Winning the (Char)lottery — A Pre-Charlotte Metagame Rundown

By: Eric Gansman · Posted Posted onMar 16, 2018 at 9:06 PM · 0 Comments

Hey there PokeBeach! Today, I’m going to be doing something a little different compared to my last few articles. While I’ve recently been focusing each article on one specific deck and breaking it down, today I will be taking a look at the format as a whole going into Charlotte Regionals. Although I won’t be going into detail on every deck I talk about, I will be giving you an overview of what each deck does, as well as sample lists for all of the decks I have tested to give you an idea of what to expect come Charlotte.

Meta Breakdown

[cardimg name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ align=”right” c=”custom”]I hope you’re ready to face this card![/cardimg]

Before we talk about each deck, it’s important to establish what the metagame is shaping up to be headed into Charlotte. After talking to a bunch of high level players and testing a bunch, this is my breakdown of the metagame and what decks I consider to be the best of the best:

Tier One

  • [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Buzzwole-GX ” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX

Tier Two

  • [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Gardevoir-GX / Zoroark-GX
  • Buzzwole-GX / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / Garbodor
  • [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] / Garbodor
  • [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Volcanion-EX” set=”Steam Siege” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]

Tier Three

  • [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] / Zoroark-GX
  • [card name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Alolan Dugtrio” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card]

While you won’t hit every single ones of these decks at Charlotte, this is a pretty exhaustive list of what you should expect. As for the individual tiers, I don’t think you’ll find much debate about the top four decks in the format. While some people might consider Gardevoir or Buzzwole / Garbodor to be tier one, the first four decks are generally accepted as the four best decks of the current format. ZoroPod, “Paw Patrol”, Weavile, and Buzzwole / Lycanroc have been dominating this format recently. Three of the four decks took up 18 of the top 46 decks at Collinsville; while the last one, Weavile, just won Malmo Regionals in Europe. As such, I’d expect to play all four of these decks at least once at Charlotte, and I would not take a bad matchup against more than one of the four decks.

Looking at the tier two decks, we see a lot of old decks which don’t run Zoroark (Gardevoir, Volcanion, and Greninja) as well as lots of Garbodor decks aimed to counter Zoroark. One common theme that can be drawn from this tier is that all of these are powerful decks that struggle due to their inconsistency and lack of Zoroark draw.

Finally, we have tier three decks. While some may disagree with my placement of Ho-Oh / Kiawe in this tier, I think the rest of the decks are pretty self explanatory. Almost all of these decks take strong matchups versus some of the tier one-and-two decks but struggle against the rest of the format and/or have consistency issues. As such, I have a hard time placing any of these decks higher up in my tier list.

As for why I placed Ho-Oh / Kiawe this low even after it just placed ninth at Collinsville, I personally believe that Volcanion is the superior Fire-type deck, and as such have placed it higher on my tier list. I also don’t think Fire decks are in a great spot in the format, which led me to place both Volcanion and Ho-Oh / Kiawe in lower tiers.

Now that I’ve given you an overview of the format headed into Charlotte, let’s take a look at all of these decks individually.

Tier One

Zoroark-GX / Golisopod-GX

I think I can safely say that ZoroPod is the best deck in the format currently. With 50-50 matchups across the board, lots of ways to express player skill, and an extremely flexible core that can be teched in many different ways to suit your playstyle, ZoroPod should be the number-one deck you prepare for heading into Charlotte. For a few examples of how to tech out the deck, Igor Costa played [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] in his Collinsville list, while Russell LaParre and Benjamin Pham both played two copies of [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. These are both great ways to run the deck, and they aren’t the only ways either, showing this deck’s flexibility.

The other major reason ZoroPod is so strong right now is that not many decks in the format are equipped to one-shot Golisopod-GX, which is otherwise one of the deck’s biggest weaknesses. As such, it’s able to trade efficiently with many decks in the format as it has so many ways to reset its board and put itself in a favorable position to win the two-shot war. Here’s my current list for the deck that has been heavily influenced by Russell LaParre’s and Benjamin Pham’s successful lists.

[decklist name=”ZoroPod” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″][pokemon amt=”18″]4x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Wimpod” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”16″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”7″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

As you can see, my list is only a few cards off Russell’s Collinsville list. I’ve taken out the [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] and the third [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] in Russ’s list in favor of a [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] and a third [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] to help deal with the mirror matchup. If you’re looking for some cards to cut in order to try to tech your list to your playstyle, here are the following cards I’d consider cuttable: the third Acerola, two Parallel City, one [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], and one Max Potion.

