Gotta Go Slow — How I got 9th at the DC Open with Slowpoke & Psyduck-GX

By: Sam VerNooy · Posted Sep 26, 2019 at 4:41 PM · 0 Comments

I haven’t played in a major event since Oaks, PA Regionals in 2018, so you could say I was out of practice when I began testing for the DC Open. I initially started out testing meta decks like [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card]. These decks were fine, but I never clicked with any of them. They were winning, but not enough. They had decent options, but were too predictable. I wasn’t sure if I’d find the right deck for the tournament in time.

[cardimg name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ align=”left” c=”none”][/cardimg]

That is, until one night of testing with my friend, Arielle Mobley. She told me she built a [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] deck based off of lists showcased by Joe Bernard and Ross Gilbert and wanted to try it out. At first, I had no confidence that the deck was any good. I was confused by why she thought it had any potential. I remember saying “why did you even build this deck? There’s no way it’s good.” Nevertheless, I got out my Pikachu and Zekrom-GX deck and played a game against her. Much to my surprise, she won! In fact, she kept winning. She struggled to set up a few times, but when she was drawing above average, she was consistently beating Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, a tier one deck — with Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. I was impressed — no, I was positively floored that a deck as crazy as Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX was standing up to Pikachu and Zekrom-GX of all decks. Could it even be viable for the DC Open? We had to find out.

And so the testing process began.

During that first night of testing, it was clear to us what made the deck so good: Ditch and Splash could reliably OHKO Tag Teams without the use of GX attacks — not something many decks can say. It may sound hard to get seven Supporters in your hand to deal 280 damage, but Arielle was able to do it with ease. Using [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card] gave her an easy way to fill her hand with Supporters, [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] gave her a free Supporter to ditch every turn, [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] allowed her to play two Misty’s Favor in one turn, she played [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] to get out the [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] with Fast Call: the deck was built to pull this off.

Its main strength also helped highlight its greatest weakness: it didn’t have much going for it except its high damage output. This made it weak against non-Tag Team Pokemon. Once we got around to testing the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, we realized that an army of [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] was enough to beat the deck.

On top of that, the deck was not the most consistent, another pattern we noticed early on. Starting Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX was often enough to lose you the game outright; the deck couldn’t keep up after losing three Prizes before being able to make a move. The deck also had a problem of not being able to find a second Pokemon to put on the Bench; this led to many turn two losses. Additionally, we were playing four [card name=”Whitney” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”193″ c=”name”][/card] at the time, which was terrible in opening hands.

After an initial surge of excitement for the deck, that quickly started to fade. I loved how strong it was against Tag Teams, but its Malamar matchup was awful, and it had too many consistency issues. These were not sacrifices I was willing to make to play the deck at the DC Open.

But Arielle was not deterred. She tried changing up the deck in hopes that it would fix our problems with it. She tried adding a pair of [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], which helped smooth out our opening turns. I suggested she change out Whitney for [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card], making starting with Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX a more winnable situation. She was able to find space to tech for Malamar. First she added [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], then [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], then [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], then two [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] to recycle the Lysandre Labs. It took a lot of space, but she eventually got to the point where she was reliably beating Malamar.

These changes rekindled my desire to play the deck. However, after these changes the deck felt a little less potent against matchups besides Malamar; I found myself losing games because my hand was full of weak cards. After a little more tweaking — cutting the Escape Boards, adding an [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], adding [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] back in after cutting it early on — we were finally both at the point where we were happy with the deck.

The testing process was long and full of heartbreak, but it was worth it. We both sleeved up the deck the night before the DC Open and went to bed. Here’s the list I settled on:

[decklist name=”slowduck updated” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″][pokemon amt=”13″]3x [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]4x [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]8x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Arielle cut the one Bill’s Analysis for a ninth Energy. She unfortunately dropped after round 2 because she wasn’t feeling very well.

Here’s how the tournament went for me:

Round 1 vs. [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] WW
Round 2 vs. Dark Box WW
Round 3 vs. [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Pheromosa and Buzzwole-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] LWW
Round 4 vs. Dark Box WW
Round 5 vs. [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] WLT
Round 6 vs. Psychic Malamar L
Round 7 vs. [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / Techs WW
Round 8 vs. Reshiram and Charizard-GX WW
Round 9 vs. Reshiram and Charizard-GX WW

7-1-1, 9th Place in Flight 1

It is worth noting that three of my wins were against Reshiram and Charizard-GX decks, so perhaps I got a little lucky. However, I would argue that this bracket is likely similar to many other player’s at the Open. Reshiram and Charizard-GX was an incredibly popular deck at that tournament. I’d wager that most players faced at least two throughout the weekend. Also, there are very few decks in the format that can win that reliably against Reshiram and Charizard-GX; so even though this was a lucky bracket for me specifically, this would have been a rough bracket for most other players, further proving the deck’s viability.

