The Evolution Conundrum – Stage-2s In Standard
When it comes to the new Standard format, there are unfortunately a large number of complaints that have come from players, most of which are at least somewhat justified. The constraints on the format that have been placed by the strength of [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] are onerous to say the least, and those limitations have only been exacerbated by the speed of the new format and the strength of the new Pokemon VMAX. While the format-warping effect of Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX has been well documented to this point, there is a more specific complaint about the format that I think is worth examining, and that is the comparatively weak strength of Stage-2 Pokemon. There have been discussions on how to make Stage-2 Pokemon more competitive, with suggestions ranging from erratas of cards such as [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”180″ c=”name”][/card], to printing stronger Stage-2 Pokemon in the future. The tournament results have made it clear: Stage-2 decks perform poorly when compared with Stage-1 Pokemon and Basic Pokemon-focused decks. Those that do end up doing well tend to be more niche anti-meta decks, or else use the Stage-2 solely for support. It’s become almost trivially easy to dismiss the potential of a Stage-2 simply because it is a Stage-2, regardless of how otherwise impactful that card might be. For creative deck brewers and off-meta deck fans, this is awful; as a player who quite enjoys building and playing off-meta decks, I certainly count myself among those who lament the demise of the competitive Stage-2 deck. So, in this article, I’m going to do what I can to examine this trend, and in doing so, provide a roadmap to how Stage-2s can return to viability – and how they can be competitive even today.
The Stage-2 Collapse
[cardimg name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg] nideoq
Before we can solve the struggles of the Stage-2 deck, we first need to figure out why exactly it is that Stage-2 decks struggle. After all, Stage-2 Pokemon haven’t always been awful. In fact, for most of the Pokemon TCG’s history, Stage-2s have been the most dominant kind of deck to play. Even in previous eras of heavy Basic play – the SP era, for example – there were still strong Stage-2 options floating around and performing well. As recently as 2017, Stage-2 decks were performing excellently, as Pokemon such as [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Metagross-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM28″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Greninja” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] all were good options at some point or another. Since the release of Team Up, however, a Stage Two deck has not won a single Regional Championship or higher event. What’s more, most of those events haven’t had a Stage-2 deck come close to winning, hence the concerns about the viability of those decks.
The release of Tag Team Pokemon-GX marked a steep drop in the competitive viability of Stage-2 Pokemon, and Stage-2 Pokemon as the main attacker in particular. This does make sense – after all, why invest the extra resources into getting out a Stage-2, when you could instead get the same amount (or more) of HP and damage output from a Basic Pokemon? The only advantage that any Stage-2 has over Tag Team Pokemon-GX is typically that they give up less Prizes, but that advantage can be washed away by the slower speed of the Stage-2 deck. Since the Tag Team Pokemon-GX (or Stage-1) deck doesn’t have to devote spots to Rare Candy (or finding it), they can instead add in cards for greater consistency, more speed, or add in more techs for the meta. This means that non-Stage-2 decks automatically have a structural advantage over Stage-2 decks when it comes to those factors, which likewise means that they have an advantage in terms of deck strength against a varied field. In the past, this was an acceptable trade-off for Stage-2 decks, as they could lose out on some of that speed, in exchange for higher damage output and more HP. Effectively, they were slower to get going, but once they did get going, they were much more difficult to stop. However, once Tag Team Pokemon-GX were released, and that advantage was taken away, Stage-2 decks naturally found themselves struggling. What’s more is that at the same time that Stage-2 Pokemon lost their HP advantage, they also seem to have lost their advantage in damage output, as modern Stage-2 Pokemon simply seem to be weaker in that regard than the Tag Team Pokemon-GX and Pokemon VMAX they need to compete against. A 2HKO strategy against Pokemon-GX, Pokemon VMAX, and Tag Team Pokemon-GX can work well for non-GX/V decks (Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX notwithstanding), but the difficulty of establishing a Stage-2 attacker generally results in the 2HKO strategy falling short for Stage-2 decks. If your Pokemon gets OHKOd every turn, it can be challenging to replace it with a new attacker; when you have to replace a Stage-2 every turn, that challenge can be insurmountable. At the least, you would likely lose a turn of attacking at some point while trying to re-establish your attackers – this missed turn can fully erase the single-Prize advantage that the deck has, particularly since Stage-2 decks have a tendency to be slower to the first attack regardless.
