Steaming Up — A Standard Analysis and an Interview with Andrew Wamboldt About Volcanion
Happy New Year trainers! Thanks for joining me here at PokeBeach. I have some exciting stuff for you all today. I’ve got a few new Standard lists and a 3,000 word interview with my good friend, Andrew Wamboldt, who has just finished in the Top 16 of the Dallas Regional Championship with his original Volcanion deck! This interview is awesome. I learned so much from it and hope that you all will as well. Interview articles are my favorite articles to write because they give you, the reader, a variety of perspectives to learn from. One of the things that makes great players consistently successful is their inner circle, and Wamboldt is one of the few people I consult when choosing my deck for a tournament. I greatly trust his judgement!
Wamboldt is known specifically for his creativity and innovation. His resume includes the creation of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Altaria” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] to name a few decks. Don’t remember Latios-EX / Altaria? That’s because Wamboldt was probably the only person to have ever played the deck. He finished in 13th place at 2015’s Wisconson Regionals with it, right before the infamous [card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] ban. Wamboldt has a long history of breathing new life into cards that others aren’t considering, and his perspective on Volcanion, a deck on the cusp of greatness, is top notch!
Dallas Regionals really up heaved what we thought we knew about the Standard format. In this article, I will be discussing a few essential updates so that you will be ready to roll for Georgia Regionals and League Cups in the upcoming month before diving in depth with Volcanion. But before I do all of that, I want to take a minute to discuss something that’s been on my mind lately, playing opening hands correctly!
The Play by Play: Opening Hands with Shaymin-EX
[cardimg name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Let’s Set Up![/cardimg]
A couple articles ago, I did a bit about using [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] optimally. A player came up to me at Fort Wayne Regionals and told me that he got a lot out of that section, and that it made him think about the card in a way that he hadn’t considered previously. That meant a lot to me. I am a teacher, and I don’t always get to hear that my lessons are good, or that they worked at all! So it was nice to hear that something I said meant something to someone out there. I like to include these “Play by Play” sections whenever I can. It’s not just my goal to make my readers more informed players, I want my readers to learn to play the game better! Some of the mechanics that I discuss in these sections are things that good players do without thinking about it. Some of them are things that I have seen good players mess up on! So my hope is that this bit of information will be of some value to you as you go forth and conquer this season.
Since the rotation in Standard happened, I have noticed myself playing opening hands differently than I did previously. I assumed that everyone would play their opening hands the way that I did, but after watching some top-tier players, I have noticed that we haven’t all come to the same conclusions.
[card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] play a huge role in the setup of most decks. Since most decks only run, on average, seven draw Supporters, this means that they will be relying on [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] for Shaymin-EX or Hoopa-EX a significant portion of the time to draw cards. Below, I want to discuss what you choose to discard when you are playing Ultra Ball for Hoopa or Shaymin and attempting to draw into a Supporter during your opening turn.
With [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] legal, it was often correct to hold onto [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] in an opening hand when trying to draw cards with Hoopa or Shaymin. Battle Compressor could turn VS Seeker into a live card by throwing a draw Supporter to the discard. Now, VS Seeker is mostly a dead card on the first turn of the game. I can’t tell you how many times I have drew-pass to a loss this season, staring in vain at a VS Seeker.
Since VS Seeker is so bad on the first turn of the game in Standard, you will usually want to discard it with Ultra Ball when digging for a real Supporter during the first turn of the game. Whenever you set up with Shaymin-EX at the beginning of the game, you want to assume that you are going to draw dead. This means that you want to keep playable cards in your hand such as Energy and Tools. Keeping playable cards in your hand will allow you to weather a dead draw far more than a VS Seeker would. Let’s look at an example.
Sample Starting Hands
[cardimg name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”122″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Decisions, Decisions[/cardimg]
For our examples, we will pretend that we are playing an [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] mirror going first and our opponent opens a lone Yveltal-EX. Say you start with a hand of [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card], one Dark Energy, one [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], one [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”EX FireRed and LeafGreen” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card], one [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] and an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. It happens all the time! This is a very playable hand, but not everyone goes about it the same way. We’ll take a few different examples of how to play this depending on a few different top decks, and see how that changes what we do.
