The Gates Are Open — Malamar’s Decline and its Consequences

Hello! After taking a week off, I’m back to writing. I have to admit that the Standard format hasn’t felt very exciting to me recently – not that it’s bad necessarily, but it looked for a while like the format was solved… The best decks have been figured out, and there’s been little innovation in the lists. Preparing for the European International Championship was less a matter of finding some clever way to beat the metagame, and more one of practicing a few top tier decks and choosing one at the last minute based on the expected metagame. No [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]? Let’s play [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card]. Lots of Zoroark? [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] is a better play.

[cardimg name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Anything is possible now![/cardimg]

However, the results of Denver Regionals have shown that there are still surprises left in this format. Caleb Gedemer won the event with Zoroark-GX / Control, something that has always existed in the format but hasn’t had a lot of attention. [card name=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] made Top 4, and a Turbo variant of [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], featuring [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], made Top 8. Ross Cawthon piloted [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card] to a Top 16 spot, and a few players even brought Beast Box – Beast Box! – back from the dead.

So what happened? I have a simple explanation for many of the above surprises: [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] disappeared. As a popular and reliable deck, Malamar once played the role of a gatekeeper, stopping some of the most eccentric decks in the format from having a shot at winning. However, as it takes bad or even matchups against the best decks in the format, Malamar has underperformed since the beginning of the Team Up format, especially as the best decks (Lightning variants and Zoroark-GX variants) kept being refined and perfected. Logically, less and less people played Malamar since it didn’t do well, and finally, we’ve reached a point where it’s possible to abuse Malamar’s absence, which means that decks that didn’t have a good shot before can finally make Top 8 or higher.

That’s the short version, at least. Since analyzing and understanding these kinds of shifts in the metagame fascinates me – and, more importantly, has been integral to me becoming a better player – I’ll elaborate on this theory, explaining exactly what it is about Malamar that made it play such a role in the format. I also want to talk about some specific decks that have benefitted from Malamar’s decline. Finally, I want to touch on an important question: can Malamar come back?

Fall of the Gatekeeper

Let’s think back to the release of Team Up. Malamar / [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] was one of the most hyped decks of the new format thanks to [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck finally gained a dedicated Stadium that gave it a way to find Metal Energy when needed (something that it had sorely lacked), and [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] gave it a consistency boost. The deck had been performing very well in Japan, so there was proof of its efficiency. The deck was quickly adopted by many players and initially did pretty decently.

What makes Malamar popular is its adaptability. I’m not talking about the deck building process here – although there are definitely variable techs people could include, such as [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] – but about the gameplay itself. You can use Ultra Necrozma-GX to take big Knock Outs with Photon Geyser, or you can attack with [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and get it back whenever it’s Knocked Out. Sure, that’s only two options, but they cover most of the matchups. To keep it simple, against GX decks, Ultra Necrozma-GX is great because its damage output is unlimited; against non-GX decks, Giratina wins the Prize trade, especially since you don’t need Rescue Stretcher to get it back, making the deck run more smoothly than the opponent’s. Even non-GX attackers with too much HP for Shadow Impact, such as [card name=”Alolan Exeggutor” set=”Team Up” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], are not an issue, thanks to Distortion Door adding damage to the field, and Sky-Scorching Light which can take multiple KOs in the late game on smaller Pokemon like [card name=”Exeggcute” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Shuckle” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card], and so on.

[cardimg name=”Charizard” set=”Team Up” no=”14″ align=”right” c=”custom”]Like Malamar, but worse…[/cardimg]

Malamar didn’t beat everything, but the power and simplicity of its two possible game plans were such that most rogue decks couldn’t keep up. Malamar simply did what they did… but better. [card name=”Charizard” set=”Team Up” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card] is a good example.

