Out of the Limelight(ning) — Unusual Decks From EUIC

[cardimg name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The European International Championship has concluded, and even though the SUM–TEU format is also nearing its end, it’s still worth looking at the results. There are still a few major events left in the current format, including, for Europeans such as me, a Regional Championship in Bristol, UK; but more importantly, the lessons we learn from the current format can also apply to the next format, after Unbroken Bonds‘s release. This format is still largely unknown to the West and I have no doubt that it holds many surprises for us, but we can still begin to explore it. (As a disclaimer, I haven’t played any games in this format yet, since I was focusing on the EUIC and, at the time of writing, the new set isn’t available on TCGO yet. I have been looking at Japanese results and lists for ideas, though, so I’m not going in totally blind.)

To the surprise of no one, Lightning decks dominated the EUIC. [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] cemented its status as the BDIF by being half of the Top 8 by itself, and [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks — mainly, though not exclusively, Zapdos / Ultra Beasts — also performed well. Combined, these two archetypes made up more than 60% of the day 2 metagame. The third most successful archetype, distantly behind PikaRom and Zapdos, was [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] variants. It comprised 11% of the Day 2 metagame, but had good performances in Day 2: out of ten Zoroark-GX decks, three made Top 8, and three more made Top 16. This is not surprising since Zoroark-GX / [card name=”Lycanroc-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] is favored against both Zapdos and PikaRom, so Zoroark-GX players tended to have a smooth Day 2, compared to Day 1 when they were more likely to hit an unfavorable matchup such as [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card]. Apart from these three archetypes, no deck had a strong performance. [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] had a few representatives in Day 2, but once again struggled against the sea of Zapdos. Blacephalon-GX had a bad time, and stall players also struggled against the speed of PikaRom and the techs of other decks.

However, that doesn’t mean there were no surprises in the tournament. Several unusual decks made appearances in Day 2, and in this article I’ll focus on them, for two reasons. The first reason is that if I talked once again about Malamar or Zoroark-GX / Lycanroc-GX, when not much about these decks has changed, you’d probably be — rightly! — bored. The second reason is that I want to talk about these decks’ chances, not only in the current format, but also in the next one, and it will take more time to understand a popular deck’s role in the format than an unpopular one. For example, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX will probably still be a major deck after Unbroken Bonds is released, so people will still tech for it. Finding the right Pikachu & Zekrom-GX list will take time and, if I were to offer you one, there’s a good chance that it would be far from optimal since, again, I haven’t had time to test in the new format. However, for a less popular decks, say Naganadel / [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”name”][/card], the deck will most likely not be as important in the metagame, so people won’t try to counter it. Without this dance of techs and counter-techs, building a list is much more straightforward.

On a personal note, I chose to play Zapdos / [card name=”Jolteon-GX ” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM173″ c=”name”][/card] in Berlin, mostly because I felt it was a safe choice. I was more confident with Zapdos / Ultra Beasts, but after playing a lot of mirror matches, I couldn’t find a way to be favored, and I didn’t want to play a bunch of coin-flip mirror matches. The Jolteon-GX version was favored against the Ultra Beasts version, while still doing fine against Pikachu & Zekrom-GX and other decks, so I decided to play it. That said, I didn’t train enough with it and I feel like I lost some games due to small, non-obvious gameplay mistakes. That said, I still got Top 64, getting me 130 CP and keeping me solidly in first place in the EU rankings, so I can’t complain!

Anyway, I won’t be going in detail into my tournament run. Instead, I’ll be looking at some original decks that made day 2 at EUIC, and their chances post-Unbroken Bonds. This is also the occasion to talk about what Unbroken Bonds brings to the format, at first glance.

Unbroken Bonds and the Metagame

At this point in time, it would be extremely arrogant to claim to know what the metagame will be. Even looking at results from Japan, we’re not seeing the whole picture, since there’s no doubt that Western players will have their own take on the format. Still, there are some assumptions we can make. This is obviously theoretical, but in order to understand the rest of the article, I should explain how I envision the Unbroken Bonds metagame:

Fire is tremendously powerful.