Example One: Top Deck Yveltal-EX
We should be very excited about top decking this [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY08″ c=”name”][/card]. We can bench it immediately. But let’s not get too trigger happy, because it is correct to play the [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] before using the [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] on our Benched Yveltal-EX. You do this because retrieving the [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] from your deck increases your odds of hitting an Energy off of the Max Elixir. But what to Ultra Ball away? We should start by attaching the Basic Dark Energy to our Active Yveltal-EX. You don’t attach the [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card], because that gives your opponent a chance to remove it with cards like [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. Then, you Ultra Ball away the [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] and the VS Seeker for Shaymin-EX and place it in your hand. Before playing Shaymin down, you play Max Elixir and attempt to get an Energy on the Benched Yveltal-EX. Then, with just the DCE left in hand, you set up for five. As you can see, we have left the DCE in our hand, since it is the most essential card that we will want for next turn if we do not draw into a draw Supporter, allowing for a turn two Y Cyclone.
Example Two: Top Deck VS Seeker
The last situation was black and white. This one, however, is a little more tricky. Here, it is correct to start out by using [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card], discarding both [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. This is a big hit to take, but it is easily the best move you can make. You want to grab [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] again and put it into your hand. Then, attach Darkness to the Active, play your Parallel City, blue side facing the opponent, and then use Set Up for a draw of four. You keep the Elixir and DCE in your hand, because in the event that you do not draw a Supporter, these will be cards that you may be able to utilize while you dead draw.
Example Three: Top Deck Max Elixir
This situation is interesting, and kind of infuriating when it happens. You have all these [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and no one to use them on. It crosses your mind that you could [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] for a Max Elixir target then hope to top deck out of the situation, but that won’t work. We need to draw cards. The correct play is to start by using Ultra Ball, discarding VS Seeker and one Max Elixir for Shaymin-EX. Put the Shaymin in your hand, then attach Darkness Energy to the Active, play [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] (blue side facing the opponent) and then set up for four, keeping Max Elixir and DCE in your hand. It hurts, but you have to discard the Max Elixir here. You can’t afford to discard the Stadium instead while keeping both Max Elixir, because that would only provide a Set Up for three. Granted, if the three cards you were to set up for are Yveltal-EX, N and Fury Belt, well then, I guess your wager paid off! However, the odds of things playing out that nicely are slim.
Final Example: Top Deck Sycamore
Oh baby! You got the Sycamore! This is great, however, it gives you something to consider. You no longer have to grab Shaymin with your Ultra Ball. The question is, do you play Sycamore this turn or next turn? This is a judgement question, but I would wait on the Sycamore play. I would start out by using Ultra Ball, discarding the Sycamore and Parallel City for a Fright Night [card name=”Yveltal” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. Then, I would play Max Elixir, attempting to get a Dark on my Benched Yveltal. Then, I would attach a Darkness to the Active, leaving VS Seeker and Double Colorless Energy in my hand and pass. This play saves your DCE for the next turn while still attaining most of the things that you would want on a turn one play. The only risk here is that your opponent could Delinquent your hand away. This would require a lot though, your opponent would have to start with or draw into a Stadium as well as their one copy of Delinquent. It’s far more likely that your opponent starts with an Enhanced Hammer in their hand, and it’s more important that you don’t give them an opportunity to play it. By holding the DCE, your opponent may even have to Sycamore an Enhanced Hammer away without getting the chance to use it. If your opponent only has an N in their opening hand, they will use it, completely refreshing your hand in the process. If your opponent does N you, you have also taken the liberty of discarding a Sycamore already, turning all of your VS Seekers into live cards. Resource management is a big deal, especially with Yveltal. You need to know when to aggressively draw and when to attack without playing a Supporter. A lot of the skill required to play the deck hinges on decisions just like these, so I wanted to give you a glimpse into how I would play them.
What Happened in Dallas?
