It’s an Emergency — Breaking Toronto and Looking Forward

By: Isaiah Cheville · Posted Posted onDec 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM · 2 Comments

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you. Last time, I talked a lot about the [card name=”Zoroark” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”103″ c=”name”][/card] Stage-1 Toolbox deck and how it faired against the then-current state of the metagame. Since then, quite a bit has changed and several Regional Championships have come and gone, but Zoroark Toolbox has remained a strong deck in the current metagame, with top level finishes at Regional Championships around the world. Aside from the results that Zoroark was able to put up, I think many players could have never predicted the results that we saw, with an unexpected deck winning every single Regional Championship this weekend. [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox won in Brisbane, Australia, [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] took first place in Stuttgart, Germany, and finally [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] winning in Toronto, Canada. All of these decks were able to heavily capitalize on the state of the metagame following the Latin America International Championships, which had a Day 2 that was made up of an astounding 53% [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card]. As a result of this outcome, in addition to decks hyped up online, both in tournaments and on social media, many players came to the conclusion that the best three decks in the format were Lugia VSTAR / Archeops, Lost Zone Toolbox (both with [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] and with [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Celebrations” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card]), and finally [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card]. With the hivemind pretty much unanimously on the best three decks in the format, players were incentivized to try and beat those three decks with any deck that they could come up with, and all of the decks that won an event this weekend did this perfectly. However, while many players gave attempts, one specific group of archetypes did it in a way unlike anything else, that deck featured [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card].

The Emergence of Emergency Jelly

Over the course of the last week or so, [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] has, without a doubt, been one of the most hyped up cards in the Standard format, largely thanks to its performance at the Toronto Regional Championships. However, the card saw a small amount of hype leading up to the event. At the event itself, many players were quickly introduced to the power of Emergency Jelly with fellow writer Charlie Lockyer’s convincing victory on stream playing an [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] deck. Created by yours truly, this deck was designed to use Articuno’s Wild Freeze to repeatedly paralyze the Defending Pokemon and to use Emergency Jelly to keep it from being Knocked Out itself, out while using Radiant Alakazam and [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] to fix damage in a way that results in Knock Outs being taken exclusively during your turn. This means that the opponent is permanently stuck in a position where they cannot attack for an entire game after your first attack. This deck is by far one of the most elaborate Articuno decks to come out of the weekend, as there were not one but THREE that we ultimately saw. In addition to the Radiant Alakazam build, we also saw a [card name=”Frosmoth” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”64″ c=”name”][/card] focused build take down the Brisbane Regional Championships as well as a [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] build that finished in the Top 8 of Toronto, just like the Radiant Alakazam build. With so many players that landed on the same general idea of abusing the combination of Articuno and Emergency Jelly, one has to wonder what happened in the metagame to get so many people to independently arrive at the same conclusion about the best deck to play this past weekend.

While I cannot speak for other groups’ line of thinking, I can at least do my best to shed a bit of light on how we got to the place we did with the Radiant Alakazam build. Prior to the Latin America International Championships, I had an idea that I messaged to several friends that was based on the synergy of Articuno and Emergency Jelly. It was frankly quite obvious, but the addition of Radiant Alakazam was less apparent. Initially, the theory with this was that Radiant Alakazam allows you to Knock Out 270 HP and 280 HP Pokemon VSTAR thanks to using Painful Spoons in the following way:

[cardimg name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

  1. Wild Freeze (70)
  2. Wild Freeze (140)
  3. Wild Freeze (210)
  4. Painful Spoons (190)
  5. Wild Freeze (260)
  6. Painful Spoons (280)

Or, on a more complex scale that only works for 280 HP Pokemon:

  1. Wild Freeze (70)
  2. Painful Spoons (50)
  3. Wild Freeze (120)
  4. Painful Spoons (100)
  5. Wild Freeze (170)
  6. Painful Spoons (150)
  7. Wild Freeze (220)
  8. Painful Spoons (200)
  9. Wild Freeze (270)
  10. Painful Spoons (280)

With both of these combos, I felt that I had an idea that could take down a [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] deck with ease and it really was just about beating the rest of the format. Unfortunately, this issue was a bit too big for me to deal with at the time, and I ultimately scrapped the idea. That was, until Charlie Lockyer reached out saying “If I can’t find an insane play for next weekend, I’m gonna cancel my trip,” and in an effort to stop him from cancelling, I revisited my Radiant Alakazam idea, and Charlie was sold almost instantly.