Like Giratina, Charizard can easily deal 130 damage, simply by attaching two Energy with its Ability. It also has (effectively) 130 HP, since it deals 20 damage to itself by using its Ability. Like Ultra Necrozma-GX, Charizard can also deal more damage if needed, in order to KO a bigger foe. Charizard needs more time to attach additional Energy, but unlike Ultra Necrozma-GX, it only gives up one Prize.

One could imagine how, in a different format, Charizard could have been strong. A Pokemon that accelerates Energy to itself with an Ability, deals enough damage to KO most non-GX Pokemon, and can even OHKO Pokemon-GX (even Tag Teams!) with more investment? That’s a recipe for success. However, Charizard has huge issues against Malamar itself. The Malamar deck can simply use Giratina and take a KO every turn against Charizard. With Giratina coming back from the Discard, if it takes the first Prize, it will never give up the Prize lead. Even if Charizard takes a KO first, it can run out of steam at some point, something that won’t happen to Malamar. And in the worst case scenario, Sky-Scorching Light GX can allow the Malamar player to come back from a prize deficit by taking multiple prizes on Charmander or Jirachi. Put simply, against a Malamar player that knows what they’re doing, it’s almost impossible for Charizard to win. And with so much Malamar at every tournament, it’s a huge risk to run Charizard.

Here’s another example, although I don’t think it illustrates my point as perfectly as Charizard does, but might be convincing to more people. Remember Lost March? It wasn’t so long ago that the deck was popular, both with the player base in general and with (at least some) top players. It even got hype (and the adorable nickname of Nuzzle March) when [card name=”Emolga” set=”Team Up” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] was released in Team Up. It was a non-GX deck that could stand up to Pikachu & Zekrom-GX!

Yet Lost March has seen very little play, and no success, since then. Sure, Zapdos was an issue, and the PikaRom matchup was not as positive as expected, but I think the main reason why the deck has been forgotten is its Malamar autoloss, due to Sky-Scorching Light GX destroying the whole deck. Despite some good matchups across the field, Lost March has been kept out of the format.

It should be pointed out that Malamar’s strength isn’t enough to make it a gatekeeper; its popularity is just as important. Of course, the two are correlated, but there’s a difference. Stall decks, for example, are definitely strong — stronger than Malamar, if you look at the results of the many SUM-TEU major events — but, unlike Malamar, they are unpopular by nature, so they can never act as a gatekeeper. Again, this is not due to either deck’s strength; it’s just that many people are turned off by Stall’s slow playstyle, having to take the clock into account, or simply the difficulty of facing the many anti-stall techs that can be ran, whereas Malamar is a much simpler concept, which many players, beginners and experts alike, find fun.

[cardimg name=”Regigigas” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”84″ align=”right” c=”custom”]When Malamar is away, the Gigas comes to play[/cardimg]

Players will refrain from playing Lost March or Charizard because it loses to Malamar, and those who aren’t afraid will generally not do well since they’ll most likely run into a couple of them. However, a bad Stall matchup isn’t such a deterrent. Individual players may be afraid to run, say, Zapdos / Ultra Beasts because of Stall, but Stall isn’t popular enough to stop Zapdos / Ultra Beasts as a whole from doing well. “I autolose to Stall, but I can just hope to dodge it” is a reasonable thought going into a Regionals; replace Stall by Malamar, and it isn’t.

Or, should I say, wasn’t. Malamar is not the “boogieman” it once was. I’ve been over the causes already: bad matchups against Zapdos / Jirachi and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX right as they have reached their apex in strength and popularity. In any case, Malamar hasn’t been putting results despite being one of the most popular decks in the format. Looking at the seven Standard Regionals and Special Events since Team Up’s release that had over 100 players, only one Malamar deck has made Top 8 — in Collinsville, back in February.

