Cambrian Combo — Digging Deep Into Fossil Lock
Hey everyone! Isaiah back once again with another article! I hope everyone is doing well, both in terms of Pokemon and in terms of their lives as a whole. Last time, I closed with a good luck wish to everyone in the Players Cup II Qualifiers, so I thought that I would start with that.
First off, I unfortunately did not make it to the second phase of Players Cup II on the TCG side, largely due to a rough start to my qualifying tournaments and never being able to recover. However, I was fortunate enough to, unbelievably, barely squeak into the VGC side, in which I promptly went 2-2. Back to my TCG qualification attempt, I mostly played [card name=”Mewtwo and Mew-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”71″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Welder” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card] while qualifying, but I also spent some time on [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], [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card], and more. However, there was one deck in particular that earned me the most amount of Tournament Rep by far, but I will get back to that later.
Across all four regional brackets, the main metagame trends kept consistent, with very few decks outside of the typical decks of the format, being Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V, Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / Zacian V, [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card], and the occasional Mewtwo and Mew-GX variant. Notably, in the European bracket, one player made it to the Top 16 at 5-0 with [card name=”Excadrill” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”115″ c=”fromno”][/card], but, unfortunately, on the second day of play, they fell to 5-2 and were eliminated. Following the conclusion of the Regional Brackets, one thing felt certain: Everyone was ready for something to shake up the format. To every player’s relief, Vivid Voltage released the day before the Regional brackets concluded, and, while the set does not add much in the realm of new decks to the format, even some minor deck building changes alongside new decks such as [card name=”Whimsicott” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Charizard” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], it feels like the Pokemon TCG has received a new breath of life.
However, not every deck has gotten the face lift that some other decks have gotten with [card name=”Jirachi” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”119″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Leon” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], and more. In the case of one particular deck, exactly zero changes are made. Funny enough, this deck is my preferred deck in both the Darkness Ablaze and Vivid Voltage formats: Fossil Lock. I first discovered Fossil Lock as an archetype on social media in mid-October after seeing a player post a deck list. Being an avid fan of control and lock decks, such as [card name=”Stoutland” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Raichu” set=”Burning Shadows” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] (Shock Lock), [card name=”Oranguru” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Cinccino” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card], and more, I was immediately hooked on the idea. As I mentioned earlier, this deck also happens to be the deck that earned me the most amount of average Tournament Rep per event, earning me an average of 2.13 Tournament Rep across eight events, far exceeding my average of 1.33 Tournament Rep per event with every other deck that I played.
Fossil Lock
Strategy
At this point, you may be wondering: What is Fossil Lock? As the name suggests, it uses the combination of the fossil Pokemon [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cradily” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] to lock a Pokemon such as [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active Spot while slowly running the opponent out of cards. This strategy is pulled off by using [card name=”Pokémon Research Lab” set=”Unified Minds” no=”205″ c=”name”][/card] to quickly set up the two Fossil Pokemon while acquiring the combination of [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] to drag up the Pokemon you are electing to lock Active and then confuse them, activating Cradily’s Ability to deny the ability to Retreat. In the mean time Omastar being in play locks Item cards, the most important of which is [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card], as it is one of three commonly played outs to Cradily’s retreat lock in the Standard format, the others being [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. Without further ado, let’s get into the deck list.
Initial Deck List
This particular version of the deck list was posted online by someone named Chance Swafford. I was not a huge fan of some counts in the deck list, but this list paved the way to constructing my own list, so I felt the inclusion was necessary.
[decklist name=”Fossil Lock 1.0″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”20″]2x [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Omanyte” set=”Team Up” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cradily” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lileep” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Swablu” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Starly” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”39″]4x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ 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=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Sword and Shield” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Stadium Nav” set=”Unified Minds” no=”208″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Research Lab” set=”Unified Minds” no=”205″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”1″]1x [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card Inclusions
[cardimg name=”Cradily” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”11″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
Two Omastar, Two Omanyte, Two Cradily, Two Lileep, Four Pokemon Research Lab, and One Stadium Nav
As the core of the lock, it is critical to be able to find Pokemon Research Lab early and then find Omastar and Cradily on the following turn. You certainly need more than one copy of each Pokemon in order to avoid prizing your only copy and losing the game as a result.
