Loop De Loop — A New Concept in Standard

By: Zachary Lesage · Posted Posted onApr 21, 2018 at 2:53 PM · 0 Comments

Hey, PokeBeach readers. I am back with my newest article. Today, I am going to go over a new concept that I have been working on for the past month. In this article, I will go over my [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] control deck that aims to play like [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded, go over some in depth strategies, and finally talk about its specific matchups. All of this information should be important because I am providing my personal lists and the results of my vigorous testing regimes. While I am unsure of the deck that I will be bringing with me to the 2018 Latin America International Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this article should provide solid insight heading into that event. With all of that being said, let’s jump into my thought process of exploring ideas in our current Standard format.

Exploring Ideas in Standard

In the case of the current hyper-aggressive metagame, some decks are perfected fairly quickly and will remain that way until they are forced to adapt. In a recent phone call with my teammate Danny Altavilla, we discussed some new concepts as we head into Brazil:

[cardimg name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ align=”right” c=”custom”]The main inspiration.[/cardimg]

  • Attacking [card name=”Alolan Ninetales” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Attacking [card name=”Xurkitree-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM68″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Attacking [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / Oranguru
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Shaymin” set=”Shining Legends” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / Garbodor / [card name=”Bursting Balloon” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card]
  • Glaceon-GX / [card name=”Seviper” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Dialga-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”100″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM28″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]
  • [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] Stall

The original ideas focused on evolving the Attacking Hoopa deck that Altavilla played to great success at the 2018 Portland, Oregon Regional Championships. However, we quickly realized that those concepts suffered from poor matchups or could easily be teched against. Through this conversation, we took the established Attacking Hoopa archetype and spiritually evolved it into Zoroark-GX / Oranguru Control. The idea stemmed from recreating Sableye / Garbodor from Expanded and making it playable in Standard. Looking past the obvious cards such as Sableye that don’t exist in Standard, we took similar cards, mashed them together, and created the following list:

Zoroark-GX / Oranguru Control Deck

[decklist name=”Zoroark-GX / Oranguru / Control Deck” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ 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=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”38″]4x [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Evosoda” set=”Generations” no=”62″ 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=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Strategies Within the Deck

In this deck, there are many “concept within a concept” plays that give the deck a high skill gap. In most cases, the win condition is running your opponent out of Energy cards and attacking with Zoroark-GX while your opponent has no reasonable response. While it may seem impossible to achieve this feature, Oranguru can use its Resource Management attack to start an infinite loop.

Oranguru Loop

In the following scenario, the Zoroark-GX / Oranguru Control deck will be playing against an Attacking Hoopa deck:

[cardimg name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Resource Management, Acerola, repeat…[/cardimg]

  • Player 1: Starts game with Hoopa, attaches a basic Darkness Energy to Hoopa, passes.
  • Player 2: Starts [card name=”Zorua” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM83″ c=”name”][/card], plays [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] down from hand, uses Wonder Tag, and searches out a [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card]. Plays Brigette, searches for Zorua, Zorua, Oranguru and places them on the Bench. Attaches a basic Darkness Energy to Oranguru and passes.
  • Player 1: Attaches a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] to Hoopa and uses Super Psy Bolt to Knock Out the opposing Zorua for 80 damage.
  • Player 2: Promotes Oranguru, evolves a Zorua into a Zoroark-GX, evolves a Zorua into a Zoroark-GX, and plays down an Oranguru down from their hand. They use Trade, discard a Brigette, play a [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], use Trade, discard an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card], and use Resource Management to put a Zorua, Ultra Ball, and Professor Sycamore at the bottom of their deck.
  • Player 1: Benches a Hoopa, attaches a basic [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] to Hoopa, and uses Super Psy Bolt on Oranguru for 80 damage.
  • Player 2: Uses Trade, discards a Brigette, uses Trade, discards an [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], plays an Ultra Ball, discards a [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and Double Colorless Energy from their hand, searches for a Zorua, plays a Zorua on the Bench, and plays an [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] to bring the Oranguru back into their hand. They promote a Zoroark-GX, attach a [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] to Zoroark-GX, play Oranguru on their Bench, attach a basic Darkness Energy to Oranguru, and retreat Zoroark-GX into Oranguru. Oranguru uses Resource Management to put Puzzle of Time, N, and a Double Colorless Energy at the bottom of their deck.
  • Player 1: Benches an Oranguru, attaches a Double Colorless Energy to Hoopa, and uses Super Psy Bolt on Oranguru for 80 damage.
  • Player 2: Uses Trade, discards a [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], uses Trade, discards a [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], plays an Ultra Ball, discards an [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] and basic Darkness Energy from their hand, searches for a Zoroark-GX, evolves Zorua into a Zoroark-GX, uses Trade, and discards a [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. They use two Puzzle of Time, retrieve back a Field Blower and Acerola, and play an Acerola to bring the Oranguru back into their hand.  They promote a Zoroark-GX with Float Stone, play Oranguru on their Bench, attach a basic Darkness Energy to Oranguru, and retreat Zoroark-GX into Oranguru. Oranguru uses Resource Management to put Puzzle of Time, Puzzle of Time, and a basic Darkness Energy at the bottom of their deck.

