Let’s Go Turbo! — The Power of Clay in Expanded

By: Zakary Krekeler · Posted Posted onFeb 27, 2020 at 8:56 AM · 0 Comments

[cardimg name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Hello everyone! We’re on the cusp of the first Expanded tournament with Sword & Shield, not to mention the first chance for many Americans to try out those new cards. As great as the new set is, the true impact is likely to be the new rule change–no more Supporters when going first! 

Among the decks in Expanded, none are poised to gain from this new rule change quite as much as aggro decks. Before, it was easy enough to set up your board while going first, so as to mitigate the impact of your opponent getting the first attack. Now, with the new rule change, that setup is considerably more limited. It isn’t only that cards such as [card name=”Brigette” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”134″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lillie” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] are now nearly useless, but also, without the additional cards from a draw Supporter, even Item-based setups are now greatly hampered when going first. Moreover, achieving that setup now requires Ability-based draw more than ever—think [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]. Without those cards, decks are far more susceptible to having a poor first-turn, potentially inviting donks, or the broader lack of ability to match the opponent’s board state. With them, however, the extra Prizes that they grant could give the opponent a path to victory. For decks that can’t reliably use an attack on turn one, going second isn’t all that helpful either; they’ll get to set up, but the opponent will still get two turns to set up before having pressure applied to them, not to mention that the opponent still likely have the first attack in that scenario. Any deck that can easily attack on turn one now gets the best of both worlds when going second. And, since it is now more difficult to set up the board when going first, the impact of that turn one attack will be considerably greater. The straightforward, quick-hitting nature of these decks also means that it isn’t as bad when going first, since they don’t actually need a tremendous amount of setup cards themselves. Plus, they can still wield a significant advantage when going first against setup decks, since they’ll be getting the first KO anyway; going first in those matchups means that they will get the first KO almost every time, instead of only most of the time. All together, the new rule change makes these aggressive decks much stronger, thus making them prime picks for this weekend’s Expanded Regional Championship in Collinsville, not to mention any other Expanded event you might find yourself at.

When it comes to aggressive decks in Expanded, you can delineate them into those that use Energy acceleration, and those that don’t. The latter category consists of decks such as Night March, [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Ultra Necrozma” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. They tend to be reliant on Special Energy, and typically need some other factor (in these cases, [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] or discarded Pokemon) to achieve the damage output needed to obtain knockouts. The former consists of what I would call “turbo” decks–decks such as Dark Box, [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Reshiram and Zekrom-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Moltres and Zapdos and Articuno-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM210″ c=”name”][/card]. These decks are more reliant on Pokemon-GX (and Pokemon V) attackers, but they make up for that by having a more powerful payoff to their attacks. For a turbo deck, it shouldn’t be difficult to attack for 200 or more damage on turn one, and to have the next attacker already set up and ready to go. Unlike the Special Energy reliant aggro decks, the Energy Acceleration ones aren’t limited to powering up one attacker at a time; this makes them more resilient to [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] and other forms of hand disruption. As you might have guessed from this article’s title, I’ll be focused on those Energy-accelerating turbo decks. The advantages of turbo decks make them stand out even among the umbrella of “aggressive decks”, and they can take advantage of one of my favorite Trainer engines in Expanded: [card name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card].

While the Pokemon in turbo decks may be wildly different, all of these decks share the same basic strategy. The goal of a turbo deck is to get as much Energy into play as early as they can, either via Item cards such as [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], or Abilities such as [card name=”Rayquaza-GX” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]’s Stormy Winds Ability or [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card]’s Rebirth Ability. From there, the turbo deck takes advantage of that Energy acceleration via hard-hitting attacks. From the beginning, a turbo deck should be hitting for a OHKO, regardless of the opposing Pokemon. In some cases, such as for Dark Box ([card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]), the Energy acceleration itself provides the damage boost. In others, such as Zacian V, the Energy acceleration is to ensure that the already powerful attacks happen sooner in the game. 

[premium]

The Clay Engine

As far as Supporter cards go, Clay is decent in Standard. In Expanded, however, Clay can be one of the strongest Supporters available in a deck that utilizes it well. 