In my testing, I have seen minimal need to include any more than two copies of Omastar and Cradily, especially with the ability to find them somewhat easily, but it has crossed my mind. Similarly, going up to a third copy of [card name=”Omanyte” set=”Team Up” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Lileep” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] has crossed my mind as at least one copy of each needs to be in your deck when you use Pokemon Research Lab, but I have decided against it due to the naturally low odds of prizing both copies of the cards and/or having them in your hand.
Three Altaria and Three Swablu
Considering the strategy of the deck, any amount of [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”name”][/card] may seem redundant, let alone three of them. However, that actually could not be farther from correct. Altaria is one of the more critical parts of the deck’s lock, as it removes the necessity for Boss’s Orders in some matchups by making otherwise unlockable Pokemon lockable. Notably, Eternatus VMAX and Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX fall into this category. Additionally, against the latter, depending on their deck list and their luck off of [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card]’s Captivating Wink you can sometimes forgo the Fossil Lock and instead just wall with Altaria to an inevitable victory.
Two Munchlax
Since January, I have been able to see how incredible this Baby Pokemon is through various control decks in the Expanded format. [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card] provides the awesome utility of card recovery in a deck that is very resource intensive, needing multiple cards to pull off its complex lock. Oftentimes, I find myself discarding Yell Horn or Boss’s Orders in the early game while I am trying to find my Pokemon Research Lab or any other piece of the combo. In these situations, a heads flip from Munchlax can get back one of these critical pieces, acting almost as a search card for the missing piece of the lock. Additionally, once the lock has actually been established, Munchlax is able to continuously recover resources from the discard pile, allowing you to gain some extra cards in case your deck size is lower than your opponent’s when you pull off the lock.
Two Starly, Four Bird Keeper, and One Twin Energy
When we first saw Darkness Ablaze scans, I thought [card name=”Starly” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”145″ c=”name”][/card] was a bit underwhelming, although its Ability and attack were cool, especially when combined, I thought the lack of a good Evolution while having very low HP was going to prevent the card from being good, but lo and behold, I am finding myself writing about it.
Starly is an amazing card for this deck, acting as the deck’s primary method of building the lock. With four [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] and a [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”name”][/card], you are able to consistently use Keen Eye to search for the pieces to complete the lock. I will say though, Starly is a bit awkward at some points, as it is sometimes forced to sit out in the open while you use Pokemon Research Lab to get out Omanyte and Lileep, but with the rarity of hitting 50 on the first turn in the current format, this is seldom an issue.
One Mawile-GX
With the nature of the lock typically hunting for support Pokemon like [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] as well as the need for the opponent to have more Pokemon in play than you to trigger Omastar, Mawile-GX is a natural fit in this deck. However, a miss with Captivating Wink can lead to several issues, both in terms of Pokemon in play and in terms of Prize cards that the opponent can take while you are trying to set up.
One Bunnelby
[card name=”Bunnelby” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”146″ c=”name”][/card] is pretty straightforward: You use Burrow in order to run the opponent out of cards faster. This card is especially useful in the time constraints of online events, as it allows you to win a game in a short amount of time. In a best-of-three tournament, I would tend to omit the card.
Three Boss’s Orders and Four Yell Horn
As I said earlier, these two cards are extremely important to the lock, so playing a high count is critical. With four [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ c=”name”][/card], you maximize your odds of finding the card when you need it. Additionally, you can use Yell Horn early game to slow the opponent’s early game attacks while building up your board. Three [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] has felt really solid, as it is in a situation of “not too many and not too few.” I have never found myself wanting more than three, but any less has felt wrong as well.
Four Lillie’s Poke Doll
As one of the best stall cards in the game’s history, [card name=”Lillie’s Poké Doll” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”197″ c=”name”][/card] finds a spot in this deck as well. In this naturally slow deck, Lillie’s Poke Doll is a great way to buy time while you are setting up your board. It is especially good on the Pokemon Research Lab turn(s) in order to not give up a Prize while setting up your lock.
Lillie’s Poke Doll also is able to fill a rather convenient niche of extending your deck. In situations where you need to just have one Altaria and no other Pokemon in play, you are unable to use Munchlax’s Snack Search to stop yourself from decking out. However, with a few Lillie’s Poke Doll and ways to move Altaria to the Bench, you can cycle a few Lillie’s Poke Doll into the deck in order to keep yourself alive.
