The Road to San Francisco — Picking a Deck for the World Championships

By: Andrew Mahone · Posted Posted onAug 4, 2016 at 7:17 AM · 0 Comments

Hello ‘Beach readers! I’m back today to talk about deck choices for the World Championships, the most premiere event of the year. Worlds is just a few weeks away, so it’s time to bear down and crack the upcoming format. Even if you haven’t qualified for Worlds, this article will give you some insight into the thought process behind deck selection for a high profile tournament, a valuable skill to have in the year to come! I will also discuss the ways in which cards from Steam Siege will affect old favorites. So be sure to stay tuned!

Pokemon GO

Before we get to it though, I want to say a bit about Pokemon GO. Pokemon GO has honestly been the most enjoyable gaming experience of my life. It was just revealed by Niantic that the game is only operating at about 10% of its projected functionality, making the future of the game very exciting with trading, Pokemon Centers, and increased gym battle functionality all on the horizon. I’ve seen more people out in their community, sharing experiences with Pokemon and exercising than I ever thought possible! I’m absolutely stunned.

Neither of my parents ever picked up a video game while I was growing up, which means they really didn’t understand Pokemon either, a game that brings a lot of joy to my life. Pokemon GO has changed that too. My mom is a children’s librarian. She downloaded Pokemon GO a couple weeks ago so that she could understand what the children at the Library were raving about; now she’s level 23 and has a Lapras and a Gyarados! She also wants me to show her how to play the card game next time I’m in town. I still can’t believe it. Pokemon GO has brought Pokemon back into the public eye so that even more people can fall in love with this franchise in the same way that I did 20 years ago, and I couldn’t be happier. Pokemon brings people of all ages from all over the world together. It has the ability to deepen friendships and create new ones. It’s a beautiful thing, and I’m more excited than ever to be a part of it.

At the time of my writing this, I am level 26 in Pokemon GO and I’m really excited to take my Pokemon journey across the country to San Francisco! My favorite part of the game, however, hasn’t been the catching or battling. It’s been the camera feature! Pokemon GO has allowed me to combine my love of art, fitness, and Pokemon into one outstanding hobby. I’ve been collecting photos of the Pokemon that I encounter on an Instagram account, and I’m trying to collect photos of all the Pokemon, just like in the Nintendo 64 title, Pokemon Snap! I’ve included photos I’ve captured throughout this article, and if you’d like to see more, feel free to check out my Instagram account; instinct_snap. But that’s enough about Pokemon GO. Time to get down to business!

Survey Says…

In preparation for this article I created a survey targeted at players who did not qualify for the World Championships. The goal of the survey was to find out what decks people would play if they had qualified for Worlds and why. I also inquired as to which decks players thought would be popular at the World Championships.

I decided to aim my survey towards non Worlds qualifiers since they would be more likely to participate and be truthful with their responses. Worlds qualifiers would not be likely to respond to my survey, and if they did, I wouldn’t expect them to reveal the whole truth of what they want to play!

Now I have my own network of Worlds qualifiers that I speak with regularly, so I have an idea of what some Worlds players are leaning towards for the competition, but I was interested to get an idea of what the masses thought. I think that it’ll be useful to combine what my personal network has been discussing with the responses offered from the 282 players who responded to my survey. This will give us a good picture as to what decks people are talking about the most going into the biggest weekend of the year!

Given the Opportunity to Play During Day One of the World Championships, What Deck Would You Play?

• Night March: 56 (19.8%)
• [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]: 36 (12.7%)
• [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]: 29 (10.2%)
• Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]: 19 (6.7%)
• Yveltal / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]: 18 (6.3%)
• Metal: 16 (5.6%)
• Water Box: 14 (4.9%)
• [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]: 12 (4.3%)
• [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]: 11 (3.9%)
• [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]: 8 (2.8%)
• [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]: 7 (2.4%)
• [card name=”M Sceptile-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card]: 5 (1.7%)
• [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Carbink BREAK” set=”Fates Collide” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]: 5 (1.7%)
• [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / Techs: 4 (1.4%)
• [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]: 4 (1.4%)
• [card name=”Medicham” set=”Primal Clash” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Carbink BREAK” set=”Fates Collide” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]: 3 (1%)
• [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]: 1 (0.35%)
• Other: 34 (12%)