The end result of all of this is that attacking Stage-2 Pokemon have all but been pushed out of the meta. Gone are the days when you could have a Pokemon like Gardevoir-GX as your main attacker; in the current Standard format, Stage-2 Pokemon are exclusively either support Pokemon, or they succeed by exploiting some weakness of the meta. For an attacking Stage-2 Pokemon to see success nowadays, it has to have some effect other than damage in order to win. [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Decidueye” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”13″ c=”name”][/card] are the best modern examples of Stage-2 attackers that can do well, though they typically do poorly if faced with a matchup that doesn’t get blocked by their damage prevention. Without those extra beneficial factors, most Stage-2 attackers fail to find their way out of even the lowest tiers of competitive Pokemon.
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Stage-2 Pokemon as Support
Luckily for fans of the Stage-2 Pokemon, there are more roles that a Pokemon can play other than simply being the main attacker in a deck. Where modern Stage-2 Pokemon do continue to have an advantage over Stage-1 and Basic Pokemon is in the strength of their Abilities. The Abilities that belong to Stage-2s tend to be considerably impactful on the game state, to the point that they can be worth including or building around, even if those Pokemon aren’t the main attackers. As support Pokemon, their HP and damage output don’t particularly matter, nor does the trouble of re-establishing them. What does matter, however, is if the support Stage-2 Pokemon can provide enough of a positive effect to allow otherwise weaker Pokemon to defeat those which are popular in the meta, or allow the deck to enact a winning strategy that would otherwise be impossible to pull off.
The big question becomes “is including this Pokemon better than any alternative?” For example, you typically wouldn’t want to build around [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card] to accelerate Water Energy, when you could use [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”204″ c=”name”][/card] to do the same job; since the Frosmoth is a Stage-1, it both takes up less space in the deck (and thus is the more consistent deck choice), and is naturally easier to get into play. Additionally, a viable Stage-2 should lead to a win if it is able to get into play fast enough. The tradeoff should be lower consistency, in exchange for a stronger established board state. That is, if getting the Stage-2 into play only leads to an even matchup, then the Stage-2 deck isn’t going to be competitively viable, since it will have a natural consistency and speed disadvantage against other non-Stage-2 decks. However, if getting the Stage-2 into play means that the deck will win a majority of the time, then it can be worth losing those few games to inconsistency, so long as you win more games when the deck runs well.
Building Around Stage-2 Pokemon
While there may be plenty of reasons why Stage-2 Pokemon aren’t currently competitive, they do nonetheless represent an untapped pool of potential cards to build around. Attacking Stage-2 Pokemon aren’t currently viable for the reasons above, but support-oriented Stage-2 Pokemon can be. When it comes to attempting to build a new Stage-2 deck, I would thus focus exclusively on those support-oriented Stage-2s.
You can generally split those “support” Stage-2s into four categories: Consistency Pokemon, Damage Modifiers, Energy Accelerators, and Control Pokemon.
Consistency Stage-2 Pokemon
[cardimg name=”Nidoqueen” set=”Sun and Moon Black Star Promos” no=”SM160″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The first category consists of Pokemon that can aid with the deck’s mid- or late-game consistency. Examples of this would be Pokemon such as [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Nidoqueen” set=”Team Up” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Swampert” set=”Celestial Storm” no=”35″ c=”name”][/card] – all cards that can help the deck find what it needs to get going, or to defend against hand disruption later on. Typically, these are the weakest support Pokemon, since they don’t quite meet the criteria of “is this Pokemon better than the alternatives”. Rather than include the cards to fit a 2-0-2 Nidoqueen in a deck, for example, you could instead play four more copies of Pokemon-searching Items (of which there are many in our current Standard format). There are some scenarios where such Pokemon can be quite useful, particularly in decks that are already playing Stage-2 Pokemon (Swampert was successfully utilized with [card name=”Gardevoir-GX” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card], for example), since those already run both [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”129″ c=”name”][/card], and have a Trainer engine focused on getting Stage-2s into play. Outside of those decks, however, most Pokemon of this type aren’t going to be ideal to include. Since attacking Stage-2 Pokemon aren’t all that great at the moment, this also means that consistency Stage-2 Pokemon aren’t all that great either. Of the current consistency Stage-2 Pokemon in the format, the only one that I would consider using is Inteleon in another Stage-2-focused deck, as [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card]’s Shady Dealings can also help such a deck grab Rare Candy to set up – this also means that Inteleon would not require one of those valuable Rare Candy to be useful.
