The Ban Hammer — On Expanded Bans and Decks to Stay Ahead of the Curve

[cardimg name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ align=”right” c=”custom”]More cards getting hit by the ban hammer![/cardimg]

Last week, Pokemon announced updates to the ban list for the Expanded format. These updates added four cards to the list: [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]. Many players, myself included, have been very vocal about the need for bans in Expanded, and this was a welcome change for many of us. Still others have expressed disappointment and confusion regarding the changes, so today I aim to provide more clarity to the rationale behind each of these bans. In addition to that, I’ll be discussing some of the ways we may see Expanded change as a result.

A Brief History of Banned Cards in Expanded

Pokemon has an almost perfect track record for banning cards for one reason: they prevent the opponent from playing the game. There are a small number of exceptions — Puzzle of Time being the most recent example. Some past examples are [card name=”Shiftry” set=”Next Destinies” no=”72″ c=”from”][/card], [card name=”Forest of Giant Plants” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”from”][/card].

[card name=”Lysandre’s Trump Card” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is the other outlier, though it warped the game more than any other card I’ve ever seen. Decks before and after the Trump Card ban looked wildly different. In Japan, a player created a donk deck involving [card name=”Latios-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY72″ c=”name”][/card] that used Lysandre’s Trump Card to run through his deck multiple times in a turn. He would take up the entirety of the match time in his first turn, taking a Knock Out and winning on Prizes in the end (Japan decided match outcomes by Prizes in time during this period). This aspect of Lysandre’s Trump Card was similar to the other bans, making it less of an odd man out than Puzzle of Time.

Shiftry’s Giant Fan Ability in tandem with Forest of Giant Plants created a way to win before the opponent had a turn. Forest of Giant Plants has been a problem card more than once, enabling a first-turn Item lock with [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”from”][/card]. Archeops, in combination with the popular [card name=”Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” set=”Primal Clash” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] engine, crippled evolution decks to the point of unplayability.

Three out of the newest four bans follow Pokemon’s ban track record. That said, Puzzle of Time’s ban is a sign that Pokemon is willing to hit cards that they see as too powerful, not just obstructive to playing the game. This gives some hope regarding the future of Expanded in the long term. In the past, I’ve been critical of Pokemon’s unwillingness to act in any way in the face of deeply unhealthy formats, but the Puzzle of Time ban is the first sign that they plan to break this trend of inaction.

The New Bans

With the history of Pokemon’s Expanded bans paving the way, I’ll move into the new bans. With each, I’ll talk about which decks were affected and how the meta will likely change in their absence.

Hex Maniac

Ever since the release of [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”name”][/card], Hex Maniac has gone from powerful card to serious problem. While decks such as Night March and [card name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] used it to great effect in the past, both decks had restrictions regarding its use that Zoroark-GX did not. Both of the other decks needed their Puzzles and [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] for a variety of cards in order to keep attacking. Due to Zoroark-GX’s Trade and ease of setup, they could usually play Hex Maniac every turn of the game after the first. This turned into a hugely luck-based exchange where the player who got Hexed first would lose. After the inclusion of [card name=”Red Card” set=”XY” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] in nearly every Zoroark deck, this became an even more pressing issue to the point where games were won and lost on the first turn of the game.

[cardimg name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ align=”left” c=”none”][/cardimg]

In addition to the aforementioned problems, the ease of looping Hex Maniac made it so that many Ability-based decks simply could not exist. The odds that a player hit three or more Zoroark or Night March decks in a day were high, and both of these decks had an easy time playing Hex Maniac for multiple consecutive turns. With Hex gone, many decks are now able to execute a strategy that they couldn’t before.

Zoroark-GX decks will also now have a much more difficult time answering [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] serves as a solution, but recovering it will be much more of a task than it has been in the past with Puzzle of Time’s absence. Zoroark decks can include a thicker line of Alolan Muk to have more ready access to it, but having it in play comes with the unfortunate consequence of shutting off [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card]. In addition to this, Knocking Out Alolan Muk is by no means a difficult task, so it may prove to be an ineffective solution. On the flip side of this, if Zoroark ceases to see play and Sudowoodo falls out of lists as a result, the format could once again see the rise of the fox. In this way, it could shift to become more cyclical, but this has almost always been the case in Expanded.