[cardimg name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

[card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] is obviously the star of the new set, and it has had tremendous success in Japan, so everything points at it being the same here. There are many Pokemon you can play with it, such as [card name=”Flareon-GX ” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM171″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Turtonator” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. Although it will be a different deck, [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] also has potential. Whatever the choice of attackers, [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”116″ c=”name”][/card] will be able to power up these strong attackers, and I’d be surprised if Fire wasn’t the new Lightning: a dominant type that you should expect to play in many of your rounds at any major event (although it will have more competition than Lightning had previously). I don’t know yet what will be the best archetype (and it might change depending on how the meta evolves), but in any case, the Fire type’s rise has two immediate consequences on the metagame.

First, everything that’s weak to Fire is dangerous to play, at least at first. [card name=”Celebi and Venusaur-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] now has a popular nemesis and will probably get back to the binder, and [card name=”Pheromosa and Buzzwole-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card], although it’s still a strong card, will probably only be played as a secondary attacker in other decks, rather than as a 4-of as it was in Japan for a brief period of time. (In Japan, cards are released in more frequent, but smaller, sets. Although we get Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX and Reshiram & Charizard-GX at the same time, the Japanese had a window of around two months in which the former was legal but not the latter.)

Second, anything Water-type is becoming stronger, since it has a natural advantage over any Fire Pokemon. We will probably see Water-type techs be run in many decks. For example, [card name=”Slowking” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card], with [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card], can be played in a Zoroark-GX deck to OHKO Reshiram & Charizard-GX.

Lightning remains strong, but not dominant.

There’s no reason that Pikachu & Zekrom-GX would disappear entirely from the format, at least not until its matchups are fully figured out. When that’s done, it’s possible that we realise the deck is not as good as other options — or maybe we will find that it’s actually the best Tag Team deck. In the meantime, the deck should see a decent amount of play. It gains [card name=”Electromagnetic Radar” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], so it will be able to play at a faster pace. What’s more, since the metagame will focus less on the Lightning type, we should see less Fighting Pokemon being ran, which means that Pikachu & Zekrom-GX can use Full Blitz without fearing a Sledgehammer or similar answer as much. There’s one flaw to PikaRom decks, though, and that’s [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]: Bench Barrier returns to Standard, and there’s no [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] there. This means that although it will be easier than ever for Pikachu & Zekrom-GX to power up a fast Tag Bolt GX, there’s an easy counter to it that can fit into most decks. Obviously, it’s still possible to run Zapdos and Knock Out Mew before using Tag Bolt GX, and that will probably be PikaRom’s plan.

As for Zapdos, it should keep its place as the premium non-GX deck, so I can’t see it disappear. The Ultra Beasts variant gets two new attackers in [card name=”Kartana” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] and Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX. The latter can be used to take two Prizes with Beast Game GX, which would give the deck a way to come back from a Prize deficit in the mirror match (attach Beast Energy Prism Star to Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX and KO a [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] for your two last Prize cards), so I’m sure it will see play. I don’t know how the deck will affect the rest of the metagame, though.

Zoroark-GX will (still) see play.

With Triple Acceleration Energy, the deck gets new possible allies, such as [card name=”Persian-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card]. However, I don’t know how the deck should be played. I imagine that the deck will be able to tech partners to counter any deck (Lycanroc-GX against Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Slowking against Reshiram & Charizard-GX, etc.) but not all of them at the same time. This means that Zoroark-GX will be good at any time when the metagame can be predicted, but if you tech for the wrong decks, then you’ll probably not do well at any event. In addition, the new [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] stadium is highly threatening to Zoroark-GX. For these reasons, I expect it to take a back seat to more obvious decks at first, and possibly come back later, a few weeks into the format. This, in turn, means [card name=”Alolan Muk” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], which is mostly ran in Zoroark-GX, might be absent from the metagame on the opening weekend (although it will come back later).

[card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] is the other new archetype to expect, but to be honest, I’m not sure at all how it will perform. It’s also not obvious how it will affect the metagame at first: few popular Pokemon are weak to Fairy, and fewer are Metal-type (Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX’s Weakness), so there’s no immediate conclusion here.