We’ve already proven that [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] has what it takes to stand with the big boys. But what if you want to play the deck yourself? You might be thinking, “this deck is unlike anything else in the Standard format. How do I even play this monstrosity?” Or maybe you’re a veteran Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX player and you’re not sure why we chose to play certain cards. Don’t worry, because the rest of this article will be all about the list I played and how to play it properly. I will also explain how to play versus popular matchups, and my thoughts on the deck going forward. No matter your experience level with Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, this article will be an insightful and fun read. Let’s get to it!

“But wait!” I hear you say. “Who the heck are you and why should I listen to you blab about a terrible rogue deck?” If you’re unfamiliar with me as a player, I recommend you read the introduction I gave myself near the beginning of my first article on PokeBeach — the fourth paragraph, more specifically. I’m very proud of that article, so, if you feel inclined, give it a read after you’re done with this article.

[premium]

How the Deck is Played

[cardimg name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”165″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

You want to start off with a non-Tag Team Pokemon in the Active. Any of them are fine, although [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] is the best one so that you can use Stellar Wish. You want a Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX on the Bench, and you want to attach an Energy to it or another Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX every turn.

Your ideal opening Supporter is [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card]. This card is the reason the deck works so smoothly. Grabbing any three cards from your deck allows you to pull off a plethora of disgusting combos as early as turn two. A Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX and Energy are your first priorities. If you already have those, grab a [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], then either a [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card] or a [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card]—Misty’s Favor can grab Lance Prism Star, and Lance Prism Star can grab Misty’s Favor via [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], so as long as you have one you can get the other. If one Steven’s Resolve isn’t enough to set you up, grab another Steven’s Resolve to use for next turn.

Repeat this process until your opponent Knocks Out your Active non-Tag Team Pokemon — this is where the fun begins. Your opponent Knocking Out one of your Pokemon triggers Lt. Surge’s Strategy and Lance Prism Star. Lt. Surge’s Strategy allows you to Lance Prism Star for Dragonite and play another Supporter that turn. This Supporter can be anything, but it will often be Misty’s Favor so that you can grab enough Supporters to get the Knock Out, or [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card] if you already have the KO.

The Dragonite not only gives the deck insane flexibility, but they also fix the deck’s two main issues: [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], and being behind on Energy attachments.

Fast Call Dragonite can grab any Supporter from the deck, even after being hit with Reset Stamp to a low hand size. With 10 different Supporters, you can see how many options this opens up for the deck. This also makes Lt. Surge Strategy combos easy to pull off.

Hurricane Charge [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] allows you to attach an extra Energy every turn. Combined with your manual attachment, you can power up a Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX instantly. If you’ve already got enough attachments down, it’s better to get two Fast Call Dragonite out instead of the Hurricane Charge one.

Once you’ve pulled off a Lt. Surge’s Strategy, Lance Prism Star, Misty’s Favor combo, assuming you have enough Energy in play, you should be able to Knock Out your opponent’s Active with Ditch and Splash. Yes, even on 280 HP Tag Team Pokemon, and even on turn two. This isn’t guaranteed, but the percent of the time where this does happen is shockingly high.

After you Knock Out your opponent’s first Tag Team, you just need to set up to Knock Out the second. Set up another Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, thin your deck, find your Custom Catchers to bring up their Tag Team if they leave it on the Bench, pressure your opponent’s board to force them to make suboptimal plays, use disruption/healing as needed, and that’s usually enough to get you the win.

The deck is most likely to lose if your opponent applies too much pressure before you can set up, they deal meaningful damage with non-Tag Team Pokemon, you can never set up Dragonite, or if they’re able to Knock Out one of your Tag Teams before you Knock Out one of theirs.

Things can get tricky if your opponent is able to avoid Knocking Out the first non-Tag Team Pokemon you sacrifice and instead go for your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX via [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. If your opponent does this too quickly, you may have to switch it out of the Active position, or heal it, or try and Knock Out your opponent. But this requires your opponent to find a pair of Custom Catcher early in the game, which is unlikely. If your opponent just sits there and passes until they find them, this gives you time to play multiple Steven’s Resolve, set up two [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] with Energy on both of them, bench multiple Lapras, and build up a big hand size. If they wait too long, eventually you can just use Custom Catcher on their Tag Team Pokemon and be the first player to take three Prizes. This lead is usually enough to win you the game for free.

Card Explanations

Three Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX

You don’t want to start with Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, so instead of playing four Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX we play three and two [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card]. This was the ideal number we found for finding a Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX on the first turn without clogging your hand in the mid game.

