Freezing Time — Articuno Palkia’s Future in Standard

Hello PokeBeach readers! Isaiah here, and I am happy to be bringing you all another article! Last time, I talked about how the newest mini-expansion, Crown Zenith, was going to affect the Orlando Regional Championships. Somewhat surprisingly, exactly zero cards from the set made an appearance in the Top 8 of the tournament, with the highest placing card being in a Control deck that placed 18th. Instead, the Orlando Regional Championships saw what was possibly the least interesting Top 8 that could have possibly occurred. With six of the eight slots being [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card], a Lugia VSTAR win was almost certain before the Top 8 even played out. As expected, the two other decks, a Lost Zone [card name=”Rayquaza” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card] and a [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], were not enough to stop Lugia VSTAR and the deck won yet another Regional Championships in the hands of Andrew Hedrick.

With the two largest Regional Championships of all time being won by Lugia VSTAR, one has to wonder if the deck is even beatable. Sure, the deck has not won every single event since its release, so it must be beatable in some capacity. But is there anything in the format that can defeat it consistently? Well, the answer to that is complicated, but I think it is possible.

Beating Lugia VSTAR

[cardimg name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Lugia VSTAR has one of the most exploitable game plans in the Standard format, yet, for some reason, the deck just cannot be stopped. One of the easiest ways that you can disrupt the deck is simply by using something like [card name=”Aerodactyl VSTAR” set=”Lost Origin” no=”93″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Path to the Peak” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”148″ c=”name”][/card] to shut down Lugia VSTAR’s Summoning Star VSTAR Ability, to stop the [card name=”Archeops” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”147″ c=”name”][/card] from coming into play. However, this strategy runs into issues when you are forced to go second — especially in the case of Aerodactyl VSTAR or problems with [card name=”Pumpkaboo” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] that can get rid of your Path to the Peak. Despite this, Mew VMAX has seen continuous success in this format, largely due to the fact that the variance can sometimes come up favorably for the combination of [card name=”Judge” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”235″ c=”name”][/card] and Path to the Peak, or just an easy turn 2 Ancient Star to completely shut Lugia VSTAR out of the game. In fact, Grant Hays made use of both of these strategies in his Top 8 Mew VMAX deck from the Orlando Regional Championships.

Another way to take advantage of Lugia VSTAR’s game plan is to Knock Out the Archeops. In a game, Lugia VSTAR can only revive two Archeops, meaning that if you were able to take a Knock Out on both of them, the Lugia VSTAR player would be unable to accelerate Energy for the remainder of the game. This strategy is a bit more difficult to abuse, but some decks can make use of it. The game plan is especially strong for [card name=”Arceus VSTAR” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] / [card name=”Duraludon VMAX” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card], which can Knock Out an Archeops with using Duraludon VMAX, meaning that there is no way for [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Shining Fates” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] to be powered up in a single turn. This by extension, means that Duraludon VMAX cannot be Knocked Out on the immediate next turn. This puts the opponent in a sort of pickle, where they have to either put Yveltal on the Bench and use Archeops’s Primal Turbo Ability to attach Energy to Yveltal in hopes of not being hit with a [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”name”][/card] or, if they do not do that, the Duraludon VMAX player can just play a Boss’s Orders on the other Archeops, which also locks the opponent out of Yveltal. Either way, Duraludon VMAX is able to make excellent use of removing Archeops from the opponent’s board.

Another method of beating Lugia VSTAR is a tried and true method for beating many decks in the Pokemon TCG, which is simply just running them out of Energy cards. This strategy probably requires the most dedication, as Lugia VSTAR’s astounding 16 Energy is a lot of Energy cards to have to remove from the board over many turns, but thanks to the [card name=”Yveltal” set=”Celebrations” no=”19″ c=”name”][/card] from Celebrations, running Lugia VSTAR decks out of Energy is surprisingly possible. At the Orlando Regional Championships, many top players, including Azul Garcia Griego and fellow writer Grant Manley, all played a Control strategy based on one Sander Wojcik played at the Liverpool Regional Championships that operated with the same goal — beating Lugia VSTAR decks by running them out of Energy cards.