Two Scoop Up Net
[card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] serves an extremely basic purpose in this deck, but a significant one nonetheless. With Scoop Up Net you are able to return Pokemon to your hand in order to reduce your Bench size and activate [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card]’s Fossil Bind. Scoop Up Net also is able to return any of your Pokemon to your hand so that you can remove lethal Special Conditions such as Poison and Burn.
One Crushing Hammer
One [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] is of the most awkward but also genius techs in this deck. In theory, looping Crushing Hammer every turn to keep Energy off of a Pokemon results in a stronger lock, especially against things like Crobat V in [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card]. Unfortunately, just playing one copy of Crushing Hammer makes it much harder to loop and flipping Tails becomes far more punishing than it would be if you had multiple copies.
Why did I deviate from the original list?
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Within about twenty minutes of seeing this deck, I hopped on Pokemon TCG Online in order to build this deck, discovered I did not own any Cradily, and frantically tried to trade for them to satisfy my growing obsession with the deck (this obsession stems from my general love for Fossil Pokemon, as I have loved dinosaurs since I was a kid). Upon finally completing the deck, I quickly realized that I did not like some of the counts. Things like the one Crushing Hammer or the relatively small Starly package felt so awkward due to the inherent difficulty of finding them. As a result of this general dislike, I sought out to improve the list as much as I could so I could play it in some Players Cup II events. This list is also my current deck list for the Vivid Voltage format, as the deck did not gain anything significant with the new set.
My Version
[decklist name=”Fossil Lock 2.0″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″][pokemon amt=”20″]2x [card name=”Omastar” set=”Team Up” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Omanyte” set=”Team Up” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Cradily” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”11″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Lileep” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”10″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Altaria” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”49″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Swablu” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”48″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Munchlax” set=”Unified Minds” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Starly” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”145″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Mawile-GX” set=”Unified Minds” no=”141″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”38″]4x [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Champion’s Path” no=”62″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Lillie’s Full Force” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”196″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Yell Horn” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”173″ 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=”Pokégear 3.0″ set=”Sword and Shield” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Pokémon Research Lab” set=”Unified Minds” no=”205″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”4″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”2″]2x [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]
Card Changes
Card Subtractions: One Altaria, One Bunnelby, One Professor’s Research, One Stadium Nav, and One Crushing Hammer
Of these cuts, almost all are because they just were not doing enough. The third Altaria has felt unnecessary because, in the matchups you want lone Altaria, such as [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] lists without counters, you can just aggressively dig through your deck and the difference of one Altaria is minute at best. Cutting [card name=”Stadium Nav” set=”Unified Minds” no=”208″ c=”name”][/card] felt easy because I wanted the space for another card and Stadium Nav felt useless a majority of games. [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”178″ c=”name”][/card] was specifically cut for [card name=”Cynthia and Caitlin” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”189″ c=”name”][/card], so it was just a Supporter flip.
As for Bunnelby and Crushing Hammer, they both just felt worthless. Bunnelby never felt like a win condition that I wanted to go for, especially since it is unnecessarily aggressive. Oftentimes you can use Munchlax instead and slowly win the game that way instead. As for Crushing Hammer, a single copy has felt incredibly unnecessary, oftentimes just going to the discard pile and never being recycled. Additionally, half of the time, it does nothing and does not actually help you win the game.
Plus One Starly and One Twin Energy
Both of these additions were to make the Starly package more consistent. I find myself using Starly almost every game, so I felt like upping the count was critical. Most of the time, as long as a Keen Eye search stuck, I would win the game because it was all I needed to complete the lock.
Plus One Marshadow
In testing, two cards felt extremely problematic: [card name=”Chaotic Swell” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”187″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card]. [card name=”Marshadow” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”81″ c=”name”][/card] essentially disables the effects of both of these cards, which can save games, both in terms of making Poison [card name=”Eternatus VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”117″ c=”name”][/card] winnable and allowing you to set up against decks that happen to be playing Chaotic Swell.
Plus One Cynthia and Caitlin
I decided to add a third Cynthia and Caitlin just because it allows for easy Boss’s Orders recovery while setting up the board or it can recover [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] to loop Lillie’s Poke Doll if you need to use that route to extending your deck. Also, serving the purpose of still being a decent draw three Supporter to get to the cards you need.
