The Tree of Life – Working With Trevenant BREAK
Welcome back, Beachers! How is everyone? I’m doing well, and I hope you all are too! Spring is upon us, and so are this year’s State Championships! With the National and World Championships only a few months away, we’re going full speed into the spring tournaments. Today we will be looking at one of the new decks to come out of BREAKpoint ([card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]) as well as go over my Winter Regionals experience in St. Louis.
I didn’t have much time to playtest for St. Louis outside of a single League Challenge in my hometown, so most of my decision-making had to come through what I heard and what little time I had for testing. After a sub-par performance in St. Louis, it’s safe to say that I’ve invested a great deal of time into preparing for this year’s State Championships, as I will be attending three of them in a four-week span. Anyway, let’s talk St. Louis Regionals first.
St. Louis Regionals Recap
Simply put, Expanded and I don’t get along. This really stinks for me, because Regionals are nothing but Expanded. I love Standard, where we don’t have to deal with the likes of Sableye, [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], Accelgor or N, at least for now. In Expanded, all of the above cards irritate me in one way or another, with Ghetsis likely being the worst offender. Expanded also tends to include a much larger number of control decks in general, from [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] builds to anything running [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] or the silly Sableye / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] deck. With my usual deck choice – Night March – performing a bit under par in Expanded, I was forced to get a bit creative. I planned to play Night March with Archeops, [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] originally, but ended up switching decks a few weeks before St. Louis Regionals after testing a Rayquaza-EX / Eelektrik variant that one of our local players was running. In testing, this deck performed extremely well across the board. I eventually ended up choosing Rayquaza-EX / Eelektrik for St. Louis, although it didn’t perform nearly as well there as it had been when I was testing. Let’s take a look at the list, shall we?
Rayquaza-EX / Eelektrik
[decklist name=”Rayeels” amt=”60″ caption=”Sushi rolls!” cname=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”85″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Eelektrik” set=”Noble Victories” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Tynamo” set=”Noble Victories” no=”38″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Raikou” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”85″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magnezone-EX” set=”Flashfire” no=”35″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Assault Vest” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”Noble Victories” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]8x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]3x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Raikou” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”55″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Just one week before St. Louis, a pair of decks running [card name=”Raikou” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Eelektrik” set=”Noble Victories” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] made it to day two at the Virginia Regional Championship. These decks were similar to the build I had been playing, although they had dropped [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] completely and were running four copies of Raikou as attackers instead.
I opted to maintain two copies of Rayquaza-EX as homerun-hitters, capable of OHKO’ing anything in the game with enough Energy, which is something Raikou takes a bit longer to do. In the process, however, I failed to consider that [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] was still running around in Expanded, figuring that it wouldn’t see very much play. Of course, after tying with an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] deck in the second round, I got paired up against a [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] player in round three. Thanks to a bit of luck on my end, I was able to escape the match with another draw and a record of 1-0-2, but I knew it was all uphill from there.
The following round presented me with another Yveltal-EX / Archeops deck, which I was able to beat thanks to [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] bringing out a pair of Eelektrik once Archeops had come into play. Two Eelektrik were enough to consistently attack with Rayquaza-EX and Raikou, bringing me a win in the fourth round and lifting my record to 2-0-2. Two rounds and two losses later, however, I was pretty much done for in terms of the standings.
Overall, the St. Louis Regional was a learning experience for me, and even if we’ve learned these lessons before, sometimes we need to re-learn them if we don’t keep on our A-game at all times. For example, my lack of playtesting in a format that I’m less familiar with than Standard led to an underwhelming and dissatisfying performance at the biggest tournament I’ve played in all season. This forced me to think awhile about my deck choice and how I’d gone about my reasoning, and also made me consider the differences between Standard and Expanded.
