Searching the Premise — Creativity in an Unskillful Format and Teaching Novices

By: Alex Koch · Posted Apr 18, 2017 at 6:58 PM · 0 Comments

Hello everyone! Alex back at you with another offbeat article with a few lists sprinkled in here and there. To keep things a little bit fresh, this article is going to talk about some things that hasn’t really been talked about in the community yet, as well as give you a little bit of a taste as to some cool things we saw in the Utah Regional Championships.

[cardimg name=”Professor Oak’s Hint” set=”Evolutions” no=”84″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Growth in the community has been a hot topic for quite some time now. With the way the Pokemon Company International is dealing with things, and the higher prize payout of large events, Pokemon and the community it encompasses has never been larger. As such, many debates have been sparked about where the correct destination is. Where do we go from here now that we have the ball rolling? That sort of thing is better answered for another day, but for now, we’ll dive into another topic that has to deal with growth, and that’s teaching new players how to play the game.

Trust me, I can hear your groan already. “But Alex! I came here to look at some fire lists and hot techs! I don’t have any friends to teach anyway!” Zingers aside, yes, I know that this might not have been what you were looking for when you signed on to PokeBeach today to catch the latest article, but I believe that it’s an important part of the scene that is very often overlooked.

I play a lot of board games and card games. My dad is a very good Cribbage player, and even plays in large tournaments himself, just as I play in these Pokemon tournament things. By playing these games, I’ve had the great opportunity and honor to teach people how much fun they can have without the use of electronics.

But when I learn a new game, I often find myself very confused as to the rules, the strategy, and the way to win the game! No offense to my friends, but they aren’t the best teachers out there. People always want to dive right in to the strategy and want to show people cool tips and tricks. I’ve seen a lot of people at league start diving right into the metagame of Expanded to a new player who only wants to try out their theme deck and learn a little bit more about the scene. These people aren’t going to care about how Night March was everywhere last year, and how their modified theme deck is worthless in the current meta. Every time this happens, I hardly ever see those people again. I’l’ dive more into this later, but hopefully you can kind of see what I’m talking about here. It’s an important point, and hopefully through these tips and tricks, you can teach your siblings, parents, significant other, or new player at your league to play this great game that we all love without confusing them and turning them off.

Teaching New Players Pokemon

Outside of the basic rules and how to play the game, there are a few things to remember when teaching a new player. These are less how to teach someone to play the game and more like guidelines on to how you should approach the teaching of Pokemon to a new player.

Prepare

You want to make sure you have everything laid out properly before you teach someone. I’ve learned games from people on the fly that have not prepared the board at all. While they set up, they try to show me all the parts of the game, what different pieces do, and how “this piece totally kills this piece but only if you can get it under this situation.” The same sort of thing applies in Pokemon. You don’t want to dive right in to how [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] totally destroys the Quad Lapras matchup without setting up some sort of situation first.

My recommendation is to make/build/buy starter decks first. You want to avoid giving them too heavy of a combination before they understand what they’re doing. Starter decks, while boring and slow, are great ways to understand the basics of the game. Here, they learn about attaching Energy, making sure they have enough Energy to attack, and about calculating damage output and HP remaining. In fact, I highly suggest doing theme deck battles with your friends that are good and know how to play. I personally can’t do this too often since none of my friends are any good, but in theory, it helps your competitive game as well. It helps you with resource management, conserving Pokemon, and managing Bench space.

[cardimg name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This is already a total tangent, but hear me out for a second. If you’re looking for alternative ways to improve your game, play theme decks with four copies of [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] in them. You’ll be surprised at how much your resource management and in-game skill improves. It’s not anything to really write home about, but I suggest it. If there is any way that you can improve your game, you should take it, right?

A Clear Goal or Win Condition

Honestly, this should be the first thing you start with no matter what you’re playing. The whole point of a game is to accomplish a goal. If you’ve never thought about it from that angle, take the time to do so right now. Baseball? Score more runs than the opponent. League of Legends? Destroy the opposing Nexus. Life? On second thought, still waiting to hear back on that one.