Four Lapras

Using [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] is essential for getting you through the late game. As long as you’ve played Misty’s Favor once, Lapras gives you access to it whenever you need it. Putting Misty’s Favor into your hand not only increases your next attack by 40 damage, but playing the Misty’s Favor gives you a net gain of two Supporters, increasing your damage by another 80. This makes it much easier to hit those big Knock Outs.

In the non-GX matchups where you have to attack six times to win, you can often run out of Supporters. Lapras fixes this issue by continually recycling Misty’s Favor. So if you need to discard four Supporters to Knock Out [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] six turns in a row, having two Lapras on the Bench gives you two of those Supporters for free every turn. Only needing to find two new Supporters every turn instead of four is much easier.

Two Jirachi

To fix the problem of starting Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX too often, we wanted to add a non-GX starter to the deck. We also found that drawing a Steven’s Resolve on turn one significantly increased our win percentage. Using two [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] makes both of these things more likely to happen.

Getting a free Trainer every turn from Stellar Wish helps you pull off the big combos this deck needs to win.

Two Dragonite from Team Up, One Dragonite from Unified Minds, Lance Prism Star

[cardimg name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Using [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] may seem bad because of how hard it is to find a one-of card on the specific turn where one of your Pokemon is Knocked Out, but it’s rather easy for this deck. Four [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], four [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card], and two Jirachi gives you more than enough outs to find it early. Having to use a Supporter to get out your Dragonite can be annoying, but the benefits they provide are irreplaceable.

Getting two Fast Call [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] makes it pathetically easy to find enough Supporters to hit Knock Outs, even on high-HP Tag Teams.

Hurricane Charge [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] is the best way to accelerate Energy onto your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. If you miss an attachment or two in the early turns, getting Hurricane Charge up and running may be your only way to turn those games around.

One Hoopa

As stated before, [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] was included to improve the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. With [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] in play, Giratina trades poorly against Hoopa. Your opponent is forced to either take the two-shot, or bench one of their GX attackers to get the KO, which you want because you can easily Knock Out their Pokemon-GXs.

Hoopa isn’t even a bad starter in other matchups. Since you want to sacrifice your first Pokemon to activate [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and Lance Prism Star, Hoopa is just as good a starter a Lapras.

Four Steven’s Resolve

This card is the reason this deck works. Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX needs so many specific pieces to work correctly, but it can afford to wait a few turns to find those pieces, so the slow nature of Steven’s Resolve works perfectly.

It can even be used late game to guarantee that you find the necessary cards to win next turn, as long as your opponent doesn’t win before your turn starts.

You might think this Steven’s Resolve strategy is weak to [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], but you actually prefer it when they use Reset Stamp after you use Steven’s Resolve instead of holding it for later. Losing the three cards you got from Steven’s Resolve is rough, but getting six fresh cards isn’t bad either. It’s much worse when you’re put down to 1-2 cards and forced to draw everything you need in one turn.

The card is strong, I’m considering trying it out in other decks. Maybe this is the card that will make Stage-2 Pokemon playable again? A man can dream.

Four Misty’s Favor

[cardimg name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”235″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The other reason this deck works so well. Misty’s Favor is the best way to fill your hand with Supporter cards to discard with Ditch and Splash.

One nasty combo you can pull off with this card involves Lt. Surge’s Strategy. You play Lt. Surge’s Strategy, play Misty’s Favor to search for another Supporter, then play that Supporter as well. You can even play two Misty’s Favor in a turn to grab six Supporters! This adds a new level of flexibility to a deck that plays 23 Supporters, which would otherwise be incredibly clunky.

Three Lt. Surge’s Strategy

The third card that makes this deck work so smoothly! It fits perfectly into this deck; it’s slow, so you’re likely to be behind on Prizes every game; you play 23 Supporters, so playing three in one turn is easy; and the deck plays multiple ways to search for it whenever you need it.

Three Pokemon Fan Club

This card is the easiest way to find [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is not bad in the early game to find your [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card]. It may not be the highest value Supporter, but there is no solid replacement for it in this deck.

Three Coach Trainer

This card is good to play at any stage in the game. We included it to help out when you happen to start Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. The four cards from [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card] can help you be aggressive, or find a [card name=”Switch” set=”Evolutions” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] so that you can move the Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX out of harm’s way.

In the mid game, it’s great to fill your hand with useful cards: always great in a combo deck like this one. Building up a big hand can also bait your opponent into using Reset Stamp early, which you’re always happy to see.

In the late game, it’s a decent way to dig for the last card you need to win the game. Lt. Surge’s Strategy, Coach Trainer, Coach Trainer is never bad.

Two Lusamine, One Lysandre Labs, One Power Plant

Playing two [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] gives this deck infinite Lysandre Labs or [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. Also, if you find yourself running out of Supporters near the end of the game, playing Lusamine to get back two Supporters increases the number of Supporters you have left.