Damage Modifiers
Damage modifiers include Pokemon such as [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Incineroar” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”29″ c=”name”][/card], or [card name=”Galarian Obstagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card] – basically, any Stage-2 with the ability to place damage counters or otherwise increase attack damage. These Pokemon tend to be popular, and can be used in a fairly large variety of ways. In general, it’s best not to build around these Pokemon specifically, but rather, to utilize them when another Pokemon can take advantage of their abilities. Great examples of decks which can utilize these damage modifiers are control decks with otherwise low damage output, such as [card name=”Seismitoad-EX” set=”Furious Fists” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] decks, or decks which require additional damage as part of their attack effect, such as [card name=”Sableye V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card].
Energy Accelerators
Energy accelerators are traditionally among the most powerful Stage-2 Pokemon, and we currently have plenty of different accelerator Pokemon to pick from. In Standard, there are options that can rain Energy from the hand ([card name=”Porygon-Z” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Grimmsnarl” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Dragonite” set=”Unified Minds” no=”151″ c=”name”][/card]), grab it from the Discard Pile ([card name=”Coalossal” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]), or from the deck ([card name=”Rillaboom” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”14″ c=”name”][/card]). The best pairing for Energy accelerators are strong Basic or Stage-1 Pokemon which would otherwise be too slow to be competitive (but which can be competitive if that disadvantage is mitigated). In practice, these decks function much like other Basic attacking decks, but with the caveat that they need the Stage-2 to get going (and in some cases, to continue attacking). These Stage-2 Pokemon are worth building around specifically, as they represent an integral, irreplaceable piece of the deck. They also have a tendency to be type-specific, hence it can be more effective to start with the Stage-2 and build from there, rather than vice versa. Once you identify the strongest attackers that work with the Stage-2 Pokemon, you can then effectively evaluate whether or not the Stage-2 Pokemon is the best option for those attackers. In some cases, it won’t be; if it isn’t, you’ll want to avoid playing that Stage-2. If it is the best option, however, then you can move on to the next step of building and evaluating that deck. As far as competitiveness, it is this group that I believe would be most likely to succeed in the current format – by teaming up with powerful Pokemon-GX, Pokemon V, or Tag Team Pokemon-GX, these decks can once again take advantage of damage output to gain an edge against the rest of the meta.
Control Pokemon
Finally, there are the control options. Right now, [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Kabutops” set=”Team Up” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] [card name=”Orbeetle” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Hatterene” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”85″ c=”name”][/card] are the control cards that have the most potential among the Stage-2s. Omastar has seen a decent amount of play and success, when combined with control-oriented cards such as [card name=”Malamar V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”121″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Inteleon VMAX” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card], or in combination with punishing cards such as [card name=”Gengar and Mimikyu-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”53″ c=”name”][/card]. The other three haven’t seen as much play, but they do have potential. There typically isn’t any one way to utilize these – it all depends on how exactly the control card works, and on the other cards in the meta. The Stage-2 Pokemon in this group differ a good amount from those in the other three, in that their success has more to do with the effectiveness of their control strategy, as opposed to any more traditional metrics. I would recommend evaluating these separately, and focusing on whether or not the control strategy that they can pull off once set up is a winning one, before actually focusing on building a deck that can execute that strategy; if it doesn’t work in ideal situations, it certainly won’t work in more realistic ones.
Building a Stage-2 Deck
Once you’ve identified a Stage-2 as a potential card to build around, the next step is to put together a list that can push it to a competitive level. In our current Standard format, that means a list that is both consistent and consistently fast – if your deck isn’t both of those things, it likely won’t be able to compete against the speedy decks that dominate Standard. Control archetypes may be able to pull off a slower strategy, but for non-control decks, your deck should be able to attack ideally by turn two, and never later than by turn three.
Required Trainers
When the Stage-2 Pokemon plays such an important role in the deck, you’ll want to make sure that your Trainer engine is devoted to putting that Stage-2 Pokemon into play as quickly as possible. That generally means by turn two – otherwise, you’ll almost certainly start falling behind. The speed of the current format puts even more pressure on the Stage-2 player to get their Pokemon into play quickly – especially against [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] – but luckily, those same cards that are speeding up the format can be used to the Stage-2 player’s benefit.
