Worlds Primer 2019
In case you did not hear the news, rotation occurs prior to Worlds this year. The combination of rotation and the Unified Minds set results in the biggest quarterly format shift to in recent memory. I personally like this change a lot. I’d much rather play in a fresh format than a stale one. It forces players to both build new decks and learn how to play those decks into a new array of win and lose conditions. But enough gushing, let’s talk about the Worlds format! It’s definitely too early to pin down any “best deck”, so today’s article leads with a few abstract tips, followed a big section on early archetypes and decklists. Consider it a primer for Worlds, something to get your mind in the right head-space.
Now, I could write a long article discussing all the cards that enter and leave the format, but I already saw a few content creators cover that, so let’s dig into something meatier. Instead, I would like to assume that you already know the cards in our next format. If you do not, I recommend you take some time reviewing that before moving on ahead. Which brings me to my first tip:
Deckbuilding Tips
Tip #1 – Know The Cards
I’ve noticed early conversations about rotation tend to go the same way:
“Is X Good?”
“No, because Y exists” or “No, because Z rotated”
“OH, I didn’t realize that was a card!” or “Oh, I didn’t know that rotated!”
Your playtesting group can save yourselves days of meta discussion and effort if everyone just memorizes the format in advance. I know, I know, the new set contains 200 some new cards. But most of you probably know ~10+ Pokemon sets by heart already, spending some time learning one more cannot hurt. Or at the very least, get this conversation out of the way early. Any time you spend testing before fully exploring the set could easily end up wasted.
Tip #2 – Leave Nostalgia Behind
All of us had favorite decks before rotation. We would love for that deck to succeed after rotation. It would be so convenient if they did. We could save money on expensive new cards. We could save so much time and effort on testing. But in my experience, that kind of sentiment creates a trap that leaves you with tunnel vision. Learning a new archetype always pays off better than refining old favorites, because even if you do not like the deck, learning the new archetypes still helps inform you on how to play against them optimally.
Tip #3 – Consistency Is Still King
Everyone likes playing with new techs, and the new set certainly introduces a lot of them. Everybody loves their “I win buttons”. But high consistency lists tend to perform better at the start of new quarters, so you should try to resist that particular temptation. When testing the upcoming format, always start building your lists with literally 0 tech cards and maximum consistency. From there, you can start considering tech cards. But always remember the following rule: 1 deck slot = 1 win Day 1. If a single slot tech card wins you a single best of three match in Day 1, then that tech card only broke even for you. If it wins you two best of three matches, then you can argue you earned a profit on that deck slot.
Tip #4 – Look for Bad Decks
No defined meta exists for Worlds yet. So until people start discussing the format more, I would avoid searching for a “Best Pick”. Instead, I would try to eliminate “Suboptimal Picks” from my roster. Because even without a clearly defined meta, you can still determine which decks lack too much consistency or whose win conditions feel too weak.
A Few Archetypes in Depth
Hopefully those brief tips got you in the right mindset for deck building and deck discussion. Because the rest of the article discusses nothing but that. I do not have time to cover everything in depth, so let’s focus on three lists in detail before running through a few others briefly.
Shedinja
Before rotation, [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] could never really close out games fast enough. If your opponent wanted to stall out the game, they could hold cards back, play Cynthia when your deck ran out, and reasonably expect to tie a BO3 that way. But with the introduction of Jessie and James, Shedinja can finally win games on a reasonable clock. [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] rotated as well, so Shedinja can achieve its victory state much more readily.
On the other hand, this puts a big target on Shedinja’s back. With Wall Stall losing healing cards and [card name=”Weezing” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] losing both [card name=”Counter Energy” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card], Shedinja becomes one of the only “annoying” decks left in the field. This means every other deck in the format can focus their attention on Shedinja, rather than a number of otherwise annoying archetypes.