Infinite Lysandre Labs is effective against Malamar decks and [card name=”Shedinja” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] decks. Malamar decks can have trouble streaming attacks without access to [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], and it takes a lot longer to win the game without [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. Shedinja outright loses to infinite Lab unless they can send it to the Lost Zone with [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card], which is not always easy to play when you’re Knocking Out one of their Pokemon every turn.

Infinite Power Plant comes into play less often, but its most common use is to deny [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] players access to [card name=”Persian-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card], which would otherwise be hard to deal with. It also makes [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] a non-threat, and is a huge hindrance to [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] as well as [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] decks.

One Erika’s Hospitality

When you get hit with Reset Stamp to one or two cards, [card name=”Erika’s Hospitality” set=”Team Up” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] is the best Supporter card to fill your hand back up to a manageable size. Using [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] can guarantee that you draw it when you need it.

In the early and mid game, it is usually too difficult to thin your hand down to four cards in order to play Erika’s Hospitality. When the opportunity does present itself though, drawing six cards is always nice.

One Bill’s Analysis

Sometimes this deck can have trouble finding key Items and Stadiums, even with a 15+ card hand. Getting [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] can especially be elusive at the worst times. Using [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is great for digging for these cards in the later stages of the game.

One Lana

We included [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] for the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. One of their win conditions is to spread damage onto your Bench and take multiple Prizes with [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card]’s Cross Division GX. In a slower-paced matchup like Malamar, you have extra time to attach a few Energy to your other Pokemon and play Lana to heal all the damage off of them.

In other matchups, healing can be a decent tactic if your opponent is going for the two-shot with weaker attacks like Thunderous Assault or Outrage.

Four Custom Catcher

You will only get a few chances to attack with Ditch and Splash, so you have to make them count. This makes non-Tag Team Pokemon hard for Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX to deal with. Custom Catcher is necessary to get around those Pokemon and take as many Prizes as possible with each attack.

Three Great Potion

Using three [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] is best against decks that try to two-shot you, such as Malamar. Setting your opponent back a turn can swing games into your favor.

One Pokemon Communication

The best use for this card is to put a Dragonite back into your deck so that you can get it into play with [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] — while grabbing any Pokemon from your deck in the process. If you open with a Dragonite in your hand, being able to grab [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] is a great option.

One Energy Spinner

[cardimg name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ align=”right” c=”custom”]#spintowin[/cardimg]

We wanted nine outs to Energy on the first turn, but didn’t necessarily need nine Energy in the deck. Using [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] does exactly that — but unlike a Water Energy, it can be found by [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and Bill’s Analysis, which increases your chances of finding Energy.

It’s also worth noting that this card gets insane value if you find it on the first turn going second. This deck can struggle to find Energy, so finding three on the first turn can significantly smooth out your early game.

One Reset Stamp

Games with this deck can be close due to its slow nature. Even though it can be difficult to find at the right time, [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] is worth it for those rare instances where it prevents your opponent from winning the game.

Reset Stamp is notably one of the best counters to your opponent’s Reset Stamp. You can play Reset Stamp on the turn you go down to 1-2 Prizes, making it harder for your opponent to find their own Reset Stamp.

Eight Water Energy

Eight Water Energy is lower than we would have liked, but there are so many necessary consistency cards and techs that we didn’t have room for more. Because the deck doesn’t play hard draw Supporters like [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], finding Energy can be a challenge, even though we only need four to get us through the whole game. Don’t hesitate to use Steven’s Resolve for Energy in the early game, even though that may seem like a “low value play”.

If you’d like to cut some of the tech cards, consider adding more Water Energy.

Matchups

Pikachu and Zekrom-GX: Even

This matchup boils down to how well both players start. If they Full Blitz before you get two turns of setup, or if your opening turns are bad, you can struggle to keep up. Often what happens is they will use Full Blitz to KO a non-Tag Team, you KO their [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card], then they Lightning Ride GX your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX with [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] for KO. Lightning Ride GX is more effective than Tag Bolt GX here because it keeps their Tag Team Pokemon out of harms way, even though Tag Bolt GX can give them more Prizes. From there, the match depends on if you find double [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] quick enough. If they find [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], things can be tricky. They will struggle to KO your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX without a GX attack though, so you often have time to find your Custom Catchers for the win.

All of your opponent’s easy win conditions require them to draw hot, but there are a lot of them. Those easy win conditions include:

First Knocking Out one of your Tag Teams with a GX attack, then using triple [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] with Plasma Fist or Tandem Shock to Knock Out the second,
Using Custom Catcher to bring up your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX and hit it with their first Full Blitz,
Paralyzing with Tandem Shock and you whiff [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card],
Using Full Blitz to get two Prizes on two non-Tag Teams, followed by double Electropower into Tag Bolt to take four Prizes,
Turn one Full Blitz,
You drawing poorly off of Stamp.

