Brokan Deck — Finding the Sleeper Hit
About a year ago, Sina Ghaziaskar, unable to attend an event, built a deck list, dubbed it Broken Deck, and messaged it to a number of players. I find myself in a loosely similar scenario. I plan to attend Roanoke, but I will not attend the Latin America International Regionals, where Lost Thunder will debut. And so I too intend to publish my deck in an article and hope someone does well with Brokan Deck in my place.
This article follows up on my last one: Post Thunder. There, I reviewed Japan’s archetypes and discussed my early playtesting results. A month passed since that last article and I learned quite a bit since then. Before I reveal the list, I want share the methodology behind my deck development process. And so I organized this article in the chronological order of my play testing. I typically divide my play testing sessions into sets with a clearly defined objective. At the end of each session, I tweak my objectives and tackle those during the next session. In this article, I discuss the objectives and results of my most recent play testing sessions. By the end of the article, I finally provide core 60 cards to work with, a few tech options you may consider, and an updated objective for future play testing and deck development.
Public Enemy
[cardimg name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
In my last article, I set a simple objective: Try Out Some New Archetypes. But, nothing I tested during that session yielded positive results against [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. Which leads me into the first objective of this article: Find Decks That Beat Malamar.
Whenever I go to a tournament, I always value playing a sleeper deck. Malamar fit this bill for both Philadelphia and Memphis. At Philadelphia, few players possessed an optimal Psychic Malamar list, and thus few prepared for it appropriately. By Memphis, Psychic Malamar became a known quantity, but the inclusion of new tech cards such as [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Lunala Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] still gave it an extra edge over past iterations. But, by the League Cups following Memphis, many successful [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM84″ c=”name”][/card] lists ran both [card name=”Sudowoodo” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Deoxys” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card].
At long last, I feared my bag of Malamar tricks had finally run dry. And with a first place finish off of both Memphis Regionals and Tokyo Champions League, Malamar sets a big target on its back leading into the Lost Thunder format. The addition of Spell Tag and Giratina can only reinforce this trend. So, naturally, I began theory crafting around the idea of Malamar as BDIF. Ideally, I would find a deck with a strong overall matchup spread in addition to a favorable Malamar matchup.
But where should I begin my search? A quick look at Giratina and Spell Tag tells me that Malamar’s matchup against single-Prize decks improves significantly. Giratina helps Malamar hit numbers against single-Prize Pokemon that tank a Power Blast from Deoxys. Its Distortion Door ability replaces the need to find [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] as the game progresses as well. And Spell Tag allows Malamar to swing the Prize race against other single-Prize decks. So in order to make best use of my play testing time, I chose to focus my early play testing around GX-centric decks, even if, in the back of my mind, I knew some single Prize decks could beat Malamar.
Burning Issues
Thus I began testing a number of GX-centric decks with the potential to beat Malamar. To name a few, Alolan Ninetales-GX / [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] / Alolan Ninetales-GX. But as testing progressed, I discovered GX-centric archetypes in general tended to under-perform against Blacephalon-GX. Even Alolan Ninetales-GX / Decidueye-GX, with two copies of Water [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], still only went about 50-50 against Blacephalon. All these decks could simply whiff a single Knock Out against Blacephalon, and lose to Blacephalon’s constant pressure.
Blacephalon’s results definitely surprised me. None of the standard format OHKO decks I piloted in the past came close to Blacephalon in terms of speed or board presence. At first glance, Blacephalon looks like a clunky theme deck, running 17 Energy. But in practice, it just takes Prizes with less effort than Malamar. Unlike Malamar, it could start nearly every game with a Prize lead with its GX attack. Unlike Malamar, [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] provides more utility than [card name=”Friend Ball” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card]. Unlike Malamar, Blacephalon does not need to switch from Bench to Active in order to attack. And unlike Psychic Malamar, Blacephalon can load a tremendous number of Energy on its [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] turn, frequently to establish a checkmate scenario.