As you can tell, this loop requires you whittling your deck down to almost nothing and to use Resource Management to continuously cycle back in important cards. In this situation, it is impossible for Attacking Hoopa to win the game because they will eventually deck out unless they use their own Oranguru. If they do use their own Oranguru, you can promote a Zoroark-GX, attach a Double Colorless Energy and Knock Out their Oranguru. So they have two options: try to attack with Oranguru again if they can get it back, or to attack with Hoopa which you should not be able to Knock Out. In any case, you should always resort back to Acerola, retreat, and Resource Management unless you can Knock Out a Pokemon. This is a sound strategy versus any deck that can’t do more than 110 damage or against inexperienced players who don’t understand how this loop works. Furthermore, this list plays two copies of [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] to bring that damage cap of 110 damage to 150 damage to be able to withstand larger blows. I have practiced this loop for over 20 hours and have found that it has a 100% success rate against attacking Hoopa and is similar in success when facing a [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] deck.

[premium]

Energy Denial

While this concept may seem different than the above “Oranguru loop” method, you can properly discard many opposing Energy cards between using Crushing Hammer and Enhanced Hammer. This combination pairs up strongly with Oranguru because you can cycle Crushing Hammer, Enhanced Hammer, and Puzzle of Time back in the deck with Resource Management. If you can continuously remove your opponent’s Energy, take damage, heal with Acerola, and use Resource Management–you likely won’t be able to lose.

Milling Your Opponent’s Deck

While this is the rarest of your win conditions, it is still obtainable because of the single [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] that I play in the list. This card can help versus decks such as Sylveon-GX that play a copy of their own Team Rocket’s Handiwork because you can possibly discard their copy before they discard yours. Alternatively, we have all faced against players who will use Trade so often that their deck is always low, we can use this card as a surprise win condition. In most of my games, I find myself using this card in combination with the aforementioned “Energy Denial” strategy because I have no other useful Supporter card to play.

Just Attack!

This strategy is simple, but it is also worthy to write about in this article. Sometimes the best way to discard your opponent’s Energy is to attack with your attacking Pokémon. [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] falls into this category because it can wipe three Energy off of a [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM69″ c=”name”][/card] by copying Zoroark-GX to use Riotous Beating. Sometimes after you pick and choose whichever Energy you want to discard that your opponent has in play, your opponent may have one Pokemon with the remainder of the Energy in play. In this deck, you can use Trickster GX to copy their attack and OHKO that Pokemon.

The end goal of this deck is to be sneaky, strategic, and to isolate a win condition that is plausible.

With all of these different ways to win, I am sure you are excited to play this deck, but you may want to know how to play this deck in specific matchups. I will go over the matchups versus some of the best decks in Standard right now so that you will be able to play this deck accordingly.

The Matchups

Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX — Even

[cardimg name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Let the loop begin![/cardimg]

You may be looking at this matchup and dreading each turn as you head into the actual game, but it can actually be a favourable matchup. You can exploit two win conditions fairly easily — Energy denial and by just attacking. In most cases, you will start off the game by using Oranguru with a [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] — to avoid getting OHKO’d by Jet Punch — to continuously cycle in [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card]. With the [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] having a Fighting Fury Belt attached, an opposing Buzzwole-GX should be forced into two-shotting it and that means we can loop [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] to keep their Energy off their Pokemon. In any case where a Buzzwole-GX attaches multiple Energy, we can react with our Mew-EX to copy our Riotous Beating attack. It is actually possible to loop the Mew-EX with [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] to recycle that card an additional two times to continually handle opposing Buzzwole-GX.

Another tip in this matchup is to be aware of how many Energy you have taken away. Most Buzzwole-GX / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] decks play thirteen to fourteen Energy total with the possibility of a [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card]. If you have taken care of most of their Energy, you can make boastful plays by logically deducting which attacks they can use against you.

Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX — Even

Another even matchup that will likely be a gruelingly long game! We need to exploit their low Energy count of eight-to-ten. Similar to the strategy used versus Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX, we want to use Oranguru to cycle through Crushing Hammer and Enhanced Hammer using Resource Management. In the mean time, if we attach a Fighting Fury Belt to Oranguru, we have 160 HP and Zoroark-GX will cap out at 120 damage with Riotous Beating. If they can’t find a way to get past our 160 HP monkey, we can use Acerola every turn to loop our Oranguru while denying our opponent of Energy cards. Once we get to the point of them running out of Energy, we can either try to deck out our opponent with [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] or we can start to attack their Pokemon.

Additionally, make sure we don’t let their Lycanroc-GX get powered up to use Claw Slash. This attack can get past our 160 HP Oranguru, and it can OHKO our valuable [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] on our Bench. When you are checking to see if your opponent is out of Energy cards, remember to account for Puzzle of Time, [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card], Mew-EX (that can copy Resource Management), and Oranguru. In any case, if they get out their own Mew-EX or Oranguru to loop their Energy back in, it is a wise investment to OHKO that Pokemon to stop them at the source.

Espeon-GX / Garbodor — Extremely Favourable

In this matchup, you want to isolate your opponent’s Pokemon one-by-one by learning how each of their Pokemon in the deck works against you.

Let’s start out with [card name=”Espeon-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM35″ c=”name”][/card]. This Pokemon thrives off of Confusing our Pokemon with Psybeam, which can be pesky, but isn’t overly detrimental to our success. Additionally, we need to watch out for its more powerful attacks in the form of Psychic and Divide GX. Looking at this Pokemon as a whole, it is wise to have Acerola and [card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] handy because that will help get around the Confusion and potential damage spread from Divide GX. Furthermore, we will have one-to-two Energy on each of our Pokemon at most which keeps Psychic in check at 150 damage max with a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card]. If you are not under Ability lock, [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] does a great job of OHKO’ing Espeon-GX by copying Riotous Beating with Versatile.

Looking onward to other Pokemon, [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] will try to activate Garbotoxin to stop Zoroark-GX from using Trade. We can simply counter this card by keeping an available stock of [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] readily available for use.

Lastly, the other [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] can use Trashalanche to punish us for each of the Item cards that we have in our discard pile, but we can answer that by allowing [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] to use Resource Management.

Beyond that, you can follow suit like most matchups and loop Energy denial cards for a while. If your Item count in your discard pile gets too high, just cycle some Items back into your deck with Resource Management. This matchup can take an incredibly long amount of time due to the amount of times you need to use Resource Management throughout the game, so play at a brisk pace to manage your time wisely.

Zoroark-GX / Lucario-GX — Even

This matchup is similar to the Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX matchup because the internal make-up of the deck is the same strategy. Most Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Lucario-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM100″ c=”name”][/card] lists plays eight-to-ten Energy, which allows you to use the same Oranguru method to loop Energy denial cards until they are unable to frequently attack you. The main goal of this matchup is for you to draw the first set of two Prize cards in any way without your opponent drawing two Prize cards first. If this happens, you can cycle your Mew-EX over and over again to copy Riotous Beating to OHKO a Lucario-GX.

It is important to remember that if your opponent is not attacking with Lucario-GX, they are unable to OHKO your Oranguru if you have a [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] attached or if you have a [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] in play to limit their Bench. In my experience, it can be daunting when Lucario-GX uses Aura Strike for a single Energy to OHKO a Zoroark-GX, but you can past that with the right combination of cards.

Tapu Bulu-GX / Vikavolt — Slightly Favourable

[cardimg name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Hopefully this is prized…[/cardimg]

This might actually be our worst matchup because the Energy denial win condition is almost off the table from the start. They play eleven-to-twelve Energy, two [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], and possibly a Super Rod. During my playtesting against this deck, my goal is to force the [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] to use Nature’s Judgement and to be forced to discard Energy to get a OHKO. In order to do this, Oranguru needs to have a Fighting Fury Belt on it or there needs to be a Parallel City in play that reduces the damage of their Grass-type Pokemon. If they can’t Knock Out the Oranguru, you can either use Acerola to loop the Oranguru to gather back Energy denial cards, or you can two-shot a Tapu Bulu-GX with Zoroark-GX. I found that most of the times when I was winning this matchup, I ran them out of Energy, Energy Recycler, and then proceeded to attack with Zoroark-GX. It is key to remember that you have infinite resources by using Resource Management and that you can use that to win games in the long run. In a few rare occurrences, I was able to use Team Rocket’s Handiwork as a way to discard their Energy from their deck when they put it back with Energy Recycler.

