Beat the Heatmor — A Dissection of London’s Secret Deck
[cardimg name=”Silvally-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”108″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
G’day, trainers! I’m sipping a fresh glass of English breakfast tea as I peak over the European International Championships results, and let me tell you — this tournament was a cornerstone for a ton of developing decks. I was just as excited to see the eventual winner of this tournament as I was to see the decks that spawned off and did well. There were quite a few concepts that caught me off guard; one of the biggest surprises to come out of this tournament was the success of [card name=”Silvally-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]! But when you look back at the card, you can slowly begin to see its potential:
- 210 HP — effective at tanking.
- Gives free retreat to all Basic Pokemon. This ensures mobility to allow for a turn two attack from Silvally-GX.
- An attack that accelerates Energy.
- A GX attack that poses an OHKO threat.
- The ability to use [card name=”Fighting Memory” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Psychic Memory” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card] to abuse typing.
Overall, when we see a card like this in the Pokemon TCG, we still overlook its viability… but why? As players, it’s our job to identify hidden gems like this within TCG expansions, and indulge in their strengths while negating their weaknesses. Silvally-GX was just one of many examples that a few players took all the way to the top, including the likes of Grafton Roll, Israel Sosa, and finalist Zakary Krekeler.
Besides Silvally-GX catching me off guard, you could say I was also… erm… “shocked” to see [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] at the top tables. In fact, I was nearly infatuated with the idea of consistent Paralysis turn after turn. Sander Wojcik ended up piloting this crazy deck to a 7-1-1 finish after the first nine rounds of Swiss, and ran through the second day to a top 16 finish! That’s nothing to disregard when the deck had a minuscule showing at one of the most prestigious events of the year. Imagine if this deck had as much play as something more popular, like [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]!
Today, I’d like to have a peak at the deck list Sander ended up running and explain how all the pieces of this deck fall into place.
The Core of Heatmor
[decklist name=”Raichu/Heatmor” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Pikachu” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM04″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Pikachu” set=”Generations” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Victini” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Durant” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”9″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY67″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Xurkitree-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM68 ” c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”37″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ 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=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Devolution Spray” set=”Evolutions” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″ align=”left” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Wow, this looks like a handful of cards that dropped out of a binder! But each of them has a unique purpose that makes this deck what it is.
I’ve always been a huge fan of lock decks, and this one spares no expense: its entire goal is to keep the opponent’s Active Pokemon Paralyzed for the entirety of the game. How does it do it, you ask? Via [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability. This Ability only works when you evolve into Raichu, but we’re able to consistently recycle it with a full set of four [card name=”Devolution Spray” set=”Fates Collide” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] — but how do we recycle those Devolution Spray? Similar to how we use [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] to retrieve Item cards in Expanded, we use [card name=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] to retrieve any cards from our discard pile just the same.
Of course we’ll have to pray for a bit of luck since our deck involves coin flips, but we include [card name=”Victini” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] to mitigate that. I’m not going to drop math bombs here, but just know that Victini doubles your odds of flipping at least one heads by giving you a second chance.
We just rinse and repeat grabbing back Devolution Spray, and continually spam devolution on Raichu to keep our Paralysis Ability on deck. It’s really that easy! This process will continue until our opponent concedes, or until they deck out — it’s nearly impossible for our deck to mill out of cards because we’re consistently recycling cards with Heatmor’s attack. Therefore, we’ll always come out on top with cards left in deck!
Card Counts
Three Heatmor
Although he’s our main guy, we only need three of him since Heatmor won’t necessarily be getting KO’d a lot. Our opponent will have to use Guzma to get out of our lock, which means our Heatmor will be put safely onto the Bench.
Heatmor is great at recycling any card, and bringing it directly into your hand! We use this card to mainly recycle Devolution Spray and [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card].
4-4 Raichu
Yes, I know we play different Pikachu, but they’re all here for the same purpose — to Paralyze the opponent! We play the Nuzzle [card name=”Pikachu” set=”Radiant Collection 2″ no=”RC29″ c=”name”][/card] to Paralyze for a single Colorless Energy, or, in our case, a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card].
Raichu is the whole reason why we’re able to lock down our opponent, and the true bread and butter of this deck. Paralysis is the strongest of all of the Special Conditions, and Raichu harnesses it in its blood.
[cardimg name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Two Victini
We buff multiple copies of this because it is often the target of [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]! Victini helps us smooth out any awkward double tails coming from Heatmor’s Odor Sleuth. This helps maintain a high lock percentage throughout the entire tournament!
One Durant
[card name=”Durant” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”9″ c=”name”][/card] is the ultimate finisher in most games. If we ever have less cards in our deck than our opponent, with the use of [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] we can trigger Scrape Down’s effect and mill four cards from our opponent’s deck! This’ll help us to progress the game state, and can instantly score us a win four turns early.