So, how does Blacephalon fare against decks with a larger focus on single-Prize attackers? I played a few games against a list similar to the 1st place Malamar Spread deck from the Tokyo Champions League. Blacephalon performed surprisingly well, all things considered. The 1st place Malamar Spread deck did not run any copies of [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card]; as a result, Blacephalon frequently took a two-Prize lead against the clunky single-Prize deck. Malamar might start a Giratina in the Active with no way to retreat it. Blacephalon would casually take a Prize with its GX attack, another Prize with a Knock Out, and then simply win off the back of that Prize lead. However, Blacephalon would lose decisively in matches where Malamar Spread started with [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] in the active. Likewise, my further testing demonstrated a predictably poor matchup against my version of Malamar with four Escape Boards.
So to summarize, Blacephalon takes Prizes faster than almost any other archetype in the format. Its one weakness? It can still lose a Prize race to a single Prize deck. I would personally avoid playing Blacephalon due to its weakness against single Prize archetypes, but this round of play testing showed me I could not afford to ignore Blacephalon. So now, with a better picture of the upcoming metagame, I updated my play testing objective going forward: Find a Deck that beats Malamar and Blacephalon.
The Third Wheel
[cardimg name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
As I add more and more decks to the play testing objective, fewer and fewer archetypes fit the bill. And even fewer still do so while simultaneously boasting a high consistency. For example, the community hyped a White Kyurem archetype in reaction to earlier Blacephalon hype. But even if the deck can, in theory, beat both [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and Blacephalon, I would probably still find its consistency unsatisfactory. So imagine my pleasure when I found one that beats both without forcing me to stoop to White Kyurem.
The Pokemon of choice? Alolan Ninetales-GX. It provides a powerful consistency engine in the form of Beacon [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] and Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX. But the option to include Water [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] improves both the Malamar and Blacephalon matchups significantly. Water Alolan Ninetales provides a strong answer to [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] in Malamar. Against Chimecho, you actually prefer to target benched Malamar rather than Chimecho itself, as killing the Chimecho opens up a bench spot for an additional [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. Water Alolan Ninetales also hits Blacephalon for Weakness. But in both these scenarios, Ice Blade does not quite Knock Out a Benched Malamar or Active Blacephalon in a single hit. And so Alolan Ninetales-GX needs a bit more juice to iron out these two matchups.
That leaves us with the question: what do we pair Alolan Ninetales with? Two choices came to mind: [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card]. Using the new Alolan Vulpix with the free retreat Ability in combination with Sylveon-GX allows the player to hit Magical Ribbon quite consistently when going second. I wanted to use Magical Ribbon to set up numerous Decidueye-GXs, then win the Prize race using a combination of Fairy attackers, Water Alolan Ninetales-GX, and Feather Arrows. The option to Plea GX also provided a powerful control option against board-centric decks such as Malamar and Blacephalon. Unfortunately, I found the deck ran into trouble against Blacephalon. Blacephalon can confuse Sylveon-GX for a single Energy, making setup all the more awkward and turn two Plea GX nearly unfeasible. And as I continued play testing, I found a single Magical Ribbon rarely provided enough hand advantage to insure three consecutive Knock Outs. Instead, I would frequently whiff a Knock Out one turn, and quickly lose if that happened. It felt like I needed a bit more draw power to hit Energy and Supporters to replace my attackers.
It seemed like Blacephalon would not go down so easily. And so I updated my objective yet again: Find the Best Partner for Ninetales.
[premium]
Brokan Archetype
As anyone would, I solved the draw power issue by adding [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] to the list. I still kept the [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] line because I needed it to solve math, but more on that in a later section.
Honestly, part of me wondered why I didn’t bother to test this combination earlier. Thinking back, when I looked at the results of the Tokyo Champions League, I saw Zoroark, in general, performed poorly once it made Top 32 of the event. Then I saw a number of threats to Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] in our format, such as Blacephalon-GX, [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX, and baby Nihilego, and quickly wrote the deck off. I suppose that teaches me for reading too much into Japan’s tournament results.
