The Electric Mouse Clubhouse – A Case for PikaJudge
[cardimg name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Greetings PokeBeach readers! My name is Charlie Lockyer, and I’m ecstatic to be writing my first article for this incredible site. Writing for a major site has been a dream of mine for a while now, so finally getting a chance to do it is really exciting. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a high school senior from Maryland who has been playing Pokemon since 2010 (competitively since 2015). I’m most known for playing somewhat off-the-wall decks to major events, including Tool Drop [card name=”Doublade” set=”Team Up” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] (NAIC 2019), Lost March (Roanoke 2018), [card name=”Sceptile-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Cradily” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”4″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Team Up” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] (Hartford 2019), and [card name=”Tapu Bulu-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] (Madison 2017). However, today I’m here to talk about the deck I played to 18th place at the 2019 World Championships: [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card], also known as Supreme Court.
Having played oddball decks at so many events in the past, almost nothing was off the table when it came time for me to start testing the blind World Championships format. My biggest fear was inconsistency. With the loss of cards like [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Nest Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], a majority of decks in the format were left with no reliable search option. Basically, if your deck wasn’t heavily GX-focused ([card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Electromagnetic Radar” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] for Lightning-types), Psychic- or Dragon-based ([card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card]), or had unique search options ([card name=”Pokémon Research Lab” set=”Unified Minds” no=”205″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] come to mind), setting up was unreliable. [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] was never reliable, especially in decks that ran a below-average amount of Pokemon. This quickly drove me away from decks without access to these reliable search cards because at a tournament like Worlds, more than one loss likely takes you out of the running for Top 8. I felt like I couldn’t afford to take losses to consistency issues, so I chose to mitigate them by building around consistency.
Choosing a Deck and Deck List
This observation quickly turned my testing towards decks such as Pikarom, [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=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] variants. In the weeks leading up to the event, Green’s ReshiZard and Blacephalon decks slowly fell off the list of decks I was willing to play (mostly due to reliance on Green’s Exploration and [card name=”Tapu Fini” set=”Unified Minds” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] respectively), leaving only PikaRom. My list looked a lot like Kaiwen Cabbabe’s Top 8 list sans [card name=”Sigilyph-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”98″ c=”name”][/card], including [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] as a strong answer to setup decks such as [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card]. However, the Cyrus strategy failed at consistently beating Malamar decks due to the inability to find Cyrus exactly when you need it. Green’s ReshiZard was also extremely unfavorable in our testing due to its ability to build up a large hand of cards like [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card]. We began digging for answers to these matchups, including [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Great Potion” set=”Unified Minds” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card], and even [card name=”Champions Festival” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW95″ c=”name”][/card], but none of them ended up changing the matchup enough to consider it favorable. Then, I remembered when my friend Justin Bokhari told our testing group to try putting two copies of [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] into our PikaRom list for the extra disruption against pretty much everything. After a few games, I responded by saying that while the two copies were underwhelming, upping it to four might be worth a try. Thus, PikaJudge was born.
This new, Judge-focused list was able to handle pretty much every deck we threw at it with the exception of [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] variants. The strong disruption at any point in the game, including turn one, that Judge provided allowed the deck to consistently disrupt large hands, making combos like Welder, Custom Catcher, and [card name=”Mixed Herbs” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”184″ c=”name”][/card] harder to pull off. I emphasize “consistently disrupt” because the power of a turn one Judge is not the only reason we play four copies. As we anticipated opponents being able to draw out of our Judges more often than not, playing Judge a second, third, and fourth time, along with the power of our one [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card], made it nearly impossible for opponents to build up large hands. This consistent disruption meshes very well with the aggressive strategy that PikaRom decks are known for, allowing us to attack as early as turn one or two while our opponents struggle to set up. The Jirachi and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]-focused engine also provided the deck with unparalleled consistency, as we were able to see over 12 cards in a turn on most occasions. This gave us the chance to abuse the inconsistency this format was known for: why not build a list to do nothing but operate like a well-oiled machine in every game and also crush the many inconsistent decks in this format that needed more than 4 cards to set up? One of my friends (I forget who) boiled it down to this: why isn’t a deck that can still play [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Shining Legends” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card] not the best deck by a country mile? All of these observations made PikaJudge our top choice for the tournament.