In my opinion, it’s a downwards spiral. Malamar hasn’t done as well, so less people play it, so it does even worse, and so on. For any stats fans here, here are some figures from three events where I have accurate figures*:

• Collinsville Regionals, February 23rd: 200 Malamar decks out of 1056 players (19.0%). 99 players made day two, including 14 Malamar decks (14.1%). Conversion rate: 7.0% of Malamar decks made day two (compared to 9.4% of all players).
• Fortaleza Regionals, March 23rd: 35 Malamar decks out of 233 players (15.0%). 32 players made day two, including 2 Malamar decks (6.3%). Conversion rate: 5.7% of Malamar decks made day two (compared to 13.7% of all players).
• Denver, April 6th: 61 Malamar decks out of 640 players (9.5%). 52** players known that made day two, including 2** Malamar decks (3.8%). Conversion rate: 3.2% of Malamar decks made day two (compared to 8.1% of all players).

* There may be some inaccuracies due to possible Malamar decks being classified as “Other”. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t change the conclusions.
** There were 60 players in day 2 in Denver, but at the time of writing, only 52 of these decks were known.

The conclusion is clear: things are looking grim for Malamar in all regards. Its play rate is getting worse, in day one and day two. Its day two conversion rate is below the general conversion rate, which means that Malamar players get into day two at a lower rate than those using other decks. The conversion rate is also getting worse. Even the speed at which these rates are getting worse is itself getting worse! To put it another way, Malamar’s decline is accelerating. The deck is, basically, in free fall. Playing Malamar is riskier than ever. And this, in turn, means that there’s no better time to play a deck that’s weak to Malamar.

[premium]

Through the Breach

With the metagame’s gatekeeper out of the way, many more decks have a shot at reaching the top tables at Regionals, and therefore, a shot at making Top 8 or better. Celebi & Venusaur-GX and Beast Box’s reappearances in Denver, for example, are actually pretty logical from this point of view. Both are decks which had no chance in the format as long as Malamar was popular, but can do better now.
In this section, I’ll give a brief overview of a few of these decks that are benefitting from Malamar’s absence. I won’t go in detail over every card in every list, but I want to give an idea of each deck’s strengths and weaknesses.

[cardimg name=”Jumpluff” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”14″ align=”right” c=”custom”][/cardimg]

Lost March

Lost March is the deck that was hurt most by Malamar’s rise in popularity, and therefore, the deck with the most to gain from its fall from grace. As a non-GX deck, it trades well with GX decks, including Pikachu & Zekrom-GX; you can easily trade two of your Pokemon for a Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, and in the late game, it’s even possible to OHKO the Tag Team Pokemon. I believe that the faster variants of PikaRom, such as the one Andrew Mahone used in Denver, are only going to get more popular compared to slower, toolbox-y lists. That’s good for Lost March, since it’s more afraid of Zapdos than of the bigger, GX Lightning Pokemon.

What’s more, Lost March has the interesting benefit of hitting Psychic Weakness, thanks to [card name=”Natu” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”87″ c=”name”][/card]. True, the tier 1 decks don’t have Psychic-weak Pokemon, but remember the main thesis of this article: Malamar, the gatekeeper, is gone, and other decks are using this opportunity to come back. Some of these Pokemon, like [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], were kept out of the format because of their Psychic Weakness, and Natu is in a perfect spot to deal with them.

That said, Malamar wasn’t Lost March’s only issue. Zapdos is a tough matchup as well, since it’s generally faster, and more consistent thanks to Jirachi. You can still try to win the prize race, though.

[decklist name=”Lost March” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″][pokemon amt=”27″]4x [card name=”Jumpluff” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”14″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Skiploom” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”13″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Hoppip” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”12″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trumbeak” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Emolga” set=”Team Up” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Natu” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”87″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”25″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Great Ball” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lost Blender” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”181″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Net Ball” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

This is based on Caleb’s list from back in February. I added [card name=”Absol” set=”Team Up” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] in order to help a little bit against Zapdos decks; even though they play a high amount of switching cards, with a little luck, Absol can make a Zapdos miss their turn one KO, which is all that Lost March needs.