One more positive that came out of my Winter Regionals experience was getting to spend time with the Pokemon community, and specifically getting to know fellow PokeBeach premium writer Treynor Wolfe in person. He and I decided to get a jump on the States format after missing out on day two of Regionals, building [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] decks respectively. Treynor recently published an article on his musings on the [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] archetype which can be seen here. This playtesting formed the early foundation for this article, as we take a look at the gold-plated, Item-locking Ghost-type Pokemon known as Trevenant BREAK.
[premium]
The Tree of Life
Now that we’ve recapped my Regionals experience, it’s time to take a look at the [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] deck which I built along with Treynor. We discovered how powerful this deck was after having unsuccessful Regionals runs, but rather than getting upset about it, the two of us decided to get a jump on the States metagame. We immediately began testing out BREAKpoint cards, quickly discovering the power of cards like [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], and of course [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. Naturally, we wanted to build decks with the new cards due to curiosity. In testing Trevenant BREAK, I was shocked at how consistent it was, outperforming [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] variants and other decks we had built without much trouble.
What Does Trevenant Do?
[cardimg name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Ascension helps us bring Trevenant out even faster![/cardimg]
Before we get into how [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] works, let’s take a look at [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] itself. There are three Trevenant cards available in the Standard format (XY, XY Promo, and BREAKpoint). We will be looking at the most frequently played of the three, the [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”from”][/card] , because the other two just pale in comparison. Being a 110 HP Stage 1 Pokemon isn’t too bad, although it’s not great either. However, XY Trevenant’s Ability (Forest’s Curse) is what makes it such a good card. Being able to shut down all of your opponent’s Item cards is outstanding, especially since we’re not shutting down our own Items at all. Throw in the Tree Slam attack, dealing 60 damage as well as 20 damage to two of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon, and you’ve got a pretty darn good Pokemon here. A triple Retreat cost stinks, but we can’t have everything, can we? Anyway, let’s see what Trevenant BREAK does to improve the picture.
How Can Trevenant BREAK Help Us?
Trevenant BREAK offers [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] an additional 50 HP for a total of 160 HP, which is absolutely massive for a BREAK Evolution of a Stage 1 Pokemon. The fun doesn’t end there, however, because Trevenant also gains an additional attack in the form of Silent Fear. With the use of [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] needs only a single Psychic Energy to drop three damage counters on every one of your opponent’s Pokemon! That’s a lot of damage for such a low cost! It is also important to note that Silent Fear places three damage counters – as opposed to dealing 30 damage – on each of your opponent’s Pokemon. This means effects that reduce or prevent damage will have no effect on this attack. With a bulky 160 HP and a relatively cheap attack that spreads damage all over the place, Trevenant BREAK is sure to see some play at the upcoming State Championships.
The List
Now that we’ve taken a look at both Trevenant and Trevenant BREAK, it’s time to go over my current list for the Trevenant BREAK deck. I call this one “The Tree of Life”.
[decklist name=”The Tree of Life” amt=”60″ caption=”Go to discard. Go directly to discard. Do not play items. Do not collect Prize cards.” cname=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″][pokemon amt=”16″]3x [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]3x [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Judge” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]8x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
General Overview
4-4-3 Trevenant BREAK Line
A 4-4-3 [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] line might seem heavy to some players, but I feel that it is necessary to achieve the maximum consistency possible to bring Trevenant into play on the first turn. It also allows you to stream Trevenant in succession, meaning you can simply bring up another Trevenant when one gets KO’d. I’ve opted against the fourth copy of Trevenant BREAK due to deck space, as a couple of tech cards proved to be necessary and more important overall than the fourth Trevenant BREAK was in my testing. You obviously want to lead with [card name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], but you may want to caution yourself when it comes to benching too many Pokemon on the first turn, as a simple [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] from your opponent can eliminate your Item-lock strategy until you manage to Retreat back into Trevenant.