Naganadel / Quagsire

[premium]

Often overlooked, both because it’s more clunky than the most popular decks, and possibly also because its diminutive name of NagQuag doesn’t make it look like a serious deck, Naganadel / Quagsire first reached Top 16 in Denver in the hands of Ross Cawthon. Then, at EUIC, the deck was in contention for Top 8, playing a win-and-in on stream in round 15. It did lose that match, but still, NagQuag seems to be stronger than its reputation would suggest. The deck’s game plan is to put and keep Water Energy in play thanks to Quagsire, Naganadel, [card name=”Aqua Patch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card]. It can use Quagsire as an attacker, or prepare for a big attack with [card name=”Magikarp and Wailord-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM166″ c=”name”][/card]. The deck also plays [card name=”Onix” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] as a Fighting-type attacker, in order to OHKO Pikachu & Zekrom-GX and Zoroark-GX.

I’m sure you can guess why I find this deck promising for the new format: because of Quagsire’s Water typing, it works amazingly against Reshiram & Charizard-GX and other Fire-type attackers. What’s more, there are several new cards that can fit in the deck to improve it. For this reason, I tried my hand at adapting the deck to the new metagame:

[decklist name=”NagQuag” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″][pokemon amt=”17″]3x [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”26″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Quagsire” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Wooper” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”25″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Poipole” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”107″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Volcanion Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”31″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Magikarp and Wailord-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pheromosa and Buzzwole-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”1″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Aqua Patch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Wishful Baton” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokegear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]9x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card]3x [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

I’d like to explain the main updates to the deck:

[cardimg name=”Pheromosa and Buzzwole-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”192″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The deck now runs a copy of Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX. Here’s the logic behind it: Magikarp & Wailord-GX is still a powerful finisher, but because of Mew, there will be games where it won’t be able to use Towering Splash GX. Since this list doesn’t run Guzma and only one Counter Catcher, it’s not realistic to expect to KO Mew before using Towering Splash GX. Instead, we use Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX as an alternate finisher thanks to Beast Game GX. With 8 Energy on it, including a [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card], you can actually take four Prizes in one turn if you can find a KO with Beast Game GX — even more if you KO a GX Pokemon. This necessitates a good set up, obviously, but the payoff is amazing, and since you can put Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX on the Bench and charge it up all in one turn, your opponent might even not see it coming!

[card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] seems necessary in order to allow Beast Game GX to deal more than 50 damage, making it easier to take a big KO. We also play more Energy than usual: we need the Unit Energy in the deck, but can’t go too low on Water Energy since these are the ones that can come back from the discard thanks to Naganadel and Aqua Patch, and be conserved through Wishful Baton. In turn, playing more Energy means that it’s not as necessary to run [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card], so I switched the stadiums to Brooklet Hill, which can help the deck’s setup.

The new Fighting-type Quagsire replaces Onix as the Fighting-type attacker of choice. It’s basically perfect for the role: it still deals the magic number of 120 damage, but only requires three Energy instead of four. Plus, evolving from Wooper makes it much easier to use. When using Onix, for example, if you want to drop Onix to KO a Zoroark-GX or Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, you have to retreat your Active Pokemon into Onix and then attach or move four Energy cards, so you waste one Energy to retreat. You can of course play down Onix earlier if you have it, but you may not already have it, and even if you do, Benching it means your opponent could use Guzma to KO it before you can use it.

With the Fighting-type Quagsire, this problem is solved. You’ll most likely have an extra Wooper on the Bench, so if you want to take a KO on a Fighting-weak Pokemon, you can just send this Wooper Active, evolve it, and take a KO. You don’t have to evolve earlier if you don’t want to put your Quagsire at risk, and you don’t have to waste an Energy to retreat. All in all, it means you actually save two Energy by using Quagsire rather than Onix. Plus, it’s cuter.

Finally, since the deck doesn’t run [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], I included two copies of [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] instead of other Supporters like [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card]. Pokegear is guaranteed to find [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], one of the deck’s main draw Supporters; in particular, it raises the odds of getting turn 1 Lillie. Later in the game, it will also thin out the deck. Basically, you still have the same odds of getting a Supporter in the early game, but later on, you’ll have lower odds of ending up with a hand bloated with Supporters.