But once I finally tested the archetype, I found myself highly satisfied with the consistency. The combination of Beacon and Mysterious Guidance offers the deck a far more explosive early game setup than earlier Zoroark-GX / Decidueye-GX lists. This does of course, come at a slight cost. With fewer Zoroark Benched, the archetype does not draw quite as well in the late game, and the sheer number of Pokemon required limits your deck space. This simply means we need to slightly reevaluate the kinds and counts of tech cards we run in a deck like this.
Anyways, after some play testing, I found that a thin Zoroark line solved the Blacephalon matchup, as straight Alolan Ninetales-GX / Decidueye-GX took a neutral matchup against Blacephalon in prior testing primarily due to whiffing a card here or there. The Malamar matchup felt strong as ever. The combination of 70-30 damage spreads with Feather Arrows would dismantle Malamar lines quickly, and Ice Blade continued to solve any issues involving Chimecho.
I found myself impressed by these testing results. When I tested Zoroark around Philadelphia, I found Zoroark needed a lot of cards and specific Supporters to execute its game plan, and could easily lose if it fumbled. In contrast, Alolan Ninetales-GX searches out crucial Items such as [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card], and Counter Gain. Additionally, Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX is an attacker and can dismantle evolution-based board states remarkably quickly, potentially dealing a 70-70 damage split in tandem with Feather Arrow. And the core Ninetales plus Zoroark engine feels overwhelmingly powerful and consistent. It feels like the kind of deck that rapidly secures BDIF status and centers an entire format around it, perhaps more so than Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX before Crimson Invasion. At the very least, it blows all other Zoroark variants in our current format clear out of the water. And so I update the objective one last time for this article: Beat or Break Ninetales / Zoroark.
Core List
Now before I go any further, let me talk a bit about my current iteration of the Alolan Ninetales-GX / [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] list:
[decklist name=”Ninetales Zoroark Decidueye” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″][pokemon amt=”23″]3x [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Rowlet” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”9″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x Alolan Ninetales-GX (Lost Thunder)1x [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”22″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Shining Legends” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x Ditto Prism Star (Lost Thunder)2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]4x Professor Elm’s Lecture (Lost Thunder)4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x Counter Gain (Lost Thunder)2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
The list above represents a minimalist deck list with as few tech cards as I think I can reasonably operate with. I would like to try and include any number of techs, ranging from [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] to Mimikyu-GX to [card name=”Mismagius” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] to Solgaleo-GX. Truly, the sky is the limit to an archetype that can afford to run [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], and Ditto Prism Star simultaneously. But I generally avoid tech cards until I get a clearer picture of the rest of the field.
The deck itself runs a full Ninetales line and thinner Zoroark and Decidueye lines. You only want two Decidueye-GX most matchups except Blacephalon, where you can function with just one Decidueye-GX. Likewise, the amount of Bench slots you need to commit to Ninetales and Decidueye limits the number of Zoroark you can field.
In turn, this means the deck does not draw as well as older Zoroark archetypes that would try to develop three Zoroark-GX on board. The deck needs to play draw Supporters quite frequently in the mid to late game, and cannot afford to spam [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] as something like Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] or Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. So always remember, this deck does not play like a Zoroark deck. You cannot expect to always find crucial Supporters when you need them. You need to temper your expectations and start digging for cards you need several turns in advance or simply work with your board state.
That might sound underwhelming, but remember that an Alolan Ninetales engine sets up far more explosively than a dedicated Zoroark engine. You aim to sprint out of the gate and dismantle your opponent’s setup. For example, against a Zoroark deck, you can sometimes use Fairy Alolan Ninetales’s 70-30 split with Counter Catcher and two Feather Arrows to kill two Basic Pokemon in a single turn. Plays like this can cripple Zoroark opponents, and drag their mid to late game consistency down to your level.