If none of these things happen, you should win, but that is a lot of things that have to not happen; hence why the matchup is close to even.

I haven’t tested against the four [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] variant of Pikachu and Zekrom-GX yet, but I imagine that matchup is close to an auto-loss. Playing Judge every turn means your Steven’s Resolve will never stick. Without the three cards from Steven’s Resolve, you will have trouble getting anything going in the early game.

Green’s Exploration / Reshiram and Charizard-GX: Very Favorable

[cardimg name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ align=”right” c=”none”]1 like = 1 prayer for ReshiZard[/cardimg]

It only takes four Supporters to Knock Out [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] with Ditch and Splash, which is not hard at all. Since you don’t have to stress over finding Supporters, you should prioritize getting Energy on Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX and taking Prizes quickly. Ideally, you want to Knock Out a Reshiram and Charizard-GX before it uses Double Blaze GX for 300. If they get the first KO, assuming you reply by Knocking Out their Reshiram and Charizard-GX, they can use Reset Stamp and attack with [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]. You then have to find multiple Custom Catcher, or they will knock you out with Flare Strike. Even if you retreat, it’s not hard for them to use [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] for their own Custom Catchers to bring up your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX and win the game. This scenario requires you to draw poorly, but it is possible.

Also, watch out for [card name=”Martial Arts Dojo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]. If they’re behind on Prizes, they can deal 270 with Flare Strike to KO your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, then one shot your other Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX with Double Blaze GX. Just make sure you have a Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX ready to respond to their Reshiram and Charizard-GX if they are capable of pulling off that play.

Basically, as long as you draw decently, things should go well.

Ability Reshiram and Charizard-GX: Favorable?

I haven’t tested this matchup, so this is all in theory.

The thing that makes this matchup scary is [card name=”Heatran-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card]. If they’re able to get the first Tag Team KO with Heatran-GX’s GX attack, you will have trouble keeping up in the Prize trade. Luckily, that requires a lot of Energy, so Knocking Out the Heatran-GX may set them back enough for you to win. If they have a backup attacker after the Heatran-GX though, you may be in trouble. The best counter to this scenario is to go up on Prizes so that the Prize trade isn’t offset too much by them attacking with a two-Prize GX.

Malamar: Slightly Favorable to Slightly Unfavorable

This matchup was my only loss and only tie at the DC Open, but that doesn’t mean the matchup is awful. In fact, in testing we found that all [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] variants are favorable for you except [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card].

You want to get [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card] in play as soon as possible against every Malamar variant. I usually try to use [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] on turn one. Even if you play it right away and they counter it immediately, this is okay because you can get it back at any time with [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card]–you just want to get it out of the deck so you will have easier access to it later. Lysandre Labs makes it harder to stream attackers without being able to retreat [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] for free with [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], and it makes it harder to get Knock Outs without [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]. Also, if you’re having trouble finding Energy, playing Lysandre Labs forces them to counter it with [card name=”Viridian Forest” set=”Team Up” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] giving you access to your Energy.

Against [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card], you want to keep damage off your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX so that Calamitous Strike can’t KO it. This can mean waiting to bench the [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] so they can’t place Distortion Door damage on it, or using [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] to heal the only 10 damage on a Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. Great Potion plus Lysandre Labs prevents [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] from KO’ing Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX in two hits, helping you win the Prize trade. After your first Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX goes down, follow it up with [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card]. As it plus Lysandre Labs slows them down immensely.

If they hit your Hoopa for 110 with Shadow Impact, watch out for Cross Division GX. If they can win the game with that attack on their turn, play Lana to remove the accumulated spread damage. Even if you don’t need extra attachments in order to attack, you may want to get Hurricane Charge [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] into play so you can attach extra Energy to your other Pokemon in order to heal them with Lana.

The pure Psychic version is easier because they don’t have the option to OHKO Garchomp and Giratina-GX.

The Ultra Necrozma-GX variant is the hardest variant to deal with. They can one shot you with a non-Tag Team Pokemon, and they don’t need to put any damage counters on you first. Use [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] to KO as many Malamar as you can. With only two Malamar in play, they can’t get three Psychic and a Metal Energy on an Ultra Necrozma-GX out of nowhere, slowing down their gameplan.

Blacephalon-GX, Green’s Exploration and Naganadel: Even

You might think this matchup is free because of your type advantage, but since [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] gives up one fewer Prize than Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, things can get dicey.