[decklist name=”Shedinja Stall” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″][pokemon amt=”23″]4x [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Nincada” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”29″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]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]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Weezing (Unified Minds)[/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”213″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Team Up” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x Jessie and James (Unified Minds)2x [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tate and Liza” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”233″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Net Ball” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”234″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”166″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Reset Stamp (Unified Minds)[/trainers][energy amt=”3″]2x [card name=”Grass Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x Recycle Energy (Unified Minds)[/energy][/decklist]
The List [cardimg name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
For now I can offer the list above as a “core” build utilizing [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”213″ c=”name”][/card]. I also saw a few people throwing around lists utilizing [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Giovanni’s Exile” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card]. I may experiment with those in the future, but the Elm’s build served me well so far in testing. I personally dislike the idea that such an engine would get punished by [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] while not actually returning that much draw power per Supporter unless you hit two Dedenne-GX with an Exile.
As stated in the earlier tips, I want to start testing new formats with maximum consistency, which means I excluded a lot of control Tools. I cut [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”231″ c=”name”][/card] early on. It offers a powerful win condition, but it takes a lot of deck slots. You usually need a minimum of 3 just to deal with prizing issues. Furthermore, it takes up 2 cards from resource management in the late game, placing a significant strain on your late game resources. If I wanted to punish decks with minimal switching options, I would probably run a [card name=”Koga’s Trap” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] instead. I also excluded [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”153″ c=”name”][/card] and Stadiums such as [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. Shedinja may need these cards for specific matchups, but as stated earlier, I simply want to build my first iteration lists with maximum consistency and minimal techs. The deck’s core strategy revolves around looping Jessie and James plus [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”166″ c=”name”][/card] until you win, so let’s just max out all cards that help us get there.
You may also note the inclusion of [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] and Weezing from Unified Minds. Unlike a counter Stadium, I can use a Marshadow through [card name=”Brock’s Grit” set=”Team Up” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] rather than Lusamine, providing me more value out of my limited Supporters per turn. Weezing synergizes with Jessie and James and provides me an extra useful target for Brock’s Grit in late game scenarios where I only wanted 4 specific cards back and have to shuffle 2 more filler cards.
Update 6/27/19: Pokemon recently confirmed that Jessie and James will not become legal until after Worlds. I would probably not advise playing Shedinja anymore as a result. Jessie and James offered both a strong control option and a way to speed up your games. At the very least, I believe you need something similar to win on a clock. Perhaps you could run a line of Memory Melt [card name=”Slowking” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”55″ c=”name”][/card] for example. However, Shedinja suffers from deck space issues now that [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] rotated, so I do not feel optimistic about Stage 1 techs such as Slowking.
What Did Shedinja Gain?
Shedinja primarily benefits from two changes: Guzma and [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] rotated, making it easier for Shedinja to establish its lock. And Jessie and James got introduced, helping Shedinja strengthen its lock and win on a clock. The introduction of Recycle Energy and the new Weezing also help, but most of the list consists of pre-rotation cards. One could also argue that Hapu helps the deck set up, but it feels like a marginal improvement over [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] at best.
What Did Shedinja Lose?
Both [card name=”Gladion” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Rotom Dex” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] rotated out of the format. So unless you can justify running a [card name=”Celesteela-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], you should expect to never access your Prizes. It also lost a few consistency cards such as [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Shining Legends” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card], but in my experience the deck still sets up well enough to threaten the format.
Countering Shedinja
At the start of the format, I just want to find decks that can threaten strong win conditions consistently, regardless of whether other decks or techs could hypothetically counter them. Shedinja definitely makes the cut in this regard. Which in turn begs the question: how can we counter Shedinja?
[premium]
Farfetch’d
[card name=”Farfetch’d” set=”Team Up” no=”127″ c=”name”][/card] offers infinite Tool removal. However, it does not actually deal a killing blow, so it would require 12 turns to finish off a Shedinja deck. In that time, Shedinja can still try to achieve some sort of win condition using Crushing Hammer and Jessie and James. Alternatively, since [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] rotated out of the format, you could run something like [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and just kill Farfetch’d.