Finally, I want to address some card a few of the more interesting card counts. First, the deck opts to run five outs to [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and only three [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card]. In my experience, you use Fairy Alolan Ninetales as the primary attacker in major matchups such as Malamar, Blacephalon, and Buzzwole, so I wanted better odds of hitting Fairy Energy. Additionally, the deck only runs three copies of Zoroark-GX, so it rarely ever uses four Double Colorless Energy over the course of the game. Finally, I opted to run two copies of Counter Gain. You only need one copy of Counter Gain most games, but I ran into many scenarios where I felt like I would lose if I prized my only Counter Gain, so I added a second copy for the added insurance and so I can draw into it naturally more often. But I would consider cutting down to a single Counter Gain in order to make room for tech cards.
Tech Cards
[cardimg name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Cyrus Prism Star
[card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] provides a powerful effect, and you run the [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”name”][/card] line to utilize it. But at the end of the day, I avoid tech cards if I cannot search them out consistently when I need them. Cyrus Prism Star suffers that problem. With only a thin Zoroark line to Trade and few Bench spaces to spare, I could rarely get Cyrus Prism Star on the turns I needed it. And by the late game, I already evolved my Alolan Vulpix into Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX to grab Items to keep up with my opponent.
Mimikyu-GX
All of Mimikyu‘s attacks provide immense utility. Dream Fear GX can shuffle one large threat away, and then that same Mimikyu potentially threatens to eliminate a 250 HP threat using three Feather Arrows and Snuggle and Fall. Or you can simply blow up a big threat using a single Fairy Energy, a Counter Gain, and some Feather Arrows.
Shining Jirachi
[card name=”Shining Jirachi” set=”Shining Legends” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] serves a similar purpose to Mimikyu-GX — it can eliminate a big threat. But whereas Mimikyu frequently demands Counter Gain to use Bip-Bop Fall, Shining Jirachi demands Rainbow Energy and offers one less Prize. For the time being, I like Mimikyu-GX better. I think a thick Rainbow Energy line could get punished in a format with lots of Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX that can searched out Enhanced Hammer.
Solgaleo-GX
The new Solgaleo-GX offers utility in many forms, but if I ran it in a Ninetales / Zoroark deck, I’d run it primarily as a counter to other Alolan Ninetales-GX decks (and maybe White Kyurem and Granbull to a lesser extent). But this requires a far greater deck commitment than single card techs like Mimikyu-GX or any of the other techs I listed above. I may even need to cut the Decidueye-GX line out completely to make the deck fit. At any rate, a dedicated [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / Alolan Ninetales-GX / Solgaleo-GX deck could work as a counter to Alolan Ninetales variants, but I feel like my Malamar and Blacephalon matchups would suffer immensely if I ran Solgaleo over Decidueye. When I tested Zoroark-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX / Solgaleo-GX against Blacephalon, I only won two out of ten games, losing all four best of threes in that testing session, even when I ran a copy of Water Alolan Ninetales-GX. I would definitely avoid a dedicated Zoroark-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX / Solgaleo-GX deck for now, but a thin line in Alolan Ninetales-GX / Zoroark-GX / Decidueye-GX could make sense.
Mismagius
[card name=”Mismagius” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] could provide a cheeky auto win against other Ninetales / Zoroark decks that run greedily with a full line of [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]; however, this requires a Ditto Prism Star, and your opponent could easily kill it on their opening turns, with either an Ice Blade or simply two Feather Arrows. Likewise, I fear that running a maxed out Rainbow Energy line could get easily punished, if not by Mismagius, then by [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card].
Naganadel-GX
Stinger GX offers an exceptionally powerful Prize swing, when combined with Decidueye-GX and Counter Gain. I haven’t put it on the core list simply because I have not tested it yet. This article came hot off the presses, and my testing backlog remains understandably filled. But the concept sounds absurdly powerful on paper, and I could easily imagine a single copy of [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] making the cut for the deck, if not an additional copy of [card name=”Poipole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] as well. In particular, I could see this doing well against a meta of single-Prize Decks, allowing you to setup a three-Prize turn before taking your first three Prizes using Stinger GX. On the other hand, my testing against Malamar, Blacephalon, and [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] decks came out quite positive, and I never felt like I would need or want access to Stinger GX in those matchups.
