“Heart of Steel” — Registeel Toolbox for London!
[cardimg name=”Registeel” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”68″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Top of the morning guys! While everybody has been spending time at work, I’ve been spending time at the ‘Beach working on a surprising rogue-ish deck. With every new expansion lies some new cards that are able to exploit an entire format, and in the case of Crimson Invasion and Shining Legends, there are a couple of cards that are able to do just that.
In my search criteria, I wanted something that could handle [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]. With that in mind, there’s quite a few bases to cover! The best way to exploit numerous decks are through techs that usually can hit Weakness — and with techable attackers, you can bet that in order to maximize consistency we’ll be using Basics.
After researching lot of the new cards, one of them really caught my eye: [card name=”Registeel” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card]. Being a Basic Pokemon with solid typing against Fairy-types, we pose a massive threat to Gardevoir-GX decks! We’re also packing an attack that accelerates Energy, which means that we can power up a backup army of attackers waiting in the wings. A deck like this has a ton of potential because of how versatile it is — but how can we keep momentum going in this deck? This required a ton of brainstorming, but after working on this deck with one of my students I coach, we were able to bust out a list with some of the best attackers available. Below is the blueprint list we began testing:
[decklist name=”Registeel Toolbox” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Registeel” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”68″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Registeel” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Shining Legends” no=”14″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cobalion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Keldeo” set=”Shining Legends” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Steam Siege” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]6x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”XY” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]4x [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Arguably one of the craziest and most creative decks I’ve constructed, this deck handles the entire metagame in a nutshell in numerous ways! It has a few problems that we will discuss, but first let’s talk general strategy.
Strategy and Attackers
The strategy with this deck is to initially use Registeel to accelerate Energy, and then sacrifice the first Prize card to the opponent; falling behind is our goal, and we usually never want to take the first KO. We’ll then proceed to utilize whichever attacker is most effective against our opponent with the use of [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card]! Counter Energy allows us to keep tempo against heavy Pokemon-EX / Pokemon-GX decks, all the while giving us outs to make a comeback at nearly any point of the game. Talk about a wildcard!
Now I want to briefly detail each of our attackers and go over which ones are most effective in which matchup. Some have multiple uses, while others are just generally “go-tos”.
Sudowoodo from BREAKpoint
[cardimg name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] is an absolute all-star! Being able to copy any attack, it is insanely useful with a single Counter Energy. I usually use Sudowoodo the most out of every attacker in the entire deck because it can match the damage of EXs/GXs outputs all within a regular Basic Pokemon. I tend to hold Sudowoodo in my hand and then surprise my opponent with it whenever applicable.
Mimikyu
A Psychic-type Sudowoodo. The main reason we play this card is to hit a different kind of Weakness, otherwise I’d rather just play a second Sudowoodo. Keep in mind, [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] can’t copy GX attacks!
Mew
[card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] is a beautiful free retreater, which allows us to pivot our Active Pokemon at all times following a KO from our opponent. Mew acts as a doppelganger for our onslaught of attackers, all the while providing a Psychic-type attacker similar to Mimikyu.
Reshiram
Our super hot fire blaster, [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Shining Legends” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card] helps us turn Golisopod-GX into a marshmallow. This Pokemon can be played around sometimes since our opponent has so many [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], but I feel that Counter Energy and precise timing will allow us to use Scorching Breath for OHKOs. This Pokemon can also OHKO a [card name=”Metagross-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] handily.
Cobalion
Being one of our only Metal-type attackers, this is a great splashable card in here! [card name=”Cobalion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] shines in the late game when our opponent has taken many Prize cards, allowing us to hit for ridiculous numbers.
Keldeo
[card name=”Keldeo” set=”Shining Legends” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] is our flash-in-the-pan attacker against Fire-type decks, mainly Volcanion. I kid you not, even in non-Fire matchups I find myself using this seahorse all the time! 120 is nothing to scoff at for a single Counter Energy, and it usually comes out of nowhere.
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Supporting Roles
Mr. Mime
We’ve included a [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] in order to fend off any pesky mosquitoes, mainly that newly released [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve found that since we have such low-HP Pokemon, we’re unable to keep up with the heavy damage Jet Punch delivers. Mr. Mime negates that damage and allows us to fend off random spread attacks, such as [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card]’s Flying Flip or the new [card name=”Latios” set=”Shining Legends” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]’ Break Through.
Hoopa
[card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] is excellent in generic scenarios against heavy Pokemon-EX / Pokemon-GX decks. Its main fault is that you must be behind or have a Rainbow Energy in order to attack, which means you’ll have to do some planning ahead. In drastic scenarios, this card may be used to stall, or even just steal entire games due to our opponent’s lack of non-EX / non-GX Pokemon.
