Coast to Coast –– A Review of Daytona Beach and Looking at San Diego

By: Jimmy Pendarvis · Posted Posted onDec 6, 2019 at 6:09 PM · 0 Comments

[cardimg name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello Pokebeach readers! It has been a while since my last article here, but I am glad to be back. I have been playing a ton recently, traveling all around to do it, and having fun along the way. My latest escapade was a quick drive down to Daytona Beach for the Regional Championship this past weekend, and the tournament went well. I was able to get Top 16 with a [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”custom”]Doll[/card] Stall list that fellow PokeBeach writer, Grant Manley, handed the rest of our group the day before the event.

After placing my trust in Grant and playing a whopping zero games heading into the tournament, I was able to take advantage of the deck’s strong matchups and consistency to finish with a 7-1-1 record at the end of Day 1. I knew Day 2 was going to be tough due to the high amount of counters that were hanging around the top tables, and I fell short of Top 8 after losing to Gustavo Wada in game three of our win and in. Unfortunate to be so close and not seal the deal, but it was a strong performance nonetheless and I am looking forward to trying again at the next event. Speaking of which, I leave for San Diego Regional soon! It is going to be interesting to see how the meta develops moving forward, and I am going to share my thoughts on standard as a whole in this article. Without further ado, let’s get things started.

What I Played – Doll Stall

[decklist name=”Doll Stall” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Wobbuffet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”93″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Florges” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”86″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Flabébé” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”84″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”40″]4x [card name=”Professor Oak’s Setup” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”201″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Bellelba and Brycen-Man” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Channeler” set=”Unified Minds” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Unleashed” no=”82″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/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″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”1″]1x [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

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Three Florges

Going down to three [card name=”Florges” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] on Friday night felt somewhat risky at the time, but I never missed the fourth copy during the tournament. I cant recall a single time where I was sitting with a [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card] in hand, desperately wishing I had a Florges. I often used [card name=”Steven’s Resolve” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] to find both pieces at the same time, but even grabbing one piece was a fine solution to not having Rare Candy and Florges already in hand. Once you get past the potential issue of not setting up Florges, you are only left with possibility of Florges in the Prize. Since you only need to get out one to two Florges and a [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card], you need to Prize two Florges for it to be truly detrimental. The only exception to that is the mirror match, where you want to get out three Florges and a Munchlax. But we didn’t expect the deck to be too popular, nor is having one in the Prizes an absolute game ender. The odds of having two copies in the Prize are low and even if you do, you can help to make up for it by milling with [card name=”Bellelba and Brycen-Man” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] more aggressively and utilizing Munchlax as much as possible.

Two Mew

You will have some games where you only need one [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and other games where you don’t need Mew at all. However, you will need two Mew against [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card]. If you are able to get off [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]’s Clear Vision GX before your opponent can copy [card name=”Espeon and Deoxys-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”72″ c=”name”][/card] ‘s Cross Divide GX, you will only need one Mew. However, I was struggling to do this often due to the speed of Mewtwo and Mew-GX and the inclusion of multiple [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] in their deck. This led me to try reestablishing my board after a Cross Division GX and then win from there often, which actually happened in most cases. The biggest issue with this strategy is the possibility of one Mew in the Prize. This is because you have to place one copy on the Bench immediately, unlike Munchlax which you can protect if the other copy is in the Prize. Then you need to place another Mew on the Bench right after they KO your first one with Cross Division GX. Another option in this scenario is using [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] to send their [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] in the discard pile to the Lost Zone, which eliminates the need for Mew. However, it is not very easy to pull this off due to the energy needed for the attack, the Prize you give up by leaving the Girafarig Active, and not using Steven’s Resolve on the turn you use Girafarig’s Get Lost.

One Latios GX

Use Latios-GX’s Clear Vision GX to answer [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card], Mewtwo and Mew-GX, and [card name=”Blacephalon-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Naganadel” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”108″ c=”name”][/card] decks from taking all of their Prize cards against you. This is mainly to shut off Espeon and Deoxys-GX’s Cross Divsion GX in Malamar and Mewtwo and Mew-GX, as well as [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]’s Stinger GX in Blacephalon-GX / Naganadel. Going first against Blacephalon-GX will often result in being able to pull off Clear Division GX before they get a chance to use Stinger GX, because you can immediately Steven’s Resolve for the combo. This is due to the low Reset Stamp count that the deck plays, either none or only one copy. Stopping Cross Division GX against Malamar is similar, especially because they are much slower about pulling it off. Mewtwo and Mew-GX however is a bit trickier. Not only do they play two copies of Reset Stamp, but they draw through their deck a lot faster, which makes finding Reset Stamp and the pieces for Cross Division GX a lot easier.