If you didn’t know, the goal of Pokemon is to Knock Out six of your opponent’s Pokemon. Even though there are other win conditions, you want to give your pupil the most basic of ways to win the game. It will better help them understand what is required of them. You don’t want to hand them [card name=”Durant” set=”Noble Victories” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] and say “figure it out stupid.” You should let them know about decking out and benching out, but I would say a good portion of games are won by taking six Prizes.

In fact, I would be curious to find out what the exact number is. Personally, I don’t win many games by taking all six Prizes, since I don’t win many games at all but most people seem to win by this manner. If I were to give a rough estimate, I would say probably 85% of games are decided by Prize count. Let me know what you think, and if someone is savvy enough to do the math themselves, or ask enough people, then also let me know, since I obviously don’t.

Different Types of Cards

The last thing I like to do before going over any aspect of the game itself is talk about the many different types of cards there are. Obviously the game is divided up into three major sections of cards: Pokemon, Trainers, and Energy. From there, each sections is broken up into further sections: Evolutions, Basics, Supporters, Items, Stadiums, Special Energy and Basic Energy. Even then, there are more breakdowns in the form of Megas, BREAKs, Pokemon-GX, Pokemon-EX, as well as regular Items compared to Tools and ACE SPECs. If your friend understands what each of the cards do at their core, they won’t be surprised at what that card does when they draw them.

Also as a friendly reminder, Pokemon is very user friendly. It tells you what you can and can’t do with a card on the card itself. If you didn’t know, every Supporter since the dawn of time literally tells you that you can only use one per turn. An overload of information about each card can be kind of crazy to a new player, so help them out by reassuring them that if they ever forget a ruling of a type of card, it will say it on the card itself.

Obviously there are a few exceptions to this, but that’s just it, there are only a few. Every Trainer card says what it can and can’t do, so as long as you tell them you can only evolve a Pokemon when it’s been in play for a turn, they can only attach one Energy per turn, and their Bench size is limited to five, it’ll be smooth sailing for getting your girlfriend into the game.

As one last reminder on this subject, show them the parts of the card. Do you remember way back in Base Set (or even now, I haven’t read a starter rule book in a while) where it shows you the parts of a card? Stuff like HP, attack cost, damage, and that sort of thing? It may seem like a silly little thing to go over, but to a new player, that’s everything.

Don’t Talk About Meta or Strategy

This is by far the biggest tip I can give anyone about teaching a player the game of Pokemon, or any game for that matter. The goal of you teaching them is for them to understand what is required of them to win the game, and that’s it. You’re not asking them to pull off any crazy combinations, or asking them to already know when to [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] on their first day. Again, that’s overwhelming to a new player. Instead, wait for them to ask you the question, “how are you so good at this?” Trust me, every time I teach someone this game, that question comes up. No, not because I’m the center of the universe and I wanted to throw that bit in there, but because they’re having fun and they want to improve their skills. That question could just have easily been asked, “how do I get better at this game?” After that moment you can start talking about the meta and such.

Seriously, this is the biggest turn off. Some people don’t want to be shown or told what is good, but would rather figure it out themselves. As a teacher, there is quite the satisfaction in getting the reaction of, “so if I play card X, that’s a good thing because it means Y will happen, right?” I live for that kind of stuff. If you were a math teacher and you got the same sort of reaction out of one of your students, you would know that you are a good teacher… or your kids are really smart. Either way, that same effect can be achieved in teaching someone Pokemon by being patient. Remember, they don’t have to learn what every card does on day one.

Understand Their Goals

[cardimg name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Not every person in the world wants to be the next Alex Koch (or Jason Klaczynski) so it’s best to understand what kind of player they want to be. A lot of people reading this article know that the World Championship may be out of their reach already, so their goal might be to Top 8 a Regional Championship before the season ends. Some people have the set goal of winning a League Cup before they start their climb next season. Some people want to have as much fun as possible with the game and occasionally travel to their nearest Regional once every year. Whatever it may be, you want to make sure to understand their goals so you’re not adding any unnecessary pressure.

