Zoroark Wins in Europe — A Harrogate Recap

For the first time of the season, the past weekend, major events were held simultaneously in Europe and North America. What’s more, they featured different formats, so anyone interested in the state of competitive play could see where the metagame is at. Unfortunately, there was no stream for either of the two Regionals, so spectators were left with nothing to watch.

This is a shame, especially as the Pokemon TCG is growing as a competitive game. It also makes it harder for people who didn’t attend these two events to really understand what went down, how the crazy decks actually work, and so on. The good news, then, is that I attended Harrogate Regionals and I can do my best to recap the tournament. I want to explain how and why the metagame shifted, and help you prepare for your next Standard event. As for Expanded, I’ll leave it to the writers who attended Anaheim!

First, a quick note on my own performance. I played [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”132″ c=”custom”]Alolan Ninetales-GX[/card], a deck I was pretty confident in, and I was able to secure a Top 32 finish. I wish I could have done better, but I hit some unfortunate matchups along the way. Here’s my list.

[decklist name=”BuzzRocTales – Harrogate” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rockruff” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Electrode-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Diancie Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”29″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Lisia” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Multi Switch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]7x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]4x [card name=”Unit Energy FDY” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

As you can see, it’s a barely modified version of the deck I wrote about last week. The inclusion of [card name=”Electrode-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”48″ c=”name”][/card] meant that I could handle stall decks. This left the deck with no obvious autoloss — [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] was an issue, but a manageable one if you can target the [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] and Malamar with Jet Punch and Snowy Wind. Of my four losses over the tournament, one was to [card name=”Sceptile” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] and two to the same [card name=”Passimian” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] player — both unexpected decks and unfavorable matchups (even though the Passimian matchup is not an autoloss, it is a difficult one). The last loss was to Adam Hawkins’ Malamar / [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] deck. I thought that Ninetales might be enough to handle Ultra Necrozma, but his list ran a number of ways to get his Pokemon out of the Active spot such as Switch and [card name=”Altar of the Moone” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], so I couldn’t [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] Malamar and snipe around it. Plus, his inclusion of [card name=”Lunala Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”62″ c=”name”][/card] meant that even without Malamar, he could fill his board with Energy. I made a mistake in not targeting his Lunala immediately with Dangerous Rogue GX in game one, but I think I would have lost anyway.

If I had to play the event again, I wouldn’t change much. The deck did what it was supposed to do: beat [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] decks. However, I would prepare by playing more Passimian in order to better get a feel for the deck, in order to approach the matchup in a more optimal way. The only card I might change is add a [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], because most people are dropping it, and smart metacallers are abusing the absence of Field Blower to run reactive Tools. I’ll explain this in more detail in this article. First, though, I want to talk about the results of Harrogate regionals, especially [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]’s absence from day two and Zoroark’s big win.

1. Missing in Action: Stage 2 Decks

Here are the decks that made day two in Harrogate regionals :

• 10 [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] variants (4x Lycanroc-GX, 3x [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], 2x Alolan Ninetales-GX / [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], 1x [card name=”Gyarados” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card])
• 9 [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]
• 8 [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] variants
• 5 [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] variants (4x Lycanroc-GX / Alolan Ninetales-GX, 1x Weavile)
• 3 [card name=”Shuckle-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] variants (2x Sceptile, 1x Glaceon-GX)
• 2 [card name=”Granbull” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card]
• 2 [card name=”Passimian” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card]
• 2 [card name=”White Kyurem” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card]
• 2 Lost March
• 1 [card name=”Steelix” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card]
• 1 [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”84″ c=”name”][/card] Stall
• 1 [card name=”Glaceon-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”39″ c=”name”][/card]/[card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card]

[cardimg name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Do you notice something? There’s not a single Stage 2 deck here. Sure, there are two Zoroark-GX decks running Decidueye-GX, two Shuckle-GX decks featuring Sceptile to counter Blacephalon-GX, and Greninja-GX making an appearance in a Glaceon-GX deck, but there’s no deck that actually focuses on Stage 2 Pokemon: no [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], no [card name=”Solgaleo-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM16″ c=”name”][/card], not even a single [card name=”Swampert” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card]!