Unsurprisingly, the top selection among players was Night March. 56 Players or 20% selected Night March as their top deck for Worlds. An additional 19 players selected Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] as their top deck, bringing the grand total of Night March players to 75 out of 282 or 27%. It’s worth noting that more players favor straight Night March even though Night March / Vespiquen won U.S. Nationals. This could be attributed to the consistency of straight Night March, but I think it also has something to do with the new cards coming out in Steam Siege which I will discuss later in the article.

The next most popular selection among players who participated in my survey was [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], representing 36 players or about 13%. This is a huge drop-off from the massive 27% that selected Night March as their deck of choice, but still a respectable chunk of the field. With two iterations of Trevenant finishing in the Top 8 of U.S. Nationals, the deck has proven that it has the strength to wade through a huge tournament filled with Night March. It also appears to be the most favored Item-lock deck, outnumbering both Water Box and Vespiquen / Vileplume which earned 14 out of 282 (5%) and 11 out of 282 (4%) votes respectively.

Unexpectedly, [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] was the third most favored deck with 29 out of 282 votes or 10%. The deck earned a Top 8 finish at U.S. Nationals, but I expected the hype behind Giratina-EX to die off a bit with the introduction of Pokemon Ranger, a Supporter card from Steam Siege that removes all effects of attacks from players and Pokemon. My survey takers were not deterred though, and continue to put a large amount of trust in the Renegade Pokemon.

The only other decks that earned over 5% of votes were [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] and Metal. Neither of these decks had huge finishes at U.S. Nationals, but they continue to be attractive choices because of their generally neutral existence within the metagame.

The remainder of the respondents selected from the huge pool of decks that our Standard format provides. Remaining deck selections ranged from the more mainstream [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] to the more outlandish [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]. With numbers smaller than 5%, you wouldn’t bet on playing versus any one of these decks in competition. But when you take all of the remaining decks into consideration as one, we see that 30% or almost a third of players would not be playing one of the most popular seven archetypes. In fact, players chose over 20 different decks when telling me what they would play at Worlds given the chance! With so many decks to choose from, we need to narrow our selection down to the few most optimal deck choices. Before we get into what I think, I want to take a look at the reasons my survey respondents provided for their hypothetical deck selections.

Why Did Players Choose Night March?

After asking what deck players would select for Worlds, I went on to ask why they made their selections. Night March players were pretty unified in their answers. 14 of 75 or about 19% of players said that the deck gets even stronger with the introduction of the new cards from Steam Siege. 14 out of 75 or 19% of players said that the deck was the best deck in format and 13 out of 75 (17%) pointed out that Night March was the most consistent deck in format. Many answers involved a combination of the above points.

Some players also went on to say that Night March boasts answers to everything, while another player pointed out that it can still beat its worst matchups if Night March wins the opening coin flip. It’s no wonder that Night March is a popular selection.

Why Did Players Choose Trevenant?

Night March’s popularity seems to have directly influenced the influx of players selecting [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] as their hypothetical Worlds deck. Of the 36 players that chose Trevenant, 14 or 39% mentioned that the deck gave them a good Night March matchup. That being said, many of the respondents that mentioned Night March did say that the matchup isn’t perfect, and is better if you go first.

Six players boasted about the power of turn one Item-lock in their responses, four said that Trevenant has good to even matchups across the board and two even called it the best deck in format. One player even mentioned that Trevenant BREAK’s attack, Silent Fear, gets better with Captivating Pokepuff, a new card from Steam Siege that reveals the opponent’s hand and allows you to choose as many Basic Pokemon that you find there and drop them to the opponent’s Bench. This card seems powerful alongside Trevenant’s Silent Fear, but I’m not sure that Trevenant has the deck space to accommodate this luxury.

Why Did Players Choose Water Box?

With Night March at the head of the pack, Item-lock is a choice on many players minds. With [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] being the most popular Item-lock deck, some players are looking towards Water Box as a way to kill two popular birds with one stone.