Another deck that will be affected by the ban of Hex Maniac is [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]. While Trevenant does lose [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], the absence of Hex Maniac means that there is one fewer way to break Trevenant’s Item lock. On top of that, the only other remaining ways to circumvent Forest’s Curse — [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] — become completely ineffective if the Trevenant player limits their board to only Trevenant. This makes their Item lock absolute in many cases. Its place in the metagame also improves, with Zoroark-GX variants being dealt a devastating blow by the new bans. It also does excellently against [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], the untouched tier-one deck of Expanded. I actually fear that Trevenant will grow to become the next great oppressor of the format, but time will tell whether this is a fair assessment.

The final deck that gains a serious boost is the previous king of Expanded, Psychic Box. Zoroark-GX was a natural enemy that ultimately removed the deck from the metagame completely. With Zoroark’s damage and popularity taking an inevitable hit, Psychic Box may see a return to its throne. This is compounded by the power and prevalence of [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Psychic Toolbox has a multitude of single-Prize attackers to take one-hit Knock Outs on any Fighting Pokemon that Buzzwole may play.

The format’s newest powerhouse in Buzzwole is not directly affected by the Hex ban, but its most common prey in Zoroark decks will almost certainly see less play. To compound this problem, Trevenant, Psychic Box, and Malamar all surge in power on the tail of these bans, none of which are favorable matchups for Buzzwole. On top of this, many decks in the format can include [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] as an even better answer to Buzzwole decks than [card name=”Mew-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] is in Standard.

Out of all the bans, Hex Maniac’s departure from the Expanded format will have the greatest effect. While each of the other cards was a major player in Expanded in its own right, nothing defined the metagame like Hex Maniac.

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Ghetsis

[cardimg name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”115″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] has been a long-hated card in Expanded. Since the introduction of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], a first-turn Ghetsis has often spelled death. The odds of this were amplified against faster decks — Night March being a common example. As the format progressed, games that ended after a brutal first-turn Ghetsis became more and more commonplace. It became a heavy detractor of skill from the game as any player could search a [card name=”Jirachi-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] for Ghetsis and hit their opponent’s only [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] out of their hand to kill it.

Beyond the first turn, Ghetsis was a powerful disruptive tool for any deck able to use it as their Supporter for the turn without hindering their setup. This, again, was most commonly Zoroark decks, but Night March and Psychic Box also took advantage of the opportunity. Ghetsis was an ever-present concern when building an Item-heavy deck, serving as a deterrent for fully or mostly Item-based draw engines. It was also a problem for [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], allowing the user to shuffle the targets of Sableye’s Junk Hunt back into the deck over back-to-back turns. While Sableye does lose [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], it was a powerhouse long before the card was in print and could easily return to this status.

On a broader scale, Ghetsis’s removal from the format opens a window for Item-heavy decks that hasn’t existed to such an extent before. While [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] and Trevenant are still concerns, an Item-based draw engine that aims to blow through a deck on the first turn is far more feasible now that Ghetsis is gone. Decks like [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”custom”]Archie’s[/card] [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] have some breathing room as some of the most potent tools against them leave the format.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the format experiences an uptick in Item counts overall since playing a large amount of them is not as universally punishable with Ghetsis gone. That said, Seismitoad-EX, Trevenant, and [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] all remain deterrents for this style of deck building, so this claim may be premature.

Wally

[card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] is an interesting ban because it only saw play in one deck: Trevenant. It allowed for the Trevenant player to get a turn-one Item lock going first, thereby drastically limiting the opponent’s options before they got to play the game. This was Pokemon’s rationale for Wally’s ban. While I applaud their effort, this ban will ultimately have next to no effect on Trevenant’s playability. In fact, Trevenant is shaping up to be stronger than it has been in years after these bans go into effect.