Having talked to several players who ran Stage 2 decks this weekend, the reason for their lack of success was the popularity of [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] and, to a lesser extent, [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]. Many decks, including Zoroark-GX variants, Malamar decks, and Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel, ran one of these cards (the latter even including up to three copies of Marshadow!). This kind of disruption is a huge issue for set-up decks, since they need a big hand to set up. The general game plan of a deck like Gardevoir-GX is to use [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] on the first turn, Beacon for some Evolution Pokemon like Swampert and Alolan Ninetales-GX, then use these Pokemon’s Abilities to evolve the other Stage 2s. However, Marshadow puts a big dent in this plan, as it can shuffle the cards found by Beacon. Worse, a turn one Let Loose can give a Stage 2 deck an unplayable hand before they can even take their first turn.

[premium]

Obviously, this doesn’t mean that Stage 2 decks are unplayable now, but it might be time to back away from the fragile Supporter lineup that only includes four draw Supporters, and go back to something less optimized, but more resilient — possibly abandoning Swampert.

Of course, you could also double down in the opposite direction. Some top European players like Pedro Eugenio Torres and Benjamin Pham ran [card name=”Meganium” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] decks including as many as six different Stage 2 Pokemon, which has to be some sort of record. Alessandro Cremascoli, a top Italian player, made Top 64 with a Meganium mill deck using [card name=”Rhyperior” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Charizard-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], and then got second place at the 100-player League Cup the day after with the same deck. I really like his idea, because he runs four copies of [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] in order to help with the set-up. In addition, thanks to a high number of walls such as Shuckle-GX, [card name=”Alolan Ninetales” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”28″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Mr. Mime-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] (for the Lost March matchup), he can stall for a long time, while setting up the mill engine, with Lusamine getting back Acerola. An early Let Loose is still an issue for this sort of deck, but not the end of the world.

It’s easy to dismiss Meganium decks as jokes. They look so alien, so different from what we imagine a real deck to be, that we assume they can’t really work — that they’re the type of deck streamers play to attract viewers, but will never actually bring to a tournament. Yet I’m not so sure that it’s the case. Shintaro Ito chose to run Meganium / Greninja-GX / Swampert at the Champions League in Nigita, not as a joke, but because he felt it would give him a real chance. Obviously, the surprise factor helped him against unprepared opponents, but according to his report, when he was playtesting for the event, he played as if his opponent knew his exact 60 cards — and despite that, he still felt his matchups were favorable against most of the metagame.

There are issues with Meganium decks, of course. They tend to rely on Abilities, which make them weak to Weavile and, perhaps more importantly, [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card]. They take a long time to set up and win, so you may not have time to complete three games within the time limit. The Pokemon take a lot of space in the deck, so you can’t play all the trainers you’d like. However, none of these weaknesses make Meganium decks unplayable, you just have to work hard to find the right list. I honestly believe that, given enough time to figure out the format, we’d see Meganium decks find their niche in the meta. However, with few major events left before our February set becomes legal at the Oceania International Championship, I don’t expect much innovation. I think it’s a shame that so many cards are coming out so quickly: there are so many cards and concepts to explore in Lost Thunder that three months is simply not enough! Plus, I’m not really excited about the new Tag Team Pokemon, but that’s a rant for another day.

In any case, if you want to play something new, play Meganium! There are a lot of Stage 2s that can work thanks to it, so don’t hesitate to try it out at your next League Cup or League Challenge if it’s the kind of deck that appeals to you.

2. Zoroark-GX Makes a Splash

For the third time in a row, an unexpected deck won a major European event. Hampus Eriksson won Frankfurt Regionals with [card name=”Sylveon-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], Karl Peters won the Lille Special Event with a Tapu Koko / [card name=”Seviper” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] spread deck, and now Philip Schulz, another longstanding player, managed to take Harrogate down with [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Gyarados” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card].

[cardimg name=”Gyarados” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”33″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The synergy between Zoroark-GX and Gyarados is easy to see: you can use Trade to discard Magikarp, allowing Gyarados to reach 150 or even more damage for a single Double Colorless Energy. Despite both Zoroark and Gyarados being released more than a year ago, there are three reasons why it took until Lost Thunder‘s release for the deck to have any success or, really, to be played at all.

The first reason is that [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] is great in this deck. As in any Zoroark variant, it gets your Basic Pokemon on the first turn, but it also allows you to get Magikarp in your hand later on, so you can discard it to Trade or Ultra Ball. Even Brigette wasn’t as good, since it would only get Basic Pokemon to the Bench.

The second reason is Ditto Prism Star, the other all-star in Zoroark decks. Here, Ditto fulfills its usual purpose of being a fifth Zorua that can also evolve to other Pokemon such as [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card]. It really shines when it evolves to Gyarados, though, as you can have a Gyarados in play and four Magikarp in the discard, allowing Gyarados to hit for 200 damage. With a Choice Band, that’s 230, enough to OHKO even something like [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. Previously, the only way to do so was using [card name=”Archie’s Ace in the Hole” set=”Primal Clash” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded.