Faba and Lysandre Labs
Shedinja can lose if your opponent plays multiple [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”208″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] or manages to said counter back. However, without [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] in the format, most decks need to hard draw their copies of Faba. And if a deck ends up drawing too many cards digging for Faba, Shedinja could still win by spending its last few turns milling. Most decks want a thick line of either Faba or Lysandre Labs to truly beat Shedinja reliably, but a thick line consumes many deck slots and any deck that demands multiple deck slots to tech always remains a significant threat to the meta.
GX Attacks
Pokemon such as Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX or [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] can mill Shedinja using their GX attacks. Shedinja would need to run Psychic Energy and Latios-GX to counter this type of gameplan, but this of course creates a big risk of starting with it and strains your deck slots, which in turn makes you even more vulnerable to prizing issues than before.
Nidoking and Druddigon [cardimg name=”Nidoking” set=”Team Up” no=”59″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Nidoking” set=”Team Up” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] and Druddigon both offer an attack called Drag Off, which in turn could allow you to snipe [card name=”Nincada” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] as your opponent Benches them. Only Nidoking does enough damage to one shot a Nincada though – Druddigon would need some form of support, such as [card name=”Banette-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”66″ c=”name”][/card], to fix its math. Both still get shut off by Sky Pillar though, and honestly neither feels like a realistic threat. But I thought I could bring them up.
Tyranitar-GX and Typhlosion
[card name=”Tyranitar-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] can threaten a win by Lost Zoning all the Energy, [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], and Shedinja. [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] decks could cheat it out, but I feel like the kinds of Zoroninja decks that can realistically run a Tyranitar-GX tend to lose to other aggro decks like [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] much more than the straight Sharknadel deck list I offer below. [card name=”Typhlosion” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”42″ c=”name”][/card] can also do something similar but honestly I do not expect either to see much play.
Girafarig
Of all the single card techs, [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] feels the most threatening. As a Psychic type, a deck can search it out much more readily than something else like Faba, Lysandre Labs, or Farfetch’d. It works because Shedinja typically wants to get [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] with Resource Management rather than hard Supporters, so the existence of Girafarig at the very least slows their line of play down dramatically. It also makes the early game much more dangerous for Shedinja, because a poorly timed Sprint could easily cost you the game.
Sharknadel
Next up, let’s move away from degenerate garbage and discuss my favorite kind of archetype: a good old set-up-and-beat-em-up archetype. I love the name of this deck, and it actually performs reasonably well, trading Prizes competitively against pretty much every other aggressive deck in the format. The deck operates on a simple principle, trade with [card name=”Sharpedo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] a lot in the early game as you develop your board, then eventually set up enough to swing with a big GX attacker towards the end of the game.
[decklist name=”Sharknadel” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Sharpedo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”111″][pokemon amt=”23″]4x [card name=”Sharpedo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Carvanha” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”110″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Poipole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x Weavile-GX (Unified Minds)2x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX (UNM #126)1x Umbreon & Darkrai-GX (UNM #135)1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”25″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”213″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x Cherish Ball (Unified Minds)4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”233″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]12x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”168″ c=”deck2″ amt=”12″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Isn’t the deck clunky?
Of all the archetypes I consider “top archetypes” in the upcoming format, Sharknadel clunks by far the most. On one hand, the deck applies early aggression quite well compared to [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. It only needs a Stage 1 and a few Energy in hand to attack on T2 with a single-Prize attacker. Compare that to Malamar, which needs to draw 3 Energy directly, 1 to 2 Malamar, a switching effect, and Giratina to do the same. But while that sounds nice on paper but Sharknadel still clunks a lot more than Malamar in practice. Sharknadel depends much more on Elms than something like Malamar to set up, often leaving it behind on card draw. Sharknadel also needs more resources to continue applying pressure in the late game, so it can continue to brick into the late game, whereas Malamar can eventually builds a stable board state.