[cardimg name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ align=”right” c=”custom”]FAIRIES![/cardimg]
Before Regionals this year, [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] was widely considered to be one of the strongest decks in format. Mewtwo / Garbodor has good matchups versus basically everything except for [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. In Dallas, Mewtwo showed up in massive numbers in an attempt to dethrone Yveltal as BDIF. A whopping nine Mewtwo / Garbodor decks finished in the Top 32 of Dallas Regionals while only three Yveltal were able to do the same. And not a single Yveltal deck finished in the Top 16! With over a fourth of the Top 32 field composed of Mewtwo, [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], a deck that continued to see play despite generally weak results in earlier Regional Championships, was able to pave a path of total dominance, capturing four of the Top 8 positions and winning the tournament overall. Many lists and techs have changed since Fort Wayne, and I think that JW Kriewall wrote an excellent summation of the metagame and Dallas results, here, so if you haven’t checked out his article yet, be sure to do so! Below, I will fill in the gaps by reviewing a couple decks and ideas that JW didn’t discuss in his article.
Xerneas BREAK / Lugia-EX / Snorlax-GX
[card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] / Snorlax GX, a deck conceived and piloted by Kevin Baxter, Sam Chen, Josh Marking and Carl Scheu at Dallas Regionals, was a direct reaction to [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card]’s dominance. That, or it could have just been attempt by Kevin Baxter to get the name “Snorbax” to catch on again. Either way, Kevin was able to finish in 14th place with the rogue deck, so it’s totally worth checking out! Below is the list that Sam Chen shared online.
[decklist name=”Xerneas BREAK / Lugia / Snorlax-GX” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Xerneas” set=”XY” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Regirock” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY49″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Snorlax-GX (PRSM #SM1)[/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ace Trainer” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ninja Boy” set=”Steam Siege” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Exp. Share” set=”Next Destinies” no=”87″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]9x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”XY” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
This deck is essentially a [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] centric deck that swaps [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], an inclusion that was popular early on in the season, for heavy hitting Colorless partners such as [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and Snorlax-GX. Notably, there is no [card name=”Fairy Garden” set=”XY” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] in this list. For mobility, we have one copy of [card name=”Ninja Boy” set=”Steam Siege” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card], two [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], and a single [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card]. Three switch cards with a single switching Supporter is relatively standard right now, so this works just fine. Not to mention, once a few Geomancy have been performed, you can usually attack with anyone on board. [card name=”Regirock” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY49″ c=”name”][/card] is included as a Ninja Boy target. He can stockpile Energy and avoid [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] thanks to its Trait, Omega Barrier. Eventually, Regirock can be Ninja Boy swapped for Snorlax-GX, allowing for some Pulverizing plays!
Strengths
According to my resident [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] / Snorlax-GX expert, Carl Scheu, who stayed with me for a few days after returning from Dallas, the deck fares well versus [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. Four copies of [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] is really good versus decks that rely on Abilities like [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card]’s Scoundrel Ring, [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]’s Set Up and [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]’s Steam Up. Combine that with a fat 150 HP, Dark resistant non-EX attacker, and we have ourselves a seriously potent and low maintenance deck. Snorlax-GX offers this deck an even more impressive tank, boasting 230 HP and an impressive GX attack that swings for 220 damage when [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is equipped.
Weaknesses
It’s not all good for [card name=”Xerneas BREAK” set=”Steam Siege” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card], unfortunately. The deck does not fare well versus [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], both of which have become popular choices for Regionals and League Cups. Once Mewtwo is up and rolling, it easily plows through a field of Xerneas BREAK or [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] with Psychic Infinity. It only takes three Energy on a Mewtwo to OHKO a Xerneas with two Energy on it. [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] is bad for Xerneas / Lugia-EX as well. Both decks are a little slow to get going and Greninja boasts even beefier non-EX attackers than Xerneas does! [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] does nothing to slow down an onslaught of Giant Water Shuriken, and a field of Energy can be quickly picked apart once their BREAK come into play, especially if they play a high count of [card name=”Splash Energy” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card].
