The Worlds Send-off — Mally, Dark, and Why Non-GX Builds Stink!

By: Caleb Gedemer · Posted Posted onAug 2, 2019 at 5:30 PM · 0 Comments

Hey all, this is going to be my last article before Worlds; it’s going to be a good one. I’m doing a whole lot of stuff this month and will be extremely busy! I’ve been testing a lot and have a lot to share with you all. Since post-rotation content has started to surface, I’ve covered [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card], and a few other straggling ideas like [card name=”Aerodactyl” set=”Team Up” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Chandelure” set=”Unified Minds” no=”30″ c=”name”][/card]. There’s two decks I want to give my take on still – [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] and Darkness Toolbox. There’s a lot of misleading information about these two out there and I want to set the record straight. This format may still have a dark horse or two, once the set comes out online folks will be able to play even more games than before, clearing up some of the confusion. Here’s the first of the two aforementioned decks I ought to cover:

Malamar (Psychic Toolbox)

Banter

I thought Malamar was going to be the de facto best deck post-rotation! How times have changed… I think Malamar is extremely inconsistent and always seems to be a turn behind even in the best of matchups. When it sets up it will beat anything, no matter what version you’re playing, but I firmly believe the straight Psychic type version is the best. It’s the most consistent too, but that’s not really saying anything. It doesn’t completely brick often… it’s more likely you’re missing a piece to attack — maybe one more Malamar, just a Psychic Energy, you know the drill. In any case, I would much rather play a back to basics Basic deck like [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] than this deck, it’s just too much work to do so little. Here’s my list though, the one I think is the best right now:

[decklist name=”.” amt=”60″ caption=”Espeon-ex is Espeon and Deoxys-GX” cname=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″][pokemon amt=”20″]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]4x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Espurr” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ 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=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ 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″]9x [card name=”Psychic Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Special Cards

Four Jirachi

Playing any less than four of these is horrible. With this deck being as inconsistent as it is, you want to bolster your chances of setting up as much as you can. Four [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] gives you a solid chance of starting with it on your first turn and immediately helping you set up a little faster with Stellar Wish.

One Mimikyu

A lower Energy cost attacker than can deal massive damage by copying Flare Strike on Reshiram and Charizard-GX, for example? Sign me up! It’s really strong in this deck and even good in the mirror match where you can copy an opposing [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] for instance. There are so many solid uses for it, it’s a really good inclusion. Yes, it was reprinted as a Promo in one of the later blocks, too.

One Espurr[cardimg name=”Espurr” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”79″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Grant did an amazing job introducing this card to the world in his article talking about Malamar and I too can say I’m just as impressed. It’s like playing a Custom Catcher package without actually playing four Custom Catcher; it’s worked very nicely to finish up Knock Outs.

One Ditto Prism Star

This deck absolutely needs to play a “fifth” [card name=”Inkay” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. It boosts your consistency a bit and helps you more consistently find Malamar bases on your first turn. While there isn’t a spicy Stage 1 or anything in this deck, the [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] more than pulls its weight just by being another out to an “Inkay.”

Four Spell Tag

Being a non-GX deck for the most part without a clear way to take one-hit Knock Outs means you need a damage modifier. I’ve messed around with [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] to limited success, but [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] has consistently been solid. It can even set up neat [card name=”Espurr” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”79″ c=”name”][/card] plays and more! It’s incredible with Cross Division GX to clean up some Knock Outs and finish the job. With any less than four you will less consistently find them and with that they will lose some of their value. You don’t “want” to get Knocked Out, but when you do it’s preferred that you’re getting something back out of it. You have six Prizes to give, so finding Spell Tag quickly and often gives you good chances that you’ll be able to use all four effectively.

Matchups

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Darkness Toolbox: Unfavorable

I’ve already talked about this, but from the Malamar side of things you should try to target your opponent’s support Pokemon. Espeon and Deoxys-GX can do this a bit with its GX attack and you can use Espurr and even Mew. As previously stated, there’s not a great way to one-shot any of your opponent’s attackers without changing the deck completely and adding in [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] to take one-hit Knock Outs of their own.