One Xurkitree-GX
My favourite Pokemon of all time makes a splash in this deck, and I absolutely adore it. If our opponent opts to play a deck that includes only Special Energy, then we win the game instantly with [card name=”Xurkitree-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM68 ” c=”name”][/card]s Flash Head Ability! They’ll be unable to harm us, and we can sweep their entire field by attacking with Rumbling Wires.
[premium]
Four N, Two Professor Sycamore
This is a deck where it makes sense to play a low count of [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]! Since we don’t want to draw cards at a faster pace than our opponent, we’ll always want to refresh our deck with cards using [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] instead of Professor Sycamore. Since we don’t take Prize cards most of the time, our Ns will usually draw us the full six cards.
Two Skyla
This card was included to replace the two Professor Sycamore that were excluded from this deck list.
[card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] is an amazing wildcard that can nab any Trainer card you’d like from the deck, while also functioning as a way to minimize “draw”. Instead of drawing from your deck and diminishing your deck faster than your opponent can mill their own, you’re able to search for that one key card you need to win the game. Also, Skyla can aid us in completing a pair of Puzzle of Time in our own hands by searching out the missing copy from the deck. Voila, a beautiful Supporter inclusion for this quirky deck!
Two Acerola
Sometimes, this deck will get itself into some tricky situations; we can pull out of these crazy scenarios with an [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]! This includes removing GXs from our field in order to deny Prize cards, or free a trapped Pokemon in the Active slot that has a high Retreat Cost. In combination with our two Rainbow Energy, you’ll be able to pick up any Pokemon on the field — including ones that your opponent hasn’t damaged yet.
One Gladion
Being a new Supporter card, [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] hasn’t seen much play in any recent deck; however, I believe it has found a home in this deck. For the most part, this deck is unable to draw Prize cards, so having a Gladion will allow us to dive into the Prizes and find whatever card we may like.
In order to properly use this card, you’ll have to know how to determine what your six Prizes are, but once you’ve done that you’ll be in love with this unique card concept! I can’t wait to see this guy splashed into more decks!
One Lusamine
[cardimg name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”110″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] is yet another new Supporter that was released in Crimson Invasion, and it is a nifty inclusion to this already branded concept. What Sander was going for here was card advantage — in order to gain more cards than the opponent in his deck/hand total, he’d use Lusamine to slowly gain additional cards. Since you’re playing Lusamine to the discard pile, you lose one card, but then retrieve two — which gives you a +1 card advantage. By repeating this, you’ll be able to consistently recover as many cards from the discard pile that you’ll need in order to replenish your deck with an N.
Lusamine also aids in any late game inconsistency this deck might face, since you can retrieve any N you like as well as Professor Sycamore.
One Team Rocket’s Handiwork
An essential card for any mill deck. We can retrieve this card with any extra heads we flip for Odor Sleuth. [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] speeds up the process of our deck, as well as mill precious cards from the opponent such as Guzma. This is a great card to use in combination with Durant in order to mill the final six cards from our opponent’s deck!
One Ninja Boy
This is one of my favorite inclusions; [card name=”Ninja Boy” set=”Steam Siege” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] is an extremely versatile card because it lends us several options to choose from!
While its main use is to remove GXs from the board, it can do so much more. For example, if our opponent chooses to only have one attacker on the board in order to pool their resources wisely, we can Ninja Boy into a [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] with a ton of Energy and swiftly take the game from unsuspecting opponents! We can also Ninja Boy at any time into Xurkitree-GX and begin walling with our unique Ability.
Ninja Boy can even help us to get a Pikachu down onto the Bench after one was previously KO’d, just so we can continue our Paralysis chain. One tidbit to note is that if you change another Pokemon into [card name=”Pikachu” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM76″ c=”name”][/card], if that Pokemon was in play last turn, you can evolve the Pikachu immediately and deliver a surprise Evoshock!
Ninja Boy cannot be cut — it helps in too many ways!
Two Counter Catcher
Sometimes, the Active Pokemon is a threat that we can’t lock up (take [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] for example). If we bring out a Benched Pokemon, different targets can aid us in achieving different things! I’ve seen ridiculous scenarios where my opponent couldn’t retreat in the late game because they used all of their resources in the early-to-mid game. Since we don’t take Prizes, our pair of [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] will consistently be usable, and help us trap whatever we want.
Locksmiths
So what stops a strategy like this? There are many viable outs, but today, we’ll be looking at the most popular ones. It’s always best to be aware when playing a “lock deck” that your opponent may have a “key.” Let’s evaluate some of these keys and see how they square off against our deck.