Overall
I’m not sure that this deck has the stuff to be a major metagame contender due to its weaknesses to [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card], however, I do love the inclusion of four [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] in this list. I think that Silent Lab will be a big card in the future of this format, eventually taking over as the dominant Stadium in decks like Greninja. Greninja with Silent Lab is very strong right now. Not only does it allow you to slow down Mega decks, it also offers an answer to the newly released Giratina Promo!
[premium]
New Yveltal
Because of the new threats that [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] has to face, the list must evolve. We can’t just charge ahead, piloting the same Yveltal lists over and over. Those are public and people know how to beat them now! My friend Carl recently finished second at a League Cup with a Yveltal list that had a few new ideas that I really liked. We all know what a successful Yveltal list looks like right now, however, I thought that Carl’s techs were a great addition to an already proven archetype. Let’s take a look at my version of his list.
[decklist name=”Yveltal / Garbodor” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″][pokemon amt=”13″]3x [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Faded Town” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”13″]9x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
As you can see, I have gutted the [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] in this list in order to accommodate a number of techs, targeted specifically at the decks that did well at Dallas, [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]. What this deck lacks in consistency, it makes up for with options.
[cardimg name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Still the BDIF imo![/cardimg]
Strengths
The addition of [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] gives this deck a nice optional attacker that can swing for one Energy, and, of course, hit [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] for Weakness, which is nice. Most importantly, however, this list has made room for two copies of [card name=”Faded Town” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]. With Mega decks on the rise, I expect Faded Town to see a huge rise in play. Faded Town is an incredible option to have versus Mega decks. When the Stadium sticks, damage is easily racked up. Think about it. If a Faded Town sticks versus a Mega deck for one turn, that’s 60 damage to all Mega Pokemon on the field! They take 20 damage while passing into their turn, 20 coming back into yours and then 20 back into theirs again before they have another opportunity to counter your Stadium. That’s insane! With four total Stadiums in deck, the odds of being able to win the Stadium war are high, increasing the likelihood that Faded Town will accrue huge damage. If Mega Pokemon are big in your area, I definitely suggest trying Faded Town in your list.
Weaknesses
Consistency. This list just has a lot going on. I hate cutting [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] from the list as I feel like I already whiff [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] way more than I should when trying to attain a [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] lock. Mail is also an awesome resource to have when being [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card]d late in the game. If I were to bring this list to a tournament, I would personally cut Oblivion Wing [card name=”Yveltal” set=”XY” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] for three copies of Mail. I think that these changes would put the list in the best spot to do well.
Overall
Despite not placing well at Dallas, [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is still a powerhouse deck that will be going nowhere this season. I still have a lot of faith in the archetype and think that it has the resources it needs at its disposal in order to adapt to new threats.
Volcanion with Andrew Wamboldt
Hey Wamboldt! Welcome to PokeBeach and congrats on your Top 16 finish at Dallas.
Hey Andrew, thank you and thanks for having me!
Now, I have to say, I have generally told people to avoid playing Volcanion since I don’t consider the deck to be very well positioned in the metagame. I can admit, however, that the deck is consistent. How did you come to your decision to play Volcanion?
At all of the previous Regional Championships that I played in earlier in the season I played decks with more intricate setups, which leads to having games you lose because you never setup. Losing games to not getting setup, along with potentially a loss against something you have a bad matchup with can make it difficult to advance in a tournament.
For Dallas, I wanted a deck that had a simpler setup. [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] probably has the simplest setup in the game. If you draw into an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] during your first turn of the game you can grab [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY71″ c=”name”][/card] and use Scoundrel Ring to grab all the Pokemon-EX you will need in a game. Having such a simple setup allowed me to not worry about having to set up my field and allowed me to entirely focus on utilizing my deck from turn one on.
Beyond that, Volcanion-EX is very appealing as an archetype because it is very quick and very powerful. I am a big fan of decks that can take OHKOs, and with the Steam Up Ability Voclanion decks can OHKO everything in the game.
What do you consider to be Volcanion’s good matchups in Standard?
[cardimg name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Steamy[/cardimg]
The good matchups for [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] in Standard are [card name=”M Scizor-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], Rainbow Road (only if you play [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]), [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox, [card name=”Carbink BREAK” set=”Fates Collide” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], mill decks, and [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card].