Of the 14 players that selected Water Box as their would-be play, three of them said that it gives them a good shot versus Night March, three pointed to the power of Item-lock, three mentioned the deck’s versatility and three more said that they enjoyed the deck’s solid all around matchups. One mentioned that the deck gives them a good Trevenant matchup and four mentioned that they enjoy playing the deck.

I think it’s important that almost a third of players mentioned that they enjoy playing Water Box. This is probably because the deck is consistent, has a variety of options, and creates a number of skill intensive games between the pilot and their opponent, something that can’t be said about many of the front runners in this format. So many games in Standard are decided by the strength of a deck’s first turn, but Water Box is a unique deck in that it can go down by four Prizes and still squeak out wins with heads up play and well timed [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]s. Because of this, Water Box continues to maintain a place on my shortlist of decks for Worlds.

[premium]

Why Did Players Choose Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX?

I was a little confounded by [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]’s popularity among my survey respondents. After watching Night March beat a Giratina-EX deck in the finals of U.S. Nationals without Ranger, it’s hard to imagine Giratina faring much better now that Night March has a surefire one-card answer to Chaos Wheel.

11 out of 29 hypothetical Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX players (38%) said that they enjoy the deck’s all around good matchups. Three said that the deck was consistent, three said it was good versus [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and eight mentioned that it gave them a chance versus Night March. Notice the difference in language here though. Of the eight that implied that Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX gave them a good Night March matchup, five used the word “decent” to describe it. This means that Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX players might not be super confident about their Night March matchup. And with Pokemon Ranger released, they shouldn’t be! I think the primary reason players would choose Darkrai-EX / Giratina-EX for Worlds is because they like the deck. Four of 29 survey respondents said that they would play the deck because they think the it is fun to play, and I don’t really see a reason beyond that to play it. Night March is looming on the horizon with a boatload of new artillery and I do not want to get caught unprepared for it at Worlds.

Why Did Players Choose Yveltal / Zoroark?

Although [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] didn’t produce a groundbreaking performance at U.S. Nationals, it gains a lot of ground with the introduction of Steam Siege and should not be underestimated heading into the World Championships. Once again, players have identified that Yveltal / Zoroark gives them a good shot versus [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and a decent chance versus Night March. Five of 18 or 28% of Yveltal / Zoroark fans identified that the deck has a positive Trevenant matchup while three of 18 mentioned that it gives you a decent chance versus Night March. I noticed again here that players were using the word “decent” to describe their Night March matchup, a trend common among many respondents in my survey.

Five players said that they enjoy Yveltal / Zoroark’s all around even matchups, two called the deck versatile and four said that they expect the deck to do much better with the addition of Captivating Pokepuff from Steam Siege. With captivating Pokepuff, Zoroark can force the opponent’s Pokemon from their hand to the Bench in order to boost the Fox’s damage output. It can also be used on the first turn of the game to stunt the opponent’s draw if they are sitting on a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. It seems as if Captivating Pokepuff is shaping up to be a pretty hyped card from the new set. The card saw success at the Japanese National Championships in Night March and I fully expect it to see play at the World Championships as well.

Why Did Players Choose Vespiquen / Vileplume?

[card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] has been a deck that I’ve kept on my radar since Andrew Wamboldt brought the idea to fruition during Cities. The deck is undoubtedly strong but difficult to pilot correctly. Consequently, the deck has failed to amass a following in the same way that other top archetypes have. The deck was able to earn a Top 8 spot at U.S. Nationals at the hands of Fred Hoban and with Night March on the rise, the deck is poised to strike big again at the World Championships. Though only 4% of the players I interviewed chose Vespiquen / Vileplume, I was interested to see the reasoning behind their selection.

Four out of 11 players said that they would play Vespiquen / Vileplume because the deck decisively defeats Night March. This is probably the primary argument for playing the deck. One of the main reasons Fred was able to see success with Vespiquen / Vileplume at Nationals was because he defeated every Night March players he sat across from. In addition to having a great outing versus Night March, two interviewees mentioned that the deck has a great Water Box matchup, one pointed to the strength of turn one Item-lock and five said that they thought the deck had good matchups across the board.