Some other considerations include replacing Emolga with Jirachi, adding a few Escape Board along the way. Oranguru could also be replaced with a 1-1 line of [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] to give the deck more resilience against  [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card].

Beast Box

Beast Box was never very strong, although many players tried to make it work since its release. With [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] being weak to Psychic, Malamar’s popularity was a big issue for the deck this season. Against the rest of the metagame, though, the deck does pretty well. [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and Buzzwole-GX give the deck strong attacks against Zoroark-GX and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX. Zapdos is usually the bane of these Fighting attackers, but unlike other decks based on Buzzwole-GX, this one has a built-in answer: Naganadel-GX easily OHKOs Zapdos, while [card name=”Stakataka-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] severely limits the Lightning bird’s damage output. With multiple copies of [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] as well, the deck has an easy Zapdos matchup.

The other thing that I love about this deck is Naganadel-GX’s Stinger GX. With Tag Teams in the format, Stinger GX gets a new use: you can put both players to three Prizes, and then win before your opponent by taking three Prize cards off a Tag Team Pokemon! Sure, this is a specific scenario that rarely happens. Against Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, you can only think about doing this if the opponent already used their GX attack, otherwise they can take three Prizes with Tag Bolt GX. You also need three Energy on Naganadel-GX, and another attacker ready to take the big KO, which probably requires to have had some good Beast Ring turns earlier. Stinger GX can be useful against Celebi & Venusaur-GX, though, to make it so you only need to KO one of these tanky behemoths.

Stinger GX’s main use, though, is against Stall. By putting both players at three Prizes left, you activate (permanently!) [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], since a Stall deck will generally not take Prizes. You can then take easy KO against their Pokemon. Even [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Shining Legends” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] is not an issue, thanks to Buzzwole’s Swing Around.

[decklist name=”Beast Box” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Stakataka-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”102″][pokemon amt=”13″]3x [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Poipole” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Stakataka-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Buzzwole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]8x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”105″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card]3x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Diamond and Pearl” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Beast Energy Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

This list is based on Alex Schemanske’s Denver list, but with even more consistency cards. The 12th Energy is important in my opinion, due to the deck’s weird Supporter engine. Since Beast Ring will often clog hands, we don’t play a heavy Lillie line like most decks. Bill’s Analysis is used instead, since it can find Beast Ring on critical turns. Since it can’t get Energy, it’s important to play enough Energy cards to draw into them naturally.

[cardimg name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ align=”right” c=”custom”]It’s been awhile[/cardimg]

An issue of the deck is its lack of consistency. Because we only want to play Ultra Beasts, we can’t use Tapu Lele-GX or Jirachi, so we can get some awkward hands. Finally, an experienced opponent can abuse the lack of Energy acceleration in this deck, outside of Beast Ring. As long as the opponent doesn’t take their second Prize, our Pokemon can’t do much apart from Naganadel-GX, and they can use this weak phase to spread damage around on the field. This means that in the end, even the positive matchups are closer than expected.

That said, the deck has the advantage of being adaptable. This deck focuses on a few attackers, but other Ultra Beasts can be considered as well. [card name=”Dusk Mane Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dusk Mane Necrozma” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM107″ c=”name”][/card] come to mind, but one could even branch into another type if needed. The trainer line can also be changed; I know that some players used [card name=”Lusamine Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] in Denver and it’s a fitting card to add in the deck.

Celesaur

I’m glad to see [card name=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM167″ c=”name”][/card] back! In the early days of the format, I thought it was one of the best decks. It took time, but the deck finally caught up with its hype. The strength of this deck is its frustrating tankiness, which lets Celebi & Venusaur-GX take and heal through several attacks from decks like Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX or Zapdos / Jirachi, making them favorable matchups. Pikachu & Zekrom-GX can KO one Celebi & Venusaur-GX, but has a harder time getting a second KO, so the matchup is fine.