Other good matchups, which appear to be closer than they actually are, probably 60/40 – 70/30’s in favor of Volcanion when correct strategies are utilized are [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / Dragons / Garbodor.
I think Volcanion is favored against the Dark variants in that it wins most of the time against them, but the actual games play out very closely. I think Volcanion is much more consistent than Dark, giving itself a consistency edge, and there is a lot of ways for Volcanion to win against Dark. If you clear out the Garbodor then you have access to Steam Up and can OHKO anything. If they establish Garbodor sometimes you can Prize-race by taking out [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] on their Bench, or by exchanging 2HKOs against Yveltal-EX.
Playing Parallel City definitely helped in this matchup. With [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY71″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck, I saw more cards on turn one than the typical Yveltal deck would, so I was more likely to find my [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] before they found theirs. If I can establish Parallel City that typically means there are a lot of free Prizes on their Bench in the form of Shaymin-EX. Yveltal has an inconsistent deck engine as built currently and is highly reliant on Shaymin-EX, so they almost always have to play down their Shaymin-EX to win a game.
I think the reason why Yveltal showed such early dominance over Volcanion decks was because the early lists that most players played were suboptimal and their gameplan for playing the matchup was very poorly planned.
I went 3-0 (6-0 individual games) against Yveltal at Dallas, including a win over the European International Champion Michael Pramawat at the event. I didn’t necessarily build my variant to beat Yveltal specifically, but some players did, and I could see something like the Volcanion variant that Klein Houmani played at Dallas, also for a Top 16 finish, with four copies of [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card], having an even better Yveltal matchup than my list does.
What do you consider to be Volcanion’s bad matchups in Standard?
[card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card]’s one terrible matchup in the Standard format is [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] variants. Not only does their [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] shutoff Steam Up, but Psychic Infinity easily OHKOs a loaded Volcanion-EX. Even with [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], they only need four Energy on their Mega Mewtwo to take a OHKO, and because you don’t OHKO them under Garbotoxin lock, that means they can trade every Mega Mewtwo for two Volcanion-EX, which is a great Prize trade for them.
I think [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] variants should be a bad matchup as well for similar reasons to why M Mewtwo-EX is a bad matchup. However, M Mewtwo-EX should be a much worse matchup because if M Rayquaza-EX doesn’t find their [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] early enough, you can OHKO them because you have access to Steam Up, and you also have the potential to cause them to hit for low damage if you get a [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to stick (assuming you play Parallel City in Volcanion).
What matchups do you consider to be even, and what strategies, if any, do you employ to try and clench them?
[cardimg name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ align=”right” c=”custom”]You would think this matchup is much worse.[/cardimg]
The even matchups for the deck include [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] variants.
Against M Gardevoir-EX, I think they’re favored a little bit. Against Mega Gardevoir you want to try to get a turn one Power Heater for significant damage, while loading up multiple [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card]. You can use their [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] to aggressively setup your deck with multiple [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY71″ c=”name”][/card] to try to get as many Steam Ups early game as possible. Then you can [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] them to make sure there are no easy Prizes. If they hit their [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], they will be in a good position, but if not, you can then OHKO their M Gardevoir-EX with Volcanic Heat. Then the games typically come down to you [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]’ing them to one while setting up a third Volcanion-EX or [card name=”Flareon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC6″ c=”name”][/card] and trying to finish the game out with that, usually finishing a 2HKO on the first attack, and then using Steam Ups for a OHKO to finish out the game.
One small thing to do against Mega Gardevoir is get two of the non-EX [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] in play. What Gardevoir decks will try to do when you have a non-EX Volcanion in play is to use [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card] of [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Steam Siege” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]’s Sudden Cyclone Ability to force a Pokemon-EX into the Active position. If you have a second Volcanion on the Bench, you can promote that Active and prevent them from taking a Knock Out on a Pokemon-EX. You can still use Parallel City later in the game to discard your second non-EX to maintain a seven Prize game.
