Beheeyem Brought Back — It’s Galarian Weezing Time!
Hey everyone, Caleb here with an in-depth look at an interesting new card from the upcoming Rebel Clash set and its possible impact on an older archetype! Galarian Weezing breathes new hope into [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], a hyped-up card that never really panned out. Beheeyem’s last real 
time in the spotlight was at this past season’s World Championships, where Hampus Eriksson took it through Day-1 undefeated, but faltered in Day-2. I hadn’t thought about Beheeyem again after that until I saw Galarian Weezing.
Neutralizing Gas is a powerful Ability, especially in a Standard format where a variety of different Abilities are potent. First of all, let’s look at some of those Abilities:
Neutralizing Abilities
Cinccino: Make Do
A variety of decks rely on establishing a Bench full of [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] for their draw support. If you shut off Make Do, you can prevent those decks from repeatedly drawing the combinations of cards they need to execute their strategy each turn.
Dedenne-GX: Dedechange
[card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] is often a good card to see if you’re playing against Beheeyem, because it can dump your hand of useless Items, but if Galarian Weezing is in the Active Spot, Dedechange cannot be used.
Ditto Prism Star and Tapu Koko Prism Star: Almighty Evolution and Dance of the Ancients
[card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] is often played in decks that are worried about opposing Prism Star cards, but Galarian Weezing can turn off the Abilities of these two, meaning your Beheeyem deck wouldn’t need to run Wobbuffet.
Eldegoss V: Happy Match
One of the most-hyped cards from Rebel Clash, Eldegoss V has a very powerful Ability, and shutting it off can significantly reduce the options your opponent has available in the late game.
Garbodor: Poison Pool
Another Rebel Clash card, Garbodor has seen some hype since its Ability can instantly Poison the Defending Pokemon. If Garbodor ends up being crucial to the strategy of a new deck, Galarian Weezing will give you a significant edge against that deck.
Jirachi: Stellar Wish
A lot of decks in the current Standard format rely on [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] to set up as well as to maintain consistency throughout the game, so turning off Stellar Wish would be immensely powerful in this format.
Malamar: Psychic Recharge
Without access to Psychic Recharge, [card name=”Malamar” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] players are basically piloting a theme deck.
Mewtwo and Mew-GX: Perfection
The [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox archetype relies almost entirely on being to use the Perfection Ability, so you can cripple this deck by shutting that off.
Zacian V: Intrepid Sword
Another very strong setup Ability, Intrepid Sword is crucial to the [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] archetype, but is a common consistency card in other archetypes, mostly on the first turn. You can’t get Galarian Weezing into play on turn 1, and there won’t be many games where shutting off Intrepid Sword is valuable later, but many Mill or Control decks use Intrepid Sword throughout the game, so Galarian Weezing would help in those matchups.
I could go on, but this list should make it crystal clear that Galarian Weezing is going to be obnoxious for many, if not all, decks in Standard to deal with. I think that the current Standard format is not prepared to deal with the combination of Ability lock from Galarian Weezing and Item lock from Beheeyem. This combination will be highly frustrating to opponents, and if this deck attains popularity, it may change the way decks are built (like [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] did when it was first released). Some historical analogies to this style of deck are [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”54″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Wobbuffet” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card], both of which were quite successful in their respective formats.
In the rest of this article I’ll provide my first-draft Beheeyem / Galarian Weezing list and offer some insights into the card choices I went with, focusing on ways to build around the Galarian Weezing strategy as well as tech cards I considered for expected matchups in Rebel Clash Standard.
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Moving Galarian Weezing
So how do you move this guy? A Retreat Cost of three cannot be satisfied by [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] alone, so we’re going to need something else in addition to Air Balloon. There are two good options I can see: [card name=”Bewear” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”182″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM101″ c=”name”][/card].
Bewear is intriguing and I have yet to try a list with it. The two main reasons I would consider it worse than Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX are that it is a Stage-1 instead of a Basic, and it has lower HP. However, I still think Bewear could have potential and intend to test it at some point.
Much of the skeleton for this deck remains the same as [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] skeleton lists in previous formats. The main difference is that [card name=”Professor Elm’s Lecture” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”188″ c=”name”][/card] has been cut from the deck and [card name=”Pidgeotto” set=”Team Up” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] has been replaced with [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. Rather than the slower setup of Professor Elm’s Lecture, I’d rather just draw into the Pokemon I need (plus all the other cards I need, such as Air Balloon and [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card]) off [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”201″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card].