[cardimg name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Giratina
Since we don’t fall behind against Greninja, we need a way to combat them without the usage of Counter Energy. We can do this perfectly with [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card]! By preventing our opponent from using Giant Water Shuriken, they will be forced to two-shot our Basic Pokemon while we’re forced to two-shot their Stage 2 Pokemon. Easy trade off? I think so.
Oranguru
Since we’re toying around with Prize cards so much with this deck, we need a card that can help us to draw out of late game [card name=”N” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW100″ c=”name”][/card]’s and sticky situations. [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card]’s Instruct Ability has you covered! Got a low hand size? This ape’s the guy.
Tapu Lele-GX
Besides being able to grab a Supporter with Wonder Tag, we also use [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] in our deck to fend off other Tapu Lele-GX (similar to [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] wars in 2012). Since Tapu Lele-GX has no Weakness, our deck naturally trades evenly with opposing Tapu Lele-GX, so we must play some of our own in order to attack with. My favourite play with Energy Drive is to use Mew’s Ability with Counter Energy in order to get off a massive surprise attack against opposing Tapu Lele-GX. What a nice inclusion!
It’s nice having Pokemon-GX with excellent Abilities that also help us in carrying out our deck’s main strategy.
Kartana-GX
[card name=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] is an insanely large piece of this deck’s puzzle, and many people underestimate that — the GX attack is one of the reasons we’re able to maintain tempo within a game. If we’re tied 1-1 with our opponent in Prize cards, we’re then forced to draw the final Prize Card without the use of [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card]. In this case, we’d use Blade GX and win the game, simple as that!
The Ability is also a nice utility, especially with how many Special Energy are running rampant. Coupled with our singleton copy of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], Kartana-GX will aid us in keeping our opponent’s Special Energy off of the board at all times.
Unique Inclusions
Three Rescue Stretcher
Since we tend to play low counts of attackers in this deck, we need to always revive our key attacker in specific matchups. For example, against a deck like Volcanion, we’re going to need more than a single Keldeo to fend off their whole deck; we won’t always need 3-4 Keldeo in any given matchup, but [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] is a good inclusion to respawn your main attacker in every matchup.
One Counter Catcher
[cardimg name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] has won me numerous games by just being “there”. What I mean by that is, Counter Catcher follows the main theme of the deck since we will most likely be behind in Prize cards. This means that more often than not, it will be a usable card that can catch many opponents off guard, all the while giving us a massive advantage.
One Enhanced Hammer
Since we already play a copy of Kartana-GX, why not play a little bit of extra Energy hate? Energy hate works better in higher counts, and this addition of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] only delivers proof. I’ve crippled decks with this inclusion, and I wouldn’t take it out of the deck for anything. It also aids us in maintaining the tempo of the game by slowing down our opponent.
One Skyla
This is a really nice Supporter that can allow us to grab one of our four [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]s, a [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], or even our Counter Catcher. [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] opens the deck up, and is highly searchable via [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and Tapu Lele-GX’s Wonder Tag.
Two Rainbow Energy
[card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] helps you when you’re ahead in Prize cards — I’d actually love to run more of these! The reason being is because Rainbow Energy works better in higher counts, so you can use oddball attacks such as Reshiram’s Scorching Breath or Mimikyu’s Copycat without the use of Counter Energy.
Potential Inclusions
One Marshadow
Being able to disrupt a Magical Ribbon from [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] is a cute effect this card can provide, but I’m more interested in having a draw card that can aid us in gaining consistency. [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] is one of those niche cards that I’d love to try out in future games.
Four Crushing Hammer
A whole set of [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] accompanies our disruption theme quite nicely by discarding basic Energy instead of Special Energy. This would allow us to control the tempo of the game even more, but also make us weaker and more vulnerable to Pokemon like [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card].
One Lillie
I’d personally love a [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] in lieu of a [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], because sometimes you need a little extra draw in order to hit those much needed Counter Energy! Lillie can also aid you in drawing combinations of cards that would otherwise be unattainable, such as Choice Band and Rainbow Energy, or Cobalion and [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] for example. It would hinder your initial setup, but aid you in pulling off combos, which this deck needs to do in order to perform.
Matchups
Gardevoir-GX — Very Favourable
Our Registeel is able to OHKO any Fairy-type [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] with ease due to Weakness, and can hit a [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] for 120 damage with the use of a Choice Band. Registeel’s second attack can hit for 180 against a Gardevoir-GX, and OHKO it with a Choice Band. Their main route of passage against us would be to use Tapu Lele-GX and [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card], but Gallade is OHKO’d by [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] and Tapu Lele-GX can’t OHKO our one-Prize attackers most of the time. This matchup is relatively straightforward, considering they can only threaten us with a very stacked Tapu Lele-GX.