Against [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] you want to take as many Knock Outs with the non-EX Volcanion as possible and then finish with Volcanion-EX or Flareon-EX. If you can take three Knock Outs with the Little Volcanion you will almost always win, as then you can trade a Pokemon-EX for each Greninja to finish out the game. You can use [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and Escape Rope to bring up [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] for OHKOs. If they don’t use Shadow Stitching you can use Steam Up for OHKO on [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]. If they do use Shadow Stitching you can use [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] to activate your Steam Ups to OHKO BREAKs.
If Greninja sets up quickly they win, but in about half, maybe more, of their games that doesn’t happen and they stumble, which makes this about a 50 / 50 matchup. I’d say Volcanion in the hands of a skilled player will beat Greninja more than 50% of the time, but it’s not too far north of that number.
[card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] variants can be difficult to deal with because you can’t damage a Jolteon-EX and Garbodor shuts off your Abilities, making for a long grindy matchup, but Volcanion has lots of options to deal with Jolteon-EX decks. In this matchup, ideally you would setup multiple attackers and try to clear off their [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] and Garbodor in the early game. If you do that, you can use Steam Up to power OHKOs and use your Pokemon Ranger to get through Jolteon-EX. Otherwise you can use the [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] combo to get through it.
Do you mind sharing the list you piloted?
Sure thing!
[decklist name=”Wamboldt’s Volcanion” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″][pokemon amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY71″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Flareon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC28″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”38″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Fisherman” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Energy Retrieval” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]11x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”11″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
I see that your list plays a copy of Flareon-EX. How did Flareon factor into your success at Dallas? Was it as useful as you predicted it would be?
[cardimg name=”Flareon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC6″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Essential[/cardimg]
[card name=”Flareon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC6″ c=”name”][/card] was super helpful and it blows my mind that no one has played the card in the deck prior to this. [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] is a very imperfect attacker in that it needs to be reset by [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] or a switching effect to attack on consecutive turns. What Flareon-EX brings to the deck is a stable attacker that you don’t have to worry about resetting, which is great for the end of the game when both players are getting [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card]’d to small hand sizes.
It also lets you clean up a messy field in terms of Energy attachments. Sometimes you don’t have ideal Pokemon on the field when you draw into [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] or when you use Power Heater, so having the Flash Fire Ability to move Energy to Flareon-EX to set it up as an attacker is very strong and allows you to make the most of every Max Elixir or Power Heater, even if your field isn’t ideal for using those cards at the time.
It was also very great as a starter in games that I went first. What you can do is attach a Fire Energy to the Active, and then attach a second one on the next turn. In either the first or second turn you need to hit only one Max Elixir and then you use Flash Fire to setup a very threatening attacker on the second turn of the game. With Steam Up you can easily take a OHKO on Pokemon-EX putting tons of pressure on the opponent, and in most games they never come back from that early aggression.
Additionally, I think adding extra attackers to the deck is good in general. Using Flareon-EX can keep your Volcanion-EX out of harm’s way giving you more access to Steam Up Abilities throughout the game. Additionally, it helps give you more traction in games where you prize multiple Volcanion-EX, adding a fifth Pokemon-EX attacker to the deck.
The recently released Salamence-EX is also an interesting inclusion in your list. I have heard mixed reviews of this card, and I am personally not a fan of it. Did Salamance-EX pull its weight in Dallas or would you rather have replaced it with something else?
Overall, I would say no. It did come through for me in rounds eight and nine of day one, winning me games against [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] / Dragons and a mirror match, but both of these matchups could have been won without it.
The idea behind the card is that it allows you to pull off comebacks in the mirror match. With [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] red side facing the opponent and a [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] on [card name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ c=”name”][/card], it would take them four Steam Ups to OHKO a Salamence-EX. Given that you would probably be Knocking Out a [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] with the first KO you take with Salamence-EX this is impossible. This is the only real way to make a comeback in the mirror match after the opponent establishes board control, as Volcanion-EX can’t tank a hit in the mirror because of the Water Weakness. Salamence-EX gives you an option to run the table for four Prizes in the mirror match. This type of comeback isn’t doable in the mirror match without Salamence.