Malamar Mirror: Even

It really depends on what version you’re against, but this one is well-equipped to do well against the average mirror. Consisting mostly of non-GX attackers, you can [card name=”Mimikyu” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM99″ c=”name”][/card] to copy the attack of a Garchomp and Giratina-GX for a one-hit Knock Out and poke with Giratina if that’s not an option. With the most consistency cards of any Malamar deck I’ve seen, this list works nicely against one-Prize versions because you can build a better board and just loop Giratina back over and over to stay ahead on Prizes.

Pikachu and Zekrom-GX: Unfavorable[cardimg name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Your opponent just puts on too much pressure! I tried this matchup again (like the third night of playing more than five games against it and kept running into all sorts of problems. Either you’re naturally a step behind from a bad whiff or your opponent uses Zapdos to address Mew and pulls ahead, this matchup is a bad one. Focus on the basics regardless, poke with Giratina until you’re in a spot where you can Espurr for a Knock Out. [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] can usually finish the game from there, but that’s asking for the means to build two three Energy attackers in one turn (you never want to leave either of those in play without attacking out of fear of [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]) and your opponent will actively be targeting your Malamar with Tag Bolt GX and/or Custom Catcher for Knock Outs.

Reshiram and Charizard-GX: Even / Slightly Favorable

Healing can be an issue, but Mimikyu pulls some serious weight in this one to make sure that your opponent can’t completely heal away a two-hit Knock Out. Giratina can’t even naturally two-shot without Distortion Door damage, so this matchup can be hard with a rough start. Espurr is really nice to finish a Knock Out after a single attack from Giratina, but that requires your opponent putting the damaged Reshiram and Charizard-GX to the Bench. [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card] isn’t a threat, just don’t hit your Giratina itself with Shadow Impact, otherwise High-Heat Blast will take a Knock Out. This matchup can bounce favorable if you’re able to get a Greedy Crush to advance the Prize trade in your favor. In any matchup, remember you can also use Turning Point as a great one Prize attacking option to disrupt your opponent from getting a lead themselves.

Shedinja Control: Slightly Unfavorable / Even

You can play some trickery with Espeon and Deoxys-GX, Espurr, Giratina, and even [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]. The idea is to spread damage around enough so that you can Cross Division GX for multiple Prizes and actually be able to win the game. This is really difficult to accomplish if your opponent plays around it by putting Shedinja on anything within range of a Knock Out, and all the while you’ll be losing cards with [card name=”Mars” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]. Thankfully you have a chance, imagine what Shedinja would have been with Jessie and James for Worlds!?

Darkness Toolbox

Banter

The hype behind this deck seems to me like it’s died down. Completely derived from Unified Minds, usually new decks like this do see a lot of play. I still expect that to be the case, I just believe that most players have realized the deck is a little slower and inconsistent than originally imagined to be and as a result it’s more of an average deck than anything. The nicest part about it is the large pool of attacking options and high HP on the TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX ones. This is also one of the only decks in the format that can heal its main attacker and continue attacking consistently (with Super Scoop Up.) Here’s my current list:

 

[decklist name=”.” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Poipole” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”55″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”30″]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=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]11x [card name=”Darkness Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”97″ c=”deck2″ amt=”11″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Special Cards

Four Poipole and Three Sneasel

Not only are these good in general to bolster your chances of getting both, or more than one of each down on your first turn, but they’re [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] fodder in a deck that wants to abuse Pokemon Communication but has a hard time doing so with a normally lower Pokemon count. These are the Pokemon you want to see most on your first turn so it only makes sense to play a higher count of each. Fitting a fourth [card name=”Sneasel” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”73″ c=”name”][/card] is card on the waiting list, perhaps taking out another Pokemon search card would be fine, boosting the ceiling of Pokemon Communication itself and granting you higher odds to find the Basic in question on your first turn. Some of this deck’s main issues revolve around setting up, so mitigating it as much as possible with these inclusions is great.