Three Shaymin-EX
Trevenant decks rely on using [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] on the first turn in order to bring Trevenant into play, especially if you are going first. This means you can’t use a different Supporter to dig for the aforementioned Wally, and thus need to use alternative methods of draw-power to find it. [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] is the best non-Supporter form of draw-power in the game right now, and you can use as many of them as you need to in one turn to continually draw your hand up to six cards due to its Set Up Ability. Just remember that Shaymin-EX yields two Prize cards and has only 110 HP, meaning it is a very likely candidate for your opponent’s [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] to target.
Absol
One of my favorite tech cards from my original build of this deck is [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card]. Through the use of Absol’s Cursed Eyes Ability, you can move three damage counters from one of your opponent’s Pokemon to another, either taking a KO on the spot or setting up for multiple KO’s with either Silent Fear or Tree Slam. Absol has won me a lot of games with this deck, providing the finishing touch when my attacks alone weren’t quite enough to take that final KO. Heck, I’ve taken six Prize cards in a single turn because of this card!
Dedenne
[cardimg name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card]’s presence was welcomed into the deck after I’d initially tested it, largely due to the amount of Dark decks that continue to see play. While [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] can only deal 60 damage with Oblivion Wing after applying Weakness, it can still be a threat to Trevenant overall. The much bigger problem here is [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. A two-Energy Evil Ball hits Trevenant for 120 damage, and with a third Energy or Double Colorless Energy attached, deals 160 damage instead. While we do run [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], most Dark decks run four copies of Double Colorless Energy and can work around [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] by using one. This forces us to use another counter card, which in this case is Dedenne. Using Energy Short, Dedenne deals 20 damage to your opponent’s Active Pokemon for each Energy attached to it, or 40 damage to an Yveltal-EX thanks to its Weakness to Lightning. Head Ringer forces the Yveltal player to lay down three Energy onto an Yveltal-EX to attack, meaning Energy Short will hit them back for 120 damage. Slap down a [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and they’ll be KO’d if your opponent uses Yveltal-EX to attack Dedenne on his or her turn! If they opt not to attack, simply use Energy Short again for the KO! This combination makes things a little trickier for an Yveltal player, although you’ll need to remember that if you use Dedenne, you are giving up Item-lock for at least one turn in order to use Energy Short to attack. Still, this card helps the Yveltal matchup quite a bit.
Wally
Despite the strength of draw supporters like [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], the most important Supporter card in this deck is [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. The reasoning here is simple: Wally allows us to evolve [card name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] into Trevenant on the first turn, which is an especially big deal if we are going first. If you go second, you can always use Phantump’s Ascension attack to evolve into Trevenant, but you can’t do that if you go first. Having the first turn and immediately locking down your opponent’s Items with a Wally into Trevenant can be absolutely devastating, especially if your opponent doesn’t have a Supporter card ready to work around Trevenant’s Ability. You can also use Wally on later turns to immediately evolve more Phantump, keeping your opponent from being able to Lysandre out of Trevenant’s Item-locking Ability. You can also use him to bring [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] into play more quickly, which can potentially give you two Trevenant BREAK on the second turn! As you can see, this card is an absolute monster in this deck, and you’ll want to make full use of this guy in order to set up your board.
AZ
[card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] is a tech Supporter that fills a specific role, returning one of your Pokemon to your hand. You can use AZ to get a Lysandre’d Shaymin-EX off the board if your opponent fails to KO it first, or to simply remove a damaged Trevenant and play it back down over the next couple of turns, bringing up a fresh Trevenant in its place. This can be especially effective if your opponent tries to use [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to Sky Return over and over, preventing us from taking any KOs and eventually taking out all of our Trevenant, as it puts them at a much greater risk of decking out before they can take enough Prize cards while being forced to play under Item-lock all game. We’ll tackle the Shaymin loop in a little bit, though. For now, AZ is a solid card that can take a damaged or Lysandre’d Pokemon off the board as well as allow you to reuse an Ability like that of Shaymin-EX or [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card].