[cardimg name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ align=”left” c=”custom”]Maybe skip this boy next time?[/cardimg]
The card is a bit of a tossup for cutting. In metagames with lots of Volcanion-EX, I would play it to have that comeback option in the mirror match. In metagames without lots of Volcanion-EX I would cut it to make room for something else.
I haven’t seen many lists with your Stadium split. Why did you decide to play a 2 / 1 Parallel City / Rough Seas split? Was it useful?
[card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] is probably the best Stadium in the game. In most matches, you use it to clear your Bench of [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] with blue side. This makes it so your opponent has to deal with your field of beefy Pokemon-EX and can’t win the game by taking easy Prizes.
Against [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] decks like Rainbow Road and [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card], you can use the blue side to disrupt their damage output.
Having Parallel City also can help against other decks playing Parallel City. Because Volcanion sees so many cards on its first turn of the game with Hoopa EX and [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card], along with the deck thinning [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] provides, it is usually more likely to see its Parallel City than the other deck, and if you get Parallel City into play before your opponent gets theirs into play they can’t use theirs how they would like to.
The third Stadium card is there to bump opposing Parallel City. It was originally [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card], but I found using Delinquent as my Supporter card for the turn to be less effective than using [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] for my Supporter for turn, so I opted to use an alternate Stadium to bump Parallel.
I chose [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] because the deck that you think of most with Parallel City is [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card], and Rough Seas can be used to negate Fright Night damage a little bit.
Two baby Volcanion is lower than average. Why did you decide to play only two copies of the card? Did you ever miss the third baby Volcanion?
I cut the third [card name=”Volcanion” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY145″ c=”name”][/card] to make room for [card name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ c=”name”][/card]. You only really ever want to attack with one in a game, that’s all you need, so two works really well in that regard. Unfortunately it is also the best starter for the deck. The difference between playing three and two was essentially starting it four out of ten games versus three of ten games. I felt that was such a little difference that it was worth it to drop down to two. You already started it in less than half of your games and were already reliant on your switching cards to get it Active in more than half of your games, so running only two makes a lot of sense.
[cardimg name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Still the BCIF.[/cardimg]
I never really missed the third one. Two worked very well throughout the tournament. If I were to take out the Salamence-EX, a third Volcanion wouldn’t be going back in for it.
Is there anything else you would want to change about your list going forward?
One thing I tried to do with my list was take out cards that I felt were too costly. I believe that in most decks, using [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] is the optimal Supporter card to use in any given turn because their effects are so much better than every other Supporter’s effect. Therefore I tried to eliminate cards from the list I was originally building off of for less costly alternatives.
I started off with the Supporter cards in my list, but in my testing I found myself never wanting to use cards like [card name=”Olympia” set=”Generations” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] over one of the three core Supporters. Therefore Olympia became a [card name=”Switch” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and Delinquent became a [card name=”Rough Seas” set=”Primal Clash” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], cards that do the intended effect of the Supporter card but without costing me my Supporter for the turn.
The one Supporter that I didn’t do this with was [card name=”Fisherman” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card], but I should have. The only times I used it in the tournament were when I was dead drawing and it happened to be in hand. A [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] or fourth [card name=”Energy Retrieval” set=”Black and White” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] could provide the same effect, but at less of a cost.
I’d probably actually just put in a 12th Fire Energy for this. In metas where [card name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t a good play, I would probably cut that for a 13th Fire Energy. Playing more Fire Energy is very good as they increase the probabilities of hitting your [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and makes it more likely for you to draw into Energy to use with the Steam Up Ability.
I’d also cut the Rough Seas for a [card name=”Scorched Earth” set=”Primal Clash” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] in many metagames. Scorched Earth provides you an option to get Fire Energy in the discard when [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is online, as well as lets you draw some extra cards for your turn.
However, in the current meta game I would probably cut the Rough Seas for a [card name=”Faded Town” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]. Mega decks are seeing a lot of success, and if you can get a Faded Town to stick a couple of turns in the mid-late game against Mega decks it can bump Pokemon into easy Knock Out range.
