night Marcher by removing the Belt and KO’ing the next threat they promote with your Double Colorless! With [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], this strategy becomes even more infuriating for your opponent to deal with. You may argue that your opponent could Catcher or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] around your Balloons, but they won’t be able to do this multiple times throughout the game. All it takes is one successful Balloon play for you to skip ahead in Prizes and take a commanding step towards the win. Additionally, your opponent may need to overextend by playing a Shaymin-EX while trying to reach around your Balloon. If they have to play a Shaymin to accomplish this, you put yourself in a favorable position by forcing them to drop a Shaymin.
It is also worth noting that Enhanced Hammer is a great option to have in the mirror. If you are able to pull off a Lysandre or Catcher play on a Shaymin-EX while also Hammering away the Double Colorless your opponent attached, you will take a leap ahead of your opponent in both Prizes and Energy remaining.
Conclusion
[cardimg name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Fueling the only decks that matter[/cardimg]
There’s only three months between now and the U.S. National Championships. That’s a long time for the Standard format to brew, and a long time for players to figure out how to dethrone Night March. Turn one Item lock is a threat that looms on the horizon, but I’m not convinced that any of our Item lock decks have the flexibility to compete with more straightforward mainstays like [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. My prediction is that Night March, Yveltal and [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] will all continue to be popular throughout the remainder of State Championships, with a stark increase in Item lock decks that will see mixed success.
Next format will see the reintroduction of [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] which will increase the viability of non-[card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Until then, I fully expect Battle Compressor decks to dominate State Championships due to their raw consistency and power. I also suspect that [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] will see an increase in play in many lists as a direct counter to Night March. If you do decide to play Night March, don’t forget to play [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]!
I’m anxious to watch how the next couple of weekends unfold so that I can craft an educated play for the Ohio State Championships. I don’t know the exact list I will be playing yet, but I can guarantee that it will run Battle Compressor!
Thanks again for joining me here on PokeBeach. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout! I’ll be back again for a post-States update and early look at the next set soon.