Guzma
[cardimg name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] is the be-all-end-all to our deck! Not only does it switch our opponent out of the Active slot, thus removing their Paralysis, it also allows them to gust upward our Pikachu that we were going to evolve on the next turn; uh oh! Guzma is easily accessible via Tapu Lele-GX’s Wonder Tag Ability, so your opponent will most likely have it when they need it.
However, just because Guzma exists and is played in virtually every Standard format deck, that doesn’t mean that they’ll just destroy us! Since our beloved [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] was recently rotated out of Standard, our opponent will usually only have access to three or four Guzma in a game.
This deck prides itself on playing almost entirely non EX or GX Pokemon, which means that even if our opponent plays the maximum amount of Guzma, they’ll still only be able to take four Prize cards through this method. Even if we do have a GX on the Bench, we’ll be able to remove it via Ninja Boy and deny our opponent from taking Prize cards. Seem simple? I thought so!
Greninja’s Shadow Stitching
This one is a bit more of a doozy! Thankfully, [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t the most popular deck currently, but in the scenario that you do face off against one, it’s always a good idea to pack a game plan! We currently possess no proper way to deal with this threat, since it goes right for the jugular of this deck: its Abilities.
By shutting off Raichu’s Ability, we no longer have the power to Paralyze them via our Ability, so we must rely on using Pikachu’s attack to Paralyze them. If we can successfully flip heads once, it’ll force them to BREAK evolve, or to pass. Our end game will be to eventually paralyze a [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], or another Basic like [card name=”Tapu Fini-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] preferably. Greninja decks are notorious for playing zero copies of Guzma, so once we do lock a Greninja BREAK or basic GX in the Active slot, they’re stuck there for the game, provided we can continually flip heads with Heatmor’s attack.
Now, the next cheeky part we have to get over is Giant Water Shuriken! Our opponent can still use this Ability underneath Paralysis, so we’ll have to use Acerola to deny Prize cards occasionally. Our opponent can recycle Energy with [card name=”Starmie” set=”Evolutions” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], but if they opt to put it on the Bench, it gives us a massive target to Paralyze with Guzma; our opponent will eventually use up their 6-7 basic Water Energy and lose.
If we want to boost this matchup, we can play a single copy of [card name=”Pokémon Ranger” set=”Steam Siege” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] to remove the effect of Shadow Stitching.
Comfey
A card popularize by PokeBeach’s very own Ahmed Ali, [card name=”Comfey” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] has the ability to void off Special Conditions with its Flower Shield Ability. This card will see play in [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] decks if [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] or other Special Conditions become more popular. Our only way around this is if we can continually lock things in the Active slot that don’t have Fairy Energy attached. Besides that, this one has got us beat!
Garbodor
[card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] will pose a threat to this deck just because it can shut off our Abilities with Garbotoxin. The best way to combat it is by including a full suite of [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], which not only pose a threat to all Tools and Stadiums in the format, but also consistently remove the Tool from Garbodor on the turns we need to. Eventually, they’ll run out of Tools before we run out of Field Blowers because we can repeatedly use [card name=”Heatmor” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]’s Odor Sleuth to recycle them, and we’ll just take the game. Garbodor poses a threat to us, but their strategy is exploitable provided we have the proper “tools” to deal with it. (Get it??)
Matchups
[cardimg name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Your bad matchup![/cardimg]
Most of our matchups are poised to be favorable, except for any deck that naturally plays a counter to us. We aren’t a deck that swings for Weakness or anything, and we play by a different win condition that most decks! Every deck contains 60 cards, and that’s all that Heatmor needs to know. Your ability to win a game with this deck will depend on optimal starts, how many Guzma our opponents play, and if we run into any surprise hard counters.
As we’ve discussed above, the only real bad matchup is against Greninja. The only other matchup that can be pesky is against Garbodor, but with four Field Blower our deck will be able to consistently remove Tools from play. [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY173″ c=”name”][/card] usually plays four [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and a single copy of [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], so be wary! Every other matchup is virtually the same, since they all play similar outs to the lock.
Lockin’ it Up
I really dig this deck, and watching Sander play it on stream was an absolute pleasure of mine. Lock decks have been a hobby of mine since I first saw [card name=”Flygon LV.X” set=”Rising Rivals” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] decks (or FlyGod) back in the 2010 era, and I take great pride in learning the ins and outs of each and every one. I used to pilot [card name=”Gliscor LV.X” set=”Legends Awakened” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] back in the day with [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Arceus” no=”32″ c=”from”][/card], which did something very similar to what this deck does now! Hence why it pulled on my heartstrings when I initially saw this deck in the top 16.
Congratulations to Sander for taking the deck quite far, and I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next! Until then, PokeBeach, get lucky and run hot!
-Jay Lesage
#PlayPokemon
[/premium]