I played PikaJudge on both Day 1 and Day 2, along with my friends and testing partners Will Jenkins, Justin Bokhari, Jonathan Croxton, Justin Kulas, Emery Taylor, Ian Robb, and Isaiah Cheville. Will and I advanced through Day 1 into the second day, while Justin B., Justin K., and Ian had Day 2 invites. While I came very close to making Top 8, I ended up finishing 18th on Day 2. Justin B. finished 21st, Ian got 33rd, Will got Top 64, and Justin K. had a day full of poor draws. While we know how close we were to getting a chance at taking home the gold, we were happy with our performances.
[decklist name=”pikajudge remade cause wordpress sucks” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″][pokemon amt=”14″]2x [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”54″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Zeraora-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”Judge” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Volkner” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Electromagnetic Radar” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tag Switch” set=”Unified Minds” no=”209″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Stadium Nav” set=”Unified Minds” no=”208″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Lysandre Labs” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”111″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Thunder Mountain Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”11″]11x [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”Black and White” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”11″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
I played the same list on Day 1, but I played Choice Helmet over [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]. This list is built to consistently disrupt opponents and attack with Full Blitz as early as possible. The only change I would consider would be a fourth Switch over an Escape Board.
Worlds Report: Day 1
R1 David Cooper, Jirachi PikaRom, WLL
[cardimg name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM168″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Game 1 I got a solid start and he didn’t, Game 2 the opposite happened, and Game 3 he hit T1 Full Blitz off of Judge. I expected to be unfavorable against the mirror so this loss felt fine.
R2 Drew Kennett, MewMew Box, WW
Game 1 I played Judge on T1 and he bricked, Game 2 I was able to prevent him from winning by putting Choice Helmet on my ChuChu. I won the next turn. His MewMew list was much less consistent than some of the others I faced, making it much more prone to Judge.
R3 Masayuki Osajima, MewMew Box, LWW
Game 1 he played and drew extremely well, leading me to a quick loss. Game 2 I was able to deck him out as he milled too many resources with Hapu in the early game. Game 3 he drew-passed, which is once again expected of most MewMew lists at least once per set (Henry Brand’s winning list is the exception to this).
R4 Eric Brooks, Turbo PikaRom, WLL
Game 1 I drew well and outpaced him while he struggled to escape my onslaught of Judges. Games 2 and 3 I started with Koko Prism Star, 5 Lightning Energy, and a dead Item. Upset, but it happens and I can just win four more.
R5 Aaron Rozbicki, Blacephalon / Naganadel, WW
PikaRom is very favored against Blowns, especially when early-, mid-, and late-game Judges can cripple their setup. I limited him to one Beast Ring per game through Judge and took intelligent KOs with Chuchu and Zeraora, giving me an easy victory.
R6 Gregory Fortier, Turbo PikaRom, WW
I was pretty worried when Gregory flipped over PikaRom, but I was able to draw consistently well and pull off a 5-prize Full Blitz both games after taking an early kill on Dedenne. A combination of strong draws on my side and a few missing pieces to every combo on Gregory’s side allowed me to cruise to another quick victory.
R7 Thiago Giovanetti Marques Ricardo, Malamar, WW
I played against Thiago at 2017 Worlds and remembered him fondly as a great opponent. This continued into our next match, but this time he was playing a heavily teched-out Malamar variant with [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card]. Game 1, I was able to take a late KO on his MimiGar with a double Electropower-boosted Tag Bolt GX after we traded Prizes evenly for most of the game (I struggled to find Lysandre Labs and Hoopa at the same time). Game 2, he had an opportunity to potentially win the game by using Horror House GX before attacking into my PikaRom, but I bluffed having all five Trainer cards needed for the Knockout by slightly adjusting my general temperament as he benched MimiGar. When he used Poltergeist, I revealed four Trainer cards, drew for turn, Benched Hoopa, attached, and attacked MimiGar for game due to the 20 damage already placed on it from Shrine of Punishment. This was a much closer set than the 2-0 reveals, props to Thiago for playing it so well.