It’s worth mentioning that running Wishful Baton might not be optimal. Obviously, Wishful Baton is effective as long as [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] (or [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card]) isn’t played much. We might be seeing more of Field Blower, though: Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX can run the new [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] (and [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] to look for it), which forces Pikachu & Zekrom-GX to play Field Blower. Moreover, Wishful Baton is not as good now since the deck runs Unit Energy. Instead, it might be worth taking inspiration from Japan, where the deck uses [card name=”Articuno” set=”Team Up” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] rather than Wishful Baton to protect its Energy. You can get Energy with Naganadel, move it to Articuno, then Cold Cyclone to move this Energy to a Quagsire on your Bench. This way, your Energy stays in play without having to rely on a Pokemon Tool. There are flaws to this plan, such as Lycanroc-GX’s Bloodthirsty Eyes, but it’s worth trying out.

If you’re looking to try out this strategy, I’d make the following changes to the above list: -4 Wishful Baton, -1 Quagsire (Water), -1 [card name=”Volcanion Prism Star” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”31″ c=”name”][/card], -1 Water Energy; +4 Articuno, +1 [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], +1 Choice Band, +1 Unit Energy GFW. Since you’ll be using Articuno as your attacker most of the time, Volcanion Prism Star isn’t as good, and you don’t need the third Quagsire since your opponent can’t KO it as easily. (It might be worth removing [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], rather than Quagsire, though.)

Other Considerations

– [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card]: Japanese lists tend to run lower counts of Aqua Patch, or even none, and some use Beast Ring to accelerate Energy. I suspect that in the Articuno version, most of the time, your Pokemon getting KO’d won’t have much, or any, Energy on it, so Aqua Patch doesn’t provide a lot of value; Naganadel is enough to recover the Energy that was discarded to Ultra Ball. Beast Ring accelerates Energy from the deck, so it can provide a big boost and thin the deck at the same time.

– [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pokemon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card]: I’m not sure what the best Item search lineup is for this deck. Since it has several Pokemon lines, Pokemon Communication should work decently. It’s easy to imagine, for example, putting back a spare Articuno in order to get Naganadel or Quagsire. Ultra Space can find Poipole, Naganadel and Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX, so it’s reasonable to play one instead of a Brooklet Hill. Mysterious Treasure doesn’t have a lot of value in the above list, but if you add [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card], it becomes a viable inclusion.

Spread Decks

We saw a number of spread decks doing well in Berlin. Kaiwen Cabbabe made Top 16 with a pure [card name=”Tapu Koko” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM30″ c=”name”][/card] deck, Jit Min Lim combined Tapu Koko with [card name=”Frogadier” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”23″ c=”name”][/card] and the new Detective Pikachu Greninja, and Takuya Yoneda played a [card name=”Buzzwole-GX” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] deck that combined Jet Punch with [card name=”Weavile” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card]’s Rule of Evil to take KOs on low-HP Pokemon such as Jirachi. These three decks were well-adapted to the metagame: Buzzwole-GX’s Fighting-type is obviously relevant to the metagame, and the two other decks included [card name=”Larvitar” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] to deal big damage to Fighting-weak Pokemon. In Yoneda’s list, Weavile is also used as a counter to Malamar, as it can wreak havoc on a board of Malamar, Jirachi and others, while [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] gave him a chance against Zapdos decks.

Of these three decks, Tapu Koko / Greninja is the one I’m most interested in. Greninja feels like the perfect partner to Tapu Koko: Flying Flip is excellent against huge boards, so a common strategy against it is to keep one’s Bench small. However, Furious Shurikens is powerful against small boards, as you’re essentially putting 100 damage on the board. Frogadier also helps the deck’s spread strategy. Now, as with any stage 2 deck, Greninja is vulnerable to being attacked while it’s setting up. However, as long as you have a Double Colorless Energy and a Tapu Koko, you can keep using Flying Flip and spreading damage while your opponent KOs Froakie and Frogadier. Flying Flip is one of the best attacks to be using turn after turn, as it sets up decisive turns of using [card name=”Tapu Lele” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]’s Magical Swap. I played against Jit Min Lim in Berlin and, although I think targeting Froakie was the right decision, I wasn’t comfortable with the high amount of damage that accumulated on my board while I was doing this. Finally, it should be mentioned that Evasion Jutsu is an extremely annoying ability. Having to KO a non-GX with 140 HP is already frustrating, but having to flip a coin for it feels terrible.