Battle Compressor
Four copies of [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] might seem excessive in this deck, but this is a consistency deal. You want to score the first turn Trevenant as frequently as possible, and Battle Compressor can help you do that. How, you ask? Simply use Battle Compressor to dump Wally into your discard pile along with some other Supporter cards like Professor Sycamore, [card name=”Judge” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card], or AZ. Then use [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to retrieve Wally and evolve your Phantump directly into Trevenant! In addition to searching Wally and your other Supporters, Battle Compressor is always a great card to thin your deck and improve your odds of drawing the cards you need, helping you set up multiple copies of Trevenant BREAK and maintain a solid flow of attackers throughout the course of a game.
Bursting Balloon
[cardimg name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Meet my spiny whoopie cushion of death![/cardimg]
Oh man, what a fun little card this is! [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is a card that basically dares your opponent to attack, dropping a whopping six damage counters on the attacking Pokemon if it inflicts damage to your Pokemon while it is equipped with this deadly Pokemon Tool. Sure, we’ve seen this exact effect before with [card name=”Rock Guard” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], but that was an Ace Spec card and therefore was limited to one copy per deck. With Bursting Balloon, we can run four of these! So what’s the catch? Well, first of all, this card only activates if it is attached to your Active Pokemon when it is damaged. While that isn’t too big of a deal, Bursting Balloon is also discarded at the end of your opponent’s turn. This means your opponent can simply pass his or her turn without attacking or use a Lysandre to bring up something that isn’t armed with one of these spiny whoopie cushions to attack without fear of recoil. This is a much more serious drawback, and can lead to [card name=”Eco Arm” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] being a sneaky good play in a deck running Bursting Balloon in order to reuse them. That said, I don’t feel that Eco Arm is really needed in this deck, as Trevenant’s Ability will keep your opponent from retrieving Lysandre too frequently via [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. In the meantime, you can use Trevenant BREAK to place three damage counters on each of your opponent’s Pokemon every turn, leaving a Bursting Balloon attached to it as a threat to deal even more damage if they attack you. What if they don’t attack? Well, then you just got another free turn of attacking with Trevenant BREAK, and your opponent essentially lost a turn! Isn’t that delightfully evil?
Head Ringer
[card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] is a somewhat disruptive Pokemon Tool card that you can throw down onto your opponent’s Pokemon-EX, often slowing them down by at least one turn. This can be brutal against cards like [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], or anything looking to Mega Evolve. Head Ringer is also helpful against [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], as it allows Dedenne to hit for 120 damage instead of 80, meaning a [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] or second attack from Dedenne will finish the job on the aforementioned Pokemon-EX. The other reason we play Head Ringer is to prevent our opponents from simply using two copies of [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and Sky Returning over and over again until all of our Trevenant are eventually KO’d. This can be a very frustrating strategy that Trevenant itself can do virtually nothing to fight back against, but with Head Ringer, Shaymin-EX will require three Energy to use Sky Return, thus stalling our opponent out for a turn and forcing them to Bench another Pokemon. This alone makes Head Ringer worth running.
Float Stone
A single copy of [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is never a bad inclusion in a deck, and with no Energy acceleration in this deck, we really don’t want to be burning our Energy trying to Retreat a Shaymin-EX, [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], or Dedenne that we may end up opening with. One copy of Float Stone might not be much, but it’s enough to get something safely to our Bench in order to keep Trevenant Active and functionally operating. There isn’t much more to Float Stone than that – it’s a simple card with a simple use in this deck, but a very solid one at that.
Dimension Valley
Lastly, we have our Stadium card, [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. This colorful card reduces the cost of Trevenant’s attacks by one Colorless Energy each, meaning Tree Slam now costs only two Energy and Silent Fear – Trevenant BREAK’s attack – costs a mere one Psychic Energy. Needing only one Energy to place three damage counters on every one of your opponent’s Pokemon is downright disgusting, and it makes [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] into a very formidable and scary attacker. I also feel it’s important to note that this card allows Phantump to use Ascension without needing any Energy, making it even easier to bring Trevenant into play if you end up going second. Dimension Valley is a must play for any Trevenant BREAK deck and a very solid card for just about any Psychic-based deck, realistically.