So if you play this deck, definitely expect to lose a lot of games to just poor hands, whiffing too much Energy off [card name=”Sharpedo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card]’s Ability, or not setting up well enough. But I still consider it a “top archetype” regardless. It still won a significant number of games in testing after falling a few Prizes behind, just due to the sheer strength of its Prize trade.
Why not Acro Bikes and Beast Rings?
You could certainly run the deck with [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], and a thicker [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] focus. You would draw much more cards and might set up more consistently. However, I personally ran into some issues with [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and the Prize trade in general when I tried such a build. Such a build attacks with Sharpedo much less consistently on T2. If you fail to set up an early Sharpedo, usually either whiff an attack or need to swing with a Tag Team GX, and both scenarios can easily lose you the Prize race. Furthermore, the slower aggression allows Pikarom time to find [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”231″ c=”name”][/card] for Tag Bolt on Weavile-GX to skip your Beast Ring turn. After trying both lists, I found my win rate correlated highly with my ability to attack on T2 with Sharpedo, so I simply built a list that maximizes those odds rather than try to thin my deck faster or utilize tech Items. I may include a few copies of Beast Ring in the future, but not at the expense of the maxed out Sharpedo line.
Why play such an inconsistent deck? [cardimg name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The deck simply offers a phenomenal Prize race. [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] trades well in a format without Guzma, capable of trading up against several Blacephalon-GX. Note that you can use Darkrai Prism Star for the first hit on a Blacephalon, exploiting the sleep effect, retreat into a Sharpedo to finish it off, and then use Darkrai Prism Star again on the next Blacephalon. Sharpedo itself trades quite well, knocking out Tag Teams in 2 hits. And after a few turns of swinging with single-Prize attackers, you can eventually utilize either Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX or Umbreon & Darkrai-GX in the late game to swing the Prize race even further. Lastly, the existence of Mega Sableye & Tyranitar-GX offers one of the strongest win conditions against Shedinja. Latios-GX can shut off Sabletar’s GX attack win condition, but it still gives up 2 to 3 Prizes to a Sabletar and the Shedinja player needs to make their deck less consistent to run it.
Tech Cards
I cut [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card] quite early in the testing, because it just does not hit hard enough and offers little value beyond its damage output. I cut [card name=”Black Market Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] for a third copy of [card name=”Ultra Space” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] as I attributed more losses to poor setups than to Prize race issues. You could also, in theory, cheat out a [card name=”Tyranitar-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] using Greninja & Zoroark-GX and autowin Shedinja with Tyranitar-GX’s ability, but I feel like that takes up too many deck slots.
So is it good or not?
I spend a few paragraphs beating around the bush. Personally, I do not consider Sharknadel a Tier 1 archetype right now. A lower Tier 1 or an upper Tier 2 perhaps, but I do not believe it sets up consistently enough to realistically win a World Championship barring extraordinary luck. But do not write it out, you could easily lose a few games to it if your opponent high-rolls you, and it could realistically cheese out quite a few Shedinja players on the way to the higher tables.
Malamar
Malamar lost a lot of consistency with rotation. Losing [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] means the archetype needs to settle for smaller board states. You cannot realistically set up massive boards of 3-4 Malamar anymore, so the attackers you use need to make the most of every Energy. Single-Energy attacks should also see a premium, as they shore up your early game pressure as you build up your Malamar line, now at a slower pace. You could resolve this issue in a number of ways, and I intend to discuss a few solutions in this article. Other options, such as using Pokemon Research Lab to cheat out [card name=”Aerodactyl” set=”Team Up” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and then attaching [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy ” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”234″ c=”name”][/card] certainly exist, but I just want to focus in the best ones for now.
Mew
After some brief testing, Bench Barrier [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] felt more powerful than ever. I wanted to start it Active to get an early ping off. I wanted more copies late game to spread when I needed to or to replace one I lost vs Pikachu & Zekrom-GX. And if you attach a [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] to it, it actually trades quite for a single Prize and single Energy attachment. Even without Spell Tag, the damage counters could make a huge difference if you need to set up a Garchomp & Giratina-GX as your second attacker or a Sky Scorching Light-GX down the line. Right now I run two copies of Mew in most of my Malamar decks, but I could honestly see a higher count of Mew just to improve early aggression.