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Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX

Zoroark / Lycanroc, otherwise known as Paw Patrol (as cringe as that name is, it has stuck), has been a force in both the Standard and Expanded formats since Michael Pramawat took down Memphis Regionals with the deck. Zoroark / Lycanroc, like ZoroPod, takes pretty even matchups across the board, has many opportunities for a player to express their skill, and can be teched in many different ways. Compared to ZoroPod, Zoroark / Lycanroc is a much more aggressive style of deck that has a much better early-to-mid game while giving up some of the mid-to-late game control that ZoroPod exerts. Below is the list I took to my last League Cup before Charlotte. The list was given to me by Michael Pramawat and I made a change to fit my personsal preference, but the list is extremely flexible and can be changed however you like.

[decklist name=”Zoroark Lycanroc” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Rockruff” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mallow” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”127″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Multi Switch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist][cardimg name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As you can see, this list has a ton of neat techs in it. [card name=”Multi Switch” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card], Max Potion, [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], and Parallel City are all extremely effective in this deck, as you can [card name=”Mallow” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card] and Trade for them whenever you need them. However, if you don’t like any of these techs or want to include something else in your own list, there is plenty of space to work with to fit other cards into the list.

Zoroark-GX / Weavile

Next up is a deck that I feel many people are sleeping on heading into Charlotte. While it won Malmo Regionals and was also piloted by Tord Reklev — one of the best players in the world — it did not achieve nearly the same results in North America at Collinsville. Top players Michael Pramawat, Rahul Reddy, and Sam Chen all played Zoroark / Weavile at Collinsville, and only Sam made day two. As such, the deck has flown somewhat under the radar compared to the other tier one decks; everyone knows it is a threat, but it doesn’t have as much talk about it as the other tier one decks.

The deck operates as a typical Zoroark deck for the most part, but uses both Weavile to punish decks and players who bench too many Pokemon with Abilities. Luckily, there are a ton of Pokemon with Abilities in our format, two of which are the two best cards in the game currently: [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] and Zoroark-GX. Here’s a list I’ve been playing around with recently that was created by Rukan Shao. He teched it heavily against Buzzwole decks with both [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], as well as [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card].

[decklist name=”Zoroark Weavile” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Zoroark” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Zoroark BREAK” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Zorua” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”89″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Weavile” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mewtwo” set=”Evolutions” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Mallow” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX

This is by far the most aggressive tier one deck in the format. Buzzwole puts on immense pressure early game thanks to [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Fates Collide” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Regirock-EX” set=”Fates Collide” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability. This early pressure can sometimes run over Zoroark decks before they are able to set up, but even if they are able to set up or use a tech like Mew-EX to return the Knock Out, [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and Lycanroc’s GX attack are usually enough to keep up in the Prize race. Buzzwole also enjoys strong matchups against most of the Stage 2 decks in the format, as it can take multiple cheap Knock Outs on low-HP Basics if the Stage 2 deck whiffs its [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] combination.

While Buzzwole doesn’t play Zoroark-GX and thus could potentially have consistency issues, it has the most consistent non-Zoroark engine thanks to [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] giving it easy access to [card name=”Remoraid” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card], and thus [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card]. When this deck gets going and hits its Max Elixirs, it’s tough for any deck to stop it. Buzzwole’s bad matchups are relatively few, but it does suffer against some tier two-and-three decks such as [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM35″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], Greninja, and Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu.

Tier Two

Zoroark-GX / Garbodor

This is a deck that popped up at Collinsville Regionals after the Expanded format was dominated by the combination of [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] plus [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] at Dallas a few weeks prior. Zoroark / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] aims to do the exact same thing as the Zoroark plus Hex combination, but much more inconsistently due to the lesser card pool in Standard. This Ability lock against your opponents but not yourself is achieved by attaching [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]s to your Garbodor. That way, the Tool is on Garbodor during their turn, but gets discarded headed into your turn, giving you access to Trade while your opponent doesn’t get to abuse Abilities. As such, this deck has a positive matchup against other Zoroark decks, but does struggle against [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] due to the type disadvantage.

Here’s my personal list below. I based my list off of lists posted by both Brit Pybas and Connor Finton; I took concepts from both of their lists that I liked and mashed them together.

[decklist name=”Zoroark Garbodor” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″][pokemon amt=”21″]4x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Trubbish” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Eevee” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]3x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mallow” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

As you can see, there are some neat techs in this list. The 1-1 Espeon is strong against Buzzwole decks, as well as giving you a powerful GX attack in Divide GX that the deck would otherwise completely lack. The other cool tech is the [card name=”Klefki” set=”Steam Siege” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] plus [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] combination. Klefki is another Tool that stays on Garbodor during your opponent’s turn but not yours — it’s essentially the Pokemon version of Bursting Balloon. Having Rescue Stretcher to get back a Pokemon that turns on Ability lock is super strong, hence why I’ve included it in my list.