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The final strategy combines several concepts. When it comes to the Pokemon TCG, you can only play 60 cards in your deck, and in the case of Lugia VSTAR, about 50 to 55 of these cards are essentially inarguable staple inclusions. This means that the deck simply is incapable of fitting in every single tech card for every single matchup that it could possibly face. This theory is important for decks like Duraludon VMAX, which rely on Lugia VSTAR decks to not be playing cards like [card name=”Echoing Horn” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Canceling Cologne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”136″ c=”name”][/card] because they almost single handedly cripple any sort of wall game plan that Duraludon VMAX would want to put together. While Duraludon VMAX is a great example of this phenomenon, no group of cards will ever be as perfect examples as Pokemon that inflict the Paralysis Special Condition. Cards like [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] are able to perfectly abuse the fact that [card name=”Bird Keeper” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”159″ c=”name”][/card] simply is not a good enough card to ever become an absolute must-include in Lugia VSTAR decks, and, as a result, will often be removed from lists if they need a space. When less people are playing Bird Keeper, it is quite easy for Articuno to swoop in and completely dominate a tournament out of nowhere. The best example of this was at the Toronto Regional Championships, where Articuno was able to decimate the field, landing in two of the Top 8 spots and also seeing multiple other high placing spots in Day 2. More recently, Ian Robb was able to place 10th at the Orlando Regional Championships, and his deck will be the focus of today’s article.

Ian Robb’s Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR / Articuno Deck

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

I have been playing the Pokemon TCG for a long time, but Ian Robb’s dedication to perfecting this deck is something unlike anything I have ever seen. He has put hours and hours into evaluating which cards are more or less valuable, perfectly balancing out card inclusions versus space to create the perfect ratio of valuable cards so that you have the highest percentage chance to win any and all matchups that you are presented.

This dedication to perfection comes from one simple fact, though, that the 60 cards you pick is likely able to beat every single deck in the format if you can play all of the techs that you would want to play. From [card name=”Lugia VSTAR” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”139″ c=”name”][/card] to [card name=”Mew VMAX” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”114″ c=”name”][/card], this deck can theoretically play something to beat absolutely everything. As time goes on, it is becoming increasingly clear that, especially when the deck is presented the right metagame, it may simply be unstoppable. In fact, the only thing that even stopped Ian Robb from placing better than 10th place at the Orlando Regional Championships was some unfortunate luck in his losses and then also some bad luck with his Opponents’ Win Percentage to knock him out of Top 8 on tiebreakers. However, I can say with nearly absolute confidence that, if Ian Robb had made it into the Top 8 of the Orlando Regional Championships, he certainly would have won the tournament. Only two of the the six Lugia VSTAR in Top 8 played a Bird Keeper in their deck, and this deck is very capable of beating the decks that do include that as an option to stop Paralysis. Simply put, the only thing that could even stop Ian Robb from dominating the Orlando Regional Championships can only be described as divine intervention.

When it comes to the absolute basics of this deck, it can really be broken up into three separate game plans for each of the top three decks, being Lugia VSTAR, Lost Zone Box, and Mew VMAX. As such, I am going to go through some basic options against each of these decks:

Lugia VSTAR

I have already briefly talked about the game plan for this matchups, but for a quick recap, the combination of Wild Freeze from Articuno plus Quick Shooting from [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card] allows you to maintain a perfect lock down on the opponent’s Active Pokemon so that you can stop them from ever getting to attack if they do not play a Bird Keeper. With a carefully sequenced series of Boss’s Orders and Quick Shooting plays, the deck can make quick work of a Lugia VSTAR player’s board without even giving up a Prize card. Things get a bit more complicated if they include Bird Keeper in their deck list, but, generally, if you save [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”name”][/card]’s Star Portal for this turn, you should be fine to keep the lock going for the rest of the game.

