Picks for Leipzig Regionals — VikaBulu and Gardevoir-GX

Hey there PokeBeach! The new year is upon us, and that means exciting new sets, interesting new formats, and most important — new tournaments. For me, the new year brings a Regional right at the end of January in Leipzig, Germany. For now, there isn’t any addition of Ultra Prism cards, but  we can still work to refine the current format decks to the best they can be.

I’ve been hard at work looking at what could be viable for the day, and here are two of my picks that could definitely see success before the format leaves us. We have a potential powerhouse in [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] that can deal 210 damage every turn once set up, enough to deal with a good chunk of the format. After that we have [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], the strongest Stage 2 in the game, along with its evolutionary pal, [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card], to help clean up any [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] you might come across. Both of these decks have strong potential to get into cut and beyond at Leipzig, and here’s my take on them!

Back to Bulu — Taking a Powerhouse to the Tournament

[card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] has a ton of positives on its side at the moment, albeit one or two negatives as well. Once this deck gets a Vikavolt into play via [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card], the deck has access to constant acceleration to power up Tapu Bulu-GX’s Nature’s Judgement attack. After discarding all the Energy attached, Nature’s Judgement hits for a huge 180 damage or the magic 210 damage with a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]

It’s all about the numbers here. The format is brimming with GX’s that cap out at 210 HP, such as [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Buzzwole-GX ” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM62 ” c=”name”][/card] — all of which Tapu Bulu-GX can easily dispatch in one single hit. The main issue is actually getting Vikavolt into play early enough for the deck to keep up with early damage pressure from opposing decks. Problems arise when the deck runs into trouble getting the Rare Candy / Vikavolt combo. If the opponent can take out your [card name=”Grubbin” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”13″ c=”name”][/card] before you can get a Vikavolt, getting back into the game can be a hard task. Here is the list I’ve been toying with right now:

[decklist name=”Tapu Bulu-GX / Vikavolt” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″][pokemon amt=”14″]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]4x [card name=”Grubbin” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”13″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/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=”34″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ 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=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Heavy Ball” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]7x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]5x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”5″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The Pokemon

Since Tapu Bulu-GX is our main attacker, I opted to make sure we have enough with three copies, plus a [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] just in case you’re in dire need of an attacker. [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] also provides us with a ‘pseudo’, single-Prize Tapu Bulu-GX, due to its Memories of the Dawn Ability that can copy any of Tapu Bulu’s attacks. Free Retreat on Mew means we now have a great pivot to send up when one of our Pokemon gets Knocked Out. Its Psychic-typing proves to be extremely useful against things like [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] and Buzzwole-GX, although sometimes it can backfire like in the case of missing a OHKO on a Zoroark-GX due to Resistance. Four [card name=”Grubbin” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”13″ c=”name”][/card] maximizes the odds of hitting at least one on the first turn, whether you manage to obtain [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] or not. Three [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] also felt like the correct number, as with it’s three Retreat Cost, [card name=”Heavy Ball” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] acts as an extra copy at times when you need it to. This makes sure we have enough early in the game, plus and extra copy or two for later on when we want to replace a Vikavolt that was Knocked Out, or get a second into play for extra Energy acceleration.

[card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] is a huge help in consistency later on in the game. Once this deck gets going, Prizes come quick and fast, leaving us very susceptible to a late game [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] when our leftover Energy in the deck is low. Instruct lessens the odds of getting stuck by letting us draw up to three extra cards, hopefully leading to a Supporter which can then find you the all important [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] to make sure Tapu Bulu-GX can continue to be powered up by Vikavolt’s Strong Charge. Finally as Oranguru is a non-GX attacker, Psychic can provide a mid-range attack that’s quite good for chip damage or a finishing blow in a pinch while only giving up a single Prize. To finish we have two [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] for consistency purposes, and although I would like three at times, there usually isn’t enough room on the Bench to even fit three Tapu Lele.

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The Trainers

As I said before, consistency is massive in this deck to make sure we’re hitting a turn two Vikavolt as often as possible and keeping up momentum throughout the game. This is why I opted to go with a full four copies of the staple Supporters — [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], N, and [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]. I want to see Sycamore and N as soon as possible in the early game to try and find that elusive Rare Candy plus Vikavolt combo. Guzma is an interesting one, since sometimes a switching card is needed if Vikavolt gets stuck in the Active spot.  Guzma provides so much utility in this deck, making sure we have access to a switching card while also being able to pick off any important Pokemon on the opponent’s Bench.

Another crucial piece to getting Vikavolt into play is [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card]. At many points you have one piece of the puzzle, but not the other, so you have to shuffle it back into the deck or even discard it with Professor Sycamore. Skyla saves us here by giving us access to either piece (Heavy Ball comes in huge here when you’re missing a Vikavolt). I opted to include two copies since Skyla also has utility in the late game to search for Energy Recycler.

