The Unsung Heroes of Standard

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be writing another article for you all! Last time, I covered the [card name=”Fusion Strike Energy” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”244″ c=”name”][/card] variant of [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], which saw disappointing results at the San Diego Regional Championship. While I still think the deck is strong, I think the meta was in a more unfavorable spot for it than I had predicted. But what is life without a few incorrect predictions?

San Diego was filled to the brim with unpredictable results, from the composition of Top 8 to the deck that ultimately won the event. In the Top 8, we saw just a single [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] deck, which is a record low since the deck became legal at the beginning of December. Instead, the Top 8 of the San Diego Regional Championship consisted of an astounding seven unique decks, which is a record high since the release of Lugia VSTAR. There were a lot of well-known threats, such as Lost Zone [card name=”Rayquaza” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and Mew VMAX, but also a fair share of surprises. Makani Tran’s unique [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] Toolbox deck was one of the bigger ones, as many players have generally written off Arceus VSTAR at this point, aside from in Arceus VSTAR / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], but Makani was able to prove that toolbox strategies still have a lot of potential.

The final surprising deck to make it to the Top 8 was the deck that ended up winning the whole event, [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Aerodactyl VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card]. Despite its surprising second-place finish at the Arlington Regional Championship, I did not have particularly high expectations for this deck going into the San Diego Regional Championship. The deck was pretty much rolled by Lugia VSTAR in the finals of the first event, so I figured the second event would have a similar outcome. To my surprise, the opposite ended up happening, and Gibson Archer-Tang won the event in convincing fashion.

[cardimg name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”180″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

With the conclusion of the San Diego Regional Championship, the format is left in a confusing state. Will Vikavolt V’s massive success at two consecutive events lead to the deck finally becoming popular? Or will people continue to write the deck off as mediocre? Will Rayquaza continue to be the most popular of the Lost Zone variants? Or will [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Celebrations” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] resurface as a powerhouse? These questions and more will likely remain unanswered in North America until the Orlando Regional Championship at the beginning of February, but that event will also have Crown Zenith legal for play, which is bound to shake up the meta. Until then, there is a lot to practice that will likely remain relevant when Crown Zenith releases, as the set is generally pretty non-impactful. Pretty much everything that is currently good in the Standard format will continue to be good, but now some new strategies will also emerge. With that, I want to take a look at some of the format’s more underappreciated strategies before we get into the new expansion, as, if Vikavolt V’s success is any indication, these strategies could easily become Regional Championship–winning strategies in the right circumstances.

Regigigas

Since its debut in the Astral Radiance expansion, the Regi archetype, centered around [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”name”][/card] and its Ancient Wisdom Ability, has been a mainstay of the Standard format. At first, the deck was deemed not very good and largely a joke, but over the last few months, it has become increasingly respected, largely thanks to [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”name”][/card]. Now the deck has a way to refill its hand after a well-timed [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card], which was one of its biggest problems. Additionally, the meta in general has shifted in a much more favorable direction, with the deck having a generally positive matchup into Lugia VSTAR, Lost Zone Box (all variants), and Mew VMAX. These three decks alone have made up more than 50% of the room at recent Regional Championships. With so many favorable matchups and with the deck being as popular as it is, it is honestly astonishing that it has not yet won a Regional Championship in its own right.

With these things being said, the deck has two pretty big problems. The first is, of course, consistency. The deck needs a lot of things to go favorably for it to be in a winning position in most matchups, needing to at least find all six of the Regis before it’s too late, but also needing to get the Energy cards in the discard pile, and find cards like [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card]. With as many moving parts as this deck has, it is honestly a wonder that it is even as consistent as it is, but something about the deck just allows it to work.

At the current point in the Standard format, one could claim that Regis does not fit with the idea of this article, which is to highlight some of the more underappreciated decks in the Standard format, but with the deck lacking a Regional Championship win and with many people still dismissing it as unplayable, it feels like it fits the bill. In all likelihood, the deck will probably never get the respect that it deserves, but one can hope that it can take down a major tournament soon to finally put some respect to its name.

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Deck List

This deck list is essentially Rahul Reddy’s list from the recent Liverpool Regional Championship. In my opinion, this deck list is basically perfect for the current format, and I would not change a card at this time.