R8 Fabio Gomes, Baby Blacephalon, LWW
Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited when my opponent flipped over two baby [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] knowing how many disruption options I had at my disposal. However, my nerves quickly set in as he proceeded to run me over in Game 1. I stayed calm throughout Game 2 though as I Judged him into a situation where he would have to wait multiple turns before attacking again; he promptly conceded. In Game 3, things got tense: I was 10 damage short of donking his baby Blacephalon with double Electropower-boosted Tingly Return GX, but still did it anyways and finished off the baby Blown with a 10-damage Evil Admonition next turn. We traded Prizes for a bit as he consistently drew out of my Judges, and it came down to the point where he realized his last Fire Energy was prized – leaving him 40 damage short of a Day 2 berth. I was able to pull off a Tag Bolt GX for the game next turn, punching my ticket to Day 2 at the World Championships once again!
[cardimg name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
After dinner, I went to Isaiah Bradner’s hotel room again to theorize the metagame and make final decisions for Day 2. Much of our theories focused on the mysterious Team DDG / Gang Secret Deck and how to beat it (keep in mind, we had absolutely no clue what it was). From hearing rumors that it “beat everything” and “nobody has posted anything like it”, we concluded that our only way to tech against the deck was to stick with PikaJudge for its disruption power and ability to beat anything through giving it a bad hand. Unbeknownst to us, DDG / Gang was playing an [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] Control deck, which turned out to be a highly favorable matchup for us. We felt confident going into the tournament and simply hoped for the best as we dreamed of what could come in less than 24 hours.
[premium]
Worlds Report: Day 2
R1 Victor Freitas, MewMew Box, WLW
This was my first encounter with the powerful [card name=”Magcargo-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”44″ c=”name”][/card] on the day, something I applauded and hoped to see less of as the day went on. Game 1 I Judged him into a dead hand T1, Game 2 he was able to pull off a couple strong KOs with Magcargo, and Game 3 was an identical repeat of Game 1. It felt like I was playing in a pre-rotation tournament where Let Loose decided one’s fate more often than not. I’ll take the free win; first time I had ever won R1 of a Worlds Day 2 so I was feeling pretty confident.
R2 Hampus Eriksoon, Beheeyem, WW
Hampus had yet to lose this weekend after his stellar 6-0 run through Day 1, but I had a game plan going into the round that would likely net me a win. Both games I was able to exploit Beheeyem’s inconsistency through well-timed Judges and also powered up my Tapu Koko Prism Star with Full Blitz, prepared to handle the oncoming threat of Ninetales. He wasn’t able to handle my consistent pressure and the set ended quickly. Hampus was also a great opponent and I loved seeing one of my favorite deck ideas succeed.
R3 Henry Brand, MewMew Box (Perfection), LL
This match was played on stream, so I’d suggest you watch the match for a thorough explanation of what went down. In short, he drew exceptionally well off of my Judges, so I had little chance to beat the combination of attacks from Magcargo and [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]. I loved playing against Henry and kinda felt that it was his day to win as we picked up our cards. Super honored to have lost to him on his path to becoming World Champion and I can’t wait for another chance to play him.
R4 Mark Andersen, Turbo PikaRom, WW
Mark was playing a PikaRom list with [card name=”Super Scoop Up” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”124″ c=”name”][/card] so his draws were bound to be pretty volatile before we started. Games 1 and 2 were both filled with strong Judges on my part and a lot of tough breaks / tails flips on his. Mark played the set well but his draws weren’t really letting him do much of anything.