Modern Blacephalon-GX decks are incredibly consistent, so you cannot rely on them missing the KO as part of your strategy. This means you’ll have to pull of some trickery in order to win. Since the Supporter requirement is easy, you can afford to use Steven’s Resolve for [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] early and hold it until they go down to one Prize. Your [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] is actually a viable attacker in this matchup, since Surf OHKOs Blacephalon-GX. Hurricane Charge is recommended to help power up Surf, of course. If they have five Prizes left you can attack with Lapras, Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, in that order. If they have four Prizes just go for two Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX.

Their [card name=”Persian-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] can guarantee them back-to-back KOs on your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, so you either have to Custom Catcher it or play [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] down when you Reset Stamp them. Similar to the Malamar matchup, don’t be afraid to Steven’s Resolve for Power Plant.

This matchup can be scary. Play to your outs, go for disruption, and hope for the best.

Mewtwo and Mew-GX: Unknown

This is a matchup I have never tested, so this section is all theory.

Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX has trouble getting through Tag Purge. With this in mind, you should find Power Plant as early as you can and try to run your opponent out of Stadiums by recycling the Power Plant with Lusamine. If they miss the Stadium one time, you should be able to OHKO [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] with Ditch and Splash. Tag Purge does three-shot Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX you have time. If they end up finding all of their Stadiums, you don’t have many options to win.

Custom Catchers can get you all six of your Prizes if your opponent carelessly benches multiple Tag Teams.

Keep Hoopa in your back pocket as an option, especially if they bench multiple [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]. Hoopa can deal decent damage to Mewtwo and Mew-GX, and it doesn’t get one shot in return by Tag Purge.

There was one list in the Top 8 of Worlds that did not play Latios-GX. I don’t expect this to become a trend, but if it does that’s great for Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. Without any way to prevent us from attacking, the matchup just becomes a trade between Tag Teams, and we have an easier time achieving those big Kos.

Dark Box: Favorable

Dark Box relies on using bulky Tag Teams to swing Prize trades into its favor, not a high damage output. This makes it vulnerable to a deck like Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX that can OHKOs Tag Teams reliably.

If they play aggressively they often have to commit all of their Energy to one attacker. If you can use [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”name”][/card] to respond with a Knock Out and remove all of that Energy from play, that should set them back enough for you to pull ahead. If they play passively, you should try to get a Knock Out on one of their Tag Teams to set yourself up to win the Prize trade. Taking out their [card name=”Weavile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] can also slow them down if they leave themselves vulnerable to that option.

Both [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card] require you to discard seven Supporters in order to knock them out, which requires a little more work from you. You may have to spend more turns playing [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to get that many Supporters into your hand, meaning less turns finding Custom Catchers or a backup attacker with Steven’s Resolve. In other words, you have to be extra conscious of whether or not you have enough Supporters in your hand.

Black Lance can set up Knock Outs on your [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card]. Two 60 damage snipes plus hitting it for 150 with Black Lance can pick up the KO, or one Black Lance snipe and a Greedy Crush. You don’t want this snipe damage to get out of control, so I recommend either going for the Knock Out on their Umbreon and Darkrai-GX as soon as possible, or, alternatively, you can use Great Potion to heal that Bench damage.

Be careful of Greedy Crush taking an extra Prize.

The hardest part of this matchup is playing around their GX attacks. Dark Moon for six Energy and Gigafall for five Energy both OHKO your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. Dark Moon can prevent you from playing a Misty’s Favor to get that return Knock Out. You can counter the Dark Moon play by holding enough Supporters to get the KO in your hand on the turn before they use Dark Moon. That sounds hard, but I was able to pull it off in the Open against my round two opponent. Remember that Lapras and [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] can get you more Supporters without you having to play a Trainer card.

Options

Keldeo-GX

[cardimg name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Utilizing [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] would work here since we already play Water Energy. The Ability can be used to stall for time against more aggressive Pokemon-GX decks, or prevent them from attacking entirely if they exclusively attack with Pokemon-GX. Decks like: [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] play Power Plant, but most other GX decks don’t or can’t. Decks that would have trouble getting through Keldeo-GX include: [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], Mewtwo and Mew-GX, and Blacephalon-GX, among others.

Keldeo-GX also gives the deck away around Tag Purge, while also being immune to both Mewtwo and Mew-GX and Latios-GX. If they’re playing Henry Brand’s list, their only way to KO Keldeo-GX is with Double Blaze GX with six Fire Energy.

Persian-GX

Using [card name=”Persian-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card] can help you find [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]s after your first Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX goes down. I’m not sure how easy it would be to set up Persian though. You can [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Meowth” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], then [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] for Persian-GX, which doesn’t sound so bad, but this deck needs to devote every resource it has available to get KOs. I’m not sure if you can afford to search for the Meowth in the early game. Space is another issue; I don’t know what I’d cut for it.