One Hoopa-GX[cardimg name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”96″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

If you ever start with [card name=”Hoopa-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], you can Rogue Ring to set up, but if not its Devilish Hands GX attack is very nice to finish up Knock Outs, something this deck struggles to do in the late game. [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] can set up ideal Prizes and then you can finish them off with Hoopa-GX. Dark Strike is a solid option to deal a big chunk of damage as well. What’s better is that this one just gives up two Prizes, so you could go TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX into Hoopa-GX, then attack with another TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX all in the same game.

Four Super Scoop Up

Healing, Energy acceleration with [card name=”Darkrai Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], and more… This card is way too good in this deck! Granted you need to flip heads to get any effect, but that fifty-fifty chance is more than worth it. With four you’ll be able to maximize your chances of landing a few – even one can turn the tide of a game and deny an opponent a crucial Knock Out. Much like [card name=”Max Potion” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] in the past, here you just move your Energy from the damaged Pokemon to another, (hopefully) heal it with [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card], play it back down, move the Energy back — on and on.

Four Custom Catcher

Honestly, I started off with zero and thought that not playing it would be nice for consistency, making it so that I could play like a fourth Sneasel, [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card], and Pokemon Communication in the deck. While that’s fine and all, this deck can struggle greatly to finish games (why Hoopa-GX is even in the deck) and I dearly missed [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. Greedy Crush is so good with Custom Catcher, putting you far ahead in Prize trades and winning games. I would avoid cutting out Custom Catcher from any deck, even using both at once just a single time in a game can win it for you. Can you believe we used to be able to play [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card]!?

Zero Black Market Prism Star

After some consideration, this card is just not good in this deck. With the wonky Prize trades of main attacker TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX and other regular Pokemon-GX on your Bench, there’s not a great scenario where [card name=”Black Market Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] fits into the schedule. It works better in one Prize decks (like a [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] deck) where it effectively gives you another attacker, forcing your opponent to take a “seventh” Prize. Here, it can be played around very easily and that’s to say if your opponent doesn’t have a Stadium card outright to just bump it out of play. There’s so many bad things about this card and I’ve only gotten it to work a few times.

Matchups

Darkness Toolbox Mirror: Even

The mirror match is a setting-up race. Super Scoop Up plays can decide the winner; if your opponent doesn’t have them you will have the edge. Greedy Crush can Knock Out a [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] for three Prizes and then you’ll just have to Knock Out one TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX to win the game. To that same regard, you should try not to put your own Dedenne-GX into play to avoid that from happening to you. Umbreon and Darkrai-GX will be important to set up Knock Outs on the Bench with the snipe damage. Your own [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] can be nice to counteract an opposing copy of the same card. You ideally want one [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] in play for some flexibility about what you attack with. As with any matchup, there’s also the potential win condition of using Gigafall GX to deck your opponent out. Lastly, Hoopa-GX can be using to finish the game with its GX attack if you have a few Knock Outs set up.

Malamar: Favorable

Your Resistance to Psychic makes it very difficult for you opponent to Knock Out one of your beefy TAG TEAM Pokemon-GX. You can get a Prize advantage against the non-GX versions with your Darkrai Prism Star, and against the GX versions you have even more options with an Umbreon and Darkrai-GX lead followed by a Greedy Crush for extra Prizes or just a mapped out plan of winning the game with Devilish Hands GX.

Pikachu and Zekrom-GX: Slightly Unfavorable

Your opponent’s deck is much faster and more consistent than yours, but that doesn’t mean you always lose. Your Mew is extremely important and you should get it down as soon as Tag Bolt GX is ready to go. Once there, you have a variety of ways to win the game, but a [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] and Custom Catcher play on your Mew can spell trouble. I’ve even thought about playing two Mew in decks that lose to Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, but the space isn’t there in this one. Greedy Crush is usually your out to winning close Prize race matchups like this one. Dedenne-GX makes for a great target at that, and you even Greedy Crush on a Pikachu and Zekrom-GX itself for four Prizes. Dark Moon GX is nice for when you can’t otherwise take a one-hit Knock Out, and you can stop Trainers from being played so if you get that off early and stop Mew from getting snagged with Custom Catcher you’ll be in a great spot.

