Optimization — Tips and Tricks to Improve in Competitive Play

By: Grant Manley · Posted Posted onNov 30, 2017 at 3:52 PM · 0 Comments

What’s up PokeBeach? As I’m writing this, London is wrapping up. While I think many of the decks in day two are highly questionable, I’m not here to talk about London. I actually haven’t tested much since my last article, so I will have something a little different for you all today. After reading Jay Lesage’s “Psych Up” article, I figured I would try something similar. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything Jay had to say, but I definitely enjoyed his article. I recommend giving it a read if you haven’t already, as there are some interesting tidbits of advice in there. This article will be similar in style, but I will talk a bit more about game-play aspects. I will also briefly discuss VikaBulu because I believe the deck is criminally underrated and that it is well positioned right now.

Tips and Tricks

Tournament Prep

[cardimg name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

It’s common knowledge that practice makes one better at something. However, the amount you need to practice depends on your skill level. If you are somewhat new to the game, you probably shouldn’t bring [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] to a tournament without playing it before. Some players can bring decks to events and put up results without playing any games with the deck beforehand. Regardless of your skill level, it’s a good idea to at least play a handful of games to become familiar with how your deck works. I love it when I can play decks without testing, but there’s an exception.

If you want to play a rogue deck for a large event, you absolutely have to test it. Even if you are Sam Chen, one of the best players in the world, you can’t expect to bring an untested rogue to an event and do well. Every time I test a rogue extensively before deeming it competitively viable, I do well at the given event. When I don’t test rogues, I don’t do well. Some examples would be Roanoke Regionals where I placed second with Quad [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC11″ c=”name”][/card] after extensively testing and refining it. On the other hand, I went 2-4 drop at the 2016 U.S. Nationals after bringing [card name=”M Sceptile-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Jolteon-EX” set=”Generations” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] toolbox with minimal testing.

In a nutshell, test a deck to the point where you feel comfortable and confident with it.

Reading Your Opponent

Don’t do it. Honestly, “tells” are so easy to manufacture and manipulate. I advise against putting stock into your opponent’s facial expressions and attitudes. Always make the play that you believe to be correct based on the game state! Your opponent may legitimately be sighing out of frustration, but they also might be acting that way so that you don’t [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] them. There’s no real way to tell, unless your opponent is Aaron Tarbell.

On the other hand, if you want to play the psychology game with your own expressions, feel free to. I usually opt not to do this, but I have before. Be careful not to outright lie or do anything suspicious.

Tools

For the larger part of last season, [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] did not exist. Therefore, it was optimal (and fun) to play down Tools with impunity. You simply could not be punished for it. Nowadays most decks play at least two Field Blower because the card is too strong not to play. All too often, I see players play down Tools to thin their deck when they don’t really need to. Half the time, said player will instantly be punished by Field Blower. Who knows how much lost damage that equates to because of the [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] prematurely being sent to the discard?

Don’t play Tools down! That is, unless you’re about to use said Tool, or about to play [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], or Abyssal Hand… well you get the point. If your opponent has any number of Field Blower in their discard, you can make the judgement call of whether or not to unnecessarily play down a Tool in order to thin.

I would love to talk about resource management and conservation in general, but those kinds of decisions are dependent on each unique situation. The topic is incredibly broad, but I felt that managing Tools was a narrower topic that could be explained.

Professor Sycamore versus N

This one comes up all the time in the early stages of the game. Do you [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] here or [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]? This, of course, varies from situation to situation, but there are some guidelines to consider when deciding between using Sycamore and N. They are as follows:

  • How many cards in opponent’s hand
  • Opponent’s actions on their previous turn. Do they have an awful hand?
  • Resources to save and liabilities to discard in your own hand
  • How badly you need to find a specific card
  • What position you will be in off drawing poorly off N or Sycamore
  • What position you will be in off drawing well off N or Sycamore

For simplicity’s sake, I tried to list these in order of importance. I think many players choose the wrong option between the two, so I wanted to at least raise the topic. If you absolutely cannot decide which one you should play based on the above criteria, play N. I lean towards the side of caution on this one, as N preserves potentially important resources that you probably can’t get back.

