Viridian Expedition — Updating the Malamar Toolbox
The events of Oceania International Championships put [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] in a bit of an awkward spot. Let’s talk about that.
Malamar started off the year comfortably under the radar. Many players favored countering [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] over countering Malamar. Even at Roanoke the last Standard event before OCIC, over a quarter of Masters brought either Buzzwole or [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card]. But at OCIC, we saw Malamar get countered by the [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] archetype that ultimately won the event.
In my mind this spells a lot of trouble for Malamar. People built many different decks to counter Zoroark this year, such as Control, Chimecho Malamar, Buzzwole, Blacephalon, etc. The Zapdos deck we saw at OCIC could represent the beginning of a similar trend targeted at Malamar. So if Zoroark’s troubles earlier this year provide any indication, then we should expect yet more Malamar counters in the near future.
To address this concern, I want to first talk briefly about the OCIC metagame. The second half of the article offers some Malamar coaching, tech card discussion, and an updated deck list.
Melbourne in Hindsight
[cardimg name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Melbourne really caught me off guard on multiple levels. I knew [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] would see a lot of play, but I heard of players running into around four Ultra Malamar decks in day one of the event. When you look at the archetype counts at past North American Regionals, you would not expect to run into more than two of a single archetype on day one of an event. I also expected a wide variety of archetypes, but we pretty much only saw around four make day two. And most importantly, I did not see [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] coming at all.
Prior to Melbourne, I saw bulky decks like [card name=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] or Stall decks as serious threats. Tord Reklev hyped Venusaur while Stall decks saw significant success at Melbourne after all. But Melbourne seemingly turns that on its head, with Malamar pressuring those archetypes away and opening the field up to something like Zapdos. It really goes to show how much the meta changed in the three months since Roanoke.
So, would I still recommend playing Malamar? I generally advise against mainstream decks because they tend to struggle in day two of events. [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card], for example, saw terrible day two conversion rates the first half of this year. I expect similar conversion rates for Malamar at future events, thus I would only recommend Malamar if you think you can pilot it flawlessly. And since I think a lot of Malamar players only picked up the deck recently and because Ultra Necrozma-GX introduces a significantly higher skill ceiling to Malamar than ever before, I want to dedicate the next section of the article to Malamar coaching.
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Malamar Coaching
Thanks to [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] and Sky Scorching Light-GX, [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] decks focus around spread strategies more than ever before. This demands much more micro decision making, particularly in mirror matches. Malamar decks already need to manage their Bench slots meticulously, and now it forces the same from its opponents and makes mirror matches all the more skillful.
Bench Management — Tapu Lele-GX, Marshadow, and Jirachi
Personally I like [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] the most over [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. It nets you the most immediate value out of your Bench slot, on average. When you play a Let Loose Marshadow, you tend to brick yourself half of the time, resulting in either a loss or needing to Bench a second support Pokemon to draw out of your hand. Jirachi can net you more value than Tapu Lele-GX in the long run. But Jirachi builds also tend to feel more vulnerable to spread in the mirror, [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] in [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] decks, and [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] in [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] matchups. Which is why I personally still prefer to run a line of two Tapu Lele-GX exclusively.
Tapu Lele-GX’s two Prize status can still lose you games of course. Particularly against Zapdos, where it lets your opponent take a two Prize turn on you in a matchup where every Prize already matters so much. But I generally consider the consistency boost worthwhile.
Marshadow Usage
While I personally dislike Let Loose [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] in Malamar, a lot of people still run it. I did personally run it at Philadelphia and Memphis, but mostly due to the prevalence of [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] decks at the time. Perhaps with [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] in the format, I may consider including it yet again to avoid benching a two Prize liability and simultaneously disrupt a Zapdos player from amassing a large stockpile of Trainer cards. In the meantime, let’s discuss the how to use the card optimally.