Lost Zone Box

Conveniently, the game plan against all of the Lost Zone variants, be it [card name=”Kyogre” set=”Celebrations” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] or [card name=”Rayquaza” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”138″ c=”name”][/card], is pretty much identical. First, you build up a wide board of [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”name”][/card] with Keep Calling, then you need to start pressuring them to take a Prize card to activate [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”name”][/card] for you so that you can bench [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”name”][/card], Raihan to search for [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card], and finally to set up the Blockface chain the following turn while also using [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] to pick up your entire board. From this point in the game, Eiscue plus Wash Water Energy is enough to completely wall them out of the game. But sometimes they will have a tech card for the matchup, such as [card name=”Dragonite V” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”192″ c=”name”][/card]. If they do, it is important to focus on survival with [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”name”][/card] while trying to get to [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card]. Then, on the turn you Knock Out your opponent’s Dragonite V, you play down Lost City so that it goes to the Lost Zone, opening up an easy and clear path to certain victory.

Mew VMAX

The really simple explanation of this matchup is simply just saying [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] and moving on, but there is a little more to it, as you still need to take the other three Prize cards. One of the easiest ways to do this is by just using the strength of Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR as an attacker and attempting to run the opponent’s [card name=”Genesect V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”185″ c=”name”][/card] over with Subspace Swell. Another option is to use [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”name”][/card] to set up the math so that you can Knock Out a Mew VMAX with Subspace Swell. However, I believe the easiest answer is to just use a few Quick Shooting followed by a massive swing with [card name=”Crabominable V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”76″ c=”name”][/card] to pick up three Prize cards. If this is done properly, it is actually quite easy to leave the opponent in a sort of check mate scenario where they cannot remove both Drapion V and Crabominable V from the board at the same time, so they need to [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”name”][/card] and hope that you whiff the missing piece. Generally, this matchup should be pretty free, but it may feel a bit awkward to play this matchup at times.

Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR / Articuno Deck List

[decklist name=”palk cuno” amt=”60″ caption=”” cname=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″][pokemon amt=”21″]2x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]4x [card name=”Sobble” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”40″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Origin Forme Palkia V” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”39″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Radiant Greninja” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”46″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Eiscue” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”47″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Crabominable V” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”76″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Drapion V” set=”Lost Origin” no=”118″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Manaphy” set=”Brilliant Stars” no=”41″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card][/pokemon][trainers amt=”31″]4x [card name=”Irida” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”147″ c=”deck2″ amt=”4″][/card]2x [card name=”Boss’s Orders” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”154″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]2x [card name=”Raihan” set=”Evolving Skies” no=”152″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card]1x [card name=”Roxanne” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”150″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]3x [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Quick Ball” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”179″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Evolution Incense” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”163″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Scoop Up Net” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]3x [card name=”Capacious Bucket” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”156″ c=”deck2″ amt=”3″][/card]1x [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Pal Pad” set=”Ultra Prism” no=”132″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Cape of Toughness” set=”Darkness Ablaze” no=”160″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Hisuian Heavy Ball” set=”Astral Radiance” no=”146″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”deck2″ amt=”1″][/card]1x [card name=”Training Court” set=”Rebel Clash” no=”169″ c=”deck2″ divide=”yes” amt=”1″][/card][/trainers][energy amt=”8″]6x [card name=”Water Energy” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”117″ c=”deck2″ amt=”6″][/card]2x [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”deck2″ amt=”2″][/card][/energy][/decklist]

Inteleon Split

One of the more unusual counts in this deck is the two copies of Quick Shooting [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Chilling Reign” no=”43″ c=”name”][/card], but it is an absolutely needed count for the Lugia VSTAR matchup, which has been the most popular deck in the Standard format since it was released. As such, leaving yourself in a situation where you can Prize both copies is just asking for bad things to happen, so making sure that they happen less is the ideal course of action. However, playing just one copy of the Shady Dealings [card name=”Inteleon” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”58″ c=”name”][/card] also feels bad when you Prize it, so I realistically may consider playing two of each to maximize the odds of having at least one of both in deck. By doing this, one could also argue for a [card name=”Rare Candy” set=”Crown Zenith” no=”141″ c=”name”][/card] or a fourth [card name=”Drizzile” set=”Sword and Shield” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card], but committing to that space is not so important, so maybe keep that thought in mind for the future.