Most of the time when I teach people it’s with the goal of merely wanting them to understand the game. My dad knows how to play Pokemon because he wants to be able to watch my streamed games and know when I’m doing good and when it doesn’t look so great for me. He understands that to have [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] played against you with only a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Delinquent” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card], and four Items in hand is not a great thing. On the flip side, I’ve also taught people that eventually rode in my car and traveled to events with me in hopes to come away with a solid day two finish. Whatever it is, knowing where their ceiling resides is a good thing to use to understand the pace of which you want to teach them. At low levels, a one hour teaching session could be enough. At others, you might want to spend more time going over the rules, then the good cards, then the meta, then how to get to large events, and so on.

Opportunities That Match Goals

Speaking of understanding goals, once you know what a player wants, it’s time to move on to what a player can do to achieve said wants. Tell them about League Challenges to practice for League Cups to practice for Regional Championships and so on. Let them know about what times they can come and practice, or even what times you and your buddies get together to play some games at someone’s house.

Never Say a Card is Bad

And the last tip in helping someone out is one based around encouragement and positive vibes. There’s nothing worse than when someone tells you that you have a bad idea. When people are trying to understand the game, they’re going to ask questions about specific cards and maybe even say, “Wow! This card is really good!” What you don’t want to do is shoot them down and say that a card isn’t played because of blank and blank. Instead, say yes. “Yeah, that card is really good. Mind if I show you some more cards that are even better?” They will get excited that they’re developing an eye for the game, as well as learning more about this cool combination they want to play.

Remember to keep letting them know they’re doing a good job. Half of teaching someone how to do something is a reassurance that they’re doing a good job so far. It’s a lot of fun to teach someone you know about this great game, so don’t be too afraid to bring people into our crazy little world!

Utah: Seen and Heard

So teaching players aside, there was a tournament that recently happened! Utah Regional Championships! Surprisingly, it ended up being one of the smaller Regional Championships we’ve had this year. I know it’s still considered “West Coast,” but I assumed it would be far enough East that many players would flock to it. Either way, I had a great time and the event was fairly well organized, even if it did run a bit long due to a lunch break that players didn’t seem too thrilled about.

For the most part, the meta of the tournament wasn’t drastically different from any of the other Standard tournaments that have been going on. After all, Anaheim Regional Championships, Australia Intercontinental Championships, and the Special Event that took place in Puerto Rico were all the same format as Utah Regional Championships. So what was different about this one?

[premium]

The Return of Yveltal

If you could sum up the theme of this season, it would have to be one relating to a constant ebb and flow, similar to a tide. Because of the natural rock-paper-scissors nature of the format, certain decks have been on top at different times, even though the decks throughout the season haven’t changed too much. Going into Utah, a lot of the top players had seemingly thought that [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] was going to see a decline in play due to the large target it had on its back. At this point in the season, people are either just trying to scrape up the few extra points they need for an invite, or they’re trying to hit a home run with some counter to the counter deck idea. That’s why we’re seeing crazy things like [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC11″ c=”name”][/card] and Quad Lapras pop up here and there.

[cardimg name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY150″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

But back to my point. A lot of players had been flocking to the popular Decidueye / Vileplume counters of Volcanion, [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card]. This then prompted players to return to an old favorite of Dark Pokemon based decks as a way to counter the counter. In all honestly, Yveltal / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] doesn’t have the worst Decidueye / Vileplume matchup in the world, and it also takes a favorable percentage against a lot of the field as well. So why did we only see one Yveltal / Garbodor make it to day two when it was the fourth most popular deck played in Utah?

There are a lot of theories on this question. Personally, I think it has to do with the bad draws that these players received. A friend asked me what I thought about the weekend in terms of what I played and what “the play” was after seeing so many Decidueye and Turbo Darkrai get into top. I answered that I didn’t really know what the correct play was, but that if this tournament were run again with different round one and round two pairings to throw everything off, we would have a drastically different Top 32.

On a fundamental level, that’s a problem. Shouldn’t the best player in the room win the tournament? Or rather, shouldn’t some of the same people be near the top tables all the time? After all, Pokemon is comprised of one third deck building, one third player skill, and one third luck. Well when it comes to Standard, I can’t agree with that assessment. This all comes down to the idea of a healthy metagame versus an unhealthy metagame. That is a completely different conversation for another day, and greatly depends on what your definition of a healthy metagame is, but right now, it’s not where players want it to be. Not to sound like I’m climbing up onto a soap box, but you shouldn’t have a game determined by the first three turns of a game. Think about what two cards get turned over right away. A [card name=”Rowlet” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card] versus [card name=”Combee” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] versus a [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] versus a [card name=”Fomantis” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card].