[cardimg name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”122″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

We have the usual copy of Brigette to obtain any Pokemon early on, and the final Supporter included is Professor Kukui. Even though 210 damage is a huge amount, it falls just short of taking a KO on the ever-present Gardevoir-GX. [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] solves this issue by boosting Nature’s Judgement all the way up to 230, giving you a big swing turn in the game that can push you towards the win. Recently, Gardevoir hasn’t seen too much success so I only included a single copy, but if you feel that there might be a large presence of Gardevoir, then a Guzma can be removed for a second Kukui to give more outs to the KO. Moving on to Items, it’s crucial that we have as many outs to Vikavolt as possible, so four copies of [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] are a definite inclusion. [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] maximises our damage output to hit OHKOs against nearly every deck at the moment by boosting damage up to 210 — so four copies also seems like a must. Tapu Wilderness-GX usually hits for 150, but with Choice Band reaches a crucial 180, meaning it’s much easier to have access to both a KO and full heal on Tapu Bulu-GX.

[card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] is our mid-to-late game Energy retrieval so that we can continue chaining Nature’s Judgement, and although the deck can survive with just one, two gives us cushion against any prizing or bad discards. [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]’s Garbotoxin Ability is a scary concept for Tapu Bulu-GX / Vikavolt as this Ability shuts off the deck’s entire Energy acceleration, grinding us to a halt. Two copies of [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] alleviates Garbotoxin just enough to have a good shot at winning the game. It’s possible to either get a Knock Out on Garbodor itself via Guzma or push through their GX threats and take Prizes before the Garbodor comes into play, and then take GX Knock Outs after a Field Blower. Being able to remove pesky Choice Band and Float Stone to hinder the opponent is also a huge help. This means they don’t have access to crucial extra damage or may be unable to retreat from one of our Guzma locking that Pokemon in the Active spot.

To finish we have a single copy of both Rescue Stretcher and Heavy Ball. Rescue Stretcher gives multiple outs later on in the game to either an extra attacker in Tapu Bulu-GX, a Supporter out through Tapu Lele-GX, or even a Vikavolt to boost Energy acceleration. These Pokemon usually end up getting Knocked Out or discarded, so having the option to retrieve any of them is huge. Heavy Ball gets us Vikavolt and Tapu Bulu-GX and is searchable with Skyla — there isn’t much else to say, other than it’s another great consistency card and adds extra outs to the turn two Vikavolt. 

The Energy

For Energy, I’ve toyed with multiple counts and found that a split of seven Grass and five Lightning Energy is the safe and viable option. It’s possible to play with only four Lightning Energy, as the deck leans toward Grass Energy as the more important type to accelerate. It’s not very often you get more than four Nature’s Judgement attacks off without winning or using Energy Recycler either.

However, prizing and bad discards can leave you without the extra attachment via Vikavolt’s Strong Charge later on, which might mean you have to wait an extra turn to attack — so the fifth Energy can alleviate this. Seven Grass has never felt incorrect, and as this Energy type is more important to obtain since you must attach a Grass Energy to Tapu Bulu-GX before Strong Charge to be able to use Nature’s Judgement, having a higher count than Lighting makes sense.

Bringing Back Gardevoir-GX to The Table

After the results of Internationals with Zoroark-GX / Golisopod-GX taking the tournament, Gardevoir-GX hasn’t had as much of a presence at Regional top tables like before. The new decks with Zoroark-GX and Lycanroc-GX took centre stage at Memphis Regionals and the Turin Special Event, with only a single Gardevoir making Top 16 in both tournaments. However, the deck still seems quite strong with little Metal-type presence at the moment and Gallade being a powerhouse against any opposing Zoroark-GX due to its Fighting-type Weakness.

I could definitely see a [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] deck taking down Leipzig Regionals, and for this deck, I opted to look at the top-placing Gardevoir lists and give the deck my own spin after some testing. Here is a list I’d recommend giving a try for any Standard events you’ve got going on before Ultra Prism is released.

[decklist name=”Gardevoir-GX” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″][pokemon amt=”18″]3x [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Kirlia” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ralts” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]7x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”XY” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

The Pokemon

The Gardevoir line feels quite Standard at the moment. We have a full four copies of [card name=”Ralts” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] to make sure it’s accessible early-to-mid game. Two [card name=”Kirlia” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] are included so that a Ralts can be manually evolved to give choice over its final evolution dependant on the situation, plus alleviate for when Rare Candy just won’t find its way into your hand. Finally, we have a split of three Gardevoir-GX and two [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card]. Three Gardevoir-GX gives us access to the GX early on, but not too many that our hands are clogged in the late-game when all of our Ralts are evolved.

[cardimg name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ align=”right” c=”custom”]The perfect Zoroark-GX slayer.[/cardimg]

Gallade’s typing makes for a supreme Zoroark-GX killer, and it also outputs a solid 130 damage to OHKO any non-EX threats like Garbodor or Tapu Koko. This is why two copies are included — a high amount of decks include Zoroark-GX at the moment and having multiple Gallade really boosts our odds against these builds. Premonition is fantastic as a consistency buff when used to choose your cards with Octillery’s Abyssal Hand, as well.