Finally, Gyarados is a great counter to Blacephalon-GX. The popularity and success of Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel has raised the value of Water-type attackers. Whereas last season, partners like [card name=”Golisopod-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”17″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] hit more relevant Weaknesses, now Gyarados is a great way to counter a Pokemon that gives Zoroark-GX trouble.

I haven’t had time to try out Philip’s list, so I will refrain from making any suggestions about it. I will, however, speak about Zoroark-GX decks more generally.

As expected, Zoroark / Lycanroc and Zoroark / Decidueye / Ninetales were popular decks in Harrogate (although the latter less so than I expected). Several players also played Zoroark-GX / Weavile decks, a potent combination outside of their shared Fighting weakness.

A common theme with Zoroark-GX decks is that they end up weak to either Buzzwole-GX, Blacephalon-GX, or both. Gyarados shored up Philip’s match-up against Blacephalon-GX, which was the right choice for the event, but left him vulnerable to Buzzwole decks. A card like [card name=”Deoxys” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]can help against Buzzwole-GX, but won’t do anything against Blacephalon.

Alolan Ninetales-GX can actually do well against both, thanks to Sublimation-GX. Here’s a deck I’m trying out:

[decklist name=”Zoroark/Ninetales” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″][pokemon amt=”19″]4x [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Zorua” set=”Shining Legends” no=”52″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Alolan Vulpix” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”21″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Weavile” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”74″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Deoxys” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”67″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Professor Kukui” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ 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=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Devoured Field” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Unit Energy FDY” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

This deck doesn’t do as well as Zoroark / Gyarados against Blacephalon-GX, but in the Buzzwole matchup it’s better. You can KO a first Buzzwole-GX thanks to Sublimation-GX, and answer a second Beast Ringed one with Deoxys and Choice Band. If they start using Lycanroc-GX, Weavile should be able to get the last Prizes.

[cardimg name=”Unit Energy FDY” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”118″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Of course, every pro comes with its con. If Zoroark / Ninetales / Weavile does better than the usual Zoroark-GX lists against Ultra Beast decks, it is worse in the mirror match, and can especially have issues with Zoroark / Lycanroc. As always with Zoroark decks, it’s a matter of choosing what you want to beat and what you’re OK with losing to.

Ninetales is pretty nice in Zoroark decks, though. It helps with the consistency of the deck and as it can get cards like Ultra Ball and [card name=”Timer Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card], it gives the deck more outs to a turn two Zoroark-GX. It also gives the deck the ability to tech many Items. [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] is included to help against Zoroark-GX decks, [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] is a nice way to heal without using a Supporter, and [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] is underrated right now — I’ll discuss its importance below.

I prefer to play [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] over [card name=”Multi Switch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] here because allowing Ninetales to attack for one Energy works better with Max Potion and [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]. Plus, the matchups where you want to use it most (Buzzwole and Blacephalon) are matchups where you’re probably going to be behind in Prizes. That said, it could be worth playing a Multi Switch anyway.

Another possibility would be to run a line of Lycanroc-GX, which would help in the mirror and give the deck a universal GX attack. If you run it, it should replace Weavile, as you don’t have the space to play all these Stage 1 lines.

3. The Case for Field Blower

[card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] is one of these cards which impacts the metagame by the simple threat of its existence — much like [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] did, scaring off [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] decks even when people don’t actually play it. It wasn’t always so — when [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] was legal, Ability-based decks were forced to run Field Blower to deal with it. However, in the current Standard metagame, no deck absolutely needs Field Blower to function. For this reason, many players have opted not to run it, despite Alolan Ninetales-GX making it easier than ever, for many decks, to access it.

Many players took advantage of the lack of Field Blower in the field this weekend, in Harrogate. Several players from the UK, including ninth place finisher Bolly Olufon, ran a [card name=”White Kyurem” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] deck using four copies of [card name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card]. I’ve been vocal about not liking the card, because of the very threat of Field Blower. However, since Olufon and his teammates recognized that Field Blower was mostly absent from lists, they made a great call for the event. Even when a player uses Field Blower to remove one Wishful Baton, the other copies of the card ensure that White Kyurem will not run out of Energy for the rest of the game.