I know I’m getting a little side tracked here, but that’s what happens when the perception of how a deck is supposed to perform is vastly different from the result. There was quite a bit of Yveltal there this last weekend, but it didn’t land into the top tables because I believe most all of them ran into unfavorable matchups and situations that didn’t build it up for success.

This all makes it sound like I played Yveltal this weekend and am just complaining about the state of the meta. Only half of that is true, but let me take you down my deck, my matchups and why I think this tournament, and many Standard tournaments like this one, was a bit of a fluke.

Vespiquen

It’s hard to write about new things. I’ve pretty much only played four decks for the last two years, [card name=”M Gardevoir-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”M Manectric-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], and anything with [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] in it. Before the tournament started, I was pretty much set on playing Gardevoir. The more I think about it, the more I think that would have been an amazing decision, considering how many Mega Mewtwo there were. It surprised me that literally zero Mega Gardevoir were playing on Sunday. It was most likely a product of them running into Volcanion or [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] too many times, but my point still stands.

In other news, for reference, here is the list I played this last weekend.

[decklist name=”Vespiquen” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″][pokemon amt=”28″]4x [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Combee” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”9″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”49″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Blitzle” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Zorua” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Unown” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tauros-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”100″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”28″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/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=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Revitalizer” set=”Generations” no=”70″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Seems like a fairly consistent list right? That’s because it was! I don’t think I bricked too often or too much in the tournament, and I didn’t lose my games because of what cards I played. I built the list two days before the tournament, so I didn’t have much time to tinker with it, at least as much time as I usually like. The [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC11″ c=”name”][/card] was helpful, but the [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] line was not. On a quick note to satisfy the list people out there, I would have dropped the Zoroark line in favor of a second Wobbuffet, a [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card], and a fourth card that I can’t quite decide on.

But this list isn’t why I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you about how I absolutely lucked out to my 5-3-1 record, and how I didn’t feel like my skill as a player had anything to do with why I placed 67th. My matchups were as follows:

Round 1: Brian Wisler playing Pikachu Power WW
Round 2: Charlie Nguyen playing [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] WW
Round 3: Josh Alvarez playing [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] LWL
Round 4: Robbie Weidman playing [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] WLT
Round 5: John Pham playing Yveltal / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] WLW
Round 6: Bobby Valderas playing Walls / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] WW
Round 7: Zach Everest playing [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] WLL
Round 8: Chris Danner paying Volcanion LL
Round 9: Evan Lubeley playing [card name=”Lapras-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] WW

I never really felt like I outplayed my opponent in any game. I don’t think I want to blame the natural state of [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] as much as I want to blame how Standard is set up. I can’t be the only person who feels this way. But before I start to rant again, just look at my matchups. The first round was against a theme deck, which I can understand is a good matchup for any deck. I wish I hadn’t played against it, because even though it was a free win, it sent my resistance into the toilet. [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] is a great matchup considering the high count of [card name=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] I play and the [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] line. It did have a [card name=”Gumshoos-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] tech (which I’ll go into later) but that wasn’t enough to stop me.

After the lunch break, I faced up against a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], which wasn’t the best. Then the mirror, which wasn’t the best either. Yveltal / Garbodor was the one match where I really felt like I actually had to use my brain a little bit. [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / Walls wasn’t too bad once I was able to find [card name=”Tauros-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card], and Volcanion and Quad Lapras were amazingly one sided both against and for me. [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] was a weird one. If you ask Zach how those games went, he would agree. But even so, after the games and testing against the deck the night before, I’ve concluded that with anything less than two [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC11″ c=”name”][/card] and a Tauros in Vespiquen and you’ll be at a significant disadvantage in the matchup.