Strategy, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Now that we’ve taken a look at the individual cards in the deck, let’s look at the main strategy of [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] as well as some strengths and weaknesses the deck has. Below we will look at three important factors to note while playing this deck.
Going First is a Big Deal
Having the advantage of going first is pretty big with almost any deck in the Pokemon TCG, so why is this even here? Well, it’s an even bigger deal than usual with [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], primarily because you can lock your opponent out of his or her Item cards before he or she even gets a turn! By having a [card name=”Phantump” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] as your Active Pokemon, simply use [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] to search your deck for Trevenant and you can evolve on the first turn, thus bringing Trevenant into play along with its Item-locking Ability. Of course, you can still capitalize by going second, as you can use either Wally or Phantump’s Ascension attack to bring Trevenant out on your first turn then, but you will have allowed your opponent one full turn of Item usage in this scenario. Since I have opted not to run [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] in my list, that first turn of Items is only limited by what our opponent does or doesn’t draw before Trevenant hits the board. This is a huge deal against decks like Night March, [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card], or even another Trevenant BREAK deck, as your opponent could ready his or her discard pile and / or place you under Item-lock first. In the event of Night March, our [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and Bursting Balloons can usually overcome this issue as long as we don’t Bench too many copies of Shaymin-EX. Against another Item-lock deck, however, this could be a serious problem if we are unable to draw into our non-Item cards consistently enough. Having to play second can also make the [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] matchup enough more difficult, and that’s already our worst matchup to begin with! So while losing the opening coin flip isn’t the worst thing in the world, Trevenant BREAK remains far more lethal when it has the first turn advantage.
When and When Not to Bench a Pokemon
Another key to playing [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] is keeping your Bench the right size. For the most part, this means not benching any more Pokemon than you need, but it can mean even more than that for the first couple of turns.
Imagine you open with two copies of Phantump. You place one of them as your Active Pokemon and choose to Bench the second. If you are playing first, you can use Wally to evolve your Active Phantump into Trevenant, initiating the Item-lock effect onto your opponent. However, if he or she is holding a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] in hand, your opponent can simply play Lysandre to bring up your unevolved Phantump and then proceed to play Item cards. In this scenario, it would almost always be better to keep the second Phantump in your hand for the first turn.
If you end up going second, however, you could easily Bench the second copy of Phantump with little or no downside. This is because your opponent will have at least one turn to play his or her Item cards anyway. Then on your turn, you can simply use Wally to evolve your benched Phantump, and then use Ascension to evolve your Active one, thus giving you two Trevenant in play after just a single turn!
Of course, if you are forced to bench a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] in the first scenario, you may as well consider benching the second Phantump, as the Shaymin-EX provides a Lysandre target for your opponent regardless.
Also, while we’re on the subject of Shaymin-EX…
The Shaymin Loop
Ah, the dreaded [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] loop. I initially learned of this strategy when Josh Squeaky Marking and I were playing a practice match at St. Louis Regionals in which he abandoned his Night March strategy and repeatedly used Sky Return to deal 30 damage to my Active [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], returning his Shaymin-EX to his hand and promoting a second one – which was his only other Pokemon in play. Since he had gone first in this particular game, he’d used most of his Items and torn through roughly half of his deck, thinning it down to his three copies of Shaymin-EX, four copies of [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card], and Supporter cards such as Professor Sycamore. Each turn I was able to attack for up to 60 damage with Trevenant, but Sky Return would simply send Shaymin-EX and the attached Double Colorless Energy back to his hand before I could KO it. This exact situation came up during a streamed match at Florida Regionals the following week, where it was made clear that Bursting Balloon can not KO a Shaymin-EX before it is returned to the hand via Sky Return, thus making this an infinite loop with very few ways for us to respond. This is the biggest reason I’ve decided to include two copies of [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] in my list, as it requires Shaymin-EX to have three Energy attached in order to use Sky Return. Since each Shaymin-EX comes into the Active slot with no Energy attached, this allows the Trevenant player to use Tree Slam twice before Sky Return can happen, meaning we can KO a Shaymin-EX before it jumps back into our opponent’s hand.