What Do You Expect to be Popular at the World Championships?

For the final portion of my survey, I asked players to reveal what decks they thought would see the most play at the World Championships. Interviewees were allowed to select as many decks as they thought would see play. The percentages are are listed below in descending order.

• Night March: 233 (83.81%)
• Night March / [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]: 155 (55.76%)
• [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]: 155 (55.76%)
• Water Box: 99 (35.61%)
• [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]: 94 (33.81%)
• [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]: 65 (23.38%)
• [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]: 48 (17.27%)
• Yveltal / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]: 47 (16.91%)
• [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]: 41 (14.75%)
• [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]: 41 (14.75%)
• [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]: 35 (12.59%)
• Metal: 25 (8.99%)
• [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]: 15 (5.40%)
• [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Carbink BREAK” set=”Fates Collide” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]: 15 (5.40%)
• [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / Techs: 13 (4.68%)
• [card name=”M Sceptile-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card]: 11 (3.96%)

These results are pretty telling. A massive 83% of respondents expect Night March to be popular at the World Championships and over half expect to see a lot of Trevenant BREAK. I have to agree. In fact, Night March, Water Box, and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] top my own threat list for Worlds as well, so kudos to you interviewees! In the next part of my article I will walk you through my own thought process of how to select a deck for Worlds with the given information. I will also reveal the final touches that I would put on my top three decks in order to make them Worlds-ready.

It’s a Night March Versus Item-Lock Worlds

From the data attained above and the conversations I’ve had with Worlds qualifiers myself, it has become overwhelmingly clear that this year’s World Championships will be made up of two major parties: those playing Night March and those trying to beat it with Item-lock. Night March and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] have ascended to the top of the metagame and perfectly represent the duality of this format. Whatever deck does well at Worlds must have an answer to these two decks.

Now don’t get me wrong, there will be players with rogues. There will be players with Mega decks. There will be people stubbornly playing [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] too. The format is too wide to boil it down to two decks completely. But with that being said, Night March and Item-lock will absolutely inform whatever sees success. These two entities are too powerful and ubiquitous to ignore.

Night March

In the red corner we have Night March. Powerful, consistent, and proven. Coming off a huge U.S. Nationals win, Night March is the clear favorite heading into the World Championships. Both Jimmy Pendarvis and Ryan Moorhouse gave excellent renditions of Night March in their most recent articles, here and here, respectively, but I don’t agree with their lists completely. Below I will share my personal list before going over the pros and cons to bringing the BDIF to the World Championships.

[decklist name=”Night March” amt=”58″ caption=”” cname=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″][pokemon amt=”17″]1x Galvantula (STS #42)4x [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lampent” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”42″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x Pokemon Ranger (STS #104)4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ 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=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

I’m sure you’re all pretty tired of seeing Night March lists by about now but considering that the deck is poised to be an immortalized World Championship deck in a matter of weeks, it’s only right that we iron out the best list possible. My list is pretty close to the one that Ryan provided, so I won’t go into too much detail, but I will defend the differences we have.

1x Galvantula

Wait, you mean we can evolve [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] into something useful? That’s right! Galvantula from Steam Siege is an awesome card for Night March to have at it’s disposal, but on the surface it might not seem terribly interesting. Galvantula has 90 HP and Grass plus Lightning double typing, a unique feature of the new set. The card also boasts two attacks. The first does 30 damage for a Lightning Energy and prevents the opponent’s Pokemon from retreating during their following turn. As you can see from our deck list, this is not the attack we will be utilizing. The next attack is where things get interesting. For one Colorless, Galvantula can perform Double Thread which deals thirty damage to two of your opponent’s Pokemon, Weakness and Resistance applied. This is significant. The attack puts a lot of pressure on any [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] that your opponent may have put on their Bench. Galvantula can deal 60 damage to two Benched Shaymin in the same turn! If the opponent is unable to deal with Galvantula, that’s an incoming four Prize turn! Even if your opponent does manage to KO Galvantula, the Spider can be retrieved via [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to finish what it started at any point later in the game. This could be useful versus any number of decks that play Shaymin-EX or Grass weak Pokemon. Galvantula can be used versus Water Box to clean up [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] while applying pressure to the Bench. It can be used to finish off games versus [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] if they have Benched multiple Shaymin-EX. It can be used to rush [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] decks by KO’ing two [card name=”Froakie” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card] in the same turn. It can also be used to pick up a quick two Prizes versus Night March if your opponent has two Joltik in play! The card is very versatile and I love the options it provides heading into the World Championships.