Opponent’s Discard

Oh my, this is a big one. Personally, I check my opponent’s discard almost obsessively. I always know exactly what’s in there. This underutilized resource is a critical factor in optimizing game play. Based on the counts of something in your opponent’s discard pile (such as [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]), you can alter your line of play. This is partly due to the streamlined lists that we see for all meta decks. By “altering your play,” I mean making game play decisions that may be seen as sub-optimal by a passing viewer, but are in fact informed by some obscure detail in the game state.

If your opponent is playing [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Drampa-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and they have two Field Blower in their discard pile, you can go ahead and play down all the Tools you want without being punished. The same can go for N and [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]. If your opponent is out of N, you can hoard cards as much as you want. If they’re out of Guzma, you don’t have to worry about benching liabilities. Perhaps you can utilize your own Guzma as a stall tactic! Most Gardevoir lists only play three Guzma now, while many other decks have the full four.

There’s another level to this though. Your opponent doesn’t have to be completely out of something for you to alter your play. Based on past actions and counts of specific cards in their discard, you can still make decisions such as the ones I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

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Opponent’s Turn

This goes hand in hand with your opponent’s discard, as you are keeping track of what resources your opponent is using up. I’m not sure why, but gameplay errors and cheating happen all the time. If you are carefully paying attention to your opponent’s turn, they will not be able to get away with simply errors such as double attaching, double supporter, drawing extra cards, etc. As someone who has been playing competitively for over five years, I can tell you that this happens at every level of competition and it happens extremely frequently. While I believe it is the acting player’s responsibility to uphold the integrity of the game on their turn, you are the one who suffers if neither player catches an error of this sort. Therefore, it is in your best interest to stay vigilant.

Checking Your Prizes

[cardimg name=”Town Map” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”150″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I don’t mean taking over a minute on your first search to determine all six of your prize cards, even though that technically is “optimal.” I personally do not determine all of my prize cards on the first search. You can always use subsequent searches to fill in the gaps if you need to. That said, there are some things you need to know after your first search. Check for [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] first! Tapu Lele is perhaps the most important thing to check for, since you need to know when your [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] can turn into any Supporter. Planning a sick Lele play is always nice, but if you discover your Lele is prized after playing Ultra Ball, it is absolutely heartbreaking.

To piggyback off that, I recommend checking for Ultra Ball and Professor Sycamore fairly early in the game as well. I’ve found it to be crucial when you know your odds of pulling a draw card off a prize card. You can sometimes alter your play if you know you have an X% chance of pulling a draw card. This applies to Ultra Ball when you know Tapu Lele-GX is in deck, and it is another reason you check for Tapu Lele itself.

The next most important thing would be your main attacker. Always check the counts of your main attacker on your first search! You may need to adjust your game plan if you find yourself with a [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] or two in the Prizes, for example.

Finally, check for matchup specific techs. If I’m playing [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] against [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], you can bet your bottom dollar that the Tina is the first thing I’m checking for. Having a prized Giratina isn’t the kind of information you want to sneak up on you.

Target Support Pokemon

I’m basically talking about playing against Gardevoir and Greninja in particular. While this is situation-dependent, I generally try to gun down the [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Starmie” set=”Evolutions” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve found that the two popular decks have a difficult time actually winning games without their watery Stage 1 support. If you manage to deny these guys from the board altogether throughout the game, those decks do not apply as much pressure as usual and they also get crippled by [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card].

Sequencing

This topic is really broad, so I won’t touch on everything related to sequencing, just some things that jump out at me. By “sequencing,” I mean the order in which you take your actions. I think this is more relevant in Expanded with cards like [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], but it can apply to Standard too. For Expanded, Battle Compressor almost always goes first. Trainers’ Mail and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] can be before or after each other, depending on the situation. Trainers’ Mail usually goes before Set Up, unless you are desperately digging for a specific Item. In that case, I believe the math is in favor of Set Up followed by Trainers’ Mail, though I have yet to confirm this with a math person. Complex math is not my strong suit. [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] adds layers of complexity to this whole concept, as it requires decisions dependent on a large number of factors.