[cardimg name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Another option you can use to fight this strategy would be to play [card name=”Judge” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] after your opponent uses Sky Return, sending Shaymin-EX and the Double Colorless Energy back into his or her deck and forcing him or her to draw back into both cards in order to maintain the loop. I tried this two or three times in Josh’s and my match, but since he had condensed his deck so much on the first turn, he never struggled to redraw those two cards and continue this strategy. However, if your opponent hasn’t dumped very many of his or her resources, it will likely be more difficult for him or her to successfully draw back into all of these cards, especially under Item-lock.
The final option we have here is try and deck our opponent out. This is far less likely without playing [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] in our list, as our opponent can likely send an awful lot of cards back into the deck if he or she plays Judge. You can try to do the same, but remember that you’ll need to continue setting up and BREAK Evolving your Trevenants in order to maintain Item-lock. You can play your [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to reuse your lone copy of [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] over and over again in an effort to deck out your opponent, but this strategy can take a long time, potentially resulting in a tie even if it does work out.
Matchups
After building and fine-tuning this deck, I played several matches against the most popular decks around in order to figure out an average win rate for Trevenant BREAK against each of those decks. Below are the results, along with a description of each matchup.
Night March and Vespiquen Decks – 80-20
These are your best matchups on paper, and the actual results don’t differ from that. A Night March or [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] deck can barely function without Items, having to dump handful after handful of Pokemon with Professor Sycamore, hoping to draw into just the right hand each time, and also maintaining a stream of Double Colorless Energy at the same time. As if that weren’t enough, a [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] will KO a [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] as soon as it attacks, netting you an extra Prize card whether they KO your Trevenant or not! Bursting Balloon will be just 30 HP short of knocking out [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], however that is non-issue when Trevenant BREAK can spread out 30 damage onto each of your opponent’s Pokemon for a single Energy with a Dimension Valley fueled Silent Fear. Trevenant BREAK’s Silent Fear attack can also set up or even take Knock Outs on the small HP Pokemon played by both of these archetypes whether it is the 30 HP Joltik, 40 HP [card name=”Combee” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card], or the 60 HP Pumpkaboo which can easily instill fear in your opponent. An explosive first turn from a Night March or Vespiquen player might make this into a game, but even in those cases, Trevenant will usually come out on top.
Yveltal-EX / Dark Variants – 35-65
On the flipside of Night March, Dark decks are often the bane of [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. This is almost entirely because of Trevenant’s Weakness to Darkness-type Pokemon. Throw in how much less [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY08″ c=”name”][/card] decks depend on Items in comparison to most other decks, and we’ve got a serious problem on our hands. [card name=”Head Ringer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] comes in handy against Yveltal-EX, but even that alone won’t sink the flying piece of bacon that rules the roost of Darkness-types in the Pokemon TCG. Instead, I had to tech in another card – [card name=”Dedenne” set=”Furious Fists” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] – specifically for this matchup, just to get my win percentage up to 35. Don’t get me wrong, a first turn Wally into Trevenant can shut down Dark decks just like any other deck in the Pokemon TCG, but this deck lacks a bit of muscle if an Yveltal-EX gets rolling at any point during the match, often resulting in a loss for Trevenant.