Here’s my current build:
[decklist name=”.” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″][pokemon amt=”24″]4x [card name=”Elgyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Koffing” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”54″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Weezing” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”24″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Minccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Goomy” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”91″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Cynthia” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”119″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Tate and Liza” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Giovanni’s Scheme” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ 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=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Tool Scrapper” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”116″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”5″]4x [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”212″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card explanations
Four Elgyem and Four Beheeyem
This is your main attacker and you’ll need to be able to consistently draw into each turn after using Mysterious Noise on the previous turn. You’ll want to start attacking with Beheeyem as soon as you can get one into play–so turn two, ideally. Item lock gets less and less effective at shutting down your opponent’s setup the longer it takes to come into play.
Three Koffing and Three Galarian Weezing
If Beheeyem is your main attacker, this is your main “wall.” A healthy 3-3 line of this is necessary to ensure you have consistent access to Ability lock on top of Item lock. 130 HP isn’t a ton, so in some games you may need to establish multiple Galarian Weezing. The HP and damage output of this deck seem low at first, but it is a deck that aims to grind out the opponent and win long, close games.
Two Minccino and Two Cinccino
The old version of this deck would play a full 4-4 Pidgeotto line. However, Cinccino is like two Pidgeotto in one, so it makes sense that you can play a thinner line, saving some deck space for other disruptive cards. As anyone who played during the dominance of [card name=”Zoroark-GX” set=”Shining Legends” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card] can tell you, Make Do is great not just for drawing everything you need, but also for thinning useless cards out of your hand/deck to ensure against hand disruption from your opponent.
Two Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX and Four Air Balloon
[cardimg name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Your “movers”–you need these to move Galarian Weezing out of the Active Spot and attack with Beheeyem each turn. Each use of Invasion will be looking for an Air Balloon in part, so it makes sense to play four of those as well as two of the Pokemon they’re intended for. One thing I’ve considered is playing one Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX and one Bewear (since the deck already plays [card name=”Ditto Prism Star” set=”Lost Thunder” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card]), but I like the early-game consistency of just having two Basic Pokemon to perform the switching.
One Zamazenta V
Pokemon VMAX are on the rise. Toxtricity VMAX and Dragapult VMAX are two that are expected to comprise popular Standard archetypes. Although VMAX decks can play around [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] by not evolving their Pokemon-V, that means their decks won’t be operating at optimal strength and they may be more susceptible to this deck’s lock. Also, you can frequently drop the Zamazenta V as a surprise once your opponent has board-locked themselves and have no way to attack it, which can just win games outright.
One Oranguru and One Recycle Energy
This deck can struggle if it runs out of resources early, since that makes it harder to keep the lock going each turn, so [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] seems like a strong recovery option that will help smooth out these problems. If we play Oranguru, we also need to run a [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”257″ c=”name”][/card] because [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] does not work on Basic Pokemon. Recycle Energy can have other uses, though; notably, it can work in combination with [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] to hard-retreat a Galarian Weezing, or could retreat something like an [card name=”Elgyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”90″ c=”name”][/card] if you started with one and wanted to move it.
One Goomy
Sticky Membrane is good against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] decks, where your goal is to delay them from using Altered Creation GX for as long as possible! This matchup has historically been difficult for [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], so [card name=”Goomy” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card] might be a necessity in this deck if Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX is still a top deck in the next format.
Two Reset Stamp
[card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] may be stronger in this deck than in any other. Hand disruption is always good but when you pair it with this deck’s oppressive lock, Reset Stamp can be near-impossible for opponents to draw out of.
One Tool Scrapper
This card will be very important for this deck to succeed. [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox decks will attempt to use [card name=”Stealthy Hood” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”186″ c=”name”][/card] to get around Galarian Weezing; if you use Tool Scrapper to remove that, they won’t be able to attach another one under Item lock (if they even play a second one), and you will have a huge advantage in the matchup. Other Pokemon Tools it will be important to remove include Air Balloon and [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] (to prevent certain Pokemon from retreating) and [card name=”Big Charm” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”158″ c=”name”][/card] (to take KOs quicker).
One Ordinary Rod and One Pal Pad
Recovery is important for this deck because you’re constantly sending up “sacrificial” Pokemon that could easily be Knocked Out. I think one each of [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] should be enough, but if your testing finds that you need a little more recovery, just bump up one or both of the counts.