Attacking Hoopa — Extremely Favourable

Contrary to the last deck, we can automatically deck out the [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] deck based on our deck’s construction. As explained in the [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] Loop section of this article, it is impossible for the Attacking Hoopa player to OHKO any of our important Pokemon such as [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and Oranguru, which means that we can use [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] to bring those Pokemon back to our hand. In that same process, we can infinitely use Resource Management to cycle through [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and Acerola to either remove their Energy or use Team Rocket’s Handiwork to deck them out. Since you can’t use Acerola and Team Rocket’s Handiwork in the same turn, you will either take away all of their Energy available (thirteen Energy and two Super Rod) or you will naturally deck them out.

I do understand that they play an Oranguru of their own, but our deck has a few key features that theirs doesn’t. If they do promote an Oranguru to avoid decking out, we can either outpace them with our Energy denial, or by using Team Rocket’s Handiwork to try and discard those returned cards. Furthermore, we can attack them by using Riotous Beating on Zoroark-GX to OHKO the Oranguru. If they attack us with Hoopa after that, we can use Acerola and return to our original strategy of using Resource Management.

Similar to the Espeon-GX / Garbodor matchup, this one can be lengthy if time is a factor; you need to play at a brisk pace to avoid an unfortunate tie.

Sylveon-GX — Slightly Favourable

While this matchup is in our favour, it shouldn’t be taken lightly because it is a grinder of a game from the start! Similar to the Espeon-GX / Garbodor matchup, it is wise to isolate what this deck can do in separate parts to be able to overcome the hassles of this matchup.

Firstly, [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] is the main component of the deck and offers three strong attacks in the form of searching the deck, a straight attack, and a disruption-based GX attack. Looking at the deck search, they are going to try and take our Energy away by searching for Energy denail cards, but we can instantly get our Energy back with Resource Management so that attack is a moot point. The straight damage caps at 110 damage which means that Oranguru will never get OHKO’d by a Sylveon-GX. Plea GX is more of an annoyance than a real threat; try to have three Zoroark-GX on your Bench at all times! The matchup will usually consist of the Sylveon-GX player using Magical Ribbon to stockpile disruption cards as well as chipping away at Oranguru with Fairy Wind. Our goal is to use [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] to heal our Oranguru every turn while continuously looping through Energy denial cards.

The last opposing threat that needs to be addressed is the looming singleton threat that must be Knocked Out at any appropriate cost. If and when they Bench a [card name=”Ralts” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], it is mandatory to Knock Out that Pokemon because [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] can eventually get powered up to OHKO any of your Pokemon.

After you get past all of the hurdles that the Sylveon-GX is going to throw in your path to victory, you should be able to run them out of resources shortly after that. Like most of these matchups, this is a super long game so be prepared to watch your opponent for stalling tactics and to play at a quick pace yourself to stay timely!

See Ya in Brazil

[cardimg name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”124″ align=”right” c=”custom”]You gotta put in the work![/cardimg]

Well, that is a wrap, PokeBeach readers! I hope you appreciate my extensive testing with obscure decks that seem to always lead me back into playing the most basic decks in Standard. What I am trying to say is, I like experimenting with cool concepts such as [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] Control, but they ultimately have a lacking aspect or they have some awful random matchups that prevent the deck from knocking the current top-tier decks off their thrown. In the future, I won’t let my creative spirit die, but I will take more precautions when trying to make secret decks. Don’t let this statement stop you from trying out the deck! If you can check off most or all of these bullets, this deck may be a great choice:

  • Your metagame consists of Zoroark-GX variants and Attacking [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card].
  • You can assume that you will not play against poor matchups such as [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM28″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card]
  • You have learned to play this deck extensively before trying it out at a local League Cup
  • You are comfortable with the Pokemon in the deck and certain cards such as [card name=”Team Rocket’s Handiwork” set=”Fates Collide” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]
  • You have knowledge of all the deck lists in your perceived metagame, such as Energy counts, tech cards, and other important information
  • You have learned the probability of drawing cards in your deck
  • You understand that there is a luck factor involved with cards such as [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]

With all of that being said, I am off to Sao Paulo, Brazil in a week to have a chance to nab some wonderful prizes in South America. My adventure this year has been amazing and I thank all of the readers and supporters for encouraging me along the way. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without all of you. Expect some new and exciting news coming from me real soon! In the meantime, feel free to follow me on my Twitter account @zlesage_pokemon, for updates on my newest articles, free Pokemon content, and to watch my Pokemon journey unfold. Additionally, ask me some more questions in the Subscriber’s Hideout forums, tell your friends about this article, and kickstart a discussion about this article!

Until next time,

Zach

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