Over the next few hours, a group of mine and Charlie’s friends got together and got to work on trying to make the idea functional. The reason why we were so confident in the deck was because we could realistically build it to beat the three most popular decks, beating Lugia VSTAR decks without [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”name”][/card] using Articuno, beating [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] with two [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card], and Lost Zone Toolbox decks with [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] alongside [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card]. As a result of the bizarrely centralizing results from the Latin American International Championships, this strategy seemed pretty safe, with there being an estimated 23% chance of going 7-2 if 60% of the room was a combination of these three decks or as high as a 74% chance if the room was 80% filled with the big three. While the latter outcome was extremely unlikely to exist, it was a pivotal consideration point in understanding that the risk of only beating three decks was worth taking.

When it came to the event itself, the strategy of playing Articuno to beat Lugia VSTAR, plus other cards being used to beat the rest of “The Big Three” ended up being surprisingly popular across the world, but I believe the Radiant Alakazam build had one of the highest play rates and success rates, with nine of nine players who knew about the deck playing it, resulting in four Masters Day 2 Finishes, including Charlie’s Top 8, as well as producing a Champion in Seniors. For those of us who did well, the deck did exactly what it was meant to do, completely decimating the decks it was meant to beat throughout the weekend. On the flip side, the deck struggled against decks outside our expectations and resulted in some poor finishes for some of the players. In order to better understand this unique deck, how about we take a look at the breakdown for the list we used.

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Articuno / Inteleon / Radiant Alakazam

The explanation of both what the deck does and how it came to be has already been made pretty clear, so I am gonna avoid speaking on the matter again. But I do want to address that, in many of the matchups where paralysis in particular is important, it is best to always make sure that you keep the opponent’s Bench full whenever you can, as that minimizes their chances of breaking the lock with something like a [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] to find a [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card]. In addition to the [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] matchup, this deck also looks to beat [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card] and Lost Zone Toolbox, and as a result we play heavier-than-normal techs in order to make these matchups as easy as we can. Other than that, the deck is surprisingly straightforward, as its largely reliant on having its guaranteed win conditions against the matchups that matter rather than trying to beat everything.

Deck List

[decklist name=”articuno alakazam” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″][pokemon amt=”19″]3x [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]2x [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”35″]4x [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Roseanne’s Backup” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]4x [card name=”Level Ball” set=”Battle Styles” no=”129″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Air Balloon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ 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=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”180″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Rescue Carrier” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”6″]4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Card Choices

Three Articuno

[cardimg name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As the main attacker in the deck, it may be a bit surprising to see just three copies of [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck, but the explanation for this is quite simple — you simply do not need more. Between [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] alongside [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] later in the game, you should have no problem finding your copies of Articuno when necessary. In addition, while you do need Articuno in the matchups where it is relevant, the purpose of Articuno is to stop them from attacking, so preparing to be Knocked Out does not make sense. Initially, this count was even as low as two, but we ended up settling on three copies because it felt like a goldilocks count.

Inteleon Line

When I initially had the concept for this deck, I had gotten the idea of pretty much all of the win conditions, but I was struggling to figure out the consistency side of things. One option that I considered was using the Turbo [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card] decks from the Melbourne Regional Championships several months ago as a consistency basis, but I eventually realized that it would not make much sense. Eventually, Charlie suggested using the [card name=”Radiant Charizard” set=”Pokemon GO” no=”11″ c=”name”][/card] deck from the Baltimore Regional Championships as a basis instead, which I quickly agreed with . Ultimately, the main reason why [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] makes sense in this deck because of how combo intensive all of the matchup strategies are. In particular, the Articuno game plan requires several Trainer cards quite frequently, most notably [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card], in order to continue chaining attacks. Inteleon perfectly fills this void and gives immediate access to the necessary pieces. Conveniently, playing Inteleon also gives you access to the Quick Shooting [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], which is an excellent way to manipulate damage on Pokemon in order to get perfect math for Knock Outs during your own turn and maintain the lock.

Radiant Alakazam

As one of the deck’s most critical Pokemon, [card name=”Radiant Alakazam” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”59″ c=”name”][/card] deserves its own section. When I first saw the card, I knew that Painful Spoons was gonna be a pretty strong Ability, but I definitely did not expect to see it get taken as far as we did this weekend. The card is the perfect card for messing up math for Articuno plays to always take Knock Outs during your turn, which makes for a more permanent lock. In addition, thanks to [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], we can even use Radiant Alakazam twice in a turn, which can create some incredibly powerful plays from out of nowhere.

Some players play a version of this deck with [card name=”Radiant Tsareena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”16″ c=”name”][/card] in it, but those decks were also much less consistent at keeping things trapped due to the only extra damage ever being allowed as +20, +40, etc., which severely limit your plays. Even in hindsight, I am confident that Radiant Alakazam is far and away the better of the two options.