The average Malamar list runs eight hard draw Supporters, sometimes more with [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] in the format. Either way, the average shuffle draw four will fail to find a hard draw Supporter roughly 50% of the time. In that case, you either dead draw for several turns or or commit yet another Bench slot to a Pokemon like Jirachi or Tapu Lele-GX. You can mitigate this risk in two ways. First, you can field Jirachi to help you draw out of your own Let Loose, but this commits a lot of deck slots and would lose you the mirror due to the benching. Second, you can delegate Let Loose to the late game, after you already set up a board state with Malamar. Either way I generally avoid using Let Loose on my first or second turns unless left with no other options.
Jirachi Usage
[cardimg name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] saw a lot of play at OCIC, but I personally strayed away from using it. It gains the most value in matchups where do not need to worry about [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], and can swing single Prize attackers against each other. Against [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card], I want to sit in the Active with Tapu Koko for multiple turns. Against Malamar, the 70 HP presents an easy Prize. Against Zoroark, I expect to see an Alolan Muk. At least in personal testing, I found Jirachi underwhelming, and I would not run it in Malamar over Tapu Lele-GX. Furthermore, it requires your deck run [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], which might not be necessary when you already want to run two copies of [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card].
Prize Mapping in the Mirror
In many matchups, Prize mapping boils down to just taking the first Knock Out and not whiffing any attacks. But single Prize matchups, particularly the mirror match, can boil down to a big Sky Scorching-GX turn and setting that up. But setting that optimally takes quite a bit of forethought. First, lets ask: How does damage get spread in the mirror? Distortion Door can set up numbers. Malamar decks could run a dedicated spread option, such as [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card]. And damage from Shadow Impact can put your own Pokemon in range. And finally, one deck might run healing options such as [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] to swing the spread-race. But regardless of your exact build, every Malamar deck needs to pick the right targets for Distortion Door.
Distortion Door
So, where do you put your Distortion Door damage counters? Unfortunately I cannot offer a clear answer, it always depends. For example, a single ping on a [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] offers the most value. But doing so means your opponent can now direct the 40 damage from Shadow Impact onto that Marshadow or Jirachi without affecting the Prize race. Typically you want to save pings on Marshadow or Jirachi for last and favor placing damage counters on Malamar early game instead. But depending on the number of remaining Prizes, you might never reach the three counters necessary to put a Malamar in range, especially if your opponent can chain [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] around your [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card].
But if you run a Tapu Koko, this trivializes the decision. A single Tapu Koko flying flip puts Malamar in range after a single Distortion Door ping, and removes the need to put any pings on Marshadow or Jirachi. If you cannot find two [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] to target with Distortion Door, putting a counter on [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] could let you take an OHKO with Shadow Impact and putting one on a Jirachi or Marshadow could bait your opponent into placing 40 Shadow Impact damage onto it, which in turn could set things up to give you the opportunity to take a Prize on your turn with Distortion Door, potentially accelerating the Sky Scorching-GX turn given you conserve enough Bench spaces for such a play.
More Bench Management
Secondly, consider your Bench spaces. If you fill up your Bench, and your opponent takes a Knock Out on your [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], you might lose the option to use Giratina and Sky Scorching Light-GX on the same turn without something like Giratina. You may consider Knocking Out one of your Bench sitters with Shadow Impact to open up Bench space in order to squeeze out an extra Distortion Door or you might consider leaving a Bench spot open in advance to make keep that option available.
Delaying Prizes
[cardimg name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Thirdly, you may consider attacking a Tapu Lele-GX with Shadow Impact, as this puts Tapu Lele-GX in range of a Sky Scorching-GX. This gets punished severely by [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card], but without Acerola, it could set up a big Prize swing turn, potentially accelerating your win condition by two Prizes whilst still offering up a Giratina in the Active slot and denying a free [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] Ability turn. Definitely consider the option, especially if you can make a hard read on your opponent.