R5 Justin Bokhari, PikaRom/Judge (58 card mirror), LWW
The one matchup I didn’t want to see: a 58 card mirror against one of my best friends. Justin was playing my list with two Reset Stamp and a Cynthia in lieu of the third Jirachi and fourth Judge, so I knew it would be relatively even going into the set. Game 1, I was forced to discard all my Switch and Energy Switch relatively early on, dooming me in the late game and forcing me to scoop to save time. Game 2, we both struggled to Full Blitz early on, but I eventually set up a play where I could use Mew’s Psypower to Knock Out a Zeraora and a Dedenne for game. He knew he could not stop it so he conceded. Game 3, Justin went first but failed to play Judge, giving me a chance to dig for a T1 Full Blitz. I was lucky enough to pull it off, putting me ahead in the game early on. I now had 180 damage on Zeraora, and later attacked a PikaRom for KO with ChuChu’s Lightning Ride GX. I set up the Psypower play once again after KOing Justin’s Hoopa UNM, but he had the chance to effectively win the game first by drawing two Electropower. He only hit one, so he inevitably settled on a Tingly Return GX play, forcing me to either move my PikaRom or lose. I proceeded to attach Escape Board to PikaRom, retreat it into Mew, and Psypower for game. Phew!
R6 Karl Peters, GardEon, WLL
[cardimg name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Here I am, sitting down at the top tables at the World Championships, one game away from the coveted Top 8 spot. I try to keep myself calm by keeping my eyes on nothing but the board, remembering that I can’t imagine the goal, I can’t think about the goal, I can’t even remember the goal exists if I want to achieve it. Thoughts of glory, prizes, and whatnot had poisoned my play at Worlds past, so not this time, I told myself. Game 1, I was able to Judge him T1, but he hit Green’s and began to set up. On the next turn, I was able to play another Judge and double-Electropower-boosted Tag Bolt GX the Benched GardEon (after double Custom Catcher) for a OHKO. He proceeded to scoop a few turns later, realizing the writing was on the wall. Game 2, I searched my deck and quickly discovered that both of my PikaRom were Prized (this was the third time this happened all weekend, but I had remarkably won the other two games!), so I had to go for ChuChu early on. It got to the point where he needed to hit double Custom Catcher off of [card name=”Bill’s Analysis” set=”Team Up” no=”133″ c=”name”][/card] to win; he promptly revealed the two Catchers and I conceded. It all came down to Game 3.
I started off with an incredibly strong start, making sure to play Judge quickly and often, power up Tapu Koko Prism Star as an attacker, and take Knock Outs as soon as they were apparent. Everything was going right – I hit Lysandre Labs off Jirachi to take a critical KO, got damage on the next GardEon with Zeraora before he found the next [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], and eventually got to the point where I could Reset Stamp him to one card and attack his GardEon with PikaRom. I had game next turn: assuming he didn’t draw double Custom Catcher or his last Green’s, of course. He proceeded to slowly pick up his top card, then slammed down Green’s Exploration and search out two Custom Catchers as I saw my Top 8 hopes slip away. Karl was a great opponent, and while I wish the match had ended differently, I was happy he could come close to making Top 8 himself.
R7 Dylan Gunn, Keldeo Stall, ID
He knew the matchup was only 60-40 for him because of Judge and we’re friends so an ID was the best option here.
I ended up finishing 18th, which is bittersweet but nice because I finally got the coveted Top 32 bag I had wanted for so long. My shoulders will be very happy at tournaments to come!
Card Counts and Explanations
2 Pikachu & Zekrom-GX
Two PikaRom is the bare minimum, but it is definitely correct. I could see an argument for three PikaRom, mostly due to the fact that I prized both copies on three separate occasions at Worlds, but those situations are still few and far between. Don’t add another PikaRom, it’s much more of a luxury than an asset. Tight lists don’t have space for luxuries.