Thorton

[cardimg name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”195″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Since it came out, I have always thought [card name=”Thorton” set=”Lost Origin” no=”167″ c=”name”][/card] was one of the coolest cards in the Standard format, and that is largely due to plays that it can make much like those in this deck. While I do not fully understand all of the possibly relevant plays with Thorton that this deck can do, as that’s something that only someone who has put hours upon hours into the deck would ever be able to pull off, I can cite two of the most valuable use cases that I know:

1. In general, this deck is really good at not being able to immediately respond with [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] when needed. By playing Thorton, it removes the need of finding a backup Articuno when one goes down, making the deck more efficient at executing its game plan.
2. As infrequent as it will probably come up, Thorton gives this deck an immensely favored [card name=”Mewtwo V-UNION” set=”Sword and Shield Black Star Promos” no=”SWSH160 ” c=”name”][/card] matchup, and even more so thanks to Crabominable V, but the ability to Star Portal onto a Sobble and Thorton into Drapion V is one that will live on in my heart forever.

Three Battle VIP Pass

This count probably seems extremely strange, and I honestly do not entirely disagree with that. However, the explanation is quite simple, as there is just not enough space in this deck. In many matchups and situations, it is better to use Sobble’s Keep Calling anyway, so [card name=”Battle VIP Pass” set=”Fusion Strike” no=”225″ c=”name”][/card] carries less weight when it comes to set up. The space can also be freed up for a different card that directly increases your win rate instead, rather than drawing a Battle VIP Pass at a crucial point of the match.

Emergency Jelly

A while back I talked about [card name=”Emergency Jelly” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”155″ c=”name”][/card] decks in general, but I neglected to address how the card looks in the Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR build of Articuno. Unlike other Emergency Jelly Articuno decks, the card is the sole focus of these 60 cards and the only reason that it possibly functions, meaning that more copies are needed. But in the case of this deck, playing less becomes more appropriate because Articuno is more used to gain tempo in a difficult matchup rather than to force a complete lockdown every single game. Unfortunately, playing just one copy can get to be a bit difficult to deal with if it is stuck among your Prize cards, so that is one of the biggest arguments for playing at least a second copy.

Lost City

I already touched on this card’s purpose a little bit above, but [card name=”Lost City” set=”Lost Origin” no=”161″ c=”name”][/card] is pretty much entirely for the purpose of being annoying against Dragonite V, offering a way to seal up a match against it, but the importance of this cannot be overstated. Currently, Lost Zone Box decks are some of the most powerful and common decks in the game, and as a result having an absolute answer to the single problematic card that they can play to beat you is incredibly appealing. Just hope that they do not play two copies of Dragonite V because if they do, one Lost City is not quite going to be enough.

Two Wash Water Energy

Speaking of the Lost Zone Box matchup, [card name=”Wash Water Energy” set=”Vivid Voltage” no=”165″ c=”name”][/card] is also incredibly important when playing against them. Thanks to the incredibly annoying [card name=”Sableye” set=”Lost Origin” no=”70″ c=”name”][/card], having a way to shield Eiscue from effects of attacks is critical to success against Lost Zone Box decks. By attaching Wash Water Energy to Eiscue, the Lost Zone Box player has a single turn where they can play Boss’s Orders to pull up the Eiscue to the Active Spot and take a Knock Out. Finding the pieces for this is so difficult that you likely do not have to worry about it happening, and if it does, it is time for Game 2! As one would expect, the second copy of Wash Water Energy is solely because one wants to avoid it being stuck among your Prize cards in the games it is needed.

Conclusion

There is a lot of Pokemon left to play in the Sword & Shield to Crown Zenith format, with many new options and archetypes left to be explored. While the format is getting to a point that it seems to be increasingly stale, it is also important to recognize that the format is far from perfectly solved, largely due to the variety in ways that decks can be built. While this is a format that objectively has a “Tier 0″ so to speak, it is still a reasonably healthy and fun format with a lot of room for growth. [card name=”Articuno” set=”Silver Tempest” no=”36″ c=”name”][/card] is a perfect example of this, with a proven destiny for greatness, but it just needs all of the pieces to line up in its favor to get the big win.

With that, this article draws to a close. I hope you enjoyed reading about this deck, as it is currently one of my favorite decks in Standard. 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!

– Isaiah

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