Seismitoad Variants – 70-30
One of Trevenant’s Item-locking rivals – [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] – actually doesn’t pose much of a threat to the Ghostly Tree. The difference maker here is that [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] decks will always grant you one full turn of Item usage, regardless of who goes first. This means that while both players can use Items for at least one turn when the Seismitoad player goes first, you can still lock him or her out of using Item cards when you go first. Damage from [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Golbat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card], along with that coming from Quaking Punch, is often slow to pile up when your opponent is only gaining a single Prize card for a 160 HP Trevenant BREAK. Seismitoad-EX, meanwhile, has only 20 HP more and gives up an extra Prize when it gets KO’d. [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is mostly a non-factor here as well, since the only thing it can really lock you out of is Dimension Valley. While that might normally seem like a problem, you’re bound to have a couple Energy available by the time Giratina-EX is ready to attack, and you’ll also regain access to all of your Item cards, except for Pokemon Tools, if your opponent opts to use Giratina to attack.
M Manectric-EX Variants – 30-70
This matchup is a problem because of one card and one card alone, [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]. Simply put, the Stadium-war is real in this matchup. The problem with Rough Seas is that your opponent can erase an entire Silent Fear attack each turn by using the effect of Rough Seas to heal 30 damage for all of his or her Water and Lightning-type Pokemon. Unless you can keep the tides low and lock your opponent down quickly, Trevenant may end up in a watery grave sooner than expected, as [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] will deal 110 damage each turn while providing your opponent with a ton of Energy on his or her Benched Pokemon for backup.
Lucario-EX / Crobat – 75-25
[card name=”Focus Sash” set=”Furious Fists” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] is a non-factor here, as Trevenant rarely OHKOs anything. Throw in how much the spread damage from Silent Fear affects weaker Basic Pokemon like [card name=”Zubat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card], and you should be able to run away with this one. [card name=”Lucario-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] also carries with it a Weakness to Psychic-types, meaning you can use Tree Slam to hit it upside the head for 120 damage and a much faster KO. Usually your opponent will have to rely on Bats for most of this matchup, and that doesn’t bode well for them if you can set up two or three Trevenant.
Garchomp / Octillery – 65-35
[card name=”Garchomp” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] can actually fight off [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] for a bit, often taking the first couple Prize cards before the eerie forest can come alive and start taking down the vicious Landshark Pokemon. However, if you continue to BREAK Evolve Trevenant after Trevenant, Silent Fear will eventually catch up with them, often taking out two or three Pokemon at once. This is also a matchup where [card name=”Absol” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] can be clutch, moving three damage counters onto an evolved Garchomp and taking a bigger threat off the board. Of course, Garchomp decks remain in the match due to the [card name=”Korrina” set=”Furious Fists” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] engine, but they usually don’t run as many copies of [card name=”Gabite” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] as they do Garchomp or [card name=”Gible” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card], meaning you’re usually only going to see a maximum of two or three Garchomp throughout the course of the game. Trevenant definitely has the advantage.
Greninja BREAK – 50-50
[cardimg name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
This matchup is usually dependent on how the [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] deck is built. If the Greninja player is running several copies of Rough Seas, we’re probably in for a bit of pain. However, if they’re running a different Stadium card or are unable to draw out of Item-lock – something that can happen easily to Stage 2 decks – you can capitalize and start spreading damage for easy Prizes. [card name=”Froakie” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] has only 60 HP and can be dumped with two turns of Silent Fear or a single Tree Slam. If multiple [card name=”Greninja” set=”XY” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] appear on your opponent’s side, however, you’re probably in trouble as they can take OHKOs on Trevenant and even Trevenant BREAK through the use of their Abilities and a rather powerful attack from the new [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card].
Conclusion
After thoroughly playtesting [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] in Standard, I would say it is somewhere between Tier 1 – 1.5, depending on how many Dark decks and [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] show up at a given tournament. Item-lock has always been a powerful strategy, and Trevenant is one of the best cards in the game at initiating the strategy. Just be careful for the aforementioned bad matchups, and know that while not every matchup is favorable, non of them constitute an auto-loss.
That’s all I’ve got for you guys now. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at States. I’ll be at Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky this year, so feel free to come say hello if you see me! Until next time, PokeBeach.
Cheers!
[/premium]