The reason that a turn-one Wally helped Trevenant so much in the past was because it could prevent the opponent from finding their outs to get around Forest’s Curse. With the [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] ban, these outs are nearly nonexistent. [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] are the only options to get around the Ability, and the Trevenant player can eliminate those outs if they’re able to limit their board to only Trevenant. [card name=”AZ” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] makes this an easy feat if the opponent decides not to Knock Out any Tapu Lele-GX the Trevenant player benches. This means the only decks that are stronger against Trevenant after Wally’s removal are those that can set up their board in the single turn of the game that they get to play. The board that they set up must also be able to take six Prizes under the ensuing Item lock. For many decks, a single turn of Items is far from sufficient to deal with six 160-HP non-GX attackers. Ascension still guarantees a Trevenant after the opponent plays a single turn, so the chance that Trevenant’s opponent gets more than one turn of Items is near zero.

This deck has everything it needs to be an oppressive force after the bans, and it’s one of the only things preventing me from being wholly optimistic about post-ban Expanded.

Puzzle of Time

[cardimg name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Puzzle of Time was too powerful, plain and simple. It gave decks too many options in a game and opened up a ton of space to add more tools by eliminating the need for heavier counts and recovery cards. Its removal carries multiple implications for the Expanded metagame.

This removal primarily centers around [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”name”][/card] and Night March. Zoroark-GX decks will have to play more recovery cards and will have less access to their disruptive tools. This particularly affects [card name=”Red Card” set=”XY” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card], but it can extend to [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] and any other Items or Stadiums that they want to see multiple times in a game.

That said, losing Puzzle of Time does not hammer any nails into Zoroark’s coffin.

The real casualty of the Puzzle ban is Night March. Night March’s tried and true defense against [card name=”Karen” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY177″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM19″ c=”name”][/card] was Puzzle of Time. Without it, the deck will be unable to repeatedly get Night Marchers in the discard after a Karen or two and will have a harder time playing around Oricorio. In addition to this, it will lose key recovery that allowed it to push for higher damage numbers and stay consistent with only four Energy. While it could have persevered through the loss of more versatile recovery, the hate that now exists for the deck compared to its previous no-Puzzle state is a dire blow that I don’t see it recovering from. It shifts into a Zoroark-like cyclical role of power where it can see a surge after people begin dropping counters, but, without the flexibility of Zoroark, it will never be the steadfast powerhouse it once was.

New and Returning Decks

There are tons of decks that benefit from the Expanded banlist, and covering all of them will be difficult if not impossible. These decks will almost certainly gain the most from the bans, however, so I want to draw attention to each of them.

Turbo Darkrai-EX and Darkrai-GX

I group these two decks together as they have similar strategies of setting up hard-hitting Dark attackers quickly. Zoroark-GX and Night March essentially eliminated these decks from the metagame. With those threats gone, [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] has newfound potential to shine. In particular, I think [card name=”Darkrai-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] will be more powerful as the number of attackers over 190 HP will be few and far between. It has the best ability to trade with [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] decks and has a slight consistency advantage over Turbo Dark.

Darkrai’s advantages don’t stop at the removal of its predators, however. [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], and Psychic Box all stand to gain significantly from the changes. Darkrai-GX enjoys a positive matchup against all of them and is one of the few decks that can develop a strong enough board to beat Trevenant in only one turn of Items. With the ability to hit for 190 damage in multiple successive turns, Dead End GX for a universal Knock Out, and deal 130 with no drawback, Darkrai-GX also trades well with everything in the typical Buzzwole deck. The matchup turns into a race to six Prizes, and I don’t see Darkrai being terribly disfavored.

Darkrai-GX players would be unhappy to see a rise in [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], however, another deck that enjoys significant benefits from the changes. Whether Gardevoir returns as a force in the metagame as it once was remains to be seen, but the potential is certainly there.

Gardevoir-GX

I’ve made no effort to hide my affinity for this deck in Expanded, and I have no plans to start now. All four of the bans are excellent news for Gardevoir-GX decks. [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] can’t be used to remove [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] and search, [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] can’t be used in the variety of ways we previously saw to slow or shut it down, [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] can’t allow Trevenant an immediate lock, and Puzzle of Time inhibits Night March from threatening it in the same way it used to.