As is often the case with defensive decks, Celebi & Venusaur-GX’s weakness is decks that can OHKO it. Malamar filled this role since, given enough Energy, Photon Geyser could hit for an OHKO. However, all is not perfect for the Grass duo: Blacephalon-GX can also easily OHKO it because of Weakness. Even without the Weakness, Blacephalon-GX can put enough Energy in play to KO a Celebi & Venusaur-GX, even if it’s slower, so [card name=”Weakness Policy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] would not be enough of a tech. The deck’s best hope in this matchup is to use Pollen Hazard to inflict Special Conditions and try to KO a Blacephalon-GX at the end of its turn through Burn and/or Poison, and then take another KO the following turn, in order to skip the Beast Ring turns. It’s much easier said than done, though. However, Celesaur’s matchup spread against the rest of the metagame is good enough that the deck is a sensible play right now.

The list below is the one Ronald Gonzalez used to make top 4 at Denver Regionals. I don’t have enough experience with the deck to suggest clever changes, but I do like the heavy emphasis on healing with Mixed Herbs.

[decklist name=”Celesaur” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”1″][pokemon amt=”7″]4x [card name=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”1″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shaymin” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”42″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Gardenia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Net Ball” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Judge Whistle” set=”Team Up” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mixed Herbs” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”184″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Potion” set=”Evolutions” no=”83″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Adventure Bag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Aether Paradise Conservation Area” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Life Forest Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]4x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]7x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”EX Emerald” no=”101″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Charizard

So, Charizard. I’m convinced that the deck is better than we give it credit for, and that we just haven’t found the right list. Now that Malamar is weak, it is the best time for an enterprising deckbuilder to take another look at Charizard. I explained Charizard’s strengths in the introduction, and I should mention it has a very interesting matchup spread. The Lightning matchups are hard but winnable, Zoroark-GX is clearly beatable, and some other matchups, such as Celebi & Venusaur-GX, are basically autowins.

There’s a number of ways one can build Charizard. I looked at Japanese lists, and Charizard won local tournaments in the current format with many different combinations of such partners as [card name=”Meganium” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Swampert” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card], Jirachi, [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Flareon-GX ” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM171″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Magcargo” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]. Here’s a possible list using Meganium, because let’s be honest, there’s not enough Stage 2 Pokemon in the format.

[decklist name=”Charizard” amt=”60″ caption=”undefined” cname=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Charizard” set=”Team Up” no=”14″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Charmander” set=”Team Up” no=”12″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Meganium” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”8″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Chikorita” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”6″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Unleashed” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Recycler” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Heat Factory Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]11x [card name=”Fire Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”11″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Meganium lets the deck cycle through Charizard more effectively without having to dig for Rare Candy every turn. Rare Candy remains important to set up the first Charizard and Meganium though, so we still run four, as well as two copies of Bill’s Analysis in order to search for them.

[cardimg name=”Victini Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”7″ align=”right” c=”custom”]The answer to Stall[/cardimg]

One possible, underrated card is the Fire-type [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card]. Going second, we can use Passionate Dance to get three Charmander on the Bench, which helps the rest of the setup.

If you’re worried about Stall, you may want to add [card name=”Victini Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card] to the deck, since it can infinitely recycle the Energy discarded to attack, meaning that even if you have to KO a whole Bench of Regigigas, you’ll still have enough resources to do so. Sure, Victini Prism Star may fall victim to something like [card name=”Lugia-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card], but if you use it at the right time, in combination with the Energy Recyclers, you should have enough resources for the rest of the game (especially since Victini generally takes a KO itself when using Infinity).

If you’re bored with the format, I encourage you to play around with this archetype, there could be a great discovery to be made. Plus, Charizard will get better after Unbroken Bonds, thanks to the Fire support in the set as well as some new Fire-weak Pokemon in the metagame, like Buzzwole & Pheromosa-GX. It will have competition among Fire-type decks, though!

The Triumphant Return?