And finally, make sure to always keep the total Prize count in mind. Taking a Prize could put yourself in Sky Scorchin-GX range, and thus a checkmate scenario. Sometimes you can counter-play this by attacking into something without taking a KO but setting up more Sky Scorching-GX targets. Using [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] to bring up a Tapu Lele-GX works for this purpose. Likewise you can use Let Loose [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] to punch a healthy Malamar. Or you can Energy Drive a healthy [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] for 100 damage. But once again, the converse remains true. When you attack with Giratina, the 40 damage can counter-play some of these options. Deliberately placing 40 damage on your Giratina can prevent your opponent from using Energy Drive on your Giratina without taking a Knock Out, assuming such a scenario could lose you the game.
So always remain vigilant about damage counter placement and Bench space, both your opponents and your own. No two games play out the same in Malamar mirrors these days and the complexity of damage spread decisions really makes Ultra Malamar one of the most skill intensive decks to pilot these days.
Further Advice
I talked for quite a while there about Malamar. And honestly, I could keep going, but if I did it would probably never end. I mostly focused on Bench management and min maxing of spread strategies, So if you have more questions I did not cover, please message me in the Subscriber’s Hideout. You can encounter so many niche scenarios in Malamar matchups that I can struggle to put it all in text.
Bottom Line
So, should you play Malamar? Well, I think the answer to that question boils down to yet another question: Do you think you would win the 60 mirror against an average Joe if neither of you ran mirror techs? The Malamar skill ceiling increased with the Team Up set, and the mirror highlights that more than any other matchup. If you enter that matchup feeling like it’s just a 50-50 coinflip, then I strongly advise finding a different deck.
Latest Tech Options
Tapu Koko (Flying Flip)
[card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] took a favorable matchup against Ultra Malamar at OCIC, so now [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] needs to find an answer. Tapu Koko flying flip offers one possible solution. By opting for a spread damage approach, you constantly force the Zapdos player to find ways to retreat out of the Active slot in order to reuse both their [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability and Assault Thunder. Eventually, they can run out of resources and start whiffing Knock Outs. In practice, if you just run two Tapu Koko, no [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card], and no [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card], this only turns the matchup into a 50-50. You need to run DCE and Absol on top of all that in order to make the matchup favorable. But at that point, you committed a tremendous number of deck slots for a single matchup. Plus, Tapu Koko offers a free retreat pivot for Malamar and simultaneously improves the Mirror match by setting up Sky Scorching numbers quickly. I think all Malamar decks should run Tapu Koko going into the future. I would personally run two copies.
Jynx (Team Up)
[card name=”Jynx” set=”Team Up” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] represents yet another spread option. It works a bit better in the Malamar matchup because you can snipe [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card] early on or break stalemate scenarios where Flying Flip would not work. But given the popularity of Zapdos, Tapu Koko remains the better option.
Absol
Absol helps reinforce the Flying Flip strategy, by putting even more resource pressure on your opponent’s deck. Now, they need two switching effects each turn to attack, not just one. But I personally want to avoid teching that far. I question whether [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] can remain relevant at Collinsville. [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] won Philadelphia, but it became irrelevant at Memphis. Alternatively, Zapdos decks could update to become resilient to stalling strategies involving Flying Flip. For example, they could start running [card name=”Jolteon-GX ” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM173″ c=”name”][/card], which bypasses both Absol and makes Flying Flip much worse and gives them an efficient attacker for the mirror.
Gengar & Mimikyu-GX
[cardimg name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
We saw quite a few decks run [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] at OCIC. And I definitely like that card. The GX attack helps tremendously against [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], it can make big plays in the mirror, and even help reach for your last two Prizes against a [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] deck. Malamar decks can struggle to OHKO a Gengar & Mimikyu-GX early on in the game, especially if you give yourself a free turn with Horror House-GX. Combining this with [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] can start you off in mirror matches with an easy two or three Prize lead, assuming you can find the Acerola.
Onix
[card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] pressures Tapu Koko into [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] decks and [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] into [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Running Tapu Koko in Malamar lists encourages the inclusion of Double Colorless Energy and Alolan Muk discourages [card name=”Marshadow-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] ever so slightly. So naturally, we can consider Onix as an option to hit Zoroark-GX and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX for Weakness.