If you wanted to go super rogue, you could even try playing multiple Galvantula in combination with [card name=”Shrine of Memories” set=”Primal Clash” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] in order to sure up your Water Box matchup. This combination gives you an out to perform Night March with a Grass Pokemon that has 90 HP, easily disposing of any Seismitoad-EX regardless of [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card].

2x Lysandre

With [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] shaping up to be a top threat at the World Championships, I cannot justify playing one copy of [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] in any deck right now. Ideally we would be playing two copies of Lysandre as well as two copies of [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], but if we have to pick one, Lysandre makes the cut because of its all around utility in other matchups. Fun fact: while I sat there losing versus Trevenant in game three of my round one of Nationals, I was sitting on a [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] that I was unable to play because of my opponent’s turn one Item-lock. I had all the Items necessary to have an explosive start in our final game, I just needed to break the lock!

4x Professor Sycamore

It’s been a full year since I played Night March at Worlds last year and I’m still a huge proponent of four [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card]. If we are looking for space in this deck, Sycamore is not a sacrifice I’m willing to make. Professor Sycamore makes your mirror better by making the deck less reliant on [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]. Sycamore makes your Item-lock matchups better by allowing the deck to draw under Item-lock. Sycamore increases the potency of your turn one plays and makes your deck more resilient to late game [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] as well! If we had to, I’d be much more comfortable cutting a [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] over a Professor Sycamore, but I don’t love that either. This list is very tight and there are only so many slots to play with. Sometimes you just can’t do it all.

Other Options

The cards that I consider cuttable as of right now would be the Galvantula, the fourth Trainers’ Mail, or the second [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. Everything else is air tight. I’ve seen decks cut down to two [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] but I really can’t stand that. Playing only two copies of Dimension Valley makes [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] a far less reliable attacking option. But if we’re playing Galvantula and [card name=”Shrine of Memories” set=”Primal Clash” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], that’s a different story!

[card name=”Xerosic” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] is obviously on the short list of cards I’d like to include in here, but with the addition of Pokemon Ranger, the card’s utility has been cut in half. We don’t need Xerosic to deal with [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] anymore and we have [card name=”Startling Megaphone” set=”Flashfire” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] to deal with Tool cards, so I have decided not to play it here.

Special Charge from Steam Siege is an awesome addition to Night March as Ryan mentioned in his article. I would love to include it here, but I’m testing Galvantula in its place right now. Night March hasn’t had too much of an issue running out of Energy with [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] at its disposal, so I don’t think that Special Charge is needed even though it is undoubtedly strong. It is true though that with a single Special Charge play, you can save your Puzzles for more potent cards like [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card]. It’s definitely a card to have on the table when building any Night March deck right now.

Another idea that I am toying around with is cutting the [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] altogether. If you cut both Fighting Fury Belt, you could replace them with a single [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] and one additional card. Muscle Band could be good to boost Night March’s damage versus even numbered threats like [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card]. Fury Belt does absolutely nothing versus each of those threats, which hurts since we play two copies. Naturally, Fighting Fury Belt helps versus both [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], but I might argue that a more proactive card like Captivating Pokepuff will bring the deck more success all around.

Captivating Pokepuff is the last card that I am considering for my Night March deck. It is really good in combination with [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] for forcing weak Pokemon onto the opponent’s Bench. It’s also good for simply seeing what your opponent has in their hand! It can be used to spy on your opponent’s hand to guide your play for the upcoming turns. Wondering whether to [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] in the final stages of a game? Pokepuff can make that decision much easier if you have it at your disposal.