Swampert
[card name=”Swampert” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] saw some play in Japan. Shintaro Ito ran a 1-0-1 line in his Ninetales / Decidueye list at the Tokyo Champions League. This allowed him to run [card name=”Super Boost Energy Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card]. Currently, I still prefer the Zoroark-GX engine simply because my play testing indicates a strong win rate against Malamar and Blacephalon with my current core list. So I would avoid making the deck more high-roll if I can avoid it. Additionally, Zoroark-GX enables the use of Ditto Prism Star. As is, the core list does not capitalize on Ditto Prism Star with any cute tech cards like Naganadel-GX yet, but that could easily change in the future. I always prefer to play toolbox decks, and I think Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye offers more toolbox potential to adapt to changes in the meta game.
Oranguru
Recently, I have seen some players suggest Zoroark Control can perform well in the upcoming Lost Thunder format. If that comes to fruition, a Resource Management [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] becomes essential. For now, I want to wait for some players to release their Zoroark Control lists, then test if those lists can actually compete with Blacephalon like some members of the community say. Starting Oranguru would hurt in a Blacephalon or Malamar matchup, so I would prefer to avoid running an Oranguru if possible. But for the time being, I would still recommend Oranguru as a tech card over any of the other options I listed in this section.
So Many Options
This, of course, only scratches the surface of potential tech cards in a Ninetales / Zoroark engine. Nearly any card in the entire format could fit into this deck, and I could write a book on all the options. But, I cannot identify the optimal tech cards until I see the meta unfold, so I encourage you all to experiment and keep a close eye on the meta before choosing the right tech for any given tournament. But if you asked me to advise a card to cut from the core deck list, I would recommend starting with the fourth copy of Alolan Vulpix.
Testing Counters
Buzzwole-GX / Lycanroc-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX
[cardimg name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The Ninetales / Zoroark archetype feels innately powerful and beats my previous top deck choices, but it could still fall against other archetypes in the format. I always want to use my time efficiently, so I test the biggest threats first. History tells us that Buzzwole / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] always keeps Zoroark in check, so I began my testing there. I played a total of six best of threes against one of the [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM69″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX / Ninetales-GX lists from Tokyo Champions League. Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye won seven out of the eight best of threes, losing five games total. I attribute two of the losses to missing turn one Professor Elm’s Lecture. I attribute the other three losses to whiffing an Energy attachment for several turns. It felt like Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye beats Buzzwole / Lycanroc / Ninetales any game it sets up remotely well.
Decidueye played an important role in setting up three- to four-Prize turns to deny [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]. Likewise, a single copy of [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] prevented [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] from dealing too much damage. Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX acted as the primary attacker, spreading damage to accelerate the three- to four-Prize turn, and tanking hits. In this matchup, Buzzwole / Lycanroc needs to Dangerous Rogue one target, leaving a [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] alive, and then [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] the Zoroark-GX to take two more Prizes, and then finally hope to find two more Prizes elsewhere before Ninetales / Zoroark executes its multi-Prize turn. But, the Ninetales / Zoroark player can sometimes function off a board with no Zoroark-GX in the late game, effectively locking Buzzwole out of the last few critical Prizes.
I believe Buzzwole needs build its deck to focus more heavily on Lycanroc-GX. Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX cannot Knock Out a Lycanroc-GX from full HP like it would a [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] by using Sublimation GX. This change could buy Buzzwole an extra turn to find the Prizes it needs. The inclusion of a thick [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] line would also help tremendously by denying Beacon and generally disrupting setup. And finally, a single copy of Enhanced Hammer would not hurt when the deck already runs a copy of Fairy Alolan Ninetales-GX. So to conclude, I think this matchup boils down to how much Buzzwole players in the community respect and prepare for the threat of Ninetales / Zoroark variants.
I also think this testing session validates [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card] as the optimal partner for Ninetales / Zoroark. Skipping Beast Ring would feel nearly impossible without Decidueye-GX. meanwhile, Decidueye-GX also fixes math against Blacephalon-GX and accelerates the pace at which you clear out a [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]’s board. I intend to experiment with other partners for the core Ninetales / Zoroark engine, but Decidueye-GX feels like a strong starting point, if not the optimal partner.