Let’s sum it up. Malamar loses to some extremely powerful decks, so people play it less and less. In turn, this allows other decks that were previously not played, out of fear of Malamar, to come back in the format, thanks to good matchups against some of these powerful decks.

Savvy readers know the important question to ask at this point (if only because I already announced it in the article’s intro): can Malamar make a comeback in the format? If Zoroark-GX and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX have their dominance threatened by Lost March and its consorts, is it time for Malamar to return and sweep all these decks out of the metagame?

Metagames often follow a cycle. My favorite example is [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] in Expanded, which pops up every once in a while to amazing results, before being countered to oblivion for months, until the cycle repeats itself. In Standard, things go much faster. A deck can be good one week, be countered for a month, and come back when its counters are themselves being countered, all in the same format.

[cardimg name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ align=”right” c=”custom”]You can’t get rid of me that easily[/cardimg]

There are two possible fates for Malamar in the Team Up format, more precisely at the European International Championship. It could continue its downward spiral, and, going by the trend in recent tournaments, its play rate would reach an unprecedented low, and it might miss out entirely on day two. Or, its amount of good matchups (the likes of Lost March, Beast Box and so on) could reach critical mass, making Malamar a good play once more. Malamar could then be the surprise success story of the tournament and reach Top 8, or even more.

I can’t see the future, obviously. My guess would be that Malamar will not be played much, and most people will know this. Many people will therefore feel fine bringing a deck that loses to Malamar, and some Malamar players will hit enough good matchups to make a strong run in the tournament. I’m not sure Malamar can make Top 8, but I wouldn’t be particularly surprised either – especially since I expect some top players to make the same reasoning and, at the very least, test Malamar heavily in preparation for the tournament.

Apart from its matchups, something that could help Malamar is that Absol is seeing less and less play. Originally intended as a Zapdos / Jirachi counter, Absol ended up hurting Malamar more than any other deck. Zapdos decks play enough switching cards that Absol is not that much of an issue; some Zapdos players have gone down to only one Escape Board for this reason. Malamar decks, though, don’t have as many switching cards and rely much more on having an Escape Board during a whole game. In the past weeks, we’ve seen less people play Absol because it’s not a strong Zapdos counter, and that’s something Malamar definitely enjoys.

It’s far too early to tell, but I’m interested in exploring Malamar again for the EUIC. The last time I played the deck at a major event was in Cannes, where Malamar was popular and anti-mirror techs such as [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] were needed. Right now though, I would heavily change my approach to a list based on consistency, with some cards to help against Zapdos. Here’s my current list:

[decklist name=”Malamar” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″][pokemon amt=”17″]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=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Marshadow-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”80″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”10″]7x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”7″][/card]3x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Maxing out on Viridian Forest and on all three Pokemon-searching Items seems important to set up as fast as possible. Zapdos is the main issue here, since it has the terrible habit of Knocking Out Inkay on the first turn; it’s important to build a strong board to deal with it. Gengar & Mimikyu-GX can be used to slow Lightning-type decks down and tank some hits, while attacking for less Energy than Giratina. It can also cheese the Stall matchup: it’s not unusual for them to use Steven’s Resolve on the first turn to search for some cards with only one Pokemon in the Active spot. You can use Horror House GX to prevent them from playing these cards, then donk them on the next turn.

Another possible card to run is [card name=”Wondrous Labyrinth Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card], instead of a Viridian Forest. Most Zapdos decks only play two Stadiums, so if you can make the Labyrinth stick, you make it harder for them to return every KO. If they miss one, that’s your opportunity to come back in the game. I want to test this idea further, though.

That’s all for this week! My plan is to keep writing about Standard until the EUIC, which is the next major event in the competitive Pokemon world. After that, I’ll take some time to play Expanded in order to help the Americans among you prepare for the couple of events coming up in that format. And, of course, by then, we’ll have another giant new set out, and there’s a lot of concepts that I can’t wait to explore… but each thing in its own time.

Until next week, best of luck in your games!

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