4 Jirachi
Due to the inclusion of Judge, we felt that we couldn’t afford to stick ourselves with a bad hand if we chose to go for the “Let Loose” play (playing Judge on turn 1 of the game). We decided to include 4 copies of Jirachi in order to combat the very real possibility of dead drawing off of our own disruption supporter. While Jirachi’s popularity in PikaRom slowly waned as people tested the post rotation format, we decided that the ability to see nine cards in search of an Electromagnetic Radar or [card name=”Volkner” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] after playing a Judge on the first turn was extremely powerful. Furthermore, Jirachi shines against decks that play heavy counts of [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card]. While PikaRom loves to dig deep into the deck with the power of Dedenne-GX’s Dedechange, Power Plant – either on turn one or in combination with a Reset Stamp – can be devastating. Jirachi gives us a fallback plan to escape these powerful plays and continue applying pressure throughout the game.
Overall, I think Jirachi is a critical piece of the deck that keeps it consistent and allows it to operate well under Power Plant. While a strong argument can be made to forgo Jirachi in favor of powerful Items, such as [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card] and increased counts of [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Tag Switch” set=”Unified Minds” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card], the inclusion of four Judge demands Jirachi’s strength as a consistency crutch.
3 Dedenne-GX
While I had been testing the deck with only two copies of Dedenne for weeks, the inclusion of the third copy the night before the tournament made an incredible difference. Since the pursuit of a turn two Full Blitz often requires you to use Dedechange on both turns, the threat of either prizing or starting a Dedenne drove us to include three copies. Moreover, I found myself using all three copies in a few games in order to dig for important cards that I wouldn’t be able to find otherwise. Overall, I believe three Dedenne is effectively a staple at this point; I would even consider trying out a fourth copy.
1 Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX
[cardimg name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”221″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The lone copy of [card name=”Raichu and Alolan Raichu-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”221″ c=”name”][/card] serves an important role in various matchups, including Reshizard, [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] Box, and the mirror match (sometimes). While ChuChu lacks the powerful Energy acceleration offered by Full Blitz and the Bench sniping capability of Tag Bolt GX, it sports 20 extra HP over fellow TAG TEAM attacker PikaRom (very important), an auto-paralysis attack in Tandem Shock, and the incredibly powerful Lightning Ride GX. Before this card was released, PikaRom would often have to utilize multiple damage modifiers in order to OHKO bigger TAG TEAM GXs, such as Reshiram & Charizard GX, with Tag Bolt GX. ChuChu offers PikaRom the ability to OHKO a Reshizard, [card name=”Umbreon and Darkrai-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Mega Sableye and Tyranitar-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], and MewMew with only a single [card name=”Electropower” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], conveniently moving ChuChu to the Bench as well. This card can be used to break Tag Purge lock with Tandem Shock’s paralysis, deny Prizes by switching into a one-Prizer off of Lightning Ride GX, and take OHKOs on high-HP targets. A very important inclusion.
1 Zeraora-GX
While many lists try to fit two copies, our list already includes three [card name=”Switch” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] and two [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card], alleviating the need to have [card name=”Zeraora-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card] in play at all times. However, the single copy is still necessary; not only for retreat convenience, but also as a “shock absorber” in the mirror match and an attacker against Mewmew decks that rely on [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]’s Tag Purge.
1 Hoopa
This slot flip-flopped between [card name=”Hoopa” set=”Unified Minds” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Zapdos” set=”Team Up” no=”40″ c=”from”][/card], and [card name=”Pachirisu” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”80″ c=”from”][/card], but we eventually settled on Hoopa due to its utility against Malamar and Mewmew Box. Hoopa can easily OHKO a [card name=”Giratina” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”97″ c=”name”][/card] and often set up a 2HKO on Mewmew with an attack from Zeraora the following turn. While this slot can definitely shift depending on your meta, Hoopa showed to be consistently strong throughout our testing, so it held onto the spot over the more situational Zapdos and Pachirisu.