Zoroark-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX / Solgaleo-GX
I tested a few other potential counter deck candidates, but only briefly. I did not optimize them, which could potentially explain their under performance. Before I tested it against Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye, I tested it against Blacephalon. It won two games out of 10 against Blacephalon, even as I gradually added cards such as Water [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] to help improve the matchup. Regardless, I tested the same deck against Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye next. Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye won five games out of five. I found that the Decidueye variant would push ahead in terms of damage output during any turn where Solgaleo-GX could not Guzma KO a Ninetales. This forced the Solgaleo variant to constantly dig for [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] and Guzma, while the Decidueye variant simply searched for more draw Supporters to set up additional Zoroark-GX. Additionally, the Solgaleo variant dedicated more slots to attempting (and failing) to beat Blacephalon, which made the Solgaleo variant less consistent overall.
Magnezone / Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX
Next up, I tested four brief games between [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”83″ c=”name”][/card] / Ninetales against Blacephalon. In theory, Timeless GX could allow Magnezone to win the Prize race. And then, this same combination could potentially beat Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye using the same game plan. But I found that Blacephalon could easily take two Prizes before Magnezone set up a Timeless GX. It could set up a Magnezone easily, but it could not do so while simultaneously searching out a [card name=”Dialga-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card], five Metal Energy, and a [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card]. So I shelved Magnezone for the moment, but I may revisit it in the future.
Quick Meta Snapshot
Rather than build a full blown matchup spreadsheet, I generally prefer to focus on a few top decks. The following image below represents a “Big Three” chart, where I jot down the matchups between the top three decks in the format. Right now I consider Malamar and Blacephalon the two biggest threats in the format. Based on my observations, they received the most hype thus far. Ninetales-GX / Zoroark-GX / Decidueye-GX rounds out the third deck, as it performed exceptionally well in my testing, and it may receive more attention as more players start testing the format or read this article. I may consider Buzzwole / Lycanroc-GX / Ninetales-GX as a potential fourth slot in the top decks, but I did not put in enough testing.
You will notice I did not fill in the matchup sheet comprehensively. I possess limited playtesting time, and I always strive to use it efficiently. Generally speaking, I would not test an archetype further if I found it could not beat both Malamar and Blacephalon, as I consider those the two most hyped decks for the upcoming format at the time of this article. You will notice that I never tested Sceptile-GX, Zoroark / Lycanroc, or Magnezone further due to their poor performance in my testing against either Malamar or Blacephalon. Likewise, I avoided testing White Kyurem, Granbull, and Swampert / Empoleon as I generally avoid less consistent archetypes. I may revisit them closer to Roanoke, but I try to sequence my testing in order of most promising to least promising archetypes in my mind.
As how to read the spreadsheet, a Favorable entry, that means I consider that matchup favorable for the archetype on the left.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve seen a few people play around with more conservative ideas like Zoroark / Ninetales or Ninetales / Decidueye. But I found a lot of success by mashing the two together, with seemingly utter disregard for deck space. As it turns out, running a ton of Stage 1 lines with a Stage 2 works out pretty well when you can spam Beacon, Trade, and Mysterious Guidance. At the very least, I think the core idea of a Ninetales / Zoroark engine paired with a Stage 2 partner will see success at LAIC, if not outright win the tournament. As for me, I will not attend LAIC and I will continue trying to break the format from here, by trying to find ways to either improve Ninetales / Zoroark / Decidueye or find a counter deck with an acceptable matchup against the rest of the format.
Anyways, I feel like I shared an exceptionally broken deck today and I hope you all liked it. I also hope you all see success with it, and if you do, please give me and my article a shout out! If you have any questions, please post them in the Subscriber’s Hideout.
Editor’s Note: Rukan has been constantly updating the list in the comments. Be sure to keep checking there for more insight and a more refined list.
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