The larger pool of Item cards in Expanded make it so that a Trainer engine focused on Clay is more than viable. First, the additional recovery cards in Expanded can almost entirely mitigate the negatives that can potentially come from discarding the wrong thing. In Expanded, every card that you discard with Clay is theoretically recoverable. You can immediately get back Pokemon with [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card], Supporters with [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card], and Energy with recovery cards such as [card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card], or more obscure cards such as Ho-oh-EX. Even Special Energy can be returned to the deck with [card name=”Special Charge” set=”Steam Siege” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card], and with [card name=”Dowsing Machine” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card], Stadium cards are recoverable. In many cases, the extra discarded cards are actually beneficial–particularly for Darkness, Metal, or Water-type decks that can take advantage of the various Energy acceleration cards. That larger card pool also means that the impact of the Item cards that you can get with Clay are much larger. In the turbo decks I’ve been I’ve about, Items make up nearly the entirety of their Energy acceleration and consistency strategies. Clay can give you your way to find your Pokemon, a way to power up that Pokemon, and your Supporter for next turn, not to mention numerous other versatile consistency cards such as [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card].

Clay vs. Professor Juniper

[cardimg name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Clay is best suited for those decks where the discarding is of benefit; otherwise, [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Black and White” no=”101″ c=”name”][/card] is likely a better option. Specifically, Clay stands out in decks that are Item-heavy, can benefit from the discard effect, and don’t have major non-recoverable pieces. One thing to be wary of is how difficult it might be to recover certain cards. For example, I wouldn’t want to use Clay in a deck that revolved around Special Energy, since those aren’t directly recoverable to your hand. So, even though a deck like Vespiquen or Night March might be able to take advantage of Clay’s discarding effect, it has a downside in that it won’t be able to help you draw into [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card], so it likely wouldn’t be as effective as Professor Juniper.

You might not expect it, given the discard effect of Clay, but what gives Clay the biggest advantage over Professor Juniper is that it allows you to conserve resources more effectively. In particular, Clay allows you to dig through the deck for more resources, without giving up the resources that you already have in-hand. For example, let’s say you have an early hand of two VS Seeker, a [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card], and a Professor Juniper. That hand is quite an unfortunate one, but if you have Clay instead of the Professor Juniper, then that hand becomes one of the best that you could have. In the former case, you have to decide whether or not to keep the resources you have, or to discard them in order to advance your board state. In the latter case, you don’t have to make that choice–you get to do both!

Once you get set up with a turbo deck, there are only a few cards that will actually matter from that point on in the game. Specifically, you’ll want Guzma and/or VS Seeker, as well as any matchup specific cards such as [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card]. With Professor Juniper, you effectively can’t build on a good hand once you have those cards already in hand. Moreover, you can’t build on your board state without having to sacrifice that hand (either by shuffling it away with a different Supporter, or discarding it), and you can’t work to thin your deck of unneeded cards either. With Clay, you can, and you’ll want to. So, even though Clay does have a downside of discarding random cards, in many cases, Clay will actually improve a turbo deck’s mid-game and late-game consistency, since you can reliably build up a hand of needed resources without sacrificing any deck-thinning or board-building capabilities.

Deck Example: Zacian V

In addition to its prowess in Standard, [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] is also a dangerous deck in Expanded. As far as attacking decks go, this is one of the fastest and hardest hitting that I’ve seen. It isn’t uncommon for this deck to be able to OHKO a Tag Team on the first turn of the game, and it is actually rather rare that it will miss a turn one attack entirely. 

Among the turbo decks I’ve tested, this is the one that I’ve felt is the strongest, and has the most potential of any turbo deck. It also works beautifully with the [card name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] engine, which makes the deck even more explosive and dangerous. While it can be a bit linear, when compared to the other turbo decks, Zacian V is faster and more consistent. If I decide to play a turbo deck in Collinsville (which, at this point, is what I am leaning toward doing), this will be my deck of choice. It’s also one of the best examples of how the Clay engine can be effective.