Other Options
Jirachi and Escape Board
Improving your consistency comes with a large deck space commitment, but [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Escape Board” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] be the best way to go about this if you choose to do so.
Oricorio-GX and/or Zacian V
Like Jirachi, [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] can help you set up early. Later, [card name=”Oricorio-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card] can supplement your draw to make sure you can keep looping Mysterious Noise. However, with Boss’s Orders coming in Rebel Clash, I don’t want more two-Prize Pokemon in play than necessary, and we’re already playing [card name=”Dawn Wings Necrozma-GX” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”63″ c=”name”][/card]. If I wanted to pick one of these two, I would go with Oricorio-GX, just for the repeated usage throughout the game.
Other Items: Acro Bike, Evolution Incense, Great Ball and/or Mysterious Treasure
There are a few different Item-based consistency options for this deck to consider. [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] is among the worst in my opinion; it has the tendency to backfire in a deck that plays only Special Energy and multiple important Evolution lines. [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card], however, is a more worthwhile inclusion. It can grab any of the Stage-1 pieces in the deck, but the drawback is that it cannot find Basic Pokemon. For this reason, I would actually consider [card name=”Great Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] before the other two options. [card name=”Mysterious Treasure” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”113″ c=”name”][/card] probably does not search for enough Pokemon in the deck to really be worth playing.
Roxie and Weezing
I’m intrigued by adding this combo to Beheeyem. You’ll get a Supporter that doesn’t get rid of your hand as well as greater damage output. It can be difficult to set up plays with [card name=”Weezing” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card], but the payoff can be massive; a lot of relevant numbers become much easier to hit. For example, one Weezing can be the difference between 270 damage (three uses of Mysterious Noise) and 280 damage to KO an Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX. The draw power of [card name=”Roxie” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”205″ c=”name”][/card] also helps you find the Beheeyem / Energy / Air Balloon combo more consistently.
Matchups
This deck is different than many decks in the current Standard format. It’s an attacking deck, not a control or mill deck, but it does not rely on overwhelming damage output. Instead, it relies both on damage and disruption. Your gameplan is to repeat the Item and Ability lock loop as consistently as possible, while hoping your disruption causes your opponent to miss a beat.
Blacephalon and Malamar
Item lock alone is very good against both of these decks, but add Ability lock in and you have two extremely favorable matchups.
Mill
These styles of decks have become incredibly popular, as they’re easy to play and don’t have many clear-cut losses. Item lock is also very good against these, however. As long as you don’t overextend and discard too many cards, you should have enough remaining in deck to win. If all else fails, your own [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] can sometimes save the day with Resource Management.
Pikachu and Zekrom-GX and Welder Decks
[cardimg name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
These decks just attack, attack, and attack. These matchups are challenging because your Galarian Weezing will be at its strongest in the early game (to shut down Jirachi and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card]), which is when it is hardest to set up. If you have time to establish the loop, you will be favored to win, but the early game can be sketchy in these matchups. Some tweaks to the list, possibly including the Roxie / Weezing package, might be needed if you want to improve these matchups.
VMAX Decks
VMAX Pokemon are going to be on the rise in the coming months. Toxtricity VMAX and Dragapult VMAX decks are very good, especially the latter, and should be top-tier decks in the metagame. Against these decks, you can rely on your [card name=”Zamazenta V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], but if they choose to evolve their Pokemon V into the VMAX, you can go for a gameplan relying more on [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card].
Zacian V / Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX
Altered Creation GX can wreck you, so your best plan for this matchup is to dely that from happening for as long as possible. Your method for doing this is [card name=”Goomy” set=”Forbidden Light” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card], which forces an extra Energy attachment before Altered Creation GX can be used–ideally, this will buy you one extra turn, which should be enough to get a lock going. and hoping to stick a [card name=”Reset Stamp” set=”Unified Minds” no=”206″ c=”name”][/card] in the late game. Lillie’s Poke Doll will also be a strong card in this matchup.
Conclusion
I’m excited about this deck! It’s fun to try wacky archetypes like [card name=”Beheeyem” set=”Unified Minds” no=”91″ c=”name”][/card]. Ability lock is almost always strong in Pokemon, and I am hopeful that Galarian Weezing will be a strong card in this format. Feel free to ask me anything about the deck, or share your own ideas about it, in the Subscribers Hideout! As always, take care, please keep staying isolated, and be good to your fellow humans.
Peace,
–Caleb
Follow me on Twitter @shredemerptcg.
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