One Spiritomb

[cardimg name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

This is a common tech card in [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”custom”]Doll[/card] Stall (as is Latios-GX) but they are important so I wanted to touch on them. [card name=”Spiritomb” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card] is in an interesting position moving forward due to how decks are being built. For starters, I would like to mention that I used Spiritomb to KO a Pokemon only two to three times this weekend, and all of them were the Psychic type baby [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] in Malamar decks. I never used Spiritomb to remove a [card name=”Cryogonal” set=”Unified Minds” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] from the board because it was not a winning strategy against either of the [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] lists that were well prepared for Doll Stall, those being Will Jenkins and Xander Pero. Will’s list plays two Cryogonal, which means one KO gives two free Prize cards to him. I would never consider attempting to use Spiritomb in this matchup unless I milled one with Bellelba and Brycen-Man or would lose otherwise. Xander’s list only had one Cryogonal, but he played [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] which hurts the viability of Spiritomb due to the two Prize cards it would give up. In both of these matchups, I focused on using [card name=”Channeler” set=”Unified Minds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] as my answer to Cryogonal. While I did not get anywhere close to beating Will, I ended up with a tie against Xander using this strategy. I think the major difference between their lists is one had [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and the other one didn’t, which left Xander with no way to refill his deck. This made decking him out a lot more realistic, especially because you have to mill somewhat aggressively to try to get rid of Custom Catcher anyways. Against Blacephalon in Malamar, taking a KO with Spiritomb will work unless your opponent plays [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] and draws it pretty early on, using it to remove your [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] from the game. I suggest getting your board to a reasonable state and then aggressively milling in that matchup because you will put your opponent on a clock, or possibly remove their Faba from the game.

One Girafarig

This was a very last minute addition to the deck, but [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] locked up a round one win for me that could have turned into a loss otherwise. I played against Mewtwo and Mew-GX and had a Mew in the Prize, the other one got KO’d via Cross Division GX and I was left with no way to immediately recover Mew. I could have gone for Munchlax’s Snack Search in an attempt to recover the Mew, but every turn I flip tails means another turn of losing a Pokemon on the Bench to [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card]’s Venom Shot. This lead to me setting up my hand to use Girafarig to get rid of Naganadel-GX in the discard pile immediately after Cross Division-GX, which locked up the game as my opponent no longer had a way to draw Prize cards. This example does show off one of the uses of this inclusion, but there are other uses too. Girafarig is a good card in the mirror match as long as the opposing list does not run Faba, so it is a bit of a risk to use when you are going in blind. If they do run Faba, they can then Faba your [card name=”Rainbow Energy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] and then attack with Spiritomb every single turn for the rest of the game while stacking their deck with Florges and using Bellelba and Brycen-Man to mill you. Yes, you can do some Prize denial with Lillie’s Poke Doll, but you cant leave them on top with Florges and Munchlax due to the threat of Bellelba and Brycen-Man. Additionally, even if you are able to loop Lillie’s Poke Doll, you will may run out of cards in your deck due to the resources that denying this Spiritomb value requires. On the other side of the coin, if your opponent does not run Faba, you can repeatedly use Girafarig to grab what you need until your opponent’s discard pile is completely empty, leaving them with nothing to put back on top of their deck with Florges and Munchlax. Another use for Girafarig is dealing with any deck that plays [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] and Custom Catcher, which was very difficult to deal with especially if they played a recovery card for the Oranguru.

One Wobbuffet

An anti Prism Star Pokemon card, [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] served a few purposes heading into this weekend. It eliminated the 20% chance of Rainbow Energy or Spiritomb in the Prize against [card name=”Victini Prism Star” set=”Dragon Majesty” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card], which results in a loss or tie. The addition of Wobbuffet made it so not only do you have to Prize one of the Spiritomb, Wobbuffet has to be in the Prize too for it to be detrimental to Doll Stall. Additionally, some games start so poorly that you aren’t ever able to use Spiritomb to KO Victini Prism Star because the Prize will lose you the game, or you don’t have a [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] remaining to attach to the Spiritomb in order to protect it while it uses Build Spite. [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] is another important card to shut off in some situations due to the many threats that it can transform into, such as [card name=”Pyroar” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”37″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Luxio” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] in Fire Box, or the Psychic-type [card name=”Naganadel-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] in anything that runs Energy acceleration.