An example for Standard would involve [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card]. I see many players use Instruct or Abyssal Hand before playing a draw Supporter in their hand when they know they will play said Supporter following the Ability. This is incorrect. More often than not, you will draw some cards off the Ability that you must immediately pitch with the Sycamore that’s already in your hand. In N’s case you usually want to save the Ability for the other end of the N, because N nets you less cards than Sycamore, and even fewer as the game wears on. As always, there are exceptions to the rule depending on the situation, just something to keep in mind.

Also, if you are going first, never play down more than one Basic (your Active) from your hand during setup! It triggers me when people do that. You will have every opportunity to play down the Basic after you have knowledge of your topdeck and your opponent’s Active. If you are going second, then you definitely do want to consider playing down multiple Basics during setup.

Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu-GX

[decklist name=”VikaBulu” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″][pokemon amt=”18″]3x [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Grubbin” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”13″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM31″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY67″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Clefairy” set=”Evolutions” no=”63″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]4x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Steam Siege” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Fates Collide” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Great Encounters” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Heavy Ball” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”72″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]7x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]5x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

This is my current VikaBulu list, which is still a work in progress. VikaBulu is well positioned right now as it fares amazingly against ZoroPod, [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], and Metal decks. It does fairly well against [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] as well. I run four [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] to try and salvage the Garbodor matchup, though that may not even be necessary anymore with a decline of Garbodor in London. This list is similar to my Hartford list, which I was quite happy with. Let’s look at the card counts. For the cards I don’t go over, such as Jirachi and the weird Supporter line, I’ll refer you to the this article for the explanations. I did mention cutting [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] for a second [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”XY” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] in that article, but I have since found room for three Lele and two Sycamore.

3-0-3 Vikavolt

[cardimg name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM28″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

I really dislike [card name=”Charjabug” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. I think the card is bad. The goal is to always hit the turn two Vikavolt, and Charjabug does not help with that. I usually have no problems finding [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] with Vikavolt, so I’ve never really considered adding the Stage 1 battery worm thing. I added a Vikavolt to my Hartford list because some decks such as Gardevoir can easily dispose of Vikavolt. If they KO one while one is prized (or if they outright KO both), this deck will lose. A third Vikavolt also inherently adds consistency and improves the odds of a turn two Vikavolt.

One Giratina

I know this looks really questionable! After cutting [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], I was not confident in the Greninja matchup. While playing Greninja myself, I was able to dismantle every Bulu I faced online. [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] seals the matchup as an autowin, which is definitely worth the spot.

Zero Tapu Koko-GX

I cut the [card name=”Tapu Koko-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] from my last list, even though I still think it is useful. Against Gardevoir, I believe [card name=”Clefairy” set=”Evolutions” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] is strictly better. I initially cut the Koko for a second Clefairy, which I then cut for [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card].

One Mew

My friend Eddie finally talked me into [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card]. This deck can never have too many Pokemon with free Retreat, and Mew has no shortage of uses. Mew can stand in for a prized [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card], dishing out tons of damage for a non-GX. Mew can also act as a second Clefairy against matchups such as Gardevoir, though you do need your one Clefairy on the Bench to use it. Mew also disposes of [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] without having to give up Energy, though Mew will probably just be KOd along with its Energy anyway.

Zero Fighting Fury Belt

My Hartford list played three [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], but I have decided to cut them altogether. There are a few reasons for this. Belt was great against Volcanion and [card name=”Metagross-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] in particular, and those decks are no longer quite as popular, where as they were everywhere in Hartford. Even without Belt, I still believe the Volcanion matchup is favorable. Belt is also great against Greninja, but one Giratina is a much better space investment than three Belts. [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] is now the preferred Tool in almost every relevant matchup, so running Belt seems dumb.

Conclusion

As always everyone, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think of this type of article. I couldn’t resist squeezing in Bulu and I fail to understand why the deck has such a poor reputation among many players. I believe VikaBulu is incredibly well-positioned right now and I definitely encourage you to try it out. I think that my current list is close to optimal, though there are some potential changes such as editing the techs as well as counts of [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]. Maybe Bulu could even use [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]? Feel free to mess around with it.

London was certainly full of surprises. The meta seems to be less friendly towards [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], which is great for Bulu and other Ability-based decks. I’m sure we will see even more new stuff pop up in League Cups as well as Memphis Regional Championships coming up. I can’t say I’m a fan of the current format, but it is interesting for sure. I am curious to see how this season will shape up.

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