[decklist name=”regis2″ amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Regieleki” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”51″][pokemon amt=”14″]3x [card name=”Regigigas” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”130″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Regidrago” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Regice” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”37″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Registeel” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”108″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Regirock” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”75″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”51″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”34″]4x [card name=”Professor’s Research” set=”Shining Fates” no=”60″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]4x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Trekking Shoes” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Choice Belt” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Aurora Energy” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”186″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Twin Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”174″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Speed L Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”173″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Gift Energy” set=”Lost Origin” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist] 

Three Regigigas

One of the most frequent questions that I get from friends of mine seeing Regi lists for the first time is why they play three copies of Regigigas. This is largely for the Mew VMAX matchup, but it has also grown increasingly important for the [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] matchup. In both of these matchups, [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] poses a major threat to the strategy of having all of the Regis in play at once because the opponent can force all of a specific Regi into the Lost Zone and leave us unable to use Ancient Wisdom. In general, the opponent is forced to chase Regigigas, or they will run into the problem of Regigigas still being powered up, so Ancient Wisdom will not matter on your turn. If we play more copies of Regigigas, we are much more likely to have enough attackers to close out the game: even if they Lost Zone a Regigigas before we take a Knock Out, we still have two Regigigas, which is all we need to take six Prizes.

Despite this, be careful of Mew VMAX. A smart player may be able to Knock Out a different Regi (such as Regirock) with Techno Blast and then use a Psychic Leap with three [card name=”Power Tablet” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”236″ c=”name”][/card] to Knock Out the other one, giving them a path to win the game without Knocking Out Regigigas. You can protect yourself against this by playing a [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] on that Regi after using Ancient Wisdom to make sure it cannot be Knocked Out no matter what happens.

Regieleki ASR

When Regis first came out, many people dismissed this [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] as being pretty useless, since it can’t hit the Active Spot. However, the card has become increasingly good in Regis, and it’s now a staple inclusion. Outside of the Lugia VSTAR matchup, [card name=”Regieleki” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card] EVS is not particularly important, especially in the Lost Zone Box matchups. (In these matchups, 120 HP is also a massive hindrance because of [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card].) As a result, the Regieleki from Astral Radiance has found a purpose in Regis as a larger body to have on the Bench in this matchup, so that it becomes harder for the opponent to take a Prize card every turn in a matchup where doing so is absolutely critical.

Cape of Toughness

[cardimg name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”200″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

At the San Diego Regional Championship, Isaiah Bradner, Rahul Reddy, and many others all used a Regis list much like the one that Rahul used in Liverpool, and in this list they introduced [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card]. Cape of Toughness is an incredible multi-purpose utility card in this deck. One of its main purposes is to give any of your Regis a little extra HP in the mirror to swing the tide in your favor if you fall behind. Similarly, it can give your Regis extra HP against Lost Zone Box, say, if you have to put Regieleki EVS into play but do not want it to be Knocked Out by Sableye, or perhaps to offset perfect math setup for [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”name”][/card]. The card’s universal applications are so high, it’s surprising that it took as long as it did for people to think of putting it in the deck.

Additionally, one niche application of the card is using it against [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card] to create an infinite loop, forcing them to either break the lock, deck out, or accept a tie. This is done largely thanks to Regieleki ASR, which can use its Electromagnetic Sonar to loop Trainer cards to stay alive. The loop looks like this:

Turn 1: Use Regieleki to recover Cape of Toughness
Turn 2: Use Ancient Wisdom to put 3 Energy onto any Regi (it does not matter which one, so let’s say Regirock), attach Cape of Toughness to Regieleki, and use Regieleki to recover Scoop Up Net
Turn 3: Scoop Up Net Regieleki, bringing up Regirock with Energy, retreat back into Regieleki, use Ancient Wisdom to put an Energy on it, and use Regieleki to recover Cape of Toughness, completing a loop

This loop beats (or at least forces a tie with) an Eiscue deck so long as it does not play [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] to deal residual damage. While there are not a lot of these, it is an important strategy to consider because you never know when it may come up.

Escape Rope

In general, [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”name”][/card] is not a great card in this deck. However, in the current format, the card is necessary for the purpose of beating the other Pokemon in the format that is immune to Basic Pokemon: [card name=”Flying Pikachu VMAX” set=”Celebrations” no=”7″ c=”name”][/card]. Against Flying Pikachu VMAX decks, Escape Rope allows you to bring up a new Pokemon to remove the effect of Max Balloon, which you can follow up with a [card name=”Serena” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”164″ c=”name”][/card] to make Flying Pikachu VMAX their Active Pokemon again. Then, you can take a one-hit Knock Out with Regigigas or any of the other Regis. Outside of this one use, the card is generally not that important to the deck, so if you want to find a space for another tech card, it is relatively cuttable. Just be wary of sacrificing any chance you may have against Flying Pikachu VMAX by doing so.

Lost Zone / Goodra VSTAR

One of the newer archetypes that came out of the San Diego Regional Championship was a [card name=”Hisuian Goodra VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] deck which played the Lost Zone engine instead of [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card]. This strategy has been a part of the Standard format since the cards came out in Lost Origin, largely thanks to the fact that [card name=”Fantina” set=”Lost Origin” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] provided obvious synergy for the overlap between these two archetypes. Unfortunately, the deck fell off pretty quickly, as it was clearly outshined by other Lost Zone decks as well as by Arceus VSTAR / Hisuian Goodra VSTAR.