Four Professor Oak’s Setup, Two Professor Elm’s Lecture

After playing with the deck, it is very odd to me that Ondrej Skubal did not play [card name=”Professor Oak’s Setup” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card] at the Latin America International Championships. It is rarely worse than [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card], and it is often better due to the upside of being able to grab [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and Latios-GX. Two Professor Elm’s Lecture were included because the deck needs to be as consistent as possible, often being a situation where you immediately win if you achieve your setup.

Two Bellelba and Brycen-Man, Three Lusamine

In some matchups, this package of [card name=”Bellelba and Brycen-Man” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lusamine” set=”Crimson Invasion” no=”96″ c=”name”][/card] is not necessary, those are the matchups where the opponent has no chance to get around your strategy and take all of their Prize cards. However, there will be matchups where you will be grateful that you are able to mill your opponent a bunch, and those are matchups where the opponent does have some trick up their sleeve. I already mentioned a few situations in which you want to mill aggressively, and that is when your opponent has cards such as Custom Catcher, tech Pokemon or Faba in a deck that can place damage counters. Those are solid examples, but you want to start milling as soon as possible in almost every game. Unless you’re deep into the tournament, you won’t know what techs your opponent will have, so it is best to err on the side of caution. Another situation in which you will want Bellelba and Brycen-Man is when you lose game one or make it to game three, because you will need to speed up the process of decking out your opponent.

One Channeler

Use [card name=”Channeler” set=”Unified Minds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] as a tech for one Pokemon and one Pokemon only: Cryogonal. It is a huge pain to deal with because you don’t have any defensive way to deal with it. Plus, assuming your opponent was able to use Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX’s Altered Creation-GX, you will have a tough time slowing the game down enough to mill them out. However, with the inclusion of Channeler, you are able to flood the board with Lillie’s Poke Doll repeatedly and slow down the game.

Four Stealthy Hood

It feels weird to play four cards for one matchup, but you need four [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] to handle Fire Box decks. I played against two Fire Box decks this weekend, one of which had Reset Stamp and the other one had [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], both of which are uncommon cards that improved the matchup a little for them. However, I was able to achieve a board state where all of my important Pokemon had a Stealthy Hood attached, thus denying my opponent any way to take a Prize card. You will need to have three Stealthy Hood on average, so one in the Prize is not a big deal. However, I would not remove one copy because one in the Prize would be catastrophic. In matchups where this card is useless, I like to attach them to Munchlax and Lillie’s Poke Doll in order to get them out of my deck in case of a Reset Stamp. I choose those Pokemon because they are unable to take advantage of [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] anyway, which means you lose nothing while thinning your deck a little bit.

One Sky Pillar

This card is great against the Psychic-type [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and Mew, both of which would otherwise be a pain to deal with. You are able to search [card name=”Sky Pillar” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card] out with Steven’s Resolve and then infinitely loop it with Lusamine, thus denying spread Pokemon any real chance of affecting your Bench enough for it to matter. I would never remove this card from the deck, and I would consider going up to two depending on the expected metagame.

Thoughts on Doll Stall

I want to say that this deck is actually fun to play! I had a great time playing in the event, and my opponents were chill about it too. After not playing the deck at all before the event, I was a little worried that it would be difficult to play due to the nature of the deck, but it was easy to pick up. If you have been turned off by the deck because of either of these factors, I encourage you to keep an open mind and give this deck a try.

I think the deck was an incredibly strong play for Daytona Beach, and if it weren’t for the teched out [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] lists, I don’t think any decks in Day 2 were particularly worrisome for [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] Stall outside of Michael Catron’s [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] list that included a [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card]. Moving forward, the deck definitely takes a hit for a couple of reasons. The Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX matchup will need to be figured out, because Xander’s list is scary and Will’s list seems pretty impossible to beat unless you happen to pull off [card name=”Latios-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]’s Clear Vision GX before they use Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX’s Altered Creation GX, which is extremely difficult to do due to the ease in which they can pull it off and the high count of [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card]. Other than that, the deck has little problems and most of them are easily adjustable for, outside of someone going to ridiculous lengths to tech for the deck in some other archetype.