Chimecho
[card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] does nothing against Zapdos and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX. But given the success of [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] at OCIC, I refuse to cut it.
Current List
With only days between OCIC and Collinsville, I cannot test this deck thoroughly enough to provide an optimized deck list. But I can at least provide a very toolbox oriented list with tons of options. In my mind, I got caught off guard at two major events in a row now. First, by Stall decks at Roanoke, and then by Zapdos at OCIC. So I currently expect yet another deck to catch me off guard at Collinsville. I already played pretty toolbox oriented lists in the past, but recent events pressure me to double down on that mindset.
I think the following list offers enough tools to deal with the mirror, [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card]. Right now, I think the list still only offers a flimsy Zapdos matchup, though. Without [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] and only a single copy of [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card], I suspect you only take a 50-50 matchup against Zapdos / Jirachi. Feel free to add copies of those if you want to reinforce your Zapdos matchup, but I personally believe Zapdos will get countered pretty heavily at Collinsville, and I can justify taking a 50-50 matchup if that ends up being the case.
[decklist name=”Malamar” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”165″][pokemon amt=”18″]4x [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Onix” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”109″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”32″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”158″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]7x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]2x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Matchup Summary
Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
When I tested against this with a more traditional [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] list, I did not dig out [card name=”Marshadow-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”80″ c=”name”][/card] plus Moons Eclipse-GX consistent enough. Furthermore, the inclusion of Marshadow-GX in some Pikachu & Zekrom-GX lists forces the Malamar player to find three Knock Outs instead of just two. Plus, the inclusion of [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] in Pikachu & Zekrom-GX lists just makes everything harder. I believe you need a copy of [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] to buy enough time to make the matchup competitive, and that alone makes Gengar & Mimikyu-GX an inclusion in any Malamar list.
Zapdos
As I mentioned earlier, you aim to beat [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks by declaring Flying Flip over and over. This forces the Zapdos deck to find a switching effect every single turn. If they ever miss a beat, you get a free Flying Flip turn. And even if you don’t, you might pressure enough resources out of their hand each turn that they eventually start running low. In terms of lose conditions, you can still lose if you miss an early Flying Flip turn or if your opponent hits a turn [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and manages to build and maintain a big hand the entire game. So, I do not hate a single copy of Let Loose in this exact matchup. Especially since the Let Loose itself becomes a free [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] target for you.
Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX
[cardimg name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
I expect [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] / Lycanroc-GX to run heavier counts of [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] than what we saw at OCIC. I want to continue running [card name=”Chimecho” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] to keep the matchup stable, but cannot find space for the whole Marshadow-GX and [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] combo that I used to run in the past due to all the new threats in the format.
Blacephalon-GX
[card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] had two placements at OCIC. Not that many, but still solid given how many archetypes failed to reach day two at all. Unfortunately, cutting Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX definitely hurts that matchup significantly. You have to make sacrifices somewhere when updating your list to a new format. You just cannot tech for every matchup now when people know to prepare for the Malamar matchup.
Passimian / Koko
[card name=”Passimian” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM31″ c=”name”][/card] got hype as a great counter deck to this format. But in practice, it failed to make day two at OCIC, even though I heard quite a few people played it at day one. It sounds like the presence of [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] in Malamar decks actually meant Passimian / Koko did not find the “good field” it needed to succeed.
Celebi & Venusaur-GX
Another deck I expected to see some success, especially after Tord Reklev hyped it but it ultimately failed to make day two. It might take a positive Zapdos matchup, but it loses to Malamar and [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card].
Closing Thoughts
That wraps up my thoughts on [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] in the brief time between OCIC and Collinsville. To summarize, expect a hard field for Malamar and for even more counter archetypes to crop up. So I strongly advise against playing Malamar unless you consider it one of your best and most comfortable choices. I did the best I could on short notice with this article, so if I missed anything, please message me on the Subscriber’s Hideout for to talk more. Now, best of luck to you all at Collinsville.
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