Lately, the deck has started to pick up traction thanks to its unusually good position in the current format. After a use of Rolling Iron, it is impossible for Lugia VSTAR to take a one-hit Knock Out on a Hisuian Goodra VSTAR, and if they want to use [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Shining Fates” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card], you have [card name=”Big Parasol” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”157″ c=”name”][/card] to provide a shield. Eventually, the deck takes an advantage just by doing 200 damage every turn until the game is too difficult for the opponent to win. Then, you slowly close it out by attrition, rather than trying to run the opponent over like much of the format tries to do.

This deck’s biggest flaw is that [card name=”Hisuian Goodra V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] is rather frail and is easily Knocked Out before you ever get the chance to use it in a game. If you make it past that point, though, the deck is exceptionally strong, with reasonably good matchups against almost every deck in the format.

Deck List

Recently, Stéphane Ivanoff used this deck to get second at the Liverpool Regional Championship. This is his list:

[decklist name=”lost good” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Hisuian Goodra VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”136″][pokemon amt=”15″]4x [card name=”Comfey” set=”Lost Origin” no=”79″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Hisuian Goodra VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”136″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Hisuian Goodra V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”135″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Cramorant” set=”Lost Origin” no=”50″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Galarian Zigzagoon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lumineon V” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”33″]4x [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ 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=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]3x [card name=”Switch” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”183″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Escape Rope” set=”Battle Styles” no=”125″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]2x [card name=”Ordinary Rod” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”2″][/card]3x [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”3″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”12″]4x [card name=”Capture Energy” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”171″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Metal Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”95″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]4x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”Call of Legends” no=”90″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Three Boss’s Orders

Generally, since [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] is one of the best cards in Standard, playing a high count would not be especially noteworthy. In this deck, however, the card is unusually integral to the game plan from a board control perspective. In the Lugia VSTAR matchup, Boss’s Orders is critical to Knock Out the [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] they have in play so that they cannot easily power up Yveltal. This allows you to continue making favorable trades with their Lugia VSTAR, with minimal threat of any other attacker. When they do put down Yveltal after you have taken this Knock Out, then you need to find another Boss’s Orders to Knock it Out, too, in order to make sure Yveltal is never usable whatsoever.

Two Roxanne

In this deck, playing [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] over [card name=”Marnie” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”169″ c=”name”][/card] makes sense because hand disruption is more important in the latter half of the game than in the early game. In the early game, you are so focused on setting up the Lost Zone for [card name=”Mirage Gate” set=”Lost Origin” no=”163″ c=”name”][/card] that you need to keep a large hand full of switch cards and [card name=”Colress’s Experiment” set=”Lost Origin” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] to make sure you can hit that critical number seven. In that process, you will certainly give up a few Prize cards, meaning that the far more powerful Roxanne will be live by the time you would ever consider playing a non–Colress’s Experiment Supporter card anyway. Additionally, putting the opponent at just two instead of four cards is far more valuable when you’re trying to minimizing the odds that the opponent can deal with a Hisuian Goodra VSTAR with a Big Parasol attached to it.

Temple of Sinnoh

Generally, the combination of Hisuian Goodra VSTAR, Big Parasol, and Roxanne is enough to make it so the opponent cannot take a one-hit Knock Out on a Hisuian Goodra VSTAR, allowing you to start getting ahead in a game. With that being said, sometimes things do not work out perfectly, and they might just hit Yveltal and [card name=”Lost Vacuum” set=”Lost Origin” no=”162″ c=”name”][/card] off of their Roxanne. For these outcomes, we also play [card name=”Temple of Sinnoh” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] as an additional level of insurance. With Temple of Sinnoh in addition to all of the cards already outlined, they need to now hit a Supporter card off of Roxanne, followed by hitting Yveltal, Lost Vacuum, and [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] off of that Supporter to take that one-hit Knock Out. I am a statistics student at my university, but it does not take a statistician to know that the opponent hitting all of these pieces in one turn is extremely unlikely.

Conclusion

Following [card name=”Vikavolt V” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card]’s surprising victory at the San Diego Regional Championship, the question has been raised of what other decks in the format could win a Regional Championship out of nowhere. Both of the decks that I covered today, Regigigas and Lost Zone Goodra, have come extremely close to taking a title of their own this season, with the former getting as far as Top 4 and the latter making it to the finals of Liverpool. It is only a matter of time before they join the prestigious list of Regional Champion archetypes. With the Orlando Regional Championship on the horizon, one has to wonder if their time is coming up soon.

With that, this article draws to a close. I hope you enjoyed reading about these two unique archetypes, as I also think they are two of the more entertaining archetypes in the Standard format right now. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out in the Subscriber’s Hideout, on Twitter (@ICheville), or on Facebook (Zaya Lee).

Until next time!

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