For the [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] line, I wanted to make sure prizing wasn’t an issue — which can happen once in every five games with only a 1-1 line. Zoroark-GX was a consideration instead of the octopus as a higher-HP and attacking option, but Zoroark’s Weakness would affect the mirror negatively as an easy Gallade target, plus the deck already has enough attackers to utilize. So, with these thoughts the best action seemed to be adding another copy of [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] to reduce the chance of prizing it to 10%, and also increase the chance of drawing a copy early on. A single copy of [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] is our answer to early game search instead of using a small line of [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]. It is easy to get into the Active by Retreating and requiring no Energy to attack. Alolan Vulpix searches for any two Pokemon we might need while only yielding a single Prize. This can force an N from the opponent instead of a more useful Supporter, or leaves you with the perfect two Pokemon to set up on the next turn. Finally, we finish with three Tapu Lele-GX, which is mainly crucial for obtaining Brigette turn one while also giving us access to any other Supporters we might want later in the game, as long as there’s a free Bench space.

The Trainers

The Supporters in this deck are very standard with four copies of Sycamore, N and three copies of Guzma. Drawing both a Supporter and an out to Brigette is ideal turn one, so maximising Sycamore made sense. There aren’t too many times we wouldn’t want to draw into a copy.

I wanted to make sure we had access to four N so that we can put the opponent in a worse position late game. Since Octillery lets us draw more cards if both players are at low Prize counts, lowering the opponent’s hand and making them miss a crucial piece for victory may gift us the extra turn needed to win.  In this list I decided that the second copy of Brigette was warranted – the deck really needs to find Ralts and a Remoraid on the early turns, so increasing the outs plus having three Tapu Lele-GX made sure that these pre-evolutions were hitting the field on turn one.

Moving onto Items, we have the standard combo of four Ultra Ball and Rare Candy to maximise our odds of hitting a Stage 2 as soon as possible in the early game, which is crucial. Gardevoir builds don’t need to run extra outs like Skyla, as the archetype isn’t as reliant on getting a second turn Stage 2 like Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu is, especially with Kirlia acting as an intermediary and Alolan Vulpix giving support early on. With GX decks being the main meat of the metagame at the moment, I included three Choice Band compared to most lists which only use two. This is to make sure we can hit numbers against the higher HP Lycanroc and Golisopod-GX, which can be hard to take out without a good chunk of Energy.

[card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] gets rid of any chip damage or chunks of damage that would let the opponent take a KO in the next turn. The two copies also  help out a ton in the mirror match, by letting you heal any of the opponent’s Infinite Force damage that didn’t manage to a take a KO but would set your Gardevoir-GX up for a Knock Out the next turn. This means you can return the favour to the opponent, forcing them to make the same play or face a return KO. Garbodor’s Garbotoxin is still present and also causes big problems for Gardevoir, so two Field Blower is a must. The great thing about Gardevoir when against these decks is its GX attack, which lets us recycle any of these crucial cards like Field Blower back into the deck effectively giving us four copies if needed. As before, any other pesky Tools can be removed, plus any Stadiums like an opposing [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] limiting our Bench. [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] is both a way to recycle Energy back into the deck, plus shuffle in any pieces of an Evolution line that might be needed to piece together another Gardevoir or a second Octillery. One thing to consider is changing one of copy of Super Rod to [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] – sometimes you need that Evolution piece in the hand and don’t have easy access to search it out. This limits you on Energy later on in the game, but the instant access has been worth it enough times to give it a try.

[cardimg name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Finally, we have a single copy of Parallel City. This is one of my favourite cards in the format right now because of how useful it is in multiple situations. It could remove Tapu Lele-GX off your Bench, limit your opponent’s bench to three to remove crucial Support Pokemon like Oranguru, limit Zoroark-GXs damage, or even make it so that [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] decks are just 20 damage short of taking a OHKO. A single copy fits into the deck as a good option to remove any Stadiums and provide all that utility that could swing a game into your favour.

The Energy

There isn’t too much to say about the Energy line. Seven Fairy Energy combined with Super Rod for the late game seems to get the job done, providing enough Energy to fuel Gardevoir-GX’s Secret Spring Ability and any manual attachments afterwards. Four [card name=”Double Colorless” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] is vital for a deck that depends on Energy attached as much as Gardevoir — one of these Special Energy is essentially 60 extra damage to play with, which is definitely not worth missing out on.

To Finish

Leipzig is only a couple of days away, so I’m going to be hard at work further testing these builds and working out what the metagame will end up looking like. Looking past Leipzig, we have Ultra Prism added into the format, which looks like a game-changer in terms of decks. Prism cards seem quite powerful offering awesome effects like Cyrus, which acts almost like Plea-GX, but as a Supporter! Super Boost Energy is another card I’ll have to try out, providing a massive four Rainbow Energy once you get enough Stage 2 Pokemon in play. Glaceon-GX is another interesting one — [card name=”Eevee” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card]’s Energy Evolution Ability can get Glaceon into play on your first turn, locking up any access to Tapu Lele-GX’s Wonder Tag or Gardevoir-GX’s Secret Spring, right away from turn one. There’s definitely a lot to mess around with, and I’ll be sure to talk about it in my next article. if you have any questions about Internationals, deck ideas, or anything you want to ask, please do and comment below! I’m also available in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout any time. That’s it for me today!

-Ryan Moorhouse

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