Unlike Target Whistle which gets stronger as the game progresses, Captivating Pokepuff is brilliant on the first turn of the game, forcing the opponent to Bench Pokemon like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] against their will, negating their Abilities in the process. I would not, however, play Captivating Pokepuff instead of Target Whistle. A combination seems ideal, giving you a two pronged attack on your opponent’s out of play Pokemon.

Pros and Cons

Night March is the best deck in format and everyone knows it. Night March has also been gifted a plethora of new tools and everyone knows that too. Night March is the deck to beat at Worlds. I fully expect countless people to show up with decks specifically designed to beat Night March in San Fransisco. That’s kind of intimidating, but it also doesn’t matter. Night March is strong enough that it can beat its worst matchups at least 40 to 50% of the time. That being said, I am not super comfortable betting those odds multiple times in a row in a field of the World’s best players.

If there’s anything I learned last year though, it’s that Worlds is tough to predict. [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] was fairly hyped coming off of last year’s Nationals which lead many players to pilot direct counters like [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Hippowdon” set=”Primal Clash” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card]. But then, seemingly out of no where, I played against two [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] decks, a [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] deck, and a [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gengar-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] deck as well. Even though these matchups were not favorable for Night March then, I was able to overcome them with the straightforward consistency and power of my list.

The difference is that now, Night March is a known factor. Everyone knows about Night March and the best ways to beat it. Last year I was lucky enough to play against one definitively good matchup at Worlds: Paul Johnston piloting [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]. The poor guy didn’t get to Turbo Bolt once in our series. Beyond that, every matchup was close and I had to fight tooth an nail to get there versus every one. I think that Night March is still the kind of deck that can thrive in a field of haters. It’s been doing it all year hasn’t it? This will require some luck sacking for sure, but is there a better deck to luck sack with than the best deck in format? I don’t think so.

Despite the torrential downpour of Night March hate that is sure to be present at the World Championships, I still consider Night March to be on my short list of best decks for the Worlds. Every other deck has glaring exploitable weaknesses too, and Night March’s are just the easiest to overcome.

The Item-Lockers

And in the blue corner, we have the Item-lock decks! Since [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is completely thwarted by Pokemon Ranger, Item-lock is the last line of defense against a Worlds dominated completely by Night March. By locking March out of their Items, [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], Water Box, and [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] can all go toe to toe with with the BDIF. In the sections below, I will offer my opinions of the three best Item-lock decks and reveal which one tops my list.

Trevenant BREAK

Jimmy and Ryan each provided excellent [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] lists, so I won’t be going into my own iteration here. I think they got the most important part of the deck correct by playing [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] instead of [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Legendary Treasures” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card]. Busting Balloon helps shore up key matchups like Night March while patching up the tough ones like [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and Water Box.

One card that I am considering running in [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] is [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. Parallel City has a lot of utility here. It can bump vulnerable [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] from your Bench, solidifying your board position. It could also help in the mirror match by denying your opponent Prizes. It also acts as a fifth Stadium that will help you win the Stadium war versus Water Box and [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]. Winning the Stadium war is an essential part of winning these matchups. Having a fifth Stadium will help you prevent your opponent from healing with [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] while also limiting damage dealt by Water Pokemon by 20 damage. It’s true that Trevenant pretty much always wants to have [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] in play, but I think that Parallel City could be useful if you are able to play around it for a turn.

Ryan mentioned Captivating Pokepuff as well, and I think it’s worth exploring in Trevenant. Pokepuff stands to improve all of your matchups if played correctly. Night March should become an absolute layup. By forcing [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] onto the Bench, Night March will have to watch as their once protected Pokemon become victim to Silent Fear. It’s also useful on the first turn against the mirror and Water Box, forcing Shaymin-EX down on the first turn of the game. One of the best strategies to use versus Trevenant is to carefully stagger the Pokemon you put into play so they don’t all get KO’d at the same time. Pokepuff eliminates this primary strategy. It increases the speed at which Trevenant can take Prizes while also allowing the Trevenant player to see what cards the opponent may have planned for following turns. I could easily see running two to three copies of Pokepuff in any Trevenant BREAK list.