Two Drapion V

Inititially, we were not super sure if it was actually worth playing a second [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] in this deck, as it seemed like it was too much of a liability to start it. However, in testing, Mew VMAX decks were giving us huge problems. As a result, we decided it would be best to just go ahead and include the second copy. As a result, the matchup goes from being a bit difficult to being a sure win. To put this into perspective, at Toronto I hit one Mew VMAX player. During game 1, I had a completely unplayable opening hand and conceded within 45 seconds of the game starting. In Games 2 and 3, I was able to set up pretty seamlessly and use two Drapion V to Knock Out Mew VMAX in each game to win the set 2-1 in less than 15 minutes. This was not the only time that I saw this happen for our deck either, as I watched Charlie win his Top 8 win-and-in with a similar 15 minute win thanks to just how absurd Drapion V is, making the second copy absolutely worth it.

Eiscue, Manaphy, and Wash Water Energy

The final one of the big three that needed to be addressed was Lost Zone Toolbox decks. In particular, [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card] is a huge problem for the deck with its ability to completely decimate our board with minimal effort. Until the Latin America International Championships, I did not really have a great answer to this issue, but seeing Sander Wojcik’s [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Celebrations” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] Control deck, I was given the idea of [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] with [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card]. Annoyingly, there is no way to power up an Eiscue in one turn if you want to use Wash Water Energy, unless you played something like [card name=”Energy Switch” set=”Black and White” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card] (which we heavily considered). But in our analysis, many of the top Lost Zone Toolbox deck lists were not playing a way to bring up an opponent’ s Pokemon from the Bench, such as a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card], so we simply were able to use Raihan to attach a Water Energy, search for Wash Water Energy, then deal with attaching another Energy card on next turn all while the opponent cannot deal with the benched Eiscue.

Another important card is [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card], as it is a big part of protecting the Eiscue on the Bench in some matchups. In the early game against some Lost Zone Toolbox decks, they may be able to use [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] and other attackers to produce just enough damage to Knock Out an Eiscue. But with Manaphy, the only out for them becomes something like [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] plus Boss’s Orders to win the game. This issue is somewhat significant against Lost Zone Toolbox, but it is absolutely massive against [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] decks because they do not even play a copy of Boss’s Orders, meaning that their only viable way to actually hit Eiscue would be only be the [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] from Astral Radiance.

Three Emergency Jelly, One Roseanne’s Backup, and One Pal Pad

[cardimg name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As the heart and soul of the deck, three [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] should make plenty of sense. As the core of the healing package for Articuno, the card is absolutely necessary for the deck to even function. The main question is ultimately about why we play three copies? This is because we need to account for one copy to be Prized. We will still have two copies to work with over the course of a game. In addition, the card sometimes saw some play in other matchups that maybe could not easily take a one-hit Knock Out on something like an Inteleon, so that we are able to keep swinging with Articuno as necessary.

Despite us technically playing an “extra” Emergency Jelly above what we actually need, we also played one copy of [card name=”Roseanne’s Backup” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] and one copy of [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”name”][/card] in order to make absolutely sure that we do not run out of Emergency Jelly. Conveniently, both of these cards are also capable of getting back many of our other cards, so they are able to see plenty of play even when the Articuno strategy is not needed for the match. The most important card that Roseanne’s Backup can recover is [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card], which I used way more than I actually expected this weekend. On the flip side, Pal Pad is also great for recovering Boss’s Orders and Raihan, both of which are hugely significant and possibly game winning Supporter cards given the right situation, meaning that Pal Pad quickly became one of the most popular cards in the deck. Notably, the deck does only play one copy of Boss’s Orders too, so having access to a second copy to possibly trap a Pokemon in the Active Spot would have made many of my rounds much easier to win, regardless of their initial outcome. A second copy of Boss’s Orders was honestly the card that I missed the most this weekend, so at least having the pseudo second copy was a huge swing in how good this deck could be this weekend. But even so, the second copy may just be better.

One Lost Vacuum

One card that I wanted to see in the final list but never got to test was the second [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card]. The initial copy of Lost Vacuum was put into the deck list in an effort to deal with all of the problematic Pokemon Tools and Stadium cards that we thought that we may see, but after seeing some lists play double Big Parasol this weekend, making that change could be worth it.

Conclusion

Creating a deck from scratch is always one of my favorite things to do, and it is something that I am quite good at. That deck becoming popular after the fact is always an incredible experience, but no deck that I have ever made has quite seen this level of success. Between the win in Seniors and the top level results in Masters, this deck has easily cemented itself as one of the best decks in the current state of the format. Unfortunately, this also means that the deck could end up being heavily countered, as paralysis has a huge target on its back. Going forward, I am not sure that I would end up playing this deck to any more tournaments, but that could change as time passes and the meta develops.

With that, this article comes to a close. As always, thanks for giving this article a read, as it tells a story that I absolutely love about one of my favorite decks of all time. IF you have any questions, please reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), and on Facebook (Zaya Lee).

Until next time!

Isaiah

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