In order to get going as quickly as possible, you need to have plenty of ways to find your Basic Pokemon, as you necessarily have to have them in play on the first turn, in order to get your Stage-2 Pokemon in play on the second turn. In addition to [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card], you’ll want to play either [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card] or another Item that can search out the Basic Pokemon; don’t rely on Supporters such as [card name=”Sonia” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card], as those are completely useless when going first. Keep in mind that you’ll typically want to get two of the Basic Pokemon into play, lest your strategy get delayed by a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] or a bench damaging attack. Next, you need to have a way to find the Stage-2 Pokemon. [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Pokémon Communication” set=”Team Up” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] are the most reliable ways to do so, though there are some more niche options. Finally, you need to be able to find [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”180″ c=”name”][/card], while you also have that Stage-2 Pokemon in-hand. Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of ways to reliably search out Item cards. [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Skyla” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] are the best choices here; [card name=”Rosa” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”204″ c=”name”][/card] works well also, though it does rely on your opponent. As for new additions, [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] has been an excellent card for the consistency of Stage-2 decks. Unlike [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card], which effectively resets your hand, Crobat V allows you to improve upon an existing hand; if you already have a Rare Candy in hand, but not the Stage-2 Pokemon (or vice versa), Night Asset is a much more helpful Ability than Dedechange. Even so, I’d still recommend playing both – it is nice to have either option! One other strong move is to include a copy of [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] in your deck; since Stage-2 decks rarely attack on turn one, Zacian V’s Intrepid Sword is a first-turn play with no downside. Plus, since it gives you more cards to work with early, it will increase your chance of getting the Rare Candy plus Pokemon combo you need to get your deck going.
Deck Example: Porygon-Z
As an example of all of the above, I’ll be sharing my [card name=”Porygon-Z” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] / Rainbow Attackers list here. As far as Rain Dance-esque Pokemon go, Porygon-Z is easily the most unique. In theory, a Porygon-Z deck can attack with a wide variety of Pokemon types, and thus adapt to whatever opposition it might face. Against an [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] deck, you can focus on using Fighting-type attackers; against a [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] deck, you can use Water-type attackers, and so on. There are currently some limitations to this – we are missing the Special Energy for some types still – but nonetheless, Porygon-Z is the Stage-2 Pokemon that I think has the most future potential. Once Champions Path and Vivid Voltage release, I expect this card to become even stronger, both because it will have a wider array of Special Energy to attach, and because it will have even better attackers in the new Amazing Rare cards. Those cards are all quite strong provided you can find a way to provide the varied Energy for their multicolored attacks – and Porygon-Z can do just that! Even right now, Porygon-Z can be a strong anti-meta choice, thanks to its versatility and ability to exploit Weakness. In addition to the Rainbow version, you can also play Porygon-Z with a focus on using Colorless attacks, since there are so many useful Special Energy that provide only Colorless Energy. [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Draw Energy” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”209″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”212″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Powerful Colorless Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”176″ c=”name”][/card] are all examples of such Energy, and all can be used to quickly power up Colorless attackers such as [card name=”Salamence VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”144″ c=”name”][/card]. That version does necessarily have to compare with the concept of using [card name=”Triple Acceleration Energy” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”190″ c=”name”][/card] and/or [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] as Energy acceleration instead, but I do believe that a consistent Porygon-Z build would likely be more effective. In the Rainbow Attackers list that I’ve provided below, I’ve focused on using attackers which can exploit the Weakness(es) of the top meta decks (Eternatus VMAX, Centiskorch VMAX), as well as strong baseline attackers against any type. This list is an excellent example of how you can utilize a Stage-2 Pokemon as a powerful support Pokemon, and what you should look for as far as consistency in a Stage-2-reliant deck. This deck is both a ton of fun to play (it’s one of my favorite decks in Standard right now), as well as a great competitive option. There isn’t much that this deck can’t beat when things are going well, and thanks to its strong consistency, things do tend to go well when playing it. Here’s the list:
[decklist name=”Porygon-Z / Mew” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″][pokemon amt=”16″]3x [card name=”Porygon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Porygon-Z” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”157″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Mew V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”69″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Charizard V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”19″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rhyperior V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Milotic V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Zacian V” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”138″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”27″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ 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]2x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”17″]4x [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Horror P Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”172″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Heat Fire Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Recycle Energy” set=”Unified Minds” no=”212″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
[cardimg name=”Porygon-Z” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”157″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
The main attacker in this deck is [card name=”Mew V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”69″ c=”name”][/card], a powerful, versatile Pokemon V that can theoretically OHKO anything – and with the acceleration provided by Porygon-Z, it often does just that. Mew V is supplemented by [card name=”Charizard V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Rhyperior V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], and [card name=”Milotic V” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], all strong Pokemon of their own. The latter two can hit for Weakness against [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card] respectively, and thus can get fairly easy OHKOs against them. Charizard V does hit for Weakness against Grass and Metal types, but it is typically used more as a secondary attacker against any deck. With [card name=”Heat Fire Energy” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card], Charizard V is easily one of the tankiest Basic Pokemon around. It is capable of reaching 280 HP with all three Heat Fire Energy attached, which is enough to survive even a Brave Blade that has been boosted by Altered Creation GX; without that boost, Charizard V only needs one Heat Fire Energy attached to survive that attack. You can also opt to include a copy of [card name=”Charizard VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”20″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck for an even stronger attacker, though due to its price I wouldn’t recommend that outside of PTCGO (where it is fairly cheap). Finally, you do have the option to attack with either Zacian V as a slightly stronger backup attacker, or even with Dedenne-GX or Porygon-Z itself if necessary. The key to this deck is its versatility – whatever attacker you need for the situation, you should be able to power up and use.