A Deck That Stood Out to Me – Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX

[decklist name=”Will Jenkins’ ADP” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″][pokemon amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Keldeo-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cryogonal” set=”Unified Minds” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Girafarig” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”94″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Drampa” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”36″]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Rosa” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”204″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Guzma and Hala” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”193″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ 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=”Tag Call” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Evolutions” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cherish Ball” set=”Unified Minds” no=”191″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ 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=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Choice Helmet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Counter Gain” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]6x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”93″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]4x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Unit Energy GFW” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”137″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Unit Energy LPM” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

What Won – Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX

[decklist name=”Drew Cate’s Gardy” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”6″]4x [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Lugia-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”45″]4x [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Coach Trainer” set=”Unified Minds” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Faba” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Custom Catcher” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”182″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Evolutions” no=”88″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Tag Call” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Fairy Charm P” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”175″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Energy Spinner” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Tag Switch” set=”Unified Minds” no=”209″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”142″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Unidentified Fossil” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”207″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Power Plant” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”9″]9x [card name=”Fairy Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”9″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

[cardimg name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Thoughts on Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX and Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX

I think Drew Cate’s [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] decklist is great. It looks consistent and is not loaded with many Fairy Charm cards, which is something I was never a fan of in previous Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX decks. This deck’s success surprised me because I did not think it was strong enough to handle the whole field, but Drew was able to do that well. I think the deck ended up being very strong for Daytona Beach due to how decks were built, such as a lack of [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] in pretty much every [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] list. Moving forward, I would expect to see more counters to this deck popping up at tournaments, such as the aforementioned Lucario and Melmetal-GX. However, it seems like Drew was ready to deal with that by using [card name=”Lugia-GX” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]’s Lost Purge GX to send Energy cards into the Lost Zone, which makes me wonder if he was surprised by the lack of Lucario and Melmetal-GX. If he was, he probably thought the tournament was much easier than expected considering one of the most annoying techs to play against was not even present at the event. I think it will be interesting to see how this deck does at San Diego and beyond as I expect it to grow in popularity, but it seems to be a deck most players tend to disrespect.

What Flopped – Baby Blacephalon/Pidgeotto

I am not going to give a decklist for this deck because I don’t consider it to be a top pick moving forward, nor did I consider it to be a great play for Daytona Beach. However, [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] was a deck players had to respect because it was going to be a popular deck. It did end up being popular, but it did not perform well at all. Decks were packed with counters such as [card name=”Cyrus Prism Star” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dewgong” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”45″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. Other decks took a strong matchup against the deck, things like [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Florges” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”86″ c=”name”][/card] were both decks that had a strong presence in Day 2 of the tournament. Combined with the deck’s slight inconsistency issues and linear strategy, I plan to stay away from this deck myself.

San Diego Regional Championships Thoughts / Predictions

I gave my insights on the most popular and top tier decks from Daytona Beach, but I would like to share some additional points about the San Diego Regional Championships before wrapping this article up.

  • [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”custom”]Doll[/card] Stall will see more counters, mainly Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX lists similar to what Will Jenkins or Xander Pero played in Daytona Beach.
  • I could see the popularity of Doll Stall going either way, players love free wins but they don’t tend to like defensive decks.
  • Fire Box and [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] (the best [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] based decks) will see play and lists will remain relatively unchanged.
  • The Fire-type baby [card name=”Blacephalon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”32″ c=”name”][/card] will see a significant drop in popularity, but could end up doing well if it is not respected or hits the right matchups.
  • [card name=”Gardevoir and Sylveon-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] will see an increase in popularity, but other players will prepare more for it and it will not perform well.
  • [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] will be played, but will see a decrease in popularity due to all of the [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] hype. I don’t expect it to perform well.
  • [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] Control could end up being a decent play for the event, which I do not think was the case in Daytona Beach.

Conclusion

That is all for my first article back! I enjoyed getting to unload all of my thoughts on the standard format here and hopefully you enjoyed reading them. Whether you are playing in League Cups soon or heading out to San Diego this upcoming weekend, I recommend trying out one of the decklists in this article. All of them performed well last weekend and they should all remain solid decks moving forward, especially for League Cups. I will be spending the next couple days testing before I fly across the country to compete in San Diego, and I hope to be comfortable with a deck choice before leaving. I am confident in my ability to pick up a deck with little to no experience, but scrambling last minute can be stressful and end up hurting my performance come game day.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to comment below and I will respond to you. Anyways, I will be back later this month with another article, until then, peace!

–Jimmy

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