Garchomp & Giratina-GX
This card offers so much value for a single attacker. It can snipe 40 damage for a single Energy, applying pressure even if you whiffed a few Malamar here or there. It can hit 240 for 3 Energy, much more than Psychic [card name=”Necrozma-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] can hit for 3 Energy and discarding them. And the GX attack offers a tremendous threat in a format without Guzma. If your opponent tries to slowly set up a big [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] or Pikachu & Zekrom-GX on the Bench you can handily punish it? And last but not least, it offers 270 hit points in a format without [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card]. Almost nothing short of an Ultra Necrozma-GX can threaten such numbers post rotation. A Pikarom deck needs 3 [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”232″ c=”name”][/card] alongside their Tag Bolt to hit that hard now.
I do worry that Tinachomp might not hit hard enough for healing- and tanking-oriented decks. It could also trade poorly into an Ultra Necrozma-GX deck. But as per usual, let’s not sweat the matchup-related details until later down the line. In the mean time, I can conclude that Garchomp & Giratina-GX threatens top tier early damage output combined in addition to high hit points and it has performed phenomenally in my testing thus far, securing it a spot in my roster of top choices.
Mewtwo & Mew-GX
Malamar also gets Mewtwo & Mew-GX. This card actually placed 2nd at one of the recent major Japanese tournaments. However, that tournament still offered pre-rotation cards. In particular, that deck used cards like [card name=”Mina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”211″ c=”name”][/card] plus [card name=”Noivern-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Shining Legends” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card] plus Solgaleo-GX to apply significant early pressure. After rotation, we lose these options, making Mewtwo & Mew-GX much slower. I still like it in the context of Malamar for the GX attack though. Rotation takes away a lot of healing options so I put a high premium on an attack that can hit 200 and heal. I would prefer to keep my Malamar lists as consistent as possible too, so I don’t want to dive too deep into wild tech cards this far in advance of Worlds. But I could see something like [card name=”Altaria-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] offering annoying wall options.
[decklist name=”Tinamar” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″][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]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x Garchomp & Giratina-GX (UNM #146)1x Mewtwo & Mew-GX (UNM #71)2x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”231″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x Cherish Ball (Unified Minds)2x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”233″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]6x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”162″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]3x [card name=”Fighting Energy” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Some Overall Thoughts
I like actually like Malamar a lot post rotation. Garchomp and Giratina-GX feels particularly powerful. I do worry about its Prize race against certain decks like [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], but compared to those decks, Garchomp & Giratina-GX simply pressures its opponent much more quickly and consistently. In a format without Nest Ball and Ultra Ball, I still feel like I prefer Garchomp & Giratina-GX better because it uses Energy more efficiently than the other Malamar variants. As stated early, I try not to sweat specific matchups early on and just want to focus in finding the strongest, most consistent version of a deck, and Garchomp & Giratina-GX fits that bill better than Spell Tag or Ultra Necrozma-GX.
A Few Archetypes in Brief
Blacephalon-GX [cardimg name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”199″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
[card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] retained most of its consistency engine, able to search out its Pokemon readily with [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card], Cherish Ball, and [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. But like most other decks in the format, it lost Let Loose [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card]. At first glance it might seem like Blacephalon “lost less” than other archetypes, and one might conclude based that Blacephalon-GX should become a top tier archetype. But after some testing, I decided I did not really like Blacephalon much anymore.
Losing Let Loose hurts immensely; Blacephalon wanted to leverage an early Prize lead through early disruption. Without disruption, plenty of decks can easily set up and beat a squishy 180 HP two-Prize attacker in a Prize race. Now if Blacephalon wants early hand disruption, it probably needs to run 4 copies of [card name=”Judge” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card]. And when was the last time you saw a Judge-heavy deck top an event? Maybe once in Philadelphia last year when paired with [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card], but basically never.