The Trainer engine in the deck is designed to do exactly what we’ve planned for above; that is, get out Porygon-Z as fast as possible. Between the three [card name=”Porygon” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], the four Quick Ball, the four Capture Energy, and the four Pokemon Communication, one quarter of this deck is devoted to cards that can search out (or are) a Porygon. Likewise, there are eight cards that can turn into Porygon-Z (though some are admittedly those same four Pokemon Communication). I play a full four Rare Candy, even though you’ll rarely use more than two (or even one in some games), simply because finding it is so incredibly important. Finally, I’ve opted to use [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Team Up” no=”99″ c=”name”][/card] and Zacian V to help improve the search for those cards. Aside from the Pokemon search, the switching cards, and the draw Supporters, there is only one Boss’s Orders, and no other tech Trainer cards. The important thing here is that this deck doesn’t particularly need any – so long as it can achieve its goal of putting a Porygon-Z into play, it should win regardless of the opposition. There can be room for those cards in other Stage-2 Pokemon decks – those likely won’t play 17 Energy – but in this one, they aren’t necessary, and can’t be included without impacting the deck’s consistency in some way.
This deck is strong, so long as it gets set up properly. Most of the time, it will achieve the turn two Porygon-Z (and the turn two OHKO that comes with it), and it will almost never get up slower than turn three – which is what we were aiming for above. Once it is set up, this deck thrives against the other meta decks, and will win the vast majority of its games. Against the Pokemon VMAX that the deck can hit for Weakness, the deck will typically win with two OHKOs – one from whichever Pokemon hits for Weakness, the other from an over-energized Mew V. Against Pokemon VMAX lists where that isn’t the case, you can still typically get one OHKO from Mew V, though the other Prizes will likely come from a 2HKO. Few non-VMAX decks can withstand hits from Mew V, Charizard V, or Rhyperior V, and you can swing ahead in the Prize trade thanks to the tankiness of Charizard V. As for single-Prize decks, you’ll typically want to use Charizard V to tank multiple hits, and get KOs with Porygon-Z if possible; you can also use [card name=”Horror P Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”172″ c=”name”][/card] to potentially set up easy knockouts – this is especially effective against Mad Party, due to the low HP of their attackers. Overall, this list is well-rounded, consistent, and strong – it’s an excellent example of how by meeting the requirements outlined above, a Stage-2-reliant deck can still be a fierce threat.
Future Outlook for Stage-2 Pokemon
The tough reality is that, until the rotation of Tag Team Pokemon-GX, Stage-2 Pokemon decks are likely to struggle to find their footing. The current crop of Stage-2 attackers may be fairly weak, but even future Stage-2 Pokemon may struggle due to the structural disadvantages that they have in our current format. The speed of the format will make things difficult for both attacking and support-oriented Stage-2 Pokemon, especially so long as [card name=”Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”156″ c=”name”][/card] is in the format. Barring any large-scale changes to the way Pokemon approaches the creation of Stage-2 cards, or a rules change which stands to benefit them, I find it difficult to imagine that any Stage-2 deck will become the dominant deck in Standard, or that the complaints about the weaknesses of Stage-2 Pokemon will subside.
However, the blueprint is there for Stage-2 Pokemon to be competitive. Vivid Voltage contains one of the strongest Stage-2 attackers in a while in Charizard, which could end up becoming the centerpiece of an actual Stage-2 attacking deck. In the meantime, support Stage-2 Pokemon like Porygon-Z can be successful in the right deck, and could become even stronger with the right pieces in the future. All in all, Stage-2 Pokemon may not be in a great place right now, but they aren’t doomed. Even now, I’m hopeful that with enough future support, and a helpful rotation in 2021, Stage-2 Pokemon can return to the glory days that they once had, or barring that, at least find their way back into the mix of competitive archetypes.
With that, we’ve come to the end of this article! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, either below in a comment, via an online message, or you can ask all of our great writers in our PTCG Subscriber’s Hideout! Once again, best of luck in your games, and stay safe!
Thanks for reading!
–Zak
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