Tapu Koko / Greninja is also the spread deck with the best odds post-Unbroken Bonds, in my opinion. Once again, it’s the Water type. Greninja can easily 2HKO a Reshiram & Charizard-GX with the help of Choice Band and/or spread damage, all the while putting damage on another Pokemon.

I’m not convinced about spread decks’ chances, though, because of Mew. I expect Mew to see some play as long as Pikachu & Zekrom-GX is a relevant deck, and Mew is a strong counter to Flying Flip and Furious Shurikens. Now, maybe playtesting can help find a way to deal with Mew. If nothing else, it only has 60 HP, so it is fragile as long as you play Guzma to bring it Active. Still, this means that spread decks have to adapt to it instead of focusing on consistency, so it does change things. In my opinion, the best way to deal with this situation is to only play a spread deck when you don’t expect Mew. I don’t think attackers that hit the Bench will be popular enough that Mew will be a mainstay of the metagame. Instead, we’ll probably see it appear and disappear along with the ebb and flow of the metagame, being teched in when Pikachu & Zekrom-GX wins an event and removed when it doesn’t have success, just like some other tech Pokemon in the past. (The exemple that comes to mind is [card name=”Giratina” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY184″ c=”name”][/card] as a counter to [card name=”Greninja BREAK” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card].)

One last point: I believe that [card name=”Mr. Mime” set=”Team Up” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card] will become indispensable in spread decks, should they be played. I think we’ll see more [card name=”Acerola” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]: not only in Zoroark-GX (that has Alolan Muk anyway) and stall decks, but also in various Tag Team decks. Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX comes to mind, as it can move Energy around, so it’s simple to move Energy to another Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX before picking up a damaged one with Acerola. With Dedenne-GX, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX decks also have a new way to draw cards without playing a Supporter, which works well with utility Supporters such as Acerola. Gustavo Wada also included Acerola in his winning list from EUIC, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see people copy this idea. Mr. Mime prevents the use of Acerola, so it’s a natural inclusion.

Shedinja

Finally, it would be unthinkable to talk about surprising decks from EUIC without mentioning Shedinja Control. Created by Tord Reklev and Pedro Eugenio Torres, this absolute monster of a deck was piloted by a few European players, including Pedro Eugenio Torres and Fabien Pujol, and two people made Day 2 with it. The deck uses a whole menagerie of unusual Pokemon. The idea is to prevent your opponent from taking Prizes by using [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. Even if your Pokemon are KO’d, you can use [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Team Up” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]’s Resource Management to recover your resources, and the amazing draw power of your 4-4 (!) [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] line to draw them back. [card name=”Slowking” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] is used to take away bothersome cards such as Guzma from your opponent’s hand, and [card name=”Durant” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] can mill them in order to close out the game. Here’s the list:

[decklist name=”Shedinja Control” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″][pokemon amt=”22″]4x [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Blitzle” set=”Team Up” no=”44″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Nincada” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Slowpoke” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”54″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Slowking” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Durant” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Team Up” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ingo and Emmet” set=”Team Up” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tate and Liza” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”148″ 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]3x [card name=”Great Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Generations” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Enhanced Hammer” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”124″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Shining Legends” no=”66″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Catcher” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”4″]3x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”103″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

[cardimg name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Unfortunately, this deck benefits a lot from the surprise effect and is probably not the right play going forward — it already underperformed in Day 2 of EUIC. A PikaRom or Zapdos player who knows what they’re doing can use Guzma to continually KO Nincada before it evolves, and look for easy Prizes. Zoroark-GX decks also have a favorable matchup thanks to Field Blower and Resource Management. I’m not sure how the new decks will fare against such a weird concept, but I worry that Fire decks can also take two quick Prizes early game before using their Guzma to look for easy targets on the Bench. I might be proven wrong, though: keep this deck in mind in the future, maybe a time will come where the metagame is ill-equipped to deal with it, and then Shedinja could make a surprise comeback! This is the kind of deck that should only be played when people don’t expect it, anyway.

Conclusion

This concludes my look at some of the most unusual decks of day 2. Unbroken Bonds is just around the corner and, although we still have some time before it’s tournament legal, we’ll soon have it on TCGO. You can expect some talk from me about new archetypes, or updated old ones, thoroughly tested, as soon as next week. Until then, best of luck in your games!

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