Here’s the list for my Clay-cian deck:

[decklist name=”Claycian” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″][pokemon amt=”8″]4x [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”40″]4x [card name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Ether” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Dowsing Machine” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”128″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]12x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Evolutions” no=”98″ c=”deck2″ amt=”12″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

List Explanations

Pokemon: Four Zacian V, Two Shaymin-EX, One Dedenne-GX, One Oranguru

Since the goal of this deck is to power up three Zacian V as early as possible, you want to maximize the number of them that you play. While this deck could play only three, that then leaves it vulnerable to having Zacian V prized; even one, in that scenario, could significantly affect the deck’s success. The [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] are the go-to draw cards in the deck. You want to have heavier counts of them, since they turn any [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] that you get from Clay into even more Draw support. Finally, the [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”148″ c=”from”][/card] is an excellent card, particularly given the Energy acceleration in this deck. If you have an extra Metal Energy in hand, you can opt to guarantee that your [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card] are successful. In addition, Primate Wisdom makes it possible to include Ether as yet another Energy acceleration card! Even when it isn’t being used for Energy acceleration, it is nice to be able to dig slightly farther into the deck, and it gives the deck more consistency against [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]. It is also usable at all points, unlike the [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”113″ c=”from”][/card] , which requires your hand size to be low; I’ve found that this aspect makes the new Oranguru slightly more reliable in terms of improving consistency.

Supporters: Four Clay, Three Guzma

Clay is the engine of this deck, and you want to be able to get it into your hand as early as possible. Zacian V certainly fits the criteria I mentioned earlier for including Clay. There isn’t anything in the deck that you are terribly wary of discarding, and the deck benefits quite a bit from being able to discard Metal Energy. At 31 Items, the list is Item-heavy enough that you can expect that Clay will get you enough cards to be worthwhile, especially since those Item cards are what you’ll be going after anyway. 

[card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] is arguably as important, but since you don’t need it until later, you can play a lower quantity of them. Still, with three, you should be able to find one early enough, especially when you consider that discarding one with Clay means that [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card] allows you to grab it. The three Guzma also give this deck a solid strategy for beating [card name=”Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] (which I explain in the matchup section below).

The one Supporter that I don’t have in this list, but would strongly recommend is N. Even one disruption card is enough to be useful, and it gives [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] better odds against many of the aggressive non-GX decks–[card name=”Ultra Necrozma” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] in particular. I haven’t included it in the main list, as I haven’t actually decided which of those 60 cards is worth taking out for it – but N is worth including.

Energy Acceleration: Four Max Elixir, Four Metal Saucer, Two Ether

[cardimg name=”Ether” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”121″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

The four Max Elixir and four [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card] are staples in any Zacian V deck–they’re what makes this deck into a true turbo variant. Ether adds more acceleration so that you’ll rarely, if ever, miss an attack when you need it. If you want to include more tech cards (such as the N I just mentioned), then Ether is potentially cuttable. If you do, you can also consider changing the Sword & Shield Oranguru to the Sun and Moon one–though I’ve opted to keep the new one when trying out tech cards in those Ether spots.

Consistency Items: Four Quick Ball, Four Trainers’ Mail, Two Acro Bike

Not too much out of the ordinary here. I’d like to be able to include more [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], but space only allows for two of them. [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] tends to be more useful, particularly in that it helps you find [card name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card]. You could also turn the Acro Bike into [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card], but I’ve found the Acro Bike to be more reliable in my testing.

Tool Cards: Two Float Stone, Two Choice Band

[card name=”Float Stone” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”137″ c=”name”][/card] allows you to switch easier, which is useful when your attack requires you to switch in order to use it two turns in a row. [card name=”Choice Band” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] gives Zacian V the extra damage needed to OHKO Tag Team Pokemon such as [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Greninja and Zoroark-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card], and gets the attack within 10 damage of being able to OHKO [card name=”Garchomp and Giratina-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card]. In both cases, I haven’t had any issues at a count of two. I wouldn’t want to go lower, as that would lead to issues with prizing and increase the difficulty of finding them, but I’ve never felt a need to increase beyond those counts.

Tech Items: Great Catcher, Target Whistle

Both of these are must-have inclusions in this deck. [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card] gives the deck a way to bring up an opposing GX Pokemon even on turns where you need to use Clay. [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] is one of the best cards in the deck, as it gives you a way to bring those Pokemon-EX/GX back into play, so that you can get a two-Prize KO again, even if your opponent tries to play around that possibility. This also gives you a reliable solution against decks that play [card name=”Sky Field” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”89″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Parallel City” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card], as those decks can use their Stadiums to remove their Pokemon- EX/GX from play. That works well to stop Zacian V–until you play Target Whistle! An opponent who knows about this tech can play around it with [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Super Rod” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”149″ c=”name”][/card], but I haven’t actually seen many players using Target Whistle, so you should be able to catch them unaware. 