I tried to rush through that section since I didn’t want to harp on it too much, but let’s look at those same matchups in number form:

Round 1: 99 / 1
Round 2: 80 / 20
Round 3: 20 / 80
Round 4: 50 / 50
Round 5: 70 / 30
Round 6: 85 / 15
Round 7: 20 / 80
Round 8: 20 / 80
Round 9: 90 / 10

Now if you’re a fan of the Alex, you know I’ve never been good at assigning matchup percentages. But you can’t argue too much with my above assessment. Besides the mirror, when the closest match you have is a 70 / 30, something is either wrong with your deck choice, or something is wrong with the meta.

Either way, if I were to play the tournament again, I would choose [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] 100% of the time. Not because I think it’s a good deck (which I do) but because I know that I have a good shot at going up against the same level of favorable matchups. I can also turn those bad matchups into amazingly positive ones. For example, in our testing leading up to the tournament, the [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] matchup was a 75 / 25 in favor of Vespiquen as long as Giratina didn’t play [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]. If they did, it instantly swung back into the favor of Giratina at around 20 / 80. I don’t think that’s good for the game.

Gumshoos-GX

I need to abruptly switch topics before I get too out of hand with how much disgust I have for the Standard meta. Let’s talk about something awesome instead: [card name=”Gumshoos-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card], the card that everyone wrote off right away for being too cute or too weak or too bad. Whatever your reasoning was, nobody was playing this card at all. Even in mill decks, people were opting for a more heavy line of [card name=”Raticate” set=”Evolutions” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crawdaunt” set=”Primal Clash” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] to provide the disruption. But one big thing was overlooked when talking about Gumshoos-GX, and that’s Gumshoe Chance GX. The thought was that your opponent could easily play around attaching too many Energy for it to be effective, and only three Energy on a Pokemon-EX still wouldn’t be enough for Gumshoos to take a Knock Out. Also, most of the Mega Pokemon that have 210 HP, the perfect amount for Gumshoos to take advantage of, wouldn’t be attaching more than four Energy, except [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card].

[cardimg name=”Gumshoos-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”145″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

But obviously wouldn’t the Mega Mewtwo player just not attach too many Energy? This goes back to the fact that once you see a [card name=”Yungoos” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] hit the field, you wouldn’t want to over load a M Mewtwo-EX too much so it gets one hit. But what if you’re trying to take a one shot on a [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]? Emerald Break takes three Energy to use, so M Mewtwo-EX would need exactly four Energy on it to take the one shot. Crazy how that lines up so perfectly.

Gumshoos-GX is an amazing partner for Standard Mega Rayquaza decks for many different reasons. First, the counter to Mega Mewtwo is something that can’t be overlooked. Historically, M Mewtwo-EX could easily pull off Ability-lock plus a [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to render Mega Rayquaza helpless and easily take games. Gumshoos-GX changes that mid game power that Mewtwo brings. Second, against other non-Mewtwo matchups, Search The Premises actually becomes a little bit busted. One of the big strengths with both the Expanded and Standard versions of Rayquaza is the ability to seemingly play disruption Supporters alongside draw Supporters without taking a hit to your consistency. Knowing which Supporter to play at what time will win you games. My round three opponent, Charlie, is a buddy of mine who was playing the Gumshoos-GX in his deck. He would have won a game had he [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] looped me at one point. He only knew I had a dead hand because of Search the Premises. Any other player or deck list would have played [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] in that exact situation. Alas, Charlie missed getting a Hex Maniac drop after playing about six [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] in one turn, blowing all four [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to try to hit one.

The third reason for Gumshoos-GX is as a [card name=”Giratina-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] counter. Even with a heavy count of [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] to get around Renegade Pulse, sometimes getting those Double Colorless Energy drops can be tricky when you’re staring down multiple Chaos Wheels. Gumshoe Chance GX offers a quick one shot to those early game Chaos Wheel. The numbers that this card hit are so perfect it’s amazing this card hasn’t seen more play.

So you’re probably wondering what a list looks like by now. Well I’ve got one for you! The Thursday before the tournament, my buddy Polo and Charlie were testing this list at my house, and the Gumshoos-GX was originally a joke. It worked, so they put it in. Charlie got some bad luck and didn’t finish too hot, but Polo managed to slide right into the bubble spot and take 33rd. He would have won round nine instead of taking a tie, but there was some questionable judge calling that made the game end in a draw. I won’t get into it, but this list should have made day two. Sometimes you just get a bit unlucky.