[card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] from Lost Thunder has an Ability that essentially turns it into a [card name=”Life Dew” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]. Running a Stage 1 Pokemon which only use is to transform into a Tool would be risky in a metagame with more Field Blower, but Norwegians Stian Nilsson and Benjamin Lundveldt-Martinsen recognized that it was a risk worth taking, and they both made day two with the deck. This tech was especially relevant in the mirror match, where a one-prize [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] is a monster — both because it gives a huge advantage in the Prize race, and because it can force the opponent to give up one more turn of [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]. I experienced the power of this tech when I faced Stian, and I managed to salvage a tie but I would have surely lost game three had we had time to finish the game. With Field Blower in my deck, I’m confident that the match would have gone in my favor.

Finally, there’s the Attacking [card name=”Steelix” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] deck that finished in Top 16 after starting day two as the first seed. This weird creation was made possible by the tanky combination of Steelix and [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]. Blacephalon-GX decks simply did not run enough Energy to KO six Pokemon from that deck. Of course, without Frying Metal Pan, the matchup gets way easier for the Fire Clown, thanks to Steelix’s Fire Weakness.

[cardimg name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”163″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Metal Frying Pan, Wishful Baton and Shedinja are all reactive Tools. They have a lot of power when they stick to the board, but they can be removed from play before they have a chance to have any effect. [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] is another of those, though it hasn’t had the success we expected.

This is why, if you’re playing in a Standard tournament, I advise you to run Field Blower, especially if you’re playing any deck with Alolan Ninetales-GX. For example, if I was playing Buzzwole / Lycanroc / Ninetales again, I’d remove either the [card name=”Electrode-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], a [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] or a Professor Kukui for a Field Blower. Zoroark-GX decks also find space for it, and [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] is another way to find it.

Blacephalon-GX doesn’t have any way to search for Field Blower, but it could run two copies, the same way that lists started running two copies of Energy Switch to deal with Zoroark Control decks after LAIC. There’s another card that could work the same way, though: [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card]. Since Blacephalon-GX doesn’t play Tools of its own, having a Stadium to remove Tools can work in its favor. Even if the Stadium only sticks for one turn, if it gave you the opportunity to KO the opposing Pokémon while deactivating Shedinja’s Ability, it did its work.

Conclusion

That’s all from me this week! The next major event in Europe is the Special Event in Cannes, in southern France, in February. It takes places one week after OCIC, and our next set will be legal by then, so I’ll only be playing Standard in League Cups and Challenges. However, I will be attending Dallas Regionals in January (on my birthday, actually), so I will be focusing on Expanded until then.

At the time of writing this, the full results of Anaheim Regionals are not available yet, so I don’t know how dominant Zoroark-GX decks actually were. The following take might be premature, but my honest opinion is that I don’t want [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] to be banned (or Double Colorless Energy, which makes even less sense).

It’s true that Zoroark-GX abuses many cards in Expanded — [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ghetsis” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Red Card” set=”Generations” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card], etc. and banning it might be a simpler solution that removing all the other cards from the format. However, I’m not sure that Zoroark makes the format bad. Even if Zoroark variants were clearly the best decks, I’m not sure that having a best deck is wrong. Zoroark decks, especially control versions like the Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] deck that won the last two Regionals, take skill to maneuver. They can be beaten in a variety of ways, whether by quick decks like [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] that try to use their speed to end the game before Zoroark can stabilize, or by slower decks like [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] that can abuse Faba.

I think that, with so few Expanded events in the world, there is not as much research into the format, so most people play familiar decks like Archie’s [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card] out of comfort, instead of trying to counter Zoroark. If Expanded was played more, I’m sure we’d see other archetypes rise. People would try them out at local events, and then take them to Regionals. However, since it’s not the case, no one has the opportunity to break the status quo. Take Israel Sosa’s [card name=”Lucario-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM100″ c=”name”][/card] deck, for example: it’s made to beat Zoroark and seems like a legitimate contender. However, many players will not test Expanded much because it doesn’t show at local events, so Lucario-GX will probably get ignored since it only had one result. Then, in Dallas, they’ll play a Zoroark variant again because it won, and we’ll be back to square one.

This is why I think it would be good to have Expanded events everywhere in the world, and not in North America. If people not wanting to play the format because they don’t own the cards is an issue, then Expanded-exclusive cards should be reprinted. This would be an excellent opportunity to print [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW50″ c=”name”][/card], so that this fantastic card, necessary to play many unique decks, isn’t reserved to an elite.
And while I’m making unrealistic suggestions, unban [card name=”Archeops” set=”Noble Victories” no=”67″ c=”name”][/card]!

I’ll leave you on that note. Happy holidays, and see you in 2019!

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