Dedenne-GX

It’s hard to pass up the option of Dedechange if it fits in your deck’s strategy. We originally cut it because it was too much of a liability against Tag Bolt GX, but I’m considering adding it back. It’s okay in the early game to get things going, but I’d mainly like it in the deck for the late game after you get hit with [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] to three or lower. Using Dedechange followed by [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] is the easiest way to find your Custom Catchers and enough Supporters to win the game after being hit with Reset Stamp to a low amount.

Outside of Tag Bolt GX, the only other concern I’d have from playing Dedenne-GX is your Bench space. In the late game you will have a bench spot the turn after one of your Pokemon gets Knocked Out, but in the early game losing one spot that could be devoted to [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] or another Dragonite can give you a worse board in the late game.

Lady

This deck has an easy time searching for Supporters. But if you’re looking for any other type of card? Tough luck. If you play [card name=”Lady” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], at least you can search for Lady with Dragonite or [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card] and then play Lady to get Energy. If you have zero Energy in play, a great combo you can pull off is Lt. Surge’s Strategy, Lance Prism star to get Fast Call Dragonite and Hurricane Charge [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card], Fast Call for Lady, search for four Energy, then attach two of those Energy to your Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX.

Fisherman

Using [card name=”Fisherman” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] works similarly to Lady. The upside of Fisherman being that it gives you infinite Energy when combined with [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], which can be helpful against [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], or if your Dragonite get stuck in the Active. The downside of playing this card over Lady being that you can only use it once you get Energy in the discard pile, a harsh restriction if you want to find Energy in the early game.

Crasher Wake

Similar to Persian-GX, [card name=”Crasher Wake” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] could help you find Custom Catcher or Reset Stamp in the late game. Even when this deck has a 15+ card hand, there’s no guarantee you’ll have the double Custom Catcher, even if you use Bill’s Analysis. If you have two Energy in hand, Crasher Wake guarantees you the Custom Catchers, unlike Bill’s Analysis. You would want to play Crasher Wake with either Lady or Fisherman because it allows you to pull off the following combo: [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card], Lady, or Fisherman, then use Crasher Wake to grab any two cards from the deck.

Tate and Liza

This is basically a [card name=”Switch” set=”Evolutions” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] you can search for with Fast Call. This gives you another option any time Dragonite is in play.

The draw effect of [card name=”Tate and Liza” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] is weak, considering you want to build up a large hand, but it could come in handy if your hand is dead. Combined with the two Lusamine, you can shuffle cards back into your deck with Tate and Liza to avoid decking out. A stall deck would have to [card name=”Mars” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] away your Lusamine or Tate and Liza to beat you.

Gardenia and Unit Energy GRW

Having [card name=”Gardenia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] combined with [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] provides more raw healing than [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card], which would improve the matchups where your opponent tries to two-shot you. Gardenia plus a Great Potion heals off an entire Shadow Impact from [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card], erasing an entire turn of attacks from the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] player. Lana is still better against Malamar’s spread tactics, but Gardenia is better in other situations.

Cyrus Prism Star

We never got the chance to test [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], but it’s another card that could improve the Malamar matchup. Limiting your opponent to two Malamar prevents [card name=”Ultra Necrozma-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] from knocking you out with Photon Geyser, and makes it harder for them to pull off any attack in general. Combined with Reset Stamp, this could seriously cripple them.

It’s worth noting that Kaiwen Cabbabe played a Cyrus Prism Star in his [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] deck. If it worked well enough in the World Championships to make Top 8, that gives me confidence that the card could be good in [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] as well. Perhaps Kaiwen played the Cyrus Prism Star for an additional reason that I haven’t even thought of that would make it even more worth your while?

Escape Board

We had [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] in the original list, but cut it because we wanted higher value cards in our opening hand. Against Tag Team Pokemon decks, you want to let your first Pokemon get KO’d, so you rarely need Escape Board. However, against non-Tag Team Pokemon decks you sometimes want to be more aggressive, which may justify Escape Board as an inclusion. [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] with an Escape Board attached can help you against Reset Stamp as well, whereas if it didn’t have an Escape Board you may not want to promote the Jirachi.

Final Thoughts

With all that out of the way, one question remains: should you play this deck? Just because the deck did well doesn’t mean it’s worth your time. There are plenty of instances where high-placing rogue decks tried to accomplish the same gameplan as an already established meta deck but just did a worse job of it.

I will go on record saying that this is not the case with Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX. It sports many strengths that most meta decks do not. I present to you five reasons why Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX is not just a good rogue deck, but sometimes worth playing over the existing meta decks.