Water Box

I’ve done a lot of testing with Jimmy Pendarvis’ Water Box list and I think that his iteration of the deck is as good as it gets. It’s a concise and consistent list without too many bells and whistles. At the same time, It’s also very versatile, with each Pokemon boasting a variety of useful attacks to employ against the opponent, even [card name=”Manaphy-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card]! Water Box was an early frontrunner in my testing for Worlds, as it seemed to topple both [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and Night March while holding respectable matchups across the rest of the board. The more I tested though, the more I simply wasn’t comfortable beating Night March. I want something that beats Night March with much more consistently. I tried playing an [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] in the list to help, but I just wasn’t happy with Quaking Punch’s damage output in the end.

Surprisingly, Pokemon Ranger hasn’t done much in my testing to thwart Seismitoad-EX’s dominance. Pokemon Ranger can’t be streamed under Item-lock, so the opponent will more than likely only be able to buy one turn of Item usage, and sometimes they won’t even get that! Pokemon Ranger has proven much more useful against threats that don’t Item-lock like [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card].

At the end of the day, Water Box is a really good deck with a lot of even matchups but it doesn’t have the definitive Night March matchup that I am looking for in a Worlds deck.

Vespiquen / Vileplume

I’ve gotten my hands on this deck a lot lately and I really like where these lists have ended up. Particularly, the iteration that Fred Hoban played at U.S. Nationals is very strong. [card name=”Revitalizer” set=”Generations” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] combined with multiple [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Primal Clash” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] gives this archetype the flexibility it needs to go deep into high profile tournaments. With Special Charge, this deck has even more interesting tricks it can pull with AZ. The deck is hard to play, but once perfected, it shouldn’t lose to Night March, which is the deck’s biggest draw. You almost always beat Night March in the Stadium war considering that you play four [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. This forces them to attack with [card name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] when they miss the [card name=”Dimension Valley” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. Once Night March starts attacking with Joltik, you can Sky Return your [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] to preserve Energy and eventually run Night March out of resources.

Fred was unfortunate in his Top 8 match against Paul Johnston, falling victim to a Vileplume dragged into the Active position without a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] too many times. In most planes of existence, Vespiquen / Vileplume boasts an excellent Water Box matchup as well. With Night March and Water Box both checked off, Vespiquen / Vileplume becomes a very attractive choice for Worlds. The only thing holding me back from pulling the trigger on it is its precarious [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. Things can go very well if you go first, but if [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] goes first, this matchup is a disaster. Don’t I find myself saying that about every deck versus Trevenant though? The only decks that can beat Trevenant going second are decks with [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] or Dark decks. [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is dead because of Ranger and I don’t like playing [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] at all. That leaves us with one final deck that could be the dark horse for the World Championships.

Conclusion

[card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] was once championed as the savior of our format. It was the deck that could beat both Night March and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. That was until [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] stepped in and crushed dreams. But now, thanks to Pokemon Ranger, Giratina-EX is effectively dead, meaning that Greninja could make a resurgence at the World Championships. I have traditionally not liked the way that Greninja runs. The deck can be inconsistent at times and frustrating to play. The deck also produces long games, something I don’t necessarily want to deal with at Worlds. All this considered, I think the deck is poised well enough to be explored once again for Worlds. Last year, everyone wrote off Night March for U.S. Nationals because of [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]. By the time Nationals rolled around, everyone had figured out how to beat Raichu / Crobat, so that deck didn’t see success. This left the door open for Night March to take over Worlds. A similar path could be opening for Greninja right now, so I want to make sure that I don’t miss out if that is the case.

The other two decks that I will be continuing to test for Worlds are Night March and [card name=”Trevenant BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. I think that between these three decks, I should be able to find a combination that I feel confident enough to bring to the world stage!

Thanks for joining me on my Worlds discussion today! I will be putting out one more article before the World Championships, so be sure to tune in for that. Next time I will be looking at the post-Worlds future of our Standard format.

I couldn’t be more excited to be in San Fransisco for the first time. Kirsten and I have booked a ten day trip, so I will have plenty of time to relax, test, and play plenty of Pokemon GO! If you see me in San Fransisco, don’t forget to say hello. If you have any questions for me, make sure to hit me up in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout!

Wish me luck!

~Andrew Mahone

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