Gardevoir-GX Variants

[cardimg name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Currently, there are two versions of Gardevoir that are seeing play: The first version is the classic [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] pairing we’ve been seeing since the World Championships. If you’re looking for a list of that version of the deck, check out my last article where I go over my Top 64 list in detail. The second variation of the list is Gardevoir / Zoroark, a deck that was popularized by Tord Reklev and a bunch of other top European players at the Australian International. This version of the deck doesn’t focus nearly as much on Gardevoir as the standard Gardevoir variants do. However, what it lacks in raw power that a typical Gardevoir list might have, it makes up for with its consistency; there is no better draw engine currently than Zoroark-GX.

Unfortunately, both versions of the deck have their shortcomings that prevent them from being tier one. Traditional Gardevoir suffers from consistency issues; while Gardevoir / Zoroark struggles a lot against Buzzwole / Lycanroc as it has issues keeping up with the early pressure, and against Zoroark / [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] because it is so Ability reliant — it’s hard to limit your field to just a Gardevoir or two against Weavile with the Zoroark build.

Buzzwole-GX / Garbodor

This is a deck that was popularized by a group of Ohio players, most notably PokeBeach’s very own Andrew Mahone, at the Collinsville Regional Championships including Natalie Shampay who piloted the deck to second place. Unlike other Buzzwole variants, this version is much less aggressive and relies more on setting up Ability lock in order to slow down your opponents while you ping them with snipe damage. The other cards that make this version unique is the [card name=”Carbink BREAK” set=”Fates Collide” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] line. This is used to help accelerate Energy to a Buzzwole mid game in order to put more pressure on the board for the following turns, while only giving up a single Prize.

While this deck aims to hard counter Zoroark decks with both Buzzwole and Ability lock, the deck can struggle with consistency due to not running Zoroark itself, as well as struggling versus other matchups in the format such as Gardevoir, Espeon / Garbodor, and to a lesser extent other Buzzwole decks.

Espeon-GX / Garbodor

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of this deck, but Espeon / Garbodor saw a resurgence in popularity heading into Collinsville; honestly, I’m not quite sure why. It didn’t gain much from the new set, but all of a sudden it started popping up in testing and at the event. Even if it didn’t do too well at Collinsville, I still expect to see this deck at Charlotte due to its inherent strong matchups versus Buzzwole decks, and Stage 2 decks thanks to Divide GX and [card name=”Espeon-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card]’s Miraculous Shine.

While its Zoroark matchups aren’t the greatest, Espeon can still win through cheesing your opponent with some lucky confusion flips coupled with Ability lock. If you can stall the game out long enough, you can pull off a big devolve play and take out all of your opponent’s Zoroark in one turn. However, like all of the other decks I’ve talked about that don’t run Zoroark, Espeon / Garbodor can have some consistency issues, especially once Ability lock is up.

Greninja BREAK

Ah, [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] — the deck I love to hate. Considering my dislike of Greninja, you might be surprised to see how high I’ve ranked the deck. In truth, I feel dirty about ranking it this high; but after testing against it a lot, its strength in this format is undeniable. Greninja has incredible matchups across the board and gained a valuable tool in [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] with the release of Ultra Prism, giving it an extra boost to its otherwise awful consistency.

However, the same caveats always apply to Greninja when ranking it. Even with Cynthia, the deck can still struggle to set up since it needs to hit a ton of Evolutions in the right order every game. Secondly — and perhaps more importantly — is the existence of [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] Promo. As soon as Greninja becomes a threat in the meta, Giratina becomes a fantastic tech to neuter the deck. In fact, I played Giratina Promo at Collinsville after hearing the hype for Greninja prior to the event, and was rewarded by playing two Greninja and going 1-0-1 against them in what would have otherwise been an auto-loss. As such, it’s difficult to rank Greninja higher up on the tier list, but if the metagame is unprepared for Greninja, it can definitely dominate a tournament.

Volcanion

There’s been a ton of Fire hype after a Fire deck placed ninth in Collinsville. However, I prefer the standard variation of Fire decks that relies on heavy baby [card name=”Volcanion” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY145″ c=”name”][/card] lines and Steam Ups in order to pressure your opponent rather than the [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] version of the deck. Volcanion has always been a highly consistent and streamlined deck, and that’s never been truer than now. This is largely in part due to most lists running a 2-2 [card name=”Octillery” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] line because it synergizes so well with [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], and it helps compensate for the lack of Zoroark. However, the deck struggles versus Ability lock, which is becoming prevalent in the metagame again, as well as decks that run multiple copies of [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. Since both of these issues are prevalent in the metagame, Volcanion’s power is definitely muted compared to what it could be. However, if Volcanion hits the right matchups, it can run over a tournament like it did in its prime.