Stadiums: Shrine of Punishment vs. Chaotic Swell

There are two ways you can go with the Stadiums. You can do what I’ve done here, and include [card name=”Shrine of Punishment” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”143″ c=”name”][/card]. Alternatively, you could opt to include [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card], and also add in a copy of [card name=”Dhelmise” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card]. In either case, you’ll need a way to add 10 damage, so that Brave Blade can hit for 270 and OHKO Tag Team Pokemon-GX, hence the Shrine of Punishment. Chaotic Swell is helpful against other decks that utilize Stadium cards like: Ultra Necrozma, Mewtwo and Mew-GX Box, and [card name=”Snorlax VMAX” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”142″ c=”name”][/card], for example; but including it comes at the cost of requiring an additional space in the deck.

General Strategy

The plan for this deck is straightforward. You want to be able to attack as early as you can (typically turn one, or turn two if you go first), and then continue to take KOs every turn of the game. [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] are go-to targets for the attacks, though any Pokemon-GX will do; ideally, you should only need three attacks to win. Heavy counts of Guzma, along with Great Catcher and Target Whistle make this a reliable strategy, so even if your opponent attacks with non-Pokemon-GX, or Pokemon VMAX that can’t be OHKO’d by Brave Blade, you should still be able to get a two-Prize knockout on any given turn. 

When playing Zacian V, your mentality should be to dig hard, with little regard to the consequences. Don’t try and hold back your Shaymin-EX or Dedenne-GX if playing them down means that you can accelerate more Energy. You want to power up your three Zacian V as fast as you can. Once all three are powered up, then you don’t have to worry nearly as much about [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card] or other forms of hand disruption. Once the Zacian V are ready to go, the goal is to thin your deck of non-needed cards, so that when you do inevitably face N, you’ll be able to maximize the odds of drawing into what you need. Guzma and VS Seeker are the most important cards to keep; you’ll also probably want Target Whistle, Float Stone, Great Catcher, and your Ace Spec. 

Since this deck can easily get a turn one KO, you’ll typically want to go second with it. That way, if you happen to be playing against another aggressive deck, you’ll be able to get the first KO, and maintain that Prize lead until the end of the game. If you happen to know that your opponent isn’t playing a deck that can reliably get a turn-one KO, then you can opt to go first, so that you effectively have two turns to set up your Zacian V, while still grabbing the all-important lead in Prizes. Plus, on the second turn, you’ll typically be able to use [card name=”Guzma” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”115″ c=”name”][/card] to pick and choose what you want to KO with your first attack, whereas it’s more difficult to pull that off on turn one while going second (you’ll typically need to use Clay). Thankfully, this deck can play well both while going first and while going second, so even if your coin-flip luck isn’t great, the impact won’t be large.

Matchups

[cardimg name=”Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”215″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As for matchups, this [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] build tends to dominate against other attacking decks, such as Turbo Dark or Garchomp and Giratina-GX, though it can struggle with pure non-GX decks. It’s rather difficult for any deck to match Zacian V’s speed, and because the deck is naturally strong against N, there aren’t that many avenues for a comeback if one does fall behind against it. Even if the opposing deck does use non-Pokemon-GX attackers, if it relies on Shaymin-EX or Dedenne-GX to get going, Zacian V will be able to exploit that to win anyway, especially if the non-GX attacker can’t OHKO Zacian V.

Stall-type decks can give the deck trouble, as the linearity of Zacian V’s strategy means that the deck doesn’t have a whole lot of flexibility as far as alternate strategies. Against [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] Stall, for example, there isn’t much that Zacian V can do once it runs out of Guzma. Hand disruption decks, such as [card name=”Trevenant and Dusknoir-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM217″ c=”name”][/card] on the other hand, aren’t particularly strong against this Zacian V build. Once you get multiple Zacian V powered up, you don’t need many cards, so you likewise don’t care if your opponent can disrupt your hand. 