Would you consider playing Volcanion again for a major tournament?
Yeah, I will probably play [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] at a major tournament again, although I will probably wait for the current wave of Mega decks to blow over for it to be better positioned in the metagame before I break it out again.
I think it’s one of these archetypes that will almost always be playable. I think the deck should be one of the strongest over the next couple of seasons as it will be one of the few decks that can reach the damage numbers to OHKO Pokemon-GX, which will make it a major player moving forward.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to play your Volcanion list at a future event?
As far as players looking to play my list in particular, I would say to play it as a Pokemon-EX heavy deck and not a non-EX deck, so you should focus on setting up your field with the non-EX [card name=”Volcanion” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY145″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], and then try to avoid going back to a second non-EX Volcanion, as it will throw off your seven Prize game.
I’d also say to be aware of the board state that you are developing. If you hit some early [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] you can try to blow your opponent out in a few turns. You only want to use one non-EX Volcanion in a game, but it doesn’t matter if you use it turn one to setup a field, or if you use it turn five to re-setup a field after hitting the nuts with Max Elixir early and taking a string of early Knock Outs.
I’d also say to be watchful of the plays you can make with [card name=”Flareon-EX” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC28″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. These two cards can be used in a lot of creative ways in lots of situations. For example, Flareon-EX can be used to power up an attacker late game, and you can use Parallel City to discard damaged Pokemon-EX to create a prolonged game where your opponent needs more attacks to win.
Thanks for stopping by Andrew and good luck with the remainder of your season!
No problem, thanks for having me!
Conclusion
Wow! Amazing information and insight from Andrew Wamboldt. I’m super excited to get this interview with him on such a high profile deck coming off a hot finish at Dallas! There’s a few key things that Wamboldt said that I want to reinforce before I head out. First of all, I totally agree with Wamboldt’s assertion that [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] is the best Stadium in the game. The card can easily decide matches, especially when you are able to draw into it before you opponent draws theirs. The other big thing that I got out of this interview is Wamboldt’s assertion that tech Supporters aren’t as valuable as consistency and the big three Supporters, [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]. After logging more games this format, I am in complete agreement with this. I am not a believer in the Michael Pramawat line of thinking of, “Let’s cut all my [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] for more tech Supporters.” I haven’t found myself using cards that I once thought valuable such as [card name=”Olympia” set=”Generations” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pokémon Center Lady” set=”Flashfire” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. That’s why I suggested to trim the [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ c=”name”][/card] list I posted above down in order to fit three Mail back into the list. As Wamboldt said, drawing into Parallel City first is such a big deal in some matchups, and more Mail makes that happen! The only thing I disagree with Wamboldt on is the Yveltal versus [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. Maybe I’m biased but I still call that matchup clearly in Yveltal’s favor. In fact, I just played a series with Wamboldt online and beat him in a best of three series. I did play three copies of Mail in my list though, and I know that Mail made a significant difference in my ability to win!
Though my games versus Wamboldt’s Volcanion list went well, my games against his [card name=”Gyarados” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY60″ c=”name”][/card] list went abysmally! I was very impressed by his Gyarados list and I think that Gyarados / [card name=”Lucky Helmet” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] could be a popular play for Georgia. If you are worried about Gyarados at Georgia, make sure to put a [card name=”Spinda” set=”Primal Clash” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] in your deck! I’ll leave you with the Gyarados list that performed well in Europe last weekend.
[decklist name=”Gdos” amt=”60″ caption=”Gdog” cname=”Gyarados” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY60″][pokemon amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Gyarados” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Magikarp” set=”Generations” no=”22″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Spinda” set=”Primal Clash” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”45″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Teammates” set=”Primal Clash” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ 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=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Dive Ball” set=”Primal Clash” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Buddy-Buddy Rescue” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lucky Helmet” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Team Magma’s Secret Base” set=”Double Crisis” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Thanks for tuning in for my article! Good luck to anyone looking to travel to the Regionals in Athens, Georgia this weekend. I hope you got as much from reading this article as I got composing it.
Thanks again! Later Trainers,
-Andrew Mahone
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