[cardimg name=”Lillie’s Full Force” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”196″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]
One Lillie’s Full Force
By far my favorite inclusion in this deck, [card name=”Lillie’s Full Force” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”196″ c=”name”][/card] finds a space in this list as the only way to shuffle your hand into your deck in the entire Standard format. This card is rarely used as an actual draw card and is instead used as a way to shuffle like 30 cards back into the deck to make sure you will outlast your opponent with the least amount of effort. This is especially useful in the lone Altaria games, which is a strategy that, as I am sure you have picked up on by now, occurs quite frequently.
Additional Card Considerations
One Mew
When I initially started working with Fossil Lock, [card name=”Pikachu and Zekrom-GX” set=”Team Up” no=”33″ c=”name”][/card] was not a super popular deck, but as time has gone on, the deck has become more and more popular. Tag Bolt GX can prove to be extremely problematic, but a [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] can block that from ever becoming an issue. Going forward, it will likely be included, but I do not know what to cut for it as of now.
One Kabutops and One Kabuto
[card name=”Kabutops” set=”Team Up” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] exists as a perfect solution to the only outs to the lock, being [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] and Bird Keeper. However, the main deck that plays [card name=”Mallow and Lana” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”198″ c=”name”][/card] is [card name=”Lucario and Melmetal-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”120″ c=”name”][/card] / Zacian V, which you need to use Altaria against anyway, so I opted against it.
Matchups
Most of this deck’s matchups are generally super simple, with a strategy of “set up Fossil Pokemon, set up lock, and win,” but some matchups can become awkward, so I felt I would touch on those.
Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V
This matchup gets a bit dicey due to the volatile nature of Altered Creation GX which, as I am sure most of the community knows at this point, can randomly blow through you before you set up. A decent chunk of the time, with some luck, you can catch your opponent with a board full of Pokemon-GX and Pokemon V and completely wall them out with Altaria, but that does not always work thanks to the history of Arceus and Dialga and Palkia-GX / Zacian V playing cards like [card name=”Duraludon” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] or the recently released [card name=”Aegislash V” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card]. In that case, Lillie’s Poke Doll becomes critical, as you need to have as much time to set up as possible.
Eternatus VMAX or Pikachu and Zekrom-GX
Both of these matchups are relatively similar due to their similarity of being able to attack with [card name=”Crobat V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”104″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Dedenne-GX” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”57″ c=”name”][/card] respectively, so you are forced to lock one of their attackers. Once again, Altaria becomes critical in both of these matchup as a result of needing to lock their attacker. Fortunately, this necessity of locking attackers also makes your lock slightly easier due to not needing Boss’s Orders. This point is where the matchup similarities end, though.
Against Eternatus VMAX, you also have to be wary of the opponent not evolving their Eternatus V, so evolution becomes an out to the lock. Unfortunately, there actually is not much you can do about this aside from be ready to re-lock the opponent. Most of the time, though, re-locking the opponent after their evolution wins the game, so this is not actually that problematic.
Against Pikachu and Zekrom-GX, almost everything becomes somewhat lockable. However, without the inclusion of [card name=”Mew” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card], Pikachu and Zekrom-GX becomes far more of an issue as Tag Bolt GX can just take a Knock Out on one piece of your lock which typically puts you in a really bad position for the rest of the game. Including Mew pretty much turns this matchup into a free matchup as long as you can set up Altaria and the Fossil Lock.
Green’s Exploration Decks
Unfortunately, pretty much every [card name=”Green’s Exploration” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”175″ c=”name”][/card] deck ([card name=”Charizard and Braixen-GX” set=”Cosmic Eclipse” no=”22″ c=”name”][/card], [card name=”Centiskorch VMAX” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”34″ c=”name”][/card], etc.) has a really easy time dodging the effect of Omastar, so you are not able to lock them. Additionally, these matchups are made even worse by their typical inclusion of a non-Pokemon-GX, non-Pokemon V attacker, such as [card name=”Volcanion” set=”Unbroken Bonds” no=”25″ c=”name”][/card], making the matchup almost entirely impossible.
Conclusion
After all of this, I hope you have learned a bit more about my personal favorite deck, Fossil Lock. As I briefly mentioned earlier, I do consider this deck to be one of the stronger decks in the current format due to its inherently good matchups with most decks being heavily based around Pokemon-GX and Pokemon V, which are easily locked thanks to Altaria.
With that, I do not have much else to say, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this awesome deck, your Players Cup II experience, or anything else over in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Facebook (Zaya Lee), or on Twitter (@ICheville)! See you all next time and stay safe out there!
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