Against [card name=”Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”1″ c=”name”][/card] decks, the easiest way to win is to go second, and OHKO the Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX on turn one. Easy, right? You can pull that trick off a high percentage of the time, but assuming that you can’t, you still have a shot to win. The trick is the Target Whistle and the heavy count of Guzma. If you can at least 2HKO the Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX, then you should be able to win. If your opponent goes for a strategy of only having the Disgusting Pollen [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”6″ c=”from”][/card] in play, then what you can do is to eventually set up to use Target Whistle to return the Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX to play, use Great Catcher or Guzma to bring it Active, then OHKO it with Choice Band and Shrine of Punishment. If your opponent instead goes for Irritating Pollen [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”from”][/card] in addition to the Disgusting Pollen Vileplume, you can use the three Guzma to bring it Active over and over, and get your three Prizes that way. The strategy doesn’t quite work if your opponent can prevent you from KOing the Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX in the first place, or can use a recovery card to remove Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor-GX from the discard pile. But, against an unsuspecting opponent, this strategy gives you a fighting chance, even though you aren’t specifically teching against Vileplume.

Other Card Options

There are a few other card options that you could consider in this list. Instead of the Shrine of Punishment, you could instead opt to include a Dhelmise and two Chaotic Swell; the Dhelmise would provide the extra damage needed for Brave Blade to OHKO Tag Team Pokemon-GX, whole the Chaotic Swell is a more versatile counter-stadium, particularly against [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”][/card] and Sky Field. A [card name=”Field Blower” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] could also be useful against [card name=”Garbodor” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] decks, as well as against other Zacian V decks that opt to play [card name=”Fighting Fury Belt” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Metal Frying Pan” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”112″ c=”name”][/card]. Additionally, a non-GX attacker could be useful; [card name=”Mew” set=”Fates Collide” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card] has been my go-to in that regard, though I’ve also seen [card name=”Cobalion” set=”Steam Siege” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Heatran” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”88″ c=”name”][/card] used to fill that role. A non-Pokemon-GX doesn’t help much in the mirror match–they’ll use Guzma to get around it to get their Prizes; but it is helpful against non-GX decks such as [card name=”Ultra Necrozma” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card]. Other things I’ve considered include [card name=”Cobalion-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dialga-GX” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”82″ c=”name”][/card]. Both are techs that can pull their weight. Cobalion-GX gives the deck an out to Shock Lock, and makes the Darkness matchup incredibly favorable. Dialga-GX is used only for its Timeless GX attack, which, if you can get it off, can easily decide the game. Dialga-GX is somewhat difficult to use without [card name=”Scramble Switch” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Ninja Boy” set=”Steam Siege” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card], but you do play enough Energy acceleration in the [card name=”Clay” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] / Zacian V variant, that it is a possibility. I would be wary of cutting the [card name=”Dowsing Machine” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”128″ c=”name”][/card] in this list, due to its versatility and synergy with how the Clay engine operates, but the advantage of Dialga-GX is enough to make such a change worthwhile. It’s certainly a gamble though; it works well if you’re lucky, but does leave the deck more susceptible to late-game inconsistency.

Finally, I would advise you not to try and include anything like [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card]; they aren’t useful in practice, and so you can use that spot for something better. 

Other Clay Decks and General Core

In addition to Zacian V, [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], Dark Box, and [card name=”Reshiram and Zekrom-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] are all strong candidates for utilizing the Clay engine. While the specific lists are naturally going to change based on which deck you are building, the main core for any of these Clay decks are going to stay the same. That core looks something like this:

  • 4 Clay
  • 2-3 Guzma
  • 3-4 [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 4 [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 4 [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 2 [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Order Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”131″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 4 [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], if applicable
  • Any Energy Recovery cards ([card name=”Dark Patch” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Metal Saucer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”170″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Aqua Patch” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Ho-Oh-EX” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Tapu Koko Prism Star” set=”Team Up” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card])
  • 1 [card name=”Great Catcher” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 1 [card name=”Target Whistle” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 1 [card name=”Rescue Stretcher” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 1 Dowsing Machine
  • 2 [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 1 [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]
  • 1 Oranguru (either Sword & Shield or Sun & Moon)

This core can be adjusted to fit around all sorts of decks, even those not listed above. Overall, I believe that Clay decks, [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] in particular, are a strong choice for this weekend. Right now, Expanded is a wide open format, which will hopefully make for a fun tournament experience! To those of you playing this weekend, best of luck! I’ll both be playing and hanging out at the Yeti Gaming vending booth, so if you’re there, don’t hesitate to say hello! In any case, if you’ve got any questions, as always, you can message me, leave a comment, or ask everyone in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout!

Thanks for reading!

–Zak

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