1 Mew
This was the only card that was added between Day 1 and Day 2 for me. We only included it as a tech for the previously unfavorable mirror match, which it quickly swung into our favor. In the mirror match, the strategy often boils down to who can win the game by using Tag Bolt GX for 5-6 Prize cards, so Mew helped slow down our opponent’s game plan by a turn or two, giving us more than enough time to swiftly win the game. Psypower is also incredibly strong in the correct situations; it can put 1-2 damage counters on something in order to save an extra Electropower later in the game, take KOs on Benched Pokemon through an opponent’s Mew, and skip [card name=”Beast Ring” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] turns by KOing multiple Pokemon-GX at once against [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] decks. This slot is definitely flexible, but I recommend keeping it if you expect to face a lot of Pikarom mirror matches.
4 Judge
The secret sauce that takes this deck from Tier 2 to mid Tier 1. I’ve talked enough about how powerful Judge is in pretty much every matchup.
4 Volkner
Please, please, please never go below four Volkner! This card makes PikaRom tick. If any readers played back in 2009-2010, it reminds me of the powerful [card name=”Cyrus’s Conspiracy” set=”Platinum” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] in SP decks – why would you ever go below four? Searching out any Item in the deck and an Energy is absurdly powerful and should never be taken for granted. This count is completely untouchable in my mind.
4 Electromagnetic Radar
I see many lists only including three copies of Electromagnetic Radar, but after testing this myself, I quickly realized four copies is the way to go. Especially in a list that often has to operate after playing a Judge, the full count of Electromagnetic Radar makes it easy to find either naturally or through Jirachi / Volkner.
3 Switch
While I could see this count going up to four, three Switch was pretty solid throughout the weekend. A heavy Switch count is considerably better than playing [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card] for its ability to move Jirachi out of the Active, work under [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], and simply not take up a valuable Bench spot. If you’re putting in a fourth Switch, take out an Escape Board for it.
2 Energy Switch
While this count was lower than what I had been testing for a while, PikaJudge takes a slightly slower apporach to setting up than other variants, so missing out on a few more T1 Full Blitz’s was a worthy tradeoff for us. In combination with the one Tag Switch, the list has plenty of Energy-moving cards. As long as you play conservatively with them, you should never need more than two.
1 Tag Switch
This only made it into the list the night before in order to enable swing turns against decks like [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] and the mirror match where pulling off GX attacks out of nowhere and huge swings with Zeraora are important. Just like Energy Switch; if you play smart with your Tag Switch, you’ll never need more than one.
1 Reset Stamp
This was the only debatable count the night before the event: do we play one or two Reset Stamp? I eventually chose to play one (and a fourth Judge in its place) due to its low value in the early game, our other disruption options, and our ability to search out the one copy when needed. If you can fit a second copy in the list I would consider it, but otherwise a second Reset Stamp is a luxury.
2 Lysandre Labs
Lysandre Labs was the Stadium of choice due to the prevalance of powerful tools like [card name=”Spell Tag” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Fairy Charm L” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card], both of which are incredibly strong against PikaRom decks. I like this count and would only lower it in favor of another Stadium.
11 Lightning
The optimal Energy count, we tried 10 and we tried 12. Neither worked well. I wouldn’t recommend changing this.
Conclusion
Looking Forward, I would definitely say PikaJudge should be a top choice for anyone looking to play in Atlantic City or local League Cups. The Ability ReshiZard and MewMew Perfection matchups are a solid 50-50 and pretty much everything else is favored. Plus, the power of Judge can and will steal games, making a deep run more probable. Be aware though, this deck is deceptively skill-based: it was a major learning curve for me to get used to at first. Overall, I really like this deck and think it’s strong going forward.
Well, that’s gonna be it for my first article! I’ll be back for another article later in September, so be on the lookout for that when it drops. One more shoutout goes to my testing group that I mentioned above for all their work in helping to create this monstrosity. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook or Twitter (@C4_TCG) and come say hi to me at events whenever. Until next time!
Charlie
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