Volcanion — Even
[cardimg name=”Keldeo” set=”Shining Legends” no=”26″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Volcanion decks are very aggressive — they can OHKO our Registeel with ease. What’s the best plan of action? Sacrifice a few attackers, let your opponent go down to four Prize cards, and then have a field day with [card name=”Keldeo” set=”Shining Legends” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] and Rescue Stretcher. [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and Mimikyu really help you to combat the Pokemon-EX / Pokemon-GX brigade here as well.
You really only lose when you run out of Keldeo, and then you can use [card name=”Kartana-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] to take the final Prize. It’s all about steam here, so try not to use [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] to discard your Rescue Stretchers.
Golisopod-GX — Unfavourable
[card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] decks play so many [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] that it’s hard to power up your key attacker in the form of [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Shining Legends” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card]. They’ll usually be able to get a hit in with a [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] or something to soften up your Reshiram so that First Impression will KO it — our best line of defense against this? Use [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Generations” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] for a turn and power up Reshiram from the Bench. That way it will be protected from any Bench sniping attacks which will allow you to power it up for a turn with Registeel.
If you can OHKO a few [card name=”Wimpod” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], take a Scorching Breath OHKO on a Golisopod-GX, and use Kartana-GX in this matchup, you should be fine! Otherwise, you won’t have many attackers that can OHKO Golisopod-GX unfortunately, barring our lone copy of [card name=”Cobalion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] in the late game. Sometimes you’ll just have to hit into a Golisopod-GX and pray that they don’t have an [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]. Yuck!
Garbodor / Drampa-GX — Even
This matchup is probably the biggest nail-biter we’ll talk about today. This matchup would be fairly easy if [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”custom”]Garbotoxin[/card] wasn’t a thing, but unfortunately it exists, so here we go: the key to this matchup is to preserve your [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], or to KO the Garbotoxin Garbodor with your attackers, most likely Keldeo.
Their [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] are easy to deal with considering we have their Weakness covered by Sudowoodo; it’s just the Garbodor that are hard to get around. If we don’t play too many Item cards, we usually end up winning the game since their damage output is so weak. If they manage to get both [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] and Garbotoxin online, we’re unable to deal with it without Field Blower because we can’t use our [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] — we’ll have to use Mimikyu and hope they use Psychic eventually.
This matchup is all about N’ing our opponent when we have two Prize cards to their one, drawing our second-to-last Prize card, hoping they can’t take a KO, and then lastly using Blade GX for the game with Kartana-GX. I’ll be investing more time into testing this specific matchup.
Tapu Bulu-GX / Vikavolt — Very Favourable
This deck practically defeats itself, as all of their attackers have big attacks that we’re able to copy with Sudowoodo and Mimikyu in order to land massive OHKO’s! Tapu Wilderness and [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] are their biggest outs to this matchup, but even so we can lightly poke at them with Registeel and other gentle attackers until they’re unable to return KO us back. This is arguably our easiest matchup overall; I have a very high win percentage against every person I’ve faced using this deck.
Buzzwole-GX — Favourable
[cardimg name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
This is a deck we can take advantage of similar to how we can take advantage of [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] — by using their high cost / high damage output attacks against them. Absorption GX and Knuckle Impact are both exploitable attacks with Sudowoodo and Mimikyu, and we also play a copy of Mew to hit for Weakness. This should be a cakewalk of a matchup depending on how fast they establish Garbotoxin (if the opponent is playing Garbodor in their variant). They’ll be restricted to using [card name=”Zygarde-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card], which we can beat down with a combination of attackers such as Keldeo and Registeel.
Mending Metals
Overall, I really enjoy this deck because it gives a fresh perspective to the Standard format. [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] makes the deck difficult for opponents to play against it! One second you’re far ahead in the game, the next thing you know you’re getting it handed to you by a random Basic attacker plus a Counter Energy. The [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] is my favourite card in the deck, being able to singlehandedly win games at any moment.
Is this list by any means perfect? No. Is this a working concept? Yes. But I believe that this style of deck has a ton of potential. It is reminiscent of many successful concepts that were developed (and played) in the past. The main parallel I draw from this deck to older formats are those Four Corner style decks or, for any veterans out there, those DragTrode decks from way back. I urge you to try this deck out for yourself in testing for the European International Championships, as I know I had a ton of fun doing so.
Until then, get lucky and run hot!
-Jay Lesage
#PlayPokemon
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