Tier Three

Solgaleo-GX / Zoroark-GX

Admittedly, I don’t know too much about this deck other than that Sydney Morisoli and some other Pennsylvania / Maryland / Virginia area players piloted the deck at Collinsville. On paper, it seems to have strong matchups versus every other Zoroark deck due to being able to win trades by one-shotting your opponent while not getting Knocked Out in return.

Like other Zoroark decks, it can struggle versus Ability lock, as well as versus Buzzwole decks that can ruin your set up. Additionally, it doesn’t seem to have strong matchups versus the rest of the field unlike other Zoroark decks. Unless you know your field is going to be solely Zoroark decks, I personally would not suggest playing this deck.

Glaceon-GX

[cardimg name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”39″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] has definitely failed to live up to the hype it received on release, at least in the Standard format. While Andrew Wamboldt was able to make day two at Collinsville with his version of Glaceon, the deck otherwise had an abysmal showing at Collinsville. Glaceon decks are supposed to counter Zoroark decks while struggling versus non-GX-Ability-reliant decks, but in practice it doesn’t even counter Zoroark decks most of the time. As such, I would not recommend playing Glaceon until someone discovers a list that can consistently beat Zoroark-GX like the card was advertised to do.

Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX / Magnezone

This is another deck that definitely failed to live up to the expectations of the community. While [card name=”Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] saw heavy play at Collinsville, not a single one made day two. I believe Magnezone failed to live up to the hype of other “Rain Dance” Stage 2 decks of the past like [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Emboar” set=”Black and White” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] because the format is lacking [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW28″ c=”name”][/card]. Tropical Beach is the perfect complement to these decks, as they never exert turn one pressure and need as many resources as possible in order to set up. Without Tropical Beach to help refresh its hand, the deck loses a significant amount of consistency. While this deck beats nearly everything in the format if it sets up outside of Garbodor decks, it struggles to set up more so than almost every other deck in the format. I would not touch this deck until something is released to help fix the deck’s consistency issues.

Vikavolt / Tapu Bulu-GX

This is basically the Grass / Lightning version of Dusk Mane / Magnezone, but slightly more consistent due to Vikavolt having natural thinning thanks to its Ability which accelerates Energy from the deck rather than the hand. As such, it’s the slightly more consistent Stage 2 “Rain Dance” deck, but it still struggles to set up. Basically, everything that I said in the previous paragraph applies here, except [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] also has an unfavorable matchup versus Gardevoir.

Alolan Dugtrio

[card name=”Alolan Dugtrio” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] is one of my favorite pet decks of the current format. It’s an incredibly powerful deck once it sets up that can stream one-Prize attackers that one-shot everything in the format. Unfortunately, there are just too many things in the current format that prevent it from setting up reliably. First, the deck doesn’t run Zoroark-GX, Octillery, and only one [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], so it relies mostly on its draws for its set up, which is incredibly inconsistent. Second, Buzzwole absolutely rails the deck, as everything in the deck has 60 HP or less besides [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Generations” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card]. Third, the deck is Ability reliant, as you use [card name=”Ribombee” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] to accelerate Energy from your deck to your hand, and as such struggles against Garbodor.

Because of these downsides, it doesn’t have a great position in the format, no matter how strong the deck is once it fully sets up. I wouldn’t suggest this deck unless your metagame is completely devoid of Buzzwole and Garbodor decks, but if those decks are nonexistent, Dugtrio is a fun and great deck to play. Here’s the list I’ve been using for the deck that I’ve found to be a lot of fun to pilot.

[decklist name=”Dugtrio” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Alolan Dugtrio” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”79″][pokemon amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Alolan Diglett” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Alolan Dugtrio” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cutiefly” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Ribombee” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”Steam Siege” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fisherman” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Mt. Coronet” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]10x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”10″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Ho-Oh-GX / Kiawe

Finally, we have [card name=”Ho-Oh-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card], a deck that got ninth at Collinsville. While it has had some recent success, I personally do not believe this deck is good at all. As soon as the Pokemon you Kiawe goes down, you run out of steam (pun intended) quite quickly. As such, I much prefer playing Volcanion, and would not recommend this deck for Charlotte this weekend.

Conclusion

Thank you so much for reading my Charlotte primer! While this article didn’t contain as much in-depth detail about decks like I usually provide, I hope that I was able to give you an idea of the format as a whole along with competitive lists for many of the top decks in the format.

If you like this type of article more than my normal kind where I go in depth on one specific deck and talk about it ad nauseum, please be sure to let me know so I know what to write next time. I’ll be at Charlotte Regionals myself, and I’ll most likely be playing one of the tier one decks outside of Buzzwole, or my old faithful, Gardevoir. Finally, please follow me on Twitter @OrgansmanTCG.

Until next time,

Eric Gansman

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