Losing Guzma also hurts a lot too. Without Guzma, your opponents will attempt to swing the Prize race by triggering your Beast Ring turn with a single-Prize attacker. This puts you in a spot where you want to find multiple Beast Rings and a gusting effect all in the same turn. So this in turn makes me wish I could fit either [card name=”Ninetales” set=”Team Up” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”231″ c=”name”][/card] paired with [card name=”Alolan Ninetales-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Persian-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] in the deck. The latter take a lot of deck space though, and all three options feel inconsistent without Nest Ball or Ultra Ball in the format to search out the evolving Basics.
Maybe a perfect 60 Blacephalon cards exist, but when I tested the deck, a core list with minimal techs lost the Prize race more often than not. Blacephalon needs techs like Judge and gusting effects to keep up, and that consumes a lot of deck slots. As such I do not feel confident in my ability to engineer a perfect Blacephalon list.
Reshiram & Charizard-GX
In my book, this archetype falls to lower Tier 2 or Tier 3 after rotation. Losing [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Kiawe” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] means [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] no longer threatens to knock out opposing Tag Teams on a reasonable time table. That just makes Reshizard far too fair to compete against other high tier decks. It honestly just feels like an inferior version of Garchomp & Giratina-GX.
Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
[card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] performed a bit better than Blacephalon in my testing. Access to Tag Bolt means it can steal a lot of games where the opponent does not set up optimally. I find this especially valuable against the likes of Sharknadel and Shedinja. It also retained most of its consistency engine. Losing Nest Ball and Ultra Ball removes a lot of outs to [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] but I found that a thick line of Cherish Balls and [card name=”Electromagnetic Radar” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”230″ c=”name”][/card] still provided a reasonable number of outs for [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card].
However, it performs poorly against Malamar now. Tinachomp’s 270 HP requires 3 [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”232″ c=”name”][/card] and a Tag Bolt to knock out. Malamar can also knock out your Tag Teams for just 3 Energy now, compared to 4 Energy with a Necrozma-GX or Ultra Necrozma-GX in the past. And nevermind that Malamar could just run [card name=”Marshadow and Machamp-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] now if it wanted to. It probably doesn’t need it to beat Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, but it could, which means a few random Malamar players probably end up running it just to body you if you do run Pikarom. Afterall, do you trust people to not go power hungry with needless tech cards?
And honestly that matchup just sums up my thoughts on Pikachu & Zekrom-GX. It only lost a marginal amount of consistency with rotation, but its Prize trade became so much worse. Between losing Choice Band and the power creep of Unified Minds, Pikarom just suddenly feels a little too fair.
Rogue Ideas
The lists above cover all the mainstream archetypes I personally spent testing thus far. I believe it covers most of the notable aggressive archetypes in the format plus Shedinja. Now, let’s briefly mention a few rogue archetypes that you might consider experimenting with. But mind you, I did not find time to test them yet.
Blastoise
[card name=”Blastoise” set=”Team Up” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] gains a lot through Mewtwo and Mew-GX. Before, it needed to evolve a separate Stage 2 Pokemon to attack with [card name=”Blastoise-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card], now it can do so with just a Basic. Furthermore, Mewtwo and Mew-GX can copy other GX pokemon, notably [card name=”Altaria-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Kingdra-GX” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”18″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Greninja-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”24″ c=”name”][/card] as a Basic. This provides the Blastoise archetype with a promising array of attacking options. It can loop healing infinitely with Haze Slash. It can wall or wall break with Altaria-GX. And it can just hit for unlimited damage. But without Nest Ball, the archetype feels a bit inconsistent. We could still get a Secret Rare print of [card name=”Brooklet Hill” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] though, so that might push the archetype’s consistency over the top.
Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX 
You can use Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor in several ways, but I imagine seeing it in two archetypes. First, it can see play in a tanky archetype using [card name=”Shaymin” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] to heal and Leavanny to mitigate damage. Between that and a [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX can mitigate 180 damage a turn, before any healing Trainers. That alone would autowin you numerous matchups. The fact that I found both Blacephalon-GX and Reshiram & Charizard-GX underwhelming in prior testing also feels somewhat promising. Secondly, it could see play as a way to cheat out a [card name=”Meganium” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”8″ c=”name”][/card] quickly for some sort of Stage 2 box deck.
Whimsicott
Unified Minds introduces a new Whimsicott with a “[card name=”Computer Search” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card]” Ability and free retreat. This feels like a powerful card for the right type of setup deck. I do not know what the optimal list consists of yet, as I did not begin testing it, but I can propose some ideas.
I personally like the idea of pairing it with Porygon-Z, as that sort of Energy acceleration feels powerful. First, let’s look at the Special Energy available to us: [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card], Unit Energy, [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], Recycle Energy, and Weakguard Energy. So aside from Triple Acceleration Energy, everything consists of Special Energy that only provides 1 total Energy.
If we want to utilize [card name=”Whimsicott-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] effectively, we definitely want Triple Acceleration Energy, but I worry that the deck could easily run out of steam if it starts losing too many Energy. You only hit 150 with 1 Rainbow Energy and 4 Recycle Energy, after all.
Alternatively, we could pair it with Mewtwo & Mew-GX. Access to any GX attacker in the format feels strong and flexible. Something like Greninja-GX could autowin matchups where your opponent cannot hit 270 damage, for example. Perhaps you could find answers to other decks in the format too.
I’ll admit, I did try building a few rough lists with Mewtwo & Mew-GX, although I did not playtest them yet. I always felt like I ran out of space though, the combination of Mewtwo & Mew-GX’s toolbox, the Stage 1 Whimsicott line, the stage 2 Porygon-Z line, and a Stage 1 [card name=”Zebstrika” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card] line consumed a lot of deck slots. But feel free to give this a shot. At the very least, Whimsicott feels like it offers tremendous potential even if none of the ideas I discussed in this section actually pan out or not.
Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX
Speaking of underwhelming fire archetypes, [card name=”Pheromosa and Buzzwole-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] actually gets much better after rotation thanks to Reset Stamp. Fewer archetypes can shuffle you down to four-card hands on turn 1 now that Let Loose rotated, but Buzzmosa can. The threat of T1 Beast Ring plus Reset Stamp to 4 definitely feels pretty scary.
Beheeyem
A lot of people like Item lock. Beheeyem offers that and I naturally saw a lot of people discussing it. I honestly think it sucks. We lost a lot of useful Items with rotation and gained few useful Items to replace them. Plus, slow Item lock rarely pressures hard enough to win games. I really want to Item lock on turn 1.
Fossil Box
Pokemon Research Lab makes Fossil decks much quicker. [card name=”Aerodactyl” set=”Team Up” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] in particular offers a significant T2 attacker for the Fossil box. Other than that, all the remaining Fossils feel a little too techy for my tastes. None of them feel like strong, standalone attackers that can deal with a wide format. And without a clearly defined meta, I want to avoid techy archetypes such as these.
Whimsicott-GX
Losing Guzma does help [card name=”Whimsicott-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card]. Losing [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] does Fairy Charms better. Fairy typing feels quite good with Garchomp & Giratina-GX in the format too.
Stage 2 Box
This archetype always gets mentioned now and then due the ridiculous board states it COULD in theory build. It saw some success last format, taking a particularly good matchup against Reshiram & Charizard-GX. But it lost a lot of consistency tools, notably [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card]. Perhaps Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX can make up for that, but if not, I doubt a Stage 2 Box can set up consistently enough with the remaining trainers to make a competitive deck.
Beast Box
I saw a few people mention this since it gets the new Naganadel-GX that draws cards. Without going in depth, let me just say it sucks.
Closing Thoughts
I covered a good number of archetypes, so I hope this provided you with a good starting point for Worlds testing. A few lists to try or to smash your own creations against. Either way, I wish everyone the best of luck. Remember, you can always message me through the Subscriber’s hideout if you have any questions.
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