[decklist name=”Rayquaza” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”16″]3x [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Gumshoos-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Yungoos” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dragonite-EX” set=”Evolutions” no=”72″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]2x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Evolutions” no=”74″ 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=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Mega Turbo” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Rayquaza Spirit Link” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”87″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

If you have any questions about the list, feel free to ask me, since I know a fair amount about why they went one way over the other. We talked at length on the eleven hour car ride, so while I didn’t play the deck myself, I have a good feel for it. I do want to highlight a couple of reasons behind cards though.

Volcanion-EX Versus Salamence-EX

[cardimg name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This one was the most debated topic all car ride long. The benefits of [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] ended up winning out against the matchup security that [card name=”Salamence-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY170″ c=”name”][/card] brought. Volcanion-EX is only in this deck for its Steam Up Ability. This is a relatively new concept, and I believe we first saw its use at Anaheim Regional Championships to help get extra Fire into the discard. Because of the lack of [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] in Standard, it can be tricky to make good of your [card name=”Mega Turbo” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] in the early stages of the game. On the flip side, Salamence-EX helps tremendously in the [card name=”M Mewtwo-EX” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, the Turbo Dark matchup, and surprisingly, in the [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. With a [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and a few [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] on the Bench, Salamence can be your early game threat against the aggressive Item-locking deck. Sure, Rayquaza never really had a bad time against Decidueye to begin with, but it helps, so why leave it out?

There was a brief moment where both Pokemon-EX were included in the list. I don’t quite remember where the room came from, since at one point they also had a fourth [card name=”Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] included. I’m fairly confident that spot was in place of the fourth Fire Energy, since the thought was that three Mega Turbo and four [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] would be enough to keep the Energy flowing.

Escape Rope

I heard Polo talk about how often they used [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to grab the [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Primal Clash” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card]. Not only was it able to get them out of weird early game situations, but it did exactly what Escape Rope was supposed to do: force your opponent into even/odd Prize situations. Imagine against Turbo Dark. Generally speaking, the early game is going to be filled with multiple [card name=”Hoopa-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] drops, leaving little room on the Bench for a second baby [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Steam Siege” no=”65″ c=”name”][/card]. Escape Rope can work wonders against non-observant players. I don’t know if this card is good enough to warrant a second spot, or where that second spot would even come from (maybe the second [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]) but I do know that I wouldn’t cut it after hearing about how amazing it was in the deck.

Skyla

And last but not least, [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]. I remember thinking that this card was once bad in this deck. Oh man how I was wrong. You can’t blame me really, I’m only actually good at playing one deck, and that one doesn’t even aim to take Prizes. [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] is a fantastic partner for Skyla, since essentially it turns all of your [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] into that second Puzzle of Time you’re looking to hit. I just want to make sure everyone knows that this card should 100% be staple in Rayquaza now, no cutting it.

Ilima

[cardimg name=”Ilima” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”146″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

One last quick subject change before I leave you. I want to touch on one last card that nearly took Drew Kennett the distance, and that’s [card name=”Ilima” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]. This card was instantly written off as a card with way too much chance included with the cost of a Supporter. But Drew partnered the card with [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]. With Abyssal Hand, he has all the upside with very little downside. If Drew missed the flip, he could just draw back up to five cards. If his opponent missed, they might have been left with a dead hand early in the game. People often compare this card to [card name=”Ace Trainer” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card]. Ace Trainer is obviously more certain, but you can’t use it when you’re ahead of the game to seal off the win. With Ilima, you can add that disruption to you deck after taking the first Prize.

So with Octillery and a certain level of aggression needed, Ilima best fits in [card name=”Gyarados” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY60″ c=”name”][/card], since Octillery comes naturally in that deck. That’s what Drew did, but to bring this article back together, I think it would work fairly well in [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card]. I haven’t tried it since returning from Utah, since my focus has shifted back over to Expanded, but it doesn’t sound like the worst idea to play around with. Try it and you may find yourself falling in love.

Conclusion

And that does it for me! Let me know if you have any questions. Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect deck list, so any help is good help!

Until next time,

Alex

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