Reshiram and Charizard-GX: Even

Since Tag Bolt GX isn’t in the equation, this matchup is much closer. Tag Bolt GX can eliminate your support Pokemon and put your opponent far ahead but this matchup is more straightforward and based on if your opponent plays healing cards. To the same tune, your Super Scoop Up hits can determine if your opponent gets an edge; they can’t one-shot nor can you, unless they use their GX attack, as could you with Dark Moon GX. All Pokemon-GX-based matchups are winnable because you can find an edge with Greedy Crush and literally all of your attacking options can be trouble for your opponent.

Shedinja Control: Favorable[cardimg name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”226″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Gigafall GX is the key to this matchup. There’s little chance your opponent can play around it, fifteen cards left in deck is a lot to ask for as [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card]. I would wait patiently until you can get it all off at once; you do need ten Darkness Energy attached, so you may have to chase a Prize or two in case you have an Energy in your Prizes. Once [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] is ready to go you should be able to win the game!

The Failures of Non-GX Decks

Non-GX decks looked very attractive heading into the post-rotation format for the first time. Let me tell you, there were a bunch! Aerodactyl, [card name=”Alolan Exeggutor” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”2″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Breloom” set=”Unified Minds” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], and I could keep going! I’ve got some bad news…

These decks are hurt terribly by the loss of Guzma, and Custom Catcher cannot suffice to make up for that.

When trying to make any of these sorts of deck work you run into the same problem every time, you just can’t finish Knock Outs. Sure, taking two-hit Knock Outs was fine in the past, but now without Guzma to very easily finish those Knock Outs, many times your opponent can just retreat around and avoid them. The Giratina version of Malamar is the best exception to this, since with Espurr or [card name=”Jynx” set=”Team Up” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] it can finish the job by hitting Benched Pokemon that fled. This isn’t to say that Pokemon-GX are even better attackers – often times they’re not – sbut the fact of the matter is that they have more HP. They last longer, take more Knock Outs, and win you games. Non-GX decks struggle to take even a couple Prizes because anyone that’s tested this format should know by now that just switching around at will to stop your opponent from taking Prizes throws a wrench into any non-GX deck’s engine.

This is a statement, a warning, I will almost certainly not be playing an attacking non-GX deck come Worlds. I was excited about their potential, but it’s just not there. Pokemon-GX can more easily take one-hit Knock Outs and they usually don’t get one-shot themselves. Non-GX decks lack the backbone that any competitive deck ought to have these days. Here is a bullet point list reiterating their downfalls:

  • Fitting everything you want in non-GX decks is extremely complicated with all the damage modifiers you want to run on top of the Custom Catcher you need to have, the list goes on…
  • Low HP allows opponents to one-shot easily
  • Often inconsistent strategies relying on an Evolution Pokemon that forces you to take up even more space in your deck and also work that much harder to do nearly half of what Pokemon-GX decks can do with just a Basic Pokemon and some Energy
  • Pikachu and Zekrom-GX is a bad matchup for almost all non-GX decks — it’s also the best deck in the format and losing to it is not a good idea
    • Zapdos can be used to Knock Out Mew on the turn before a Tag Bolt GX play and then the gate is wide open for Pikachu and Zekrom-GX to get ahead on Prizes for good
  • Two-shot game doesn’t work well in a format without an easier gust effect
    • Custom Catcher is too much work to piece together and often it comes to late to matter

Conclusion

That’s all I’ve got. I hope you enjoyed this opened up look at the Worlds format. This tier list is really solid and a good look at what I expect most at Worlds and what decks I am focusing on beating most. Let me know if you have any questions in the Subscribers’ Hideout! Good luck at Worlds if you’re playing and if not, good luck at any future competitions. Take care, I’ll see you after Worlds!

Peace,

Caleb

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