As mentioned previously, [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] is the only Tag Team Pokemon that can reliably OHKO other Tag Teams without the use of a GX attack. Opposing [card name=”Reshiram and Charizard-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] needs niche Stadiums such as [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Martial Arts Dojo” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] to deal 240 damage, and it can only deal 270 if it’s behind on Prizes. An opposing [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] needs to place damage counters to deal its maximum damage. Pikachu and Zekrom-GX needs an unrealistic amount of [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card]. Mewtwo and Mew-GX needs to discard four or five Energy when copying [card name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lava Flow. And so on and so on. This one strength makes it worth consideration.
The deck is not as inconsistent as you may think. As long as you pick the right cards from [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], you should have all the necessary cards to navigate the mid and late game. It can sometimes struggle to find Basic Pokemon and Energy in those crucial early turns, but considering how strong it is when it does set up, these minor inconsistencies are worth the few bad starts.
The combination of Fast Call [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] give the deck a defense against [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. Very few decks have ways to draw out of a Reset Stamp besides luckily drawing a Supporter. This deck has access to up to two Supporters from the deck, and [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”name”][/card] from the discard pile. It might have low odds of finding double [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] off of a Reset Stamp, but it has a 0% chance of bricking entirely — not something every deck can say.
The deck has a surprising amount of room for tech cards. We had room for four Custom Catcher, three Great Potion, a Reset Stamp, a [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], and a whopping five techs for the Malamar matchup, and it is still decently consistent. A deck that can fit this many potent cards naturally has an advantage over decks that can’t. Alternatively, you can cut these techs if you want the deck to be more consistent! The deck has some flex space.
It has a very favorable matchup against Reshiram and Charizard-GX. It is perhaps the most popular deck in the Standard format, both at the low level and the high level, so having an incredible win percentage against it is worth noting.

[cardimg name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

While I do think the deck is viable in the current meta, it is far from being a tier one deck. It has a couple flaws that hold it back.

For starters, I haven’t found any reliable way to beating Reset Stamp in the late game. This is the biggest thing holding the deck back. Even though you have Dragonite and Misty’s Favor to bail you out, the deck has trouble finding Custom Catchers and enough Supporters to one-shot a Tag Team Pokemon. Perhaps the solution is to make the deck more aggressive so that you have a buffer of time to find all of those cards.

Secondly, if Supreme Court Pikachu and Zekrom-GX becomes the most popular Pikachu and Zekrom-GX variant, this deck may not be a viable choice anymore. Something like [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] may be enough to fix that matchup, but until I have a chance to test it out I can’t say the matchup is winnable.

Thirdly, the deck is still a little bit awkward. Starting without Steven’s Resolve or Misty’s Favor can be tough. Due to this deck’s slow nature, games are won or lost on a thin margin — so if you can’t plan out your turns with Steven’s Resolve or Misty’s Favor, or if you randomly whiff the wrong card in the mid or late game, that can lose you the game right there. This problem is made even worse by the fact that the deck’s ideal gameplan involves your opponent Knocking Out one of your non-Tag Team Pokemon; it’s not built to go aggressive to give yourself a cushy lead, unless your opponent has an abnormally slow start.

In conclusion, the deck is not for everyone, but it does have its place in the current Standard format. If you like winning with unusual decks, or you’re tired of losing to Reshiram and Charizard-GX, this deck is perfect for you.

If you’re looking to play the deck, I suggest making some changes to the list I used at the Open. Here is the list I would use:

[decklist name=”slowduck” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″][pokemon amt=”14″]3x [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Lapras” set=”Unified Minds” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”38″]4x [card name=”Misty’s Favor” set=”Unified Minds” no=”202″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lt. Surge’s Strategy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokémon Fan Club” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lance Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”61″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]8x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”8″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

I made these changes to improve the deck’s opening turns and effectiveness against [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. Finding [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] in the early game was so strong that I couldn’t resist adding more. I wanted to try Keldeo-GX because it theoretically helps in a lot of your bad matchups.

I removed [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] from the deck entirely. It is good, but it’s a dead card in the early game, and it’s only essential in the [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. With that in mind, that means our original list had eight techs for Malamar in it: the three Great Potion, [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”name”][/card], two [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Lana” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. This was too many, especially considering I ended up losing and tying to Malamar the only times I faced it in the Open. I kept the other techs because they more consistently had value in the Malamar matchup and others.

Conclusion

That’s all I have to say about [card name=”Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card]. Thank you so much for reading until the end. If you’re interested in playing the deck, don’t hesitate to ask me any questions down in the comments. I’m always happy to help a fellow Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX player in need. Even if you don’t end up playing this deck, I hope you enjoyed reading about a unique rogue deck with a great story behind it.

Extra special thanks to Arielle Mobley, not only for introducing me to Slowpoke and Psyduck-GX, helping me test the deck, and helping me write this article, but for being an amazing friend. You’re truly special.

Thrilling times,

–Sam

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