Gardevoir has an excellent Dark matchup regardless of variety and can cope with Trevenant with varying degrees of ease depending on the Gardevoir build. Psychic Box has never been a problem for it, either. Its concerns would be Malamar variants and anything Metal that may arise in Expanded. Though I have yet to test Malamar in Expanded, I am uncertain of Gardevoir’s ability to keep up with a deck that knocks it out so cleanly. [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] may be an option to combat this. Buzzwole-GX also presents an interesting matchup that can be influenced by [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] but may still be shaky. The return of ArchieStoise may also prove to be a struggle for Gardevoir as it can rarely cope with an early one-hit Knock Out from a [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]ed [card name=”Wishiwashi-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”38″ c=”name”][/card].

While I can’t definitively say it’ll claim a top spot in the metagame, Gardevoir has an opportunity that it’s been missing for a few months. It’s at the top of my testing list for the first Expanded event of the 2018-2019 season.

Psychic Box

I addressed Psychic Box ([card name=”Necrozma-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]) a couple times in the rest of the article, so I’ll keep it brief here. Zoroark variants kept this deck out of the metagame after its brief rule. With Item counts potentially rising in response to the Ghetsis ban and an untouched Buzzwole / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] to prey on in the top tier, the deck is poised to have a field day.

This is not uncontested, however. It depends largely on the way the metagame develops. If Darkrai, Trevenant, and Gardevoir take the lead in the new format, Psychic Box will struggle to find its footing. If the new format is composed mostly of decks like Malamar, Buzzwole, and ArchieStoise, Psychic Box will wreak havoc on its opponents. This is the most hit-or-miss deck on the list, and we need more time to see the result.

Sableye / Garbodor

[cardimg name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Some people have called this deck dead, but I strongly disagree. [card name=”Sableye” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] was a tier-one deck for a time in 2016 without Puzzle of Time and could easily regain its post. The loss of Ghetsis from the format is a much bigger buff than losing [card name=”Puzzle of Time” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] is a nerf as keeping your Junk Hunt targets tends to be better than having two of anything in the deck. I don’t have too much to say about this deck beyond that, but I will go on record saying it’s not dead by any means.

Malamar

[card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] finally gets a chance to shine in the Expanded format now that it can use Psychic Recharge. It’ll be mostly the same deck as it is in Standard, just a bit more consistent, which may be the boost it needs to make a place for itself in tier one.

Golisopod-GX Variants

This one is a bit of a stretch, but Zoroark-GX no longer being a constant one-hit Knock Out threat opens the door for [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card]’s two-shot game. Both the version with [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”name”][/card] and the version with [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] have potential now, with Zoroark having added consistency and Garbodor bringing the advantage of Trashalanche and Ability lock. The deck was strong before, and while its matchups aren’t shaping up as well as the other decks I’ve mentioned, it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Rayquaza-GX

Rayquaza-GX enjoys the benefits of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded but is hit hard by the loss of [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card]. In Japan, the deck was able to blow through a ton of cards on the first turn and get a Hex Maniac reliably. It loses the disruptive side but maintains the speed in our Expanded format. It’s faster than Darkrai but more volatile, coming with the risk of discarding key resources and a more severe loss when Knocked Out. I’m not completely sold on it yet, but I do think Rayquaza has more potential here than it does in Standard.

Archie’s Blastoise

The last deck I’ve considered that gets stronger after the bans is [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”custom”]Archie’s[/card] [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card]. It was badly hurt by both Ghetsis and Hex Maniac and struggled to keep up with Zoroark-GX’s damage on top of its disruption. With these fears curbed, the deck is poised to make a resurgence. The biggest worries for the deck now come in threats such as Psychic Box and Trevenant. These decks exploit ArchieStoise’s weaknesses in various ways, and Psychic Box even comes coupled with one-hit Knock Out potential. Golisopod decks could also be a concern, but I don’t consider those to be quite as pressing as the others.

Conclusion

The impact of the new Expanded bans will be far reaching and inevitably alter the metagame of the format significantly. Among the concepts I’ve discussed here are decks that can take advantage of any metagame development, and I’ll very likely be writing about whichever end up addressing the format the best. I’m jittering with excitement over the way Expanded shapes up in the new season. I look forward to sharing my findings with you soon!

As always, thank you for reading, and I look forward to answering questions in the comments!

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